Brucey

Neil, Have sent BM ref K&N with new ZV1 tyre. Bruce.

Nick, Have mailed you regarding the A frame as is looks like it will fit my 1993 1400K ss Is that Cheshunt Herts? bruce Edited by - Brucey on 2 Aug 2013 18:10:53

Mark, You have mail

Mav, Has the windscreen got any chips in it? mine is beginning to look pebble dashed! Where are you? I would need to get it to Kent Bruce.

Dave, Can I have dibs on the 1/2 doors. Can the side impact bar hole be filled? Could you send a photo? Ta, Bruce. (bruce.yule@btinternet.com)

Thank's 7wotw Even though I sometimes set new standards in pesimism, I am a little confused why I've been told I need £800 worth of new injectors when the car starts and runs without missing and doesn't appear to smoke. I have had several deisel specialists say that a fine magnetic powder in the fuel filter is a good indication the injection pump is shot. I would do the work myself but am not confident enough that I can remove all traces of contamination which would just destroy the new pump and injectors! Also I would prefer some form of warranty with this value of parts. Some people jet wash the petrol tank out and others replace everything to be safe. I just put £70 of diesel and injector cleaner in the tank after changing the fuel filter 😔 I'm now trying to work out how I can drain and filter the fuel before it get put into the repairers oil fired central heating tank Apparently these injection pumps (Delphi?) are used in numerous other cars and vans (including Nissan and Renault), so beware! Bruce.

My 06 K12 1.5 Dci Micra started playing around last week. Engine light coming on and loosing power when pulling hard or reving. I changed the fuel filter and got someone to check it. It has the following fault codes: P0380, P0089, P0170 which indicate fuel injector pump and injectors 😔 I also flushed out the old fuel filter and got a fine magnetic dust (which confirms fuel pump). It still drives along at 50mph o.k without smoking or the engine light coming on. Maybe I should trade it in for a Mini Cooper D I've had quotes ranging from £1800 to £3000 to sort. (Injection Pump, Injectors, Pipework, reproramming injectors etc). The car is worth around £2k At 110K miles and well looked after, I'm gutted and will probably get a 3 cylinder lean burn petrol car next time! I had 2 Peugeot 205 diesels before that both needed injector pump refurbs at around 100K mile (£600 each) which sort of cancels out the fuel cost savings! I feel I would be unwise taking this on myself as the parts are expensive, I wouldn't get a warranty and I don't know how clean the fuel system needs to be. I've been told the Renault fuel filter fitted to my Micra filters return fuel as well as supply fuel so the tank shouldn't be contaminated. Anyone else had similar experiences and work carried out? The Micra website seems more concerned with fitting LED lights under cars! I've been driving the Caterham but I've now done my back in getting in and out with the roof up! Any advice would be appreciated. Bruce. Edited by - brucey on 30 Jan 2013 21:43:48

Price reduced to £1795 (I've seen a Triumph Tiger I like) 😬

Oh.........I don't know Thanks for putting it back to the top anyway

Yup, rode it into work this morning Cheers Peter

I know some of you guys ride motorbikes. I'm selling my 2001 Honda Dominator to purchase a bigger trail bike for foriegn travel. It is low mileage and in good condition with about every extra already bolted on including: Honda (colour matched) top box Crash bars (around engine) Screen Heated Grips Scott Oiler Omptimax charging socket This is a great middle distance and commuter bike with an average fuel consumption of around 55mpg. My friend has advertised it on his shop site (he has an ebay business account) with lots of photos and a full description. Please note this is a private sale through me. Search Honda Dominator (Cliftonville,Kent). Mine is the nice red one! I'm asking £1795 but am open to offers. Any questions, please contact me. Bruce. Edited by - brucey on 10 Aug 2012 10:21:48 Edited by - brucey on 17 Sep 2012 12:52:34

Out of interest, Lewis has platinum tipped plugs fitted to his MG ZR 1400 EU3 and I chucked standard plugs in my 1800K (R300 block) EU2 Caterham. Should I be using the posh plugs? Would I notice any difference?

To answer my own question (for other peoples benefit), no, you don't damage the valves on a 1400 K with the cam pulleys in the wrong dowel holes (we managed to get both wrong!) Lewis rechecked his cam timing, sorted a shorting coil pack and everything is now running fine.......so far! Thanks for all your help, it's nice to know help is at hand when things are going 'tits up' and your fast running out of ideas and enthusiasm! Bruce.

Ahh, I remember filing the dowel holes out on my Mk1 Lotus Cortina twin cam engine to 'adjust' the cam timing. Couln't afford the offset dowels! Those were the days! I really can't be doing with all these sensors. Way too many things to check when it doesn't start.

