Paaaanda 1.Nothing

[Prizam]

Every now and again i like to indulge my self with some epic bangering.

The TVR is almost complete, Just wants proper geometry and the leather re-staining. And the 7 series is due back from the body shop at the end of the week.

So i spied this little gem going locally. Running on 2 cylinders.






I quite like it. I'm sure the misfire / no-fire cant be that complex to sort. its the worlds most basic engine.

And at the end of the day, its a 100 quid car.

[Prizam]

I don't think its the HG. No fluids mixing, no over pressurising and no smoke. It is also a constant misfire across the rev range. not even occasionally spluttering the cylinders.

My guess is it being electrical. Inter-webs has a spattering of information from ECU to coil packs.

OBD just says misfire on 1 and 2. As well as phonic wheel learn error. Whatever that one is.

[Prizam]

Good shout on swapping the coil packs over.

I do have spark on all plugs though. Maby one of the coil packs is just a bit week?

[Prizam]

bomma220 said:

Prizam said:

Good shout on swapping the coil packs over.

I do have spark on all plugs though. Maby one of the coil packs is just a bit week?

I've experienced that problem chap. Although you might get a visible spark, I understand it's possible for it to break down when under load. A new coil pack sorted mine out ok.

Yeah, i originally discounted it because i had spark. but might not be getting enough amperage to jump the gap when under compression.

Will swap them over to confirm tonight. Could be a cheap fix

[Prizam]

its the sodding head gasket. Erughhh. Going to have to get dirty and put my back out.

[Prizam]

AyBee said:

How did you determine it's the HG?

No compression (15 psi) on 1 + 2. No water in the oil, but i think it is blowing exhaust / oil in to the coolent.

Could always be sticking valves i guess, either way it will need surgery.

[Prizam]

Vitorio said:

It isnt too bad of a job, going by my cinq (a panda might have more space to work with, so less disassembly needed). Remove right front wheel, plastic inner wheel arch lining. Remove aux belt pulley, slacken timing belt tensioner, remove timing belt. Drain coolant, disconnect exhaust manifold, fuel/electrical wires to inlet manifold (or remove the throttle body entirely). Remove cam cover, take the head off etc.. Re-assembly is the reverse of previous procedure.

Hanes Spanner rating : 3 spanners (might slightly over the top)

Or a 6 beer job.

Worlds simplest engine, but still a pain to have o do it.

[Prizam]

Vitorio said:

Prizam said:

Or a 6 beer job.

Worlds simplest engine, but still a pain to have o do it.

Agreed

Ill admit that doing this on my cinq took me roughly 6 months to finish, but that was done in roughly one hour per week whilst we had our first baby, and i had the car SORN, so wasnt in a rush (and i was procrastinating the fk out of it), also replaced the cam with a punto 75 one, should make the 1.1 a bit more lively.

Should be a few hours tops provided you dont need the head skimmed, and all the head bolts come out easily.

I'm trying to mentally repair my self for it do i can do it all in 1 day.

How can you tell if the head needs skimming? Can you see the distortion? (Never done a HG before)

remove inlet fannymould
remove exhaust fannymould
remove other crap bolted to it.
Cambelt + other belty stuff off
Rocker cover off
Head bolts undone
remove head
Skim / gasket / jollup.

Put back together again.

Is that about right?

[Prizam]

This weekends work sorted then...

Few questions about the kit i got.

The little black round things, are they valve stem seals?

What is the gasket, middle top next to the crack oil seal?

[Prizam]

familyguy1 said:

does the kit come with a list of items ? I assume not

could the gasket, middle top next to the crack oil seal, be a water pump gasket ?

Thats what i though, and it does look like it. but the water pump has 3 bolts.

No part list on the kit, but will google the part number to see if i can find a break down.

[Prizam]

That was easy.

The mysrery gasket is for the thermostat. And the rubber dubries are valve steam seals.

[Prizam]

Update from the weekend...

Rocker cover off


Standard fannymould bolt rounded off. Spot welded another bolt on to it to get it off.



Head off


The culprit


Head looks alright.




The head looks alright to me, i figure getting it skimmed can do more damage than good, so will hold on to my £30. That, and i cannot find anyone locally who will do the job.

If anyone here would impart any wisdom on head skimming, i will be all ears.

Next steps are to refurbish the head. New stem seals and a good clean up. I think some one has tried to fix the gasket leek with some "gloop", so the water channels are full of crud. Pressure washer and soap should sort that.

[Prizam]

Will do a lot of cleaning on block and head before putting it back together. this ngine and car generally look really well cared for. It already has a new ish cambelt, tensioner, water-pump, air and oil filters. New NGK spark plugs. New alternator and belts etc...

The small distance i have driven it on 2 cylinders, it steerd and tracked well and the breaks were good.

[Prizam]

The Panda runs again.

After gauging the head, I came to the conclusion it did not need skimming. Pulling the cam apart and replacing the Valve stem seals was a bit of a fiddley job, but not too bad (Sorry, no pics).

When putting the engine back together I had to spend ages with a scraper and WD40 cleaning up the block and water channels. I think someone had used a bottle of Radweld or similar in an attempt to stop the gasket leek. It was between the cylinders, so no chance, mate.

Once it was all cleaned up I sprayed it all down with “Gunk” and pressure washed the head and block. It came up like new.

I also sprayed and pressure washed the inlet manifold and throttle body. They also came up like new. Running compressed air over the lot dried it up and then I de-greased it all with break cleaner.

The rest of the job went exactly as expected. New gasket, bolts, water pump, tensioner, cambelt etc…


Managed to use a new angle gauge I had acquired on an eBay special.

So, ready for the first turn of the key (After many turns of the engine by hand).

Chug chug BANG. Engine stopped dead. Feck, hydro locked.

Plugs out and checked compression, still good. Engine stil turning properly. WTF.

Plugs back in. Chug Chig BANG.

Humm… plug is wet. Maby an injector is stuck on full blast. Disconnect injector, Chug Chug fart fart… Stall.

Running on what seems like maybe 1 cylinder. WTF.

Put it all back together. Checked the timing. Checked the plugs. Checked compression. Checked the firing order.

Everything looks good. Checked the firing order agents some online articles…. Can’t find my setup.

I did try two other firing orders. Tried the first one and Vroommm… Fired up and ran perfectly first turn. Annoying as i labled them as i took it apart, so can only assume that they were wrong when the car chugged in to my life.

Bled the system, gave her a good wash and polish and went out for my first drive.


Engine going back together


Seats scrubbed up


POWERRR


Noddy wagon

[Prizam]

I am tempted to put some massive mileage on this, just for cheap motoring. tyres are about £20 a corner, engine is about as fresh as it will ever get. Runs and drives really well for one of these.

In total owes me maby £150, Bangernomics here i come.