Well he's now sat on my drive.
He doesn't overheat in terrible traffic (as I just discovered trying to drive him home in the bloody rush hour!). He does have a weird noise I think from the gearbox every now and then, like a low vibration, but it goes as soon as you move. Assume its the gearbox, but it could equally be from the compressor being noisy - I couldn't get out and check!
He drove 'OK' but not a patch on how Michael normally drives. Gears were not as responsive, and hung in low gear a bit long, however he hasn't been driven for almost a year so I am not surprised he's a bit ropey. But all in all I don't think it was a bad 500 quid spent. Everything seemed to work - Oh apart from the front wipers! Lucky it stopped raining and snowing!
I am hoping to have tomorrow off work so I can have a good look over him and decide what to do. The wheels are LOVELY though - even my Mum came out and said 'They'll look nice on ours'. LOL
I have had very reliable service from my ancient Zavoli GE system on Michael. Apart from needing filters and an age related leak sorted it's been pretty good..... as there are newer versions I am sure they would be as good.
Well, I'm going to collect him this afternoon if all goes well (i.e. he starts, drives, and gets to my home!).... will update when he's on my drive and I can make a proper assessment of what to do.
Update - didn't get to pick him up till Monday.
If you use google photos to store your images you can get the 'share' link for a pic and pop it in this website ( Generate embed code for any picture on Google Photos ) and it gives you a link that works in forums.
Gilbertd wrote:
It actually sounds a bit too good to break to me. But, it certainly sounds like the engine would be good enough.
It's a bit sad to do, but I think it will help fix quite a few bits on mine - blend motors, suspension pump, cruise etc, and of course the 4.6 lump!
OK got the low down on the water system repairs. It was done because the owner had to top up the expansion tank by a few cm each week (mine did this due to leaky core plugs and a buggered expansion cap). The garage took it (as he had a bad leg at the time and was off work) changed all the bits, then drove it all back to him valeted and a manual in the nice green folder in the glove box (which he didn't notice till a few months later apparently) as they noticed he didn't have one! He then drove it fine until the MOT ran out, he got busy with work, and it ended sat there until his wife started moaning at him..... I met her too... as she wants her car on the drive, and doesn't like driving big cars.
Everything seems genuine and there is a stack of history with it as well.
Clive603 wrote:
No 2 on running the M reg one if its basically acceptable and sorting Micheal properly. Taken 40 odd years for the penny to drop but now firmly convinced that do it properly, do it once is always the cheap way overall. And my short cuts (bodges) were generally considered three classes above most folks.
Last time I had owt to do with that sort of swop the new second hand motor decided to get iffy about 2 months down the road and mate in question had to find yet another engine. OK only an Escort van so changing the engine was just a matter of unbolting, balancing on a trolley jack to slide it out then passing a doubled rope underneath and hopping up onto the wings to lift it out between us. Ended up re-building engine no 3 to ensure GF and her two Newfoundlands were happy. Time and cost spent faffing about with a car to car swop and shifting the carcass would more than have covered a refresh level rebuild anyway.
Clive
If I had the space I'd definitely go this way - but got nowhere to 'store' a second Rangie.
Orangebean wrote:
Assuming you're paying next to nothing for it (you didn't mention how much!) then it sounds like a plan. Before you start to strip anything, plug a Nano in and test the cr@p out of all of the cars systems (latches, switchpanels, MAF and engine ancilliaries, EAS stuff- anything that won't take up much storage space) and strip all the good bits off.
Sell the BECM, ECU lockset and fob, sell the wheels and tyres, chuck your old engine in the back and get it weighted in for scrap. Something round £175 at the moment. Minimum hassle and you should break even or even make a few bob.
Unless you're a patient chappie, don't bother advertising that you're breaking it in the hope of getting a few more quid selling bits off it. You'll spend the next few weeks stripping off scrivets and wheel nuts and running to the post office for little real return.
Good weather this time of year to be doing it!!
It's £500 - so pretty cheap for a good engine and a tonne of spares - plus it's local which most aren't.
Martyuk wrote:
If this other one is as good as you say it is, why not buy it, run it for winter, so you can then investigate the other one properly?
