rob88h

Little and Large.

Ha ha, “repair” is generous. For the Granada; I’ve been messing around with some exhaust bits I’ve finally managed to get hold of.

Tinkering Achieved. Firstly, the valve clearances were finally sorted by fitting new rockers and adjusting screws (and a new rocker cover gasket for good measure). It’s back to sounding like a little whisper quiet sewing machine, other than the noisy idler in the gearbox and the gear rattle in fourth. Timing has been set to 3 deg at 600rpm, a 5 degree reduction in advance, which makes sense having switched to electronic ignition. It’s not pinking now under load and hopefully it’ll have cured the overheats. I’m looking forward to having somewhere to go in it to check that out! With its mechanical maladies addressed I thought I’d begin on a gentle program of aesthetic maintenance. I started at the end, specifically the rear end. The bumper has lost all of it’s paint and quite frankly looks a right mess and although replacements are pretty cheap, this one is twisted and dented in all the right places. The number plate is almost completely delaminated meow. Removing it uncovers yet more bodywork horrors, naturally. – Anyway, Krust + POR15 and hide it under the bumper again and job’s a good’un. Shan’t lose sleep. The bumper was treated to Krust + the dregs of two Hammerite aerosols + Halfords mid-range satin black. I’ve not lacquered it as the City bumpers were sort of matt black from memory and as it is it’ll probably weather in more quickly. A new plate was put on with a pre-2001 font as the old one was sure to come up on the MOT as “legally too tatty”. A wash made a big improvement too. I really need to stop parking it up on bear earth under a big tree.

I took the Mini over to the Bromley car show this weekend. Turning up with it covered in filth seemed like a good idea having not made time to even run a sponge over it. I did have a hearty inward chuckle watching the immaculate e30 owners near me polishing their cars from having just driven in. Truely worst in show, but solace that it is in the show. Use them etc etc. However, it was nice to see a few doppelgängers in great condition to inspire me to tidy things up a bit (albeit I’d prefer to lose the wheels, arches and mk1 front off this) This Granada was “car of the show” for me. I don’t think I have deep enough pocket to get mine to this standard. A close second fave was the Granada’s period competitor, the Crown, in a very comparable spec. On the way out of the show the Mini was able to meet up with a few friends. We made it home ok, despite the timing (I think) being a bit out after fitting electronic ignition. It’s getting a bit hot and pinky under high speed and load on dual carriageways. Tinkering required.

The state of that interior 🙄

Yellow Submarine 🤷‍♂️ The name comes from Harrison, my super secretive internet moniker, and a pun on Harry’s Garage of Harry Metcalfe fame. It’s sort of an antithesis, instead of Countachs and Testerossas it’s Balenos and Sierras.

That way of protection is not its current life of road salt, bird poo and brake dust… Although it did just manage 100 miles on Tuesday to collect more Granada parts. I just need to keep using it because once it comes off the road I have a feeling repairs will escalate!

It's been a tough year on the Mini, but it is still with us. I should really consider some preservative measures sooner rather than later...

Time for an unsolicited fleet update – The Volvo. I’ve not been out much lately – most of the cars seem to live in general stasis with some gentle rotting (and some less gentle). When I do go anywhere, we invariably end up in the Focus for “practical” reasons. However, the Volvo just smashed out a 400 mile day no bother after languishing forgotten for some months. I’d finally managed to source some Granada mid-mufflers (more on that later) and thought sod the postal option, I’m going to collect these Rusty Unicorn Eggs myself and get them into my care through as few hands as possible. The poor running from a few years back is still gone after the Intake Air Temp sensor swap and I only had a few stutters at low rpm high load, but not bad really. The rust on the sill and along the bottom of the drivers door and wing hasn’t magically fixed itself though unfortunately. Although it’s about to 😊. I’ve dropped it off to a bodyshop as some slow burn work. It means it’s now stored at theirs rather than under a tree at mine, which is positive. I can play with the Lexus or the Mini as both are MOT’d still and when the 440 comes back it should be less crispy. It's a new place although brokered through (outsourced) by my preferred garage who don't run their own bodyshop anymore. Hopefully the work will be good - I'm assured it is - and if it is I have a whole load of rusting heaps I can send their way, haha. **Cough** Mini **Cough** The Volvo is beginning to feel it’s age now. It stands out in a carpark and is getting pretty tired. It’ll be 30 next year, I’ve somehow had if for about 10 years but then again I do find it grounding and it embodies a lot of what I like about this end of the motoring pool even before you consider it's heirloom status in my family. When it’s back I need to think about a new clutch, the current one is getting really heavy and the release bearing has been buzzing for a while. Small fry, but I also want to fit a new radio as the old head unit gave up. It was stuck on USB mode, the most useless of modes, and the source button wouldn’t work. I put in another from my spares pile but this one randomly shuts off – a problem I vaguely remember happening in the car I took it out of and thought it was the car not the radio... Anyway, I need to go for a third time lucky radio solution. Then, I think I just need to keep it clean, maintained and think up some adventures for it.

