Richard Black
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Posts posted by Richard Black
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That's incredibly common. A set of suppressed HT leads will usually do the trick. Actually I'm surprised you haven't got suppressed leads already, most modern ones are, or maybe they aren't any more because no one listens to MW radio (supposedly!). Just ask in a car parts shop for 'suppressed HT leads' - it usually says as much on the box. Any set of leads for a 4-pot engine will do, there's nothing engine-specific about them (or rather, the Felly is not one of the few cars that requires a special set - a very few do).
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OK, that photo makes it clearer about the 'bright brown oil' bit and yes, it does look like head gasket trouble. In which case, after you've done the gasket, be sure to drain the oil and give the engine a run with flushing oil (just go to any car parts shop, buy a bottle of flushing oil - 2.5l is just enough for that engine - and follow the instructions on the bottle). Then refill with a good oil - 10W-40 semi-synthetic is fine. You could even give it 10W-40 diesel oil, which has more detergents in it and will carry on where the flushing oil left off, scouring water out of the bearings. Oh, and be sure to change the oil filter too - in fact I'd change it before putting flushing oil in, and about 500 miles after refilling with normal oil.
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I imagine it's very similar to the Favorit, which does the same. The bearings in the fan are pretty rubbish. I just put up with mine because I'm too lazy to pull it all apart and fix it, but it's actually not very hard to access the unit on these models (unlike some old British cars where you practically had to dismantle the whole dashboard). You may get away with just spraying some silicone lubricant spray at it - it's unlikely to do any harm to anything. Eyeball it and work out where the bearings must be, and aim for there!
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It'll certainly fit physically, but you'll also need the little box of electronics that interprets the magnetic pickup signal from the dissie and turns it into sparks. You'd better get the coil off the Fav as well, since the Rapid one is almost certainly substantially different in characteristics. The gubbins is all mounted on the right wing and it's pretty obvious what's what - just follow a few wires!
The post-1993 Fav had fuel injection instead of a carb but I would imagine the dissie and associated electronics are not much different - there may be some difference in advance curve. Use an early version setup for preference.
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You've scored, mate!
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I get all sorts of daft reactions when I overtake people in my L-plate Favorit. Almost all the cars I've ever driven regularly have been things that in common perception are not supposed to go fast, and people often react by tearing after me far quicker than they wanted to. The ultimate manifestation of that behaviour was something that happened to a friend of mine, Tim, an ex-Formula 3 and rally driver who knows a bit about car handling, who was tanking up the A1 in a Ford Cortina (this was a few years ago) with a Daimler V8 engine in it. A couple of lively lads in a Beemer were so offended by his overtaking them that they stuck to his tail like glue, including coming off the A1 on one of its many very tightly-twisted slip roads. Tim flung the car round the left-hander: the guy in the Beemer panicked, hit the anchors far too hard, and slid gracefully into a road sign.
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I recommend that all Felicia owners check and lubricate both parts of thier bonnet catches to avoid further occurances of this problem
Not just Felicias - one of the most useful bits of advice I was ever given is to lubricate that assembly the first time you pull up the bonnet on any second-hand car, and every year or two afterwards. There are enough problems in life waiting to bite you in the bum without adding stuff like bonnet catches!
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Brown water is a sure sign that the coolant has very little antifreeze in it and has been like that for a while, so things are starting to corrode. That may include a core plug somewhere, which would account for the water loss. Several of the core plugs are not visible, so you won't easily find the leak by eye, and the water will be evaporating as it leaks out so there won't be any tell-tale trickles.
Dunno about 'bright brown' oil though - I mean, that sounds mostly like new oil in good nick, frankly!
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All manufacturer fitted cruise controls I know are in automatic cars.
Mate of mine had a Ford Granada diesel, manual, with CC.
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Isn't that pretty much the same part that's on practically _any_ European car? I'd be surprised if you couldn't find one in a scrappy that would fit. The level warning almost never works and if you know what's good for you you'll be checking the level weekly along with oil, coolant and fan belt condition, so all you need is something that screws on and stops brake fluid sloshing all over the world when you corner hard.
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Those things are ghastly - had them on my Hillman Hunter in the late 1980s and they did nothing for it. Leave 'em to the spotty teenagers in bodged Corsas is my advice!
