GT mediated Awesomeness

[mat_fenwick]

A suggestion - get the old tyres removed and the new ones put on the rims but not seated. That way your new paint won't get chipped putting the new tyres on, you can clean up any rust on the rim without the tyre getting in the way and it'll be easier to paint without getting it on the tyres. Downside is 2 trips to the tyre place per wheel though.

[saintjamesy89]

Bought some more bits today, and ordered some the motor factors didn't have in stock.

Nice new spark plugs, all shiny!


New and old.


Old plugs, cylinders 1 and 4 are rather sooty and 2 and 3 look a bit oily. Picture shows them left to right as cylinders 1 to 4. The oil level is above the max marker, so I put the oily ones down to that. Sooty plugs means rich mixture doesn't it? Or would the blowing manifold influence this?


Minging HT leads, all crusty and the rubber is starting to come off all bitty like.


On the stands! Took a bit of logistical thinking, as the space to get a decent jack underneath and moanouvre anything is very limited.


Discs and pads need replacing, although the brakes feel very good. Discs are in the boot and pads are on order (as are new HT leads).
RH


LH


No rust to be found underneath, unless it's hiding underneath the extensive and rather thick waxoil which I suppose is quite possible Haven't checked around the rear cos it's a bit low down there, i'll check that when I get around to do the rear wheels.


Rusty sump! It's not leaking so not a priority but will have to be off and repainted at some piont.


The exhaust on this GT is a beast! Really thick pipes! I suppose i'm used to 1.4's little pipes but still! I can't figure out where the blow is originating, I even had the engine on whilst I was underneath but cos I couldn't rev it, I couldn't tell. I do suspect it's blowing on no.1 and 4 cylinder-manifold join because the head here is discoloured.
No.4.


1, 2 and 3.


Downpipe attachment.


There isn't much space under here, and i'm not keen on removing loads of stuff to do the manifold, so if I can't sort it with my spanners then i'll pay the MOT man to do it for me. Lazy, yup! I also found a cure for hayfever!! The last few days it's been really bad and i've run out of pills, but a good dose of exhaust fumes seems to have sorted it! Along with light headedness, felt a bit like poppers but I suppose there is NO (nitrogen oxide) in exhaust gasses. Hooray for BX

Still undecided about the wheels and tyres, Mat's suggestion is a good one, but is effort! I can't decide whether to get the tyres on there then paint (and have to mask the nice tyres) or paint and then get them re-shod (and risk chipped rim paint). I think i'll go for the masking new tyres option.

The new HT leads and brake pads arrive tomorrow, so i'll fit those and see about tyre fitting. It's coming on

[Tim Leech]

Be warned Tom when you try and undo the down pipe from the manfiold the bolts will probably sheer, wear some gloves too love as from experience theres a few sharp bits down there. Front discs look ok, unless you have new ones supplied, probably just need cleaning with emery paper....

[saintjamesy89]

There's new discs in the boot, so I thought as they have been on there a while and are a bit pitted i'd do the whole lot of the brakes anyway.

I hate messing with exhausts! My frontera and corsa both had issues, the frontera's manifold was cracked and corsa's intermediate pipe rusty and holy. They're always a bugger to get off, no space, snapped nuts/bolts and usually finish with less knuckles and skin generally than started with!

I'm quite sure the downpipe isn't blowing, so that'll probably stay untouched. It's the block-manifold that I think is blowing so if I can get it undone, slide in the new manifold then replace the studs and nuts and do it all up! If it will be that easy of course...

[mat_fenwick]

I was also going to say that the front discs don't look too bad (how much of a wear ridge is there?), and if (as it looks) there is plenty of material left on all 4 pads I'd personally leave them for now.

Oily spark plugs is unlikely to be down to overfilling, unless massively so causing it to come through the breather system. Most likely to be from valve stem seals IMO. Sooty plugs can indicate a rich mixture but also can indicate poor ignition (i.e. you have a misfire so next combustion cycle there is twice as much fuel to ignite hence sooty plugs). Either way I wouldn't worry at this stage as it's been doing a fair few cold starts without a decent run I would guess. Spark plug colour is really only indicative of how the engine was performing last time it was running, so check your new plugs after the HT lead change and after a good run.

If you really want to get anal about it then you can shift unto neutral, cut the engine and coast to a halt under a range of engine speed/load situations and check the colour to get an idea of mixture across the range. Used to do that when setting up bike carbs, set out with a pocketful of different sized jets and gradually end up with a decent mixture!

Split front strut gaiter too...

[mds141]

Tom re the sump. Give it a wire brush, spray with waxoyl and then when you next do an oil change save some oil and with a trimmed down paint brush liberally brush the sump with the old oil. Should work a treat. I'm with Mat on the plugs. Check them again after you've had a good run out.

[saintjamesy89]

Thanks mat and Tim, i'll leave the discs and pads then, I have a new set now so can just swap them over when worn - which probably will be in some years time!

