Six Cylinders Motoring Notes - The BIG news of the day is I have driven my own Mini Mayfair for the first time!

[Six-cylinder]

I am planning to take my Citroen DS to France in October and because it has a bad misfire 1500rpm to 2500 rpm I booked it in with a Citroen Specialist but it has come back nearly as bad as it was. They say they will take it in again but what a pain.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

That is a pain, how difficult can it be to trace a bad misfire on a carb-and-points set up. As for taking it back again why would you? Did they hand it back saying theyd sorted it? Seems to be a lot of folk in the motor trade call themselves 'specialists' in this that and the other despite not having mastered the basics. Did they take money off you for their unsuccessful efforets?

 

My dad had a Beta saloon a few years back that developed some probelm with the electronic ignition. he got an auto electrician to look at it who fannied about for an hour before admitting that he couldnt fix it, but did my dad want to pay him for 'what he'd done so far'. I think my dad did cough up £40 or whatever. if i was unable to make any headway on a probelm in my supposed 'specialism' i would not have the brass neck to ask for any money, as i know human behaviour well enough to understand that if i did that more than about 10 times there'd be a 99.6% chance of being punched one of those times.

[RichardK]

Misfire 1500-2500... vacuum system somewhere? I've never worked on a DS so don't know how the advance etc. is set up.

[xtriple]

I had a misfire like that once that defeated the great and the wise. Thinking about it I realised it was when the advance and retard moved and checked and the wire from the pick-up was 'just' touch the casing when the baseplate advanced. 10 seconds with insulation tape and all fixed!

[Six-cylinder]

My DS is fitted with a 123 distributor, it takes about 20 miles for the misfire to start. Although the car drives perfectly at motorway speeds and sits happily at idle I am surprised they did not notice the problem the car as they drove it a fair amount. I am waiting for a call to see when they can take it in again.

[Eddie Honda]

Take the 123 off an go back to bog standard. If that cures it...

[Six-cylinder]

The car came with the 123 and I don't have the original distributor.

[RichardK]

Oh, christ, a 123. I had one of those on my Alpine, could never get the damn thing to work. Great idea in theory though, it was really frustrating. It has a timing light that should make it easy enough to set up though.

[richardmorris]

I would also blame the 123. I didn't want electronic ignition on the 2cv until we unearthed an old original lumenition set. There are lots of tales of 123 dying on 2cvs and causing running problems.

[Eddie Honda]

The car came with the 123 and I don't have the original distributor.

Er, it doesn't have to be the original. Beg/borrow/steal a correct spec bog standard dizzy. I would have thought the "specialist" would have something knocking around to at least rule it out.

 

If I was working on stuff like this I'd get out an old Souriau and a hair dryer and test the 123 on the bench...

[Six-cylinder]

My GS is having its front valance rebuilt. The rusty n-s front wing has been removed as I have a replacement.

[Six-cylinder]

Collected a replacement engine and Gearbox that I won on ebay for my e30 325i today, it was not needed any more because the seller has popped in a 4.4 V8 in his E30 touring instead!

 

I used my C15 van and it went in a treat with the aid of an engine crane. I drove the van 270 miles today and it drives very well considering it’s done 208k, in fact if you covered the speedo I would guess it was a low mileage van say 50k!

 

Only problem was the C15 blew a fuse for the wipers on the way there,I was donated one from the engine seller and the wiper still worked when I got home.

[RichardK]

4.4 E30 Touring. That, that is nice.

 

Wish I had time to help trace the 123 or other issues on the DS - but I've never worked on a DS. Main regret on the Alpine was that the 123 SHOULD have been a godsend, I had the right coil and everything, but it just didn't seem to ever want to behave. I've a horrid fear that I missed something excruciatingly obvious like an earth strap on the engine and gave up prematurely (sold it when I got the SL500 but I'd always wanted a proper Sunbeam Alpine - it was a GT with hardtop, too), but was so sure I checked all that.

[Six-cylinder]

4.4 E30 Touring. That, that is nice.

I do wonder if I should have bought a V8 for my E30!

[xtriple]

Had a 123 in my MGB and that bastard was never right. You could turn the dizzy loads with the engine running with no noticeable effect!

[Six-cylinder]

My DS is going back to the Citroen specialist tonight to be sorted tomorrow, so we will see.

