Been behaving fine since the crank sensor was fitted
Few jobs now done, incl cambelt kit, water pump, thermostat, aux belt, aux belt wheel, spark plugs, all the filters, new coolant, and fully synth oil. Oh and of course breathers all thoroughly cleaned through.
Nothing to report ref the state of the old cambelt kit. It was very slack on the tensioner side, but the timing was set pretty much correctly. I actually think the belt has been done, because there were the telltale amateur tippex marks on the sprocket
Sadly someone ham fisted has worked on this engine at one point. The hollow union that screws into the plenum (which the servo vacuum hose connects to) was clearly cross threaded. (I noticed this previously) as it goes in at an angle. Having sprayed carb cleaner around it, it's not leaking, so I've left it for now. (I'm worried if I remove it, I won't get it to tighten again).
Additionally someone has had a go at the b@stard bolt for some reason in the past. It was a 10mm hex head as opposed to the normal torx bolt, and the engine lifting eye was missing! It's imperative not to screw the coolant transfer pipe in so far that it's bracket hits the head - it's not meant to go back that far as it will usually put the bracket under too much stress and break it. (They are v brittle). For that reason, we had to implement a
small bodge and use an old cambelt pulley washer, in place of the lifting eye, to act as a suitable spacer.
Lastly, when I removed the bottom bolt from the aux belt tensioner, I noticed it was pretty much only finger tight. When the bolt came out, it had evidence of thread on it, from it's hole. Upon cleaning it up and attempting to tighten it, the bolt would not tighten. Being in the side of the cylinder head it was a small heart in mouth moment - however, I managed to chase the thread through, with a tap, to clean it up, and then use a longer stainless bolt, with some thread lock. This then bit, and torqued up perfectly with no signs of letting go, providing a perfectly safe and lasting solution.
It was one of those annoying things which turned a three hour job into a five hour one
The old coolant pump was one of those thin flange shite ones with lots of play. So I'm pleased this has been binned.
Snags aside, the Elite is now fully serviced and cambelted. I put new wiper blades on there whilst at it. I didn't do the cam cover gaskets, they were bone dry and there is a receipt somewhere for them being done in 2016 I believe.
There was mayo on the oil filler cap, but not in the oil itself - the old gloopy oil, and the fact the breathers were gunky (but not blocked) will account for this. Oil replaced with fully synthetic. Since I've done this, I've noticed a few seconds of lifter noise at startup, but it's no cause for concern as it disappears after literally a couple of seconds, and it also happened once before.
Can now be driven with peace of mind, for the next 40k or 4 years
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Topic: My Unseen eBay Elite (Read 9182 times)