Granada 24v Cosworth - new boots

[I_am_Diesel]

An epic tale of epicness, I hope you get the Granada sorted soon.

[Wilko220]

What a nightmare!

[dollywobbler]

Jeepers. Not ideal! Nicely written up though.

[Captain Furious]

I should add, that this very lunchtime, between writing these two posts, the AA called me and I could barely get a word in for the apologies, they offered me £50 and 6 months free membership by way of compensation.  I could have probably held out for more, but I didn't want to be too much of a dick about it, this is my first bad experience in many years of membership, so i'll accept that it just wasn't my day.

 

Having a few drinks while waiting for them helped a lot too

[Captain Furious]

In case anyone was wondering about the car, well, as I said I suspect its a fuel issue, the first recovery guy was convinced it was the fuel filter blocked, but I wasn't so sure, I've never seen a blocked one and the fact it worked one minute and not the next didn't really fit.

 

Yesterday I had it running for a good half an hour on the drive, it would idle and rev up fine, so I had my mate there on standby to come and get me if there was a problem and went for a drive.  Well I didn't need to call him at all, because it only made it about 3 houses up the street, soon as I gave it some welly it immediately conked out and wouldn't re-start.  Pushed it back (funk, Granadas be heavy) and since I had a fuel filter which came with the car I changed it to rule it out.  There was loads of pressure in the fuel lines which gave my mate a generous shower of petrol, we fitted the new one and it made no difference at all, it still won't run, but fuel is definitely getting out of the tank and as far as the filter (because it now leaks - think I need new copper washers)

 

My current best guess is the pressure regulator on the fuel rail, but I need to take the inlet manifold off to get to the rail and see if there is pressure there.  In the meantime if anyone else has any other ideas about what could cause a BOA to exhibit these symptoms then all suggestions are gratefully received.

[oldcars]

That looks a proper winners combo. Imagine turning up at a Caravan and Camping Club site in that, and every bloke tending to their water butts or adjusting the awning giving you the evils. Just like I remember my grandfather and his Cortina + Ci combo being very quiet when an SD1 pitched up on the next plot.

 

I was going to point out your caravan has a flat tyre but it's just the placement of the kerb at closer inspection!

Its like that when i turn up with the 1987 Adria, i love it.

[beko1987]

Jesus, what a palava, possibly made better that you had the caravan! When I was stranded after shitefest 15 the long hours were made better with cups of tea, tins of all day breakfast and old copies of car magazine.

 

Such a shame it failed you, but I look forward to you fixing it!

[danthecapriman]

Jesus! I admire your patience! I think I'd have lost my temper very swiftly with all that going on. It's never nice getting stuck somewhere waiting for recovery.

 

Really hope the repairs to your Granny aren't too painfull or expensive.

[Captain Furious]

I actually surprised myself at how chilled I managed to remain, but I guess ranting and raving at them down the phone wasn't going to magic an AA truck to my location.  Kept it polite, but made it clear I wasn't happy once it got past midnight.  Sent them a summary of proceedings through FB on Monday and they called today with the compo offer, I wasn't necessarily after it  or expecting it, but hey, £50 is two tickets for retro show in July to do it all again

 

Curious one the caravan, having it definitely made the wait more endurable (particularly as it still had beer in the fridge) but possibly without it there wouldn't have been a massive delay in the first place - who knows, it was an experience.

 

As for the car, not sure i'll be able to look at it again now until the weekend which is annoying, but I'm hoping as it works perfectly sometimes and others not at all it shouldn't be anything too serious or expensive.

[JohnDeere]

You have the patience of a saint. I think I'd at least be inviting the AA to give me a year for free given their delays and cockups. Hope your Granny gets better soon.

[Pillock]

I've had to deal with Santa Pod staff before with an "odd" query - involving forgetting to book time off work so arriving on site a day early, and then buggering off at 5am to do a day in the office. They were fine about having to open up especially to let me out!

 

The AA on the other hand often need everything repeating. Treat them like kids.... "So, just to confirm, you are happy that I've got a caravan, and I need to be picked up at this time, yes? And you are aware that there's a group of us?". Do that a couple of times and they might* just* spot that they're about to fuck it up.

