Engine bay surprises

[D.FYLAKTOS]

Many years back while returning home in a small uphill i heard a ''clang'' noise like something was dropped from below my car, i turn on the left road side with alarm, stopped checked with flash light and i saw nothing.

When i parked i smell something like burned oil, i opened the hood and i saw that i had no engine oil cap! My mind went to that noise few minutes back, i took my motorcycle and returned to the same spot, first pass no luck, second and thank God i found it.

By chance was dropped a little bit closer to the pavement (and weird) but none of the passing cars all these minutes step on the cap to broke it, i found it almost untouchable.

 

 

 

Since in the past one day i saw that has loose with a tendency to ''escape'' i apply some aluminium tape to make things tighter but as i show you this didn't last long.

 

 

 

 

After i installed a new oil cap another day while i was parking and when i was turning the key to ''Off'' position i heard a sound from the engine bay, i raise the hood and what i saw?

 

 

 

The small filter for emissions decide to left the hose for Freedom but dropped on the pulley, few seconds more with the car running and i could have a disaster.

 

PS: The photos are not good because was night and i had an old cellphone.

[R_Blue]

I also think oil cap design is not very good. The rubber around the cap loses its stiffness over time and sometimes it leaks oil. I've never heard oil cap popping out before but I saw pictures of secured oil caps like this before:

http://kenssite.hstudios.co.uk/tb2.jpg

 

47 minutes ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

The small filter for emissions

Is this one an MPI thing?

 

You were lucky. Like double lucky.

Thanks for sharing the story.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

12 hours ago, R_Blue said:

 I saw pictures of secured oil caps like this before:

 

Is this one an MPI thing?

 

 

I have seen this in the past but i thought was for the ''racing guys''.

 

The factory sends the emissions inside the combustion chamber (via throttle) to get burn. Some drivers don't like this because makes the throttle dirty after use so they guide those emissions to a small filter.

Here is mine a year ago:

 

 

 

Another ''surprise'' was that plastic part which was attached to the filter box, one night decide to escape, hit the belt and he drove it forward and got stuck in front of the pulley, thankfully it didn't jump back or didn't get inside the pulley-belt gap otherwise i would have a tragedy.

 

[R_Blue]

7 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

i thought was for the ''racing guys''.

Me too but thanks to your informative post about your own experience, I'll secure the cap too.

 

7 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

The factory sends the emissions inside the combustion chamber (via throttle) to get burn. Some drivers don't like this because makes the throttle dirty after use so they guide those emissions to a small filter.

In my engine setup, the thin hose exiting near the oil cap is connected directly to the intake manifold. I thought this thin hose's duty is directing sump area gasses to the intake manifold. Maybe its different in MPI setup?

 

8 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Another ''surprise'' was that plastic part which was attached to the filter box, one night decide to escape, hit the belt and he drove it forward and got stuck in front of the pulley, thankfully it didn't jump back or didn't get inside the pulley-belt gap otherwise i would have a tragedy.

 

Another lucky day. 🍀

I find first hand experiences very informative for taking preventive measures. Your posts like this make me wish you had a Felicia with a carburetor.

 

[D.FYLAKTOS]

15 hours ago, R_Blue said:

 

In my engine setup, the thin hose exiting near the oil cap is connected directly to the intake manifold. I thought this thin hose's duty is directing sump area gasses to the intake manifold. Maybe its different in MPI setup?

 

 

 

We have that metal pipe also, i don't touch it.

 

 

An older problem, the connection on that aluminium sensor got loose and the whole engine bay get full of hot coolant.

That day was a nightmare.

[R_Blue]

4 hours ago, D.FYLAKTOS said:

the connection on that aluminium sensor got loose and the whole engine bay get full of hot coolant.

and I didn't buy an in-line sensor housing after reading that. You possibly saved me from lots of trouble.

Edited 21 June, 2022 by R_Blue

[D.FYLAKTOS]

The ''walls'' are very thin at small diameters as 22-24mm, 1-2 turns more in the screew and they bend.

