hohocc

I've had some success with extending them fully (holding them extended with a clamp of some sort), smearing dishwashing liquid into the webbing, laying it out in the driveway then waterblasting what becomes a black soup out of the webbing.

Probably try not to get water into the mechanism, and chuck it in the hot water cupboard to dry fully over a few days. Then plenty of silicone spray in the spring area.

Doesn't make them new but seems to help to some degree.

On 10/12/2023 at 19:34, Muncie said:

My commodore was pretty hungry on oil not super terrible just needed a top up or 2 between changes and would smoke bad on decell.

I switched to 10/30 or 10/40 whatever is half price full synthetic and it doesnt burn a drop between changes or smoke.

Just rolled over 500,000ks and 40 passes at the drag strip now.

My logic was thicker mineral oil leaves a thicker film on bores that can be burnt synthetic doesnt burn as readily and a thinner film should be helpful too.

Im sure my valve stem seals are hard as coal too still seems to work.

Makes good sense, and regardless it works so can't argue with that! At 500k and still going you must be doing something right. 

Pretty much everything I maintain is fed 15w40 petrol/diesel rated oil (including the Starlet), so reasonably thick stuff is already in there, admittedly not full synthetic. Anyway I'm curious to see how much difference stem seals can make, I'll be very impressed if they knock it back a noticeable amount. 

Thanks gents, that was what I was thinking too.

If I were driving it I'd probably just keep pouring oil in, trouble is stepdaughter isn't great at checking oil level so if I happen to not see the car for a few months she'd be getting pretty low. Appreciate the 1l/1000km being acceptable, I'll likely change the stem seals and see what happens as it's minor relatively quick surgery. Wouldn't be quite so keen to change rings!

Will report back with results either good or bad, cheers.

Opinions sought for the following...

Stepdaughters EP91 Starlet, had it since 160000km, now has 260000km. Oil use has gradually increased (most noticeably since 200000km) to the point where it's basically british but with very few leaks. Last 10000km about 3 litres used so it's getting to the point where her not checking the oil might end up being inconvenient.

Car didn't see great maintenance prior to 160km, the last 100km frequent oil changes etc. 

Compressions all within about 5psi. Leakdown tests all very low, 15% or less. Not lacking power any more than 1.3l normally would. Starts runs as well as it always has. Hasn't been overheated in our ownership, nothing to suggest it has prior. Mostly does longer drives rather than 500m to the shops and back.

Drive along at 100kmh, slow to about 30 on engine braking alone, stick foot down, blue cloud out back. 

Given it seems good in a compression sense likely culprits are oil control rings and valve stem seals (valve guides perhaps?).

The blue cloud test mentioned above is making me think in terms of stem seals, but open to being told otherwise. 

Fire away!

On 05/05/2023 at 19:03, HumberSS said:

I read somewhere they gum up the rings and start chewing oil. Gonna try some of the snake oil from repco and see if it fixes it.

Here's how to fix it if needed...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A595LR4SQpI&t=222s 

According to the tube intake leaks at the manifold to head gasket and the manifold to throttle body gasket are common. Gaskets cheap on rockauto and the job is dead easy.

Didn't fix the hesitation in my one though...

3 hours ago, Nominal said:

The LVVTA Threshold doc states what you can do before needing a cert

https://www.lvvta.org.nz/documents/suplementary_information/LVVTA_LVV_Cert_Threshold.pdf

 

 

Also from the VIRM
https://vehicleinspection.nzta.govt.nz/virms/in-service-wof-and-cof/general/vehicle-interior/seats-and-seat-anchorages

 

There is no issue with removing seats
 

Excellent thanks that's just what I was after, cheers.

Camper/backpacker vehicle question... Yes I did search, found possible but not moderately certain answers...

If I get a dodgy old people mover, whip some seats out, and make a platform to stick a mattress on for occasional sleeps, is there any future drama with WOFs etc? Not wanting a self contained camper, just a movable tent that will stay at places with toilets etc. Logic says no, but we are assuming NZTA uses such logic.

I understand NZTA in the spirit of nannying everything have recently made life harder for horsetruck owners. Bloody good thing as they and/or their drivers are a menace. Hence my question. No horses will be involved in my mission. 

Either an actual answer or a link to an answer would be great, thanks in advance. 

@JustHarry 

Cheers, I've not used Clinch but I believe the car has been there a bit in the past. Getting the box in and out doesn't appear to be too painful according to the manual but it'd certainly be easier to get someone who knows the car to do it... 

Thanks for the heads up on them, must admit I'd forgotten there was a specialist in town for 20ish year old Jags.

Excellent thank you!

I'm not sure how Jag specific this trans is, the particular variant only went into S types (at least outside the US), but the generic model is in many Fords in much of the world. And the issues this one has are issues that are common apparently.

Appreciate the tick for Aceomatic, thanks.

In a moment of weakness some time ago I bought an S type Jaagggg. Naturally I am learning about fixing it...

Anyway the transmission is a Ford 5R55n, which I understand is similar to the 5r55s or w model fitted to lots of Falcons and Rangers from early 2000s. It's got a couple of issues going on and I'm after any recommendations/avoid at all costs info on auto trans work in Chch. More than likely it'd be a case of me removing it, possibly sourcing some of the bits, and reinstalling it after outwork.

Symptoms are pretty normal for the type, delayed engagement of 1st, being a bit dim-witted between 4th and 5th, and a background moaning noise that may be either the pump or torque converter which comes and goes. Noise often starts after taking foot off the gas to slow down on the open road.

