Oh dear, the humourless idiot machines are winning!
It’s kind of shocking when one learns that films like Idiocracy turn out not to be mere satire, but Über-Nostrodamian prophecies, or even just simple documentaries.
As Iain Overton says, in his book, The Price Of Freedom, and others do elsewhere (for example Sam Harris, in The End of Faith), the responses to perceived threats are sometimes more damaging – usually by dint of curtailing the freedoms of the more docile many in order to supposedly more fully control the errant few – than the threats that supposedly prompt them into existence.
So I can’t make a particular joke, quoting Count Arthur Strong, in a FB group dedicated to him, because a human will do the bidding of a robot that doesn’t understand or can’t differentiate between my innocent humour – and let’s not forget it’s a quote, so it’s not even me saying the allegedly egregious thing – and a genuine incitement to violence.
This is of course utterly ridiculous. Those intent on acting out violence will both do so, and find ways to express themselves, regardless of what anybody else does. And such folk are, thankfully, are a very small minority.
Meanwhile, a much larger and more benign majority have their freedoms curtailed, in a very real way, and to no real benefit. The idea that maybe one day we’ll be the slaves of robots is grotesquely outdoated. We already are!
And, in a tip of the reality had to the apparently ludicrous fantasies of The Matrix series of films – whose overall adolescence of aesthetics rather undercuts the more sinister and prescient ideas about what constitutes reality, and our relationships with technology – we, the soft machines, are already becoming the willing collaborators and enforcers of this joyless, soulless, brainless automaton culture.
My reply to the citing of ‘evidence’ re a former ‘offender’.
It doesn’t bode well for the future of the species!
Little did I expect it to be a flippant and lighthearted response to a Count Arthur themed post, in a Count Arthur based group, that would bring this home so forcefully!
Adopting the CA voice, ‘Well, I mean… is it any wonder we tire of this ceaseless handholding? And you robots, you have to meet us at least halfway. Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up!’
How things looked at the start of today.My radiator coolant plug, with temp’ repair.
Today I didn’t do that much on the car. I re-filled the radiator with coolant. My sealant gasket fix of the radiator sump plug seems to be working, which is great (although I also have a brand new plug on the way to me).
I made this tool for securing the plug!*
[video?]
I also torqued the crankshaft main bolt, to 160 NM, which required dropping the sway bar again, and removing some o’ the upper pipe works. And then, not forgetting to reconnect the negative terminal on the battery, it was time to have another go at starting her up. I was totally convinced it would be exactly as before, and not work at all!
So it was gobsmackingly amazing when the engine actually fired and turned over. I’m not a religious man, but… Hallelujah! Seems my timing belt change was successful after all. Sadly this state of bliss didn’t last long; the engine, whilst running, sounded bally awful, spluttering and struggling. So I switched her off, pronto.
Going round to the engine bay revealed an almost explosive looking oil leak had occurred at the rear of the engine. So I had to clean that up, and then take off and re-seat the cam cover. Whilst I was at it I cleaned up and removed the previous gasket sealant. I then refreshed the latter, with a new application, and re-seated the cam cover. Sadly I don’t have a small/low enough torque wrench for the final buttoning up.
The small torque wrench set I’ve just ordered.
So I’ve ordered a smaller (5-25NM) torque wrench, via Amazon (pictured above). That ought to arrive tomorrow. Once I’ve torqued off all the bolts topside, it’ll be time to try again. Third time lucky!?
I’ve learned a lot, and enjoyed working on the car. That said, there were some hairy/sweary moments. And occasionally it was too much like hard work. That one episode where I worked on one nut/bolt for about three hours was not a favourite moment!
And we’re still not there yet. There are at least three things still outstanding: 1) Have I sorted out the oil leak? 2) There’s also a very slight drip-drip-drip type coolant leak from somewhere on the thermostat housing (despite the new gasket). 3) Did I bugger the trigger-wheel when struggling to get the crankshaft pulley off?
Oblong is sensor; note single tooth on trigger wheel!
This last is a bit of a worry, as it concerns the accuracy of the timing, as did the whole cam-belt replacement shenanigans. Apparently it can quite easily by put on the wrong way round. It’s also supposed to be quite specifically aligned. I’m not sure mine is right in any of these respects!?
