[engine_work] Mi16 With Bottom End Knock I

[sport1901966 8]

July 2011

 

2^nd July – MOT day

All the work paid off as I did (eventually) get home with an MOT. The journey was not a smooth and uneventful one though. To get as many miles on the engine as possible before the MOT actually started (as it has to sit idling the whole time) I booked one about 13 miles away. This would enable me to do the recommended 10 acceleration runs in 3^rd at ¾ throttle from 2500rpm to 4500rpm allowing the engine to run down on overrun. The purpose of this is to ensure the new rings bed to the honed bores properly. While I’m on the topic I then decided to continue the running in by driving normally, but to the rpm and oil change schedules below. I decided on them based on all the information and recommendations I could find.

 

 

I chose this plan based on a combination of ensuring the bottom end bearings where being treated with care allowing them to bed in, and ensuring that the bedding process between the rings and bores was as good as possible.

 

I headed straight to some quiet open roads with the appropriate speed limit to do the acceleration runs. Following this I pulled over to give the car a quick once over. I was met with liquid pouring out underneath the offside front corner. For a moment I thought the lower radiator hose had popped off, but on a closer look it was clear that when I had trimmed down the bracket from the washer bottle I had left a pin hole. I had only topped up the screenwash as I left and it had been draining ever since. I removed the bottle and drained out all the fluid above the hole and set off again.

 

I got about two thirds the way to the garage and it was starting to get quite hot and started misfiring. I got pretty bad and I ended up giving in a pulling over a few roads away. I had left plenty of time to get to the garage but was now really cutting it fine. I went around the cooling system and although there were one or two very minor leaks it seemed ok. In my mind this left two problems, the engine was running very lean due to one or more bad engine management sensors (it was occasionally hard to start and a bit rough at idle) or the fan wasn’t operating correctly. I knew it was pretty loud but hadn’t clearly heard it kick in whilst driving (although it was quite noisy) so concluded that was the problem. Fortunately I had my Dad following me just in case I broke down so I sent him off to a nearby Halfords to grab some terminals and cable, just to get the fan on permanently for the sake of the MOT. I waited for about 10 minutes but he hadn’t come back, I had also phoned the garage to see if I could get away with being a bit late. At this point it was now or never, the coolant temperature had dropped so I chanced it and turned the key..... It started instantly and was idling ok, I decided to nurse it to the MOT and get my Dad to meet me there. The MOT guy said it had to run for the whole test and he couldn’t make an exception. Right on cue my Dad turned up with the electrical bits so I rigged up the fan to run permanently for the test and journey home. Then off it went driven by the MOTer. To say I was nervous would be a huge understatement, 2+ years of my work was driving in for its first test!

 

It failed the emissions first time round but the MOTer was kind enough to give it another go and it passed. There were a few other minor bits here and there that, if the tester had been a bit of a jobsworth, could have caused issues. However this guy was pretty sound, in fact a few of the mechanics commented in how good a condition it was in. I’m not sure what they’d seen to get that idea but I am fairly perfectionist with these things. After the test as I had a bit more time to check around the car I stick my head underneath to check out the fan harness, reaching up to the radiator thermoswitch I could feel the connecter didn’t seem fully pushed on. As the engine was still warm when I pushed the connector fully home the fan kicked into life. Result! On the way home it got a bit on the hot side for my liking sitting closer to 100° sometimes 105°. I had always considered remounting the radiator with a custom front cross member with a slim line fan. These temperatures made me decide to officially move it to the “To-Do” list, based on the fact that the slanted angle and old OE fan cowling would be reducing the radiator efficiency. During this journey I decided I would need to find out what exactly temperature each marking around the coolant gauge referred to and how accurate it was.

 

Rest of July

 

Coolant Gauge Calibration

I only got a few jobs done during the rest of July but a couple were fairly major. The first was the test of the coolant temperature gauge sensor/wiring/gauge calibration. To do this I mixed up some coolant in an old saucepan, using a camping stove (and blowtorch when it ran out of gas) I heated the coolant whilst submerging the sensor and a digital thermometer in it. With this I could note down the exact coolant temperature of each marking on the gauge. The gauge is surprisingly accurate to what I expected (see pic below).

