@ Wino - what build faults did you find?

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by TMB

Speaking of faults - I've just been having a quick inspection around my car and noticed a split rack gaiter. Only passed its MOT not long ago so must have just happened.

 

15 hours ago, TMB said:

@ Wino - what build faults did you find?

 

A loose nut in the waterbox, belonging to the top corner of the nearside wing (possibly hinting at a replaced wing at some point in the car's history).

A mis-positioned (and so badly leaking) grommet where the main bunch of engine bay loom comes down near the ECU.

A missing loom support clip over by the connectors that take the wiring through into the cabin. This meant the loom was sitting on the floor of the waterbox, partly blocking the path for water heading out towards the offside drain hole (improvised a fix with an unused one off the front panel of the waterbox).

 

 

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by Wino

I see. Surprising what can be found when working on them sometimes.

 

Just out of interest, did you take the terminal 30 cover off to have a look at the cable?

Yes Lee, A T30 torx bit takes the cover off that box, to reveal - in my case - a pristine, clean dry connection. Failed to photograph it though.

What was really interesting was when I took the cover off the other box, which involves a couple of 'ramp' clips at the top of the lid being released.

Was curious about the T30 torx screw up the middle of this connection box, so I had to undo it to see..

 

 

 

 

I didn't know that was how it worked!  Means you can potentially run new wires from the connector in the last photo as all those crimped socket inserts are removable. Can just make out the purple locking clips at the bottom of pic, there's another set on the opposite side.

 

Ah, I did photograph my terminal 30 connection, I've just noticed, on the right of the last pic.

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by Wino

Interesting stuff. All looks in good order anyway

10 minutes ago, Wino said:

Ah, I did photograph my terminal 30 connection, I've just noticed, on the right of the last pic.

 

Ah, of course, I see it

Yep, straightened up and sealed both grommets and the front edge of the waterbox with Plumber's Gold. Shouldn't leak anywhere except the (intended) drains now.

Also while airbox/engine cover was off I thought I'd have a quick glance at the air filter which was very clean, but also checked the function of the warm air blend flap, which had a failed thermostat, wonder how long she's been breathing nothing but hot air? (Never checked on this car despite finding this failure on my Polo.)

 

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by Wino

Crikey, there's always something.

I am writing this in support of Wino's input on this post.I  often read that owners are using a normal multimeter set to resistance to check if the battery ground terminal has a good connection to the chassis of the car. This is a  complete waste of time. The thick copper earth lead from a car battery,has a very very low resistance,and  can carry up to 300 amps  when using the starter motor! A multimeter on resistance  uses about 0.02 amps (20 milliamps) when on the lowest ohm range.The correct way to check the earth lead,and its connections would be to pass about 300 amps through the lead,and then read its resistance whilst this current is flowing.Doing this is really impractical for the average car owner,and  car electricians to do! The sound of the starter speed will give you a better idea of the situation. The solution is to put the muiltimeter on the DC volts ,on the 2 volts range,across the battery ground,and the nearest ground connection that is on the car chassis.Noting  the reading  when trying the starter,or turning the headlights on, should get a very low voltage reading,say 0.3 volts (300 millivolts) which  would suggest that  the lead and connections are fine,i.e there is a very low resistance present. A multimeter is fine to check for 12 volts,or an open circuit bulb or motor,but not for checking car ground connections.

On 13/03/2018 at 17:43, Tefal said:

Hi Wino,

Thanks for that.  The battery terminals are tight.  The main battery earth is in good condition, tight and clean. Measuring the resistance across the neutral on the battery and the earth point, it's 0.8 ohms, so I'm thinking that's ok ?

 

Is there a next logical step to trace the dead bit ?

Thanks 

Phil

 

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by AndyPandy
put in a better location

@TMBJust happy that I finally did check that. Bodged a fix with a screw that forces it into 'always cold'. Can't seem to disassemble this one like the 1.4/16v versions.

 

@AndyPandy Good tip about earth measuring.

Edited 15 July, 20187 yr by Wino

Will be fine stuck on cold

Hoping for an extra 5bhp compared to how it was, and 5 more mpg. 

(Seriously though, it will be interesting to see if there's any improvement in mpg.  We calculate/log every tankful, so it should be easy to spot, and if I don't tell the missus it'll be a blind experiment.)

Just reading and looking through this topic, I noticed that for your RHD cars the interior recirculation valve is on the opposite side of my former LHD Fabia MkI. It seems that the recirculation valve and the terminal 30 connection are switched.

 

If you want to check the drains for the parafan/waterbox, you can also pour water in the waterbox and check if there a real stream of water in the frontwheel bay, and the short hose is easy to find this way. If the water is just dripping, you can pinch in the hose above the front tyre, just to get the dirt out of it. This is very easy, and this way you don't have to open the parafan/waterbox.

 

 

1 hour ago, Wino said:

Hoping for an extra 5bhp compared to how it was, and 5 more mpg. 

(Seriously though, it will be interesting to see if there's any improvement in mpg.  We calculate/log every tankful, so it should be easy to spot, and if I don't tell the missus it'll be a blind experiment.)

 

Haha

 

After reading your post it inspired me to go and test mine and it was bloody stuck on hot! It is now stuck on cold.

Well done for checking and fixing.

I might do a little 'how to' post for the 1.2 HTP style one, as I was taking a few pics as I went.

 

Thanks Pete

So 'you can teach old dogs new tricks' and 'every days a school day' come to mind.