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#11
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In article >, catman@cuore-
rustsportivo.co.uk spouted forth into alt.autos.alfa-romeo... > MeatballTurbo wrote: > > > In article >, > > says... > >> On Tue, 8 Jun 2004 12:07:41 +0100, MeatballTurbo > >> > wrote: > >> > >> >In article >, > >> says... > >> >> On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 09:33:46 +0200, Gordon > >> >> > wrote: > >> >> > >> >> >Correct: it turns, but no indication of spark at all. > >> >> > > >> >> >The frustating part is that it seems to run flawless at some point > >> >> >but then the next morning..... > >> >> > > >> >> > >> >> Definitely check that the coil is being energised. ours used to do > >> >> something simlar. You;d be driving along, and it would just die. You > >> >> could re-start it immediately, but you had no idea how long it would > >> >> be...... > >> >> > >> >> > >> >Does this sound like a grounding issue? > >> > > >> >I thought that when I first read it, but not been mentioned yet. > >> > >> Could be I guess. Ground strap to the engine may well have that kind > >> of effect. > >> > >> > > I know I don't yet own an Alfa, and that while never as bad as portrayed > > Alfa electricals are stuff of legend, but I've only ever owned older > > cars, and I'm amazed at how some of them have kept running with the main > > ground strap from the engine to the chassis being about 3 strands of > > left of the original inch wide strap. > > They only carry large current when actually cranking though, don't they? Yep, normally, but it only takes a bit of engine rocking when cranking to seperate the ground, and some cars have multiple one on the engine and another on the transmission (especially if the starter motor is in the trans (Skoda estelle transaxle had the engine on one side of the trans, and the starter on the other you could just about change it from inside the car through the slave cylinder/gearbox fluid topup port in the floor ebhind the back seat). > > And the Saab has it's own problems with heat from the turbo reducing > > wiring insulation close by to the consistency of candle wax after 20 > > years of being slowly grilled everyday. > > heh. Quite fancy one of them one day Oh they really are fun, and I know a couple of guys who have the road legal and running 300+bhp through gearboxes that have trouble with much more than 200 when the engines produce 185 tops standard. They each go through about 3 boxes a year. Couple of swedish and american guys have close to 400, but they use ericsonn 4 speed dog boxes for racing (drag or classic rallycross) which cost about £1500 a pop+ about £2-400 labour depending where you go, are stronger, not so great on the road and can still break if you aren't careful. But, push them hard and you can be down to low 20's MPG. Had a week off, and never left town, and not even driving hard I managed 24MPG. Did a 190mile return journey, Motorway not dropping below 80 for more than 5 minutes, averaging 80-90 with quick bursts over the tonne on the M62 over the pennines at 7.30AM on a Sunday, fantastic real "Vanishing Point" stuff with the mist just starting to clear on the hills arround the motorway, and as you are climbing the engine is just loaded enough for the turbo to be spooling constantly and whistling up not fully boosting, but just enough to sound nice, and pass smaller cars, and some big german ones as the thinner atmosphere slows them down and got 32- 33MPG. On my usual 180-190 weekly commute returns between 29-30 depending on the traffic mixed A road and Motorway much slower than my nice Sunday run. -- Carl Robson (The poster formerly known as Skodapilot) http://www.bouncing-czechs.com |
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#12
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On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:43:51 GMT, Catman >,
wrote: >> And the Saab has it's own problems with heat from the turbo reducing >> wiring insulation close by to the consistency of candle wax after 20 >> years of being slowly grilled everyday. > >heh. Quite fancy one of them one day Sounds as much fun as deep fried Bounty Bars :-) Pete -- > 156 2.0 TS (2001) - Proteo Rosso (his) 147 2.0 TS (2002) - Gem Green (her's) |
#13
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Pete wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:43:51 GMT, Catman > >, wrote: > >>> And the Saab has it's own problems with heat from the turbo reducing >>> wiring insulation close by to the consistency of candle wax after 20 >>> years of being slowly grilled everyday. >> >>heh. Quite fancy one of them one day > > Sounds as much fun as deep fried Bounty Bars :-) > Yummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm /HHGTTG -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk |
#14
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In article >, iowna156
