ferny
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 984
Club RR Member Number: 13
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You're twisting my melon man.ferny
@ferny
Club Retro Rides Member 13
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Sept 12, 2020 16:59:33 GMT
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Has anyone got any stories about annoying faults on their car which took ages to trace and turned to be something ridiculously simple?
It'll make me feel better about a clicking noise on the Herald I can't fathom.
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Sept 12, 2020 17:08:44 GMT
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Very loud, speed-related scraping noise that turned out to be a metal numberplate hanging down and dragging on the road on my first car, a MK2 Escort
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Sept 12, 2020 17:16:24 GMT
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I had a really annoying tapping and vibrating sound on the cube a while back. I cleaned the car and took everything out of the glove box thinking it might be something as simple as a CD case. Still there. I checked various bits of trim to see if anything had worked loose. Nope, still there. By this point it was starting to wind me up. I put up with it for a while, but there were a couple of times I took my face mask off the column stalk where I hung it, and when I walked in the shop everything smelt lovely. It was then I realised id hung a plastic air freshener on the column stalk and it was up against the column shroud, tapping and ratting away.
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melle
South West
It'll come out in the wash.
Posts: 1,984
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Sept 12, 2020 18:09:07 GMT
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My Saab 96 refused to start after I replaced the mechanical fuel pump with an electric one, whilst it ran fine before. Was faffing for an hour or so when my father in law said 'does the carb get fuel at all?'. Turned out I hadn't switched on the safety switch I installed under the dash that morning....
Six months or so later I needed the car in a rush. Started fine, drove off but at the end of the drive the engine stalled. Faffed around for a few minutes with relays and fuses before borrowing another car. When I came back I started systematically trying to work out where the fault was with a multimeter. Partly stripped the interior and by tracing wires I found I had power up to... THAT BLOODY SWITCH!! Guess I knocked it over with my work trousers, which have chunky knee pads.
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www.saabv4.com'70 Saab 96 V4 "The Devil's Own V4" '77 Saab 95 V4 van conversion project '88 Saab 900i 8V
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Sept 12, 2020 18:35:52 GMT
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no ones mentioned the whining noise from the passenger side... only does it when the wife's in the car
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Flynn
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 142
Club RR Member Number: 166
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You're twisting my melon man.Flynn
@flynn
Club Retro Rides Member 166
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Sept 12, 2020 18:50:47 GMT
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A couple spring to mind although I am sure that there have been more.
On my BX, the engine ran away after I had left it idling for a while, it is a turbo diesel engine so obvious diagnosis was a duff turbo, allowing oil to enter the intake air stream. So I ordered a new turbo and lost an entire weekend to fitting it, truly horrible job. It was only after a test drive with the new turbo I found the actual cause of the problem, a small rubber diaphragm in the fuel injection pump, probably less than a £5 and about 30 minutes to replace.
Years ago I ran a lifted Land Rover Discovery 200 Tdi, had an awful belt squeal but only when on the move... Or so I thought anyway, spent so many hours investigating the conditions of the pulleys, the belts, trying new belts, belt dressing sprays. It was only when the front universal joint on the front prop shaft failed completely did I finally know the true cause of the persistent squeal!
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1971 MGB GT 1983 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 1999 Jaguar XJR
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time
Part of things
Posts: 152
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Sept 12, 2020 18:56:18 GMT
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My first car was a mk 2 escort 1.3 auto Engine cold, it drove fine No issues Once warmed up it would loose reverse gear and top gear ( it would scream at 40mph) Never found what was up with as My simple fix was to convert the car to manual with a Sierra 5 speed box
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Flynn
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 142
Club RR Member Number: 166
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You're twisting my melon man.Flynn
@flynn
Club Retro Rides Member 166
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Sept 12, 2020 19:04:58 GMT
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bmcnut's post reminded me!
Range Rover P38 - something would make a loud single tap noise every time you changed direction, convinced it was something dashboard related. I had to change the heater matrix O rings anyway but really went for it and pretty much stripped the dash out of the car looking for the cause of the tap noise. Couldn't find anything... Deflated, I did the heater matrix job and then started putting everything back together, among the last bits of trim to go back on was a panel that sits above the drivers legs, it wouldn't quite sit right so I ran my hand along the metal dash channel that it fixes to make sure it was lining up ok, completely by chance on the backside of that channel I found the cause of the noise, a £1 coin - it was just the right diameter to be able to roll side to side in the channel but never fall out.
