1972 Granada Mk1 coupe build - Still going... 14-10-2024

[mk2cossie]

Yeah, thats the reason for the "likes" on old posts

I was referring to the drive flanges that go through the wheel bearings on the rear hubs.
No idea where else I would've seen someone modifying the inner part to stress relieve them

[eurogranada]

Oct 30, 2023 17:46:21 GMT mk2cossie said:

Yeah, thats the reason for the "likes" on old posts

I was referring to the drive flanges that go through the wheel bearings on the rear hubs.
No idea where else I would've seen someone modifying the inner part to stress relieve them

Likes are always welcome, lol!

Ah, ok, that wasn't me then. I'd also think that drilling the center would weaken them.

[eurogranada]

So I just wanted to wish my extended family/friends all the best for 2024. Personally I/m hoping for a better, easier year! A year of normalisation, but I'm not holding my breath!

I've enjoyed a few days off around the festive days and that has been wonderful. The kids were great, x-mass was great and just having no work for a bit was great as well. Although I did have to keep a half eye on my e-mail for project emergencies, with it leading up to go-live pretty quickly now. Especially now that I got word that I still have a job to go to whereas about 60 of my fellow co-workers cannot say the same (after about 40 or so have left on their own as a result of the insecurities). So it'll be different from january on but I'm going to see how the company and it's left over people develop for a bit first.

Having a job means having income which in turn means I can keep my toy car. So with that I want to get back into it. I'll be very busy up to mid february on my biggest work project but starting february I also really want to make work of getting the Granada to 100% again. There's a list that is longer than I'd like, but main thing is finding and fixing the rear noises once and for all. I'm pretty sure I'll be seeking help as I tend to go in circles on this.

I did run the car on a dryish day to stop the tires growing flat spots and to charge the battery a bit. It fired straight up and drove fine. Confirming that when all is well this really is a great car to drive.

But, as a slightly less welcome side note, the daily driver Transit Custom is probably in for some work first. I'm pretty sure it has a fault in the glow circuit causing rougher running and less economy even though the glow plugs have been replaced. The electric front seat adjustment causes a fuse to blow, the start/stop hasn't worked in ages (but that could be a battery thing as much as anything else as I replaced them with the wrong capacity ones, but new anyway) but most unfortunate, it seems to have a rumble from the front while driving, only under power, not when coasting. I presume this is either a wheel bearing or a cv joint as last year I had the cv boots split on both sides but had driven quite a few kilometers before realising this. Finally when running stationary there's an additional noise mostly audible on the passenger side of the (LHD) car. Not sure what this is but possibly an exhaust leak? It's definitely a new addition though!

Unfortunately all this means taking it to a garage will mean such a big bill that I'm going to have to tackle most of these points myself. So I'm looking for TIS or wiring diagrams. But the main reason for not doing much about it yet is the wet and cold. It's just been unbelievably wet over here, record breaking wet. But I really do want to get the van in best working order again. It's too good a car to let slip and it'll have to be the family car for quite some years to come... well as long as the environmentalists allow diesel busses that is.

So, 2024 starts on generally a good note, but not with a shortage of things to tackle.

[thomfr]

Good tp hear about your Hollidays and also about your job!
Wishing you a very happy and healthy 2024!
23 was rough here also so looked forward to close it and now we go full trottle into 24!
Thom

[westbay]

Great news about the job , Happy New Year !

[kevins]

Good news on the job, and Happy new year.

For the custom, I'd get a proper scan of the codes done before diving into the glowplugs or wiring, (or download Forscan and do it yourself) most of the simple code readers don't get all the codes. For the vibration / noise take a look at the lower engine mount that comes off the bottom / back of gearbox, they are usually the first ones to go and a simple job to change. The outer cv joints are usually get worse as you get near full steering lock, which doesen't sound like your issue.

Start stop is almost certainly the batteries, it needs the correct and expensive batteries to work properly, Personally I wouldn't worry too much about it, it does very little for fuel economy on a diesel anyway.

The seats are pretty simple, take it out, have a good look for any wiring damage, if nothing obvious try it with the motor disconnected to see if it is a motor or wiring fault, it could be simple as something has got in the mechanism and is jamming it. (it's easy to damage / dislodge something when changing the batteries)

[eurogranada]

Thanks kevins!

Yeah I'm going to start with getting the codes read for sure. I hope a friend has a unit that will do so. My own unit sees no codes but is limited in use. On the glow plugs I've had this issue before, hence getting the plugs changed. Back then it said glow plug one error. But after having had them changed the fault was only gone for a short while. This must be wiring.
It seems to be worse on wet or very cold days. They say the ecu is in a wet spot and this may also be part of the problem. But it's ot easy to get to. I had made extra shields for the ecu years ago from old exhaust shields but I have no real way of checking how effective they are. I hoped they'd keep the water running off the windscreen off the inner wing/ecu. But the difference in running the engine with working or inoperative glow plugs is extreme. Once some good heat has gotten in the engine, it usually gets better. But cold, sounds so rough it's somewhat scary. And now there's that extra noise from the engine...