My thoughts at close of play today are that I’ll have to wait for the smaller torque wrench, then tighten off ye engine and try it again. If she runs and doesn’t haemorrhage oil again, I’ll take her for a shirt run around the block. But I’ll most likely need to get her to a garage to have someone competent look over her… hmmm!?
A trigger wheel off’t interweb.
And finally, what about work? Last Friday I did a full days’ teaching, for the first time in two weeks. My journeys were long and very arduous: two trains, a bus, and a long walk either end of the day, with a taxi journey in the middle!
Will I be able to teach tomorrow? It looks unlikely. I don’t want to lose that school and those pupils! Perhaps, if I get the car running tomorrow, all will be well and back to normal? But what about getting to a garage and checking the trigger wheel, etc?
* It didn’t work, sadly. So I wound up using a pair of circlip pliers, instead.
Yesterday a thermostat gasket and engine under-tray bolts arrived. I fitted the thermostat housing gasket quite late in the day. I’m holding off on the under-tray until she’s working again, or whatever else may transpire (gulps!).
The new gasket; no signs of any leaks.*
I ordered a radiator sump plug replacement from MX5parts, which won’t get here til Monday or Tuesday, and being impatient to get the 2nd fix tested, I thought I’d attempt a DIY repair of the old damaged plug.
The damaged radiator sump plug.Prepping the plug for repairs.
I sanded it down with two grits of sandpaper, and cleaned up with a scalpel. I then used the gray gasket sealant I was supplied by BOFIracing. Just checked that… ‘Allow 24 hours to fully cure’ ! Well, that will still give me a potentially usable plug a day or two earlier than waiting for the new part.
There are two parts: plug and gasket-ring.Plug back in situ.
I’ve let it cure for about six or so hours, and installed it. It went in very easily and nicely. It may need tightening up a little bit more. I’ll wait till tomorrow, and test it with a wee bit of coolant.
As can be seen from some of these photos. I got under the car, partly to put the radiator plug back in. Let’s hope it holds! Whilst under there I got shots of other things, like the oil sump plug. No leakage there. Very gratifying!
Very pleased this isn’t leaking.
Did a load of other stuff around the home today: put the towel rack that had fallen off back up; cleaned the living room window and frame; cleaned and refreshed the lounge to kitchen door paint, which had gotten mucky and grim looking.
The disc grades.
Also tried a set of buffing pads – pictured above – I got from Amazon Vine, on the headlights. The plastic over these has become very cloudy and dull. This means the headlights are a lot weaker, as the plastic is nearly opaque!
Before buffing the headlamps…
I have to say that I’m not sure the five grades of pad, coarse to smooth, really did very much. The pics here suggest a very minor improvement. If any!?
After; is there any change?
I’m itching to try the car again. but I need to torque up the crankshaft bolt, and I’m scared that doing so will knock the timing out of alignment. I’ll wait till tomorrow. And I can try out the radiator coolant as well.
* I’m an idiot! Of course there aren’t any leaks… I haven’t re-filled with coolant yet. Dumbkopf!!!
Whilst engaging in a spot of FB banter/lurking, this topic somehow hove into view, along with a parallel thread in which ‘Trane was compared with that other modern deity, Elvis (Baz Luhrmann has a biopic on the latter coming out soon, God help us!)
I wondered, did the Oops, er… oops? I mean the Pope (I love that predictive rendered Pope as Oops!), know of this beatification?
Gadzooks!
A bit of Googling revealed that John’s elevation to sainthood was actually a demotion from godhead! And not via the ‘purple inflatability’ of the Oops. Oh no! It was the AOC, or African Orthodox Church (of America) that sanctioned this sanctifying:
‘In September 1982, Coltrane was officially canonized as a saint by the AOC.’
I love a great deal of John Coltrane’s music. And I also dig a great deal of Alice Coltrane as well. She was a super-spiritual sort as well. It’s kind of cool, as well as downright weird, that ‘A Love Supreme’ has become a kind of hymn and regular service at the church that bears his name.
I find it all totally understandable. John and Alice have made music with tremendous emotional and psychic or spiritual power. But these are vexed terms and ideas, for me.
