Morat wrote:

Holy crap - no wonder you've been quiet!
Really glad you got sorted out. I felt rubbish leaving you hanging but my pink ticket had expired :(
And you didn't really want me watching and making dumb comments until 4am did you?

Thanks for showing me how to fit and adjust a P38 sunroof and thanks for fettling the Duchess. She's been sleeping soundly ever since :) Great result.

I think the heat took quite a bit out of people this year. I've still got a sore neck from being out in the sun trimming round headlinings and I never usually burn in the UK - even when I venture south! Anyway, that San Miguel in the pub afterwards was freezing and bloody marvellous - and I don't normally drink lager.

Cheers all!

Yeah, I got the MOT done, and then had to go and catch up with my parents yesterday afternoon/evening as they were off today again to go visit some other rellies... Today, I've just been tinkering with the Nav system - finally got it to install nav program and maps properly (so now it's not just an expensive radio!) and tried to catch up on a bit of sleep..

Still got to get the vacuum/lint roller on the headlining material to clean the shite off it, and hopefully if it doesn't rain tomorrow, get my sunroof shade done.

You're more than welcome for helping you out with the Duchess - glad you got a few bits sorted and thanks for the help on the headlinings! I know what you mean about the heat - whilst it was nice, a bit more cloud cover wouldn't have gone amiss! I understand that people have the journey back to do on the Sunday - and you'd come a pretty bloody long way! If we do it again, then I wonder if it's worth trying to arrange it for a long weekend, so even though it would be 2 nights down in 'sunny' Swindon, you could have a few more San Miguels, and it wouldn't be such a long drive for only really a day's worth of workshop time once you take out getting there on Saturday morning and having to head off on Sunday arvo...

I would have come for a drink, but by the time I'd done a whip round/tidy up of old headlining material into bin bags, etc, locked up the workshop, and then realised I still had all the door/tailgate seals to re-affix, and some wiring to poke up so it wasn't in the way so I could then drive it back home - and the drive home of course, i was knackered, and ready for bed!

If anyone wants to email me through a pic of their nice new headlining, then feel free to do so - I'm going to drop Martrim a message a bit later this week to say thanks again for doing a group discount, and also to show them some of the results...

Marty

Steering wheel - it should be centered (flat) when the steering box is centered (the marker between the indicator bumps on the steering box). your front wheels should then have the tracking set with (from memory as to what Smiler told me) 5-15 minutes of toe-out. (0.6-1.8mm).

Once that is set and the steering box is known to be aligned with the steering wheel, you can then adjust the drag link from the box to the LH hub to make sure the steering box is centralised with the (now aligned) front wheels.

If the steering box isn't centered when the wheels are aligned, then you'll probably end up with it constantly drifitng, or having to apply more than normal steering correction when driving.

You shouldn't just take the steering wheel off and re-align it to center, as it a)won't have had any effect on the alignment, and b) can damage the rotary coupler, as that then won't be centered when the steering wheel is. RAVE specifies that the steering wheel can only be adjusted 1-2 splines MAX - if it's further out than that to the center of steering box etc, then you need to undo the lower steering rod and align THAT to the steering box by centering the steering box, and steering wheel and reconnecting it.

Well, I think we lucked out on the weather again - it's been horrible here today - but at least I haven't had a lot to do outside! though I still have to take the sunroof shade out and recover that..

Thanks to Miles for not only cooking food for us, but also supplying most of it! I hope the Duchess is sleeping soundly at night now (and letting you sleep soundly too!)

Also thanks to Smiler for looking at my tracking and getting that sorted out... I needed to tweak the steering box - wheel bar a bit to re-centre the steering wheel, as when I actually got to take it for a proper spin, it was a bit out again - but managed to get that done before the MOT... at least knowing the steering box - wheel is centered, I was able to do that bit by eye. You managed to do the hard bit, getting the toe all sorted with the tracking bars which is the bit I was only able to guess when I replaced the bar a year or two ago. Sorry it was such a pain to do!