I forgot to say that it also constantly throws a brake pads worn message on the dash. Not always, but often. Sometimes immediately after starting, somtimes not for quite while. Visual inspection shows all pads front and rear to be okay. Rears, are pretty new, fronts a litle older.

I'll check the mount you mentioned. It's not realy a vibration as much as a droning noise. But it's gone when you coast and comes back when you accelerate again or keep steady speed.

Yeah start/stop is the least of my worries, it was somewhat erratic anyway. As there are so many factors involved from outside temps to aircon on/off etc. that you never really knew why it would work or not work at times. I just like to get the car in best working order again. I do have the right type of batteries I think, but just a size too small and lighter on amps than I should have bought. My mistake but there was no time to return them. I am going to replace the batteries soon.

I'm expecting the seat to be a wiring issue. But a good check to run it of some aux power source. I know for ease of acces to the batteries I've had it off it's mounts before. Never did find anything pinched or anything but it must have something to do with that action.

[westbay]

"I'll check the mount you mentioned. It's not realy a vibration as much as a droning noise. But it's gone when you coast and comes back when you accelerate again or keep steady speed."

Definitely sounds like mounting (impending) failure ....

[eurogranada]

Well if that is not enough reason to inspect that first I don't know! Funny how I wouldn't attribute the type of sound to what is basically a stationary object yet two people immediately point to that component!

I managed to borrow a code reader that should read all modules for the weekend so I'll dive in then. I can have it for a little bit which should help diagnosis.

[kevins]

The brake pad warning is likely to be the wiring to them. It's nowhere near the quality of the ABS sensor wiring and suffers where it goes through the clips and at the connectors.

[westbay]

Alex
When you look at the mounting you will need to use a lever to check for movement, unless the mounting is physically broken a visual check will not do ...

[eurogranada]

Well, my weekend turned out quite different from what I had expected. Not in the best of ways, but such is life. Virtually no time at all for anything including the Transit van...

I did go and get that code reader. Minding the noise while driving as much as I could. I have a feeling that taking left corners the noise under power is more noticeable. It remains hard to say. When I can I'll start with inspecting the mount. I looked up the part online and given what it is I'd figured that just looking at it wouldn't tell me too much ;-). I presume there shouldn't be too much movement if the part is doing what it should.

I did find a few minutes to see if the code reader would tell me anything, but after hooking it up it became apparent quite quickly that this unit has the exact same capabilities and limitations as my own. It just reads the main ecu and that says no codes present. But from earlier experience I know that the tripple A (ANWB over here) could see far more when I last had the same issue.

Back to the drawing board on that unfortunately. I'm looking into forscan but I'm not quite sure on what I need to aquire to work with that. As I'm expecting to drive this van for a longer while (and I'm a Ford person anyway) I don't think investing in that is a waste of money.

I'm a bit miffed that I didn't get more done though. I hate driving the van so much knowing there's some stuff to take care of. Especially if it's mechanical in nature. I also really would like to identify that new noise that the engine seems to make. I get the feeling I'm driving a time bomb with the counter missing, but with the potential of huge cost if it goes really wrong.

On the Granada front I see it is getting too little use. The older battery in it with the cold seems to lose charge quicker now. I needed it moved, to make use of one short little dry spell to get to my ladder so I could remove the x-mass lights from the roof gutter, but it was spinning over quite slowly. Thankfyully the engine usually catches quickly and it just started.

I put the car back with the bonnet released so I can add my charger for a bit soon.

[therealpinto]

I really recommend getting Forscan, it´s a great help. I recently ugraded to a V-linker OBD adapter, like this;
www.amazon.se/Vgate-vLinker-FS-USB-Adapter/dp/B094Z7PBLS

That is what you need, together with the free extended Forscan licence. It´s a reasonably small investment after all.

Apart from reading the codes you can of course also see realtime data and program things if you need to change a module or so.

[westbay]

link

[spot]

Happy New Year Alex and all.

Not intentionally adding to your car/van woes of late, but, 2024 has me believing that your chances of gaining any more prizes are also surely becoming scarcer now that I've started stocking up on body filler and a few tins of Dulux White!

[eurogranada]

Wow, it's been a while already! Time really does fly...

My excuse is that I've had the busiest period of work in my carreer of the last 5 or more years and that has drained me from a lot of energy. Working double the usual hours at the height of times. Add to that the lousy weather we've had and I just couldn't bring myself to diving under and into the cars issues.