You might find the tick is just something like a rocker, lifter etc..
You then fix your first one, and sell the other (good) one on ? Or maybe tart it up a bit and then sell it for a bit of a profit as a running vehicle, rather than spares/repair, which i gather it's listed as at the moment if the owner didnt think it ran...
It's a little bit ropey - Body-wise the rear top tailgate paint is going, drivers side 'side-step' is gone and passenger one is shot etc I mean it's not terrible, and washed will probably look pretty decent. It will probably pass an MOT as it's done zero miles since the last one, but most importantly it's running on petrol, so I am not sure I can actually afford to run it! Plus I will only just have enough space for both on the drive, so don;t want both sat around for long.
Hi All,
Well I still can't work out the issue with MIchael's clacky engine (when warm) and looking at replacement second hand lumps they are going for £600 (ish) upwards.
Anyway a M Reg 4.6 HSE with 150K on the clock and no MOT has come up very close to me. It hadn't started for a few months and the seller said he didn't think it would start, but I decided to go and have a look anyway. I got there and he said he'd try to start it using his van if I wanted to help... we hooked it up on jump leads, let it charge for a few minutes, turned the key and ..... he fired up! I have to say not much crap came out of the exhaust for a car that's sat for months, and the engine was very quiet for a V8. I also was shown about £700 worth of work that was done earlier in the year - new rad, water pump and heater matrix, along with a few other bits. After 20 minutes of running there was no overheating, no funny noises, and when we switched it off and tried to start it again it worked - so the alternator is obviously OK too.
The body work is a different shade of blue so no panels are good for me, although there are good panels in 965 colour code. It has Stormer alloys, which I am not sure I want yet, so I am pretty sure I can recoup my money OK.
So I am thinking of taking some holiday days, whipping the engine out of Michael (which is annoying as I did the mini refurb on it!), keeping the LPG system intact but out of the way. Then getting the engine out of the new Rangie, do the mini refurb - core plugs, seals etc - and chucking it in Michael, then popping the LPG system on it eh voila!
What does everyone think? I am sure I'll have lots of spares for mine, as well as bit's to sell to recoup some costs... so as long as it's a good engine (which it certainly sounds like) then I am getting my Rangie back for winter! Then he needs an MOT which he passed with no advisories last time.
Seems a pity to essentially scrap the new one, as it's not bad at all, but needs must!
Agree about the vents - seem pointless - but the lights don't look out of place for a change. Not that I'm planning on doing this I hasten to add!
Saw this 'conversion' that I actually quite like for a change (on the bay of E):
Gilbertd wrote:
Any idea who did the original install? Usually the only time anyone says they don't like LPG is when the system doesn't work properly so they assume all LPG converted cars don't run right. I've had people comment about mine and ask how I put up with all the hassle and they don't believe me when I tell them it never gives any hassle, runs just as well, if not better, on gas than petrol and costs me less to run than a diesel. No brainer in my opinion and if it were my car I'd tell Guy Salmon where to stuff it (not that I'd be seen dead taking a car to a main dealers anyway).
Absoluetly agree! When Michael is actually working (as he isn't at present!) he runs FAR better on LPG than on acual petrol. There's no discernible loss of power and the oil stays lovely and clean between changes. Plus that's with an ANCIENT Zavoli GE system installed back in 1999 just after he was born!
OK ... I'm back! Been so busy (and had the use of my mates lovely MGZS (which he now says he's giving me in November when he finally moves!) that I havne't had a chance to move on with this.
So yesterday afternoon I went out and started to remove the radiator and bits so I can jack the engine up, remove the engine mounts, and split the engine box so I can see the bellhousing interior. For some reason I can't get the viscous fan off (which way should I be turning it to undo - as I tried both!?), last time my huge adjustable and a mallet got it off! So you can imagine gettin teh rad out was a bit of a pain, but eventually I eased it out. I loosened all the air con and oil cooler rads so they move as far forward as possible.
Also took off the heater pipes, and anything else that stopped the engine moving forward.