My biggest thanks though have to go to Sloth... You're a true gentleman, mate, and total nutcase... After everyone else had buggered off to peace and normality at home, he stayed back (even after his fun and games with EAS) to give me a hand to re-fit my head lining card that we had covered that morning, and then stupidly to give me a hand to swap my ABS modulator, which I had been planning to do the year before, though had since pulled apart, cleaned, and assembled with new O-rings... and ideally wanted to get done before the MOT on Monday morning, so it was checked off my list and hopefully have decent braking for good.

That task started off well, after a bit of deliberating as to the best way to get the bloody thing out, around the coolant tank, myraid of brake pipes, and all the LPG cabling that runs past the modulator block.

We were doing pretty well until we got to the brake bleeding part - which although it went pretty smoothly just took ages, since the whole modulator was previously empty or fluid and full of air! we got it all done by midnight and took it out for a test drive to see how it felt... got out on the road and 'BEEP BEEP BEEP..... ABS FAULT... TRACTION FAILURE' Shit

Nanocom reported no connection on the RHF inlet solenoid - which was very quickly followed by the air turning blue on my part, and the dread of having to pull the whole modulator block again and swap it back, because the one I'd spent so much time reconditioning was obviously faulty....

A multimeter confirmed that there was no connection, on either the inlet or outlet solenoids (according to RAVE pinout) which resulted in another round of cursing. Before deciding to get violent and rip it all apart again I managed to slide my phone down the side of the modulator and get a picture of the electrical connector... to find this:

Which was kind of bittersweet to find... good in the feeling that we hopefully didn't need to pull it all out again as it wasn't likely to be a problem in the block - but bad in the fact that if we didn't drain it, remove it, etc to straighten the pins out of the vehicle, then we were faced with a stupidly tight squeeze to get in and work, and lack of being able to see a bloody thing. And if we snapped a pin, then we would STILL have to take it all back out again.

We decided to do a trip back to my place to grab the USB endoscope camera, and some smaller tools to be able to get in there and hopefully straighten the pins.. Followed by a stop at the 24hr McDonalds on the way back, as we hadn't eaten since Morat's meaty morsels in the afternoon.

Back to the workshop by about 3am, and surgery began. With Sloth draped across the top of the engine to hold the camera and tools, and me cursing at being scratched by what seemed like everything down the side of the engine, trying to get a hand in there we started, and luckily managed to get both pins straightened out somewhat... after gingerly connecting the plug part way to see if it would go on without bending the pins again, removing it and checking everything with the camera, we figured it was all good, so fitted the connector for good, crossed our fingers and turned the key to see if the fault was gone... other than the standard beeps, and messages the dash was clear, and Nanocom reported all the faults clear, and all the solenoids as working... Hooray!

A quick whip around to pack up all the tools, some of the rubbish etc, we were gone...

My view as I was leaving...

I got back about 4:30am, went straight to bed and was then up at 9am to empty all the crap out of the RR and take it for the MOT...
Luckily, it passed with flying colours... 1 advisory for O/S/R hub seal leaking a bit... which I will get under an check - but we also swapped the tyres whilst they were off and we were bleeding the brakes, and the RHF (which went to RHR) had a bit of a brake fluid mark down it - which looks very similar to an oil stain on the tyre from the hub seal... so whilst I'll investigate, I wonder if that's what they've seen and figured it was the hub seal and not some residual fluid from where we had drips whilst removing the old modulator. Even if it is a hub seal, the rears are easy to change.

So again, thanks to all who came along - and an extra, massive thanks to Sloth for staying behind and helping me out - I literally couldn't have done it without you, and you kept me sane when i was about ready to throw things!! I owe you 2 now... one for this, and one for the all nighter on the engine swap!

The good news.... the brakes feel amazing.. .I just hope they stay like that, and not lose their feel like they used to with the old modulator - because if they do the same, then I'm back at square one!

Marty

I can't comment on the Mercedes system, as maybe it does use actual CANBUS and does its error reporting differently.

But on the P38 the MOSFETS in the BECM have a 'status ' pin which will change state in various error conditions.

The under current warning on them is what triggers the P38 to think the lamp is blown. The smaller rated MOSFET will trigger the warning up to around 150-200mA, whereas the big ones, for the headlights, indicators, break lights, fog lights (front and rear) etc reckon in the datasheet they need at least 800-900mA of draw before it won't detect an error.

