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Dollywobbler's Invacar - Ongoing


dollywobbler

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Yeah, thanks. Not my favourite TG moment...

 

Apoligies for the insensitivity, it didn't occur to me a 2CV licker would dislike the destruction of a 2CV.

 

Back on topic, Thicker oil may make cold starts a bit harder in super chilly weather, but for your long journey to FOTU it would be for the best.

 

Extra dials just equal extra stress. Plus, your fleet is very minimalist when it comes to the dashboard department!

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I hope you have better luck than I am having with the Hearse. It flickered the oil light at tick over when it got bloody hot on the way home from Spain. The light also took a long while to go out, some fresh 20/50 improved it. I have just pulled the engine to replace the rear main oil seal and that little bit of running with low oil pressure has damaged the bearings and has lead to a crank grind and new shells.

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I compared an android app to a calibrated sound level meter and they were within 1-2 at each reading point.

Sound is measured in decibels and it's a logrithmic scale. So a 3db increase is actually a doubling of the sound (noise) level. An app that's 2db out isn't that useful, that's why a class I sound level meter (the one needed for surveys for them to be meaningful) costs several grand (H&S hat off).

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Now with video.

 

The Internet seems to reckon the oil pick up might be clogged. I can't drop the sump, as there isn't one I don't think. It's just part of the crankcase. There is a small access panel, so maybe I can drop the oil and have a look inside. Lots of thinking time, as it's going to be several days before I can do anything.

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Certainly not impossible given it's been sitting around for a while, and will likely have been doing lots of short journeys earlier in its life.

 

Worth a look at least, and if it's accessible (don't have the manual to hand) make sure there's not some crud having got itself into the pressure relief valve.

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What's the bottom end like on these? If it's roller bearings like the 2CV then oil pressure is pretty unimportant compared to flowrate.

Although it is a pressed-up assembly (like a 2-stroke), a 2CV crankshaft is all plain-bearing.

 

post-17481-0-62737100-1521791735_thumb.jpeg

 

The Steyr engine has a one piece crank with conventional split big-ends.

This drawing looks like it (unusually) has seperate counterweights so not completely normal for a modern-ish car engine.

 

post-17481-0-06942400-1521791746_thumb.jpeg

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I hope you have better luck than I am having with the Hearse. It flickered the oil light at tick over when it got bloody hot on the way home from Spain. The light also took a long while to go out, some fresh 20/50 improved it. I have just pulled the engine to replace the rear main oil seal and that little bit of running with low oil pressure has damaged the bearings and has lead to a crank grind and new shells.

I bet it was run like that for years before you bought it though?

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I have 20w50 oil, so the plan is to do an oil change tomorrow. My £1.86 oil filters from Carfarce4less have not turned up, or shown any sign of actually being dispatched even (surprise!) so I guess that'll be getting left. Might pull it off to have a nose anyway, just make sure there's no sludge in it. Might pull off the bottom plate to have a nose in the sump too. Have just realised I could do with TWC being on the ramps for this task. That should be fun. 

 

May also pull off the fuel pump and the oil filler neck, as one of the two is leaking where it meets the block. Might be instant gasket time.

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This morning, I dropped the oil on TWC and then unbolted the 'thing' on the bottom of the sump. 

DZiIrM7WsAEjje_.jpg

 

Turns out this is the strainer for the pick-up. It was GRIM inside. Sludge a-plenty. Yes, inside the strainer. Nice! I blasted and blasted it with Screwfix penetrating oil, which comes out of the can with surprising force. This did a great job, but did render the strainer so cold I couldn't hold it any longer. In fact, ice was starting to form on it. Decided a bit of heat might be a good idea. Because I'm an idiot, I applied it with a blowtorch. The penetrating oil caught fire, and dripped fire into my oil catch tank, which now had a lot of penetrating oil in it. There was fire. I tried blowing it out, I singed my eyebrows and hair. I then had a better idea and dropped a towel over the catch can. Sorted! Idiot.

 

Things no longer on fire.

DZhx2QQW4AAWOUz.jpg

 

Removed the oil filler assembly, cleared it out (there were remnants of wire wool in the upper part, I guess I should replace that) applied instant gasket and refitted it. Did the same with the fuel pump. One of these pair was responsible for the oil leak. I guess I'll never know which one. 

 

Fresh 20w50 oil was placed inside the engine and the engine turned over sans ignition to get oil pressure up, and has just had a test run. All seems well. Test drive after lunch.

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Interesting...no sign of wire wool etc in the top of my breather either. Would definitely say stainless to replace it as it's subject to quite a bit of condensation in there.

 

Worth dismantling the two "caps" on the breather system and making sure the valves are clean and able to work - mine were both gummed up solid when I started work on mine - that wouldn't help any oil leaks.

 

Cleaning that strainer out has been bumped up to the top of my to do list when I'm back in the UK.

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Ah okay. Wasn't sure if it was that or flame trap.

Has that function too, although I've yet to hear of an incident where that function was needed!

 

Lots of surface area means that even very fine droplets of oil are captured. It's effectively a coalescing filter. Unlikely to have done very much for most of the engine's life, but the journey to FOU should see it doing something.

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