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 Right - join Part A to Part B etc, etc, etc (currently 26,880 views) |
| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 3rd, 2021, 16:55:25 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Well - it's official. Halfords has become rubbish!
I've used Halfords for years holding a trade card for close to two decades. I'd noticed a few years ago that the discounts offered on items in store is nowhere near what it was.
A couple of weeks ago I changed the oil on the bike and went to buy some oil filters - I normally buy four at a time but was down to my last one- I needed more oil so thought I'd restock at the same time, only to find out that they no longer stock items such as this for motorcycles.
Today I went to buy spark plugs for the MM as mentioned above, only to find out that they no longer hold spark plugs in store!
But it's okay - they can order them in. At £14! Each!!!
Hmm... no thanks.
No doubt I'll still use them for oil (but only when I'm in the area of a store will I stock up), but my local motor factors - which is actually closer, holds items in stock and if not held will order/deliver FoC if not on the shelf.
Oh well - at least I saved 50p (trade discount) on a Halfords spark plug brush, which I'll try until I can get some new plugs!
Sorry - rant over.
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Reply: 555 - 599 |
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| mike brown |
| Posted on: December 3rd, 2021, 20:58:35 |
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Big Member
Location: Southampton
Posts: 419
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Halfords actually charge trade card holders more than retail sometimes as they charge full price to trade cards when and item is on offer, ask me how I know 😠.
Re plugs try warming them with a blow torch then put them back in and try starting. We've found the combination of heat and flame cleaning can help persuade an engine into life.
Mike |
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Reply: 556 - 599 |
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| Simon Robinson |
| Posted on: December 5th, 2021, 09:20:46 |
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Big Member
Location: Northampton
Posts: 338
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| I use Halfords occasionally for some things, it's only a five minute walk away but there is a local motor factors which I prefer to support. A few years back I bought a battery from Halfords for the MM, which was useful when it packed in (due to a faulty alternator) as I had to carry it there to get it replaced! |
D&H Mk IV 8313, KGV 215V (aka George) - 75,000 miles and counting since restoration in 2011. |
Last modified December 6th, 2021, 07:08:32 by Simon Robinson |
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Reply: 557 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 6th, 2021, 12:04:57 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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I've just pulled the spark plugs - wet and smell of petrol.
They wiped/brushed easily and look like new (they aren't very old to be fair). I've checked the gap too, and put them back in for now. Mike - I'll give the blow torch idea a go but I don't have a car to hook up the jump lead to at the minute and didn't fancy leaving the plugs out.
I should be able to give the car another try on Friday.
Thinking about it, there's obviously fuel getting through. The car was trying to start, so there must be a spark of some kind (can check that it's all four cylinders on Friday). The only thing thats changed is the lambda. Hmm... |
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Reply: 558 - 599 |
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| Craig Smith |
| Posted on: December 8th, 2021, 16:43:39 |
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Big Member
Location: Bury
Posts: 254
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What angle your Lambda sensor is positioned at?
If it is towards the bottom of the pipe it can get wet and fail. Ideally it needs to be somewhere between 10 & 2 o'clock |
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Reply: 559 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 11th, 2021, 17:40:32 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Craig - I 'think' I understand what you're trying to say.
If viewed from the bulkhead looking forward, the lambda is mounted in the exhaust between 2 and 3-ish:
Another viewpoint with the lambda removed:
So why is the lambda removed? I decided to start at 'ground zero', so decided to reinstate the original lambda sensor:
The original (albeit wiped clean) is on the left. The replacement unit is on the right (as removed from the car).
Wiping the 'new' unit clean it looks like this:
While they don't look exactly the same, the replacement unit was supplied by Huddersfield Spares and advertised as a direct replacement part for the MPI injection mini.
So having put the original unit back in and my wife's car directly behind the MM I thought let's hook up the jump leads and just give it a go before pulling plugs and the like. And guess what - first turn of the key and it fires up!