An exampe: https://img.joomcdn.net/2a995ed0ab3dbf0896e4cea5bf81a49dc454ee5d_original.jpeg

Take a look at the end of the tube, the ''lips'' as we call them here, this is ''an accident about to ''happen''.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

Here is an older ''coolant tragedy''.

 

[D.FYLAKTOS]

For many days i had a ''squeaking''' noise from the front, i search it i and i have found that was not from the belt but was from the frame of the radiator.

While the car was moving i couldn't hear it but when i was on a parking procedure with windows down the ''eeek eeek'' noise was very nerve racking!

One mechanic said ''can do anything, it's an old car, it's usual'' etc but another one believed me that was coming from the support frame and check it thoroughly,one screw was missing and another one was loose.

 

 

 

Here is another ''surprise'', older and not from the engine bay but it's from the front part of the car.

One of these idiots with Jeep vehicles with towbar make reverse without paying any attention, hit me and run away, here is how i found my Trusty:

 

 

 

If you ask one of these upstart morons they will reply with hype ''it's for my boat'' but the majority of them don't have (they have a dog trailer) of his father had once a boat but they let it attached because they think with way will protect their bumper from a collision or they will not scratch it while parking.

[R_Blue]

On 21/06/2022 at 19:30, D.FYLAKTOS said:

Take a look at the end of the tube, the ''lips'' as we call them here, this is ''an accident about to ''happen''.

A very explicit explanation.

On 29/06/2022 at 12:55, D.FYLAKTOS said:

One mechanic said ''can do anything, it's an old car, it's usual'' etc but another one believed me that was coming from the support frame and check it thoroughly,one screw was missing and another one was loose

I hate when mechanics act like that. A Škoda mechanic may know everything about every Felicia but not every small detail and habits of your car. You know better how your car drives, what sounds it makes and how it behaves under certain conditions. If some thing is out of ordinary, you'll notice and they should listen to you.

 

On 29/06/2022 at 12:55, D.FYLAKTOS said:

One of these idiots with Jeep vehicles with towbar

So, people who have tow bars could forget its presence when making parking maneuvers. Never thought about that. That's good to know. Your Trusty could suffer more severe damage from a protruded jeep towbar. They make it longer on SUVs which carry external spare tire behind. That can really cause severe damage even with a light "touch". People should remove their tow bars when they are not in use.

 

I also don't understand why everyone wants SUVs nowadays. %99.9 of SUVs on the roads today never roll on the dirt other than, maybe, one side of a narrow patio. They carry around all that extra weight around without a logical reason.

 

Back in the time I remember seeing true off-road vehicles covered in mud. I mean true off roaders like a Land Rover Defender. Back in the time those vehicles were owned and operated by people who really needed them. The people who lived in rural areas or who had to work in the field without proper roads.

 

I remember Camel Trophy too.

Edited 2 July, 2022 by R_Blue

[D.FYLAKTOS]

14 hours ago, R_Blue said:

I also don't understand why everyone wants SUVs nowadays. %99.9 of SUVs on the roads today never roll on the dirt

 

They copy whatever they see in movies from USA although their road and distances have nothing to do with Europe, many of them buy them as a sign of ''i have money'', others to intimidate other drivers in cross-roads (''look, i have a massive car and i will pass'' and the most ridiculous comment was that: ''in a case of a crash i have a bigger vehicle than the other guy so i wont get hurt much as him".

Yes it true if they crash with a much smaller car but those show off idiots never heard that the more the mass the more the momentum when they crashed in something steady and tough as wall-tree, they can turn over very easy, can not perform suddenly S turns etc.

Many year back here in GR some upstart silly people start buying Hummer but the very soon they discovered that they could afford the cost of maintenance and they couldn't drive that jeep in small streets of find a parking spot and start selling it at a humiliating price .

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Back to engine surprises:

 

 

Few days back when i was in a traffic light i heard a 'Hssss'' sound from the engine bay, the sound was present at low rpm and was continuing till the time i was parking the car.

