[Car_Overhaul] One Thing Leads To Another..

[welshpug 1,661]

if the fans work by bridging the pins in the thermoswitch plug then it can only be the thermoswitch, they aren't expensive, I'd just find your local motorfactor.

[Kane 34]

Cool thanks Mei!

[Kane 34]

Got the car on the road today after 2 years! Taxed & insurance done so I thought good I'll go full her up and go for a spin.

 

Drive up to the garage pull in and drop the clutch, boom foot hits the floor! Uh oh stuck in 2nd moving along past the pump so I cut the engine. Turns out the clutch cable bracket that slots into the engine had snapped, brilliant! Quick call to my old man and 5minutes later I'm getting towed back to the house.

 

Managed to bodge a repair quickly so I could get the car running. All sorted I went on my way as I had to be back down the road to get the Mrs and the wee man.

 

Literally 3 minutes from the house and all of a sudden no power, engine cut out and rolled to a halt. I think the oil pressure gauge was waving about a bit, oh s*it sprung to mind!

 

Jumped out in the pissing rain and pitch black to have a look around the engine. No apparent oil leaks and all wiring looked to be in tact. Tried for a short while to get it started but unfortunately nothing! Turns over but No life. The oil pressure gauge wasn't reading anything either, hmm could this be a disaster?

 

Finally Got towed home (again!!) to where I've dumped it for tonight. Going to get. out first thing in the morning to have a better look when it is light. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to check?

 

Could the bad rain have caused some havoc with my new loom if some of the terminals had gotten damp? I've got a spare coil and cas in the boot so going to try them. My spare ignition amp is at my old man's so will try get him down with that to check. Anything else? Seriously on the verge of selling up now but really don't want to as I know I'll lose a lot of money doing so.

 

Thanks

[jackherer 543]

It'll be something electrical and you'll probably sort it easily in a dry and light environment. Stick with it, I know what it's like at this stage of a big project when little things hold it up but you've put the work in so it will reward you. It might be wise to get a journey or two in without incident before you take the family out again though

[Kane 34]

Bright and early start tomorrow to see if I can resolve the issue, fingers crossed the rain holds off!

 

Luckily enough they were in the Mrs new Citroen so went on there way while I awaited a tow from my brother was very tempted just to dump it at the side of the road and get a lift back with them to be honest.

 

You think I'd be used to these set backs eh haha

[Kane 34]

It runs! Turned out to be a duff coil, must have packed in last night which is why I lost all power.

 

Had it out for a quick half hour run and everything seems to be ok. Temperature all fine only thing I need to sort is the high idle. Was up around 2k from cold start then by the time I got home the rev counter had got stuck so couldn't tell but did sound slightly lower.

 

Any solutions for a sticky rev counter? Seems to come and go every now and then

[jackherer 543]

Nice one!

 

The high idle could be the throttle switch not closing, did you get a multimeter on it? Try a meter on it again and open and shut the throttle several times and check the switch makes contact every time the throttle closes.

 

The rev counter is probably a mechanical problem with the tacho itself.

[Kane 34]

Checked the TPS the other week according to the link you posted and everything is working as it should there. I did have the idle screw out a bit while cleaning the throttle body the other week so might not have screwed it in as far as it was when it came out so will try that and see if that helps.

 

Ah ok I'll get it taken off and see if I can free it up when I'm back out at the car.

 

Thanks again for your help Kieran, much appreciated.

[jackherer 543]

It might be worth rechecking the TPS but at the pins on the ECU plug to check it is getting that far.

[Kane 34]

Just remembered this evening that after I had checked the TPS was operating as it should and refitted it I took a small amount off of the end of the throttle cable. I think that this minor adjusting has thrown the TPS out so it isn't closing when it should, if at all. I'll need to double check when I get out to fit the new clutch cable when it arrives later this week.

 

Stupid mistake number 287..

 

On a plus note I managed to get a good run out in it last night commuting back up to Aberdeen. Around 130 miles with no issues whatsoever. Well apart from arriving back at the flat without the car park fob and being stuck outside for an hour waiting on a neighbour letting me in, silly test!

 

Now that the engine is in and running I can get a few more miles clocked up on her and maybe make a start to the "small" list of things to bring her back to her former glory. We could be here a while

[rallyeash 155]

Well done. Must be happy to get a few miles on it now.

[Kane 34]

Yes very pleased

 

A couple of niggles here and there to get it running as I want but shouldn't take long to sort out

[S@m 156]

I've often found when doing a conversion, especially the first ones, that its not the actual engine change itself that throws up problems - that is usually planned/read up well in advance. Its the first few thousand miles thereafter where the work is - sorting out all the niggles and issues that you have created that don't show themselves until you really need the car!

 

Good work so far and good luck with the rest!

[Kane 34]

I think you're right Sam, here's hoping there isn't too many breakdowns.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Hi Kane, how many man hours have you clocked up on this?