Alas, they were getting worse. The droning noise, that was suggested to be the engine to gearbox mount, was growing louder. It's only there under power and seems to be more prominent in left turns, a little less in right turns. But going straight under power it's there and louder than at first. So I had to do something. The rough running when cold or wet was ever present. Only when the car was driven enough on a day that the heat was in the engine, I got to experience the puuuuurrrrrrfect purring of the engine. It's so nice and smooth at that point. That makes me extra annoyed when it won't run like that. I'm in two minds if it, at that time, is just as quiet as it was when I bought it or still a bit more noisy. As when cold, again, there's definitely an added noise while idling (above idle inside the car it's hard to judge, even with the door open). It's coming from the right side so the side where the distribution is and the multi v belt runs. I'm a bit scared of this noise. Perhaps a bearing for a roller or guide? I don't want to torpedo my engine, but I myself can't pinpoint it or narrow it down. But I'm convinced it's there and I'm not imagining it as even the wife commented on the van being loud and she always walks down that side to enter the car. Anyway, as I stated before, the first time I had noticed this rough running when cold/wet behaviour I got the ANWB (AAA) involved and they read the codes and there was a glow circuit code for plug 1. Subsequently I had the plugs changed at the next maintenance opportunity. The rough running was gone for a while, but all too quickly returned. I should have gone back to the garage but as it is 60km+ away from me and I need the van daily, it never got done.

So I started by buying the forscan adapter and downloading forscan. First order of business, the rough running. I was fully expecting to find the glow plug code present in the DTC list, but while forscan seemed to perfectly identify the vehicle and it's modules I didn't find what I was expecting. Basically I only had a DTC for the brake error and several for the window wipers that had drawm more than expected current. I guess being automatically activated by the rain sensor when they were on a frozen screen. Well at least that is the only situation I had with the wipers over winter and they pulled loose immediately as well.

I cleared the codes and reviewed them a day later. This time I had codes again. The brake one was gone, but the error on the dash still occurred. I had a BCM error about the parking system malfunctioning. No idea why had never ever had a warning of that kind. Cleared all codes again and drove for a bit. I now have to see if there's anything new.

So I did not really have any engine DTC's. And the DTC's I had were mostly concerning the BCM. So I'd like to look for that and see if there's anything there. But, this means I'm no closer to solving the rough running and the related higher fuel consumption. And it also doesn't provide any clues. So how to proceed. I'm not great with complex electronics but I'd like to verify the signals to the glow plugs. I also hear a lot about random issues from the ecu being in a water rich environment. So maybe check that out as well? But access is dreadful as far as I have seen.

Next up that droning noise. To me the description above points to suspecting the CV as it has at one time been run too long with a broken dust boot (before it was caught) and there was visible bluing on the metal where the balls sit when I did fix it. Obviously I didn't throw away your generous advice and checked the subframe/body to gearbox mount. It is pointing slightly downward. There is some downward movement possible with a breaker bar. Upward I had no way of providing pressure so no clue. Visually it looked ok, but we had already concluded that visuals alone would not cut it. Anyway, I can't conclude that it is defective. More advice on testing welcome. But I'd be inclined to preventative replacement anyway. I didn't have time to jack up the car and see if I I could feel anything/hear anything from the CV. So again, no progress and a growing amount of noise... What is wisdom?

I had two pictures to show...The image uploader seems to be malfunctioning. It inserts only the tags not the link...

I am inclined to buy the parts to make sure the mechanicals are fine: new drive shaft left and right, so all joints are new, all dust covers are new (as it is only a waiting game to see when the inner gearbox side dust boots will tear even though they see less movement) and adding the mount for reassurance and to save on transport cost. I should be able to replace them at home, I was able to do 90% of the work required when I fixed the boots last time.

Any advice on how to proceed is welcome. I will check the codes again tomorrow as time permits.
By the way, I did confirm yesterday that when the engine is hot and running nicely is definitely sounds a lot healthier than when cold. Still have a little doubt about extra noise, but by far not as noticeable as when cold. It sounds pretty normal when fully warmed up.

Investigating the seat workings is lower on the list as annoying as it is. Moving the seat pops the fuse. And the heated bits don’t work on the driver side either. As far as I can find both seats share the fuse and as the other side is working, it’s not that! By the way, am I the only one who really hates those newfangled box type fuses? First off, they’re the worst to remove I’ve so far encountered. And it may just be me, but, I cannot judge them visually on being broken or not. I measured them to be sure. Also, why are they up to 8 euro’s a pop? It’s just insane! And why are there high and low versions? I’m going to have to check and test the seat wiring, no doubt this will mean popping a few fuses in the process. My solution, at least my idea, is to make an adapter from this expensive type to the usual big spade type using an inline fuse fitting. Soldering the ends to the box fuses prongs. This way I can pop a few cheapo fuses without much worry of the cost.

