Ask a Shiter

[cort16]

Was that the bx? Got say since I plugged up that stat thing it's running great. Got it on eBay for 300 squid and not a sniff. That place isn't what it used to be etc..

[Guest Breadvan72]

1981 Lancia Beta 2000.  A four pot DOHC pezzer thang.  I am wondering if I have the wrong oil in the car for the cold weather. It recently had an oil change and I can't remember what oil the dudes put in.  The oil pressure reading when the engine is cold is fine - needle in the centre, but once the car has warmed up, the needle stays to the left, although not in the danger zone, even at high revs. Meanwhile, the oil temperature needle, once out of its cold zone, also stays close to the left, so it does not appear that the low pressure denotes that the oil is getting unduly hot, if the temperature needle is to be believed. The oil level is fine, and there are no apparent leaks. 

 

Maybe my oil is too thin and not too thick, as the car starts OK when freezy cold (thick oil would tend to inhibit that), but the oil pressure reads low when the engine is well warmed.

The bill from the garage does not identify the oil used. I could ask the blokes, I suppose, but why do the obvious when I can speculate ignorantly on the internet instead? 

 

All thoughts gratefully welcomed, ta.

[michael1703]

I had that once when I put turbodiesel oil in my petrol engine, also could be that they use the big barrels from euroshiteparts of quantum 5w30 that you can buy a huge barrel of for pennies and make a nice mark up on.

 

If it were mine I would probably use my favourite oil

 

[Guest Breadvan72]

Yes, I am usually fussy about engine oils, but forgot to specify with these blokes, although they do specialise in old heaps, so I would have hoped that they would not use any old jizz shiz.

[skattrd]

I'm not sure about your question concerning your Lancia Breadvan72, all I can say is that I use 10w40 in mine and the oil pressure gauge does what it's supposed to.

[red5]

Wrong oil grade - too thin for engine / allowing for engine wear.

 

Possibly wrong Service grade - too many detergents can remove deposits that help maintain reasonable oil pressure.

 

Many older engine run fine on oe spec mineral oil but tend to dislike semi-synthetics for similar reasons as above.

 

Any temperature markings on the Oil gauge? i would expect it to be running in the 80-90 odd degree range ?

 

Possible (oil) pressure relief valve sticking/stuck due to shifting of crud due to detergents (as above) or just U/s due to old age and co-incidentally given up the ghost at oil change time?

 

etc.

 

Please carry out an initial diagnosis using trusted sources of information and cross-referencing manufacturers specifications as appropriate.....damn, work mode..

[Guest Breadvan72]

Cheers.  No temp markings on gauge - just beginning, middle, and end.  

[red5]

So it currently reads 'cold' as it were?

 

if so, is this colder then before?

[saucedoctor]

15w40 SF for that car (on the offchance you were unaware)

[pompei]

I've come across some pictures of KRAZY KUSTOM CARZ recently where the coil springs are mounted almost horizontally at 90 degrees to the hub.  I can't figure out how, when the wheel carrier moves upwards, the thrust from this can be "twisted" and the spring can compress?  It's probably a question of physics which I dropped in my 3rd year but can anyone give an "idiot's guide" please?

 

Thanks

[Guest Breadvan72]

So it currently reads 'cold' as it were?

 

if so, is this colder then before?

 

 

The oil temp reads on the cool side, but above cold .  The needle is off the stop and out of the left hand cold zone.  This is pretty much as it was before, maybe a tad cooler.

 

See pic of dash below, engine idling, coolant at normal operating temperature. Oil temp at top right, oil pressure top centre.  Ignore oil pressure needle here, as low reading at idle is normal. Disregard also oil level reading (bottom right) as that only works (if at all) when engine stopped and is currently inop anyway, possibly because the piping from it to the dipstick is claggered.

 

BTW, voltmeter tends always to read low, so NB do not always believe what Italian clock tells you.  EDIT -  Derr, is it an ammeter instead?  I should know, but where's the book gone?  The dial does not do the usual ammeter thing of hovering near the middle and flickering when you use the indicators.

 

EDIT EDIT  Derr, it's a voltmeter.   

 

PS:  hey mate. your car needs some pez, mate.

 

 

[Asimo]

I've come across some pictures of KRAZY KUSTOM CARZ recently where the coil springs are mounted almost horizontally at 90 degrees to the hub.  I can't figure out how, when the wheel carrier moves upwards, the thrust from this can be "twisted" and the spring can compress?  It's probably a question of physics which I dropped in my 3rd year but can anyone give an "idiot's guide" please?

 

Thanks

 

There will be a lever in there somewhere, translating the vertical force on the wheel assembly to a horizontal force on the spring.

In the picture above (BMC1800 front suspension) the things like beer kegs are the spring / damper units.The top suspension link has a vertical part which presses on the spring /damper unit. 

[Junkman]

I've come across some pictures of KRAZY KUSTOM CARZ

 

Would sharing those pics be an option?

[laser wheels]

What's the deal with metric vs imperial sized wheels? Is metric bad? If I have metric wheels should I get rid? I've tried google but to be honest I'm still none the wiser ...

[Spiny Norman]

There's nothing wrong with the wheels as such, just have a look at how much tyres cost for them.

[The Moog]

I had trx ones on my saab and each corner was around 300 quid. Non metric ones could be had for a third of that on same size

[skattrd]

I'm looking to relocate the battery from the bonnet to the boot of my Storia - what size/spec/grade or whatever they call it cable should I use?

Any suggestions where to order it from as well?

 

edit: Any reason I can't use something like these and just cut the ends off and fit new connectors on? - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777053_langId_-1_categoryId_255204

[twosmoke300]

This may well have been asked before but have any of you thought how strange tyre sizing is?