That was a good days work, no more leaky heater matrix, no more tap noise AND £1 up!
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1971 MGB GT 1983 Daimler Sovereign 4.2 1999 Jaguar XJR
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Sept 12, 2020 21:10:13 GMT
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I bought a Golf off a mate in the 90s that had an intermittent starting issue. It would randomly refuse to start every now and then, as in it wouldn't even click, no lights on the dash, nothing. Usually at the most inconvenient time ... like it was sentient. Sometimes it would take 5 minutes, sometimes an hour before deciding to start and then it would be fine for weeks, or months.
He couldn't replicate the fault, neither could I and the specialist I handed it to couldn't find any apparent issue with any component. It had one of those old chip/key immobilisers, which I always assumed was at fault and the problem remained for the entire time I owned it.
It became an endearing quirk.
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Sept 12, 2020 22:13:43 GMT
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Just this week I found the source of a knocking noise I’ve heard a few times. Thought it was a CV joint or stone in the caliper, had a look underneath even..... But, no, it was a remote key fob hitting the cowling if I’ve just turned at a slow speed, it seems the key fob can bounce and give a gentle tapping noise, so only happens in certain conditions... and at higher speed it can’t be heard
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stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 14,840
Club RR Member Number: 174
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You're twisting my melon man.stealthstylz
@stealthstylz
Club Retro Rides Member 174
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Sept 12, 2020 23:45:06 GMT
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Sort of related to me - I rebuilt a Corsa engine at work. Mechanics fitted it and it wouldn't start. Compression was good, had fuel, had spark. They changed all the ignition components, still wouldn't start. Sent the ECU off to be checked, still wouldn't start. I happened to walk past it whilst doing something else and noticed there wasn't anything coming out of the exhaust. Unbolted the manifold and it started straight up. Turned out the whole downpipe and cat was absolutely chock solid with carbon.
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brc76
RR Helper
Posts: 1,107
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Sept 13, 2020 0:42:13 GMT
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My, new to me, VR6 T4 stalled on the way back from the airport after picking up my parents. It stalled and would almost immediately restart. and then again 5 min later then 2 min later and so on. I managed to get it 10 miles home after dropping them off.
Pulled engine codes, replaced engine speed sensor, checked wiring from sensor to ecu, but it would start and idle. just stall almost like it had been switched off. Thought I had sorted it, only for it to die on the way back from picking up the kids. Got it recovered home. Rechecked sensors, wiring, codes. nothing. It's almost like it's missing Spark or Fuel or Air. Spark? Check. Air? clearly. Petrol?
<<<<PING>>>>
Pulled off the feed and return lines from the tank. Nothing. OK it's the fuel pump, because the gauge is showing 1/2 full. Hotwire the fuel pump, I can hear it running.... I get a split second splash of petrol from the open feed line. curse word. It's out of petrol. OUT OF PETROL. I put 2 gallons of petrol from the lawnmower can in the T4 and instantly the low petrol warning comes on and the gauge plummets to below "E". My GF has patiently watched a month of frustrated problem solving every spare min of daylight hours I have had. She laughed. Me? not so much.
It hasn't happened again, but I now don't trust it. and rely on the trip meter to tell me how far I've gone as a double check.
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Last Edit: Sept 13, 2020 0:43:09 GMT by brc76
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awoo
Posted a lot
Posts: 1,504
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Sept 13, 2020 8:11:12 GMT
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On more than one occasion in front of a bunch of people, having trouble starting my motorbike and not knowing what’s up, cranking it over and over and it wouldn’t start. Only to find I didn’t turn the ignition on...
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Sept 13, 2020 9:07:43 GMT
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My Mk1 Capri track car would give a loud bang every lap in specific corners. Souped up Chevy V8 on IDA Webers, open twin 3" exhaust, but it was loud enough to could hear it with my helmet on. It came from the back, and the only thing back there with any give in it was a metal fuel filter I mounted on the vent side of the Fuel cell ( I don't want it to suck in dust when it burns off fuel ). Since it didn't affect performance I ignored it... Turns out I had my Koni shock adjuster tool in the glovebox, I took it out and the noise went away. I guess it didnt come from the back afterall...