Assuming my son now has the camshaft pulley dowels in the correct slots, we need to know the following: What are the chances he bent some valves? Note: We didn't feel anything hitting or resistance when turning the engine over by hand but did crank it on the starter for about 15 mins. If the cams have been turning 180 deg out, will the ecu need resetting? How do you reset an EU3 ECU? (is it the same as my Caterham EU2, ignition on, 5 throttle presses and ignition off?) Note: It didn't start last night after retiming the camshafts correctly (but as it was past 12am, we didn't try too long) If he does have to remove the head again, will he need another new head gasket and more stretch bolts? Note: The engine hasn't started with the existing parts fitted! Bruce. Edited by - Brucey on 28 Mar 2012 09:36:47 Edited by - Brucey on 28 Mar 2012 10:05:01

Put the cam dowels in the proper pulley slots. Engine now turns over a lot slower on the starter motor but still refuses to start. I'm hoping he hasn't bent any valves. 😔 We will have another look tomorrow when we will be fresher!

Tony, Your a star mate! I showed Lewis the dowel slots on my spare Caterham engine and he went all quite! That was the one thing he didn't mark and assumed was o.k. forgetting we had to rotate the cams with the pulleys off to get to the head bolts. We just checked and guess what............both were in the wrong slots 😳 I think as both cams were about 180 deg out, he hopefully hasn't bent any valves. Looks like it's going to be a late night. Looking on the bright side, at least we found something wrong to sort out! Back to work!

Cheers guys for your quick responses Yup, The Fuel Pump is running. In fact I have just taken the return pipe off at the regulator and turned the ingnition on. It's definately pumping fuel up to the fuel rail! I was wondering if I can pull an enjector to see if fuel is comming out or maybe pull the plug off and put a multi meter on (although I don't know what voltage and how long the signal would be. Lewis (my 21 year old Son) marked everything before removal so I know the pulleys went back onto the same cams (i will get him to double check the dowels are in the 'exhaust' and 'inlet' slots correctly though as we are now clutching at straws! Bruce.

My Son has just changed the head gasket, cam belt and water pump on his 2003 MG ZR 1400K I kept an eye on him and he did everything by the book. He fitted a multi layer steel gasket (1800 freelander type) We now can't get it to start! We have a spark on both coil packs. I tried sqirting easy start down the plug holes and in the air intake but still nothing. If left cranking for about 10 seconds, it seems to try and fire but nothing more than a brief splutter. We have checked all the conectors and rechecked the cam timing and all seems in order. I have now run out of ideas! I guess the next step is a compression test and if I can find a reader, look at the ecu for fault codes (EU3) For the amount of cranking, I do not think it smells of petrol enough if you get my drift. Any advice would be appreciated. Bruce.

Steve, Can I have first refusal please. Have tried phoning and have Blat Mailed you! If you get a chance, can you contact me on 07917 515324 Bruce.

Ian, The Garmin Sat Nav looks quite interesting. Did you have it fitted in your 7? I find my Sony a bit big for my 7 and I have to use 1 ear plug from the sat nav and the other in my ipod! I'll keep an eye on it unless you have a BIN price in mind. Bruce.

Cheers Guys I changed the rear shock bushes and bolts last year. Do Nut, Did you notice any difference after you replaced the bushes? Charlie, On the last Dunsfold handling day I did, the back end was weaving around under braking so much, I almost stopped because I thought I had a puncture. I was braking into the corners on the track laps though As I'm also trying to rebuild a Triumph Tiger Cub engine, I may invest in a small bench press. I've seen a 2 tonne press that uses a bottle jack for £75 on ebay. Bruce.

Just a thought...... Does your car have an Apollo Tank? If it does, have you fitted a one way valve in the breather pipe to prevent wet sumping? Bruce.

My 1993 DeDion 7 has a nasty habit of 'wagging its tail' when entering corners when being pushed and feels like something is loose at the back. As the car has over 50K miles on the clock, I'm assuming it's time to replace the rear suspension bushes. Does anyone have experience fitting and using the poly bush kits advertised on ebay? How big a job is this? I also need to change the diff nose oil seal. Any advice would be appreciated. Bruce.

Thanks for your advice guys. Allen, I'm not quite sure what a 'whimp' is as the link to the picture doesn't seem to work. Kingsley, That must have been a hell of a tractor sun visor! I will try and get some mesh material to play with from Lidle. I have been advised that the screen must only cover from the centre line of both head rests. Any further out and it will actually increase turbulance! I guess the quickest way to find out will be to stick a piece of cardboard between the headrests and test it. Ideally, I would also like to test a SB47's unit to see if it fits and if it works with my earlier /lower headrests. Bruce.