THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Thinking that maybe it is because it is SVO and no diesel

 

Stupid thing is that it was running perfectly and the filter was hunky dory and now I have angered the french trolls living in the engine bay ..

 

Vegetable oil definitely exacerbates any air ingress issues with the fuel system.

[barefoot]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this,

I've been looking for HGF K series news & it's not shown up for a bit.

Do you all know about the nice Land Rover aftermarket head gasket that solves K series worries once and for all.

My chap with the Spaniard tells me that he's been fitting them for a while & never had one back.

[Richard]

Somebody on here spent a massive amount of time and money doing an MGF head gasket. He took all known precautions and used all the right bits only to have it go again almost immediately.

[Cavcraft]

Station I think. The Landrover gasket 'cure' is pretty well known (I think) but I seem to recall the main issue is checking the head isn't warped/over skimmed and lining everything back up with exacting tolerances?

[The Moog]

Spent about 2 hours rechecking the hoses to fuel filter in Xantia but cant see anything obvious in the way of air getting in. Totally sealed off the drain screw to ensure it wasnt that. Cant luzz some diesel in as I have filled the car up with Veg about a week ago. Going to have to try replacing the fuel hose from the bulb to the filter to see if that helps.

 

When I had enough of that I decided to swap out the pollen filter. It was proper tramps beard filthy. In went lovely white one. So then got a bit braver and decided to tackle the heater controls. Stripped it down and found all the cables are kinked. No way of replacing them unless strip out the dash (which I am not going to do). So set it so that it blows air to screen and only fresh air. That is a massive improvement over the previous state of affairs!

[Albert Ross]

Ref K series HGF, I did one a year ago and it's still holding it's own (In a Freeloader)

 

Before you start any stripping, take off the cambelt upper cover and time the cams to the setting point. This sets pistons halfway, which is the correct point for building up. The crank does not turn with the head bolts out, as they torque up the main cage at the bottom of the block. also, disconnect the battery. If by some miracle the crank DOES turn, the liners may pop out.

 

Make certain it's not overskimmed, use NEW headbolts, fresh antifreeze, flush the reservoir, replace the cambelt KIT complete, and ALWAYS ALWAYS replace the thermostat (under the inlet manifold, so a right cunt to get to later. Do it while the manifold's loosely hung in the engine bay) Just swing all the ancillaries to the sides, and whip the head off and down to your local friendly machinist. My bloke can do it with the cams in, saving a lot of faffing with cams. Replace the cam seals, noting that they are handed clockwise and anticlockwise. Adhere to the torqueing instructions like glue. NO variations on that one. Otherwise a piece of piss.

 

 

[Negative Creep]

Car is off to the garage tomorrow morning to work out why it sounds like a Subaru at low revs. Crossing my fingers it's something minor and that the garage are an honest bunch seeing as I've never used them before. I could only find one Toyota or Jap specialist in Kent and that's nowhere near me. There were at least 3 in Plymouth alone

[Cavcraft]

Moog have you tried the fuel filter housing on the Xant? If it's the same arrangement as the BX I managed to get a minute pin hole in the housing on mine and it was a bastard until one of the BXProject whizzkids spotted it. Also have you thoroughly checked the bulb as they can perish and give grief?

[Inspector Morose]

Basically what Cav said. IIRC tops of the fuel filter can warp and suck air and when running on veg, the bulb can give grief on occasion. Money's on the filter tbh.

[The Moog]

I did think it was that because it was the only thing I have touched when changing the filter but on the French Car Forum they reckoned it might be hose. Would be surprised if the hose had suddenly gone the same time the filter was changed. I have got silicon gasket stuff. Do you think it is ok to run that round the top of the housing? or will it be damaged by fuel?

 

Before I changed the filter it was happy as larry, Got a quote for a new filter housing ..£60 .. might just splash out. Cant seem to find one secondhand. Mind you I save that in 2 tank fulls!

