Project Korean Cortina - MOT day

[mat_the_cat]

I got my new matrix yesterday!

 

 

I made a start on fitting it but the mounting for the valve isn't quite in the same position so I will need to cut away a little of the housing, and maybe make up a spacer plate so that the valve linkage clears the plastic moulding But at least this matrix will be repairable in future.

[mat_the_cat]

The sun was actually shining this morning, so it emerged from the garage in order for me to work on it!

 

 

I put the new matrix in the heater casing, and used a squirt of Sikaflex to seal where I had to trim the plastic for clearance:

 

 

And this is why getting the heater unit in and out is a pain! The brass pipes protrude through the bulkhead, therefore stopping you from just sliding in the unit for the side. Annoyingly they're clamped to the back of the unit too, just to make life awkward...

 

 

While the heater motor was out I decided to strip it for a spot of maintenance...it turned out to be full of fluff!

 

 

I gave it a good clean out, smoothed out the commutator with fine sandpaper, and oiled the bearings before reassembly. Only a small job, but I got a big sense of satisfaction from it! Even though I do have a spare...

 

After most of the day It's just about done, but still a few bits of trim to sort out. Leak-free, and no signs of steaming up

 

 

[Rocket88]

Following with interest, as always...........top work

[mat_the_cat]

Today has been the first day of the year where the weather has been dry and roads not gritted! So I taxed it and took it for a spin, to see what effect the suspension changes have had on the handling.

 

Lovely evening, quiet roads, window down and (newly refurbished) heater kicking out enough warm to take off the chill. Beautiful South blasting out of the speakers taking me right back to 1996. Could life really get any better?

 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, now it has a front ARB there is noticeably less body roll in corners. No knocking over bumps/undulations so it suggests there is enough sump clearance. The dampers are on their softest setting, so as I thought I will need to firm them up a bit. I read a guide somewhere to stiffen them up two notches at a time until the ride *just* becomes harsh, then back off one notch - which is what I will try.

[tooSavvy]

... I'll probably be attacking my new dampers with a hacksaw before fitting....

 

TS

[mat_the_cat]

Even just two notches on the dampers seems to have got it handling a lot better - had a very enjoyable drive last night!

 

But the voltage problem at low revs still remains. Now I think about it, it's not the fact that the alternator is not starting to charge (as the light goes out) but that the voltage is dropping significantly at idle. So much so that with the HRW, headlights and blowers on, the radio cuts out. And the lights are very dim!

 

I've bought a couple of cheap LED voltmeters, so I can temporarily wire them one at the main junction box under the bonnet, and one at the (rear-mounted) battery. That way I can see immediately what the voltages are, and whether there's an additional issue with voltage drop under load. 

[mat_the_cat]

Right, this is getting a bit strange. I'm measuring the battery voltage, and that at the main underbonnet fusebox. All seems OK at idle just after starting:

 

 

But turn on lights, blower and radiator fans:

 

 

Even more worrying is when I rev it, it still doesn't get high enough:

 

 

This would make me think alternator, EXCEPT when I turned the engine off, the voltage dropped to 9.8 volts on both displays (verified directly across the battery with another meter). The even more strange thing was that if I flicked the ignition back on (didn't crank) the voltage went UP to around 11.7 V!!! And stayed at that level when I turned the ignition off.

 

So my battery voltage is too low; however I don't have any problems with a slow starter motor, and it seems to have plenty of life even after extended cranking. I'm going to stick another battery on it temporarily as a zero cost experiment, but could a failing battery still drag the voltage down of a good alternator even at high revs. Wonder if the charge current demanded by the battery coupled with the other items turned on is too much for the alternator output?

[mat_the_cat]

I also posted here regarding the problem, but I'm still not really understanding.

 

Battery resting voltage is now measuring OK at 12.5/12.6 volts! Swapped another used battery in there, and the voltage when running was the same, i.e. too low but surely if the alternator is not charging then a 'good' battery should be able to act as a buffer and prevent voltage drop. Can a failing alternator drag the voltage down on a decent battery?

[Pete-M]

A failing alternator is what you've got.

[mat_the_cat]

It does seem to point that way, but I'm wondering if that isn't my only problem...

 

The low voltage at idle has been there all along, even straight after I rebuilt the alternator. Wonder if I have made a mistake, or perhaps damaged one of the diodes during soldering. The flicker could be down to the fact it may be missing a phase, giving a voltage ripple?

 

Every cloud has a silver lining though, and a new alternator would be the chance to upgrade from a Lucas 18ACR (43 amps) to maybe an A127 (75 amps) which I think is a straight swap.

[mat_the_cat]

I've bitten the bullet now!

 

 

Montego/Maestro alternator, should be plug and play with the old ACR type, and about half the price to boot!