Today I'll undo the passenger (RHD) manifold to downpipe, and the drivers manifold to head (as I can't seem to get to the engine mount bolts with the drivers side in place!). Then I'll undo the flex plate to torque converter bolts, and the lower bellousing one apart from one (to stop it flexing and cracking anything), then it's jack the engine up and remove the mounts. Then finally I can lower it down, remove the top bellhousing bolts (and the lower one I left in) and separate things. I REALLY hope I find something otherwise from what I've been reading, it could be a slipped liner or something.
I've also been on the lookout for any local 4.6's going cheap as 'spares or repairs' just in case I need an engine! Wish me luck!
OK - So if i Take the rocker covers off am I just looking for movement of the rods? or other stuff? I woudl have though if anything 'broken' it would be all the time not just when warm?
Just had a thought - If i tried thicker oil and it doesn't clack would that point towards the pump more? I Honestly want to try and do some diagnosis before starting to strip it apart.
Also someone said you can screw a pressur eguage in somewhere to check the oil pressure properly as the light only comes on when it's REALLY low - I can't find anywhere that tells me where to screw something in , plus what guage to use either!
So annoyed with all this as I have him all lovely inside and then immediately he makes terminal sounding noises that he has never made before!
That video isn't mine exactly - I can't record mine now as the oil is drained and the sump is loose LOL - but it was very similar. It quietens when the engine speeds up too as said on my other thread - which made me think maybe the oil pressure rises then?
Hi Guys, This is carrying on form my 'clack' thread - but I think that's got a bit 'what if' so I thougth a specific question deserves a new thread - of not then apologies.
So I have still not separated the gearbox/engine as I've not been that well lately - however I have been Googling like mad! I found a video with EXACTLY the same noise I get when the engine is warm:
So this got me thinking if there were any solutions to do woth the oil rather than a mechanical issue in the bellhousing....
I found this video:
So today as I feel a bit better I raised the old boy up and took the sump off..... but the pickup is rock solid... damn that quick fix idea is gone now!
So a bit more Googling raised this:
The thread suggests it's all down to the oil thinning too much...... a few people put in cooler thermostats and thicker oil... but that got me thinking about the oil pump itself. Bearing in mind he has 170K on the clock almost it must be worn right? I wonder if all the engine work I did stirred up enough much that it caused enough wear in the pump to cause it to not give enough pressure when the oil is hot? I knwo I can hear the noise more on the bellhousing are, but listenign to the videos that seems to be generally the same, maybe it's just acting like a resonator?
I guess I might be barking up the wrong tree but thought I'd throw myself on your collective knowledge and ask first..... it just seems to me to be more 'oil' based that 'cracked flex plate' as it happens as soon as it warms up?
Thanks
OK so finally my usb camera arrived and I had a good look around in the bellhousing (as best I can anyhow). I couldn't see any obvious 'rub' marks etc - and the 'bent back in to shape' CPS seems to be missing all the flywheel teeth - and anyhow it's a different noise to the tapping that occurred when they were touching.
I ran it till it warmed up and the noise started again - as soon as it got hot - before that it really is silent Listened all over the engine with a long screwdriver and the loudest 'feedback' is deifnitely coming from the bellhousing - you can hear the noise through the screwdriver alsewhere on the lower end, but it is noticeably louder there, and quieter the further forward on the engine you go. It's really really odd though. On tickover (that is slightly lumpy) the clack is much worse.... speed it up and it gets better. I am feeling a engine/gearbox separation is the only way to tell now.... losing the will to live!
Is it possible to run the engine when it's not connected to the torque converter? I am thinking that would tell me once and for all if the noise is the gearbox end or engine?
If it does turn out to be in the bellhousing then there really isn't much in there to cause a clack right? Flywheel to starter touching (pretty sure I didn;t see any wear with my little camera so unlikely), CPS to teeth (but I am pretty sure that is sorted and a differemt noise), Flex plate (the suspect but then how does it 'clack' on anything? Plus it gets no worse or better when putting in gear) or I guess a loose bolt that's touching somewhere when hot (but then surely it would get worse when revving?).
I am sorry for all the questions - it's driving me nuts as I keep the old boy on a budget for the sake of my mum (plus I love him to bits), otherwise I'd have something reliable like a Honda!