Skizzer’s thread: Honda Aerodeck repairs

[Asimo]

Lube needed - brake grease -  to get piston, seal and cylinder to cooperate.  (Handbrake calipers are Satan's work!)

And you need a mirror image pair of callipers, not two the same. Doh!

[SiC]

New ones don't appear to have the handbrake cable mechanism either.

[Skizzer]

34 minutes ago, Asimo said:

Lube needed - brake grease -  to get piston, seal and cylinder to cooperate.  (Handbrake calipers are Satan's work!)

And you need a mirror image pair of callipers, not two the same. Doh!

I used brake fluid as a lubricant, following internet advice - is brake grease better?

And yes, they sent me two offside (RH) ones. (My order was correct.)

20 minutes ago, SiC said:

New ones don't appear to have the handbrake cable mechanism either.

They have a handbrake cable mechanism, but it’s different and the hole is too small for the ferrules on the handbrake cables.

So they’re both wrong.  And ECP aren’t accepting returns, so I’ve been properly ripped off.

 

I’ve now ordered some cheaper, correct-looking refurbed calipers from eBay sellers, as I’ve run right out of being arsed with this job.

[wuvvum]

I hear ya brother.  I'm very close to caving in and ordering a new front caliper for the Merc, which I've been having all sorts of fun* with.

[Skizzer]

I should add that the eBay calipers were helpfully sourced by @320touring as he talked me down off the ledge earlier.

[Stevebrookman]

I use red rubber grease-worked on the pistons. Fuck all worked on the bleed nipple.

[twosmoke300]

You also need to get the outer dust noot in its groove on the caliper body before you get the piston in or you won’t be able to afterwards . 
 

Boot not noot .

 

 

[Tepper]

Probably a bit late now, but if corrosion has built up in the groove for the seal, this can prevent the seal from seating all the way into the groove. Maybe this was why you couldn't push the piston in? A brass wire wheel in a dremel works well to clean up these grooves.

[Skizzer]

I had a day off today, which was mostly spent gardening and doing chores, but I put in a little shed time on my way back from an essential shop.

While bits of brakes and Dremel wire wheels are on order, it was time to look into the sticking throttle on the new Royale.

Looking at my own video of the mechanism working, it struck me that the accelerator cable was attacking the pivot at an unhelpfully sharp angle. This meant it took rather more force to start it moving than to move the pivot through the latter portion of its arc.

Before:

That return spring doesn’t look ideal, either. Someone’s been in here tinkering, methinks.

Off with that bracket, some re-orientation (I tried lots of positions, fnarr) and we ended up here.

After:

It doesn’t look hugely different but the throttle feels MUCH smoother now.

The proof of the pudding was in the drive home — it’s no longer the eighth task of Hercules to manoeuvre at low speed without stalling, and on the open road the car drives like it should — which is to say a big luxury coupe with an unstressed six cylinder engine that wafts and surges like a boss.

And I managed to put it all back together so I didn’t get stuck in the shed on a diet of eggs and dog food. 

[320touring]

Well played! Looks a good fix, and sounds like a big improvement in drivability!

 

Just be glad the diet on offer wasn't Dog eggs..

[Split_Pin]

That looks a satisfying fix. Nothing worse than trying to manoeuvre a car with a sticky throttle!

[GBJ]

2 hours ago, Skizzer said:

I had a day off today, which was mostly spent gardening and doing chores, but I put in a little shed time on my way back from an essential shop.

While bits of brakes and Dremel wire wheels are on order, it was time to look into the sticking throttle on the new Royale.

Looking at my own video of the mechanism working, it struck me that the accelerator cable was attacking the pivot at an unhelpfully sharp angle. This meant it took rather more force to start it moving than to move the pivot through the latter portion of its arc.

Before:

That return spring doesn’t look ideal, either. Someone’s been in here tinkering, methinks.

Off with that bracket, some re-orientation (I tried lots of positions, fnarr) and we ended up here.

After:

It doesn’t look hugely different but the throttle feels MUCH smoother now.

The proof of the pudding was in the drive home — it’s no longer the eighth task of Hercules to manoeuvre at low speed without stalling, and on the open road the car drives like it should — which is to say a big luxury coupe with an unstressed six cylinder engine that wafts and surges like a boss.

And I managed to put it all back together so I didn’t get stuck in the shed on a diet of eggs and dog food. 

It looks as though it should turn through 90 degrees more and use both bolts to hold it, and the cable go though the other hole in the bracket.

[Skizzer]

46 minutes ago, GBJ said:

It looks as though it should turn through 90 degrees more and use both bolts to hold it, and the cable go though the other hole in the bracket.

That’s what I thought too. When I tried it though — either way round — it’s too close to the pivot and there isn’t enough range of movement.

I’m not convinced it’s the right bracket. I may fabricate a new one - I have some suitable steel that even has holes in the right place by bizarre coincidence, but they need boring out to 8mm and I’ll need a stepper drill for that. I thought I had one but it seems not.

[Skizzer]

10 hours ago, Skizzer said:

I’m not convinced it’s the right bracket.

Further research brought up this, a Vauxhall/Opel 2.8 accelerator cable for sale on eBay.

It’s definitely a different bracket, and looks a more suitable shape.

I’m not paying £25 for it though.  When I can be bothered, I’ll make one.

[Bren]

Given how clean your car is i'd pay the £25 and have done with it.

