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PrinceRupert's Cars - MG4 and TVR Tuscan


PrinceRupert

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Calibration would make sense - it used to sit level on the drive for weeks and drop very slowly and evenly. The Cruiser has those cursed chrome nut covers too - but a new set of 20 is £19 on eBay... (nuts with covers).

I wonder if there's something weird electrical going on as the CD changer was also fine before - maybe some sort of earthing in the boot?

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Plot thickens. No longer sure it is the strut. Rather may be some form of calibration issue.  I disconnected one of the air lines and turned out it was for front right, which dropped. Reconnected it and took for a drive.  Now front right is 10mm lower than front left and ride is worse.  Could be caused by a weak battery? 

Also, Rover MOT tomorrow.  Doing some checks and seems it is also losing coolant...bit of pink staining in the v, thermostat?  May contribute to whether or not it lives on.  May need to go car shopping...

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Rover is definitely leaking from the thermostat, plus what looks like a bit of weeping from other pipes.   Tomorrow may be the end of the road for the Rover ... though if it only fails on welding and I can get it done cheaply, I could replace the stat myself and get maybe another year on it. Let's see. 

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On the Jag, the front earth point was pretty crusty so I've cleaned that up and put the battery on the CTEK to see if maybe just its poor earthing / battery problem, though it seems unlikely ...

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  • PrinceRupert changed the title to PrinceRupert's Cars - two cars broken out of three, impending 75 MOT

So, the Rover did fail - welding and front ball joint and an advisory on the rear ARB.  Let's see how much the welding would be, if I can even find someone to do it - if it was a few hundred quid, I am sure I could replace the stat and suspension arm myself for a few hundred quid.

Repair immediately (major defects):
Nearside Front Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))
Offside Front Outer Integral body structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced sill (6.1.1 (c) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Rear Anti-roll bar corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))

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On 6/4/2022 at 6:56 PM, PrinceRupert said:

Plot thickens. No longer sure it is the strut. Rather may be some form of calibration issue.  I disconnected one of the air lines and turned out it was for front right, which dropped. Reconnected it and took for a drive.  Now front right is 10mm lower than front left and ride is worse.  Could be caused by a weak battery? 

Also, Rover MOT tomorrow.  Doing some checks and seems it is also losing coolant...bit of pink staining in the v, thermostat?  May contribute to whether or not it lives on.  May need to go car shopping...

I seem to recall reading these cars are sensitive to battery condition so could well be related. Is the one on the Rover any better/newer? Maybe a swap to check?

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Mystery continues.  After two days on the battery conditioner, the rear of the car is level!  Though it seems rather low.   Can a weak battery cause the compressor to not work hard enough on one corner only ... ?

The ride quality is still poor, but not as awful - as if it is no longer losing composure when the hard o/s/r hits bumps.  Therefore, I'm wondering whether maybe the poor ride is at least partly down to wheels, tyres and/or alignment ... 

There is a new problem: an almighty rattle coming from the n/s/f when hitting certain bumps, which is odd.  From prodding about, it seems it may be something as mundane as a damaged and rattling section of undertray ... 

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21 hours ago, PrinceRupert said:

So, the Rover did fail - welding and front ball joint and an advisory on the rear ARB.  Let's see how much the welding would be, if I can even find someone to do it - if it was a few hundred quid, I am sure I could replace the stat and suspension arm myself for a few hundred quid.

Repair immediately (major defects):
Nearside Front Suspension arm ball joint excessively worn (5.3.4 (a) (i))
Offside Front Outer Integral body structure corroded to the extent that the rigidity of the assembly is significantly reduced sill (6.1.1 (c) (i))

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
Rear Anti-roll bar corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))

thats not too bad

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So the XJ6 is leaving my life, and going to @NorthernMonkey.    Can't say I'll miss it.  It probably has cost me more than £10 a mile to own ...

The Rover is getting fixed.  I've found someone who can weld it for £180-195, and going to get the garage to do the suspension arm (should be in the 200-250 range I suspect) as frankly can't be bothered wrestling with it. 

I've then ordered a thermostat kit for 70 quid and will attempt that myself. 

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  • PrinceRupert changed the title to PrinceRupert's Cars - 75 getting a thermostat, GTi joining fleet

So, one more being added to the fleet tomorrow.  Mk4 Golf GTi courtesy of @Shirley Knott

In meantime, need to get 75 working.  300 quid to get suspension arm fitted for MOT. Now need to do thermostat. 

Tried to do keyhole method by removing throttle body, air box and battery but there was no hope of undoing the relevant bolt. Seems someone replaced it before and used an allen key headed bolt rather than a normal bolt and just couldnt get a tool into it. So manifold off it is.