Yes, it wasn't happy and wouldn't idle - the throttle needed constantly blipping and there was clouds of smoke coming out of the exhaust. But it was running.
With the exhaust fumes bouncing off the other car, the garage was filling up with the exhaust fumes. No problem - I'll disconnect the jump leads, move the other car, pull the MM out the garage and start it up again. And then the heavens opened. Oh well...
The car sounded like it was missing/running on three cylinders, so I'll put in my inline spark testers on when I next try to run the car. And I suppose/hope the smoke out of the exhaust is from any unburnt fuel left in the exhaust.
So I think I now know where the problem lies. Hopefully I'll get the car started again on Monday (I'm out of work at the minute, so hopefully have a bit of time in between job hunting) to get it running and up to temperature and see if I can clear the exhaust and get it ticking over smoothly again.
I'm not sure if this has been a step forward/backward or standing still! (Probably more like running on the spot  ) |
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Reply: 560 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 13th, 2021, 16:32:45 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Anyone know how to upload video's? I'm using postimage, but it doesn't seem to support video.
I'd be able to show you the car running if I could upload - you'd hear the car running rough. To be fair, once warmed up the car did run cleaner/better.
But it wasn't all trouble free. On pushing the car back in the garage there looks to be another fuel leak. Not the tank this time, but up at the front of the car, where the fuel regulator has been plumbed in.
Oh, and the exterior passenger door handle is now loose.
It'll give me something to do I suppose (the fan, throttle and speedo cable will have to wait a little while).
ETA - And it appears to be blowing exhaust gas from the cylinder head, or possibly from the lambda sensor (if the sealing washer isn't sealing any longer). |
Last modified December 13th, 2021, 16:34:10 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 561 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 14th, 2021, 11:24:59 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Took off the inner door trim this morning to look at the passenger side exterior door handle which is now loose.
From what I can see within the door, and consulting the Minispares 'Classic Mini Parts Manual' blue book, I can't determine what holds the door handle firmly in place (I didn't build the doors up - they were already in place when I bought the shell.
The forward end of the handle has a screw fixing (this end of the handle is secure on the door):
Its the other end of the door handle that is loose i.e. the part nearest the rear of the car which has the handle button. What holds this in place?
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Reply: 562 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 15th, 2021, 11:55:50 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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After looking at the drivers door and finding the same set up, I released the forward retaining screw on the passenger side. This allowed enough movement to realise that the rear most retaining screw wasn't inside the door, but outside, above the retaining latch (brass coloured screw in this photo):
No wonder I couldn't feel anything when fiddling around inside the door!
Removing the screw showed that the thread on it was good, therefore the thread in the handle is the problem. For now I've bodged a cut down wood screw, to allow the handle to be safely used to open and close the door. But I realise this handle needs to be changed.
The hardest part was repositioning the latch which needed to be loosened to remove the existing screw. When the doors were built up, washers were used as packing. These of course, fell out. Getting these back in, in the correct location, in the correct quantities was a nightmare - I've managed to scratch the paint (gelcoat?) on the B-pillar/door jamb with the door latch. Bugger!
But we got there in the end, with the door latching correctly (two stages) and I suspect now with better clearance than before.
I started the car up again - still coughing and spluttering, but with it warmed a bit and idling, think I've managed to identify which connection is leaking fuel. I now need to let the exhaust manifold get cold and look to address that.
Slowly making progress. |
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Reply: 563 - 599 |
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| Neil KilBane |
| Posted on: December 15th, 2021, 13:45:45 |
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Maximum Member2
just a little fine tuning left to do.
Location: Newtown Forbes, Ireland
Posts: 1,416
Reputation: 0 (tot: ) |
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| The old style handles are a much neater fitment. |
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Reply: 564 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 18th, 2021, 13:59:12 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Small update - I got back in contact with RS Tuning yesterday, who took 10 minutes out of their day to chat with me.
They confirmed to me, the lambda sensor reading doesn't get 'read' until 255 seconds have passed. Therefore there is no reason based around the replacement lambda, why the car shouldn't have run.
