cszjrh Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Well after just under 3 months since my previous XE destroyed itself at Brands I'm back on the road. Been a steep learning curve with many obstacles appearing along the way... For example: Making a new engine mount to match the location of the new dry sump pump Repacking an exhaust with acoustafil when the inner tube isn't removable Having to use a whole can of carb cleaner to remove pieces of broken valve Buying a new friction plate for the clutch to then discover (after a couple of fruitless hours of offering up the engine to the gearbox) that it would only sit on the splines in one orientation, of course that being the wrong one for my pressure plate... No idea why so we gave up and put the old one back on. Numerous small oil leaks from my new oil temperature and pressure sensor points and the dry sump connections - have put gauges in for temp and pressure and a pressure switch wired up to a large light behind the wheel - see below Dumping a load of coolant on the floor because of a poor seal on the thermostat housing Coming to do our first engine test only to find that my glass fuel regulator had a crack in it and fuel was pouring out when the pump primed Replacing the regulator with an alloy one and being tight and not buying a pressure gauge. Assumed it had come preset to 3psi then after a few hours trying to get the engine to start and remove what we assumed was an airlock in the system we discovered that the regulator wasn't allowing nearly any fuel through... Wiring in my new gauges into a nice looking 12v ignition switched wire only to then discover the car wouldn't start. Turns out we'd chosen the ECU wiring and the gauges must draw just enough current to pull the ECU down. Having a dodgy earth on my sensor points and the remote sensor T needing to be seperately earthed as well as the sensors. Getting the MOT today and having the fuel pump die whilst on the rolling road. Thanks again for the help and advice along the way! And it'll definitely be easier next time Now with added oil temperature and pressure gauges. A great comfort to be able to see exactly what's going on. New oil pressure warning light - cheap LED extra brake light from eBay. It even flashes to really get my attention 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Spicer Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Look's very nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Thanks. Just need to get my new JKs bolted in at the weekend and I'm done. Peet - you were right. It will be a lot easier with the bolts welded to the runners Not going to think about how much I've spent in the last few months. Just means I need to keep the car now for longer to get my money's worth Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 If that's it's final position, I'd try and get some thermal protection sleeve on the bleed hose running next to the manifold. Better still, if you can, dress it a little further away, rather than right over the top... Youd be be surprised how high the temps round the manifold can get, sometimes! Looking neat otherwise Good to hear you're getting to the end of the snag list. It'll all be worth it, trust me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 If that's it's final position, I'd try and get some thermal protection sleeve on the bleed hose running next to the manifold. Better still, if you can, dress it a little further away, rather than right over the top... Youd be be surprised how high the temps round the manifold can get, sometimes! Looking neat otherwise Yeah good spot. I've seen 350C on the manifold surface so it must be warm directly above it. Strangely though that hose has been routed like that since I bought the car and its very thin walled but there's no sign of any heat damage on it. Guessing a longer hose and routing up the inlet side under the carbs instead is the best bet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peet Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Post me the runners through the winter and i'll weld nuts on for you for free! Install and that dash look fantastic! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 10, 2014 Author Share Posted June 10, 2014 Cheers Peet but my tame welder has them and will be bringing them back tomorrow night for me to fit the seats at the weekend. My wife REALLY needs to be able to drive the car after waiting 3 months for me to sort it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Oh dear..... just spoke to the garage who I'd asked to look at finetune my timing after struggling myself and they were struggling too... So they did a crank compression test and are saying they are only seeing 125psi on two cylinders and about 65psi on the back two. Now I know the engine was making 155-165psi across all cylinders at the end of last year so something clearly isn't right. (car is making good oil pressure - 70psi cold, 40-50psi hot, no bottom end knocking and is pulling fine - though isn't 100% smooth hence it going in for the timing looking at). There is an oil leak at the pulley end which I knew about - looks to be around the oil pump housing - and a little is getting onto the belts but not enough to cause any problems. They aren't going to go any further or charge me for their time (which always worries me ) so I'm going to collect it tomorrow morning and take a look myself. What should my plan of attack be? Redo the compression tests myself and see if I get similar results? If I do, add some oil and try to eliminate a bottom-end problem? And if that's ok then what...? North Weald on Friday looking unlikely again now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonk179 Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 I would advise checking compression yourself. I doubt it would run with only 65psi on two cyls. Then as you say if low add oil to check bottom end. Does engine smoke at all? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Will do ta. Getting a puff of black smoke when it fires into life then it you rev hard and lift off there's another puff but I had thought this was black again rather than blue and related to the timing. Less sure now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burlers Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Re do the compression test if you're not sure. Otherwise do, or have done a proper leak down test; that'll identify whether you're loosing compression via the bores or the valves. (If indeed you're loosing compression). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 Assuming the timing belt hasn't jumped a tooth? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 13, 2014 Author Share Posted June 13, 2014 Definitely possible. I'll take a look (and upload a photo) tomorrow when I've collected it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cszjrh Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 And after all that.... Was in the last mile of my five mile morning run over to the garage to collect it when they called me. Senior mechanic had got in early to take a look himself as he wasn't convinced by the results. Turned out they hadn't been opening the second idler (?) on the first carb when testing so were getting false low readings. He was unimpressed and going to be having a chat with the other guys. Said it all seemed fine and he'd balance everything up. Phew. Thanks all. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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