Strangely

Dave, I think the reason why there haven't been hundreds of Powerspeed users responding to this thread is they aren't suffering from this problem. I'm certainly not. But then my engine tuning was accompanied by an Emerald and new map. I wouldn't be comfortable running a significantly-tweaked engine on a standard MEMS. Do you have anybody local with an Emerald who could be persuaded to let you try it on your car? If the problem still occurs with a standard map then it would be easy to progressively add more fuel and see whether the noise goes away. Ah, I just noticed that you've got an EU3 engine, which reduces the pool of qualified Emerald lenders somewhat... ☹️ Edited by - Strangely on 14 Jul 2005 18:36:24

My first starter failed when I only had the crappy 4:1 exhaust, but I suppose I did have ~130 bhp (1.6 SuperSport), so your theory is still safe, Myles .

I think I've just cured my latest K-Series starting problems (I'd already done the relay mod, fitted a new battery, new Brise starter, new live cable from cut-off switch to starter, new shorter lead from relay to solenoid, oh and a new engine ). The starter has two leads connecting to it. One goes to the cut-off switch. I think the other goes to the alternator? It's actually two leads fitted into one "loop"-style connector, to fit over the starter post. Anyway, the loop felt a bit wobbly so I cut off the heat-shrink, and it was basically hanging off. It looked like the copper core had fatigued through flexing - not ideal for carrying 300 amps. I've replaced the connector (not properly yet - only crimped in an amateurish way, not soldered) and it's started every time since. Fingers crossed, and another one to add to the catalogue of starting suspects. I've also ruled out the cut-off switch as the cause of my problems - I removed it completely and my problem persisted, before I fixed the lead.

You could try disconnecting the Odyssey completely and putting the Saab battery in it's place. If you only jump-started the car from the Saab bat then I suppose it's possible that the Odyssey is still buggering things up once the car has started. My experiences with a dead battery are here: http://strangely.org/diary/200108/index.html#starting From there: -- what's the voltage across the Odyssey with everything turned off? (I think you said 12.66V.) -- what's the voltage across the Odyssey when cranking? Should be >~9.5V -- what's the voltage across the Odyssey when the engine is running? Should be ~14V, which would show that the alternator is OK. -- can you try your Odyssey on another car? Obviously if that car failed to start then case proven.

IACV? Coolant temperature sensor? There's an old thread covering both here: http://blatchat.com/T.asp?id=76211 You should be able to simply check each by pulling the relevant connector off and seeing whether that changes the symptoms.

Ooo, ooo, I've had that happen. I couldn't quite isolate the circumstances, but I have seen the Emerald "lose" the fueling portion of my map, which obviously meant that my engine wouldn't start. It's worth re-uploading your saved map (you do have it saved, right?) just in case...

I know the bit in the that you are talking about, and that's one reason why I hadn't mucked about with this value before. But changing it made a difference. I think it's because when the engine starts to fire, it does somewhere between 500 and 1000 rpm, which means that some proportion of the 500 rpm site figure is used to calculate the ignition advance (the lower the revs, the greater the proportion). Just in case it's relevant to Myles, my startup advance is set to 5 degrees.

Myles, Rob's suggestion is a good one. I had a similar problem with my pre-Brise starter, and I ended up halving the advance at the 500 rpm / 0 load site from 20 to 10. I also reduced the 1000 rpm site from 5 to 2. That made it much easier to start (when it didn't just go, "click!").

I hope that I fixed my starting problems last night. The main power feed to the solenoid was barely fastened finger-tight 😳. I tried re-starting the engine when it was hot after arriving at work this morning and it was fine . Fingers crossed...

No problems with noise. With this exhaust I've done Donington and Bedford Autodrome, possibly a few others, with (what was then) a standard 1.6 SuperSport engine. I've not done any track days since I went to a 1.8 with TBs.

No, I've not had that problem. I've had the exhaust for about 30k miles. It was originally fitted at Powerspeed and was refitted to a new engine (same car) about 19k miles ago.

When my tumble drier broke, I found the UK Whitegoods website - the BlatChat of household appliances . With the help of their archives I fixed it for £17. I note that they do have a Refrigeration Support Forum... Edited by - Strangely on 20 Jun 2005 16:01:10

Thanks, Tony. For the moment I'm going to [cross fingers smiley] and hope that the problem doesn't start happening regularly again.

