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The Doom Blue 1990 Mk3 Cavalier 1.8L- 999 Michael Buerk


MrSteve

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nice to see one that hasn't been GSI'd to death!!!!

 

The process was started by the previous owner, but only got as far as the lowered springs which are, frankly, shit. They twang and squeak and I can't get my trolley jack under the car very easily- standard height springs would be a welcome improvement.

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  • 5 weeks later...

So Michael, what act of completely avoidable misfortune occurred this week...?

 

MV5BODNiZWNjNDgtYmIyNi00OGYxLWEzOGYtMzc4

 

The Cav decided to start late Tuesday afternoon, so to celebrate I went for a hoon up the B6255 to Hawes in the Yorkshire Dales. As I neared Hawes my bladder indicated it was going to lose containment. So I headed to the public loos, which I found were now shut for the night.

 

Right, I'll have to find a layby and some trees/bushes...

 

Driving along, now getting the sweats from holding back the flood.

 

Pulled into the first layby with some modesty cover- by the river. I had to leave the engine running as I didn't want to be stuck miles from home if it decided not to start again.

 

The river bank was quite steep and uneven, but I got a footing and relieved the pressure. Mid-flow I heard cars coming and tried to duck down a bit, at which point I lost my footing and fell in. Just managed to catch onto some grass so I didn't disappear off downstream

 

Fucksticks. I was wet with water of all kinds, muddy and I'd jarred my shoulder. Hauled myself up the river bank. squelched back to the car, put the heater on and drove back home.

 

The crank sensor was going to pay for this...

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

The Meyle sensor, like most aftermarket sensors is made entirely from plastic, unlike the Bosch original. It hasn't aged well in the time it has been on the car- a few months and less than a hundred miles. It is weirdly distorted now.

002.jpg

So I ordered a Bosch sensor off ebay, which arrived this morning.

 

Comparison with new Bosch sensor:
002.jpg

Differences of note:

Thicker O-ring- approx. twice the diameter of the Bosch one. It also can't slide further up the sensor due to the step in the sensor body.

Thickness of the plastic bracket bit where the retaining Allen screw goes- plastic version is twice is thick as the metal one.

So with the Meyle sensor even once you overcome the difficulty of getting the short Allen screw to catch the thread in the block, it then fails to seat properly due to the fatter O-ring bending the retaining bracket, misaligning the magnetic section which also distorts as it heats up and gradually changes shape.

I suppose if you removed the O-ring on the plastic-bodied sensor then it would fit better, but then it might leak a bit of oil when running...which I suppose is kind of normal for Vauxhalls...

 

Fitting the Bosch sensor felt better- it made a satisfying gentle 'pop' sound as I pushed it home in the crankcase hole.

 

So with the Allen screw in, the connector plugged in, the key went in the ignition and...it fired up first time.

Yay- so now that sense of dread of will it/won't it start and the memory of the river incident will start to fade...

  :D

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Haha. I once had to use a verge as an impromptu urinal. I had both open doors to protect my modesty. It was breezy but nothing too bad. However, mid flow a large gust of wind blew my waterfall off course and I pissed into my own car.

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I went for an impromptu piss this afternoon, down the embankment of a lay-by on the A1079 just outside Hull. Fuck me, I was waste deep in crap down there - hundreds of bottles and cans, a suitcase, a big arc lamp, all manner of detritus and debris. One or two unmentionable and unidentifiable objects too. Think I was in sight-line of SUV and 4x4 people as well. So far from ideal. Didn't manage to lose my footing on either the way up or down though, so that was a bonus. Was a close thing though. There's a Nandos, a KFC and a MacD's about a mile further on but I was really dying for a slash so had to pull over.

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The back wheel of a double decker used to be a handy piss point, once had my cashbag half inched when doing so in Middleton (Leeds), joke was on the scroat, as it was empty and I had my quickchange in my other hand. Note I always kept wet wipes in my kitbag for this reason

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