Cats clapped out Cars. Wafting North

[phil_lihp]

Poor thing!  It's been through a lot of its 9 lives though, presumably the starter is knackered, or maybe a bad earth? 

[Six-cylinder]

15 hours ago, Lankytim said:

This thing has been around for ages! Does it still have the BOLLOX ENGINEERING plaque on the engine?

It was the first car I bought off the forum and directly from Mr Bollox 5th Feb 2012.

[captain_70s]

It really is a hideous pile. But it goes like the hammers of fuck, when it goes... The only time I had issues starting it was when the battery earth came loose.

[Dick Cheeseburger]

17 hours ago, catsinthewelder said:

I've not had much tinkering time lately but a bit of a OMG the modern is broken last week* saw me thinking that I really should get another car working.

2 things I needed to do were ordering a clutch kit in either 180mm or 200mm and moving the Bollox Rover off the only flat bit of concrete** nearby that will hold a engine crane.  Part one had me tearing my hair out the other night and still isn't done.  Part 2 started today as they were resurfacing the only road up the hill so I couldn't go out unless I wanted to be out all day.  Prevarication obviously happened first so by 11am I'd sorted out a new broadband deal and done my tax return and it was time to get on with it.

 

Every wheel was solid despite me unseizing a couple of them recently.  In turn each was loosened (breaking a 19mm socket in one case).  Caliper beaten hard with a hammer, squeezed in a G clamp, a little brake fluid released then the jack handle used against the wheel studs to lever it into moving.  After a couple of hours I had a car I could push to and fro, marvelous, is the engine seized?  5th gear selected it will still push to and fro, cool will it start?

Fresh battery, click 

Fucksake, where's the jump leads?

Connect Focus, click.         Click.                  Click.                Etc 

Beat starter motor repeatedly.       Click 

Try leads in a different place.           Click 

Try leads directly onto starter solenoid.   Click,. What about the other bit?  Sparks, many sparks.   Click 

 

So I gave up and strimmed the overgrown bit near the house.

On the plus side it is now mobile and some dash wipes I found inside made the steering wheel and gear knob 1000% nicer to use.  Not sure where to go with it though.  Anyone want it?

 

 

 

 

* Symptoms including, locks playing up (far more than I initially realised), brake fault light lit, car not knowing the temperature, indicators not working etc.  Caused by my daughter dislodging a big bundle of cables from the fusebox which was easy to fix once I worked out what was wrong.

** I recently found out that there used to be a corrugated iron garage here till it blew away in the wind.  

Blimey. The old girl is looking very sad. Let's hope someone on here helps give another lifeline. 

I found a photo of the engine plaque on another thread on here from a few years ago. At this rate, the k series will outlive the car itself! 

[phil_lihp]

Not a K, this one is T-series!  So the head gasket isn't particularly likely to fail, it just pisses oil out of every join instead.

Much as I liked that car, both times I had it, I think I will step back this time.  

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

It was the first car I bought off the forum and directly from Mr Bollox 5th Feb 2012.

As I recall, it was the first car I bought off the forum as well.  I got it off the guy who had it after you, mastervan I think his username was?  Very nice chap, it'd been sat on his drive for several months with an incontinent water pump and cracked windscreen.  I spent far too much on it getting all its issues sorted, ran it for a couple of years, sold it to someone else (@RobT?) and then had it back a year or two later off @HMC.  Traded it with one of the Johns on here for a Rover 214 which I think RobT had previously owned.   

At this point, its ownership history on here could probably be turned into a short novel.  How many former keepers are on the V5 now?

[catsinthewelder]

 17 with Mr Bollox being #2.

Cosmetically the worst parts are removable panels.  Front wings and bonnet could really do with replacing and the doors aren't great but I have spare doors.  The sills might need patching along with the spare wheel well and the rear arch's aren't the best.  The front subframe doesn't look too clever though and if you're going to take that out a reshell certainly becomes a tempting prospect with plenty of tidy cars with knackered K series motors still out there.

Saying that the main issue I have is that the engine won't start and that was an issue before the starter stopped turning.

[Rod/b]

Has this got the fuel inertia cutoff switch in the drivers footwell, up behind the dash? Worth checking it hasn’t been kicked and tripped out if it has. 

[phil_lihp]

I can't remember if it inhibits the starter but I remember having issues with the immobiliser after changing the battery on the Rover 220.

I would recommend going through the resync procedure with the fob to see if that helps.  I Googled it and found this process, which sounds about right - elsewhere someone also suggested disconnecting the car's battery and taking the battery out of the fob, then put both batteries back before doing this:

put your key in the door with all other doors, bonnet and boot locked.

Turn the key to the lock position and hold for 10 seconds

remove the key and sequence the buttons on the fob until it unlocks. (open, close, open, close ect.)

It usually takes more than 5 times and make sure you are close to the car to make sure its not a weak signal from the fob itself.

