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Author: Subject: Agggh Reliability!
Irony

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:04 AM Reply With Quote
Agggh Reliability!

I knew when I started my car it would be a difficult process. Mostly with me knowing zero about engineering/mechanics. I thoroughly enjoyed building it but I didn’t envision how moral sapping it is when it breaks. So far I have had:

Speedo Failure at IVA – Duff Speedo
Rear drive shaft failure – RAC’d home on way to IVA retest – My Fault/no Threadlock
Flat Battery – Towed home – My fault/wiring issue
Tacho reads double the RPM occasionally
Coolant Pipe Blew Off
Cooling issues – Duff radiator cap

Having fixed the duff radiator cap and replaced with a a shiny new one the system has pressurised for the first time since the pipe blowoff. Which means the pressure has found a weak spot and now is leaking from a different pipe. Also on the way to work this morning the temperature gauge suddenly dropped to the stop and refused to work again. I have no idea why. Might be a loose connection, might be a duff gauge. I bought it used from another locoster. I does have a bit of condensation in it.

Not driving it won’t sort these issues out but it ruins any fun I might have driving it. 600 miles in and I am still having issues!

Rant over

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Irony

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:06 AM Reply With Quote
Doesn't sound that bad when read back.
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HowardB

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:24 AM Reply With Quote
Tacho at double RPM could be a loose earth or electrical noise depending on where you are taking the signal from

hth





Howard

Fisher Fury was 2000 Zetec - now a 1600 (it Lives again and goes zoom)

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40inches

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:26 AM Reply With Quote
Annoying isn't it? To put it mildly
After fitting the Jag engine, that took 18 months, not the 6 months as planned
30 miles in, the £240 propshaft failed, one of the UJ circlips hadn't been snapped into the groove. 3 weeks later
fitted replacement propshaft.
20 miles later, the clutch failed. DO NOT fit a re manufactured clutch kit, a 3 months warranty that expired 6 months before
the car was back on the road
Apart from that, everything is fine

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Irony

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:28 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by HowardB
Tacho at double RPM could be a loose earth or electrical noise depending on where you are taking the signal from

hth


Signal comes straight from the Megajolt. I know that the Megajolt is working as the engine runs correctly and the laptop readout is correct. The power for gauge is wired in series with all the other gauges as is the earth. I am leaning towards a loose connection as it works fine 30-40% of the time.

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JeffHs

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:32 AM Reply With Quote
Did you use silicone hoses? I re-plumbed mine with a Polo rad and new hoses. They are buggers to seal, double jubilees etc and the big one still weeps.
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Irony

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:38 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by JeffHs
Did you use silicone hoses? I re-plumbed mine with a Polo rad and new hoses. They are buggers to seal, double jubilees etc and the big one still weeps.


Yup all silicone. I am just hoping it's the pressure finding the weakest point and not something more serious like a head gasket issue. The old rad cap was essentially venting to the open air so there was zero pressure in the system. Now there is pressure it has found the weakest point. I am just hoping the system stabilises and doesn't keep increasing in pressure. As this is bad news.......

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Norfolkluegojnr

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:45 AM Reply With Quote
Doesn't sound so bad, but I know that horrible feeling when a project gets on top of you. Sometimes its the small stuff that really grates.

I spent a good few months trying to chase a hazard wiring issue (intermittent working). It started working again in the end, but I still have no real idea why - every wire chased, all parts replaced (switch, relay, bulbs etc).

Sometimes you just need a few days away from them to realise why you love them in the first place - a lot like wives in my experience

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mcerd1

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:52 AM Reply With Quote
^^ most of the above sounds like a real pain - but they should all be fairly simple fixes at least


I take it you weren't using the OE ford double washer thingys on the dirveshafts ?





-

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Jenko

posted on 23/8/16 at 10:06 AM Reply With Quote
The nice thing is, as you keep sorting out problems, the car will get more reliable. Fact is the first few hundred miles will pull out all the early life failures, from there on in things should get better :-)

Stick with it....





