Dollywobbler's Consolidated Tat Thread

[wuvvum]

Are the engines in these twin cam?  Twin cam engines scare me because there's twice the chance of cocking up the timing if you take the head off.  Although being small and Japanese it might be a non-interference engine?

[dollywobbler]

Yes, it does appear to be twin cam. Must be said, seller is sketchy about the timing belt history, so it may be worth actually getting some help on this one so I can get it all done. I'm as nervous as you about ballsing up the timing. It is an interference engine, so worth being cautious.

[Jikovron]

The ejve is twin cam with the inlet cam gear driven via a vvt hub on the exhaust cam which in turn is driven by the timing belt.

One thing that eased operations hugely was to remove the front bumper and headlights as access is disastrous for the engine mount and front of the head vvt oil feeds 

The timing gears have timing marks independantly of the timing belt and there is a knack to aligning that up as it's got a preloaded zero lash split gear to add to the awkwardness!

Your fairly close to having the head off by then anyhow as the cams and mech has to come out to undo the head bolts,,,bloody tiny engines! 

I'll see if I've still got the ejve manual about.

[dollywobbler]

Just had to nip out, so thought I'd use the Daihatsu given it hasn't moved since getting it back. It didn't go well.

I have never owned a car that produced that much blue smoke! It was choking thick. Like a Trabant. On choke. And unwell. Oh dear. I swiftly turned around and came back...

I need to get it up to the unit where I can investigate what's going on. Is it just the valve stem seals leaking into the cylinders for two days? Or rings that are utterly hopeless when cold?

[camryv6]

What about a second hand engine, start at £99.99 on ebay, could end up costing nearly that in gaskets and engine parts ?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DAIHATSU-CHARADE-1-0-PETROL-BARE-ENGINE-2003-to-2007-COLLECTION-ONLY/392763242059?hash=item5b7283764b:g:q-IAAOSwxcteHtvo

[barefoot]

29 minutes ago, dollywobbler said:

I have never owned a car that produced that much blue smoke! It was choking thick. Like a Trabant. On choke. And unwell. Oh dear. I swiftly turned around and came back...

All the films you make, and you didn't film that?

[wuvvum]

Would it be worth chucking a bottle of stop leak snake oil into it to see if that helps?  Cheaper than stripping the engine...

[dollywobbler]

12 minutes ago, barefoot said:

All the films you make, and you didn't film that?

I can't film at home without giving the location away. Which is very annoying.

 

10 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Would it be worth chucking a bottle of stop leak snake oil into it to see if that helps?  Cheaper than stripping the engine...

Yes, I think that'll be the way to go, I just need to confirm whether it's rings or stem seals.

[MrSteve]

Is it worth investing in a Gunson vacuum gauge as they supposedly can help diagnose the level of engine fubar-ness?

[colino]

With a smokescreen after a lay up, much more likely to be valve stem oil seals.  Depending on how long it has been nursed, might be the valve guides too.  Compression test will point you in the right direction, but can't help thinking a sub £200 car is one to test out snake oils and play cambelt roulette on and treat it as disposable white goods.

[hairnet]

unlikely to go bang and a potion might stop the smerk for a bit

190 quid beast just rag it till the mot happens and if it fails on smoke then you had your use from it (if the boss passes then job done ftw)

 

[Zelandeth]

Also...change the oil.

It's not impossible that someone's put something like 0W oil in there...and if it's also done a lot of short runs so dumped a heap of fuel into the sump...

Fresh oil, fresh filter, fresh plugs if they're fouled then see where we are.  We got our neighbour a free Fiesta that way... someone had put really light weight oil in a Valencia engined Fiesta...it was like water thin.  One oil change later the smoke was gone.  They got another five years out of it before terminal rot got it.

If the rings were that knackered I'd be expecting to see really obvious excess blow-by so loads of crankcase pressure with the oil cap removed and engine running.

[greengartside]

^^^ this.

Also, wasn’t it mentioned in the video it’s had a recent oil change? They may well have put some stuff that was ‘laying about in their shed’ so to speak. A good run should hopefully help matters.

And there’s no mention of anything like dense blue smoke under acceleration on any previous MOT’s, so that can only be a good (and recent) thing, surely.

[Zelandeth]

Oh...and disconnect the PCV and see if it's clear.  Blocked PCV will likely result in burning oil too.

[DaveDorson]

I was going to mention the PCV.  I'd be looking at that first.

[Steve79]

Mums 53 plate charade does this, although it gets used everyday.

If i rev it from cold after it standing unused for a few days then you'll get a plume of smoke which clears up fairly quickly.

