Stabilisers back on
Well stabiliser (single).
Ever since getting the car the dashboard has been a weird ornament. None of the instruments worked. I had a low fuel warning light but that was about it.
First came the choke light, that was just a clear up of the mechanism and I did that when I found the right choke cable to fit.
Next came the clock, thanks to Scrapman Colin Wake I got a working clock - it even kept excellent time.
Next came the speedo, that was my fault I think, when I fitted the cable I seem to have managed to miss align it at the gearbox, quite how I did it I don't know but a happy few days tracing it sorted out and that was great.
But the fuel and temp gauge eluded me - I got a new voltage stabiliser but that didn't work, it was more serious than that. I managed to buy one of those new solid state stabiliser chips (no connectors just the chip) and was prepared to "go modern" to fix it. First though lets get the multimeter out and see what the hell's going on. Yup, it's all over everywhere. Neither stabiliser (original or new) was producing the required stable output, even running a direct feed for the earth off the battery didn't do it.
So, nothing for it but to get the soldering iron out and have a play. 30 mins later I had soldered up some wires onto the tiny chip and it was all connected - it works! Frankly I am amazed, I'm crap at electrics, my eyesight is going so fine work is a challenge and my soldering has always been more expressionist art than electronics.
So, what's left on the job list - bloody loads!
I have now renewed 3 of the injector seals as another injector failed today. The ones that have failed were yellow plated, the ones that have not are plain - no idea if that's the cause but it does seem likely. I have one plated injector left but it was the first one to fail and I have replaced the seal in it - I have no more decent spares to use. I'll get another set of seals and the clean up my spares, I might just swap out that plated one anyway.
Next on the list is to investigate a sticky rear brake. I don't tend to leave the handbrake applied on the car when it's in the garage so I can roll the car about but just lately it's been very hard to push. I found the same just before and at the MOT test but the brake efficiency was fine. I suspect a strip and clean will sort it but we'll see, nothing is ever that easy!
Ever since getting the car the dashboard has been a weird ornament. None of the instruments worked. I had a low fuel warning light but that was about it.
First came the choke light, that was just a clear up of the mechanism and I did that when I found the right choke cable to fit.
Next came the clock, thanks to Scrapman Colin Wake I got a working clock - it even kept excellent time.
Next came the speedo, that was my fault I think, when I fitted the cable I seem to have managed to miss align it at the gearbox, quite how I did it I don't know but a happy few days tracing it sorted out and that was great.
But the fuel and temp gauge eluded me - I got a new voltage stabiliser but that didn't work, it was more serious than that. I managed to buy one of those new solid state stabiliser chips (no connectors just the chip) and was prepared to "go modern" to fix it. First though lets get the multimeter out and see what the hell's going on. Yup, it's all over everywhere. Neither stabiliser (original or new) was producing the required stable output, even running a direct feed for the earth off the battery didn't do it.
So, nothing for it but to get the soldering iron out and have a play. 30 mins later I had soldered up some wires onto the tiny chip and it was all connected - it works! Frankly I am amazed, I'm crap at electrics, my eyesight is going so fine work is a challenge and my soldering has always been more expressionist art than electronics.
So, what's left on the job list - bloody loads!
I have now renewed 3 of the injector seals as another injector failed today. The ones that have failed were yellow plated, the ones that have not are plain - no idea if that's the cause but it does seem likely. I have one plated injector left but it was the first one to fail and I have replaced the seal in it - I have no more decent spares to use. I'll get another set of seals and the clean up my spares, I might just swap out that plated one anyway.
Next on the list is to investigate a sticky rear brake. I don't tend to leave the handbrake applied on the car when it's in the garage so I can roll the car about but just lately it's been very hard to push. I found the same just before and at the MOT test but the brake efficiency was fine. I suspect a strip and clean will sort it but we'll see, nothing is ever that easy!
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