MY BLOG - http://westfieldv8.blogspot.co.uk/

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obfripper

posted on 23/8/16 at 10:08 AM Reply With Quote
If you're struggling to get a seal on the hoses, try these clamps.



http://www.westfieldfasteners.co.uk/HoseClip_Mikalor_Supra.html

They exert more even pressure than a jubilee type clip, they also work well as exhaust clamps.

Dave

[Edited on 23/8/16 by obfripper]

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stripe

posted on 23/8/16 at 10:53 AM Reply With Quote
Hopefully i'm just getting to the end of my teething troubles after 3000 miles... it makes your list look quite pleasant

- Big end bearings went after 100 miles, the rebuilt engine i bought, had not been rebuilt! i learnt the hard way. - towed home
- badly designed cooling system layout has been sorted, after it kept weeping and leaking after use.
- A mate crashed it at donnington last November needing a front end rebuild - again recovered home
- the oil pressure sensor broke, pissing 80psi of hot oil over the exhaust manifold, fire extinguisher used and recovered home. luckily some one was driving past in a recovery truck, stopped, charged me £1 a mile, i was only 8 miles from home, but he got a large tip!
- left engine mount broke, re welded.
- right engine mount broke 600 miles later (in Scotland), scraped the sump along the floor so i pissed all my oil out... got the lot welded back up so i could be on my way

and then on the way back from Scotland my diff has started leaking oil out.... still to fix this one as it only happen last week...

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benchmark51

posted on 23/8/16 at 11:14 AM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Norfolkluegojnr
Doesn't sound so bad, but I know that horrible feeling when a project gets on top of you. Sometimes its the small stuff that really grates.

I spent a good few months trying to chase a hazard wiring issue (intermittent working). It started working again in the end, but I still have no real idea why - every wire chased, all parts replaced (switch, relay, bulbs etc).

Sometimes you just need a few days away from them to realise why you love them in the first place - a lot like wives in my experience


Ha ha, not true I got shot of mine 30 years ago and I still don't like her.

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r1_pete

posted on 23/8/16 at 01:40 PM Reply With Quote
Quote:
Having fixed the duff radiator cap and replaced with a a shiny new one the system has pressurised for the first time since the pipe blowoff. Which means the pressure has found a weak spot and now is leaking from a different pipe. Also on the way to work this morning the temperature gauge suddenly dropped to the stop and refused to work again. I have no idea why. Might be a loose connection, might be a duff gauge. I bought it used from another locoster. I does have a bit of condensation in it.

Are you sure there isn't an air pocket surrounding the sensor, if its not in the coolant it won't read, the RV8 was designed to run nose up, thats why most 4bbl inlet manifolds angle the carb forwards, and in horizontal applications a wedge plate is needed to sit the carb horizontal, but running the engine horizontally can cause air locks in the manifold if the top hose runs downhill to the rad, the solution is to vent the stat housing to the top of the expansion tank, so any air can escape, this could also explain your hose issues. Had this problem many times in the late 70s when building rods....Text

[Edited on 23/8/16 by r1_pete]

[Edited on 23/8/16 by r1_pete]

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steve m

posted on 23/8/16 at 04:23 PM Reply With Quote
Reliability!

I am unable to list ALL of my 7 problems, as ive erased them from my memory, as it was slowing up the cache in my head,
There's been a lot !!!

I liken my 7 to my old 2+2 Lotus elan, as in " lots of trouble usually serious"

steve





Thats was probably spelt wrong, or had some grammer, that the "grammer police have to have a moan at




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Adamirish

posted on 23/8/16 at 04:49 PM Reply With Quote
I call it character, it would be no fun if it worked properly all the time!

My engine smoked a bit, so I rebuilt it. A lot of time and money, engine back in and ready for the dyno. 2 days before the dyno trip, starter motor pinion falls apart. £250 later an uprated starter fitted. On the dyno, last run, all going well then oil everywhere. Blew the (new) rear crank seal. Engine out again put a new one in, now the sump is leaking a bit. Not worth pulling the engine again until the winter.

