SENATOR-Gone!

[Royale80]

Happy New Year all!
I have found a 1982 Senator for £700 with 3 months MOT. Problem is the seller says it has started misfiring on one cylinder. He has replaced the fuel tank and all the pipework, it has had a new ignition amplifier, air sensor, temp sender and replacement injector wiring and plugs. Don't know if this was in order to fix the misfire or the misfire occurred afterwards. I am very interested in the car-but the misfire could be something simple or a borked engine.

What do the collective think?

Steve

[Eddie Honda]

Gerrit bought!

[garethj]

Misfiring on one cylinder is unlikely to be a borked engine unless you can see a conrod out of the block.  A compression test would probably satisfy me enough to take a punt on it.

[DVee8]

Photos we need photos then we will tell you to buy it.

[Squire_Dawson]

Buy it, check spark plugs. Would advise fitting Champion if not already in there.

[Tamworthbay]

Buy it, but offer a bit less due to the issue.

[SiC]

No idea on these in particular (older than me!) as I only really understand modern stuff. However I've seen misfiring engines also from damaged valves and also leaking injectors (if this is modern enough to be MPi).

[mercrocker]

Bit crucial as to whether indeed the misfire was present before or after the replacement parts....If before I would be thinking valves as above so yes a compression test but how much are you able to do to the car before purchase?    Assuming headwork of some kind is required, what is the rest of the car like?  

 

Worth MOT'ing again as is so that you don't end  up with a sweet running car with three days MOT left on it and another unseen problem?

[Skizzer]

It's got five firing cylinders.  Come on, glass half full mate.

[Guest Hooli]

pitchurs!

[Austin of England]

When my Senator 2.5 started missing and mis-behaving I changed the distributor cap, rotor arm and plug leads and normal service was resumed, the inside of the cap was in a poor state, but these are usually first port of call before playing around with the fuel injection side of things, What I have heard can happen very rarely on these engines is that a rocker arm can break.

My advice of course is to buy it

[Des]

Not at all unusual to see lots of recent new parts fitted to not cure a misfire, then find a vacuum hose off, plug lead knackered even if they do look nice, or these days, a duff plug from NGK. Ghetto compression test, disable ignition and spin starter while listening for a cylinder not playing ball. When cars were proper and had starting handles you could feel for compression.

Just buy it, a 1982 Senator? Even if there's a holed piston fixing is worthwhile.

[eddyramrod]

The only question you need to ask is, have I got the money?  If yes, then buy.

[billyboy406v6]

Collection thread eagerly anticipated !!

[rantingYoof]

Read as far as '1982 Senator'.

 

Now typing this.

 

Buy it.

[Bren]

Broken rocker. Did happen back in the day. Not difficult to sort. Get it bought.

[Royale80]

 

 

 

 

[DSdriver]

In my mind, engines are easy to repair (once you know what the problem is) but rust is an evil thing that hides behind whatever it can.

So check that it is solid before parting with your hard earned. Those door bottoms might be indicative of worse underneath.

It does seem to be calling an Autoshiter.

[Pillock]

I don't care if it's rusty and the engine is borked. Those seats!

[rantingYoof]

My God those seats are amazing. I'd make an office chair out of one...

 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Velourtastic. Bonus 505 hiding in the corner as well I see.

[Station]

As the old saying goes:

Green interior colour + velour = buy it.

[mercrocker]

Might be worth checking that other strut repair, too.... Pretty enough just to buy and look at, though.

[dome]

Dsdriver nailed it there. If the bodyworks good then buy it. The engine can be fixed.

 

Those seats are awesome.

[bangernomics]

These engines are pretty bullet proof, go into a manta lovely too.

 

The interior is just perfect for the Bri-Nylon safari suit I have somewhere.

 

Beastie boys sabotage on 8 track and you're away.

[Junkman]

These engines aren't that bulletproof.

For one thing, they eat camshafts for breakfast. But that hasn't happened here, since if it did, it wouldn't run at all.

Then there is the thing with the timing chain and the infamous oil leak from the head gasket half way along the block.

The usual guess how I know all this etc etc applies.

 

My money is on a dodgy plug lead or plug, though.

[Des]

Can't help feeling there's something quite important missing from those pics. But of course, the fucking petrol station on the homeward journey, you know what you must do.

[danthecapriman]

Based on your pics I'd just buy it. Aside from the fact it looks lovely (and those seats!) the pro's are that it has MOT, does run and drive and it looks pretty decent rust wise. This means you shouldn't have any issues getting it home and it might even clear itself with use.

This damp cold shitty weather doesn't do old cars any favours so is it possible it's just suffering a bit from damp and lack of use? Maybe running it and driving it might dry it all out a bit?

 

Because it's only one cylinder I doubt it'll be serious anyway.

I had a Volvo 340 that developed an irritating mis fire, on checking it over I could find nothing out of place. Everything looked good but just by chance I decided to pull the HT leads off the top of the dizzy cap which revealed the fault. The brass terminal under the HT leads connector/seal was green with corrosion. This, inspite of both the cap and leads looking in perfect order. I replaced them and the fault disappeared.

I'll bet it'll be something similar on this Senetor, but even if it's worse it'll only be a valve or something so isn't the end of the world at all.

[r.welfare]

It looks like it still has the strut tops attached to the inner wings. I say buy.

[anonymous user]

Like everyone else, I implore you to buy it just for the seats