Stanky's Car Fixing Thread - General update 05/05/25

[Talbot]

  On 30/07/2021 at 12:52, Stanky said:

I have broken the c-clip that holds the CV joint onto the driveshaft. Its now in 2 pieces

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These are standard components, (like circlips, split-pins etc) which can be bought for pennies.  Thusly: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293732100643?hash=item4463cc2a23:g:S5sAAOSwOBhfXN7Y

I'll get the engine crane ready for transport to you.  How soon do you want it?

[Stanky]

  On 08/08/2021 at 13:01, Talbot said:

These are standard components, (like circlips, split-pins etc) which can be bought for pennies.  Thusly: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/293732100643?hash=item4463cc2a23:g:S5sAAOSwOBhfXN7Y

I'll get the engine crane ready for transport to you.  How soon do you want it?

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Ta, The kits seems to come with a new one so I think/hope I'm OK but useful to know!

I don't think I'll be in a position to need the crane until Sept/Oct time, so little while yet, but thank you - As soon as I know when I'll be going to get the tool cab I'll PM you to arrange dropping that over to you, and collecting the crane if thats ok?

[Stanky]

I wonder if anyone can help. Posibly a bit of a longshot but I’m having real issues with these CV joints.

I have ordered two now, and both do not appear to fit the end of the driveshaft. Measuring with calipers, the CV joint splined female section is 21.6mm, the male end of the driveshaft is 23.5mm.

This is with a brand new Febest 0910-025 CV joint kit which is listed as compatible for the Sirion Rally 2 here:

https://www.123spareparts.co.uk/car-parts/febest/p-8717139

This is compatible with the Toyota part number 4341097401 so I am very confused!

All I can think is that the driveshaft is different to the Sirion Sport - its thicker so the driveshaft won’t fit in the CV joint? I have a secondhand driveshaft with CV joints here on the bench and it looks to be identical. The issue I have is that it came without the hub nut and the hub nut from my old CV joint is totally wrecked so thats not going to be recycled. I ordered two new hub nuts and they arrived today as well. These fit the new CV joint, but are too big for the old CV joints threaded ends so I am doubly confused.

Can anyone help?

[sierraman]

I’ve had this as well. Just buy a full driveshaft, J&R aren’t too bad. 

[Stanky]

  On 13/08/2021 at 15:08, sierraman said:

I’ve had this as well. Just buy a full driveshaft, J&R aren’t too bad. 

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If only they stocked them! I can't find full driveshafts for Daihatsu Sirion m100s anywhere, if anyone is better at google-fu than me please let me know, but its proving a right war finding replacements.

[Stanky]

Plan B would be to find what I believe is an M20x1.5 hub nut that will work. The one that I mangled while removing is part number 90041-79274

https://ersatzteile-toyota.com/DAI-90041-79274

I have a secondhand driveshaft here with both CV joints attached, but is missing the hub nut. 

[Eyersey1234]

  On 13/08/2021 at 15:33, Stanky said:

Plan B would be to find what I believe is an M20x1.5 hub nut that will work. The one that I mangled while removing is part number 90041-79274

https://ersatzteile-toyota.com/DAI-90041-79274

I have a secondhand driveshaft here with both CV joints attached, but is missing the hub nut. 

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For a second I read that as Hubnut, I thought @dollywobblerhad gone missing in action 🤣

[Wgl2019]

Not sure if this helps...... No complete driveshaft listed but three alternatives for CV joints by the same manufacturer on Autodoc..... maybe one of these matches what you need?

 

[sierraman]

AUTODOC are ok if you don’t mind it arriving in 2023 with a customs bill. That said for something obscure it might be only option. Prior to that I’d be tempted to contact J&R and see if they can see if a shaft off another car would be compatible? I know they make shafts for rallying etc so they may have the solution. 

[Stanky]

  On 14/08/2021 at 02:43, Wgl2019 said:

Not sure if this helps...... No complete driveshaft listed but three alternatives for CV joints by the same manufacturer on Autodoc..... maybe one of these matches what you need?

