Triumph Repair: Stromberg Linkage Sticking, shaft seals, stop screws

Question
Hello Howard;

I have an issue with my '79 TR7.  It appears that the throttle linkage is sticking somewhat.  When the car is running and I "blip" the throttle, the RPMs do not return to idle.  It sticks around 1500-1700 RPM.  I can bring the RPMs back to idle manually (by hand).  I've looked at the linkage and I can't see anything obviously wrong.  I did have the carbs off to replace the throttle shaft seals, however I thought I centered the throttle plates properly.  Can you perhaps point me in the right direction to an adjustment/fix?  

Thanks for any help,
Matt M.

Answer
Hi Matt,

Sometimes it is difficult to see what is making a throttle stick. I found that if I disconnect the throttle cable from the cam type throttle linkage first and then check it for sticking it eliminates the cable as the cause and I proceed then to the cam linkage if that does not stop it from sticking. I usually just lube the cam linkage first to see if it is just sticking because it is dry then start disconnecting headed toward the throttle plates themselves as the last in line. Check that you have a little side to side free play as this can make linkage stick too.

If you have loosened and lubed all of the linkage one step at a time and you are at the throttle shafts and you still have sticking throttles, then you did not get the throttle plates in correctly.

To get the butterfies (throttle plates) aligned I usually leave the two screws a little loose and back off the stop screws including the fast idle stop screw and hold the throttle plate closed all the way home and tighten the two screws while holding the throttle plates tight to the top and bottom walls of the carburetors.

Howard