 

 

 

VIC Check

The next step after the MOT was getting the VIC check, to do this I had to book an appointment at a VOSA station. This journey, thankfully, was a bit less eventful than the MOT trip, and it passed the test with no issues as expected. Whilst I was there I asked about how to declare the engine change. I was told that there was nothing to claim from the point view of the DVLA/VOSA as only the engine size is recorded. All I had to be sure to do was declare it on the insurance (as I had).

Edited May 21, 2012 by sport1901966

[sport1901966 8]

July 2011 Cont.

 

Radiator Remounting

Going back to the hot running issue I decided to get to work on designing the new front cross member. I went with 25x25x3mm angle section for its balance between strength, ease of fabrication and weight. To me the best way to do it was to build it onto the car. The first job was to cut out the original cross member, this felt strangely unnerving but also satisfying! After that I painted and rust protected the edges of the cuts. With the bumper back on I put some markers under the car to indicate where the inner face of the bumper would be, so as to ensure clearance for the radiator and slim line fan, then removed the bumper. I started with the lower cross beam, on which the radiator would sit by way of some rearward protruding brackets. Once I had this cut to length with the brackets welded on I sat the radiator into it and used an assortment of bricks and other tools to sit the radiator in the desired position. Having done this I started cutting and bending lengths of angle to mount the cross beam to the headlight panels. To fix it to the car I decided to bolt as opposed to weld. I chose this as it would mean much easier engine changes in future and also was much less aggressive regarding removal of original paint and corrosion protection. Once it was welded up I got it painted up and it was job done. To fit the slim line fan I drilled some holes in the upper and lower edges of the radiator and mounted it with cable ties. I’m pleased with the result as in typical driving the temp now sits at more like 90° and it cools much quicker after sitting in traffic. The only downside is the lack of support for the slam panel, but it’s good enough to leave for now. Unfortunately, whilst the car was running generally, if it went over 85-90° it would start miss-firing. The hotter the engine got the worse it would become.

 

 

 

Brown Multiplug

The wires in the engine bay brown multiplug were past their best and a couple were beginning to break away from the terminals so I decided it was time to replace the connector. I decided to go with a 9 pin connector as it meant I could combine the aftermarket oil pressure switch wiring into the loom as opposed to using bullet connectors. The connector was the mate-n-lock type from VWP or Polevolt or some similar electrical components supplier. I’ve also taken to using self amalgamating tape to seal up connectors that aren’t designed as sealed connectors for the extra bit of reliability.

Edited May 21, 2012 by sport1901966

[sport1901966 8]

August 2011

 

HT Leads

Only did a couple of bits in August, I did manage to resolve the misfiring. I had decided now I had the car running and on the road I would renew all the ignition components before following more complex possible causes (the old parts came with the engine when I bought it so who knows how old they would have been). As I had expected even on the way to pick up the new parts the misfire developed, however this time it was useful as I could ensure a back to back test. I didn’t have the tools to replace the distributor cap and rotor, so only changed the HT leads. Fortunately this was all it needed, obviously the heat was causing the lead caps to expand or something resulting in a bad spark, but I could then drive home a happy man.

 

Central Locking

I also decided I wanted remote central locking. I had an old alarm unit I had fitted to another car and thought I could make use of the fob and remote locking feature. I wired it into the car; I decided to do it with as little permanent impact on the original wiring as possible. To do this rather than trimming wire sheaths I soldered the alarm wires onto the terminals in the plugs and used electrical tape/heatshrink as a stress relief. To enable remote locking the driver’s door needs an actuator locking unit to be fitted. This is because the original unit is only a switch that sends a signal to the other actuators around the car when the door lock is operated with the key, it doesn’t have the capability to actuate the driver’s door lock electrically. I wanted to get the job done quickly so just bought what Maplins had available, which was a 5 wire actuator. I ended up only using the two wires that cause the solenoid to operate (and hence lock and unlock the driver’s door) and fitted in parallel with the original driver’s door switch unit. Had I had more time a combined ‘master’ actuator unit would have been better as they have the capability to send a signal to the other door lock actuators if the driver’s door lock is operated with the key, and to receive a signal from the central locking control unit and actuate the driver’s door lock. The 5 wire actuator I bought did not have the capability to output a signal to the other doors when the lock is operated with the key, hence having to keep the original door lock switch unit. The wiring was fairly simple; all that was needed was to hook up the solenoid input wires of the new actuator to the signal wires of the original switch unit. These signal wires run to all the solenoids in the car, so by connecting these to the alarm unit outputs the remote central locking feature could be used to operate all the door/hatch locks.