@alfa.com spouted forth into alt.autos.alfa-romeo... > On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:43:51 GMT, Catman >, > wrote: > > >> And the Saab has it's own problems with heat from the turbo reducing > >> wiring insulation close by to the consistency of candle wax after 20 > >> years of being slowly grilled everyday. > > > >heh. Quite fancy one of them one day > > Sounds as much fun as deep fried Bounty Bars :-) Oh the slowly grilled wiring is a minor prolem, and has taken 20 years to surface. the biggest worry is that if you start to lose turbo boost, is pis probably vacuum hose related, and there is abour 4 miles of vac hose in three different sizes under the bonnet, plus more under the dash. Under the bonnet it detects boost levels, controls fuel pressure, feeds the brake servo, and operates the cruise control. It also connects to an accumulator that feeds under the dash. Under the dash there is a load more hoses that connect to the overboost regulator/fuel cut, and the APC boost boost detector (the APC is an electrical boost control that can be tweaked somewhat and reads boost and also detects knock), plus the Turbo boost guage, and the heater controls whose servos are vacuum operated) and the controls for the cruise control. And if anyone of those hoses develops a leak, you lose boost, the old black rubber ones would go brittle age and contamination, and sometimes a leak would develop that closed when warm. I've gotten most of them fixed now, but the cruise doesn't work, but it appears to be electrical rather than VAC related, so I may need to locate a new indicator/cruise stalk to try that. -- Carl Robson (The poster formerly known as Skodapilot) http://www.bouncing-czechs.com |
#15
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Pete wrote:
> On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 16:43:51 GMT, Catman > >, wrote: > >>> And the Saab has it's own problems with heat from the turbo reducing >>> wiring insulation close by to the consistency of candle wax after 20 >>> years of being slowly grilled everyday. >> >>heh. Quite fancy one of them one day > > Sounds as much fun as deep fried Bounty Bars :-) > Hmmmmm, nutttyyyy -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk |
#16
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Nope
Apparently I left the car standing for too long this weekend and her will to live seems to have completely vanished since. I'm not even sure now it *is* an ignition problem and wonder if she's in need for another heart transplant. However.... Ground strap seems okay (don't I also need that to run the solenoid?) Steady voltage running to the coil. When I lay one of the sparks on top of the engine I actually see it sparking. Now my vision is somewhat blocked 'cause I'm looking through the vent holes, but somehow the sparks seem erratic and I think they are supposed to be blue-ish, not yellow. Still, shouldn't that give me at least an occasional crank instead of the silent treatment I'm receiving now??? Gordon On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 06:32:40 GMT, Catman > wrote: >On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:00:41 +0200, Gordon > wrote: > >>Well, that's not quite it. Once it runs, it runs. It doesn't die while >>driving. > >I suspect that might be a fluke. > >>I'll check both your suggestion and the one made by >>MeatballTurbo though. > >Aye. Check the grounding strap, and the battery ground as well come >to that >>Thanks... > >Hope you sort it Gordon Giulietta 1.8 '82 GT Junior 2.0 '75 GT Junior 2.0 '74 (project) |
#17
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Gordon wrote:
> Nope > > Apparently I left the car standing for too long this weekend and her > will to live seems to have completely vanished since. I'm not even > sure now it *is* an ignition problem and wonder if she's in need for > another heart transplant. However.... Why do you think that? > Ground strap seems okay (don't I also need that to run the solenoid?) Not necessarily > Steady voltage running to the coil. OK > When I lay one of the sparks on top of the engine I actually see it > sparking. Now my vision is somewhat blocked 'cause I'm looking through > the vent holes, Vent holes of what? > but somehow the sparks seem erratic and I think they > are supposed to be blue-ish, not yellow. Still, shouldn't that give me > at least an occasional crank instead of the silent treatment I'm > receiving now??? Possibly. Perhaps we should go back to basics: Fuel, spark compression: I suggest that you check that fuel is getting to the cylinders Then get some 'proper' spark testers (I like the ones that sit on top of the plugs and light up when you get a spark) If those two tests reveal nothing, then over to the pros to get the spark timing checked (which suddenly makes me think: is your distributor loose?) unless you have a timing strobe, and then check that you have compression. TBH I think the compression is unlikely to be the culprit. C > Gordon > > > On Wed, 09 Jun 2004 06:32:40 GMT, Catman > > wrote: > >>On Tue, 08 Jun 2004 14:00:41 +0200, Gordon > wrote: >> >>>Well, that's not quite it. Once it runs, it runs. It doesn't die while >>>driving. >> >>I suspect that might be a fluke. >> >>>I'll check both your suggestion and the one made by >>>MeatballTurbo though. >> >>Aye. Check the grounding strap, and the battery ground as well come >>to that >>>Thanks... >> >>Hope you sort it > > Gordon > > Giulietta 1.8 '82 > GT Junior 2.0 '75 > GT Junior 2.0 '74 (project) -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk |
#18
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On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 10:30:58 GMT, Catman
