jgra1 blog

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 15 Aug 2010, 12:53

ok

well a quick post from me....
A good day yesterday running around the South Coast.. first stop was to drop SWMBO in Southampton for shopping.. I then legged it over to Poole to see a 406 coupe member, had a nice chat, and a pasty and a half pint of very nice ale, looking over Poole harbour.. He gave me a vice he had kindly picked up for me, from Bovington Village..
Then onto Mike T's where Toby also had gone. Great to see you Toby and to meet you Mike

After a cuppa, we went outside and for the most part tried to work out why my xantia is making a guesstimate of 60 horses.. it was pretty obvious....
In my defense I have seriously neglected even the most basic of jobs on the car.. it does start and run every day and I have just been accepting of that..

so:
the main turbo sense pipe to the pump had a split
the diaphragm in the metered actuating 'flying saucer' had a split
the diaphragm also could hardly push down by hand, never mind by boost pressure.. very gummed up with WVO ...
the fuel return leak off pipe to pump was dislodged (may explain the drips under the car)
Mike did his best to clean the actuator, and we changed the position of the needle for a more aggressive map

the result.. 30% more power

the car seems quieter, cooler, and I had to slow down to 90 at one point with no idea I was even going that fast! previously the car needed a fair amount of throttle to hold 70 (which always felt wrong) now it accelerates up hill in 5th

very happy, will start to dismantle my spare bosch to see if it is viable for a rebuild and then swap it on.. lot learned and many thanks for Toby and especially for Mike T's input

off now to pull a head off a mundaneo in Sidcuo

pics are of the vice I have used for the last few year

and the new bigger brother from yesterday.. also the bench which is far from clear (doing it when I can) and then a pic of the little shed I have been busy with, also not finished

http://woodshed-john.blogspot.com/2010/ ... -post.html

MikeT · Unread post by **MikeT** » 15 Aug 2010, 13:19

It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday John and apologies if I delayed you getting back to Soton. Was she upset or did the shopping spree have the desired effect?

That vice is one great find - I'd imagine it's scrap value is more than you paid for it, it's so big. Makes your old vice look almost toy-like, doesn't it?

Good work on the shed, it looks like it's been built a while what with all the stuff you've got in there already

I wasn't expecting my "tweak" to make any difference to be honest, so I'm very pleased it's given a noticeable power improvement. FYI, there was a mere puff of white smoke off-boost as you pulled away (which I'd put down to a cold engine) otherwise you showed a very clean exhaust so there's obviously plenty more power to be had yet.

Best wishes on the Fix Or Repair Daily, I hope you get it sorted quickly.

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 15 Aug 2010, 20:58

John, that's a bloody lovely shed!!! I'm jealous

Great news on the doctoring MikeT did on your pump. I've commented more on that in Mike's blog..

If the Bosch was working then it'll be overhaulable. Very little really to break in them and now you have a lovely big vice to hold it secure whilst you rebuild it, you're laughing. I have a little jig, just a metal bar with holes to mate with the threads in the bottom of the pump body, to help hold it securely in a vice whilst it's being worked on.

The Mundaneo should be easy enough. They were designed to be taken apart with a knife and bent fork nicked from the cutlery drawer; one of the good things about a Ford to be honest, they are generally a doddle and a half to work on. If you can manage a Xantia and a 406 Coupe then a Ford will be a bit of light relief!

How's the LPG coming along?

Unread post by **myglaren** » 15 Aug 2010, 22:57

CitroJim wrote:The Mundaneo should be easy enough. They were designed to be taken apart with a knife and bent fork nicked from the cutlery drawer; one of the good things about a Ford to be honest, they are generally a doddle and a half to work on. If you can manage a Xantia and a 406 Coupe then a Ford will be a bit of light relief!

I hate to take issue with you on this Jim but in my experience Fords are a pain in the arse to work on compared to Citroëns.
I found my GS to be an absolute doodle but did the maintenance on a mate's Cortina and my daughter's Fester, that eventually passed into my hands when she went all Sierra, which also inherited mechanics duties for so could compare with my Xantia.

Unless things have changed radically I can see no reason to change my opinion of them and I would never consider actually paying money for one of those abominations.

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 16 Aug 2010, 00:05

never ever let me compare a ford and a psa engine favorably again

armed with almost every tool i owned, and 3 1/2 hours, still no head off

5 belts! each in the way of the next! 3 aux's, and 2 toothy's grrrrrrr

got to go back on wed's night and finish removing the head.. even need a T60 or T65 for the head bolts.. (my 1/2" set only goes up to T55..)

thanks Jim/Mike , very happy with the vice..
Re Xantia - Mike did wonders, and as expected the boost is now showing a lively 20+ instead of the (sluggish) 16ish... the needle is moving much faster too....