I’m a little frustrated if I’m being honest. Not only am I nothing further on the Transit, but the Granada is also still sitting as it was end of last season. That has it’s own list of things to do, most important to me are the rear end noises that still elude me as for a solution.

I guess I just need some mojo to get on with things. But being condemned to working outside it’s not so easy at this time. And I’d really like to get the car to 100 points this season. Knowing I can enjoy it without fear… But the daily needs to take priority as well, it's the daily... I need at least that to be reliable.

[mk2cossie]

Sounds like you are in a similar place to me with enthusiasm eurogranada...the difference being I have a big ole workshop I'm allowed to use to sort out my own car at the weekend.

But even that sometimes is just too much faff if the weather is poor or the working week has been hectic.

With the Transit, has it had a fuel filter recently? And was it a genuine one? Aftermarket ones we have fitted at work have upset more than just a few vehicles that are very fussy

[kevins]

For the rough running I'd try a new filter and a dose of injector cleaner.

For the noise from the front of the engine, I'd try taking the belt off and running for a short time to see if the noise goes away, it could be an idler, alternator, water pump or the crank pulley.

For access to the ECU I seem to remember the easiest option was to take the LH headlamp out.

[eurogranada]

Feb 15, 2024 17:30:27 GMT mk2cossie said:

Sounds like you are in a similar place to me with enthusiasm eurogranada...the difference being I have a big ole workshop I'm allowed to use to sort out my own car at the weekend.

But even that sometimes is just too much faff if the weather is poor or the working week has been hectic.

With the Transit, has it had a fuel filter recently? And was it a genuine one? Aftermarket ones we have fitted at work have upset more than just a few vehicles that are very fussy

Better weather, dry and a little warmer will probably help a lot with the mojo I'm sure. I usually have no problem with having to do a lot of mechanical work on my driveway, but it sure comes with limitations. But I think what hinders me most currently, is the feeling that I just don't know how to fix things. On the Granada I've not been able to identify any of the causes for the noise(s) yet and on the transit I'm down to just replacing parts and seeing if that does something... I feel that if I knew for sure what I would have to do to fix than I'd be more motivated to just do it.

On the transit I can say that the fuel filter is most likely a bosch replacement item that is about 6 months old. As all maintenance that I do not do myself goes to the Bosch Service center car dealership I bought the car at. I trust them completely. It's had a major service about 6 months ago. All fluids, oil, even brake fluid, all filters, aircon, the lot.

However, I have had this same running issue on the previous two filters, as it's been there on and off for a long time now. Only over summer due to higher temsp it is (or at least used to be) a lot less present. This is why I once had all the glow plugs replaced as at that time the engine ran the same as now and the AAA found codes relating to the glow plug circuit. That only solved the problem for a short while. Anyway, back to the filters, one of those was an OEM ford replacement as I replaced that myself along with an origial oil filter (ordered from Poland at three times the cost of a generic one if I remember correctly). So as much as a fuel filter is easy to replace on these models I just can't see this being the cause. I might swap another ford one in anyway just to be sure. What's another 45 euro's lol.

But why would the wet/low temp conditions be of influence on the filter? As the problem goes away when the engine is nice and warm... It's not that I want to be pigheaded or anything, but I just like to be able to explain things.

[eurogranada]

Feb 15, 2024 23:03:18 GMT kevins said:

For the rough running I'd try a new filter and a dose of injector cleaner.

For the noise from the front of the engine, I'd try taking the belt off and running for a short time to see if the noise goes away, it could be an idler, alternator, water pump or the crank pulley.

For access to the ECU I seem to remember the easiest option was to take the LH headlamp out.

Hi Kevin,

Thanks again for your input.

Although as I just typed in the previous reply. I don't want to be pigheaded or stubborn, but I don't yet see the relation between rough running when cold and the fuel filter. As it's only 45 euro's for a ford one, I'll probably just swap it out all the same. Injecotr cleaner is also an easy and pretty inexpensive thing to do, but again if it's inectors, is there some logic to them being fussy only whith cold and wet weather?

I've do far decided to just start doing some stuff as this debating doesn't get me any closer either. I'll try to see tonight if I have any codes again or not as I didn't get to that this weekend.

I'll start with the filter, injector cleaner and the gearbox mount. See if that does anything. If that does not fix the droning noise, next step will focus on wheel bearings and drive shafts. I don't really suspect the former, rather the latter, but at ten years old, even with less than 143.000km's on the counter, these might also be past their best...