[oldcars]

I've had to deal with Santa Pod staff before with an "odd" query - involving forgetting to book time off work so arriving on site a day early, and then buggering off at 5am to do a day in the office. They were fine about having to open up especially to let me out!

 

The AA on the other hand often need everything repeating. Treat them like kids.... "So, just to confirm, you are happy that I've got a caravan, and I need to be picked up at this time, yes? And you are aware that there's a group of us?". Do that a couple of times and they might* just* spot that they're about to fuck it up.

I was a bit like that when i broke down. Its a Reliant Rialto, three wheeler, Radiators gone. Remember its a three wheeler, im on the a?? near Middlesbough, remember it only has three wheels, one at the front etc etc.

[Captain Furious]

That's the thing, I had rung them specially to remind them of this before the first recovery van turned up, and then that recovery firm took the details as well to pass onto their flatbed driver, so they should have been getting the info from both sides, only for their flatbed driver to turn up and say "didn't know there was going to be a caravan"

 

When I spoke to the AA on Tuesday they did say that where caravans and trailers are involved they often farm it out to 3rd parties because they have more suitable vehicles - well, based on Sunday, I'd tend to disagree...but they were decent about it and I've always had good service from them in the past, so i'll give them the benefit of the doubt this time.

 

No doubt i'll get to try them again before the membership is up... 

[Captain Furious]

Annnyhoo, back to the car

 

I\We - me and a couple of mates - have decided that the fuel pressure regulator is the prime suspect at the moment, here is our reasoning

 

If you spray easystart up its chuff it will run, or at least, have a go at it, pop, bang splutter - so there must be a spark - ignition side ruled out

I have already had the fuel filter off and replaced it, there was loads of pressure in the fuel lines and fuel is pumping out of the tank - so debris in the tank\faulty fuel pump\blocked fuel filter = out

It must be something intermittent and that affects ALL cylinders, because it either runs on all 6 or none at all, no misfires, rough running etc its all or nothing

It seems to stop when the change for fuel demand alters dramatically - either flooring the throttle or backing off completely - and starts working again at random - so a sticking valve would seem to fit

 

The ONLY thing that makes me doubt this diagnosis, is I have never in 20 years of motoring either had, or heard of a fuel pressure regulator failing or causing a car to break down.  So I think it is going to be a £40 punt, because I don't want to strip down the inlet manifold and NOT replace it now.

[Spottedlaurel]

Blimey, well done for getting through that lot.

 

Amazing how an exhaust can make such a difference. I went to view a Camry V6 a few years ago and it had been fitted with a replacement stainless steel system. Ostensibly a good idea, and I’ve done the same to my 2.2, but there was something that made this resonate/drone in an annoying way and it helped put me off the car. I think it’s particularly difficult on auto because of how they hold their rev’s at a certain point.

 

Good luck on the fuelling issue.

[Captain Furious]

Like variable valve timing?  If so no, just a conventional quad cam 24V setup

[Supernaut]

Blimey, well done for getting through that lot.

 

Amazing how an exhaust can make such a difference. I went to view a Camry V6 a few years ago and it had been fitted with a replacement stainless steel system. Ostensibly a good idea, and I’ve done the same to my 2.2, but there was something that made this resonate/drone in an annoying way and it helped put me off the car. I think it’s particularly difficult on auto because of how they hold their rev’s at a certain point.

 

Good luck on the fuelling issue.

This. The stainless exhaust fitted to the Omega I had started to grate.

 

It sounded great when you were going for it, but like you say, the way autos hold onto revs made it really drone at times.

[Captain Furious]

Ah, OK sorry, CPS didn't immediately click so I googled it and it came up with some VVT system...doh.  Yeah my mate suggested that, but as its sparking I'm pretty sure the CPS must be fine.  I'm 99% its a fuel problem, but i'll check it anyway, I have been known to be wrong in the past.

[Captain Furious]

So, today has been the first day I've been able to look at it, which has been painful cos I like to get these things sorted immediately!

 

Started off with checking the ignition system again to definitely rule it out, had spark, still not running, definitely not that.