It's had a couple of drain and fills and a filter change in my ownership, but while that helped a bit it has continued to head slowly downhill and I'd rather get it sorted than wait for it to fall to bits.

If there's someone that knows these boxes and is good to deal with I'd be keen to hear about them.

Thanks.

1 hour ago, Muncie said:

Can you pave a road with advisors?

It depends how thinly you slice them.

Spotted on faecebook marketplace in Chch:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/5090024871046811/?ref=browse_tab&referral_code=marketplace_top_picks&referral_story_type=top_picks

Well I must admit it might go bing! But am wary of plugging it in to find out...

The screws holding it together are well stuck with rust and are putting up a fight, might get it apart later today but gave up in disgust at this mornings attempt. 

Hi all,

Going through a bunch of stuff that belonged to my late Father who was an auto electrician. 

Among the items that have been sitting for a long time is the machine pictured. It's a box with a couple of switches, a dial on which you set from zero to 100 of whatever it makes, and a zero to 10 knob. A light plugs into it with a 4 pin plug.

No serial number or identifying tags that I can see.

Any ideas what it is? It's just taking up shed space and there might be someone out there who would like to have it, but since I don't know what it is I can't sell the thing!

Cheers.

Fair enough, I can certainly sympathise with your reasoning!

I forgot to mention above that the 2 o rings that leak are both on the left side more towards the front/around the front edge of the engine mount. While mine was covered in oil from head to toe the first time I took it out, the right side this time has stayed dry so it seems likely that if it's losing a fair bit then that area would be one of the bigger culprits.

Clearly that's on a sample size of one so may be less than scientific!

8 hours ago, mo999 said:

I do wish they went the timing belt route on these, I took be about 5 hours to change the chains, soo much better once I had though, if only stopping it leaking oil was as easy. Other than the rear main, (that I have already done) where did you find the most leaks from? So hard to see when in engine bay.

When I got the car it was the oiliest thing I have ever worked on, so much so you'd think it was British/American...

In reality since it had 290000km (family history so worth doing the work on), there were leaks from front and rear mains, timing cover,  and down below so I removed it and did everything except removing the cradle that holds the mains in place. There was also a water pump leak getting water into the oil.

Unfortunately despite most of the reseal working well it still had a big leak down the left side from just below the oil pressure switch. 

The 2 common leak points that are a bit of a nuisance are the oval O ring between the upper aluminium part of the sump and the bearing cradle, and another O ring between the bearing cradle and the block itself which is the leak that remains. 

So this time around it's out again with the intention to reseal the cradle to the block. It has remained quite clean (this area aside) for the last 12000km so I reckon it'll be pretty right once I'm done. Am also doing a bearing job on the gearbox while it's all out so will no doubt come up with questions when I get to that!

Discovered this video (in 2 short parts) the other day that shows the cradle to block O ring leak really well: 

and:

This is the only good info I've seen on why that area leaks.

Anyway thanks for the info and hope that helps you out!

2 hours ago, locost_bryan said:

There are many Vitara manuals that can be downloaded from this site 

http://www.rhinoman.org/manuals/vitara/vit_manuals.html

Bingo! One of the links in there had the engine manual for an H20a so thanks for your help, that's exactly what I was after.

For anybody else that may have the same question in the future, the H20a main journal diameter is 58mm, and the H25a is 65mm.

I bet the timing belt in the Mazda engine doesn't clatter like the chains in my one used to...

16 minutes ago, locost_bryan said:

The differences between the two engines was discussed on this Mazda forum

https://www.mx6.com/threads/suzuki-h-series-motor-the-same-as-mazda-k-series.183027/

That's a very interesting read indeed...

Just now, locost_bryan said:

I'd be surprised if they're any different to the 2.5, or to the Mazda KL/KE that it's  based on.

My initial thought (in terms of the 2.5) was the same but while I can find a part number to link the rod bearings between the 2 engines I can't do the same for the mains. Added to that I note that rod bearing sets seem to be advertised for the 2.0/2.5/2.7 but mains seem to be only 2.0 or 2.5/2.7.

Hadn't thought of the Mazda line of inquiry. Looks like the KF has the same bore and stroke at least. Will look further along that path and no doubt get confused with part numbers coming out of my ears...

Thanks for the info though, much appreciated.

I'm fixing an oil leak in my old H20a V6 2.0 Escudo, and doing whatever other odd bits need tidying at the same time.

Anyway have the engine in a million bits and while we're in there (yep here we go...) had a look at the rod and main bearings, both of which could do with a freshen up.

Info on the rod bearing dimensions is easy enough to get as they are the same as the H25a 2.5l V6, however the I can't dig up any numbers on the mains.

If anyone has some info or is a better googler than me I'd be keen to see it. 

Thanks in advance.

4 minutes ago, GuyWithAviators said:

Is the vin plate the only original part left?

Still has the same shadow it left the factory with. Can't buy that...

Doesn't happen to sound/smell rich when cranking does it? Almost firing but not quite?

If you do go the new battery route bigger and better is normally not much more expensive than bare bones minimum. 

Cleaning the existing earth straps is always a good idea. Adding an extra one if it's easy can't do any harm either.

Sounds like you are making progress!

300CCA was what my old Hunter had in it's early days so your 325 is probably about what the Moke had when new. However if you do end up buying a battery there's probably bugger all difference pricewise in buying something a bit bigger. Hunter was much better when it had 550CCA.

By comparison, my wife's Mazda 2 has 450CCA in a little shopping basket, admittedly there's more electric stuff in it than in a 70s British car.