|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 16, 2013 21:38:31 GMT
What do 17 year old boys want for their birthday? Driving lessons, of course. Not really a problem in itself, but they can't practice in my van (commercial insurance), MrsP's 806 appears to be terminally dead and they ARE NOT driving the Wolseley........
So, we've got our hands on a Daewoo Matiz, for a Yorkshireman's favourite price - nowt. ;D
It's been off the road for a year, so needs re-commissioning and an MoT, then a damn good flogging round some nice B roads to clean its tubes out properly.
I did drive it home this evening. Haven't driven a little small engined car for a good few years (This is an 800cc 3 pot), so immediately stalled it three times in a row before applying the right foot rather more vigorously. It scoots along quite well!
Ordered up a set of service parts from Euro Car Parts - £37 with a discount code, which I thought was exceedingly reasonable. Next weekend, the mechanical education of the twins will begin.
I'll take a photo or two tomorrow.
Chris.
|
|
|
|
Post by dave1800 on Feb 17, 2013 11:06:25 GMT
Remember the boys' driving lessons are just the first stage in Dad's journey to poverty!  . David What do 17 year old boys want for their birthday? Driving lessons, of course. Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by indianajones on Feb 17, 2013 19:01:15 GMT
They'll be asking to borrow the 'crab in time no doubt  Nice to see you're gonan teach them some mechanical skills, I wish my father had with me (he just doesn't have any lol). Also nice to see them learning manual, I know a few people my age who have no idea how to drive manual! -Andrew |
|
|
|
Post by Nick RS on Feb 17, 2013 21:17:05 GMT
I rented a Matiz on holiday in Malta 2000. A fun little car which was ideal for the roads on the island. I only really caught it out once, by putting airconditioning on going up a hill; just about stopped the car in its tracks. There's a lot to be said for a teenager having a low powered car, I started out with a 55BHP Triumph Toledo which kept me out of trouble for a long time.
Nick
|
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 18, 2013 1:33:51 GMT
It seems like a fun little thing.
I have spent most of the afternoon tinkering with it - various electrical circuits have suffered with the lay-up, so some bulbs, soldering and cleaning has restored everything except the front screenwash.
To access the washer bottle:
1/ Jack up front right of car.
2/ Remove road wheel.
3/ Remove wheel arch liner.
4/ Remove front right indicator.
This will allow you to find out that you don't have 12vDc at the connector to the front wash motor. Which implies that fuse F9 has failed......... Push drivers seat all the way back. Relax into a comfortable position upside down in the drivers footwell whilst using a torch with one hand to locate the small fuse box bolted to the inner wing. Remove fuse F9. Find that it's intact. Well, it would be, wouldn't it?
I'll get there. On-line info on these shopping trolleys cars is actually very good, so I'll solve it. Annoying though, as front screen wash is MoT-able over here.
Otherwise, it looks pretty good.
Chris.
|
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 20, 2013 1:01:29 GMT
Box of goodies turned up today - service kit for car. Air, oil, fuel filters. Plugs leads, cap and rotor. Told the boys they had work to do at the weekend..... Nick went "Oh, good, let's learn something". Alex said "Will I get dirty?"........ Good grief, the youth of today, I don't know.  Have located the workshop manual on-line - 1184 page (!) pdf file. Tabbed through it; found the pin-outs for the washer circuit down at about page 970 odd. 20 minutes of my life I'll not see again. Annoying, as it's the only obvious MoT fail I can find. Fingers crossed. Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 24, 2013 1:33:26 GMT
Things are not good.......... Nick and I did the service this afternoon. Oil, air and fuel filters; plugs, leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm. Not quite sure how much he understood, but we had a bit of fun. Damn thing now runs like an absolute nail  . Spark plugs were very black, but dry. Ten minutes running reduced the new ones to the same condition. Idle is unstable; revving the engine produces a lot of smoke and brings the engine management light on - presumably the lambda sensors are unhappy. To be strictly fair, there was a bit of a mis-fire at about 1500 rpm bringing it back, but it's now far worse. Not sure how far we're going to go with this. I've put in about £60 for bits and pieces, I suspect that there is something seriously amiss with no. 3 pot, as we had some low speed screeching noises and some rattles. Disappointed. Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by indianajones on Feb 24, 2013 1:39:20 GMT
hmmm sorry to hear that mate. Keep at it I guess, but don't go overboard of course. But at the same time it'll just be a few pounds and time wasted as you got her for nothing correct?