Re the plugs, getting new HT leads tomorrow, but i'll check them once it's OTR. Just hope it's not too rich and will fail the emissions test. It's looking like it may be good for 'Simply French' I hope so!! After all the servicy bits I can MOT it, then save up for the tax :S

Thanks Mark, brilliant idea, oil change is fairly high on the list of servicing bits so will do that. I've even treated myself to a new wire brush! My old one was quite sparse and abused, it looked a bit pathetic really...

[Willy]

Your middle two plugs will look slightly different as they receive a tiny bit richer mix due to their closer proximity to the carb. The back page of your Haynes Bible will tell you a little about SP symptoms. Where'd you buy your new discs and pads? I need some fronties and so far the lowest price I've found is £15 for a whole set

[saintjamesy89]

£15 sounds good, my pads cost £18 for a front set, not sure about the discs they came with the car. Also it's worth noting that I think cylinders 1 and 4 have a blow at the exhaust manifold junction

[mat_fenwick]

£10 each for Valeo vented discs (AEP), and under a fiver for genuine Citroen pads (eBay) is my best deal yet although I paid nearly £30 for the last set of pads. I've not noticed any difference in ultimate stopping power between genuine and pattern parts - in both cases stopping power is limited by the tyres but I haven't yet suffered brake fade in 40k miles with genuine pads. Pattern pads of various brands (Ferodo, Mintex, QH) lasted between 7-10k miles, genuine ones 21k miles on the first set, 22k and counting on the current set.

What I do with consumables like this is have a set in stock, then once I fit them I have time to search around for a bargain to put back on the shelf. Probably less of an issue with a non daily driver though!

[saintjamesy89]

bargain man Mat! I'll check out ebay for the rears then.

[mat_fenwick]

TBH I'd just put some cheapies on the rear - they don't do much braking and rarely wear out (I've put on one set in 110k miles!) Ally rear calipers + steel backed pads + storage + little braking force (unless heavily loaded) = probable seizure but half an hour with some brake cleaner and a small file should sort that.

[saintjamesy89]

Ok folks, today's news. Got nice new HT leads and new front pads, the pads have been stashed in the boot with the discs for now. I fitted the HT leads, and she wouldn't start. Bugger, I though i'd remembered the right HT leads in the right holes on the dizzy cap. So I looked in haynes, and the picture of the 16 engine at the front, you could see the top two HT leads and where they go, no help as they were completely different to mine... I swapped the old coil lead on to see if I had the new coil lead on the wrong way around, nope no starting.

*Scratches head*

Try the 1-3-4-2 arrangement (firing order) on the dizzy cap, no starting, then it hiccuped and I planted my right foot and it started but was misfiring like a good'un. Swapped cylinders 2 and 3 around (to the original order that I though was right) and it started and ran lovely! I think it wouldn't satrt first time because there's only a dribble of fuel in her and the front is up on axle stands, so fuel pick-up wouldn't be brilliant. Phew.

New HT leads, expected them to be yellow as all the MK1 bays i've seen have had yellow leads.


Tidy




Old leads were very knackered, all hard and fixed in shape that they were in the engine bay.


I discovered where the manifold is blowing, while she was running I got underneath and got all brave, I felt around the manifold where it meets the head - definitely blowing at the outward facing side of cylinder 1 and 4. Guess the gasket has just perished here, as it is most exposed at this point?

Wheels were dropped of too at a tyre garage (the only one in Yeovil that will fit customer supplied tyres to wheels) but they charge £15 per tyre!!! My favourite garage that went bust a month or two ago would do the same for £8 per tyre. Will pick up tomorrow.

Cleaned up the discs today, and on inspection of the new pads there is actually very little wear on the pads on the car. There is almost no wear ridge on the discs too so they must be fairly low-miles too. Cleaning method was to use the handbrake to clean the discs, put the car in 3rd on the stands (with no tyres on) and gave her some juice whilst applying the handbrake for a little bit. I hung out the window and saw that the drivers side was almost seized (would budge a bit if heavy throttle was used) passenger side moved fine.

Drivers


Passengers


Will a LHM flush and caliper bleed sort out a slightly seized caliper? Or perhaps a good run on the road sort it out?

Almost a completely new ignition system, hooray! It's made a large difference. I'll want to replace the coil at some point too, but it's low priority at the moment and I haven't found one yet! I keep meaning to ask the motor factors if they can get hold of one, but I have spent quite a bit on all these bits this week... With tyres today it's just over 3 figures

[Dollywobbler]

I assume she was on stands when you crawled underneath...

How seized is the caliper? If it's just snagging, it might clear up with a bit of use. The pads might be a bit sticky. Bleeding won't do 'owt though. It's either the sliders seized (whip the pads out and see if you can move the caliper back and forth) or the piston itself, so rebuild or replace. There is an outside chance that the handbrake itself is snagging. Unclip the handbrake from the caliper (you need to push the arm rearwards) and see if that makes a difference.

[saintjamesy89]

Of course it was on stands, i'd rather not chance being under it with no supports - this one drops very quickly!

You can just about turn the disc by hand, using two hands. So i'll try taking the pads off and see if the cylinder will push back etc. Handbrake lever inside the car travels to almost vertical so that will need adjusting anyway - will probably do that this week as the wheels are off and I can access it all.

Thanks