> wrote: >Gordon wrote: > >> Nope >> >> Apparently I left the car standing for too long this weekend and her >> will to live seems to have completely vanished since. I'm not even >> sure now it *is* an ignition problem and wonder if she's in need for >> another heart transplant. However.... > >Why do you think that? The engine's got about 300kkm on it and really didn't run that smooth to start with. >> Ground strap seems okay (don't I also need that to run the solenoid?) > >Not necessarily > >> Steady voltage running to the coil. > >OK > >> When I lay one of the sparks on top of the engine I actually see it >> sparking. Now my vision is somewhat blocked 'cause I'm looking through >> the vent holes, > >Vent holes of what? The big black ones on top of the enginebay cover >> but somehow the sparks seem erratic and I think they >> are supposed to be blue-ish, not yellow. Still, shouldn't that give me >> at least an occasional crank instead of the silent treatment I'm >> receiving now??? > >Possibly. Perhaps we should go back to basics: > >Fuel, spark compression: > >I suggest that you check that fuel is getting to the cylinders >Then get some 'proper' spark testers (I like the ones that sit on top of >the plugs and light up when you get a spark) >If those two tests reveal nothing, then over to the pros to get the spark >timing checked (which suddenly makes me think: is your distributor loose?) >unless you have a timing strobe, and then check that you have compression. >TBH I think the compression is unlikely to be the culprit. Distributor is fully tight and besides that wouldn't comply with the fact that once it runs I can keep it running and even restart it after breaks up to several hours. Using the finger method I defenitly feel compression (had to check it because after switching distributor I suddenly felt that I might have put it back in reversed). Seems that the number four carburettor isn't behaving well either since the flowchannel is getting wet. At least proof there's fuel reaching the engine. She has to meet the mechanic next week anyway for her anual APK/MOT/VAT. Guess I'll have to tow her to meet that appointment. Shame Thanks for thinking... Gordon Giulietta 1.8 '82 GT Junior 2.0 '75 GT Junior 2.0 '74 (project) |
#19
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Gordon wrote:
> On Thu, 17 Jun 2004 10:30:58 GMT, Catman > > wrote: > >>Gordon wrote: >> >>> Nope >>> >>> Apparently I left the car standing for too long this weekend and her >>> will to live seems to have completely vanished since. I'm not even >>> sure now it *is* an ignition problem and wonder if she's in need for >>> another heart transplant. However.... >> >>Why do you think that? > > The engine's got about 300kkm on it and really didn't run that smooth > to start with. Hmm, might be getting on a bit. Mine was fine up to 220kkm+ And I mean *fine*. Was well cared for though >>> Ground strap seems okay (don't I also need that to run the solenoid?) >> >>Not necessarily >> >>> Steady voltage running to the coil. >> >>OK >> >>> When I lay one of the sparks on top of the engine I actually see it >>> sparking. Now my vision is somewhat blocked 'cause I'm looking through >>> the vent holes, >> >>Vent holes of what? > > The big black ones on top of the enginebay cover Ah. >>> but somehow the sparks seem erratic and I think they >>> are supposed to be blue-ish, not yellow. Still, shouldn't that give me >>> at least an occasional crank instead of the silent treatment I'm >>> receiving now??? >> >>Possibly. Perhaps we should go back to basics: >> >>Fuel, spark compression: >> >>I suggest that you check that fuel is getting to the cylinders >>Then get some 'proper' spark testers (I like the ones that sit on top of >>the plugs and light up when you get a spark) >>If those two tests reveal nothing, then over to the pros to get the spark >>timing checked (which suddenly makes me think: is your distributor loose?) >>unless you have a timing strobe, and then check that you have compression. >>TBH I think the compression is unlikely to be the culprit. > > Distributor is fully tight and besides that wouldn't comply with the > fact that once it runs I can keep it running and even restart it after > breaks up to several hours. Well, it *might*, but unlikely with that in mind. >Using the finger method I defenitly feel > compression (had to check it because after switching distributor I > suddenly felt that I might have put it back in reversed). Seems that > the number four carburettor isn't behaving well either since the > flowchannel is getting wet. At least proof there's fuel reaching the > engine. But too much, or maybe just cos it's not burning. I nearly always had some fuel in the inlets. > She has to meet the mechanic next week anyway for her anual > APK/MOT/VAT. Guess I'll have to tow her to meet that appointment. > Shame Never good for the soul. > Thanks for thinking... Just irritating that we can't figure it out -- Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3 Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply) Alfa 116 Giulietta 3.0l (Really) Sprint 1.7 Triumph Speed Triple: Black with extra black bits www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk |
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