Single ply means it has a single layer of polyester braiding around the inner core and then a further layer on the outside to protect the braiding. The stuff you have is just a tube with no reinforcing in it so could, in theory, blow up like a balloon if you put enough pressure into it. But, as said, you're never going to achieve that sort of pressure in the cooling system. My local factors used to stock that stuff in 5mm ID which was excellent for replacing the cruise control tubing but they haven't had it in for a while now. I wish I'd bought a few metres of it when they did.
Looks like you are running a touch rich on LPG, mine came out at 0.237% CO last time but in the past I've seen it down in the 0.05% region. CO checks the mixture, the higher the figure the richer it is running but you'd probably find that just changing the air filter would drop it further and get it below 1%. The HC figure is unburnt hydrocarbons in parts per million so shows combustion efficiency. They check both to stop you fiddling the figures. If the CO was high you could reduce it by 25% on a 4 cylinder engine just by pulling one plug lead off but if you did that the HC figure would go through the roof. Mind you, thinking that through, if you disconnected the fuel injector too.......
Not a lot at the back of the engine to leak other than the rear main seal or the sump, although a leak from the front of the engine from the oil pressure switch or pressure relief valve O ring tends to appear at the rear as airflow around the engine blows it to the back. If it isn't marking it's territory, I'd ignore it. Oil leaks have only recently been added to the MoT test so just about every tester is giving advisories on anything that isn't spotless underneath.
That stuff doesn't have the reinforcing so the burst pressure would be much lower than the single ply that we all want or the triple ply that ASH try to palm off as an upgrade but, as Sloth says, is much thicker and less flexible. In saying that, the single ply is rated with a burst pressure way above what you would ever achieve in the cooling system so is overkill really. The best part with the silicone hose is that it never goes hard unlike normal rubber coolant hose, no matter how long it has been there it remains flexible so you can remove it. I've got about 4 feet of the unobtainium single ply hose and will be using a short piece to replace the inlet manifold to throttle body heater on the car that I'm currently bolting back together. The old hose had gone so hard that even with hose clip removed completely it still wouldn't pull off the manifold, so I just chopped it in half.
As an alternative to ASH, there's this place http://www.silex.co.uk/shop/silicone-braided-hose/silicone-braided-hose-70%C2%B0-shore-red-outer/c-24/c-77/p-699, slightly more expensive than ASH but they may actually have it in stock.
If you mean the HC (unburnt hydrocarbons) figure the limit is 1200 but usually it will be down into the low 100's so 200 ppm is pretty good (mine read 241ppm at the last test) but I would expect a recently installed multipoint system like you have to be better than my singlepoint. It is a test of how efficient the combustion is so will be affected by things like worn spark plugs, tired HT leads, etc.
Martyuk wrote:
Nanocom if the vehicle supports it - IE BECM PAM V36 or above - which from memory is mid-97 onwards).
That's what I'd always been told but the Ascot (mid '96) has V32 yet the EKA can still be entered with the Nanocom. Just to be awkward.
Straight bolt on. They are identical except they don't have the spurious metal tag that the P38 ones have that serves no purpose other than get in the way when you try to wiggle it out of the door.
It was more a case of where the screws would end up if they came out that bothered me. They may be small and made of brass but I didn't fancy the idea of them getting sucked into the intake and finding their way into a combustion chamber.
I think the hardest part is getting the screws out that hold the butterfly in place, I've never attempted it myself. Looked at it once and chickened out so decided the play wasn't something I would worry about. The idle control valve will adjust to compensate for any excess air that gets through. I noticed that Rimmers say that the spindle is superseded but they don't say to what and Microcat says that it is also supplied as part of a kit (along with the bushes and seals) but nowhere can I find the part number of the kit.
Original tyres were either Pirelli Scorpion, Michelin or Goodyear. Sizes were 235/70x16 if equipped with 7Jx16 wheels, 255/65x16 if 8Jx16 wheels and 255/55x18 if fitted with 8Jx18 wheels. All were 109 load rating and HR speed rating. The closest you are going to find in appearance to original are going to be Goodyear Wrangler HP All Weather. I had a set on mine up until last year, not bad but not brilliant in the wet, too road tyre for mud and absolutely useless on snow.
There's always a little bit of movement in them but you can get new bushes and seals. Bush part number is ERR1756 (£6.78 each from LRDirect) and the seals are AUD3577 (£3.90 each from Rimmer Bros) but I can't find anyone that stocks both so you are looking at two lots of postage. For parts your best bets are LRDirect, Island 4x4 and Rimmer Bros. Rimmers tend to be slightly more expensive than the others but if you are in a hurry their next day delivery really is next day.