I seem to recall trying it on a rear one answer needing just over 1A before I could get it to turn off.

Makes no difference to me now... I've disabled the warnings on all but the headlights and front fogs at the moment as they're all still halogen incandescent lamps until I find suitable LED replacements and a place to set them up properly!!

They should be OK, yes.

The lower wattage lamp circuits (reverse, tail lights, sidelights) need about 1.8W at 12V for them to not log an error.

Yes - it's all related.

55w (std H4 halogen) at 12V is just over 4.5A

I think the BECM needs more than about 1A draw on the output for it to not think the lamp is blown - so anything more than about 12W (12v x 1A) should be fine.

If you work it out at 14v - which is charging voltage with engine running, then 55w/14V = 3.92A
Minimum would need to be about 14W.

Either way, it's not a problem with modern LED headlamp units, as they are all superbright or COB led chips, which draw a decent amount of power. I don't think I've even seen an H4 LED unit as low as 12/14w, so pretty much all of them should be able to run without triggering a warning.

Most of the LED headlamp kits don't need a load resistor - the LED chips are more powerful then standard single LED's so they draw a lot more current, and thus don't trip the headlamp warnings.

But the cheap LED kits are shite for beam pattern and cutoff. I've tried one and I couldn't get it anywhere near close enough to not be dazzling to other drivers.
the second set I bought from China direct are a lot better and might even be OK to use with the correct setting up, but out of the box as a 'plug and play' drop in replacement they were also still too dazzling to other drivers

At rest, before starting up, the fluid level will be higher than 'Max'

The fluid level should be read with the ignition on, and after the ABS pump has stopped running and charged the system. Once pump stopped, the fluid level should be sitting at 'Max'

Again, I use a syringe to suck out any excess if I'm swapping brake pads - and then just top up again once finished, pressed the pedal a few times and let the pump stop.

The early version receivers, are notorious for waking up the BECM for pretty much anything. The second version is better with it's filtering, but still not great in today's society where so much is wireless.

Definitely the best (and most expensive) fix is the 3rd gen receiver, which as far as I can tell filters out JUST the P38 remote transmissions to send to the BECM to wake it up.

It's not a nightmare to do - easy enough to get the headlining card in and out...

The biggest 'problem' if you like is getting the fabric stretched just right and stuck down so that it doesn't bubble or crease.
Other than that... a piece of piss

Sorry - busy pulling my hair out trying to sort out an ABS issue for someone, who keeps getting faults coming up...

Had fault on his original ECU, bought second hand spare - fine for 6 months, and then same fault... bought repaired one off me - fixes that fault, but then has a different fault staying logged (for him on non-LR diagnostics) so came back, and I've swapped it for another of my repaired ones... seemed ok - and got a call as he was on the way home saying it's now throwing faults...

Said I'd repair his original he gave back on core charge, and there's no problem with it...

My '00 vogue restoration one has clips in it for the dog guard. In fact the headlining card that came out of it has the cutouts in it for the mounts... So if you talk nicely to me, I might let you have them ;) since it makes no odds to me if I end up selling the '00 with them or not.

Latch - I'm 95% certain I know what the problem is, as I fixed one that was doing the same the other day. It's obviously caused by having to put a new set of holes in the casing for the new microswitches, and over time they must elongate a bit with the force of the lever on them. I'll whip the latch out, and a couple of extra bits of threaded rod will have it fixed in no time.

I'm still compiling my list of things to bring, but I am aiming to be up there about 09:30, to start moving the other one outside, and things like that.

Marty

That is tidy!

There's also one on one of the FB groups, which is down Devon/Dorset way from memory - it was £1K but seen he's dropped it to £800...

It was running rough - had a few things replaced on it I think - again on LPG... my guess was that either it needed a pair of lambda sensors, TPS and cleaning of the IACV - along with a reset of the fuel trims and a recalibration of the LPG system...

Again, would be an easy one for someone with a Nanocom and a spare weekend... the rest of the vehicle looked straight and pretty clean. I'd have been interested myself if I didn't have the workshop full with the other 2!!

