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33256

General Discussion Area / Re: Im looking for a new car.....

« on: 17 January 2008, 16:59:02 »

Hmm. I reckon a late Omega is your best bet (then again, I would, because it's a decision I fairly recently made myself). You could get one of the last tidy ones for well inside that budget, whereas it'll only get you a fairly rough beemer at the top end of the budget. Why pay double what you have to AND suffer the shame of having "that badge" on the bonnet?

Whilst the latest large diesels are much improved, their prices are holding up strongly, those that give decent performance also have a fair thirst, IME, and with the price of diesel being higher in the first place they don't do that much more than to make up the difference IMO.

If it's going to be a small, gutless runabout a diesel is a no-brainer. If it's going to be more of a barge, get a dual fuel.

Kevin

33257

General Discussion Area / Re: Constructive Day

« on: 17 January 2008, 16:18:37 »

IIRC, alternator bearings are available separately if you want to rebuild it. Look in the Maintenance Guides.  

Kevin

33258

General Discussion Area / Re: M_DTM/Jimbob

« on: 17 January 2008, 12:48:49 »

You need to make sure your rear subframe is strong enough, shifting weight like that.

There's a very strong one in my back garden. Free to good home, buyer collects

Originally from a Granada but bound to fit in an Omega.

Kevin

33259

General Discussion Area / Re: Watchdog

« on: 16 January 2008, 22:01:10 »

A lot of drivers in Liverpool carry a brick.........and a bat.......and a gun.......

So, park up, idiot the handbrake with the bat a few times to make sure it's holding, place brick behind wheel and if it still rolls off, shoot the tyres out

Kevin

33260

General Discussion Area / Re: Watchdog

« on: 16 January 2008, 20:44:42 »

Is it due to the ratchet mechanism then?

I thought it was the age old problem of handbrakes operating disk brake calipers. Park up with red hot disk and it loosens as it cools. Then again I doubt Corsas have disks all round :-/.

It's a pretty dodgy ratchet mechanism if that's what's giving way. Surely VX have learnt how to make one that works after all this time?

Kevin

Vx wont admit anything but are going to recall all vectras/signums to fit 'a spring'  

A pair of chocks in the boot, more like.

Kevin

33261

General Discussion Area / Re: Watchdog

« on: 16 January 2008, 20:07:15 »

Is it due to the ratchet mechanism then?

I thought it was the age old problem of handbrakes operating disk brake calipers. Park up with red hot disk and it loosens as it cools. Then again I doubt Corsas have disks all round :-/.

It's a pretty dodgy ratchet mechanism if that's what's giving way. Surely VX have learnt how to make one that works after all this time?

Kevin

33262

General Discussion Area / Re: Camshaft and Crankshaft Sensors

« on: 15 January 2008, 20:04:17 »

The cam sensor on the 4 pot is actualy unusual as it has a sine wave of some few hundred KHz applied to it!

I've noticed this. Is it still a variable reluctance sensor or some other type?

I'm guessing this is done to improve the low frequency reponse of the sensor over one with a "DC" magnet.

Kevin

33263

General Discussion Area / Re: Camshaft and Crankshaft Sensors

« on: 15 January 2008, 16:38:26 »

Therefore, I assume that, when pistons 1 and 4 are at the top, one of them is compressing the fuel air mixture for combustion and one of them is releasing the exaust gasses?

Yes, and to determine which is which, you need to look at the position of the camshaft.

On one cylinder, in this position, both valves will be shut as it prepares to fire. On the other cylinder, the exhaust valve will be closing and the inlet valve will be opening as you're at the end of the exhaust stroke and the beginning of the next induction stroke.

If you think about the distributor, it's driven by the camshaft, so it "knows" which cylinder will fire next. If the ECU doesn't have a cam sensor, it doesn't, and this is how wasted spark systems work. They don't need to know.

Put a cam sensor on, and the ECU has all the information that is available to a distributor, so it can inject fuel to whichever cylinder has its' inlet valve open, instead of injecting onto an closed inlet valve on some of the cylinders. It can also control an individual spark to that cylinder instead of a spark to both cylinders in the pair.

The main timing reference is always taken from the crankshaft, however, because the cam shaft is connected to it through a belt or chain which has a little bit (a few degrees) of slop. This is a big advantage over having the timing reference from a distributor. Timing can be controlled much more accurately with a crank sensor.

Kevin

33264

General Discussion Area / Re: Camshaft and Crankshaft Sensors

« on: 15 January 2008, 14:40:30 »

Two spark plugs fire at once, but only one of the cylinders they're in contains any fuel.

So, the cylinders do indeed still fire one after the other. It's just that pistons 1 and 4 and 2 and 3 on a 4 pot are always at the same point in the bore, so their top dead centre timing is the same, and required spark timing is at the same crank angle. Each one only fires every 2nd rotation of the crank though so they take it in turns to actually "use" the spark.

Kevin

33265

General Discussion Area / Re: Camshaft and Crankshaft Sensors

« on: 15 January 2008, 13:39:12 »

CPS's are normally variable reluctance, in that a coil of wire is wound round a magnet and then timing marks cut into the flywheel pass by the tip of the magnet.

As ferrous metal comes close to the magnet it causes the magnetic flux around the magnet to temporarily collapse, inducing a current in the coil.

As the metal moves away again, the magnet begins to re-establish the field and the current reverses. The fact that the current reversal happens at a very precise point on the flywheel's rotation, and that it can be detected easily using a zero crossing detector makes this a very accurate way of establishing the engine's crank angle.

The sensor is also cheap and robust - in 99% of vehicles. Perhaps not in V6 Omegas, although that's more of a wiring issue.

Kevin

33266

General Discussion Area / Re: Linda Lusardi

« on: 13 January 2008, 21:12:48 »

Yes it is a nice part of the world. Did a tour in the Westfield up to Skye and round that area. During the times when the weather is good there's no better place to be and the roads are fantastic. Problem is weather changes every 10 minutes.

Kevin

33267

General Discussion Area / Re: Linda Lusardi

« on: 13 January 2008, 21:07:17 »

Ermm I mean Car...

Kevin

33268

General Discussion Area / Re: Linda Lusardi

« on: 13 January 2008, 21:04:32 »

the plane came into land sideways and with a couple of feet before touchdown, straightened up and landed so softly you could hardly feel it

Textbook crosswind landing perfectly executed by the sound of it

Aircraft has to fly slightly into the wind so that it tracks straight down the runway then you yaw the aircraft round just before touchdown so the wheels don't hit the ground sideways.

Has to beat 9 hours in a Rover?

Kevin

33269

General Discussion Area / Re: Linda Lusardi

« on: 13 January 2008, 19:57:29 »

The worse what jamie

bimbos serving drinks and food. Not that they serve anything on sleazyjet.

And they've always got a right cob on by the time they get airbourne too, as have all the passengers, of course. Flew with them once. Never again.

Kevin

33270

General Discussion Area / Re: Linda Lusardi

« on: 13 January 2008, 19:47:25 »

I bet you do go for "virgins"

I find they're always fullly booked.

Kevin