Not going to say much about it all here and now. Just observe that these things are whatever they may be. They exist!
First few pics are just ref re spark plug fittings.
After the crushing disappointment of yesterday, having re-assembled everything only to find the engine still not working, I was back at it again today.
I do feel I’ve learned a bit. As I was able to dis-assemble everything I needed to, tweak it – the timing, in particular – and then re-assemble it all, much much more quickly and competently than I did first time.
Rear sparks; note missing bolt!Front sparks.
I called BOFIracing, and also emailed both them and MX5parts with a pic, regarding an extra and errant lead/connector that I can’t match up with a socket. Neither could tell me straight off what it was (BOFI got back to me saying it’s something to do with AC). But it was suggested that whatever it is, it isn’t the reason the engine still doesn’t start.
The mystery orphan connector!?
Talking to BOFI was a bit different today. I bought the cambelt set and cam cover gasket from them. And they’ve been pretty patient and helpful thus far. But the guy I spoke to today seemed a bit impatient. He recommended I watch a video that would tell me ‘everything you need to know’.
The video he linked to (here) is a carpassion video that I’ve already watched several times. And whilst it has some helpful info, it’s far from ‘everything you need to know.’ In order to get all the necessary knowledge, I’ve had to watch loads of YT videos, and cobble together an entire process from many disparate bits and bobs.
By way of explanation, the VVT timing belt video the BOFI guy recommended – linked to above – is done with the engine outside the vehicle. So there’s nothing in it about how to remove the cam cover top, VVT swing arm doodad, or loosen the alternator, etc, to remove the belts.
First, align these…Then check these… they’re both off!
Anyway, today’s work went a lot quicker and smoother than on previous days. And as the first two photos directly above attest, the timing wasn’t aligned as it should have been.
But to find this out required, as previously, quite a lot of dis-assembling: I drained the coolant again, and took the rad’ off, again. I also drained the (new!) engine oil. The latter was leaking a little under the sump. But despite the little leak the main thing was I’d bought and wanted to fit a new oil filter.
The new oil filter.Viewed from below: getting the old filter off and cleaning up was hard!
To get the old oil filter off, and the new one on, I had to remove a chunky metal part (the intake manifold brace, acc. to Greg Peters). Prior to this I couldn’t get a grip on the old filter. The extra bit of space created by removing the mysterious metal member meant I could not only remove the old filter, but I could also install the new one. Very little of this job has been easy!
So my disassembly this time was a wee bit more complex and involved than before. But this ultimately made others tasks easier. I drained the coolant and oil, recycling both, as both were new in yesterday (and not cheap!). I had to filter the coolant, as some crud had gotten into it.
All the usual rigmarole was required: I took off the negative terminal of the car battery; the spark-plugs were removed, the VVT stuff lifted out of the way. I loosened off the alternator and the other thing (AC?), to get those two front belts off. This then allows the water pump wheel to be removed. With this, and all the pipes and wiring removed or disconnected, I could concentrate on re-setting the timing.
E is TDC, zip-tied, grooves at approx 8 o’clock are aligned.Groove at 4-ish aligned to back plate mark.Both marks now much better aligned.Re-checking the camshaft pulley; still good!
There were sundry things along the way, such as taking apart the thermostat housing, and cleaning the now set liquid sealant from where the two parts meet. The temporary gasket idea didn’t work! I also totally trashed the little plastic radiator drain plug. It had been in a lousy state from the get go. And deteriorated rapidly when used.
Anyway, as the three or four pics directly above show, first I aligned the cam pulley with the notch and lone locator tooth, lining them up as best as I could. Then, with the two idlers loose, I set the right (E for exhaust) cam and pulley wheel. This was a tooth or two out before. I zip-tied it off, Greg ‘carpassion’ Peters style.
Next I torqued the right non-moving idler to its specified 32 ft/lb or 42 NM (using torque settings I found here). I then adjusted the intake cam (I, and also VVT, in my case), which was a whisker out. Once that was right, I re-attached the tensioner spring on the left idler, let that find its natural position/tension, and torqued that up as well.