It's entirely possible that the early ones didn't have an immobiliser strategy in the engine ECU - I wouldn't be surprised if a 1994 is like that to be honest.

Yes, check microswitches with Nanocom - and read VIN in the BECM, and see if it matches what's on the plate in the windscreen

I'd also see what version RF receiver it's fitted with - see if it's ever been upgraded from the crappy MK1 version to at least the second generation one - will give a bit better filtering of signals, which might help in future scenarios...

Let us know what you find!

Yes, I'll be there obviously... will bring some bits to add to the BBQ

Been up to the workshop today and my dad's given me a hand to remove the other 2 headlining cards, so they are stacked up and ready to be stripped of the old fabric and cleaned up.

Box of adhesive and big roll of fabric is up there and ready to go. I don't have a wire brush for cleaning the foam off, but if someone has one, we can get started on that. Will try and remember to bring the old vacuum cleaner aswell.

Morat, I think know I know what the issue is with the latch - is it saying the door is open when it's not? Can't quite remember... but if that's it, then I can fix that in about 20mins.. it will be down to the the mounting holes drilled for the new switches. I'll whip it out and put an extra pin in, as that will stop and flex in the mounting for the new switches.

I've put a repaired switchpack and LHF moulded connector door latch up at the workshop for OB and smiler if he wants the latch..

Water pump... shouldn't be that... if it is, I'll be pissed off as it was a brand new Quinton Hazel one on the new engine back in January - it's only done 3500 miles....

It's more likely to be a leak down the shaft of a bolt on where it bolts into the front cover - I've fixed so many little leaks. Whilst getting the full stainless steel bolt kit for the engine was great, and cheaper than buying all the bolts individually for various things - the spring washers in the kit are utter shite (the place I bought them from have supposedly been selling bolt sets for ages, so I figured would be reputable...

Half the spring washers have just crushed and squashed out on tightening (even before getting to torque value) so I've replaced a bunch of them with just a second flat washer and seems to have fixed a lot of the issues... one of the long bolts of the front cover was weeping before, so removed it, RTV on the thread and ditch the spring washer, and it's been fine. My guess is that the other one, which isn't as easy to get to is now leaking - just need to take the belt, tensioner etc off to be able to get in there and take a proper look...

Swittchpack - yes have a few sunroof versions left - so can put one in for you. Usually £50 on the website, but as I said - 10% off any parts like that for summer camp - so will be £45...

Arrival time on Saturday... not got that far yet - probably between 0900/0930 - so I can open up and move the other RR out of the workshop bay, and do a bit of a tidy up.

If I'm there before other people, then doesn't bother me, as I'll just start stripping the trim out of my one to get the headlining card out!

I have a box of various sized HNBR rings, which I'll put in aswell, fingers crossed there's enough sizes in the to cover it all.

If I'm missing one them I'll order it over the weekend.. it's not crucial, bit something else I'd like off the list..

Oh, and also have a coolant leak (sodding again) to look at on the front of the engine somewhere..

The HEVAC is a right PITA - but once the fault is pinpointed, then it's fairly easy to rectify. My guess will be something like blend motors (probably one, but it's worth trying to get spending approval to do all 3 and not then have a second one fail a couple of months down the line!)

Tracking - yes please... I've got MOT booked for Monday morning - so my aim over the weekend will be to sort the tracking, do the headlining and get the modulator replaced, and bled through with new dot4.

I might bung my new AC condenser and dryer in the boot too and if there's time, look at that - as I'll then be able to get the AC gassed and hopefully cold for longer than a couple of weeks.. I know my front bumper will come off OK...

I'll have a look on the shelf and see if there's an early LHF door latch if you are wanting one... I can fit it whilst we are there...

If I don't have one, then I can always work on one an get it to you at some point..

I agree, the list doesn't look that bad - can probably get through a fair amount of it!

On some of them to get the side trims out, it's necessary to remove the switchpack and gearshift surround so you can then get under the inside of the side trim to get it clear to be able to do the lift/twist maneuver to get the whole panel out.

Again on later ones with the leather side of the centre console (I'm guessing plod didn't have that either!) if you don't do that then it scuffs/scrapes up the leather down by the base of the switchpack