A Nice Little Tale Of Woe For All Those Who Are Struggling

[kyepan 291]

i may post a photo, it looks a bit shed.

[GLPoomobile 958]

......preferably not with you driving naked though, eh

[kyepan 291]

......preferably not with you driving naked though, eh

 

 

odd odd man..

[base-1 17]

Because he doesn't want to see you naked?

 

 

Could you not just find a local motorsporty type place who can TIG cast ali, nip down there one night and drain the coolant/remove rad and have them weld it up the next morning? Sharp pointed burr on a die grinder and some harsh chemicals and ready, then you can nip back and put it together and drive home. Or am I missing something?

[Edp 67 3 Cars]

Great read, I must say your dad is very patient!

[kyepan 291]

he is

 

does anyone have a rear tail gate trim?

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

does anyone have a rear tail gate trim?

 

Leave it off to retain the SSF.

 

(Shed Stealth Factor)

[Batfink 201]

Baz the 205 murderer must have loads lol

[Paul_13 212 1 Cars]

I've got a 'carbon' rear trim you can have for free.

 

May be your cup of tea

[kyepan 291]

So there is me thinking we have fixed the hot start issue... think again, went to the station via dads to pick up a mate, we were going to watch the wings wheels and steam thing at White Waltham air field. Stopped at dads, gauge climbed... stopped at the station after sitting in some traffic, needle was straight up.. not to hot, no fans yet.

 

stopped in the station car park which is on a hill.. facing down the hill and waited for ten or so minutes, kept the ignition on to keep an eye on the gauges, temp went up a bit but no too bad. Matt arrived, dad hopped in the back and i turned the key. Nothing.

 

Bugger...

 

So a choice, wait (even though we were late, it was bastard hot) get out and bump it... (highly embarrasing in the middle of saturday avo in a busy station car park..

 

It really was having none of it, tried rearming the alarm several times.. no joy.

 

so off with the hand brake and got it rolling down the slight incline, bump... nothing... got it rolling again, bump.. nothing.. running out of hill, gonna get to the junction and be stuck, luckily it gets a bit steeper, one last ditch bump, and bang it fires..

 

Sigh...

 

 

Looks like that wire to the Solonoid is not the issue, and i need to trace it from the ignition barrel, past the alarm & fuse board to the starter... and replace the whole thing.

 

J

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

This is getting really odd J.

 

It really seems to me to be a power issue.

 

Can we retrace your steps/actions? You've got a brand new starter; can't be that. Was the starter complete i.e. new solenoid or was that swapped? That may be dumb but it's logical to rule it out.

 

What wiring and earths have been changed?

 

How about the battery's health?

 

As you know it's a really simple circuit, so it simply has to be power related, via weak/intermittent earth or power supply or solenoid activation wire, which itself is just a switched, spring-loaded live on the ignition barrel. Somewhere along those lines lies your gremlin.

 

So when you say 'nothing', do you mean zilch, i.e. no click, no attempt to turnover, nada? If so, I suspect it's just an intermittent connection.

 

The heat of the engine is a separate issue IMO, unless it's burnt through the solenoid trigger wire.

 

Feel for you.

[kyepan 291]

Was the starter complete i.e. new solenoid or was that swapped?

brand new complete unit, not a recon.

 

What wiring and earths have been changed?

re did them when i last did the clutch, lots of bare metal and a coat of copper slip, none have been changed but the terminals are in good condition.

 

 

How about the battery's health?

brand new as well.

 

So when you say 'nothing', do you mean zilch, i.e. no click, no attempt to turnover, nada? If so, I suspect it's just an intermittent connection.

you get the click from the relay, as you turn the key the dials go dead just as it does when it cranks, but no solonoid fires and no starter turning.

Classic solonoid wire, which i have fixed previously, but it was a bodge up job not a brand new wire from fuse board to starter...

 

this time it's going to be a belt and braces job.

 

sympathy appreciated though mate...

[welshpug 1,657]

check the 2 plugs that supply the ignition switch, and the connection to the shunt box from the battery, the smaller yellow wire

[kyepan 291]

check the 2 plugs that supply the ignition switch, and the connection to the shunt box from the battery, the smaller yellow wire

cheers for that,

 

so the wires for the ignition barrel itself, and ... please excuse me... where is the shunt box.

[welshpug 1,657]

the black box thingy on the slam panel, takes power from battery along short yellow cable fixed to shunt box with 10mm nut, ring connector often corrodes and sometimes falls off, feeds rest of car via fuses.

 

Cooling fans, engine loom, and car loom fed from there.

Edited August 10, 2009 by welshpug

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

I've seen your shunt box J.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's on your battery tray.

[kyepan 291]

the black box thingy on the slam panel, takes power from battery along short yellow cable fixed to shunt box with 10mm nut, ring connector often corrodes and sometimes falls off, feeds rest of car via fuses.

 

Cooling fans, engine loom, and car loom fed from there.

Do you mean the bulk head, next to the water expansion tank etc...

 

I'll have a quick look at it tonight.

 

I've definitly done the yellow cable fixed to the inner wing forward of the suspension...

[Anthony 1,003]

Do you mean the bulk head, next to the water expansion tank etc...

 

I'll have a quick look at it tonight.

