Allan Haighton

103 FXYULS is an Aldon dizzy, based on a Lucas. It is has an Unleaded advance curve (UL) and a side exit cap (S). Aldon can modify the advance curve, if needed.

Once again, many thanks. I've checked my Haynes manual once more and there's no mention of an IACV. The nearest seems to be a throttle idle stepper motor. Unfortunately on my engine, this is integrated into the throttle body. If this is up the creek no wonder its an expensive fix. If I fit a new throttle body apparently I'll need to get the ECU remapped by Mr Vauxhall - so which ever way I turn on that front it's back to the main dealer. However, cleaning up the EGR valve is worth a look. Edited by - Allan Haighton on 19 Mar 2004 18:04:05

Thanks chaps. Any benefit likely from spraying carb-cleaner into the inlet pipe? Would save taking things to bits????

My Astra (Astra-G) tintop has a 1.8 Ecotech DOHC engine. Recently I've noticed that the revs drop down to 500 rpm or so immediately on coming off throttle, before picking up to normal idle speed. Once or twice it has stalled as the revs have dipped momentarily. Engine restarted normally. No other problems: no hesitation, no mis-fires, acceleration as normal, starts as normal. Mr Vauxhall tells me its probably a sticking inlet idle air valve (or some such) £200 to you sir, but Mr Haynes doesn't mention that one of these is on car. Any thoughts, anybody?

I got the same advice as Adam. So I'm still running the head without U/L valves inserts, adding Castrol Valve master additive to the fuel. Cheaper than a new head. Edited by - Allan Haighton on 12 Mar 2004 17:00:01

The finish will last without overcoating.

Paul is right. The 'british racing green' is supposed to be a standard colour (GN29) I've found that it isn't - GN 29 is too light a shade. The best thing is to order half a litre from Caterham - who will get it from TSK (or go to TSK direct). Caterham charge £35 +Vat - which seems a lot until you consider at all the time and effort it takes to repaint an area. Best to get the colour right first time. Incidentally, I've found an airbrush (Machine Mart)to be very useful to spray up a small area. Edited by - Allan Haighton on 11 Feb 2004 19:17:59

Philippe... be careful with changing your exhaust from 4-2-1 rear exit to 4-1 side exit. I went down the same road and put a Techcraft system on. Big reduction in measured exhaust noise outside the car BUT - big increase in noise in the cockpit at around 3000 rpm or so - so much so that I got ringing in my ears after every long drive. Result - no long drives. ☹️. Even ear defenders (top spec Peltors) didn't get rid of the problem. After much fiddling about, I'm pretty sure that the cause is resonance of the 4-1 exhaust. I put the original 4-2-1 system back on and immediately the 3000 rpm peak noise disappeared. The resonance has dropped in frequency (to about 2000 rpm - as expected for a longer total exhaust length) but since I don't drive around much at this engine speed it's un-noticeable - which is why it was never a problem before. (Also the rear exit is further away from the driver). Caterham 'think' they can provide a 4-1 rear exit exhaust using bits that were once used on specialist applications, but I haven't taken them up on this yet. Question for RK I haven' t noticed much change in driving perforamce on the road on changing back to 4-2-1, so I haven't yet thought about going back on a rolling road. Should I expect to use bigger or smaller jets that with a 4-1?

Erm... how exactly does a GPS device help against mobile units? Just thought I'd ask.

I thought all silicone sealants contained acetic anhydride - vinegar on steroids - so they'll all be acidic to some extent. The grade of material and amount of filler or colouring agents they contain might make a difference to their corrosion potential though. Edited by - Allan Haighton on 4 Feb 2004 17:49:08

When drawing out the axle, it can help to put a short length of scaffold plank between wheel arches, kind of rotate the axle onto it and then slide the axle & plank out together to one side. A two person job, and you need lots of side room - problem being that once the axle is out, the car is immobile without dollys or similar. So not an easy job in a single width garage!

It converts the alternating currrent (ac) from the output of the alternator into direct currrent (dc) to feed into the batttery/car electrical circuits. Red light comes on when the (dc) output from the alternator is less than the voltage of the battery. If the rectifier is u/s (ie no output from the alternator), the red light stays on.

I have the necessary pages from an Ital workshop manual. E-mail me your address & I'll send a copy

Pace corner weight gauge for sale. 600 lb maximum. Will cost you £120 +VAT from Merlin, or a bit more from DT. £70 +carriage. If you are interested, please get in touch and give return e-mail address 'cos the e-mail poster from Blatchat doesn't always work for me.

I had a similar problem on my Classic. The clamps are now shorted than they used to be and are more prone to failure than the older longer ones (vibration from the wings?) I agreed a date/time for repair with Bruce at Arch, drove it here and had it repaired while I waited. (I fitted connectors in my headlamp cables so I could rapidly remove the clamshell wings and the stays and the lamps, to make access easy for repair.) First they repaired the top of the chassis rail by welding a piece it, then they bronze welded the clamps on. They did a first class job and fitted improved clamps on both sides of the car while I was there.