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2012 by sport1901966

[sport1901966 8]

September 2011

 

Eibach Springs

I really didn’t like how high the front of the car was, especially because of the Group N top mounts raising it even further. I have read on multiple occasions the combination of the Bilstein B4’s and Eibach 7001-120 front springs are a great combination for a road car so decided as I already had the dampers I’d get the springs. After getting them fitted the car looks so much better. Had a massive wait to get them as apparently nowhere in the UK kept them stocked and there was a huge back order from Germany.

 

Driveshaft

When driving the car I had been noticing that sometimes, when straightening up after a right hand turn, there was a solid 'knock' that felt/sounded like it was coming from around the passenger footwell region. At this point suspension-wise all the following components were at the most 200 miles old:

- Track rods

- Track rod ends

- Droplinks

- Springs (Eibach 7001-120) - these are just fitted but the knock was present before

- Dampers (Bilstein B4's)

- Top mount bearings

- Top mount rubbers (BBM)

- Wishbones (Motaquip)

- Lower Engine Mount

 

As a result whilst fitting the springs I decided to replace the nearside driveshaft. Getting the driveshaft turned out to be far more complicated than should have been necessary. I took the old shaft off and headed to GSF to buy the new one and get my surcharge back in one trip. Now I would say in the past couple of years I have been given the wrong part by various parts suppliers in, without exaggeration, 80% of times. Because of this I always take out the box and check the part, this occasion was no different, and sat next to each other on the counter there were some differences such as different radius on some edges, but they were only cosmetic, they looked the same length as best I could tell so I paid up and off I went. When I got home I set to fitting it straight away, the splines slotted in ok in both the gearbox (although it didn’t seem to quite go fully home I thought it was ok) and hub. There was no sign of issue until it came to locating the wishbone ball joint back into the hub. It was millimetres out but no-matter what I couldn’t get it in. I came to the conclusion that the driveshaft was too long. I hadn’t measured the one I took off but I measured the new one and it was ~610mm, this was odd because the part is down as 600mm on GSF’s system. I took the shaft back to GSF hoping to get there in time to get my old one back, at least that way I could have the car mobile while I sourced a new shaft. When I got there I measured up my old one and sure enough it was 600mm. I asked GSF if they had another other suppliers they could order from, but they said the one I had was the only one specified to the 205 GTi. They then did a more general search and came up with a Delco part that was listed as 567mm. They offered to order it and told me I wouldn’t have to pay unless it was the right one, I agreed and left with my old shaft.

 

The 567mm shaft arrived the next day so I headed back to GSF and did the swap again; they agreed to hold my shaft until we knew the new shaft definitely fitted. And guess what.... it did. So in the future – order the 567mm shaft from GSF if you want a 600mm one. Where that measurement is taken I have no idea but oh well.

 

Unfortunately after all this the knocking was still present.

 

If anyone has any suggestions they would be very welcome - could it be the steering rack? Its the only part not replaced, but seems unlikely...

 

Sunroof vacuum system

I know the sunroof vacuum hadn’t been working for the whole time I had the car. I decided that I would try and investigate what the issue was, expecting the valve in the sunroof handle may be broken or blocked, or there would be a blockage in the pipes. I separated the system bit by bit and blew through the sections to find the blockage. Eventually I narrowed it down to the little sunroof vacuum control valve down by the brake servo. It was making an odd buzzing so I wondered whether it had collapsed. I removed it temporarily and concluded that I needed a new one.

 

Top mount spacer

One of the knocks I was getting was with on/off throttle driveline shock. The 4-2-1 manifold sat fairly close to the bulkhead seam and I believed the engine was rocking enough to make it knock. Checking over the engine mounts suggested to me that the side buffers on the offside top mount needed spacing out. I had some ~5mm sheet steel so cut out a spacer to put between the chassis and the front buffer.

 

 

The spacer seemed to do the trick and was well worth the effort.

 

October 2011

 

Xsara Washer Jets

I’m a big fan of the Xsara washer jets; I’ve had them on my last two 306’s and continued that tradition with the 205. I recommend this modification to everyone.

[sport1901966 8]

Are people finding these updates of interest/useful, there haven't been any comments since 2010 so not sure its worth my time?