No, that's the relay box (Phase 2 models only)

 

The one in question is usually around the passenger side headlight - originally bolted to the slam panel, but usually moved for Mi conversions. If you can't find it, follow the positive battery cables - one will goto the starter and alternator, and the other will goto the shunt box.

[DrSarty 90 1 Cars]

The slam panel J is where the bonnet catch is.

 

The bulkhead's the bulkhead.

 

As I said (Perhaps a Swahili moment again), last time we worked on your car, your 'shunt box', which is just a black plastic cubey oblong thing with a set of spade connectors inside and a bolt as WP said attached to a bus bar. It's a power distribution block.

 

One wire can come in from the battery pos terminal and several can come out, such as cooling fan etc.

 

It was bolted to your battery tray because we moved it to drop your gearbox out to fit your diff (and break your old starter motor ).

 

I think it's a badly made gubbins which seems to be exposed to elements, shake its terminals loose and corrode. That may be your gremlin.

[kyepan 291]

The slam panel J is where the bonnet catch is.

 

It was bolted to your battery tray because we moved it to drop your gearbox out to fit your diff (and break your old starter motor ).

 

yes that makes sense, it's not where it is supposed to be.

 

j

[kyepan 291]

double post tastic, my connection sucks

Edited August 12, 2009 by kyepan

[kyepan 291]

The plot thickens,

 

So i was minding my own after work, over at my brother in laws doing some plumbing, was there a couple of hours, doing push fit stuff, it's so easy you won't believe, anyway after running some new hot and cold feeds for his bathroom we called it quits.

 

Came back out to start the car, which was by now barely registering on the water temp gauge, turned the key and only the relay clicked in the glove box... Now if it was baking hot i could expect this.

 

Luckily he is on a hill so we bumped it...

 

Got home, went into the house, came back out and thought i would try it now it's hot, and it started.. Me thinks this is not actually heat related.. Perhaps it's pitch related, as in both instances i was pointing down a hill...

 

So now it's doing it when nearly cold too... something is definitely amiss, had a look at the shunt box, opened it and there were two fuses in it, plus space for two more, is that correct?

 

also me taking speed bumps seems to have loosened the exhaust again... it fell off it's hangers and is now blowing.. again, it's also knocking against the body work at tick over.

 

This is becoming tiresome, as i really don't have time to keep spending hours fault finding, everyone tells me to get rid of it, and i'm beginning to agree.

[Anthony 1,003]

This is becoming tiresome, as i really don't have time to keep spending hours fault finding, everyone tells me to get rid of it, and i'm beginning to agree.

Enough of that boyo - if worse comes to the worse and you've had enough, dump the car over at mine with a crate of beer in the boot, and I'll get it sorted for you

 

In the meantime, think rationally. All the starter needs to work is a good 12v feed from the battery (check the battery terminals aren't corroded, and that the cable is tight on the back of the starter), a good earth (check the starter is bolted to the gearbox properly, and that the gearbox-battery earth is good), and a decent amount of voltage reaching the solenoid (check with a multimeter that it's not dropping voltage, and try 12v straight from the battery to the solenoid wire to see if it fires)

 

If all that is definately good, try another starter - just because something is new or reconditioned, doesn't mean that it's not faulty...

[kyepan 291]

Good news...

 

changed the fuel pump at twilight this evening, and the beast is back on form, took it for an extended drive and i'm quite astonished what a difference it makes.

 

However the "hot" start problem now appears to be an "intermittent" start problem. After changing the pump, turned it over, it again did the whole not firing and staying running first time, so i flicked the key a couple more times in quick succession and it still wouldn't go. so i waited, and tried again, this time no starter... so that's on a cold engine but a few cranks later it's playing up.

 

came back half an hour later, turned it over again, nearly fired, then waited a couple of seconds, turned the key again and it sprung to life as per the pattern.

 

Just not had time to check out the shunt box as yet, mot on sat.. hope it will be ok.

 

Anyway back to the drive, warmed it up, where it usually goes flat, but it still felt like a hair trigger, as soon as you tickle the throttle it's eager to accelerate, and it really does accelerate. smooth and fairly linear in all gears, nicely coming on cam and surging to the red line. The sump is working well in left handers, and it generally handles well, if a little feisty because of the neutral track and stiff setup. it was so flat before as it accelerated, but now it feels like it could take on the world... that is if it decides to start.

[kyepan 291]

Good news...

 

changed the fuel pump at twilight this evening, and the beast is back on form, took it for an extended drive and i'm quite astonished what a difference it makes.

 

However the "hot" start problem now appears to be an "intermittent" start problem. After changing the pump, turned it over, it again did the whole not firing and staying running first time, so i flicked the key a couple more times in quick succession and it still wouldn't go. so i waited, and tried again, this time no starter... so that's on a cold engine but a few cranks later it's playing up.

 

came back half an hour later, turned it over again, nearly fired, then waited a couple of seconds, turned the key again and it sprung to life as per the pattern.

 

Just not had time to check out the shunt box as yet, mot on sat.. hope it will be ok.

 

Anyway back to the drive, warmed it up, where it usually goes flat, but it still felt like a hair trigger, as soon as you tickle the throttle it's eager to accelerate, and it really does accelerate. smooth and fairly linear in all gears, nicely coming on cam and surging to the red line. The sump is working well in left handers, and it generally handles well, if a little feisty because of the neutral track and stiff setup. it was so flat before as it accelerated, but now it feels like it could take on the world... that is if it decides to start.