[Cavcraft]

If the filter housing is the same as the BX one (or even if it's not I suppose) it'd be worth sticking a 'wanted' advert up on BXProject or BXClub.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

I think all BXs have the old Lucas 'sandwich' type filter or Bosch spin-on, later XUDs have a plastic filter housing with a paper/metal insert which is bolted to the thermostat housing for fuel heating.

They usually leak at the O-ring where the plastic filter joins the metal coolant thermostat housing or at the hole for the fuel heating thermostat.

[Jon]

Dropped the oil in my Nissan 2.8 diesel engined Holden today and thought it'd be wise to replace the fuel filter while I was at it. Turned out that despite the replacement filter sharing the same code and being manufactured by (or on the behalf of) the same company, the two were slightly different, resulting in the new one screwing on OK but the rubber seal not doing its job properly. Therefore, I managed to drive it off the driveway (just about) and only managed to get 3 houses down the road before it finally cut out. Threw in the towel and called the AA. Anyway, could this possibly be a problem Moog, or am I barking up the wrong tree? Is it possible to luzz the old filter back on and see what happens?

 

Incidentally, the 'AA' man was actually a local recovery guy subcontracted out, who arived within 30mins. He drove me round town first to borrow a fuel can from his yard, then get some diesel (no fuel in tank was first suspected prior to the proper diagnosis, since this last tank of fuel has been lasting miraculously long..) and finally call out a local mechanic he used to work with, who's not even connected to the AA! He arrived within 5 minutes, drove off to collect his airlines from home, pressurised the fuel tank and then fannied around getting himself covered in diesel before working out the problem. And not one mention of filling in forms or asking for ID/AA membership. Top blokes!

[The Moog]

I tried it with the old filter but no joy.

 

Managed to find a 306 filter housing on ebay for £30 so ordered that. I am going to have a go tonight at replacing some of the fuel hose clips. I think that one might have got loose. And going to silicon seal the filter top as well to see if that cures it.

[Cavcraft]

I think all BXs have the old Lucas 'sandwich' type filter or Bosch spin-on, later XUDs have a plastic filter housing with a paper/metal insert which is bolted to the thermostat housing for fuel heating.

They usually leak at the O-ring where the plastic filter joins the metal coolant thermostat housing or at the hole for the fuel heating thermostat.

 

Ah, cheers. I ran (mostly) Bosch pumped ones so they had the spin off housings. Thinking about since my last post if Moog's is a turbo then I expect it's possible it's different to the BX ones as they didn't have a 1.9TD.

 

Random thought: but if there was an airleak in the fuel line/s somewhere would it be possible to lightly cover them in washing up liquid (or something like that) then fire the engine up and see if anything bubbles, or is that a daft idea?

[seth]

I finally got up to see my mate John in Birmingham this weekend. Proper shite spec Cambridge is occasionally daily driven - ie it gets time off now and again but is often used for commuting/other local journeys

 

 

Monza gets to do the long hauls.

 

 

This trips memorable story? When you call up Craig Breedlove he picks up the phone and immediately answers with the words "Spirit of America". A nice guy but rather eccentric in a Californian way apparently.

[greengartside]

Well I managed to nip home and start tinkering with the 205 GTi.

 

First up was the non-working hazard lights. I just kept pushing the switch in and out until it freed itself up and now the hazards work as they should!

 

Next the seatbelt clips, both don't engage so I presume it's had either new belts or new seats as they simply wont click in place - I guess I'm going to have to find some that match up

 

I then gave the inside a quick wipe over with some Armor-All wipes and it's removed the stale and damp smell - one Ice Blue Magic Tree later and it's smelling quite nice.