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No, a cruise control that just fixes the throttle position will only sort-of work on a diesel, and only sort-of there - on a petrol it's pretty much completely hopeless. You need a proper feedback system and while it could be done it would need:
1 An electronic speed sensor on the wheels or driveshafts, or (given most cruise controls are disabled by changing gear) the flywheel;
2 An electrical-to-mechanical transducer of some sort (stepper motor or something similar) to operate the throttle;
3 A microprocessor;
4 Quite a lot of thought.
I could build one, but the thought of doing it isn't very attractive - it would probably be a week's work and I'm reasonably good at both electronics and mechanics!
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Oh dear oh dear, I'm sorry to hear that old chap - just as well it only 'almost' killed you and the other geezer! You'd almost certainly have some recourse against the scumbucket who sold it to you, Ebay or no Ebay, possibly including criminal prosecution. If you can be bothered and that's your style.... In any case, why not publicise the a**hole's Ebay handle here to reduce the chance of anyone else here running up against him?
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I actually don't see how that's dangerous. The wheel's doing about 300rpm which is fast enough to prevent you inserting your arm between the spokes but not so fast that it will smash every bone in your hand if you accidentally brush against them, the only projecting bit is the valve which is flexible and won't rip your arm off [edit: I suspect he's removed that anyway], and the only risk is burning your fingertips if you press the polishing cloth too hard - which is a self-limiting situation anyway.
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That web site that recommends holes in the spark plug is great! It lists 12 things you can do to improve fuel economy and in each case quotes a range of economy improvements that you can expect for each. Taking just the minimum expected improvement for each, I discovered that if you do all 12 things you can expect fuel economy to rise by 159%. That means that instead of my Favorit returning about 38MPG average, I'd be getting about 98MPG.
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getting a exhaust hung right is a tricky job.
Especially when some of the ones you buy from A.N. Other supplier are made wrong! The back section on my Fav is a case in point - the best I can get is a reasonable bodge which is OK as long as I check all the hangers regularly, 'cos at least one of them is overloaded!
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have a preg felicia
Congratulations! When's the baby due?
Sorry, couldn't resist.... -
Dont do it in 5th as you wont get the required torque to move the mount
Quite right. Why on earth did I suggest that? I wasn't even drunk. Sorry!
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Well, will you look at that - Ken, are you my unknown twin or something? We posted the same suggestion at the same time.....
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Put handbrake on , and open bonnet, get someone to start the car, and put it in gear and slowly rais clutch until it bites and watch the mounting for exess movement or noise
Blimey - put the footbrake on too! Hard! And ideally use 5th gear, which will further reduce the chance of the car running over your foot or worse while you're staring in there. Personally I'd just take the mount off and examine it.
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The usual answer to that would be 'wheel bearings', but if it's that critical about how much load you have on board, it might simply be the exhaust pipe just contacting something when the extra load is applied (which will cause the car to ride a very few mm lower. In turn, that will no doubt be due to an exhaust mount having failed - they're only souped-up rubber bands, after all, they don't last for ever. Easy enough to wriggle underneath with a torch and have a butcher's.
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Never mind suspension upgrades, what tyres have you got? If you're running around on budget radials with a good bit of wear on them, all the coil/shock upgrades in the world won't make much difference. I've put 185/55/14 Avon ZV3 treads on the front of my Favorit (on BK Racing rims, though you could save money by getting some rims off a Golf or something) and it's really quite reassuring, especially in the wet. Oh, and I've got Monroe Sensatrack (gas monotube) shocks at the front too.
I know Pinkskud and one or two others have gone all the way to 195/45/15 treads but I like a little margin for pot-holes!
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Frankly I'd have to say Estelle too - in the UK, anyway. The basic Lada's a pretty decent motor too. I've never driven one but when visiting my in-laws in Georgia, Eastern Europe, I'm always amazed at the way they continue to run around in a state that would completely finish off most 'posh' motors!
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i used to have an MGB, and i found the steering to be fine
So did my mate who owned the one I drove, and I'm sure I would have agreed after a couple of weeks, but I bet if you went back to one now you'd notice. But yes, by the standards of - oh, when was it introduced? 1963 or so? - it was a nice friendly car to steer. I mean, I'm old enough to remember when Routemaster buses had non-power steering - I've never driven any kind of bus but I just remember watching the drivers, most of whom looked as if they could have lifted any corner of the vehicle clean off the road, giving a good old heave-ho on the 22-inch steering wheel just to get round the streets!
Sorry, couldn't resist....
Rapide Distributor Change
in RWD Skodas and historics
Posted
That sounds a lot more trouble than the dissie swap!