[Six-cylinder]

I drove the DS 20 miles last night to meet the garage and collect the Xantia loan car, it did not misfire at all. The garage has to drive it into London this morning (Friday) lets hope that brings on the symptoms.

 

My friend Ian who has been helping me with the BMW E30 project got a bout of enthusiasm yesterday and dropped the replacement engine in, he did not have time to finish the job but got as far as turning on the starter without any strange noises.Fingers crossed.

[Six-cylinder]

Lovely day here in North Bucks today and driving my MX5 has made it even better!

 

"You'll be amazed at a Mazda"

[Six-cylinder]

There is always trouble around the corner!

 

This time the CX heater, I have had the a/c regassed and I am told the system is holding pressure and cutting in but the controls are not working, it is stuck on hot to the face vents.

[Six-cylinder]

I collected the DS last night just outside Aylesbury, it misfired after trafic lights in Aylesbury and then ran perfectly the next 17 miles home. They claim the mixture adjustment screw had come loose.

 

I handed over the CX to have the heater controls looked at.

[richardmorris]

There is always trouble around the corner!This time the CX heater, I have had the a/c regassed and I am told the system is holding pressure and cutting in but the controls are not working, it is stuck on hot to the face vents.

Easy enough! If not quick.

 

When I bought my Pallas everything was fine for a while then the heater only worked on full. Turned out the wiring was aged and non flexible and had cracked. It was only making a circuit when the ends were pushed together in the full front position. Now, when I took the centre console out all the cables controlling flaps were quite obvious- rather like cycle brake and gear cables. They probably need a clean up and oil.

[DSdriver]

I've got 123 on both my DS. One has a carb and the other is EFI. The only problem that I have had was a dodgy distributor cap/plug leads. We found this out after putting a new dizzy in but not bothering to change the cap/leads. It is easy to jump to the wrong conclusion because a lot of people say 123 are troublesome. It is also a lot easier to check by replacing the cap than the whole dizzy.

[DSdriver]

I thought there was a DS engine with your name on it up at FDBs gaff. I can't remember if it had the dizzy though.

[Six-cylinder]

I thought there was a DS engine with your name on it up at FDBs gaff. I can't remember if it had the dizzy though.

I have that engine in storage but it is from a 23 injection will the distributor be the same?

[DSdriver]

Dunno. What engine is in the car at the moment? It will fit in the hole but might affect performance if the bob weights are different. But it will tell you if the 123 is at fault or not. But I would try changing the cap first cos that was my problem and because it was fairly new did not figure on our list of likely causes.

[Six-cylinder]

Dunno. What engine is in the car at the moment? It will fit in the hole but might affect performance if the bob weights are different. But it will tell you if the 123 is at fault or not. But I would try changing the cap first cos that was my problem and because it was fairly new did not figure on our list of likely causes.

Mine is a 1972 2.0 carburettor car, D Super 4 speed manual. I will let my garage have one more try before I start looking elsewhere.

 

Because the car has run perfectly since Aylesbury I have used it today, first to do local errands, then into Milton Keynes to view a car and it was still running perfectly so I ran it at speed up and down the A5 dual carriageway, rested it for 10 minutes in a petrol station and then straight away to red traffic lights that caused it to misfire badly. 10 miles at a steady 50/60 mph and the misfire was gone.

[Six-cylinder]

The replacement engine for my BMW 325i E30 is in and running, just needs a manifold gasket as reusing the old one hasn't worked. It maybe ready for MOT next week.

[Six-cylinder]

Wanted has anybody got a spare CX temperature control lever for sale. It is for my S1, unusual I am told because it is the type that is between the front seats but is climate control with numbers marked on it. It is an electrical switch setting the temp, the roof sensor has been checked and temporally bypassed to test the flap moves and all seems fine. The heating is set on hot only at the moment.

[richardmorris]

Does the lever move or not? Once the console is removed - only a few screws fore and aft, you can see the mechanism. This is a bit like a metal cage that the levers make contact with. It's 15 years since I took mine apart so memory is fuzzy but I think the electric wires connect via a spade terminal to the bottom of the lever and this makes contact at various points along the brass track.

Mine was the same with the temperatures marked, but it didn't have the ac actually fitted as this was due to be done in Australia. Still had the electric gubbins though and that funny twiddly switch.

[RichardK]

That switch should be repairable; if you can't find one I'll have a go at printing a substitute when the kit arrives.