[Asimo]

Holy fuck, what is the POINT of all of this incompetent immobiliser nonsense? Just WHY does any car, any car owner,  need any of this crap?

Sorry for being shouty about it, but it really, really annoys me.

 

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, I once caused upset on school work experience by opening a 95MY Discovery with the key rather than the fob. Took several members of the vehicle validation team some time to work out why it wouldn't start! The fob is absolutely essential.

[catsinthewelder]

An early finish today left me with a plan to try and start the 405 so I could strim to brambles behind it.  If I was going to take one battery off charge I should probably charge the other which I'd been meaning to fetch out of the Dacia for months.

The plan was derailed when I found this.

Not ideal but not the end of the world.

Oh dear 

Ohhhhh shit, new plan was to sort this out.  After bailing out at least a gallon of water and undoing a few bolts I had this.

On the plus side I seem to have got to it before it got too rusty and the girlfriend didn't go mental about the seats in the living room and carpet hanging up to dry in the bathroom after I shampooed it.

Still had a bit of time before dark so strimmed around the 405 then tried starting it and it did after the Focus gave it 10 minutes on jump leads onto a freshly charged battery, think I need a new battery along with a tyre and a new belt tensioner.

 

[SiC]

Looks like you need to do what I did to my Moggie ... Drill a drain hole at the lowest point in the floor 🤣

[catsinthewelder]

I did try knocking a bung out but it was very solid.  Next spare day will be spent checking behind the doorcards to see what state the membranes are in. 

I think most of it must have come through one of the rear doors but a little has come from the windscreen so I might have to invest in some Captain Tolley's.

[dollywobbler]

Bah. Unfortunate! I hate puddles in cars. I do get the impression that the seals are not great, remembering that Claudiu inserted sticks to try and get the water to run out of the seal rather than into the car...

 

[omegod]

I've probably told you this before but the 220 is wearing a rotor arm I pulled off a dead 70's landrover that was in my local scrappy, was desperate times  , also the coil was a bit crappy 

Both are your best starting points !! 

 

[catsinthewelder]

You did and I think I bought a rotor arm.  Unfortunately it won't turn over at all now.  This could be because my pair of 'shite' batteries that rotate between the old cars and battery charger are knackered but if it still won't when I replace them then it might be time to give up on the old girl.

[catsinthewelder]

As a good few of you noticed, I put a For Sale thread up for the Rover and had a few folk interested.

What was apparent was that it would make sense to get a few of us together and see if it would start/see if it would be worth fixing.

Anyone up for coming round on Saturday 30th?  South Shropshire, 10-4.  PM for postcode.  Tea and biscuits supplied.  If people are coming I'll buy in parts.

[dollywobbler]

Alas too much on locally on Saturday. It'd be nice to try and get the famous Rover running again.

[catsinthewelder]

Thanks Ian 

 

Not worth buying bits then?

 

 

[Inspector Morose]

I might as well pop on over at some point. 

[Scruffy Bodger]

I may or may not be about. I think I've got to deliver a stove up country somewhere so might not be about?

[catsinthewelder]

Be good to see you if you can come 

[catsinthewelder]

Nobody here yet but that has given me a bit of time to engage in half hearted turd polishing.  Various spare parts for this and the Dacia removed and a bit of cleaning has improved the interior.

But the headliner is still knackered.

Time for the exterior.

[catsinthewelder]

Halfway through

Done.

[Scruffy Bodger]

I ended up getting back home at about 7pm so didn't pop up.

[catsinthewelder]

No worries mate.

In other news the engine did very slowly turn over with a large freshly charged battery and the Focus providing extra volts.  Looks like it might run with better electrical connections.

[Scruffy Bodger]

Did you ever buy any chunky jump leads from Midway? If not mine are deffo up to the job.

[catsinthewelder]

Er, might have seen some in Lidl last time I was down at the FoD 🤣

[catsinthewelder]

You're welcome to swing by, I'm here most evenings but might be back late tonight as the gaffer is taking us Karting.

[catsinthewelder]

I'd like to have spent today fixing one of the older cars but getting anything done was a bonus.  The Focus has been poorly for a bit, I thought I'd fixed it with a new boost hose but the test thrash up the hill put the engine light on.

This was helpful as we'd erased the codes before so actually googled it this time and found a thread on Passion Ford.  A chap kindly wrote about his battle to sort out his car and said the cause was this thing.

It's a turbo pressure solenoid valve and apparently the cause of a vacuum leak which would make this actuator arm.

Dip up and down as the engine tops up the vacuum every 10 seconds.

It was a wonderfully easy repair as my boss let me use this.

Which is our new toy at work.  Buzzed it up, whipped the undertray off and found this 

Loosen one nut and remove another, swap over 1 wiring connector and 3 hoses then put it back on and test.  All seemed well so once I'd had a quick look at the power steering leak (middle of a pipe where the pipe clip has been rubbing) it was time to put the undertray back on and fetch it down.

Clear the P0299 code and she's good to go.