 

It would be good to get peoples input on what/how I am doing things or the problems I am coming up against.

 

I have no problem keeping the thread going (I know its been pretty stretched out timewise ) but only if it has some interest.

[jackherer 543]

15,641 views so people are reading your posts even if they aren't saying anything!

 

What's special about Xsara washer jets? I should know really, I have a VTS but I haven't paid them any attention...

[welshpug 1,657]

I love all the small details like the alternator fan cover! one thing confuses me though, why was the wiring anywhere near this? BX loom I guess? been a while since I've poked about an alloy 16v!

 

Xsara jets are the fan type, rather than the 2 jet type used on the P1.5 on 205 and 306 till phase3, or the single jet used on earlier 205's.

Edited May 23, 2012 by welshpug

[kyepan 291]

no really keep it going! the detail is emmence

[sport1901966 8]

15,641 views so people are reading your posts even if they aren't saying anything!

 

What's special about Xsara washer jets? I should know really, I have a VTS but I haven't paid them any attention...

 

Very true, but at the same time it scared me to realise - this thread has been going since August 2009!

 

Instead of spraying in two concentrated jets from each..er.. jet, you get a mist spray, it covers the windscreen far better and just seems to make it cleaner (could just be me though!)

 

I love all the small details like the alternator fan cover! one thing confuses me though, why was the wiring anywhere near this? BX loom I guess? been a while since I've poked about an alloy 16v!

 

Right first time, it was a BX loom, I have actually just replaced it with a harness I have redesigned and built (need to do the write up though) but it managed to cut into the crank sensor cable which aside from being a pretty critical cable, was also a pain in the arse to repair!

[sport1901966 8]

no really keep it going! the detail is emmence

 

Cheers all, always good to know the effort writing it up is appreciated (sometimes mustering up the motivation is a challenge!)

[dicky20014 4]

Enjoying reading this, good detail on what looks to be a quality build, helping me with my build too

[Lee3022 4 1 Cars]

Great reading, just how much time do you have to put into your car lol, I struggle to fit a full day in

[sport1901966 8]

Enjoying reading this, good detail on what looks to be a quality build, helping me with my build too

 

Thanks, good to know one of my intentions was to pass on a few tips and hints that I've come across/would have liked to have heard before starting various jobs.

 

Great reading, just how much time do you have to put into your car lol, I struggle to fit a full day in

 

Not as much as I'd like! I've never actually lived in the same place the car has been stored through the whole project, mostly its been at my mums (1.5 hr drive away). I've tended to do the work in bursts when I've had a few days to go stay at my mums. Really it's just come down to persistence, its been a good few years since the project started.

[kaich 6 1 Cars]

really awesone thread mate

I've found really useful for my future planning!

[camgti 56]

Great read!

 

Ive only just discoverd this thread as I have not been interested in MI16 rebuilds but most of your car is getting the once over!

 

I have had a similar knock noise you talk about. Once it was the lower fork where it attaches to the subframe. The bolt I used was not the correct one and therefore move about after a few miles of driving. Changed it and it went away. Next time it was the exhaust hitting a heatshield that moved itself. Sorted that. Now i have another one but cannot be arsed to find it as the car is getting a new engine in a couple of weeks and everything is getting replaced!

 

Its great to see you keeping up the work, I would have given up and burnt it to the ground with that oil leak. I hate things like that and usually get a friend to have a second look to help solve the issue.

 

Good stuff!

 

Cam

[sport1901966 8]

Glad its still being useful/of interest.

 

Believe it or not the project is still going on, just very slowly, mainly as I have no space to do any major work on the car. However I'm in the process of buying a house with a garage and plenty of driveway space (fingers crossed!) so watch this space.

 

Coming up will be a fairly detailed write up of fitting the Xsara VTS rack/Saxo EPAS pump combo and some other bits and bobs.

 

Thanks for the ideas Cam, when I can get it up on a ramp next I'll give the bolts a check (in fact may just replace them to be sure) and see what the clearance is like around the downpipe. I think the bolt is likely though as it is a really 'heavy' knock if you know what I mean!

 

Cheers,

Geoff

[camgti 56]

I would be very interested in the Elec Pump idea. Ive just fitted my VTS rack and want power steer before I fit my Plate diff and 16v. Its heavy already!