 

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Thanks, the most recent '100% compatible' CV joint was from autodoc and was no good. I've checked those and they all seem to have an M22 thread which is definitely wrong.

I've got a hub nut on order from Toyota so we'll see what's what. I'll also contact j&r again and see what they can do about a complete unit

[Stanky]

I gave the old CV joint a good clean up and discovered some part numbers stamped into it. I don’t know if these help - certainly they didn’t uncover anything particularly useful on Google, but one has the code:

64 79LAC NTN 381

stamped in it, the other - attached to the secondhand driveshaft has the code:

43 79LAC NTN 223

Stamped into it. Both have ‘79LAC’ in common. Here is a detailed diagram of the key measurements

Anyone able to help at all? All the CV joints I can find have 19 internal teeth in the splined female section that goes on the driveshaft, or 26 teeth on the external section that goes into the wheel hub. Both new 'compatible' CV joints I have here have 19 internal splines, hence why they do not fit.

Also, just to be sure, when measuring splines - especially the internal driveshaft side - I'm counting the peaks, not troughs, correct?

[Stanky]

Now this is just bizarre. On page 983427819934 of Google results for ‘79LAC CV Joint’ is a link to a PDF of Metelli (?) CV joints matching to original part numbers. 79LAC is an OEM Daihatsu part number from a 1988 - 1992 Charade 3. Looking very closely at the specs, it does indeed have 24 outer splines, 21 inner splines, an overall diameter at widest point of 75mm and a 57mm outer shaft length - identical to what I measured on mine.

Some further google fu of the corresponding Metelli part number, 15-1294 turns up a couple of these on ebay, for a not unreasonable amount of money. The specs on the ebay parts seems to tie up to the Metelli catalogue and whats on my car.

The question I have though is why on earth does my Sirion have what I can only assume is 1988 - 1992 Charade 3 GT-ti (G102?) front hubs and driveshafts? The engine is absolutely certainly the K3-VE2/3SZ-FE engine the car ought to have, but the CV joints on the driveshaft on the car, and the CV joint on the spare driveshaft I have here are both these 79LAC units from a much, much older Charade? 

Everywhere I have looked, the Rally 2 should have the driveshafts and CV joints I've already purchased, but they categorically do not fit the driveshaft or hub on my car.

goes away to have a lie down

[Stanky]

The bastard new CV joint has the right number of splines, but is physically longer, throws the hub out at daft camber and the hub won't rotate with it in place.

I've fucked it all off now, and started stripping the front end ready to pull the engine out to replace the clutch and auxbelt. So far both driveshafts are out, the gearbox end of the gear linkage, exhaust pipe to downpipe joint disconnected, and intake bits removed back to the throttle body.

Next stage is draining the coolant and removing the rad and fans from the front of the engine, and throttle body and inlet manifold from the back of the engine. Then undoing the steering column and pulling any and all electrical connectors out.

Once ready, i hope to pull the engine the weekend of the 11th sept with some help from my brother. I have a complete 2nd hand driveshaft to fit if it ever goes back together.

What a fucking carry on. I wish I'd just used a split boot now. 

[Stanky]

I treated myself to a new thing from the local indie motor factors place.

a 12v oil pump. I'd been looking at Pela ones but they seem to be very expensive for what they are, I was in the factors the other week collecting filters I'd bought from www.caarparts.co.uk (which seems to be ECP but selling through local factors for anyone wanting to support their local place) and saw they sold these ones for £25. Since an equivalent one from ebay was £23 with no chance of a warranty I opted to spend a few more quid to support a local trader (and probably China's economy) and picked this up today.

The merc was due an oil change anyway so I set it up and got it going. The oil had warmed up a bit from my drive to and from the shops and it merrily whirred away to itself while I replaced the oil filter, updated the service book and reset the service interval thing on the dashboard. It took about 15 minutes to pump out 6 litres of old oil straight into the 20l barrel I keep for old oil specifically.

