Improving reliability

[l6rth]

Hi all, I have a 95 chim 400 that it seems every time I take it any distance I have an issue so want to know what things I should change to improve dependability. The fox guard has let me down for the second time and is being fixed by bridge water electronic so that won't be a issue again. I have changed all leads plugs and extender's the latest issue was the temp sender positioned behind the dizzy. I'm thinking should I change the spark amp? Dizzy cap and rotor arm? Whole dizzy? The rad and alternator are both new a year ago. I just want it to be dependable.

Thanks

Rob

[Don]

In my experience, and other than regular servicing, you just need to keep on top of what goes wrong. Get it fixed right away when something does go wrong so you don't get knock-on problems as a result.

Eventually the car will go through a reliable period. Until it surprises you the next time!

These are old cars now. Stuff goes wrong with old cars. Even if they are old and brilliant.

[l6rth]

I agree with that don, just thinking of little things that may cause an issue or are more prone to failure than others.

[A900ss]

I had a few 'noggles' so changed the HT leads, coil, ignition amp, spark plugs, extenders, rotat arm and dizzy cap. Basically all the ignition consumables.

I also changed all the vac hoses and whilst doing so discovered the vac advance on the dizzy was shot and the fuel regualtor was suspect.

Car runs smoother now, can pull from lower revs if I want and pops and bangs are much harder to come by. Also my MPG has dramatically improved ( I guess +20% average but it got 26.5 MPG down to France this weekend which is unheard of from my car).

Good luck.

[QBee]

Your "noggle" re the pops and bangs - it may be in the mapping, but mine poops and bongs more on super unleaded fuel.

[peaktorque]

My '95 400 never goes wrong

And to be honest I've changed nothing apart from the oil in 4 years

I'm probably due a major let down soon..

[taylormj4]

The best thing is to drive it regularly !

[l6rth]

I do drive mine a lot but it just seems if I leave Cambridgeshire it doesn't like it. The alarm is on it's way back and I have ordered a new dizzy cap spark amp and coil so that all the ignition consumables taken care of. The only other thing I thought may let me down is the fuel pump and regulator. Any thoughts?

[l6rth]

I do drive mine a lot but it just seems if I leave Cambridgeshire it doesn't like it. The alarm is on it's way back and I have ordered a new dizzy cap spark amp and coil so that all the ignition consumables taken care of. The only other thing I thought may let me down is the fuel pump and regulator. Any thoughts?

[jojackson4]

Just watch the new dizzys and rota arms there st
Buy the list you have done the usual suspects

[keith2.2]

Something I'd suggest checking is wire-routing.

I've had a couple of problems with wires being poorly routed and rubbing / catching on things. The most dramatic of which was part of the immobiliser loom being routed near the exhaust - shroud melted and it shorted against the pipe - totally knocked out the engine electrical circuits leaving me doing 60mph on a B-road with no engine, no braking (other than what vac was left in the servo) and no power assistance to the steering.

In the first six months that I owned mine I had:

New brake hoses (braided stainless replacements)
Alternator
Starter
Removed the interior light delay relay
Alarm wiring re-routed
Parts of engine loom re-routed
External battery cut-off switch added
Fuel tank emptied and cleaned (it was full of "stuff")
New fuel lines
New fuel pump

Seems to be working OK at the moment!

Which reminds me - I need an MOT

[l6rth]

Thanks for the advice, I will trace and check wiring. Why the battery isolator? Does the fuel pump always start making more noise prior to death?

[Oldred_V8S]

jojackson4 said:

Just watch the new dizzys and rota arms there st

As are coils and ignition amps. I had a brand new coil fail after 300 miles; luckily I had kept the old one in the boot.