PGY 161L - The Rolling Restoration

[EBT MK3 INVADER]

That bush fitter is genius

Well done

[Reddi-Eng]

Tuesday 24th February 2009

A quick hour under the car today and I successfully removed the off-side rear engine mount. As I suspected access to the two bolts into the block is quite restricted. The Water Pump is immediately in front, the Steering Column UJ is to the side and in my case being an Automatic, the Oil pipes to the Oil Cooler run underneath.

Still with a bit of dexterity with the various spanners the two bolts came out. Whether they will go in as easy is another matter.

Like the nearside mounting the rubber was completely detached from the lower bolt through the subframe so the bracket and half the mount came away. The bolt was of course siezed in the cylindical collar so once again the Mike W recommended Damaged Nut extractors were brought into play. Lessons learnt from the nearside removal meant that the unit was compressed onto the collar with the G Cramp and with a bit of starining came away first time. (Sorry Mike only one pint per recommendation )

Bracket is now being treated and painted ready for re-assembly.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 26th February 2009

After a rust proofing treatment and a couple of coats of black Hammerite the bracket was assembled to the new mountng and assembly to the car atempted. As suspected it was a bit fiddly geting the bolts to the lined up and started. Usual problem that restricted access under the car you can either feel what you are doing or see what you are doing but not both at the same time (mental note: when I move house next a garage with a pit is required )

Anyway in the end it was easier than I thought so thats another job to cross off the list.

My reversing lights do not work, I don't know why yet. I've got as far as checking the bulbs and the earths so far. These are OK so there would appear to be no current coming through when reverse is selected. So while the car was up on the ramps I inspected the gearbox for signs of the reversing lights switch. Remembering that my car is an automatics previous thread on this forum on the position and access to the switch was none applicable to me. Anyway I found a group of wire attached on the nearside of the box but access severly restricted by the exhaust pipe.

Getting a photo was not easy, the best I could do was this...



So its now back to the planning stage. Remove the exhaust to gain access or cut a hole from the nearside foot well. If only I had thought of that before fitting new carpets a couple of years ago.

Any members have experince of this on an auto-box? It would appear that this is more than a simple switch, so is this also/or the interlock to prevent starting in gear? I've no experience of auto-boxes.

[Reddi-Eng]

Sorry Pauladmin but I've just found that you answered my question in a previous thread.....

The gearbox itself is the BorgWarner 3 speed from the Zodiac MkIV and if memory serves, the reversing lights are a function of the inhibitor switch found on the nearside close to where the kick-down cable leave the box

So I suppose the access hole through the footwell is the next step to check out what signans are coming to/going from the switch.

[Reddi-Eng]

Monday 30th March 2009

Not a good day. Last week I checked my MOT to see what date it ran out in April only to find it had expired back in February So last week the car was booked in for its MOT today.

Got the car out this morning, warmed it up, a few laps of the local block and everything seemed OK. Back on the drive it stalled. Restarted it and it ticked over for a few minutes and then just dies. Tried this a few time and once when hot it would not start again. Fuel appears to be getting through OK. So far I've only tried adjusting the tickover speed using the Throttle stop. Again one of the joys of an auto box is you can't just set a high tick-over speed as this make selecting Drive or Reverse a bit hairy. Checked a couple of plugs and they suggest mixture looks a bit rich (Sooty)

Started to empaphise with Craig a little at this stage.

So I cancelled the MOT and thought I'd seek some advice from the forum.

I'm not an expert in this area but it does sound like carburation to me but before I start fiddling to much with "Volume Screws" as the Ford Zodiac manaul suggest how would you guys attack this problem?

[Admin]

Derek
Not being able to hear it die is a disadvantage.
Does it just cut suddenly or slowly fade?
If it now cuts suddenly as it starts - wire out the ballast resister, if it keeps going replace the resister.

If it fades or falters when trying apply accelerator (with the box in neutral) will it keep running with a slightly raised throttle?
Check the slow running jets (just under the air-filter on either side of the carb.

[Reddi-Eng]

Paul, its the latter

If it fades or falters when trying apply accelerator (with the box in neutral) will it keep running with a slightly raised throttle?
Check the slow running jets (just under the air-filter on either side of the carb.

When you say check the Slow Running Jets - What am I looking for? Them being blocked or is there some adjustment possible?

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 2nd April 2009

With Paul's advice I cleaned the slow running jets and blew out some sediment from other visible jets and the slow runnng seem back to normal again now. So car was re-booked for its MOT today.