 

What a revelation. No arsing about with undertrays and ramps and things and the only muck I got on myself was from the oily rag I used to wipe up a couple of drips from the filter element. Slopped the new oil in and job done. Brilliant bit of kit. Its probably noisier than a Pela and does need a 12v power source but is an excellent thing, if I get three uses out of it then I reckon I'll have had my money's worth. It'd do for vacuum brake bleeding and filling gearboxes too I reckon so a handy thing to have around.

[Stanky]

A bit more dismantling progress this afternoon, the coolant system has been drained, and main radiator hoses removed. The clutch cable has been slacked off and unclipped from the clutch arm on the gearbox, the throttle body and inlet manifold are off to improve access round the back of the engine, and most of the wiring has been unplugged.

I'm still in 2 minds about how to do this - mostly hinging on the AC system which is is the way of everything. if I lower the engine out the bottom on the subframe  cradle, then lift the body off the cradle, it should be OK as I can lift the body just far enough to get clearance to pull the gearbox off. A lot of the cables and AC system have what I reckon to be enough 'slack' in them that I don't have to pull them out entirely which will make reassembly quicker and easier.

If I lower the body/nose down to the ground and lift the engine out the top, access will be better but I'll have to basically undo the entire loom and work out how to disconnect the AC system without gassing myself. I think its possible to unbolt the AC compressor from the aux belt/engine and then leave it all behind as I lift out the engine and gearbox but access that end is utterly dire.

 

[Stanky]

@Talbot - Any chance I could come over your way and collect the engine crane this weekend or one evening next week and borrow the engine crane please?

[Stanky]

Here we are, nearly 5 years and 20 pages since I started this thread and we're back on familiar ground. Changing another clutch. Except this time the work is quite a bit more radical. The Sirion needed its clutch changed, it judders from cold and has led a hard life. Its managed 120k so I'm not too displeased with its innings. FWD clutches are a pain in general, the clutch in the sirion is easily a 5-spanner job. Because its a smoll car, with a transverse engine, the whole ruddy lot has to come out. The engine and gearbox are the entire width of the front inner wings, there is about 1" either side of the engine when its in, and with a full engine cradle subframe you can't drop one side down to do the job. There are two options. Remove the entire subframe with engine in situ, or unbolt the engine from the subframe and pull it out the top.

Honestly, neither option is particularly palatable. In the end I chose to take it out the top, as taking the subframe out requires undoing the steering columnas well as all the other things, and then lifting the body off the whole subframe assembly which looks 0/10 for fun.

I'd spent several evenings this week doing the prep work. I'd disassembled the front suspension, removed the driveshafts, drained the gearbox, drained the coolant, removed the intake manifold, throttle body, hoses, about 8 million connectors and the gear linkage from the engine end. I'd also disconnected the exhaust from the downpipe.

I have my brother coming down tomorrow to help with further work, but had some time this afternoon to carry on the prep work, and made good progress. I ended up hiring an engine crane from a local place

(Beaver Tool Hire, fnarr etc)

I bought myself a load leveller from ebay for £20 to make things easier. There are relatively few pics of the next bit because it was really humid, I had a very heavy engine on a crane swinging about and had limited access. I was able to undo the 3 engine mounts with relative ease, and had the engine firmly attached to the load leveller, but it became apparent that there wasn't enough room to get it all out without further dismantling. I had to remove the front bumper, the radiator & the radiator support bar  to clear the front up so I could swing the engine and gearbox out.

I was still having issues, as the PAS pipework and AC pipework was attached to the pump and compressor respectively. I couldn't remove these until the engine was free, so had to be a bit of a redneck. With no choice, I had to undo the AC pipework from the radiator, letting loose a poison cloud of death r134a. I ran away for a bit to let the gas escape, not my proudest moment but needs must in this case. For the PAS pump, I ended up pulling the top hose off, I lost a tablespoon of PAS fluid but was able to then wedge the pipe up out the way.