-Andrew
|
|
|
|
Post by dave1800 on Feb 24, 2013 11:40:39 GMT
Hi Chris Don't panic. I would suggest testing the compression first to see if there is a fundamental problem; as the plugs aren't oiled it could be just a valve and not piston /rings if any cylinder reads low. Also check the plug and king leads' resistance, many apparent fuelling faults are still electrical. Then try putting back the old rotor and cap one at a time to see if it is any better or worse and then also the old plugs one by one. See if you can get it back to where it was before you started as it didn't sound too bad. You could also try a vacuum gauge to see it it points you in any clear direction. If you can read off the management system codes that may help. Sometimes you don't need a reader just place a link across two pins on the diagnostic plug and watch the engine light flashing sequence - you will need to Google to get the details and see if it can be done this way on this engine. I'm sure you know all this and more but hope it may help inspire you. If not plan B must be beer I guess Good luck David Things are not good.......... Nick and I did the service this afternoon. Oil, air and fuel filters; plugs, leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm. Not quite sure how much he understood, but we had a bit of fun. Damn thing now runs like an absolute nail . Spark plugs were very black, but dry. Ten minutes running reduced the new ones to the same condition. Idle is unstable; revving the engine produces a lot of smoke and brings the engine management light on - presumably the lambda sensors are unhappy. To be strictly fair, there was a bit of a mis-fire at about 1500 rpm bringing it back, but it's now far worse. Not sure how far we're going to go with this. I've put in about £60 for bits and pieces, I suspect that there is something seriously amiss with no. 3 pot, as we had some low speed screeching noises and some rattles. Disappointed. Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 24, 2013 18:40:36 GMT
It's running manically rich, which is tricking the lambda sensors....... I have downloaded 1200 pages of workshop manual. There has to a screw to turn somewhere!
Chris.
|
|
|
|
Post by threelitre on Feb 24, 2013 23:03:10 GMT
If it is running rich I can think of three reasons:
a) Temp sensor - in most cases cars today have two of them, one for the display and one for the engine management. If broken it could be 'on choke' all the time.
b) lambda sensor. If these age, they can cause either rich or weak running. The engine management (on single lambda cars) will only notice something is amiss, when the ecu is trying to regulate the mixture passed some fixed boundaries.
c) fuel pressure regulator
As the lamp is on, my personal guess is b). You may get a universal lambda probe and give it a try, they should not be more than 30-40 pounds.
Regards,
Alexander
|
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 25, 2013 0:58:11 GMT
Thanks, Alexander.
Prime suspect may be the MAP sensor (been doing some research.........). I'm sure that the lambda sensors are bringing the CEL on, due to the massive amounts of unburnt fuel being chucked down the exhaust.
Fuel pressure is a possibility - it's evenly rich across all three pots, so it's not going to be a faulty injector.
Due to today's massive effort and complete lack of result with the ignition project, this hasn't progressed further just at the moment.
No pool practice tomorrow, so I'll have another go.
Chris.
|
|
|
|
Post by dave1800 on Feb 25, 2013 2:06:00 GMT
Chris You can fool the ECU by substituting the Lambda sensor with a pot and series resistor to provide an input to the ECU of 0.8V telling it that the engine is running rich. The ECU is voltage sensitive so the current required is minimal so 50K-100K resistors in series with the pot wiper and one end. You can also substitute the MAP with a high value pot (50K+) with resistors in series with both the wiper and one end to give a variable very voltage max of 5V. MAP sensors typically give an output ranging from around 0.4V to 4.5V - the higher voltage normally at high vacuum but can be either. To be sure try max of 3.1V first just in case they are using 3.3V logic. Have a look at the output of the MAP sensor using a digital meter first. You can also substitute the temp sensors with pots /resistors to let it think the engine is hot so reducing the fuelling. There are probably 2 of these one for air intake the other for the engine. Maybe quicker and certainly a cheap way of checking. Just a note for others who may be tempted to check their cars this way - Chris already knows - Engine Management computers (ECUs) are static sensitive so earth yourself by touching the car body when playing with the connectors and leads. Regards David Thanks, Alexander. Prime suspect may be the MAP sensor (been doing some research.........). I'm sure that the lambda sensors are bringing the CEL on, due to the massive amounts of unburnt fuel being chucked down the exhaust. Fuel pressure is a possibility - it's evenly rich across all three pots, so it's not going to be a faulty injector. Due to today's massive effort and complete lack of result with the ignition project, this hasn't progressed further just at the moment. No pool practice tomorrow, so I'll have another go. Chris. |
|
|
|
Post by threelitre on Feb 25, 2013 12:18:18 GMT
Oh, forgot the map sensor. On Rover MEMS this is part of the ECU, so it's byebye to this when it goes. But the car will indeed run very badly with the map sensor gone. If yours is separate it is quite easy to check for basic function by measuring its output when actuated by a vacuum pump (i.e. sucking on the pipe  ). If there is a clear reaction on the multimeter it is unlikely to be broken. Regards, Alexander |
|
|
|
Post by Penguin45 on Feb 25, 2013 21:02:51 GMT
Looking very like the MAP sensor. 0.56vDC at idle - no change of status with revs, or "manual" vacuum (suck tube..............).
Chris.
|
|
. 
. Spark plugs were very black, but dry. Ten minutes running reduced the new ones to the same condition. Idle is unstable; revving the engine produces a lot of smoke and brings the engine management light on - presumably the lambda sensors are unhappy. To be strictly fair, there was a bit of a mis-fire at about 1500 rpm bringing it back, but it's now far worse. Not sure how far we're going to go with this. I've put in about £60 for bits and pieces, I suspect that there is something seriously amiss with no. 3 pot, as we had some low speed screeching noises and some rattles.
). If there is a clear reaction on the multimeter it is unlikely to be broken.