1/2 hour before the test today started her up and it was fine on tickover and reved freely. Drove off for the test and it spluttered and would not pull under load (I expect you regognise this Craig). Tried a few laps of the block and it seemed to get a bit better so decided to risk it. Made the garage with a bit of coaxing and as they were running late I refitted the air cleaner I'd left of expecting more carb. ajustments.

MOT guy was is a good mood and he let me do the switching, brake prodding, wheel turning bits whilst he banged and prodded underneath. He remebered the car from last year and has a Capri himself so was sympathetic to the age of the car and showed me bits and pieces underneath which needed attention but did not affect the MOT.

Even though the emissions test on the MKIII is "visual" he then put it through a full test just to check and show me if the carb. was in tune. It showed one side was running much weaker than the other so he gave some advice how to adjust it.

In the end it passed OK but with a few more jobs to add to the "to do" list

One area is the exhaust. It's stainless but just using the U-bolt type clamps the joints are not firm and are leaking at bit. MOT guy suggested it may be better to get it welded up but I have heard there are better clamps availale. Does anone have any experince and recommendation?

Also pleased to say it drove much better on the way home so re-fitting the air-cleaner may have cured the earlier spluttering problems. I think I'll ditch the original Gilbern one and get a K&N.

So all in all a much better day and we are back on the road again.

[Reddi-Eng]

Thursday 2nd April 2009 (Again)

Further to the above, the alternative exhaust clamps seem to be like these.....



Anybody have experience of these?

[Greybags]

With the air filter off it was probably running very weak, which would explain some of the sluggishness..

As to exhaust clamps .. Yes those are the type which are often recommended for stainless exhaust, but have never tried them...

Quite pricey for what they are though...

http://www.demon-tweeks.co.uk/products/ProductDetail.asp?cls=ROAD&pcode=MIK17/19S

Congrats on the new MOT..

Grahame

[Reddi-Eng]

That's what I thought with the air filter. Incidentley does anyone know what the correct element is to go inside the Gilbern one? Last time I made one by cutting down a cheap paper one from Halfords.

The clamps in the picture I found look a bit more substantial than the Demon-Tweaks ones which are described as "Hose Clamps". I'll perhaps just get a couple to start with and see if they do the job.

Anyone else used these before?

[Tony Hayward]

Derek

Your poor running after standing how long?

Could this be stale petrol? I have suffered this after standing one month / standing three months. One cure is fresh petrol then running the engine until it sorts itself out. The last time I suffered, the engine wouldn’t idle below 2K rpm, and wouldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding for about 1 1/2 hours. I even thought the mapping had gone wrong, but this was a red herring.

Tony

[DUFFY]

Hi Derek,
I also think you may have a old petrol problem, modern lead free petrol does not like
to stand around, this is why people can not start there mowers in spring because the
petrol has lain in the tank over winter (Lawn mower repairers make a lot of money out
of this problem) If you have a large amount of petrol in the tank you will need to drain
it out if only a small amount in the tank, fill with fresh petrol and give the car a good run.
I only put £10 worth of petrol a time in my car in the winter when it has less use.
Regards
Tony

HELP ME LOOK FOR LOST ROCHDALE OLYMPICS
www.britishcarforum.com/bcforum/ubbthre ... Post327716

[Admin]

Paul, its the latter

If it fades or falters when trying apply accelerator (with the box in neutral) will it keep running with a slightly raised throttle?
Check the slow running jets (just under the air-filter on either side of the carb.

When you say check the Slow Running Jets - What am I looking for? Them being blocked or is there some adjustment possible?

This thread has moved on a little since my initial comments but just for the record;
The jets are held in the tublar shaft of a single curf screw, take out the screw, pull out the jet and blow through and then replace. If have pick up muck in this way (do you need a new filter?) and it is likely to happen again until the line is clear.
Yes there are mixture ajustment screws for each barrel, but 'sudden' changes in the runnng are most likely caused by 'sudden' changes! i.e. someting breaking down or something getting blocked.

I will go along with the bad petrol, even though it's never been a problem for me even after a year of standing, and also with Tony's comment of a good run. Clear the jets, put some fresh juice in the tank and burn a gallon usually cleares any dirty fuel lines.

The mower analogy on the other hand over looks the obvious, most mowers are two-stroke and it's the oil that settles blocking the jets.

[Greybags]

When I put some petrol in the first time after a period of non use...

I find a good heavy dose of RedX or simmilar helps clear out the gum that can form.


Grahame