This finally allowed me to lower the body down, lift the engine up and with an alarming thunk noise it was free

You can see the rad brace bar and the PAS pump folded back onto the scuttle and the loom tucked over the passenger side wing. The passenger side headlamp got a bit savaged by the engine as I wheeled the crane out the way, it might be OK with a polish  but may need a new unit.

With the engine out, I could remove the aux belt tensioner. This was held on with a rather severely chewed bolt, the issue I had was that in situ, there is about 1" between the tensioner nut and the ABS block, so the only thing you can get on it is an open-ended spanner. Someone had been at this before I got there so I was unable to change the tensioner pulley or aux belt when I changed the alternator. With the engine out, I could get a snug fitting 14mm hex socket on the nut and undo it easily. 

Spot the new part!

Its hard to see in this pic, but the tensioner (gold bit) is tensioned by a long threaded bar that goes into a bracket. This has the effect of trapping the aux belt until you remove the threaded bar, but is impossible to see in situ. Doing it with the engine out was a doddle though. I can't do it up tight yet because I need to refit the engine, then reattach the PAS pump (top right), THEN tension the aux belt up. I also need to make sure I've run the belt correctly, I think I have, but not 100% sure.

While I was in there, and the main reason that I left the downpipe attached, I could get a good look at the mounting flange. This joint leaks, and after having a closer look, the issue is that the captive nut on the downpipe side of the flange has rusted away and been replaced with a cut down spring and nut&bolted. The issue is that there are three 'legs' of captive nut left which means the nut on the downpipe side can't tightened up properly so it doesn't seal right.

With this off the car I could get a rough file in and file the leftover 'legs' down flat so that when this all goes back together the nut will sit flush with the flange and should make it seal properly. I ought to have bought myself a crush gasket really, but I intend to have the exhaust replaced with a bigger bore stainless one next year so it'll do for now.

I lowered the engine and gearbox down onto the legs of the engine crane so the ram isn't taking the full weight, its basically just keeping the arrangement upright with the weight taken by the crane legs for now. 

So thats it for today, tomorrow we'll pull the gearbox off the engine, replace the clutch with the LuK kit I bought several months ago, refit the gearbox, fit the engine & gearbox to the car and then reassemble everything. further updates to come.

 

[beko1987]

I've got a smile on my face for you after reading the tales of woe further back then seeing all it took* was removing the engine! 

I've never had the balls to take an engine out... Or do a clutch

[Stanky]

  On 10/09/2021 at 16:49, beko1987 said:

I've never had the balls to take an engine out

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getting it out is the easy* bit, wait for episode 3 where we try and get it back in the hole it came out of. Episodes 4-976,408 will be trying to make it run/drive/steer again!

[Stanky]

We’ve run into some snags. Well, one big snag.

The clutch is in, engine refitted and as far as I am aware, all cables and plugs reconnected, the car turns over on the key, but won’t fire - there is no smell of unburnt fuel at the exhaust pipe, even after several minutes of cranking.

With the ignition off after cranking the ABS light and oil light are lit continually.

I have tried to get my diagnostic laptop to talk to the ECU but failed - it won’t/can’t establish communication with the ECU it seems?

I’m going to go through and check all the wiring again in case I’ve done something stupid, but at a bit of a loss currently. I have a nagging suspicion that I’ve done something terrible to the ECU but I’m not sure how I could have done that, I disconnected the battery about 10 days ago, the battery has been on the trickle/smart charger and has good voltage. Earths have been checked and seem fine?

Its not all bad, we were able to fit the driveshafts and rebuild the front suspension so the car now rolls. The clutch works as it should - tested by turning the engine on the starter in gear with clutch pedal up (wheels turn) and down (wheels don’t turn).

We removed the intake, throttle body and inlet manifold to get access to all the plugs, removed them all and then re-attached them to their correct positions. We then built the inlet side back up and tried to start it again.

Same result.

The engine turns over freely, but does not fire. Having removed the fuel hose from the injector rail there was no fuel there at all (I’d previously drained this down) and there is no noise from the fuel pump priming, so there is an issue there.