[mat_the_cat]

Since the engine swap, some things have become more awkward to access. Not so the alternator, which couldn't be easier!

 

 

New one into place...

 

 

...and charging nicely - this is at idle with blower motor, radiator fans, headlights and HRW on.

 

 

I did notice that the drive pulley is *much* smaller on the new one, which can only help too.

[Skizzer]

I just love this car. Need to bag a ride in it at some point.

[mat_the_cat]

I'm sure something can be arranged, but don't set your expectations too high!

 

Update on the charging after a few hundred miles is all good news. No flickering at idle, no significant voltage drop under load and unsurprisingly the headlights are noticeably brighter. An all round win I would say!

[mat_the_cat]

The damping is just about right I think now, after a bit of trial and error adjusting. I had a fantastically enjoyable drive earlier this evening, although (ironically) getting briefly stuck behind an i30 at one stage. I do wonder whether he did some research on Hyundai's heritage when he got home...

 

I found a spot for a photo too - I love the new colour!

 

[mat_the_cat]

All being well this should be my transport for SF this weekend, although not going to arrive until very late Friday or early hours of Saturday. After our holiday I found it had a flat battery, despite being plugged in to charge. Sadly forgetting to check the joining connector in the charger's main lead was fully connected, so the LED on the charger flattened the battery over 3 weeks

 

This seemed to pretty much finish off the old battery and was reluctant to crank it even after charging, so a nice new battery now sits in the boot:

 

[RayMK]

Mine is running ok, so I'll drive over on Saturday and hang around in the hope of meeting you and your car.  Some time ago I fitted the front overrider which you kindly salvaged from the London scrapper.  Some well deserved beer tokens have been allocated for the effort and postage involved.

 

In your trailer thread, you showed the BX as the tow car.  I like BXs (particularly when they are not mine  ), but assume you have a towbar on the Stellar.   

 

Edit: I checked back in this thread, and yes, you do indeed have a towbar on the Stellar.  Note to myself: Smack on the wrist for not paying attention.

[mat_the_cat]

Look forwards to seeing you there

 

The BX is a (relatively) recent purchase as I've only owned that for 12 years - I just used that to move around the trailer as it was already outside. It's been off the road for a year or so but should be MOT'd in the next couple of weeks...

[dollywobbler]

Oh gosh. I hope I don't miss the spectacle of TWO Stellars in one place while we're playing with trains!

[mat_the_cat]

Oh gosh. I hope I don't miss the spectacle of TWO Stellars in one place while we're playing with trains!

 

Here is the proof!

 

 

 

Sadly all is not well - took something like 7 hours to do the 180 miles back (including stopping for tinkering). Looking like a fuelling problem - the symptoms are as follows:

 

Loss of power and increase in vibration, but not complete engine cutting out. Feels as if possibly running on 4 cylinders, but seems less than 50% power (maybe because the 4 firing cylinders are still having to compress 4 others?)

 

It’s triggered by pressing the throttle down beyond a certain point, typically enough to travel at 40-50 mph on the flat. If you floor the throttle it will accelerate hard for a few seconds, then lose power.  If you press down slightly it will accelerate gradually (as you’d expect) for maybe up to a minute before losing power. Back off and it recovers. Any opening of the throttle immediately after recover causes instant power loss.

 

Seems worse with heat, but more (I think) down to gradual heat soak rather than engine temperature. Over 3 days it’s feel fine the first 45 minutes to an hour from cold, then it starts happening. Leaving it half an hour turned off with the bonnet shut made it worse; half an hour with the bonnet open and cold water over the carbs made it a lot better and OK for another 40 minutes or so. (Even though engine water temperature still showing hot).

 

Plenty of fuel flowing through the filter and back to the tank, so doesn’t appear to be a problem getting it to the carbs. I’m thinking that the only cause can be a restriction in filling up one of the float bowls. At low fuel demands enough fuel can flow it to replace what is being drawn out, but not at high demands.

 

I was in a reasonable enough mood to take a photo in one scenic location I stopped at, so it could have been worse...

 

[sheffcortinacentre]

Sounds like fuel starvation I'd try another pump.

[JayW]

I just had a problem with the Valver, very similar symptoms. Would run fine at low revs but died back when pushed, also worse when hot under the bonnet.

 

Twas a duff coil. Probably not relevant, but coincidental nonetheless.

[Rocket88]

I would also suspect an overheating coil................

[mat_the_cat]

Hmmm, I'm fairly sure it's not the coil from the symptoms it's shown so far - previous intermittant coil failures have caused the rev counter to flick to zero, and been accompanied by a bang as the unburnt fuel drawn into the exhaust ignited! Also, it does still proceed under (very) reduced power; longest continous stretch being a mile. I can't see a coil failure mode which would still cause ignition but at reduced power?