This is the most involved mechanics job ive probably ever done so lets see how it goes. Got it mostly apart though still need to work out how to get to the three rear bolts on the front exhaust manifold.  There are a lots of bits off the car and not convinced ill get them all back on.....

Did the three rear spark plugs whilst im in there - they are almost impossible to do with the manifold on and are overdue a  change

 

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It is apart.  It isn't obvious from looking at the old thermostat housing where it is leaking from. Let's hope it is the thermostat...

This little metal pipe had some pink goo around it and doesn't look healthy.  Any ideas for a fix?

Currently cursing as the new rigid pipe that sits beside thermostat won't bloody fit. The rubber sealing ring is too bulbous and no amount of force will get it in.  Any ideas? Otherwise the old one will be going back on....

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So it is all going back together.  Two problems:

I have snapped the bloody crankcase breather, 40 quid for a new one. I also can't remember where it goes and how it is routed.  Anyone know where I can get an image of the route?  Google is not helping.

I have a spare plug that I can't find a home for next to the throttle body. Any ideas?

 

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So apparently that multi-plug is for traction control, which I do not have. 

The other end of the crankcase breather goes into the rear bank cam cover, which is of course inaccessible with the inlet manifold on.  Took the bolts out and tried to wriggle it in, but snapped it as well.  At least I had a new one coming anyway (although forty quid for three plastic tubes and a t-piece ...), but now need to take the blasted inlet manifold back off.  Frustrating.

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The Rover is alive and kicking! 

Two further problems though: snapped another fecking breather hose, hopefully given where it has snapped can repair it with a length of rubber hose and a couple of jubilee clips rather than fork out another 40 quid; two of the front fuel injectors are leaking.  I only replaced three of the six fuel injector o-rings (hopefully the back ones .... pretty sure it was the back ones ...) as for some reason I ordered three rather than six. So hopefully another tenner on o-rings and half an hour fitting them (don't think I need to take too much apart to get to them) will sort that ...

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Took the front undertray off today to fish out the various things I'd dropped in the engine bay. What a palaver, every single fastener different and rusty, one had to get snapped off, several wouldn't go back in.  Painful. 

Found my magnetic stick and the coil pack nut, but of course failed to find the 10mm socket. 

I also found this ... any idea what it is?

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1 hour ago, PrinceRupert said:

Took the front undertray off today to fish out the various things I'd dropped in the engine bay. What a palaver, every single fastener different and rusty, one had to get snapped off, several wouldn't go back in.  Painful. 

Found my magnetic stick and the coil pack nut, but of course failed to find the 10mm socket. 

I also found this ... any idea what it is?

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I think it should have a stud protruding from both sides. It's a mount of some sort, if as small as it looks possibly exhaust? Metalastic, I think they were called back in the day.

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The 75 was pressed back into service on the commute today.  After what was a reasonably big job for me, I was a little nervous that it was going to overheat in the Blackwall Tunnel, but it performed admirably. 

I quite like the juxtaposition in the office car park. 

The hot weather over the last few weeks has done a number on the headlining, which was drooping in places before but is now drooping in many more places.  

Another problem I've had for a while is a slightly jerky gearbox, seemingly between 1/2 or 2/3.  That seems to be getting worse, with quite a firm jerk on certain low gear changes.  From a bit of searching, it seems to be a fairly common problem with Jatco gearboxes and may be a couple of solenoids that can be changed easily enough - though without Rover diagnostics, not likely to know which ones.  If I just leave it, is it likely to stop working altogether at some point or simply continue to clunk?

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  • 3 weeks later...

So the 75 is driving well, holding temperature even in heavy traffic, no issues in that regard.

The coolant level does however seem to drop intermittently - some journeys it won't drop at all, some it will drop from max to min.   These are generally short journeys which is all it has been used for recently.  I have looked around with a torch and can't see any obvious evidence of fresh leaks from the thermostat and associated tubes, or from the radiator elsewhere.  Could it be air burping its way out of the system as it is being used and driven?

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14 minutes ago, PrinceRupert said:

So the 75 is driving well, holding temperature even in heavy traffic, no issues in that regard.

The coolant level does however seem to drop intermittently - some journeys it won't drop at all, some it will drop from max to min.   These are generally short journeys which is all it has been used for recently.  I have looked around with a torch and can't see any obvious evidence of fresh leaks from the thermostat and associated tubes, or from the radiator elsewhere.  Could it be air burping its way out of the system as it is being used and driven?

You would expect it to drop a couple of times as the air bleeds out but usually stabalises, although I guess it depends how prone a certain engine is to air locks and how well they self bleed.  Did you bleed the system when you put it back together?

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