 

Found out the spare wheel is an alloy with a brand new tyre - I won't be using that if I can help it. The four tyres on there will be swapped for some tyres off my old Fiesta, which luckily are the same width but are a 65 profile instead of a 60. I can live with that. I also did a pre-M.o.T lookover and as far as I can see underneath is solid. No welding required anywhere! It will need a new O/S driveshaft gaitor as it's split and it may need some new fuel lines as they are looking crispy

 

Plan is to put it in for an M.o.T, do the relevant work necessary and get the garage to whip a cambelt on and change the tyres. I can then service it at home. All in all, it's sounding good and I can't wait to give it a proper blast!!!

[The Moog]

fitted new clips to the hoses going to the fuel filter in the rain tonight. Also used some silicon sealant round the top of the filter housing. Seems to have made it better. Certainly stopped smoking so much. Will run it a few days and see how it goes before perhaps swapping over the housing.

 

Cheers for all the advice

[seth]

I've been turning in the shed again this evening.

 

 

New bearing housings that will get welded into the top mounts of the Hillman's struts and will give me about 14mm more suspension movement. Or 14mm less ride height.

[CreepingJesus]

Nice easy fix on the Meg - the nasty vibes turned out to be a bent wheel. Fucking potholes...

Girding my loins to get on to recomissioning the Mondy. Definetly. And I'll quit smoking, and catch one of those flying pigs.

[forddeliveryboy]

Wots this Austin Cambridge 'proper shite'? Utter shite - the bodies used to slide off the chassis in a shunt. FFS!

[Minimad5]

FFS!

 

I sence a theme with your posts

Welcome to Autoshite.

[seth]

Wots this Austin Cambridge 'proper shite'? Utter shite - the bodies used to slide off the chassis in a shunt. FFS!

 

Hence their popularity for being so solid in a crash with generations of banger racers I haven't found the chassis under mine yet either.

[Angrydicky]

Wots this Austin Cambridge 'proper shite'? Utter shite - the bodies used to slide off the chassis in a shunt. FFS!

 

I'd still rather have one than some shitty Capri/Escort/Cortina though. Have you ever actually driven one? Not only are they very strong (as Seth says) they are easily capable of being used everyday, they're very cheap and the parts are easily avaliable, cheaply. There's no scene tax applied to them either.

[forddeliveryboy]

Landcrab is proper shite. Thought people used to die in shunts in old English shite coz they didn't crumple at all. Internal bits stopped too quick, or didn't - as it were. FFS.

[Angrydicky]

Wrong - they crumpled back to the bulkhead, and no further. The large hydralastic tube carrying the displacers across the bulkhead saw to that.

 

Here are some pictures of an Austin 1800 that collided with a lorry in Australia in the early 1980's. The whole axle assembly of the truck was knocked out with the force of the impact, but all three passengers of the Crab survived.

 

 

 

As for it being shite, yes I know it is, but this website is called Autoshite and it is for shite cars!

[Cavcraft]

Landcrab is proper shite. Thought people used to die in shunts in old English shite coz they didn't crumple at all. Internal bits stopped too quick, or didn't - as it were. FFS.

 

Erm, a Farina isn't a Lancrab and a Landcrab isn't a Farina. Are you trying to change the subject or displaying a lack of knowledge? I can testify to the safety of old Brit tin as I was involved in an accident where an ADO16 hit the back of an Austin 3-litre at some speed. Not one injury at all and although the ADO16 was quite badly damaged the front crumpled perfectly to absorb the blow, as Angry Dicky has said.

 

Also, as AD has stated, this is autoshite so there's a love of shite cars. If you're going to come on and argue that your Ford is better than someone else's British car (or whatever) then I wish you luck.

[morris_ital_lover]

I don't understand where you are coming forddelivery.... all cars in the 60s were comparatively crap in shunts, and when they've rotten to buggery it doesn't matter how the chassis is applied to the body, its going to end in disaster.

 

If we really really cared about safety we'd trailer our shite to shows using 5 euro n-cap cars and never let them touch the road.

 

m0rris

[seth]

FFS!

[Angrydicky]

FFS!