Jump to content

Rover 414 when HHR met SLi


chompy_snake

Recommended Posts

Just now, Lacquer Peel said:

That escalated quickly! I have two PSA products with noisy fans, I should probably attend to them.

Can I have the fuel pump, injectors, etc if you're breaking it?

Good luck with the next purchase.

If my experience with the Saab is anything to go by, removing the fan, greasing the spindle and re-assembling it is about 30 minutes work and does help keep it quiet for about 6 months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

New car collected, Xantia has had to go to the bailer due to the dashboard wiring fires. Not something that I was expecting it to do, it caused a fair bit of damage to the wiring harness and some had to be removed to make it safe.

It is a stark lesson for people not to just wiggle wires to make something work if it goes faulty (in this case the heater blower under the dash). It will eventually short out and make smoke and flames.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well new chariot is home and unloaded of spares.

Known wants at some point are alternator because noisy bearing and paint fettle..... That seems to be all! 

It's not super fast but is a total mentalist in the corners.

Insured as modified with everything declared but is in my eyes a classic at about 25 years old.

It's super comfy even though low and I have had a version of one of these before (and loved every minute of it) 

Oh .... And it's Red 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great! Oddly to my eyes at least from an insurance perspective having the (admittedly non standard) white lower half made it more “visible” and hence a lower risk out on the road.

Also- does that mean for instance a door or wing from another car and hence in a different colour - should that be declared as a mod? A different shade of the same basic colour- where does the line lie? 

Sorry to be a pedant but the insurance industry both confuses and annoys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well that's the odd thing , even though the lower portion is a different shade to the original. They don't seem to mind.

It puzzles me that the white is not acceptable and the black roof is.

Even the insurance company couldn't answer because down to underwriters... The insurance company that I use is an independent modified broker. All my modified cars have always been largely cheaper than the standard vehicles.

Insurance never ceases to confuse me as I am allowed to stuff a Lotus Elise engine it but paint the bottom white and suddenly uninsurable haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Because bored and not much else better to do I thought that I would investigate a couple of issues!

First up the jingle while running..... Checked alternator for bearing noise and Pas pump but both as expected and not noisy. So, off with the timing cover!

Upon removing the top cover I was presented with metal dust and rubber bits (obvious source of the issues then). It turns out that the deflection guide on the lower sprocket has come off and is rattling about like a mad thing. Also found at this point was excess slack in the front of the timing belt ?

Now this car had a new gates kit fitted and water pump August 2016 and has only covered 5k ish since fitted! So ordering a new belt and tensioner along with lower sprocket from Rimming Bros in Lincolnshire. I have decided to go with MG Rover Genuine parts because the price is good at around £110 including a locking tool.

 

There will be many pictures as we get this sorted.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, spartacus said:

Bad luck, but at least you caught it before it went bang.

Car looks better in the flesh than in pics and certainly made me look twice when I saw it the other day.

I have noticed that most places I go people either double take or make a look somewhere between a grimace and a gurn haha

49 minutes ago, vulgalour said:

The Gypsy Curse is so strong with chompy's cars that he goes looking for it manifesting even on quite healthy cars.  I had rather hoped this one wouldn't throw any issues at all at him, I believed it was completely sorted.

It is as good as sorted, but it was making a noise that it shouldn't so I investigated.

K-series are awesome engines but if you leave an issue like this for too long it will explode on you..... I'm not willing to let that happen because if that belt let's go (say if the deflection plate gets stuck in the belt) then it's starting again with another engine. I like the 1.4 in this one and the car really wants for nothing. The cost will be well worth the reward ??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Kind of a big update....

Timing belt and lower sprocket were identified as being urgent issues to fix. The pictures will give you a good idea as to why.

This morning, an hour early, this box arrived from rimming bros ...IMG_20190722_112150.thumb.jpg.edae2006b1a9ed8251ebf5ff1d5d1bbc.jpg

Inside was a genuine rover timing belt (23mm Gates powergrip), an INA tensioner (which is British with a British bearing fitted), camshaft locking tool and a genuine roewe crankshaft sprocket because rover and China! Note* even roewe/Mg/SAiC won't use Chinese bearings because they are that bad!

Soo ... Onto the issue at hand. Firstly a very irritating jingle and rattle combined and an engine that vibrated the car anywhere north of 2.5K rpm!IMG_20190722_125552.thumb.jpg.9aad02bac9cbfa4bbb7148478af3bb6e.jpglooks a bit iffy?IMG_20190722_125627.thumb.jpg.4130b23f5f6e0be2850a9d6afa36c28b.jpgThat should be way tighter than that, it was flapping about on the engine mount and timing cover.IMG_20190722_140230.thumb.jpg.35738d17cfdbea9ab2ca8694a098ad50.jpgFairly sure that should be in 1 piece not 2.IMG_20190722_162701.thumb.jpg.8f4cdfc2b15def8663e6fdfe31202b38.jpghmmm, Gates, supposedly British quality ...IMG_20190722_162732.thumb.jpg.d247296ba71aec79c877f50f15084c7c.jpgLIES.... I think not! This tensioner was fitted less than 6k ago and the bearing was as sloppy as the gusset of a lady of the night ?IMG_20190722_140310.thumb.jpg.be1128b80ed7b731d77d1baa61f3066a.jpgIMG_20190722_140318.thumb.jpg.e6f3b6e53c0f5319d149d23110cdb85b.jpgThis is the new crank sprocket (part number stamped on it too)IMG_20190722_125538.thumb.jpg.d2531e2982e2fb6fb115c2c6a81e5634.jpgWhat the top run on the belt looked like!IMG_20190722_154656.thumb.jpg.449f32d7d714589a355661650165b144.jpgAfter 4hours labour in the stupid 34 degree hot here this is how the belt now looks!

IMG_20190714_181116.thumb.jpg.92410af956000101f8a71a8de7a2e188.jpgJust because I'm happy today I have finished with an adorable Kitty!

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Slightly embarrassing that the jingle was that, especially since several people had looked at the things and couldn't find the issue, certainly the belt didn't look that slack last time it was checked.  More annoying still is that we went to a lot of trouble sourcing reputable parts from reliable suppliers so for them to fail so quickly is quite surprising.  I am glad you found the problem now and have managed to sort it out so quickly, here's hoping the new parts are somewhat better quality!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The lack of quality with parts is a gates issue.

They used to only supply top quality pulleys and tensioners with UK made bearings. A couple of years ago they shifted to the cheapest they could find and still label as UK made.

Luckily their belts are still pretty much top quality and I'm glad you fitted one 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right today I investigated another issue that has been bugging a little.

So before we go under the car ......

Safety Goggles?IMG_20190726_141141.thumb.jpg.a417dcfeba2cdaebde04b8b1ae5868a9.jpgCHECK!

And ..... 

IMG_20190726_210620.thumb.jpg.c149baa969c160b2e9961ddf654865e6.jpgIMG_20190726_210748.thumb.jpg.14e4ebf756f63cee7535ac9731f513bb.jpgWell, That's where the smell is coming from then.

New tank has been sourced and ordered from FleaBay. Problem is I just filled it and even if driven like a nob it's rather frugal.

Not looking forward to doing this job. But this is becoming a very common issue at the age these R8's are and the support for tank parts isn't fantastic. The above being the case, a Concerto tank was ordered (look identical and the same car really) for a happy price of £56.70! (Made in Canada land, or is that America's top hat?)

Updates to follow as progress is made.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...