Its got 110k on it now and for the past 5 years mum has said that if it fails the MOT badly then she'll get another car. Five years on its still soldiering on and always passes the emissions test.

Use a thicker oil and live with it.

[dollywobbler]

Cheers folks. Hoping to have some time to investigate tomorrow. Meant to be dropping the fuel tank on the Fox but I still really don't fancy that job and keep putting it off...

[Spurious]

3 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Use a thicker oil and live with it.

🤔😁

[dollywobbler]

*coughs*

That really isn't ideal. Repeated revving of the engine did that, so I reckon it is the rings. Will try some potions, because that's a lot quicker than doing the job properly.

I also buffed the headlamps and tidied up the interior, because obviously that's important. I did try a change of oil, but no appreciable difference. Will chuck in some potions once I've decided which to try, rag it silly and try another oil change.

One thing I will say. The Charade is really a Mira, built it kei car regs (albeit with the larger export engine). The interior space is truly remarkable given that constraint. More rear leg room than the Rover, and more interior width than you'd expect too.

[barefoot]

I've been looking out for an auto/air conditioned example of these, but haven't seen one at a price that suits me yet. I'm gagging to know if it will change gear at 2 - 2500 rpm like the Rover/Jaguar or if it will know that it needs to pull four or five thousand revs before even thinking about changing!

[Remspoor]

Did not James Bond's Aston smoke at times?

[dollywobbler]

8 minutes ago, barefoot said:

I've been looking out for an auto/air conditioned example of these, but haven't seen one at a price that suits me yet. I'm gagging to know if it will change gear at 2 - 2500 rpm like the Rover/Jaguar or if it will know that it needs to pull four or five thousand revs before even thinking about changing!

It has surprising torque, thanks to the VTEC YO. Sorry, DVVT on these. I mean it doesn't fly along at low speeds, but it is designed to pull from 1500rpm in a way little three-pots generally don't. It's a complete polar opposite to the Matiz, which doesn't even move unless the valves are striking the bonnet. Oh, and the Charade is doing a leisurely 2500rpm at 60mph. Albeit I had to double-downshift on one steep hill...

[Steve79]

5 hours ago, barefoot said:

I've been looking out for an auto/air conditioned example of these, but haven't seen one at a price that suits me yet. I'm gagging to know if it will change gear at 2 - 2500 rpm like the Rover/Jaguar or if it will know that it needs to pull four or five thousand revs before even thinking about changing!

Don't forget that there's no £30 tax on the auto. Full price YO!

[barefoot]

8 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Don't forget that there's no £30 tax on the auto. Full price YO!

That's one of the attractions, I wouldn't drive a low emmissions vehicle if you paid me.

Fuck the environment, it'll see me out.

[St.Jude]

1 hour ago, barefoot said:

That's one of the attractions, I wouldn't drive a low emmissions vehicle if you paid me.

Fuck the environment, it'll see me out.

 

[gadgetgricey]

21 hours ago, barefoot said:

I've been looking out for an auto/air conditioned example of these, but haven't seen one at a price that suits me yet. I'm gagging to know if it will change gear at 2 - 2500 rpm

I'll drop you a pm if I ever decide to sell mine. Not driven it for a few months, but it is a lovely revvy thing, so assume 5k rpm,

[dollywobbler]

Monday morning saw me with a small gap in my schedule and dry-ish weather. I had to paint the Rover's sill before the primer let it rust away. Rattle cans out!

Hopefully it blends in well once I've given the rest of the car a wash...

[Mrcento]

I saw the video, had a look in the comments. Amazing how many offended painters there are on Youtube.

They'd have had kittens (Not reliant) if they'd seen me painting the Cinq 😂

The sill will look ok in the end. Once the car has been washed and it's back out on dirty roads and getting muck over it all equally, it'll barely be noticeable it has had work.

[Cord Fourteener]

8 hours ago, Mrcento said:

I saw the video, had a look in the comments. Amazing how many offended painters there are on Youtube.

They'd have had kittens (Not reliant) if they'd seen me painting the Cinq 😂

The sill will look ok in the end. Once the car has been washed and it's back out on dirty roads and getting muck over it all equally, it'll barely be noticeable it has had work.

Looks fine to me 👍

[Cord Fourteener]

9 hours ago, dollywobbler said:

Monday morning saw me with a small gap in my schedule and dry-ish weather. I had to paint the Rover's sill before the primer let it rust away. Rattle cans out!

Hopefully it blends in well once I've given the rest of the car a wash...

Looking good. What makes it obvious is the highly effective local cleaning technique. After either a. More driving or b. Global cleaning no one will ever notice (apart from any body shop owner with their salt, hopefully).