Snipping the zip-ties off, I then put the whole lot through two full rotations. Some folks say you should do 1 & 5/6ths rotations, but that only works – I think? – when checking against some marks on part of the cambelt cover I didn’t re-install (because those bit were all busted up!). After two full rotations everything was still aligned as I’d set it. And, as the fourth of the above pics shows, the camshaft pulley remained TDC.
I also counted 19 teeth between the two TDC (top dead centre) points. This isn’t easy on a VVT engine such as mine, because whilst the the exhaust cam pulley has an E marked at the appropriate point, the I/VVT side doesn’t. But both have marks lower down that can be aligned with recesses on the backing plate.
Everything back together, albeit temporarily.
With the timing set up as it should be, I re-assembled everything else. Having eventually added a new oil filter, I refilled the oil. Some has been lost, inevitably. I haven’t added the coolant however, as I need a new radiator drain plug and thermostat housing gasket. The old plug is totally, erm…. pluggered!
I’ve ordered a new thermostat housing gasket, from MX5parts. Whilst I was getting that, I also ordered four new bolts for the plastic engine under-tray. The latter was held on by just two bolts and a cable-tie! It should be fastened at six points!
Look at the state of this plug (note also grease-monkey thumbnail!)
So what remains to be done? First I need to replace the radiator plug, which was damaged to start with, and has deteriorated beyond rescue now. Then I need to install the thermostat housing gasket. With both of those things done, I should be able to refill the rad’ wi’ coolant.
I also need to torque the camshaft bolt, to roughly 168-9 NM. This is one operation I’m a bit confused and cagey about. Do I do it purely against the natural resistance of the engine? Or should it be in gear with the handbrake on? Or do I lock it off with spanners and a wrench?
Screenshot of some (US) torque values.
I might also need to torque the engine oil sump plug. I think I already did this? But I’d better check for oil leaks and re-check the torque setting tomorrow. And talking of torques, I better also check the cam-cover gasket bolts as well!
I don’t think I’ll bother putting the engine under-tray back on until I’ve got the car running again. Ditto for the cam belt guards. Please, oh ye Gods of the Mazda MX5… please start!
Today I hardly took any photos of the work I did. Most remiss of me! Maybe it was because today was mainly re-assembly? But frankly I really should’ve taken lots of pics!
The above screen capture was taken to help me work out how much oil I needed to refill the engine with. Most of the helpful videos are American – the call their Mazda MX5s Miatas! – and everything needs to be changed from foot pounds and quarts to NM and litres.
I walked into town – not far! – and had a slice of pepperoni pizza from Dreggs. I also checked out some larger wrenches, in Boyes and what used to be Thing-a-me-bobs. I can’t recall what the latter is called now!?
I wound up buying two 300 mm x 36 mm – one foot long with an inch and a half ‘mouth’ (in old money) – Rolson adjustable spanners. At £6.99 they were a wee bit dearer than the Boyes ones; it’s the latter pictured above. But they looked and felt both bigger and better quality.
Actually, whilst they look decent enough, they’re not great. Are any adjustable spanners any good? The adjustment is always fiddly, and very prone to slipping or working loose!
I left off all three of the cam-belt guard plastic bits, as they were pretty mangled to start with. And removing them had further damaged them. I think this metal plate screwed into one of them. There are two metal bits n this line that are not fixed back in place.
Took two shots of this bit, which now seems poss’ redundant. Ended up removing it altogether. in total there are three plastic cambelt guard sections I’ve left off, and two metal brackets, this larger one, and a much smaller one.
A chunk of today – two hours, poss’ more? – was given over to a trip to Halfords. After buying the two spanners and a bit of pizza, I caught a bus to the big roundabout on Wisbech Road, which is pretty close to Halfords.
I bought a new oil filter. I was expecting it to have a ‘crush ring’. But it didn’t. Rather tragically and annoyingly I failed to install it, as I was unable to remove the damned old one!
I wanted to catch a bus home, but didn’t want to walk to Tesco. I would up walking all the way home, with a rucksack full of heavy tool, engine oil, and even a little ‘dolly’ trolley (the latter in lieu of a larger and more expensive inspection trolley).
I stopped at The Hippodrome en-route, for a refreshing lager shandy, and to rest my poor aching feet! I’m not fit any more. The walk home was horrible!