But they've suggested replacing the plugs as the first step. Plugs collected today, so I'll let you know what (if any) difference these make.
But another shout out for RS Tuning, and Paul Murray who I spoke to. They didn't need to give me any time from their busy day - the car ran well when it left them after all (right up until I swapped the lambda really), but by doing so have confirmed to me that they seem a genuine company. |
Last modified December 18th, 2021, 13:59:57 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 565 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 20th, 2021, 14:07:02 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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So with the new plugs fitted the car started reasonably easily - it still needed a prod of the throttle but sounded better and idled by itself more quickly. (I've posted a short video of this first start up on facebook - unfortunately I don't know how to do it on here)
Once idling, standing at the exhaust the car smelt a little rich but got better as the car warmed. I allowed the car to thoroughly warm through (until the fan kicked in), to ensure the lambda was being used. Pulling a plug once they were cold showed this:
Looks to me to be running rich still, do you think?
It's a pain in the backside not being able to take the car on the road and put a bit of load onto the engine.
I've had another look at sorting the fuel leak (at the injector hose end), so will see if that's been successful. And the drivers door lower hinge had become a little loose so have tightened that up (I'm now thinking both doors could do with a strip/rebuild at some point so I know what's going on. At least that way I would know any problems were of my own making )
ETA - Do you think I should have a go at running the replacement lambda sensor again? |
Last modified December 20th, 2021, 14:08:24 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 566 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: December 24th, 2021, 15:53:01 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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So with no sign of the fuel leak reoccurring at the fuel tank, I took the opportunity this morning to refit the underbody panel:
I could describe this as a carbon fibre rear diffuser panel, but more accurately it's a (carbon fibre) panel I made up to try and keep the dirt off the underside and the fuel pump/filter assembly.
I'm not sure I'll be doing much in the garage this next week, and can't think of what else to check or change regarding the fuel mixture. So that only leaves the throttle cable, speedo cable and cooling fans left that I can attack anyway and I don't have any parts to be able to do that.
In which case I wish you all a very happy Christmas. And here's to hopefully seeing you on the road in 2022! |
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Reply: 567 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: January 17th, 2022, 10:32:37 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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Does anyone recognise what type of electrical connector this is?
A bit of a long shot, but this is the male end connector as fitted to the radiator fan. If possible I'll like to retain the female (loom) end, so would like to get hold of another (male) end to use on any replacement fan/fans.
As an aside, I woke up this weekend thinking 'I've got another fan in the garage'. Weird! But I did - unfortunately it's too big to fit (I think I might have bought this many years ago to fit onto my MPI mini). But I'm trying to progress things - the throttle and speedo cables are on order, hopefully back with me in a week or so.
So hopefully a Happy New Year for me as well as you all .
ETA Sods law - think I've found it.
https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/multipin-wiring-connectors-2-way-pack-of-5
Does that look right? |
Last modified January 17th, 2022, 11:25:08 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 568 - 599 |
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| Graham Bichard |
| Posted on: January 24th, 2022, 14:02:29 |
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Maximum Member2
Posts: 751
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The winter mag arrived the other day. Excited to see the SC fuel injection gets a mention! But looking on page 28 is the advert for the club cooling fan.
So, as mentioned, remembering I've got another fan in the garage I dug it out to see if that would be suitable for use as a second fan to supplement the one currently fitted. Measuring it, it's a 9" fan (the same size as the club Spal unit). Unfortunately this is too large to fit in the space available and for the Cinquecento fan that I'm using.
If it had simply overhung the edges of the radiator I'd have tried using it, but it's too large to correctly fit in the space and lay on the radiator surface. The existing fan fitted is 7" diameter, so two of these looks to be the way ahead for me. |
Last modified January 24th, 2022, 14:03:37 by Graham Bichard |
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Reply: 569 - 599 |
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Pages: « ... 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40 » : All |
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Mini Marcos Forum > General Boards > Mini Marcos > Right - join Part A to Part B etc, etc, etc
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