 

So I took the Inlet manifold off, which was surprisingly straightforward. Checked the pressure at the fuel rail, 2.5bar, it's supposed to be 3, but I don't know how accurate my gauge is and 2.5 should be enough. Whats more, when I cranked it all injectors were firing - now I'm a bit stumped, and worried I'm not going to find an obvious fault

 

So I removed the fuel rail

 

 

Now, I'm not the first one under here, that was immediately clear, in fact somebody has completely remade the injector wiring loom, so I started checking continuity and noticed that it dropped when checking one injector, I'd knocked the loom, and when I wiggled it I got intermittent connectivity on the positive feed

 

So I start cutting the heat shrink off the the previous owners repairs - the 3 black wires are the positive feeds to the injectors and a couple of other sensors

 

 

Looks a fairly neat job, but remove the heat shrink

 

 

FFS! Now I'm onto something tho, and to cut a long story short, resoldered all the wires and taped them up properly, reassembley was the reversal of removal and

 

 

Great success! I may even have inadvertently fixed the dodgy idle, but I'm reserving judgement on that because it didn't do it all the time anyway

 

Drove it for about half an hour and it was perfect. So I'm calling it a win, but will cautiously put a few more miles on it locally before any more weekend away missions

[Captain Furious]

So after the fix I vowed to put some miles on it to gain confidence back before the next weekend mission, well, that hasn't happened, I've done the sum total of about 8 miles (although, in its defence, it didn't break down in those 8!)

 

It DID break down last night though, while I was out getting shopping and petrol for retro show!  Coming out of Asda it just cut to 3 or 4 cylinders and ran like an absolute bitch.  FFS, limped over the road to Argos where I wanted to go to get a new BBQ, came out, this time it was definitely ignition, the rev counter was showing about half what the actual revs were and it was running on 3 - popped the bonnet and headed straight to the wire on the coilpack, it wasn't on all the way to engage the clip, but likewise it didn't look like it was off far enough to cause a problem, nevertheless I pushed it on further and everything returned to normal!  So I can probably chalk that one up to my own negligence during re-assembly

 

I am now slightly more nervous about tomorrow than I already was though, and so is the guy who is going to be following me. 

[Captain Furious]

So, having kept this thread 100% bang up to date, I thought it might be time for a small update. I still have the old beast, but it's been SORN'd since October and I haven't really been near it. But now the time has come to awaken it from hibernation and see what brand new issues it has in store for 2017

 

So first up, I had to breathe some electricity into it, I had started it a couple of times over the winter but not kept on top of it as much as I really ought to, so the battery was stone cold dead (note to self, if the battery subsequently fails remember to blame myself)

 

 

Anyway, after 10 mins or so hooked up on life support it started first turn of the key as expected, it actually idled better than it ever has, although normal service was soon resumed on that front.

 

Last year during a minor mishap I broke an indicator lens, been trying to get one of those for fuggin ages but either they don't come up on eBay or people breaking them want more than I'm willing to pay. Found them new on a website called onlinecarparts.co.uk, which despite its name is actually in Germany, was sceptical but they take PayPal so wcpgw? £30 for the pair delivered, the units were actually £11 each but postage was a fixed £8 so I figured I may as well order both, still cheaper than some people breaking them wanted for one!

 

Delivery not as quick as they'd led to believe but sure enough they arrived and were duly fitted along with new bulbs because all the orangeness had come off

 

 

 

The only other definitely maybe fail is the front discs, they were an advisory last year and on inspection were worn well past minimum thickness. Handily Ford fitted 278mm discs to this as opposed to the 260mm across the rest of the range, this gives them 8.4% more stopping power and 250% more price, however Brakeparts.co.uk hooked me up with a set of its finest Apec discs and mintex pads for a mere £81 delivered, which is pretty stonking value

 

 

So hopefully get these fitted Thursday of Friday if the weather stops being shit, and MOT first thing Saturday morning. I doubt it will pass but I've done all the known definite fails, I'm keeping next weekend clear for the unknown fails

 

Actually quite looking forward to driving it again

[Captain Furious]

New discs and pads fitted with minimal fuss, except for me managing to get the calliper twisted on refitting it necessating its removal for a 2nd time. I think the MOT advisory last year was a fair one, these are shagged! The friction material was also separating from the backing plates on the pads too. So a job well done I think, especially as it is normally stopping a 1400KG caravan too

 

 

 

My mate also welded up a small hole in the sill (cill?) and we did a light/basic functionality check, all seems good so bring on Saturday morning, actually starting to think a pass might be an possibility here..