My first though was the pulley belt, i opened the hood and i saw that was OK, i checked deeper and what i found? A plastic tie-wrap was broken and the protection of the cable was touching the pulley belt and rubbed against him.

It was a matter of seconds that the cable would be cut and burn a fuse, thank God i was lucky and i discovered on time otherwise when i was starting the car at the end of the shift at night after few meters i would be in a serious condition.

 

 

[R_Blue]

This topic is becoming like a checklist for engine bay safety.

 

So, I saw your well pictured engine bay problems and raise it with a fresh video.

 

This happened last week:

 

Result is:

 

 

Abnormal level of rainfall happened last week. Ordinary roads turned into rivers. Many cars were stranded on the roads. I had to take the car out that day. I used the most unaffected roads but I couldn't escape all.

The starter motor was working after the water riding but it sounded strange. Next day, it wasn't working. I had to push the car to start it.

Engine bay was pretty dry and had no sign of water residue but after removing the starter motor, I had my SURPRISE. It was filled water. 😞

 

It took the weekend to clean, dry the whole starter motor and change the fouled carbon brushes.

 

This starter motor is a Felicia 4 brush type. Probably you have something similar.

Opel Corsa 4pcs. carbon brush set fits after cutting from both edges. Code Rx120.

High power solder iron is needed.

 

Fav. based vehicles have their engines placed low. This is good for lower center of gravity and handling but try to avoid water bodies at all costs. Even seemingly not so high water could get into your starter motor. 😞

[nta16]

@R_Bluefrom the way that video looked you were driving too fast and too close to the van in front for the very wet conditions.  Being further back you could better see when the van went into deeper water and also not be affected so much from the water disturbance the vehicle in front makes and bear in mind the van sits higher than your car and engine bay.

 

You don't want to get stuck behind or with a driver's vehicle that doesn't know what they're doing and/or doesn't exercise enough caution for the prevailing conditions, moderns drivers don't adjust enough, often not slowing down, as they think the vehicle will cope the same in most conditions.  We all make (many) mistakes but when you can try not to be too much of a modern non-thinking driver.

 

Edited 6 July, 2022 by nta16

[R_Blue]

@nta16 This was my first flood experience with a car. I have no one around to show me the ropes.

I keep every advice as a precious gem. Thank you.  

[Thefeliciahacker]

For the oil caps I just get a new gasket every two years

[nta16]

@R_Blue I did wonder how experienced you are.  It is always easier to see someone else's mistakes, I make many of my own every day.

 

Generally you need to adjust your driving to the conditions, at times when the roads are not dry and light on traffic, pedestrians, animals and other potential hazards you need to allow more space for slowing and stopping.  Always best to also look further ahead than the vehicle in front to see what is coming up.

 

For water/flood/water it's best to allow or wait for someone else to clear the flood/ford/water as they may get stuck and if you are in the water with them this may block your exit.  Also if you watch where they go to get through you will be able to see how deep the water is at those points and may be able to take a similar path but you must allow for any differences in the vehicles.

 

Having two vehicles in the same flood water is not a good idea, particularly vehicles coming from the other direction as they can push higher water towards you, particularly the idiots that go too fast, they may be fine as they may have a higher set vehicle so the water is relatively lower to them or they might get themselves stuck.

 

Go through flood/ford/water slower but keep going particularly if it is deeper as you want the exhaust gases to be able to escape otherwise the water could block their exist and your engine will stop.  Do not suddenly brake hard as the water could wash back on your vehicle (don't ask me how I know).

 

If you are by yourself and presented with flood water and no real indication of how deep it is you can - 1) turn around and go back, 2) wait for someone else to go through and make a judgement whether you can too, 3) if you are really desperate you could walk out into the flood water using a long stick to check the path and water depth before you to get to the other side but this could be dangerous and you could get very wet.

 

Every time you go through water that could get onto your brakes you should test and dry your brakes straight away.

 

As you have found water can get into other places too which is why you want to avoid water getting splashed around by you or others going too fast.

