My car feels much better now

He changed the rocker box cover, or the gasket?

It's because it's got an 899cc engine under the bonnet. My car isn't bad, but would be better with a nice V8 in there.

I don't know - did your Dad tighten everything up to the right torque?

Not sure to be honest, maybe it shouldn't have been like that before.

Erm, a weak mixture is a weak mixture. The mixture has to be just right for optimum performance - it's not the case of the stronger the mixture, the faster it'll go. Not enough air and the fuel won't combust properly. I might be talking bollock to an extent though.

Well do keep us informed.

Peter

The message from "AstraVanMan" contains these words:

Hmmm, V8 diesel - tempting.

Not necessarily, my friend put a v8 diesel (cherokee chief engine) into his range rover auto. It was a pig to get in, requiring lots of expensive mods. Once in it was noisy, but quick, first good acceleration tore the flex plate apart. Rebuild it again and use more gently. Fuel consumption only marginally better than v8 petrol injection. He removed and sold the lump and hasn't used the range rover since.

mrcheerful

Yeah, gotta say I was thinking about a V8 petrol. Old-school V8 diesels at a guess, would be bloody heavy and quite thirsty, and not much real point unless you're hauling something heavy like a bus along. V8 petrols on the other hand, oh yes. I'd definitely go for n/a one as opposed to a turbo'd one as I don't like the relative gutlessness below boost with any turbocharged engine (I can accept turbo lag, but the nothingness before is what I'm not keen on), mind you, that's not going to be as much of a problem with a V8 petrol as, say, a 5-pot diesel. A supercharged v8 merc on the other hand would be acceptable.

Peter

Listen to you, eh, "a supercharged V8 Merc would be acceptable" hehehehe.

So what you're saying is that whatever it is, it has to be huge? :)

Yup, and not have turbo lag. I love the idea of lazy torque from the word go that you get from a V8. I'm almost tempted to buy PeteM's Merc off him, but back to the real world - no space, living in a family home with a Mondeo, Avensis, 147, plus my A6 and Inca where space is very limited, plus a Maestro van (which I'm *very* reluctant to have to sell) squatting in a mate's street, I don't think it's an option at the moment. Shame.

Peter

The message from "AstraVanMan" contains these words:

It's a knack, innit. It's taken me a few weeks to get the hang of the TD

- the lag is huge, and the preboost power low, so you learn to change down.

My car's idle is a bit rough, which is normal, but it's the pinking noise that I don't like. I gave it a good drive today and found that it is mainly when underload and at high revs.

The general running of the engine is a lot better, it's quieter (especially at high revs) and it's generally smoother, but it is more sluggish for some reason. Oh yeah the misfiring noise has also stopped. The misfiring noise is what the garage told me was normal lol!

What I can't understand is why the ignition system (leads, plugs and coils) would make a big difference in the rocker box problem. It's driveable now though, but a bit slow (and occasionally pinks :-( ).

High revs is the one time it really shouldn't pink.

The brake system may have a vacuum servo i.e. a little pipe going to the inlet system somewhere that creates a vacuum in a big drum near the brake pedal, and which gives the power-assisted braking.

A leak in the inlet system might mean upsetting the running of the engine when you press the brake pedal. So maybe something was loose before your dad fixed it, which is not loose now, and he has effectively cured a problem.

Oh yeah, I'm very much used to the technique of driving a TD car, I'd just much prefer something with the big lazy torque that you get in a V8 right the way down to tickover revs. :-)

Peter

The brakes work just as good now though!

Yeah, if I drive like a granny then my car works fine, but I'd probably be overtaken by milk floats :-(. I'm wondering whether my car was super fast before or whether it's ultra slow now. It was definately nippy before and was faster than most cars even though it was an 899cc engine. Unfortunately it feels a lot like my parents old

Erm...

Hehehehehe. I'm sure you don't mean it.

No, sorry, at this end of the performance scale, 0.3 seconds is splitting hairs...

Peter (petermcmillan snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com) gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying :

The only thing the rocker cover gasket does is stop oil leaking.

Could you just be looking where your feet are, and only pressing one pedal at a time?

No.

Anyway, the mixture hasn't changed. It's managed automatically by the engine ECU injecting more or less fuel in, according to the amount of oxygen sensed in the exhaust gasses by the Lambda sensor.

Changing the rocker cover gasket, the washer fluid, your socks, or even - god forbid - your tyres will not affect the mixture in any way, shape or form.

Oooh! A long drive! Would this be FIVE WHOLE MILES?

FFS there's no way you'd notice a 1.6% difference in accelaration. In those terms that Metro and your Fiat are for all intents and purposes the same.

You're really messing with our minds now fella!

To all: how about we organise a summer coach trip to Peter's gaff (with his permission of course), take a few beers, and test drive his car? Probably best to drink the beer after the test drive, though the alcohol may help with some lightning stroke, left-of-field diagnosis?

The message from "DocDelete" contains these words:

Only if we're allowed to drive it off a cliff and put him out of our misery.

It goes around the injector unit thing too.

Uh? I'm not sure what you mean :-(

What's your explanation for the improvements then?

It was a lot shorter than I expected actually, but was probably around

No, I do. Around town it was pretty fast. I didn't race people or anything though, this was just normal driving. I never go over 40mph!