96,868 notifications is making me twitch.

Some excellent life choices. You’ve Estelled yourself there.

I’d use it through the winter, And never wash it clean. I’d abandon it in the mud for 3 months, SCENES REDACTED … I’d try and revive it come the Spring,

I’m inclined to agree. There’s something “gopping” Scorpio in the front lights arrangement. Maybe. Bargain though. Wooo. I wonder what the Group Noun would be. A delux of Lexus’ as a tongue twister. As for the story, I was offered it for a good price and have a hard time saying no to things like this. So I didn’t say no, haha. I know very little about the car itself or the model in general, but that’s the fun of chopping and changing about.

With the new old same age Focus OUT, the Lexus is IN (after a brief period of getting in the way at work). I also realised the reg SL52 EUX is an anagram of LEXUS (and if you really stretch it, LS [25]. 2 as an L is a bit iffy…)

Hang on... Is that a portrait of @Rust Collector?

The elusive “double fuel stop” photo. Both Focii taking a drink. [SPOILER ALERT: the diesel one started in the end after some extended cranking. I think there is air in the fuel system. Subsequent starts no bother. Unsure why it hated Saturday evening shopping duty]. Iz for sale (but I think sold).

Replacing the heater control cable on the diesel Focus “NGOB” (silent G) was possibly one of the worst jobs I’ve ever had to do on a car. The secret to its frustration is the simplicity of its intended procedure: two push in clips, two peg and hoop connections. The reality is there is so much the-rest-of-the-car in the way. The entire dash I think is supposed to come out, but my level of commitment wasn’t that bold and I didn’t want to mess with the airbags, steering column, binnacle etc etc. With a head torch donned, I lay in the footwell with my back breakingly arched diagonally over the sill and used a pick to tease out that white block. Over about an hour of experimenting with contortionist hand and forearm shapes whilst dropping various tools on my face there was really only one way onto the b@stard and eventually… it was out. Putting the new one in was just as hard. Quite probably another hour of being in a horrible position elbow deep in the sharp plastics side of the dashboard. I could either get good alignment or go pushing force, never both, until I summoned all my inner thumb phalange strength and sent it home. The other three connections were a doddle. Thank God. I can now request heat of whatever temperature I want! Finally everything I had to strip out went back in the dash. Great success. To wind down from the heater control debacle I addressed one of its long standing MOT advisories by replaced the rear plate. There’s a lot of satisfaction in a tidy plate. And yet, despite all this love and attention (and taking me out and about for 50-odd miles during the day) I jumped in it to go to the shops in the evening and it won’t start. FFS. I thought maybe immobiliser from what I’d been doing in the dash, but the light isn’t flashing. I tried resetting it with key methods from Google and by disconnecting the battery for 30 mins but still no start. Reading up on it over night is seems likely it’s a fuel problem. Airlock or low pressure from the pump.

Hard to say really, I didn’t measure it that way, sorry. In about the 10 seconds it took me to start it up and saunter round to the front to see if it was leaking, I’d say the diesel had made it 10-15cm down the pipework for the leak-off kit. A problem of my own making now: the injector return line fittings seem to be single use… one popped off on the way home. I’ve tightened up the clip by bending it closed a little tighter, but I’ll see if I can get some new ones and some little seals for the return lines. The heater is in hot mode (by hand) now and the air sure comes out hot. If I can get the new control cable in that’ll be one thing fixed at least, albeit like rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic in terms of priorities.

Harrison’s History #59 - Lexus LS430 I woke up today expecting a perfectly normal day. Little did I realise I’d end the day with a LS430.