Thanks for shed compliments both, I added a boat and the rest of the stuff so the lovely neighbours could be sure it was just a storage shed

Unread post by **myglaren** » 16 Aug 2010, 00:14

John, how did you fare with the potential speeding ticket. Never heard any more about that - at least you didn't incur a ban, which would have been a serious setback for you.

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 16 Aug 2010, 00:18

nothing Steve!// I paced anxiously for 14 days, preparing myself for court..

made me slow down a bit.. also, to be honest I have seen a lot more traffic police on minor roads in the last few weeks.....

as a remedy for this, I have booked a £13 each way ferry to Dunkerque in 2 weeks, and on to Germany.. for a wedding, and I hope to take the VFR**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff] and I am sure to find an autobahn.. let the good times roll

Unread post by **myglaren** » 16 Aug 2010, 00:44

Excellent, must have been a dummycam.

Unread post by **xantia_v6** » 16 Aug 2010, 08:03

jgra1 wrote: got to go back on wed's night and finish removing the head.. even need a T60 or T65 for the head bolts.. (my 1/2" set only goes up to T55..)

That seems odd, when I needed a T55 for the front brake calipers on my V6, the only one I could find locally was packaged as a Ford head bolt tool (with quite a long, ~4" shank)

Unread post by **CitroJim** » 16 Aug 2010, 08:17

Sorry John, I'm clearly not au-fait with modern Dagenham Dustbins..

My last foray into them, I must admit, was some time back so clearly things have changed...

What engine is it? I always thought Mondys of that age had very simple, agricultural lumps in them...

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 16 Aug 2010, 10:26

Xant V6.. hmm I was a bit suprised.. going to get the splines measured today by the car owner.. but my 55 left a few mm gap for sure.. Maybe they have changed the bolt as an update?

Jim , it's an endura DE I think.. its a fair bit more complex than an XUD I now realise.. a lot more pipes and sensors really.. worst of all the owner was helping me

and he has taken things off without my knowledge .. no way its going back together

but 5 belts is just sillyness..

the coolant was orange? and I kept getting a familiar smell, like burn't coolant or something.. I recognised it but couldn't quite place it..

Steve, maybe.. but it was an unmarked white van, blacked out rear windows, and a guy upfront in yellow... I now think they had just gone off shift

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 22 Aug 2010, 09:31

Yesterday morning saw me complete the alternator change on the VFR**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff].. it turned out to be not the problem, but as it needed the oil to drop out anyway, it was a good chance for new oil and a filter.. Jim popped over later in the afternoon, and we spent an hour testing the output of the regulator/rectifiers I had amassed from ebay.. of the 5 I think I have, 4 of them were dropping the voltage to discharge levels as soon as the revs got to about 2000, and one was off the scale at the other end..

honda want £250 for a new one, other options include buying a new 28 day guaranteed one on ebay, non OE, or getting another 2nd hand one, but for a later model VFR**************[VIN obfuscated, can be read by forum staff].. I was hoping to travel to Germany on Thursday, and really need headlights all the time..

We had a cursory look at the mondeo head, and think now that the valve guide seals, and a relap, may be the best course of action.. some of the valves were a little looser in the guides than we would ahve expected.. it's an iron head too... damn heavy.. will check the clearances later on..

a quick diagnostic session on the xantia proved that the abs ECU is probably ok, and that two wheel sensors are duff.. Jim thinks that with these changed, the ABS should work, despite the clever 'fix' that a previous owner has done to make the ABS light go off when the charge light goes out..

We also spent a little time looking at an 80's US outboard I have as a project.. without taking it apart, we established something (probably a butterfly screw) had gone into the cylinder at high speed, causing damage in various places.. there may be more damage once the powerhead is apart..

Today, there is some weather coming... I will spend a couple of hours adding some cladding to the front gable of the shed...

good to see you yesterday Jim and thanks for your help

Deanxm · Unread post by **Deanxm** » 22 Aug 2010, 10:09

Nice shed you have there, shame it goes the way of all sheds of any size and is filled with stuff you may need apart from a clear patch big enough to stand in and a very unstable walkway through the unstarted/finnished projects to the clear patch in question, or are you not at that stage yet?

it's an endura DE I think

yes the ford engine that uses a turbo but then puts in place a 60% bypass of said turbo via manifold design leaving an engine with no real power but a cramped engine bay

good luck!

D

KP · Unread post by KP » 23 Aug 2010, 08:18

John which ABS sensors have gone as i still have two rear arms that i was going to weigh in on saturday but forgot to

Let us know if you need them

jgra1 · Unread post by **jgra1** » 23 Aug 2010, 09:39

hi Will

one rear and one front