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Sept 13, 2020 17:49:48 GMT
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I remember my old Chevette developing a metallic rattle that appeared to get worse the further down my road I went. The noise stopped quite abruptly when the nsr wheel fell off and the wheel nuts were found inside the metal hubcaps.
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Sept 13, 2020 18:07:15 GMT
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I fitted the engine from a Fiat Tipo Sedicvalvoe into a kit car and after a lot of work, transplanting the injection system and wiring it wouldn't start.
After much checking and head scratching I realised that the connector for the lambda sensor and crank sensor were identifcal an in the kitcar where fairly close whereas in the donor car they weren't.
I swapped them over and off it went.
Then I had a terrible running problem that miraculously went away when the petrol tank was full and came bace at 3/4 tank, turned out the previous owner had gobbed silicone around the sender unit in the tank and some had got stuck in the outlet pipe. With a full tank of fuel the system was able to pull enough fuel to run properly but as the fuel level got lower the problems started. The car would run then cut out then after a few minutes start again.
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Sept 13, 2020 21:42:53 GMT
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A grinding noise in corners on my old Saab 900. It didn't do it all the time. I thought it was a wheel bearing and made arrangements to take it to the garage round the corner to press it out once the strut was off. Almost by accident I noticed that something had been rubbing on the driveshaft. My wheel bearing was actually a snapped drop link which caused more roll and the driveshaft to rub when cornering.
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Jaguar S-Type 3.0 SE
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Sept 14, 2020 7:54:23 GMT
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After engine swapping an alfa 75 1.8ie to a 3.0 V6 it wouldn't start. It would turn over but that was it. Took me several attempts with brake cleaner, multimeter and other checks before i noticed the ecu lying on the dashboard right in front of me..
A friend was building a gtv6 racecar snd had serious trouble getting the car to perform right.it was missing a lot of power. Measured everything from compression to engine timing and resistance in the wiring loom. Even went on the dyno. In the end he found out there was a 4 cilinder rotor in the distributor...
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Ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 765
Club RR Member Number: 12
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You're twisting my melon man.Ritchie
@ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member 12
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Sept 14, 2020 8:32:41 GMT
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bmcnut's post reminded me! Range Rover P38 - something would make a loud single tap noise every time you changed direction, convinced it was something dashboard related. I had to change the heater matrix O rings anyway but really went for it and pretty much stripped the dash out of the car looking for the cause of the tap noise. Couldn't find anything... Deflated, I did the heater matrix job and then started putting everything back together, among the last bits of trim to go back on was a panel that sits above the drivers legs, it wouldn't quite sit right so I ran my hand along the metal dash channel that it fixes to make sure it was lining up ok, completely by chance on the backside of that channel I found the cause of the noise, a £1 coin - it was just the right diameter to be able to roll side to side in the channel but never fall out. That was a good days work, no more leaky heater matrix, no more tap noise AND £1 up! I had a very similar issue with a classic Range Rover, it turned out to be an unused shotgun cartridge under the back seat!
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Ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 765
Club RR Member Number: 12
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You're twisting my melon man.Ritchie
@ritchie
Club Retro Rides Member 12
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Sept 14, 2020 8:45:04 GMT
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We ran an E46 320d touring as a family car for years. I was certain it had a wheel bearing on the way out as everytime you slowed down into a 30mph limit there was a loud thrum just like a hub bearing. Eventually this irritated me enough to investigate further to pin point which bearing. This resulted in me driving about with my mate in the boot, back seat etc but we couldn’t quite figure out exactly which one although we both agreed it was definitely a bearing. Nothing for it but to change one based on best guess. No better, continue on until I’d replaced all 4 and the prop shaft centre bearing, still no good. It was then when it was on the ramp that I noticed that the tread blocks on all four (Cheap) tyres were worn slightly odd, a bit chamfered. So in a case of desperation (I wasn’t gonna be beat) I thought sod it and stuck 4x new good quality tyres on it. Noise gone. I kept the tyres as they had plenty life left in them and the funny thing is a few years later I stuck 2x on the back of a Merc we had and it immediately sounded like the diff was humming. Don’t buy cheap tyres kids.
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Last Edit: Sept 14, 2020 8:46:04 GMT by Ritchie
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