[Skizzer]

The XJ-S is home. It went off to the local specialist for MOT and a couple of other jobs before lockdown, and I sort of ignored it.

The garage did close briefly but has been open since Easter, which I hadn’t realised until they rang me up this week.

They’ve fixed the automatic choke - a faulty valve - and replaced a coolant hose that conveniently burst while they were working on it rather than when I was driving to London or something.

They’ve replaced the gearbox actuator too, again — it had gone back to kicking down under all but the lightest throttle. Might have been a faulty part or there might be something else amiss; we’ll see how it goes.

For now it’s driving much more smoothly and it’s lovely to have it roar then purr straight away when you start it from cold, instead of having to faff about with left foot braking so you can keep the revs up.

Very lazy photo:

They’d parked it with the handbrake on, not unreasonably; I had to quickly google how to release it again. I never normally use it because I have the fear with flyoff handbrakes.

For my own future reference: lift and let drop to engage, lift and press button to release.

[SiC]

With a 3 speed auto, do you even need kickdown? Just shift it from D to 2 surely. 

[Angrydicky]

Yeah, but V12 ?

[Skizzer]

31 minutes ago, SiC said:

With a 3 speed auto, do you even need kickdown? Just shift it from D to 2 surely. 

Sometimes it’s not about need

[Skizzer]

On 5/8/2020 at 8:38 PM, Skizzer said:

I’ve now ordered some cheaper, correct-looking refurbed calipers from eBay sellers, as I’ve run right out of being arsed with this job.

Minor update: finally got the correct eBay-sourced rear brake calipers fitted to the Audi 80 today, together with new discs and pads. Also cleaned and greased the sliders and applied new rubber boots.

It would have taken half the time if I hadn’t faffed around trying to get the springs on the pads to locate in the caliper. They don’t — you fit the pads first then they just butt up against the caliper. Durr.

The hydraulics are connected up but actual brake fluid and bleeding can wait until I’ve done the fronts — next time.

[Skizzer]

Slightly worryingly, the Jaguar didn’t want to come home after this afternoon’s trip to the shed.

It coughed then stalled in the farm lane. It restarted then did it again, so I turned it round and swapped it for the Royale. It kept dying but I managed to persuade it to reverse into its dormitory.

The most likely explanation is it’s just run out of fuel. The fuel gauge doesn’t work and I can’t remember when it last got filled up; I thought it wasn’t many miles ago, but the fuel consumption only ever surprises me one way.

[spike60]

A friend had a V12  XJS some years  back and said "7"  when I asked about fuel. "What's it like on a run?" says I " that is a run........"!  This was an early carb car with problems to be fair and I had just bought a Scimitar also with problems . I was told that did 11 mpg, it managed 12.4 tank to tank.?

[wuvvum]

On my maiden voyage in my XJ-S (HE admittedly) I managed 19 mpg from Bucks to Norfolk by sticking rigorously to the speed limits and accelerating "normally".  I did manage to get the instant consumption readout to drop to 1 mpg flooring it out of a layby mind.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 5/8/2020 at 7:04 PM, Skizzer said:

In between getting distracted by plush Vauxhalls, I have been chipping away at the problem of the Audi’s rear brakes.  They are fighting back hard at every step.

I stripped the calipers down and cleaned them up in a roughly 10% solution of POR15 degreaser in the ultrasound bath (before on the left, after on the right):

I bought a rebuild kit and replaced the various seals.

I gave the pistons and cylinders a polish with some 2000 grit:

The problem I’ve got is that the pistons won’t wind back in — they won’t push past the new square cut seal. I can’t fit a rewind tool between the caliper and the piston to apply enough mechanical pressure: 

 

I’ve tried fitting the seal round the piston and trying to force it down the gap into its slot, but that’s going nowhere too.

So I caved in and ordered a pair of new calipers from ECP, both left and right sides...

 

...can you tell what’s wrong with this picture?

one's green the other is yellow? ?

[Skizzer]

On 6/7/2020 at 9:04 PM, Skizzer said:

The most likely explanation is it’s just run out of fuel.

Judging by the fact that it runs fine since I poured a jerry can of VPower into the tank, I’m declaring this fixed.

And very uneconomical. There’s a surprise.

[Skizzer]

Irritatingly, the Royale is misbehaving slightly.

It stalls under throttle when going uphill.

The chap I bought it off probably had no idea, being from the middle of Norfolk, but it’s a bit of an issue round here.  It restarts again, but it does it fairly consistently. Seems ok otherwise.

My guesses so far are something to do with the carb or a weak fuel pump that struggles to push the fuel uphill. Given that it revs happily when stationary, this could be entertaining* to diagnose.

It still looks nice.

[Tickman]

Does it restart while still facing up hill?

[Bren]

There are'nt many cars that can make an XJS fuel consumption seem reasonable.

A royale is one of those cars.

[Skizzer]

2 hours ago, Tickman said:

Does it restart while still facing up hill?

Yup, without too much fuss.

The hill thing might be a red herring, it might just be about engine speed under load (more load going uphill obviously). It may just be running too rich and overfuelling, or something.

Place bets now as to how much worse I can make it by fiddling with the carb settings.

[spike60]

Many years ago when I owned a Monza someone told me of this brothers Monza doing something similar to the extent he had to reverse up the lane to his house. It was found to have a damaged fuel line and was drawing air in but not particularly leaking any more fuel than an old Monza does anyway.