As I said at the top of this post, I totally failed to document the re-build. I replaced the cam-cover, inc adding sealant gasket gloop where indicated.
One of the only bits of documenting I did arose out of the balls up I made of the radiator re-install. For starters I totally wasted a whole bottle of coolant/antifreeze, by failing tore-attach one of the radiators’ lower pipes.
Pouring the whole litre in, it simply drained right out, via the lower and still disconnected tube. It was a mother to re-connect that particular pipe, as the clip on it, and the end of the pipe itself, we’re not in tip too condition.
Then, when refilling the coolant mix into the re-installed radiator, I discovered further leaks due, once again, to missed connections. This was a thinner pipe-work segment, and it only haemorrhaged coolant when the radiator got pretty full.
But even after connecting all the errant lines, and tightening up all tubing and fastenings, there remained a terrifically annoying leak. This turned out to be the thermostat housing, the gasket inside of which had fallen apart.
I tried to bodge it, with gasket sealant. But I put it back together wrong; a whole 180° out of its proper alignment. So when I’d reversed it, or corrected it, the ‘temporary fix’ suggested by a BOFIracing dude, didn’t come out as planned.
So I wound up ordering a new thermostat housing gasket today, plus four new undertray fasteners, all from MX5parts.co.uk I hope they get to me ASAP!.
What was most g-g-gutting and g-g-galling, was getting everything back together only for the engine to not work, still. I have to be honest. This necessitated a bit of a lie down! I was, frankly, utterly crushed.
After about an hour of rest, I decided to go out and look at the car again. A friendly neighbour then took me to Halfords, for my second visit o’ the day – at 7.50pm, ten minutes before they shut! – where I bought some coolant.
Still from my video that WP won’t upload!
Topping up the coolant revealed several leaks. the easiest to repair was a small hose I’d missed. Next I tweaked a few of the clipped hose connectors. But, alas, coolant continued to leak. And a video under the area revealed that the thermostat gasket bodge hadn’t worked.
I tried to add that video to this post. I had to shorten it to even upload it. And then, once added in WP, the post no longer updates… gaaargh!!! So I’ve taken a still image from said vid’. Not great, but better’n nowt!
Bizarrely, the coolant, which was streaming out initially, but only dripping by the time I got my iPhone camera on it, seems to be dripping not from where the two parts meet, but just behind that. Weird!?
Anyway, that’s that for this post. I guess tomorrow I just keep on keepin’ on…
Today, Tuesday (actually yesterday, as it’s past midnight now!), was a real mofo! Certain steps in this job that seasoned mechanics might do in seconds, took me ages!
I didn’t take so many pictures today. I hope I won’t wind up regretting that? Pictured above is how things looked after a good five or six hours of work. Everything off, ready for new cambelt, and pulleys.
Getting the harmonic damper and the main cam shafts nut off was very tricky and time consuming. Rust had turned the several pieces into a single monolithic block. Much WD40, hammering, and swearing, was required!
Panning out somewhat, so as to see all the gubbins.
Lining up stuff on the windowsill. Some of those plastic bits, that shield the cambelt, etc, need replacing, as they broke (due to bolts that wouldn’t come out!)
Cleaning bolts…
A before and after shot; cleaning up fixtures and fittings, prior to gradual re-assembly. And below, the old idler wheel and the new one. Shiny!
And, also below, the other idler, this time avec spring arrangement. For the left (alternator?) side. New pulley and spring; old bolt and spring cover, the latter both cleaned up.
And now three pics zooming in on the new idler/pulley wheels.
And lastly, the two of ‘em, shiny and lovely.
I didn’t photograph loads of this stuff. For example, my three hour plus struggle with the hideous bolt holding the alternator at its junction with the engine block.
Today was a day of much anger, swearing and frustration! it wasn’t just the aforementioned nut that was driving me nuts. The harmonic damper was a real mother to remove. And the camshaft itself?
I thought I was going to lose it! But eventually I prevailed. And in the end the job progressed, albeit much more slowly than hoped for, to past the halfway point, as new parts were added.
The light was starting to fail, after 12 hours more or less solid work. So Teresa held a torch for some of the following photos. Above, the cambelt goes on.
