Hi, I have been a forum member for many years and read the comments with great interest. I have thought that the balance needs to be restored on the JTS engine debate. First a bit of recent history, some years ago I bought one of the last 155's 2litre TS, new, what a wonderful car, I would probably still have it for for the fact that I wrote it off. I did try to buy it back, but the insurance company refused. It was followed by a 156 V6 (Autodelta), a wonderful car that I loved but retirement and rising rule costs meant it had to go. I bought a '54 facelift JTS. Now to be honest my initial feeling when driving it home (ebay buy) was one of disappointment, but I loved the look of the front. Also on the way home the EML come on, following a misfire, you can imagine my dismay, however, I decided that the problem was caused by the engine being steam cleaned and it was damp. I did the usual checks on connections all seemed OK.
The car settled down but every now and then the EML would come on and there was a slight misfire, also the tick over was random and there was a hesitation at low revs. I replaced the MAF, no difference, thermostat, because I don't believe they last forever and then I bought a set of used coils as one of mine was dodgy, mis-fire was now cured, but the tick over was still not great.
A tin of BG44 was purchased and I am convinced that it made a difference, they do say that it takes a while for it to work so it is sometimes hard to recognise the improvement. The other thing that I did was to stop using super market fuel and use a proprietary brand. The car covers about 4-5k miles a year and many of those are on the continent, but again I try to use "garage" fuel. Recently the car has been running better, livelier, I thought. I noticed that it was also noisier but no sign of a blow tho'. However the flex at the front was leaking slightly and I decided that the back box although looking very rough was sound but the internal baffles were shot, hence the slightly nicer sound. I bought a supersprint back box and a new flex, strangely the tick over and hesitation was again slightly better but the sound was disappointing. Although the car has a full service history and the belts were not really due I decided it was time to do the belts and variator, which was a little noisy. I also purchased a set of C&B middle road cams. I fitted this lot last weekend and I am more than happy with the result, the engine seems more responsive and smoother, the power comes in with a little more determination and it is quieter, probably due to the Variator. The car now feels great, I am far happier with it, my impending trip to the dark continent will be the final test. What I do believe is the use of "good" fuel is very important, the tick over is now rock solid.
Interestingly, the car still pulls from very low revs, i.e. just above tick over.
There is hope for the JTS, was looking for a diesel GT but now I think my next buy will be a GT JTS.
Sorry to drawl on but I hope it helps to redress the balance very slightly.
The car settled down but every now and then the EML would come on and there was a slight misfire, also the tick over was random and there was a hesitation at low revs. I replaced the MAF, no difference, thermostat, because I don't believe they last forever and then I bought a set of used coils as one of mine was dodgy, mis-fire was now cured, but the tick over was still not great.
A tin of BG44 was purchased and I am convinced that it made a difference, they do say that it takes a while for it to work so it is sometimes hard to recognise the improvement. The other thing that I did was to stop using super market fuel and use a proprietary brand. The car covers about 4-5k miles a year and many of those are on the continent, but again I try to use "garage" fuel. Recently the car has been running better, livelier, I thought. I noticed that it was also noisier but no sign of a blow tho'. However the flex at the front was leaking slightly and I decided that the back box although looking very rough was sound but the internal baffles were shot, hence the slightly nicer sound. I bought a supersprint back box and a new flex, strangely the tick over and hesitation was again slightly better but the sound was disappointing. Although the car has a full service history and the belts were not really due I decided it was time to do the belts and variator, which was a little noisy. I also purchased a set of C&B middle road cams. I fitted this lot last weekend and I am more than happy with the result, the engine seems more responsive and smoother, the power comes in with a little more determination and it is quieter, probably due to the Variator. The car now feels great, I am far happier with it, my impending trip to the dark continent will be the final test. What I do believe is the use of "good" fuel is very important, the tick over is now rock solid.
Interestingly, the car still pulls from very low revs, i.e. just above tick over.
There is hope for the JTS, was looking for a diesel GT but now I think my next buy will be a GT JTS.
Sorry to drawl on but I hope it helps to redress the balance very slightly.