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Clementine the Cat
 
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R4 newbie owner

Welcome to the forum. That car looks remarkably well polished. How is the initial ownerhsip experience?

I don't think that towbars are available any more, but it's worth asking towbar fitters if they'll make a custom one for you. The price shouldn't be too crazy. There's no need to remove the rear bumper to fit a towbar.

I'm thinking about making one that can be unbolted quickly when I'm not using it.
 
Car's a peach .......well almost. Drove it back 400+ miles without real problems which was a bonus as I had my Greenflag recovery documents at the ready just in case. They even had a towbar for the car!!! Sounds too good to be true....oh well time will tell.

Only thing I noticed after prolonged motorway driving, there was a ticking noise that sounded exactly like the noise you get on a front wheel drive when you turn a corner with worn CV joints. You know what I mean I'm sure.
Anyway let the car stand 10 minutes , drive off and it's silent then after 20minutes or so comes back. Unlike CV joints it does it in a straight line as opposed to turning.Take the load off the engine and it stops so I guess that rules out a dodgy tyre cos at first it sounded like that.....a sort of bump.bump.bump.bump noise. Is this a 'classic' R4 symptom as I know zip about them at the moment or have I invented something new. Don't you just love old cars!!!!
 
You have invented a new problem. I think it ought to be called "the snarthens knock". :D

I've not come across anything like it before, but it does sound like it might be driveshaft related if the noise changes as you come on and off power. Although I don't understand how that could be temperature related as well.

Do the front brakes get hot if you go for a good run but don't use them? Possibly they are binding on a little and the discs have become a little warped.
 
I was convinced it was driveshaft related but she doesn't do it at all in town so I'll see what happens next time she goes on a longer run.

Also just to say a big thanks for doing this site. Info on here is brilliant. And the reason I say that?? Well the car...Ruby as she is now known, ran great on the M25, M4 etc etc but rubbish in town yesterday. Sluggish, missing and generally horrible choke or no choke. So looked at Fredericks Tech Tips and then cleaned and set up points and did timing as per suggested settings. Fired her up and UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! Runs as smooth as a Lexus!!! Well you get the drift. So my girlfriend Sophie, who wanted the car (and named it), jumped in and wafted off to the shop as opposed to yesterdays hop skip and stall. A proper job!!! Many thanks.
 
The ignition system is really important on these things. It's because the fuel mixture is set towards the economy side of economy so everything else has to be completely right. But they can run really nicely when everything is right.

Mine is running like crap at the moment and I'm determined to diagnose the fault before looking under the bonnet. I set the timing and points recently so I'm guessing it's a failed vacuum advance (symptoms needing choke but at the same time really sensitive to choke).
 
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