The engine management light/check engine light does no illuminate AT ALL, I would expect this to light with the ignition in position 2. The diagnostic laptop cannot establish connection with the ECU via the OBD2 port on any protocol. The light definitely works as I know it came on when I was doing the troubleshooting of the idle issue a few months ago, so there is a problem with the ECU talking to other systems.

I found the ECU and all the plugs are connected as they are supposed to be, none of this wiring on the cabin side of the bulkhead was touched in any way.

The ABS and oil lights stay illuminated all the time - as in even with the keys out of the ignition. For now I’ve disconnected the battery to stop it being drained. This is not right.

I had a good look at the fusebox (why is it so difficult to access!) and noticed that fuse 14 (Engine) had blown so replaced it, all other fuses looked OK though. After the second try of starting it, fuse 14 had blown again so there is a problem somewhere.

I have a horrible feeling that what has happened is that by flexing the loom to get it clear of the engine, I’ve snapped a wire somewhere which is now shorting out. That would explain the blowing fuses, but there is potentially other things at play here. There is no communication between the OBD2 port and the ECU, and the fuel pump doesn’t work. I had a look and there is a fuel pump relay, but I can’t see a dedicated fuse for it? Or is that what fuse 14 is for? I suppose its possible that the pump has seized, but it could also be that if I can’t communicate with the ECU, then the ECU probably can’t communicate with the fuel pump either.

Finally, we triple checked all grounds, cleaned them up to bright metal with sandpaper and reattached them so I’m quite confident its not an earth issue.

The entire loom is bound up in protective sheath, we checked the ends where it comes out the wrapping but it all looked fine, so I have a horrible feeling that its broken somewhere mid-loom.

So, the car is still immobilised, but in a different way to 2 days ago! It now rolls and steers and can be driven short distances in gear on the starter motor.

Does anyone know any good auto electricians in the Hampshire area? 

[cobblers]

Before you start pulling the loom apart, check any plugs that you've disconnected to make sure they're back on the same place they came from, and that none of the pins are bent over and touching each other.

If it's popping the engine ECU fuse, then that's the first plug I'd look at.

[Stanky]

  On 12/09/2021 at 15:27, cobblers said:

Before you start pulling the loom apart, check any plugs that you've disconnected to make sure they're back on the same place they came from, and that none of the pins are bent over and touching each other.

If it's popping the engine ECU fuse, then that's the first plug I'd look at.

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Thanks - the plugs were all removed engine side, literally everything had to be disconnected from the loom on the engine side of the bulkhead. I've checked them all as we went along (the second time) and none of the pins looked damaged/bent.

I've checked and rechecked the routing of all the plugs, I don't think they can go any other way than they are at present.

The fuse that keeps blowing is just marked 'engine' - its a 10a one and I'm not quite sure what it controls specifically.

[Stanky]

Some pics of the operation in full swing. 

Old clutch

old release bearing, this had worn against the fingers of the clutch mech and was audibly rough when rotating, definitely worth it for having sorted this before it exploded

Clutch off, flywheel in good condition

I cleaned the friction material dust off with an old paintbrush and cleaned the locating dowels up too

old clutch friction plate, was actually less haggard than I thought it'd be, but not in the first flush of youth.

release bearing removed and cleaned up input shaft with a tiny smear of hi-temp grease

new pressure plate and drive disc loosely fitted.

after a bit of a fight we got the new release bearing on the input shaft

then we fitted the gearbox back up the the engine to align the drive disc/friction plate, pulled the gearbox back off, tightened up the pressure plate nuts, put the gearbox BACK on and bolted it up to the engine. Then we loaded the engine and gearbox back into the engine bay

its a bit of a tight fit...

finally lining it up with the engine mounts and lowering it in enough to reattach the PAS pump, complete the aux belt circuit, plug in the wiring for the AC compressor and then finally lower it into place and bolt it up in the mounts, before starting to reconnect everything

The bumper, radiator and rad support panel are still off to give me more access to everything to work out what is going on with the electrical issue. We didn't get any pics of rebuilding the front suspension and driveshafts but its not that interesting.

its better than it was, but will need more work to get it working again. I'll call some mobile auto electricians tomorrow to see what they think, and I have a PDF wiring diagram for the car which should help speed up the fault-finding if I can get someone out to have a look at it.