 

My first thought was fuel starvation too, but there appeared to be plenty of fuel flowing back to the tank (at least when checked whilst stationary), and no improvement with the return blanked off. Not ruling it out, but might rig up a pressure gauge on the fuel line to prove or disprove it before digging further...

 

On the plus side, it's been a kick up the rear to get the BX back on the road, which goes for its MOT tomorrow. I've actually done more miles in the BX than the Stellar although owned for 8 years less, so it does feel like home getting behind the wheel again

[M'coli]

Do the Strombergs have their own internal wire gauze filters?

[RayMK]

Similar symptoms can be caused by a fuel tank which is not venting adequately i.e. drawing a slight vacuum.  The effects are not present from cold but will increase with demand and/or under bonnet temperature if your fuel pump is in the engine bay.  The pump is probably only doing so at 3-5psi for a carb set-up but in the upstream pipework between tank and pump the pressure can go slightly negative (in pulses) as the pump is drawing fuel from the lower level of the tank.  This will exacerbate the tendency of the fuel to vapour lock with increasing temperature.  Ethanol furthers this tendency.   You could try driving with the fuel cap loose in order to remove this possibility from your investigations.  Cars with fuel injection run with at least 10psi fuel pump pressure and are deliberately set up to keep the tank under slight vacuum to reduce emissions.  The difference, apart from the higher pressure, is that the fuel pump is either in the tank or right next to it so that the pump is pushing, not sucking for the majority of the pipework.

 

 

Good luck with the BX MOT.  My Stellar passed its MOT today with advisories on (slight) corrosion on the brake discs.

[Noel Tidybeard]

maybe the engine bay is too air tight and needs moar ventilation

[mat_the_cat]

Not done anything with the fuelling, but I heard of a chap selling off a load of Hyundai NOS parts, including some Stellar bits so naturally I couldn't resist. It was a 400 mile round trip away, but I combined it with a Citroen show (and collecting a tandem!) to help justify it...

 

He ran a dealership 30 or so years ago until he retired, and is only now clearing it out. Unfortunately I didn't take any photos there but it was a bit of an Aladdin's cave. The majority of bits were for the Pony or the facelifted Stellar but after about an hour I had a reasonable haul of bits I recognised:

 

 

 

Window motor, electric aerial, stalks, instruments, ignition switch, window seals, interior mirror, loads of stainless trims, bonnet latch, and a complete rear panel!

[mat_the_cat]

Well, it looks as though several posts have been lost with the ill-fated upgrade to the forum. But in a nutshell, I managed to replicate the fuelling problems and when the symptoms occurred, I was able to see bubbles in the fuel filter after the pump - suggesting it's vaporisation after all.

 

So I'm going to relocate the pump to the boot, where it will be both cooler and most of the line will be under pressure rather than suction. So far all I've done is drill some holes in the boot floor, and run a loop of hose to where I'm planning to put it. Then I got sidetracked with less essential but more interesting things!

 

Some of my gauges have faded from sunlight (presumably before we moved to Wales?), so I took the ones from the new clocks, and swapped them into mine. I didn't want to change the speedo (as that would lose the mileage record) or the rev counter (which is modified to work with the V8).

 

 

...to...

 

 

Since then it's failed the MOT on a rear brake - axle oil seal failed 5k miles after replacement and contaminated the drum, worn rear suspension bushes, and a melted rear seatbelt. The latter has gone through two MOTs at the same garage, but the new tester they have I think is mistaken. As I understand it (any testers able to confirm?), the seatbelt rule only applies to belts which are legally required to be fitted. And as this is a 1985 car, the rear belts shouldn't be a testable item.

 

I've actually removed the buckle from the affected belt, so it can't be used. I haven't carried a rear seat passenger since 2001 I think, and I've only left the upper belt in place as the non-symmetry of having a missing belt in the rear view mirror would bug me!

 

So I'll challenge that, but on to the more important failures. Yes, that's definitely leaking!

 

 

And a visible gap in a suspension bush is never good news Although these are PU bushes they're clearly not infallible, although they were renewed in 2001 so have done considerably more than the 5k miles since most things were rebuilt.

 

 

I was able to push it out by hand, and interestingly it seemed narrower than the new bush.

 

 

I went for the 2-piece type (Powerflex) this time, as they're easier to install.

 

Halfshaft out, ready for a new bearing and oil seal:

 

 

Still waiting for the bearing to arrive but have put the new bushes in - a nice easy job although I had to use ratchet straps to get the axle into the right position before I could push the bolt through.

 

[oldford]

If the belt is fitted, it's testable.  It's not required in that age of car, so you can completely remove it.