Just before I took it for mot, threw on the kill switch to be met with smoke everywhere! A rogue live wire had found its way into the back of the fuse box. Dash out, replace a load of burned out wire, reassemble, it's good now!

I do now have a starting issue which is proving difficult to fix. Once running it's perfect, trying to get it running can either be, start straight up or wind on the starter for 10 seconds plus! It seems like a heat soak issue but it also does it when cold!

I also think a wheel bearing is going/gone too.

It's all fun and games.





MK Indy 1700 Xflow

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avagolen

posted on 23/8/16 at 06:13 PM Reply With Quote
Hi,

I will just throw in my 2 pence worth for getting silicone hoses to stop leaking.

Firstly, I have been told by a 'high quality' hose supplier that the hose should be 'difficult' to fit. The hose clamp should be of good wide quality and that's it.

My hoses were very easy to fit and after every heat cycle another joint would leak. Got very annoying.

Anyway, I stopped them leaking by wrapping the male part of every joint with an overlapping length of self annealing silicone repair tape. This gave a silicone to pipe seal and when I put the hose on - with a little effort - the hose clamp did the job with far less compression force than before.

Not had a single leak since I adopted this technique.

HTH

Len.

[Edited on 23/8/16 by avagolen]





The Answer for everything, but never the last word....

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britishtrident

posted on 23/8/16 at 06:25 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by avagolen
Hi,

I will just throw in my 2 pence worth for getting silicone hoses to stop leaking.

Firstly, I have been told by a 'high quality' hose supplier that the hose should be 'difficult' to fit. The hose clamp should be of good wide quality and that's it.

My hoses were very easy to fit and after every heat cycle another joint would leak. Got very annoying.

Anyway, I stopped them leaking by wrapping the male part of every joint with an overlapping length of self annealing silicone repair tape. This gave a silicone to pipe seal and when I put the hose on - with a little effort - the hose clamp did the job with far less compression force than before.

Not had a single leak since I adopted this technique.

HTH

Len.

[Edited on 23/8/16 by avagolen]



Wide clamps are more likely to leak than narrow ones.





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]

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sprintB+

posted on 23/8/16 at 07:02 PM Reply With Quote
You think you got problems?? I have a Triumph Dolomite Sprint powered Dutton, that's enough said in that statement !! BUT, I wouldn't change it. 30 odd years old now, still quick and brings a smile when its running on song. Its almost like "TRIGGERS BROOM"
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gremlin1234

posted on 23/8/16 at 07:03 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
wrapping the male part of every joint with an overlapping length of self annealing silicone repair tape.
I think you mean self amalgamating tape rather than self annealing

its useful stuff ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-amalgamating_tape

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Adamirish

posted on 23/8/16 at 07:09 PM Reply With Quote
Just to even things out a bit, my silicon hoses seal just fine! (famous last words)





MK Indy 1700 Xflow

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Chris_Xtreme

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:00 PM Reply With Quote
well I am still frustrated with the car too! - the megasquirt is still resetting at idle type rpm.. seems like a never ending game of finding what could be causing the noise, or bad signal.

hey ho.. occasionally I get out when there isn't traffic and get to put my foot down - and there comes the smile - and the surprise if it has been a while!


back to the original OP - I don't know how your coolant set up it, but I had to add a highest point - above the rad height to get it to breath all the air out. I guess I am saying make sure there isn't an air lock, or stuck thermostat.

[Edited on 23/8/16 by Chris_Xtreme]

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britishtrident

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:36 PM Reply With Quote
quote:
Originally posted by gremlin1234
quote:
wrapping the male part of every joint with an overlapping length of self annealing silicone repair tape.
I think you mean self amalgamating tape rather than self annealing

its useful stuff ;-)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-amalgamating_tape


A section of bicycle inner tube stretched over the male spigot stub works wonders if the hose is a very loose fit you can add more layers.





[I] “ What use our work, Bennet, if we cannot care for those we love? .”
― From BBC TV/Amazon's Ripper Street.
[/I]

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avagolen

posted on 23/8/16 at 08:59 PM Reply With Quote
Thanks Gremlin :-)





The Answer for everything, but never the last word....

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