[Barry Cade]

Many years ago, when changing a particular bastatd of a clutch,  I had similar unexplained electrical issues afterwards.. took a bit of digging, but I'd trapped a wire between gearbox and block, at the bottom of a loom. Retrace your steps..

[Zelandeth]

Do you have access to a set of schematics and/or wiring diagrams?

The fact that you've got the lights for the ABS and oil pressure on all the time should be - all things being relative - pretty simple to track down.  If you have a wiring diagram.

Warning lights (assuming these are actual incandescent lamps rather than LEDs) *almost* always have their ground side switched - so they've got 12V on them either all the time or at least when the ignition is on.

If you've got a wire that's been snagged somewhere or has rubbed through and is shorting to ground (or to a low impedance load - heater blower, radiator fan, fuel pump feed...you get the idea) it'll put the light on.  The same short to ground is also likely to cause fuses to blow/stuff not to work as it's possible that other wires are also involved.  If the ECU isn't powering up I wouldn't expect any life from the fuel pump or ignition system as they're all controlled by it - obviously you'll not be able to communicate with it either.

 

If it were me, I would find the oil pressure switch and work back to the bulkhead from there.  Anywhere the wiring harness makes a sharp turn, presses up against anything etc, examine it with a microscope to see if anything has chafed.  Fact is that the insulation on the wiring might have rubbed through years and tens of thousands of miles ago, but never actually touched anything until things were disturbed when the engine came out.

You may well have to strip a lot/all of the loom wrap off to find this one I'm afraid!

It couldn't hurt to just pull the dash cluster out to double check that when the wiring has been moved around that it's not put tension on something on the inside of the car and pulled something half out of a socket, snapped a wire etc.  Stranger things have happened.

 

 

[Stanky]

Called up a local mobile auto electrician who will come and have a look at it in 10 days time.

He suggested that we might have trapped a wire on reassembly but I'm pretty sure we haven't as the engine and box were completely separated from the rest of the car by a good 8' while we did the clutch change. He also suggested that I might have connected the wrong connectors up which is possible but I think unlikely. they pretty much all have to go in one way, but I will have another look later on just in case.

I've got a PDF wiring diagram that I can print out and give to him to help in the diagnosis, it means nothing to me. Electricity confuses and frightens me in roughly equal amounts.

[colino]

If you have a decent diagram,  you have the starting point that something energised by fuse 14 is either grounding, a dead short, or shorting against another wire in a trapped or damaged part of a loom.  A patient bit of tracing/sleuthing will save you a a big bill from a sparky starting from square one. 

[Stanky]

I've been doing some more poking about while the car is still partly disassembled and found that the exhaust blow is probably not from the downpipe-centre exhaust join, but from the manifold, based on this:

That looks to me like the flange that butts up against the engine block has rusted away underneath #3 exhaust header and its blowing down the front of the block. Would you agree?

On the basis that the flat mating surface to the 'east' of that bolt looks to have rusted right through, I would assume I really need a new mani-cat (catifold?) 

[Zelandeth]

Yep, that's toast.

Just have to hope the leak hasn't been going long enough to have eaten away the mating surface on the head too.

Bit hard to tell if it's just the light, but looks like there might be signs of slight leakage from underneath number 2 as well.

[Stanky]

OK next question, it looks like I have a lead on a replacement manifold/downpipe, the car currently has no rad fitted so access is good for sorting the exhaust now.

How likely is it that I will snap one/several/all the bolts trying to remove this manifold? Based on other bolts on the car which haven't been hot/cold cycled for 17 years and counting, the snap ratio is about 2:1 in favour of 'not snapping' but most of the ones that have sheared off have been relatively easy to drill out and replace with new m6 bolts. Snapping one of these will be suboptimal.

I assume that shearing them off flush with the cylinderhead is a fairly likely outcome?