Myles, I'm in almost exactly the same boat as you. I fitted the Brise starter three months ago, and last night I got the Click O' Doom 🙆🏻.

I've had excellent service from Green Flag (flatbed from Yorkshire to Bracknell, plus a couple of shorter trips), AA (flatbed from Cadwell to Bracknell) and RAC (normal roadside repair stuff) in the past. One thing that might be worth quizzing them about came up on the recent Haggislander tour. Somebody had an accident and was recovered by the tour truck. When it was time to go home he phoned the AA, only to be told that they don't recover from accidents, only mechanical failures 😳. He then had to spend the rest of the day sorting out a flatbed to drive him home ☹️. I've also heard that they frequently change their mind about whether they will recover you for a puncture if you don't have a spare wheel, so it's worth asking about that if it's relevant to you.

I've had a similar-sounding noise twice with a K-engine Caterham. One cause was a loose spark plug cover - it didn't seem loose, but tightening the screws cured the noise. I'm fairly sure that the other was the exhaust, but I changed a few other things at the same time as removing and refitting the exhaust so I can't be sure.

Tony, yes it was recorded at idle. I think the MEMS (EU2, non VVC) uses batched injection, so it fires twice per rev. I think the Emerald is the same. My idle might be higher than yours, and as you say I might have more than 1 noisy injector.

The hopefully final, anticlimactic update... Phil came round this evening. Immediately reckoned that the noise was the injectors and perfectly normal. Checked a few other things over and then drove over to Phil's to a) try to provoke the real problem, b) collect appropriate tools if a) happened. Car was fine - top form, in fact. Here's my theory / excuse for being an arse: there really was a problem on Tuesday, possibly aerated followers, probably unrelated to me buzzing the engine (because that happened on Monday, and both Phil and Steve heard it then, and thought it sounded OK). Wednesday, start engine, all geared up to hear a poorly engine, and I either do hear the remnants of aerated followers, or I hear the injectors and make up the rest. Spend the rest of the day pissing about and wasting peoples' time. After I left Phil's place I went for a vigorous blat, on the basis that I'd rather blow the engine up down here rather than in Scotland. It didn't miss a beat. So the plan is to drive it to work and back home tomorrow (total ~50 miles). If it's OK then drive up to Scotland. If not then quickly hire a cheap hatchback, and drive up to Scotland. Thanks to everybody who helped today, both on the various lists, and off. It was very much appreciated, since I didn't feel comfortable taking a "problem" K-series to anybody local. Cheery, Jason.

When I talked to DVA I didn't make good enough notes ☹️. Can anybody please confirm (at which point) I need to check for a gap between followers and cam lobes (e.g. pushing against the valve or not)?

DVA says that you're wrong, Roy . 90 deg BTDC is what I needed. Half a tooth out is fine. Next check is to see if any of the followers are squidgey, and the cam cover has to come off for that...

Bugger. It's not going to make any real difference though, is it? Won't it just mean that the lines on the opposite sides of the pulleys will line up?

I've checked the cam timing, but I'm not sure whether it's OK or not. The clearest way of showing it is: Crank lined up (confirmed with a mirror to eliminate paralax): http://www.strangely.org/tmp/crank1.jpg Pulleys out by ~ 0.5 tooth: http://www.strangely.org/tmp/pulleys1.jpg It could be down to the fact that when DVA timed them he used true TDC (measure on a piston) rather than the mark on the cover. It maybe / sorta looks like the vernier may have slipped? Not really sure about that though. http://www.strangely.org/tmp/pulley-slip.jpg

Roy, thanks for that. It doesn't sound like I remember air in the followers sounding. (I used to get that a lot on my old engine before I fitted the Apollo.)

Update: Max ever revs, according to Emerald: 7456 Compression test shows (in bar): 1: 16.5 2: 16.7 3: 16.5 4: 15.8 rising to 16.8 with 1 teaspoon of oil down the bore They seem very high compared to the Haynes recommended minimum pressure of 10 bar. The maximum difference between cylinders is quoted at 1.5 bar, so in theory that 15.8 should be OK?! I'm just waiting for the exhaust to cool down so that I can move the Apollo tank and remove the front cover to check whether the cam timing has changed.

Not quickly enough, or it wouldn't have got anywhere near 8k rpm.