Bugger it 2

Today started off so well....

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The Vitesse was running. Woo hoo. Then it did it's usual trick of not starting again, just turning over with no hint of firing. Fecking thing.

So far I've replaced the plugs, leads, dizzy cap, rotor arm, coil, fuel filter, throttle return spring and post AFM pipes/seals. Also disconnected the cold start injector as it seems to be leaking - I thought it was running rich and when I changed the oil I discovered about half of what was in the sump was petrol - it came flowing out like water. Hmmmm, that'll make a healthy engine.

So today I decided to strip the inlet manifold down, and firstly discovered this:

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trumpet base was still full of fuel from the CSI, that thing must have been leaking bad!!

So took the trumpet base off and cleaned it all up, so now looking much better:

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Spotted the rubber fuel return hose was weeping slightly so also changed that. And some of the injector hose clips were knackered and not tight, so also renewed them whilst access was easy. Put it all back together thinking I may have solved the problem, but no, the old girl just kept turning over and refused to start. Doubled checked the fuel supply - yep definitely coming through. Double checked the spark - yep nice and strong. Doubled checked a spark plug - soaked in fuel. Something strange is going on.

Next step was to check the ECU, as they have a reputation for being dodgy. As soon as I peeled back the footwell carpet I could see someone had been in there before as the ECU bracket wasn't mounted properly and someone had tried painting it where it was rusty. Got the actual ECU out and the bolts on it were slightly rounded, clearly someone had been playing with it. Closer inspection led to this:

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I know 1980s Rover production was a bit bodgtastic - but I dont think those bits of insulting tap should be there, looks like someones attempted some sort of repair / adjustment before. Unfortunately my spare ECU was at home. Great.

So after putting loads of hours into the car, I'm a grand total of no-where nearer getting it roadworthy. All I've done is found a load of bodges by a previous owner that's had a lot of the car in bits - loads of bolts loose, loads of bolts missing, bushes missing, random wiring etc etc. So next week I'll be going over with the spare ECU and a multimeter to see what's what with the EFi gubbins. I need it running so I can get it up on the ramp to do the other work!!!

In the mean time I'm looking for a temporary car as I'm tired of not having one and it's a PITA to use the C1 every time I need to work on the SD1 - plus it wont fit the new sill in I have sitting in my garage here! So if anyone knows of a cheap car down south please shout!!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs
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MMMMM V8

Reply to
Vamp

I think you should try view that as a positive days work dude, if you've got home and chilled out with a beer, once the rage subsides you'll be like, well, at least they're all things that needed to be done, and it's all good for the car. When it's finished and running right, you'll be glad you did all that today. Doesn't all that fuel everywhere mean like, there's a leak somewhere? Petrol getting into the sump can't be good... I of course, using my extensive mechanical and engine re-build knowledge, have no idea - so I'll just wish you luck :-)

Reply to
DanB

got a fuel pump running off of the engine? these can leak into the engine thus fuel in the sump.

Reply to
nothometoday

Find your local ATP dealer and have them test / refurb the ECU. They practically re-engineer the 80's analogue version into a modern digitial flavour, which amungst actually works, is alot better / faster at responding to the engine's needs.

Alternatively RPi will be able to help / give you alot of tips.

Tim.

Reply to
Tim..

I'll keep a note of that. Ta.

I'm hoping the spare one will work, and I'm also watching a Mark Adams Tornado ECU on the bay - he's one of the country's Rover V8 wizzes his ECU's are highly regarded for getting the most out of a standard flapper type system. hopefully with mine being the theoretically better breathing twin plenum version the results would be good, but if the bidding gets silly like it often does for RV8 stuff I wont be joining in!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

Well it's all new to me too, but the combination of shit loads of fuel from the CSI coupled with a possible ECU fault and therefore random injector timings could have lead to the fuel getting past the piston rings and contaminating the oil. The could be very damaging to the engine, but hopefully since it's barely been run over the last few years it's just something that's happened recently and no damage will have been done.

I know I'm getting somewhere and the more stuff I'm checking / replacing now means there's less to go wrong later - but I just wanna get it roadworthy and drive it. I'm missing the V8 rumble - the 3 cylinder howling of the C1 just doesn't cut it!!

Reply to
Carl Gibbs

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