 

Now you have a bit of experience you should be better prepared for next time but prevention is better than cure so if you can avoid such conditions then do.

Edited 8 July, 2022 by nta16

[R_Blue]

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

I did wonder how experienced you are. 

This is my first car.

 

For example, I know what is a vehicle snorkel is. (There is an example on the Land Rover picture above)

The air box extension in our cars is going into the front bumper for fresh cold air. I knew, if water reaches bumper level, that means wet air filter and immediate engine stall or worse, engine sucks water and gets hydro-locked. So I thought, if I find myself trapped somewhere that I have to go through water which is high enough to reach bumper level, I must disconnect the air box extension first to make air intake higher. But this is a simple knowledge.

 

What you wrote above is a well written, detailed, in-depth explanation that gives you a live experience feeling when you think about it. Which is very valuable for me.

[KenONeill]

7 hours ago, R_Blue said:

The air box extension in our cars is going into the front bumper for fresh cold air.

Your reasoning is well found.

 

Personal account. A mate of mine had a (then new) Ford Sierra RS4x4 (V6) with a similar intake position. He hit a sheet of standing water maybe 2" (say 5cm) deep, and didn't just hydrolock the engine but put 2 con rods through the block!

[nta16]

@R_Blue you are doing very well already and with a lot more knowledge than many drivers.  Best to avoid the hazards than adapt as you can encounter more than you expect and sooner than you expect.

I was told a few driving tips when I was young, before I could drive, and having a young mind some of them stuck but putting them into practice is another learning experience.  I've not encounter much standing water or floods but I did once panic at an unexpected event and  got myself into trouble I need not have, that reinforces the memory.

 

 

 I think possibly that English isn't your first language if you think my writing is good.  🤣

[D.FYLAKTOS]

8 hours ago, KenONeill said:

A mate of mine had a (then new) Ford Sierra RS4x4 (V6) with a similar intake position. He hit a sheet of standing water maybe 2" (say 5cm) deep, and didn't just hydrolock the engine but put 2 con rods through the block!

 

A friend of mine with Opel Astra, he thought he could pass some stagnant water, the car stopped, he turn the engine off and then tried to turn it on! This cost him 1600 euro because the soaked water end up inside the engine and "game over".

[anewman]

On my Fabia 1.4 mpi with engine beauty cover removed, I used cable ties to prevent the oil cap from disappearing. One around the bottom going under the pipes, and another going around that and across the top of the oil cap. It could easily be slid to the side to take the cap off.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

An older ''surprise'' from the 2 cables than i mention above.

 

 

I find that damage in a routine engine-bay inspection.

[D.FYLAKTOS]

A month ago i had another unpleasant surprise, i was standing in the traffic light and i noticed that the temperature on the factory gauge was rising more that 92 'C which is not usual in light traffic.

Immediately i said to myself ''NO, NO, not again!" ,i turn the switch to the Heat and i rushed to go to the parking lot while the needle was showing about 99' C and i couldn't hear the ventilator motor working!

Also i noticed that i had no Long Beam signal and no Horn (i discover these because i was in a hurry and tried to notify the driver in front of me that the light turned to Green).

I parked the car and my first move was to check the fuse box and yes, the guilty was an 25A fuse which i don't know why but decide to leave this World suddenly. I have spare fuses in my trunk's tool bag, replace it and every came back to normal while the radiator fan start spinning.

The next move was to open the hood for inspection, everything fine and case closed.

 

Yes it was something simple but imagine this at night in a country road or to happen in a driver which does not knows the basics.

Final thought: i wish my Felicia had some kind of Warning for the coolant temperature rising. 😟

 

[Thefeliciahacker]

yes i always check the horn

[D.FYLAKTOS]

One of saddest days in my life with Trusty, 5 years back the return from a beach Cafe turn to be a nightmare.

Was the day that the radiator fan motor decide to leave this vanity World.In the beginning i thought was the fuse or the relay or the switch but No.

 

 

For first time i had to call for Road Assistance and thankfully i wasn't in the country far away from town.

I don't want to live a moment like this again.