 

I must say the GTI6 conversion seems hastle free in comparison.

[S@m 156]

Having done both, i'd say that there is nothing between gti6 and mi16 in terms of difficulty, the mi16 might even be slightly easier since you don't need to wire up a rev counter adapter and master cylinder clearance is much better......whereas an 8v turbo is much more work all round.

Kane, you should have seen my first drive in my most recent mi16 conversion after it appeared to run fine in the garage and around the block. I went on a 40 mile round trip and i must have broken down 5 times, by the end i was leaking fuel and oil, misfiring and could barely press the throttle pedal it was so hard - really took the wind from my sails and made me question all the work and effort i'd put in.

Couple of days later i had sorted out all of the above easily enough and had a big smile back on my face driving the car i'd always wanted...shame i crashed it and have to do it all again!

[Kane 34]

Well I purchased the car in August 2012 and wrecked the engine (the beginning of many mistakes on my part) a few weeks into ownership. I then picked up an engine near the end of that year and began the process of the rebuild.

 

Now it wasn't just buy an engine then drop it in. It was a full strip down rebuild with all the components being sent off to be balanced, cleaned etc etc. The machining took 3 months alone which was slightly annoying as it was over the summer months when I was free from uni which resulted in very little happening with the car for most of 2013.

 

Roll into 2014 I was doing my masters which took up a lot of my time. I only really got round to putting in a good few hours once I graduated In July, I'm not sure exactly how man hours I've put into it though unfortunately.

 

What took longer as well was additional things like making my own custom loom, stripping interior and underside to weld and paint rusted area's, full bare metal strip down, paint and seam of the engine bay.

 

The conversion itself isn't the most difficult especially with the help of the forum. I reckon if you had a built engine and all the required bits you could do it in a matter of weeks.

[Kane 34]

Sam I know the feeling, Saturday night was definitely a depressing one after I'd broken down for the second time and couldn't get it going. Although happy as Larry now it's working, touch wood it stays that way

[Anthony 1,003]

Although happy as Larry now it's working, touch wood it stays that way

It's old and French... of course it won't stay that way

 

Seriously though, well done for persevering despite the issues. Hopefully it will reward you with the grins that a 205 Mi16 in fine fettle delivers in spades

[jackherer 543]

You can put an MI16 in over a weekend easily. Or at least you could when BXs were easy to find for £50-150 in good condition...

 

If you're rebuilding the engine and you have to make a wiring loom from scratch you're obviously looking at a lot longer!

 

Try to enjoy it for as long as you can without planning more work/upgrades, it's a slippery slope from here

[S@m 156]

Jack is right....I'm planning standalone management and bodies for the next one.

[dobboy 231 2 Cars]

Hey Kane, i was over 350hrs doing work on mine plus "thinking time", and i swore i'd never do it again.

 

However, I now have engine #2 and other bits and bobs sitting waiting to go on.

 

When you know it's reliable, runs well, and is all warmed up, there's nothing better.

 

And you'll be able to hit the Scottish borders with me and Malc, and we can all get banned together!

 

 

[Kane 34]

Oh the plans have already well and truly started, that's the problem when you don't get a lot of time out tinkering with the car you just end up planning what to do once the next job is finished

 

Thanks again for everyone's help.

[Kane 34]

So managed to get out to the car after receiving my new clutch cable in the post today and by f*ck me winter has truly arrived!

 

Before I began I had a quick wiggle of the throttle to see if the TPS was making its 'clicky' noise and as expected after adjusting the throttle cable it was not returning to position which would result in it clicking every time. You could get it to work by snapping back on the throttle bracket itself but using the pedal didn't allow the switch to activate every time.

 

As it is a complete nightmare to try get into the bolts for the throttle switch while everything is still on I decided to move onto the clutch. It was surprisingly easy to change the cable which was good started by removing the lower dash section above the pedal box, then off with the pedal. Have a reach under the car and yank the cable down then feed it through out by the gearbox and out it came. Fitting the new cable was just the same procedure but in reverse.

 

Think I've slightly overtightened the nuts on the end of the clutch cable as the pedal is way too high, feel like I'm about to knee myself in the face when I go to press down on the pedal Will have to adjust that tomorrow.

 

As for the idle, it seems to have gotten worse since adjusting the TPS I don't quite understand it as I made sure that it clicks as soon as you come off throttle and then again when you begin to depress the pedal. I'm guessing the TPS is at fault but can't confirm as I don't have a multimeter here at the flat. I've got a spare one on the throttle body from my old 1.9 engine at my dads but do not have a f*cking clue where it is I definitely haven't sold it but haven't seen it in over a year so might be an idea to look for another.

 

Has anybody got a known good spare TPS they could chuck in the post for me?

[jackherer 543]

You can adjust the TPS too far so it actually holds the throttle open slightly so it might be worth having another go at it. And loosen the throttle cable a bit too, it should be slightly slack at rest.