Nice one, it had all the hallmarks of an iffy earth anyway so having a poke around and clean up might be a good idea.
The basic engine was built by V8 Developments but it was then refitted and the intake assembled by the guy that had taken it out. He obviously took it off and just bunged it back on without doing anything with it. If you look very carefully at where the gasket has blown, there's a tiny hole in the casting right where the fire ring would be. I suspect it was a microscopic air bubble in the original casting that wasn't noticed when it was put together. You can see the marks where the head was skimmed, it has spacers under the rocker pedestals to make up for the metal that had been removed from the head face, top hat liners and stud kit.. Gasket had the Elring red lines on it too. So the actual engine is fine, except for the blown gasket, it was the refitting that wasn't done well.
One other thing I found was that Island no longer list the head gasket set with Elring gaskets but LRDirect list an Allmakes head gasket set that doesn't include head gaskets but also list the Elring gaskets on their own. So I ordered the head set and an Elring gasket. It arrived yesterday and LRDirect tell lies, the set does include head gaskets so I've actually got 3, an Elring and two Allmakes (with no markings to show who might have made them).
Received and with the extras you'd put in there, thanks.
Anyway, back to the plot. Got stuck in pulling it apart after I'd spent an evening moving the non standard coil location out of the way, taking off assorted plumbing and wiring for the LPG system so I could finally get to the engine underneath.
The engine itself looked pretty clean on the outside, but taking the plenum chamber off and it started to look a bit strange. The inside had a layer of brown oil emulsion on it
and the intake trumpets looked even worse and appeared to be covered in mud!
Yet once the inlet manifold was off, the inside of the engine was spotless, even the rockers looked like new
But with the head off, the cause of the noise was all too obvious
Having cleaned up the head, it does need a very light skim so will have to wait until my local machine shop is open again on Monday before I can drop it in.
Being a bit curious of the state of the inside of the plenum, I told the owner about it. When he had bought the car he'd spoken to the previous owner who had rebuilt the engine. It had suffered an overheat which had caused a liner to leak so he took it to a mate who took the engine out. That went away to be rebuilt with top hat liners, the Kent cam and Stage 2 heads (allegedly, although they don't look much different to standard to me) and was refitted by the same guy that had taken it out. The lazy sod hadn't even bothered to clean anything before putting it back together so the gloop inside the plenum has been there since before the engine was rebuilt and it as a result of the overheat that caused it to have to be rebuilt in the first place. I reckon I'm going to have to spend more time cleaning than I am putting it back together!
If it is the DSP amp in the process of turning up it's toes, then Marty has produced a drop in replacement that uses 4 door amps from the pre-DSP model. At least that allows you to keep the original head unit so it all looks original.
I'm not fussed about touchscreen either. The works van has a do everything unit in the dash and it seems to do everything but nothing properly and is a nightmare to use. I decided I wasn't going to leave my P38 original, as originally it was supplied with no stereo at all. I've got a Kenwood BT73, DAB, FM, MW, LW, Bluetooth, line in, CD and dual USB. When outside the UK I use a 3G tablet to listen to internet radio through the line in. The satnav is a Garmin stuck on the windscreen. Not only does it work but it's future proof as if technology changes, I can just change it for something else.
Lpgc wrote:
Oil in it is a bit black, would've thought a bloke who had spent so much on custom parts for his car and is also the son of a garage owner would have changed the oil before it got like that.
Nope, that's called maintenance and is a mystery to most of the kids these days. I'm not far from the East of England showground where they hold the Modified Nationals every year. The roads are clogged up with lowered, wide wheeled, custom paintjobbed, drainpipe exhaust equipped cars and a fair number of them clog up the hard shoulders too. Seems kids these days will think nothing of spending a grand on wheels, another grand on a stereo system, a couple of grand on body mods and paintwork but can't stretch to 25 quid for a gallon of fresh oil.
I actually meant which P38 but if it has the DSP, Marty is the only one that may be able to explain what is happening.
You've definitely got something that isn't right. I was only thinking last night, while hustling mine around some pretty narrow lanes with variable road surfaces and camber, how nicely it handles for a 2 and a bit tonne car. Mines done a lot more miles than yours too.
Which car is this on and does it have the DSP amp?
Although it's plastic as long as you don't get carried away and get it too hot, it should be possible to sand it smooth.