Race Engine Forum UK

After changing all the sensors (one by one) I couldn't even get the car idling anymore! And as Murphy would have it the last thing I changed was the faulty one. The water, air, pressure, knock sensors, throttle position sensor, idle valve were all ok. The problem was the ECU. That's what you get if your car is assembled with a million parts gathered from all over the world.

Well all in all only one problem emerged today and that is that the fan is spinning the wrong way round which after 20 minutes of working caused the fuse to blow out. As I payed attention I caught the temperature rising and turned off the car before anything went wrong. But as always one is always close to disaster :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aJoRJe_8FMo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fSbDSjNueI

Now the initial brake in is finished. Will check for spark plug discoloration and mixture with colortune next time and if possible also the compression.

So far I have managed to get the car up to working temp, most of the leaks have been sealed, now I just have to fix the ones I have not yet found or new ones I might find tomorrow.

Round of applause due for Samo I believe.

Well done, its sounds very good indeed.

Agreed.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

regards
Tom

Nice* work there Samo!

G









* mild understatement...!

Good evening gents,

thank you for your support! I took a brake from the car today to go rock climbing and enjoy the sun a bit today. But at the end of the day I just had to go into the garage and check out for leaks! You won't belive it but after 24h the floor under the car is completely dry on the gearbox side and I could only find two (literally two) drops on the cambelt side. Will report what I find in the next days and the next time i run the engine. Maybe there is something to this story that paper gaskets need to be baked on... Or the more reasonable explanation that in fact this wasn't a leak but coolant seeping off the engine from when I had 2 huge leaks from the hose and thermostat housing.

Good job Samo.

I found that some of the paper gaskets, specifically the ones between the cam housing and tappets, of my Alfa boxer rebuild seeped a little initially.
After a couple of weeks of driving they are all dry now.

I believe in some cases they do get baked on and seal better after many heat cycles.

Had some work done today. Bad news is that most of the work was disassembling stuff. I got the cam belt cover off to investigate the source of the coolant link. Almost wish the leak was bigger to find it easier as I am not sure where it is originating. But over 4 days the leak produced about 20 drops...

I also managed to get a C clip on the WG actuator rod to secure it.

Installed the fuel filler flap.

Then I tore my lovely alcantara from the roof liner. I will use it to make a cover for the sunroof. This was quite painful to do... but the cuts I made on the sunroof aperture would just look too much of a bodge job...

Destruction will lead to better looking construction in the end. Did you find the source of your leak?

I had a good look today at the garage floor and I couldn't find anything under the cambelt. I only found one drop (yes a single drop) on the other end somewhere close to the gearbox. Not sure what to do. I am thinking of fireing up the car witouth the cambelt cover and leting it idle and warm up to see if that will produce any leaks. I repeat I had a massive leak on the rear even before firing up the car and I think that got all over the place.

Well to get to the important stuff. I received new seats today. I have to admit they were sold to me as NEW seats but I found they have been taken out of a NEW car and they are definitely unused.

Installed the co-driver seat, rear bench and rear door cards already. Photos are really bad. Will make new ones next time the car is out on the sun.

Busy day today. Couldn't find even a single drop of coolant on the floor so decided to fire up the car to see if that will produce any leaks.

Noticed that the first stage of the fan isn't kicking in so immediatly short circuted the termo switch and manually turn on the fan to full blast to prevent any overheating. Better safe than sorry.

When waiting for the car to cool down I managed test fit the front bumper, than the destruction began! Comments with photos.

Uploading photos!

Today I took apart the fan and turned around the magnets so the fan will be turning the right way! The classic trick of changing the + and - doesn't work on two stage fan.

After re assembling the fan I connected it to the loom and used a separate thermostatic switch to test the functionality and now it works OK.

Also traced the lighting of the dials to a loose connection and one blown light bulb. Fixed and reassembled.

Still can't find any leaks. No drops anywhere to be found.

Have noticed when running the car without the belt covers that the crank pully is slightly wobbly. Doesn't seem to be to dramatic but not sure if I should try and investigate further or let it be.

The term Co-drivers seat is quite apt for an integrale.

Did you find the water leak ? Sometimes minute leaks can seal themselfs up after a few miles. It's worth checking the crank pully out Samo, it might have grit under the mounting faces ??

tricky wrote:The term Co-drivers seat is quite apt for an integrale.

Did you find the water leak ? Sometimes minute leaks can seal themselfs up after a few miles. It's worth checking the crank pully out Samo, it might have grit under the mounting faces ??

There are no more leaks to be seen at the moment. Not a single drop in last 7 days!

I will check out the pully. But to be fair most of the pullys are not straight! And after about an hour worth of running there is no damage to be seen on the belts. But I seriously doubt it could be grit under the surfaces. I am quite a psyho regarding cleaning of the engine parts.

Nothing exciting done today...

Some work done over the weekend!

Just a note on the wheel alignment setting. The front and rear wheel center distances are NOT the same! The front wheels are further apart than the rear so this alignment setting gives me toe out on both axes. I will now close them in a bit by eye but the goal is just to be able to do a few km and drive the car to a professional and not lose money on towing the car to the shop.