[danthecapriman]

I'd say you got your money's worth out of those brakes! Good luck with the test.

[Captain Furious]

MOT passed with NO advisories!!

 

Actually that's a lie, I just wanted to say it. When did people get so hung up on advisories anyway, like omg a pass with advisory items is SHIT. Anything that's not a fail is a pass in my book, there are only two states of MOT'dness. Anyway some play in a steering rack joint and front tyres worn on the inside edge, no biggys.

 

Gonna wait until the April 1st to tax it so still can't drive it, boo.

[danthecapriman]

MOT passed with NO advisories!!

Actually that's a lie, I just wanted to say it. When did people get so hung up on advisories anyway, like omg a pass with advisory items is SHIT. Anything that's not a fail is a pass in my book, there are only two states of MOT'dness. Anyway some play in a steering rack joint and front tyres worn on the inside edge, no biggys.

Gonna wait until the April 1st to tax it so still can't drive it, boo.

Result!

I don't care about advisories. Most of them are just the tester covering his arse, especially on old stuff.

Roll on April then!

[Captain Furious]

May bank holiday can only mean one thing, getting the Granada beast taxed (a month later than planned but I was ore-occupied with other goings on last month) and a trip down to the local chod bothering and scrap jumble. Ok so that's two things...anyway, here are some shite cars for your visual consumption

 

Some Triumphs of the British motor industry

 

 

 

 

 

Some Jags

 

 

 

 

Some Rovers - there was a really nice SD1 which unfortunately fucked off before I got round to papping him, which left mostly P6's

 

 

 

Do not paint!

 

 

 

 

Escort complete with exhaust setup from a B1-B Lancer

 

 

AS luxury Holiday outfit

 

 

Some of the rest

 

 

 

Obligatory Delorean, gotta be honest I don't get the love for these but you have to take a photo so you look like a proper car guy..

 

 

 

 

 

 

No idea what this is but it's cool as TWO fucks

 

 

 

205 GTi, just like mine, except white, and in eleventy hundred and ten percent better condition, and probably works properly

 

 

 

Modernz- but I like

 

 

[Captain Furious]

Took it and the caravan to santa pod again this year for bugjam 31, about 8 miles from home this happens

 

 

Luckily I had some willing volunteers in the car to help change it and we were near a quiet road we could pull into...changed and back on the road in time for McDonald's breakfast at Watford gap.

 

Pissed it down most of the weekend after that, then a bit squeaky bum praying the rest of them decided to stay in an inflated state on the way home, so overall not a resounding success,

 

Going to need some quality* new tyres now...

[NorfolkNWeigh]

To be fair, it looks like you'd had your money's worth out of that one, anyway.

 

Whenever I get a puncture it always seems to be the best tyre on the car that cops it.

[Captain Furious]

Yeah they were a bit...used, but still entirely legal. I was gonna get 4 new ones but they all went through the MOT no problem and I only do tiny mileage so I thought I might squeeze another season out of them

 

I guess this is the price of mingebaggery

 

I'd stopped in a lay by about a mile previously because I'd forgotten to put the tension on the stabiliser, I reckon I picked something up in there that punctured it and a mile later it was practically off the rim

[Captain Furious]

New rubber procured today, Falken ze something something x4 in original 205/50/16, despite my mate trying his best to get me to have 205/55 because he can get better deals.

 

Never had Falkens before but they seem fairly middle of the road, £200 for the 4. I bottled the Chinese death rings on eBay at £120 for 4, it's just not in my nature. Would rather have not been replacing them all but the rest of them were about bolloxed and I really hate changing wheels at the side of roads.