Mixed metric and imperial (ie 185mm by 14 inch ) and using a percentage for the aspect ratio. And why is the std profile 80 or 82 percent.

[cobblers]

It's all a product of incremental evolution - wheels were in inches and had crossly tyres that were just sized for the wheel diameter and radius, and had to be basically 80-90% profile to work.

 

Then things got fancy and radials were invented, which due to the construction were a bit more forgiving and you could manage with a larger wheel and smaller sidewall. Since these were invented later on, things had moved to metric but the tyres were sized to fit the commonly available wheels, which were in inches.

 

At some point metric wheels came along which would have been a nice idea and worked fine, providing more than about 5 cars fitted them, but they didn't and here we are. 

[willswitchengage]

I've come across some pictures of KRAZY KUSTOM CARZ recently where the coil springs are mounted almost horizontally at 90 degrees to the hub.  I can't figure out how, when the wheel carrier moves upwards, the thrust from this can be "twisted" and the spring can compress?  It's probably a question of physics which I dropped in my 3rd year but can anyone give an "idiot's guide" please?

 

Thanks

 

 

Think of it as a double wishbone, which we're all phamiliar with.

 

The wheel moves us and down. The two wishbones rotate around pivots on the chassis. Resisting the turning motion of these is the easiest way to control the wheel's motion. Old mitsi L200s had a torsion bar in line with the bottom wishbone, which did the job. Most cars have a spring mounted vertically resisting the movement of the bottom wishbone. The above image has one mounted horizontally. It does the same job, it just better suits the packaging requirements of that specific car.

 

NB torsion bar:

 

[mat_the_cat]

I'm looking to relocate the battery from the bonnet to the boot of my Storia - what size/spec/grade or whatever they call it cable should I use?

Any suggestions where to order it from as well?

 

edit: Any reason I can't use something like these and just cut the ends off and fit new connectors on? - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777053_langId_-1_categoryId_255204

With the jump leads you're paying for the negative lead you won't need though. 35 mm sq. will be overkill as I use 25 mm sq. to start a Rover V8 engine from the boot. Try Beal for cables:

http://www.beal.org.uk/automotive/automotive-battery-cable/cat_100146.html

 

If you can wait until Shitefest I can bring a hydraulic crimper to do a neat job on the end terminals.

[cobblers]

I'm looking to relocate the battery from the bonnet to the boot of my Storia - what size/spec/grade or whatever they call it cable should I use?

Any suggestions where to order it from as well?

 

edit: Any reason I can't use something like these and just cut the ends off and fit new connectors on? - http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_storeId_10001_catalogId_10151_productId_777053_langId_-1_categoryId_255204

 

 

Basically, the wire that is currently supplying the starter motor is physically thick enough to cope with the current (in the brief periods used) but the voltage drop when using the same diameter over the length of the car would be too much, and would affect the starting power.

 

My t25 has the battery in the front and the engine in the back (originally a very low compression flat 4) and the wire is as thick as hosepipe.Some cars get away with using thinner stuff, but I would suggest going for something like 0 AWG (available off ebay for SUBWOOFERS) otherwise you'll perpetually have a weak starter motor.

[sheffcortinacentre]

welder earth cable is ideal.

[twosmoke300]

And very flexible too

[Station]

There's nothing wrong with the wheels as such, just have a look at how much tyres cost for them.

 

The Fuego had wheels that were metric as standard, which was one of the reasons I sold it.

[Station]

With the jump leads you're paying for the negative lead you won't need though. 35 mm sq. will be overkill as I use 25 mm sq. to start a Rover V8 engine from the boot. Try Beal for cables:

http://www.beal.org.uk/automotive/automotive-battery-cable/cat_100146.html

 

If you can wait until Shitefest I can bring a hydraulic crimper to do a neat job on the end terminals.

 

Cable on it's own is more expensive than a pair of cheap jump leads. I could either buy a short earth cable for £5 or two 5m cables in the form of jump leads with terminals for the same price.

The more strands a cable has, the higher amp it can take, voltage runs on the surface of metal.

[inconsistant]

Another wheel related stupid question... I noticed this morning that a Smart car has 3 wheel nuts, and remember old french cars of my youth did too. Other cars have 4 nuts and some have 5.

 

Why? What's the difference?

 

Also why is there not standardisation of wheel nut number and spacing so all wheels on all cars are interchangeable? (I'm thinking of Vulgalour's Lotus wheels on his Princess here, and a Porsche 924 having 4 nuts but the 924S having 5)

 

Or is that a bit like asking why we can't all just get along?

[Bobthebeard]

Another wheel related stupid question... I noticed this morning that a Smart car has 3 wheel nuts, and remember old french cars of my youth did too. Other cars have 4 nuts and some have 5.

 

Why? What's the difference?

 

Or is that a bit like asking why we can't all just get along?

The difference is either one or two.

Other than that I have no idea!

We do all get along don't we? All chums with a common cause/affliction etc.

[Asimo]

The more strands a cable has, the higher amp it can take, voltage runs on the surface of metal.

Current only runs on the surface at high frequencies (think radio transmission etc).

Starter current is DC, what matters is the cross section area of the cable.

Jump leads are often made with aluminium cable which is cheaper and lighter for a given current rating than copper but completely unsuitable for your battery move job.

Use welder earth cable as suggested above and sleeve it where it passes through panels and clips. Heater hose is ideal for this. Keep the cable well away from fuel lines. Be very thorough, a short circuit here can give you a bonfire in seconds.

[twosmoke300]

The wheel studs thing is to do with weight and cost .

The more weight/ loading a vehicle has , the more (or bigger) studs are required.

The cost aspect is that obviously its cheaper to make a 3 stud hub/ wheel etc if they can get away with it.