Thanks for looking at this. Seems a bit different to what symptoms I have. I get: Cold idle : No issue (maybe) Hot idle : akin to randomised misfire or stumble. Seat shakes (engine moves). It’s not periodical like it’s the same cylinder or whatnot. It has also “stuck” at a fast idle on return to idle a couple of times, but may be unrelated. It’s worse under any load like engaging AC or even consuming vacuum by applying brakes. I’ve not looked at any DTC’s yet. I have a basic reader so I’ll give that a go. Nothing has thrown the MIL over this, but it is quite noticeably rough. Anything off idle seems fine. (I did wonder about a broken flywheel but there is no telltale clacking or noise, just the irregular shake. Also I guessed that a broken DMF would present at hot and cold)

Also on the lumpy hot idle shake still, the engine mount you can see without removing a load of stuff is not looking too hot. I presume the others are equally ripened. (I’ll rotate it later!) With regards the heating problem, the coolant was below MIN on the degas bottle and after a top up and proper bleed there was life in the heater core outlet hose. Huzzah and hurray it’s not blocked! It was short lived jubilations though as it was still only blowing cold air which meant the blend doors must be inoperable. Sure enough the dial side of the control cable is snapped: I’ve manually manipulated it to hot and lo and behold it now comes out the vents as hot air. A new cable is ordered and much psyching is underway to attempt to replace it without removing the entire dashboard. Seriously.

You know what, if I had an infinitely large barn in a time rift I could pile endless unfinished projects into, I’d like to have a go at taking the engine out and intend to but never actually service the belts and the other side of it with a new clutch and DMF while at it.

Thanks @sierraman for the advice. In terms of service history on the new Focus: 1. An MOT printout from 2018 in the glovebox. 2. A receipt for oil and brake fluid change at the same time. 3. Chinese Whisper of a botched fuel filter replacement that let air in and the car had to be parked on a hill a while to aide starting. I’m presuming upper and lower timing belts are not done, and having looked it what that entails, it’s a nope from me as well. However, I didn’t pay much for it; I think it was going to get scrapped, so for the love of End-of-Lifers I’ll just mess about with whatever interests me and punt it on to the next user, warts and all, be that someone in need/interested or even the scrap man. It does drive alright in its defence and these Mk2 Focii are pretty good and useful to be honest. Anyway, I’ve done some poking around it. I tried removing the MAF and that made it idle rough cold and hot, so not likely that. I checked the oil and it was very overfilled and quite thin. Me thinks awash with diesel. (That’s a glass of Pepsi Max by the way, not engine oil…) I could convince myself it smelled of diesel, but 5 year old engine oil just smells of oil to me. [hit submit by accident… still typing post] Next against the injectors was a leak-off test. I’ve not done one before so I was keen to give it a go. Armed with Amazon’s cheapest leak-off kit and a procedure from Google (I’ve since found out that might be for 2.0L Mondeos…) I set off to a remote carpark due to the anti-social 30 second stints at 3800 rpm. ”Good injectors should not leak more than 25ml” Hmm. 110ml is kinda like 25ml... On the plus side, at least they’re all equally borked in a balanced kind of way. I think the take-away here is that it could do with four new injectors, or I did the wrong procedure (warmed up 2 min idle, then x3 30 seconds 3800rpm and 30 seconds idle). It has then lead to a crisis of understanding that if this is return line diesel, then why is my trip computer MPG reading 34 and my sump full of diesel. Surely if it’s dumping buckets of diesel in the engine there is less being returned, not more? (unless it’s all to do with trying to maintain certain pressures so all the flow rates are up for baggy injectors - to and from the injector. Don’t know) I’m going to put all that diagnostic to one side in a “try and forget about it” box because the injectors look pricy and live for hope that this lumpy hot idle is all to do with the EGR and a can of Wynne’s EGR cleaner can make the car mint. TL:DR - Timing belts overdue, cba to replace them. Injectors are trash, cba to replace them

Harrison’s History #58 - Ford Focus What is better than one Focus Estate..? Dual wielding Focii, baby! When our blue mk2 Focus estate lost its clutch a few months ago I was offered a blue mk2 Focus estate as a potential replacement. Naturally I said yes (as it’s a little difficult to say no to more cars), but I still had the original Focus fixed regardless. Now my exceptional life choices have led me to an ensemble as complimentary as dual wielding the pistol and plasma pistol in Halo 2 (the ultimate combo). The petrol for high damage rapid attack and the diesel for long range Brute domination. I guess in this extended metaphor the old Mini is the plasma grenade. Some sort of grenade at least. The “new” older same age ‘08 Focus is a 1.8 diesel Style, pre facelift. It runs and drives but has some problems. Most notably a rough idle when warm. But also there’s no heater and a water leak in the boot.