Log1call

Well, I suppose if you didn't know what you were doing though the time to run the stanely knife all the way around would be minimum compared to doing it wrong and having to nut it all out... and the worry too! Just thought it might appeal to some people.

Someone told me of a cunning way to make sure you have the belts just as they were if you are not too confident about doing this job. They reckoned they got a knife and ran it all the way around the belt in the middle, so they had split the belt into two thin ones. Then they pulled the front half of the belt off, slipped the new belt on as far as it would go, then cut the back half of the belt off the car. I thought it was a pretty cunning plan for non-mechanical sorts!

Get the codes first. The high idle can be caused by the inhibitor switch. The check light can be caused by the inhibitor switch.

If you go here... http://cid-4ca3c3459aaa7f7f.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/.Public?wa=wsignin1.0&sa=610095433 there is an article called 04-diagnostics, which explains exactly what CAN set that code. It could also be bad wiring though including having the wiring routed incorrectly. Even though the cam sensor has shielded wires it can pick up interference if it's not routed correctly.

The charging is playing up. It should never be below 12.5 whan it's running! Have you checked the belts aren't slipping? Checked for voltage drop between the alternators output and the battery? Checked for voltage drop between motor and earth?

It sounds like a clutch problem now, though it didn't at the start. Since it's been intermittent, and the clutch feels fine, it may not be the clutch operation but the spigot bearing jamming intermittently, then spinning again other times. If you have the clutch out make sure you check that bearing!

No a resistor won't fool the ecu. It is expecting the rear sensor reading to fluctuate, at a slower rate than the front sensor, but it must fluctuate. Why not just get a new sensor?

If you had trouble getting the gearbox into place you may have bent the clutch plate. If the gearbox isn't flush(something between it and the engine, bracket etc for example), it could shudder. Are the two faces tight? Did you position the driveshaft hanger correctly? Sometimes they need a little preload forward or aft to stop shudder. Could first gear have a tooth missing? If you accelerate hard, are their any noises from the box? Any "surging" sensations?

It sounds like either a warped flywheel, damaged friction plate, damaged pressure plate or contamination on the friction plate... it's something in the clutch. There is a small chance that the gearbox and engine aren't aligned but this is much more rare.

The bolts the caliper slides on may have dried out it's grease. Pull the bolt, swing the caliper up and then slide it off the other pin/bolt, pull the bushes out of the caliper, the ones the bolt goes through... in behind a rubber boot, lube both of them, the bolt and the pin, put it all back together again.

I have done shim adjusters before, but not on one of those. What you do is... Measure the clearances and record them, pull all the shims that are out of spec and keep them in order, measure how thick they all are, calculate(using the old thickness plus/minus the clearance) what the maximum and minimum thickness shim you could use for each position needing adjustment, sort through the shims you have out finding which ones can be used, go to the dealer and buy shims for the remaining positions you don't have a shim for. Remember that the shims come in steps and the required clearances are always within a range, not a specific measurement. Often you can get away only buying one or two shims.

A leak-down test should reveal where the compression is going, assuming it is going anywhere... you can hear the air leaking. oil down the bores between compression tests will show if it's rings too. There are other things that can cause low compression though, like blocked exhausts, but then the performance wouldn't come right with revs. Are you really certain that this second motor is a whole new motor? Could they have stripped the first one and put new rings in, on pistons that were on the rods the wrong way? It's a long shot but there is something screwy about all this. Nobody has this much trouble and recheckes things properly and not find the problem. Sorry not to be any help but I really have to suspect the rebuilds aren't any good and now they have given up getting to the bottom of it. It might be time to get another rebuilder to strip the motor and check everything.

Yup. Check the return hose from the overflow tank isn't blocked then change the radiator cap.

Yeah, patents are a bit of a hoax. All anyone has to do is make a "significant", improvement/change and they are free to make and sell their updated version. The definition of significant is vauge and depends on the application but, a bend in the handle might be enough to sufice! It's better to just perfect the design secretly, go into production as cheaply as possible and hope you sell enough to fund your next design/invention before the rouges start copying.

Have you checked all the small vacuum hoses for correct position and connection? It would be worth removing the spark-plugs in case they are flooded. If you really can't get the plugs out you could dissconnect all injector connectors and crank it for a while and see if it clears and trys to start, then reconnect the injector wires and it might go. With regards getting the crank bolt out... That bolt needs to be tight when the engine is put back together so what ever method you use should cater for that operation. Since you are going to have to hold the crank eventually, you might as well do that right from the start when rmoving the bolt. I'd recommend taking the starter out and putting a flat steel plate/bar(about two inches wide works), between the ring-gear teeth and the bellhousing. Then you can use a nice steady torque to remove the bolt without danger of damaging anything, and, reposition the plate to the other side of the hole to tighten the bolt again later.

Well done. Perserverance always wins.

Yup, given the circumstances it seems most likely to be a cam timing problem. The proper thing to do, whether it is cam timing or not, is to take it back to where you got the work done and explain that it wasn't like that before they worked on it so could they please put it right. If it needs any new work they should ring and inform you what it is and how it came to be nessecary before they carry on. If they start trying to charge you tell us what they reckon the problem is and we can likely spot a rip-off.

Supply and return pipes swapped around?

Yup, fill it up and start the motor then turn the wheel from lock to lock holding it on both locks for a few seconds. You will hear the bubbles clearing away. Recheck the level afterwards.

Pinging can be caused by bad fuel, oil burning, too higher compression, too hotter motor in general or a localised hot spot in the combustion chamber, wrong ignition timing and even extreem lean(causing heat). You mention the compression is better than expected... could it have been planed too many times or could the combustion chanber have a build-up of carbon? I'm not sure if it's possible with your model but have you tried backing the ignition timing off a little?

The ecu has a target idle speed which is fixed for life. Trying to alter the idle by moving the isc solenoid is taking the valve away from the middle of it's travel, which means it can't idle up if the air-con or lights are on, the motor is cold etc. Better to fix whatever is wrong. Have you checked your neutral switch is operating correctly?

You are not meant to adjust it. The computer keeps it at the right revs if it can. If your's is idling at the wrong speed it is because there is something wrong... vacuum leaks, faulty compressions etc.

I can't remember now which, but one of those old motors, might have been the sixteen hundred ones, someone will know, had a frost plug in the head under the rocker. It was small, about five-eights diameter and it was near the centre top behind the rockers. Might be worth having a look to see if it has one.

Free software here... http://www.obd2allinone.com/sc/pages.asp?pageid=60 The O2 sensors have different frequencies in different vehicles, because of both design and state of tune. The faster and the smaller the change in voltage the better but it's not critical; several times a minute is often quoted as minimum in manuals.

Here is how it works.... Wheel rims have off-set to centre the load on the bearings. If you had flat rims the outer bearing would suffer. Camber and king-pin inclination work together with rim offset to prevent wheel scuff. If the wheels were vertical the tyre would have to swing in a circle on the ground which would cause wear and effort. With all three things set right the tyre should pivot right in it's centre. Toe-in is to overcome the wheels natural tendency to roll to one side under the influence of the camber. If you lean a tyre over and roll it along the ground it will steer off to one side. Caster is just to give a self centering effet.