With help from Teresa, we got the damned cambelt installed. I also set the harmonic ding-dong to its intended position.
Teresa snapped me working under the car.Some of the wiring labelling is visible here.A reminder re the missing gasket.The VVT stuff, close up.Poss tools for spark-plug removal?
So, that’s it for this post. A few more pics. But not much to say. A frustrating and very tiring day. Working slowly. Oh so slowly! But getting a bit of DIY style atisfaction
The new overalls!
Last of all, in my working duds! And beaming in a grimy way…
Last night, after emailing Greg Peters at ‘carpassionchannel’ (thanks, bro’!), and much – mostly fruitless – googling and watching of YouTube, I finally found out what the thing circled in the image below is.
Turns out this is a power steering pressure sensor.
Having established what it is, I was able to find a YouTuber removing it, and thereby learn how to do so myself. I did that late last night, sporting a head-band style torch, as it turned dark.
In the YouTuber’s video, as so often, it looked super easy. In real life, for me, it was very, very, very tricky. I used needle-nosed pliers to simultaneously grab the whole thing whilst depressing a tiny little lever, all the while also pulling upwards.
After lots of worrying (about breaking it whilst manhandling it so roughly!) and a fair bit of swearing, the ficker funally came orff…
The pic at the top of this post is how I looked and felt at day’s end. Note the new mechanic’s style overalls! £20 from the local Boyes.
Yesterday it was raining in the morning. And it remained damp, drizzly, and cloudy all day. But the afternoon was workable. Today the sun is out, the sky is blue. It’s beautiful, and so … wahoo!
The radiator overflow, disconnected. Main top cap off. Then I drained the coolant, using the plug at the bottom. Did’nae photograph that though.
Disconnecting the main radiator pipe. Turned the radiator clips through 180°.
Ditto the right radiator clip.
Removing the main hose in the front engine area. What’s this one called/for?
Popped this thinner tube out of a plastic clip.
Disconnected the right end of the large tube. Popped it in the passenger seat. This clip was a real mother! I might want to replace it with a different sort, when it comes time to reassemble things.
Popping off another of the simpler smaller tubes.
A lead that runs to the fan clips in place behind said fan. There are one or two plastic doodads that clip into a plate at the front.
And, lastly, removing a larger pipe from the bottom of the radiator, and draining more coolant! This pipe isn’t in the best condition. And the clip holding it in place is even worse. If the car can be brought back to life, these parts are prime candidates for upgrading.
Just a general shot, trying to keep track of engine layout. The bar along the bottom of this shot is called a ‘sway bar’, and keeps the front wheels in proper torsion and alignment. The silvery doodad in the centre is the thermostat housing. Two thin pipes go into this, one to the right, the other directly below.
With the radiator out, and the biggest of the pipes removed, it starts looking a bit more spacious up front. This extra space should be great for working at the the front of the engine. Which I’ll be getting to later, hopefully.
Zooming in a bit. Look at all the electrical leads/cabling (and adaptors/connectors!), and the several sundry pipes. Lots to keep track of!
Clips and leads on the air filter.
I wanted to capture a general view of the engine as seen from below, under the car. Cool! As can be seen, the sway bar will be in the way of loosening the bottom wheel.
Right side of the air filter. Or is that the left side?
Umm… getting confused. Where is this!? Is this the left or right of the air filter, and adjoining wiring.
A broken clip, and a tricky one. The second being the off white one, to the right of the broken black plastic ring. Can’t recall how I got that one out!?
The same as the above, with the tricky clip out, and the broken one more clearly visible.
Numerous electrical connections had these weird sprung clips. They’re tricky to pop out. I used pliers to squeeze them together, which helped.
Some of the hoses and hose clips were pretty stubborn. BTW, the red jack stand, visible under the ‘sway bar’, supports the latter, which I needed to loosen up, so it wouldn’t be in my way.
Thought it’d be easier to remove the above wiring, as pictured, i.e. still attached to the clip.
More photos of parts of the wiring loom.
Removing another chunky coolant pipe. Note that there are markings on the pipe which align with little nodules on the metal piping.
