Peter C

Any ideas guys?

After I fired up the engine via the battery charger on Monday evening, I left the battery to charge overnight. In the morning, the charger battery level light was still only on amber, which I assumed meant that the battery was refusing to receive / hold charge. Time for a new battery. Getting hold of the correct replacement battery should have been easy but Euro Car Parts, specifically their website, made the process very complicated and it took me two days to source the correct battery. I have been advised that the battery that was in the Sierra was not right for the car. Apparently, the battery was more suited to a diesel engine or a much larger capacity pez motor. I measured the battery. I also measured the battery tray, which has three holes for the clamp bolt, which means that the battery tray can accommodate different sized batteries. Clever. Replacement battery purchased and fitted. The weather forecast for today was dry and sunny so I decided to take the Sierra to work. I got my surveying kit in the boot. I drove from home along the M40 and M25 to Old Windsor, then into Windsor, then along the M4 and A404 to Marlow, then to High Wycombe, then back home, approx 65 miles, I think. The exhaust fumes smell has been fixed. Evidently, exhaust fumes have been getting past the old gaskets / loose manifold and downpipe fixings and replacing the lot has fixed the problem. On route home I popped into Wickes to buy a fence post. Which fitted easily inside the cabin. I have a few more jobs in mind for the Sierra but you will hear about them next week as I have non car related plans for this weekend.

Flimsy, slow, cramped, shit. Never again.

New exhaust manifold gasket arrived this afternoon. Old and new. Exhaust manifold to downpipe joint now has new gasket, washers and nuts. Exhaust manifold went back on without any problems. I refitted all the other bits and tried to start the engine. Nothing, the oil light came on, the ignition light was barely on, as were the dashboard lights (when I turned the lights on). The battery was dead. I brought out my battery charger to join the party. After 5 minutes on fast charge, the Pinto fired up. Not sure what caused the battery to go completely flat. The battery survived the two month lay up whilst I was fiddling with the Sierra and everything performed just fine during last Sunday's outing. I let the engine idle for a few minutes. Once warmed up, I could hear a very (and I mean very) slight tick tick tick from the exhaust manifold / top of the downpipe. I'm sure all the nuts are nice and tight. Perhaps there is a small crack in the downpipe somewhere? I will tighten up the exhaust manifold nuts tomorrow.

Shopping car? Not me guv. My latest car was the envy of every rep that attended the 1988 National Double Glazing Sales & Installation Federation roadshow, which took place in a Crossroads style hotel somewhere in the east Midlands on a rainy Wednesday afternoon.

Sticking with the Escort theme, shortly after I turned down the Harrier, I was planning on selling my Guards Red Porsche 924 for £3.5k with a view to buy a Mk4 Escort cabriolet. Trouble was, my mum wanted the Porsche for herself but due to logistics, I had to wait a couple of months before she could give me the money. By the tine I got the cash, spring had arrived and Mk4 convertible prices increased to the point that £3.5k would only buy a Mk3 convertible. I missed out and bought a Citroen AX GT but that’s another story.

Many years ago I was offered a running Harrier for £100 but I declined on the grounds that Mk2 Escorts were uncool.

I know a bloke who bought a four door old Ford that was supposed to be a good ‘un. Best of luck!

No thank you. The engine is clean and dry, that's good enough for me.

Plan for today was to dismantle the exhaust manifold and downpipe, replace all gaskets and fixings and reassemble the same. On this occasion there was no need to lift the car. The hydraulic jack supports the exhaust pipe at the right height. The downpipe to exhaust fixings are easy to reach and came apart easily. With the air filter housing and a couple of hoses shifted to one side, access to the exhaust manifold couldn't be better. Last time I removed the exhaust manifold, all eight studs came out with the bolts. On this occasion, one stud didn't fancy coming out, however I managed to persuade it by tightening two nuts together and ongoing the inner one. The exhaust ports on the cylinder head were a little coked up but there was no evidence of any significant problems. The new fixings and cylinder head to manifold gaskets came in 7 different plastic bags. Ridiculous. I hate excessive packaging. I cleaned up the cylinder head and fitted the new studs and gaskets. The new studs screw in with an allen key, nice. The mating surfaces on the exhaust manifold looked ok, just a bit of cast iron associated pitting and surface corrosion. I clamped the downpipe and exhaust manifold in the vice. These two nuts didn't look original. I thought I'd have a go at undoing them with a couple of 17mm spanners. No chance! Completely seized solid. It took me about 45 minutes to carefully grind and file down these two nuts and remove them. Unfortunately, the single nut on the other bolt, which looked original, was a nightmare to remove. It took me over an hour to grind and file it along two sides before the bloody thing finally budged. Good news is that I manged to get the old nuts off without causing too much damage to the studs. These are definitely not going into my old spare nuts and bolts container. First time in 37 years, the exhaust manifold and downpipe are apart. The gasket was corroded but intact. I cleaned the mating surfaces of the exhaust manifold and downpipe. There is some pitting but both look ok for re-use. The replacement gasket was due to arrive today. Disappointment promptly followed joy when I saw the postman and found out that he delivered vitamins for my schnauzer and not the new gasket. Bugger. I can do no more until the new gasket arrives. In other news, I removed the spark plugs to check their condition. All look good. Next update soon.

Extra point for a Ford Cortina.

Wind up windows in a Mondeo? Well I never.

Link not working for me.

It looks ok and it’s cheap!

Snap. I do the same. I have a wooden storage unit where I keep all the bits, separated in order, all neat and tidy. That’s where the replacement bolt for the Sierra’s air filter housing came from. However, my stash didn’t contain the right nuts for the downpipe studs and the £1 job lot had to come to the rescue.

I’m gathering parts for the removal and correct reinstatement of the exhaust manifold and downpipe. eBay has been my friend for the gaskets and exhaust manifold nuts, bolts and washers. A couple of years ago, I bought this storage unit with all contents at the Enfield Pageant for the grand sum of £1.00 Amongst various treasures, it contains the correct size nuts for the manifold to downpipe joint. Small win. I’m so looking forward to grinding the old nuts off. Not.

No access without registration.

I was thinking about sorting out this issue whilst nodding off to sleep last night. Gasket ordered.

I know, it makes sense to replace these nuts and the gasket.

Believe me, the smell is bad. I still have a headache. The residue from WD40 etc would have burned off by now.

I hear what you’re saying but I’m pretty sure it’s exhaust gases. The smell is definitely coming from the engine bay.

And I have also ordered a set of new gaskets.

Sharing my exploits with you scallywags is half the fun of owning a 37 year old Ford.