Can’t recall why I photographed this nut? Possibly this is the lower and harder to see/access nut, for the plate that’s on the front of the engine cover, which holds many parts of the wiring loom.
This tubular plastic lead junction has caused me some grief. I can’t work out how to disconnect it. And until I do, it’s not possible to finish getting the wiring loom out of the way.
Her you can see I’ve put the radiator clips inside the engine bay. Just so as not lose them!
And the other one!
So that’s it for tonight. A few other things I did, but didn’t photograph, include numbering all the wired connections in pairs.
Tomorrow I’ll drain the oil out of the engine. And disconnect the negative pole of the car battery. Then there’s more disassembling before doing the gasket and cambelt.
After our car died last Thursday, the AA got us home. At a not inconsiderable cost. So… with no money for repairs, what to do? I decided to get her up somehow, for inspection. I tried using a trolley jack I have, and some ordinary jacks. But no dice.
Bought these ramps from Halfords.
It was time to buy some ramps. Halfords in March did’nae have any. But the Wisbech branch had some, for £45 a pair. But without wheels, how was I to get ‘em? Fortunately our pal Ken was kind enough to give me a lift to Wisbech, so I could collect them. Cheers, buddy!
These ramps do the job nicely.
The ramps will be very useful if I need to access the underside of the vehicle/engine bay. And I imagine I will need to. But I didn’t need to today. Thanks are also due to our neighbour, Sean, for helping me get the car up on the ramps.
Step one in getting the rocker cover off.
I decided to photograph each step. And, starting with the picture above, that’s what this series of photos depict. All I was doing today was removing the ‘rocker cover’. So I could see if the cam-belt was indeed, as the AA engineer believed, broken.
Disconnecting wiring..
The first thing I discovered on starting this job is that YouTubers routinely make things look very easy. Usually they’ll be doing stuff they’ve done many times before. But if you’re not used to whatever it is? As an example, disconnecting some of the wiring junctions proved much harder than expected. It’s amazing how discouraging that can be!
… gradually got easier.
Gradually things got easier. Which was encouraging. The hoses all came off very nicely and cleanly. This was a relief, as old tubing can be brittle and perish, etc.
Each of these was easier than the last!And this was the easiest of them all!Front end of the spark plug wiring loom.Back of the spark plug wiring loom.There were a couple of points like this.
The above photo shows a point where a male peg goes into a female hole. But it wasn’t actually connected. This one was at the back. There was another, pictured below, on the left side of the engine.
Another unattached point.
One thing that really spooked me was the long doodad in the image below, below the spark plug wiring. None of the YouTube videos I watched had any such parts, so I was stumped. Nor could I find any diagrams online that explained this mysterious appendage.
A complete overview of the spark plug wiring.
Luckily I stumbled across a video by an American dude that clarified the matter. Turns out it’s a thing called a VVT, or Variable Valve Timing mechanism. Guess I might need to look into that?
Jerry-rigged the variable timing mechanism.
One thing I didn’t photograph, and should’ve, was a 19mm nut at the rear of the engine cover, that was a real mother to loosen. I had to use a mallet to get that loosened off! Once I’d done that I was able to lift the whole thing up and secure it with a bungee cord.
Front end of variable timing thing, note gasket.
As the photo below shows, I tried to arrange my nuts n bolts in such way that they’d be easy to replace in their proper order.
I tried to keep my nuts in order.
As can be seen below, I got the spark plugs out okay, these were, once again, rather different to anything I’d seenYouTubers dealing with. Fortunately if anything my set up is easier.
This tube clips into the bracket.
And then it was the moment of truth; removing all the bolts holding the rocker cover in place, which I did in a cross-cross fashion, a la drum head tuning, to keep the release of tension/pressure even.
And lo and behold, a busted cam belt!
And so it was that, finally, I was able to get the cover off and see… And yea, verily, the cam belt was busted. The AA engineer spook sooth! I was able to gently work it out. And it’s lying there, rather tragically, in the above pic. But is the engine itself okay? I can’t tell, to be honest.
The engine, in all its glory.
So, I managed to get the engine apart, and find the source of the problem. And the AA guy was right. Busted cam belt. Now what do I do? I guess I have a crack at replacing the timing belt? But that’s an even more complex and challenging job.
