What did you do to your 700 series today ?
 

Thought I'd start a simple thread, I've today lavished a little tlc on my 1986 744GLa - the first proper clean and polish of the year. Next I need to attend to some underbonnet detailing, rather grubby under there so good old petrol and oil first.

Jon

Picked it up from the garage, after a service and MoT. Had to have some welding in the n/s/f footwell, and had a broken front spring, both sides now replaced with new Monroe parts. We roll another year. :)

After a very pleasant trip to Keswick in Cumbria via Alston yesterday covering a total of 166miles round trip, the car was washed, getting rid of all the splattered flies, then cold water rinsed, and finally just made dry with a quality chamois leather.....now ready to go to the steam traction engine rally at Corbridge tomorrow.

Shopping - Stuck in a traffic jam for 20 minutes waiting to cross M3 at J3!! Then off to Aldi in Bracknell (amongst other things bought a new double barrel foot pump at half price £6). Then to Longacres Garden Centre at Bagshot. Finally off to Woking via Chobham for some supplies and petrol at 129.9 per ltr from Morrisons.

Oh, I did pop the bonnet/hood before and after to see what the coolant level looked like after my recent 'problems' ..... all fine. However there might be a problem with the exhaust near the down pipe/cat as it's 'popping' a bit on over run!!

Anybody got an idea what ageing brushes on an alternator sound like? I seem to have a high whizzing/whirring noise in time with revs which doesn't seem to to be a bearing noise? The ammeter is a bit slow to get up to full charge on start up 10v and then up to 12 + volts.

Must also take off the drivers door card soon as I have to use the electric window button at times to make some of the intermittent speakers work!!

Bob :)

Well done (car) on the new MOT.

Yes, I think I have the same problem re-rust in the n/s footwell . All front carpets out sometime shortly.

At least your water is soft up there. Here it's hard and chalky, and leaves marks on the paintwork if not immediately chamoised off. Happy steaming. :)

I hope that was Super Unleaded at that price Bob? :err:

Glad to hear your coolant problems seem to be over, annoying about the exhaust though!

Ageing alternator brushes generally sound the same as new alternator brushes. That said if the slip rings are worn then they will sound as if something is rubbing, a sort of whizzy-whirry noise that rises in pitch with the engine speed.

As a rule of thumb, the voltmeter should hit 14v within seconds of starting and stay there - what's the charge warning light doing when you first switch the ignition on and does it flicker at all with the engine running?

Off topic I know, but I made the mistake of running low on fuel nr the A1 Doncaster the other day - £149.09 a litre.

Cripes !!!

Serves me right at just over 20 mpg.

Jon.

Thanks Dave. Just bog standard unleaded. The car has never been privileged to have anything else :rolleyes:

In that case seems like it may well be a slip ring noise :buttkick:

Yes, the gauge is on a bit past midway (10-16v) once 'up' so that something just over 13.5 v, or so . It only takes say 15 or so seconds to get get there. The volymeter is out of an old Yazaki cluster that I found was an exact fit for the VDO on the car. No flickering from the charge warning light :waffen093:

My local Shell has been at 149.9p/L for Nitro (98 octane) for some time now. It's on the Fiveways roundabout on the A11 so almost "motorway services status" in terms of location and cost.

I thought that was pretty bad until i saw you'd paid £149 a litre! :err: :tounge_smile:


That's very £OUCH Bob especially from Morrisons! Sainsburys round my neck of the woods charged be 132.9p/L for Super Unleaded the other day, i won't run mine on anything other than the high octane stuff as it makes a difference on mine - enough to outweigh the extra cost.

It sounds like the voltmeter is heavily damped, might pay to use a digital multimeter on the battery with the engine running to confirm charging voltage though.
If you notice any charge light flickering or that it doesn't come on for some reason on switching to position 2 of the key (ignition only, not started yet) then it would be a good idea to find a replacement alternator.

Back on to the actual thread subject though :D the postie has just delivered 5 cans of Smoke Grey window tint spray so that's the plan for my 760 today. ;) :D

[QUOTE=Laird Scooby;2412430...Back on to the actual thread subject though :D the postie has just delivered 5 cans of Smoke Grey window tint spray so that's the plan for my 760 today. ;) :D[/QUOTE]

Just when I was going to put you on my Christmas card list ! Just about to change the plugs on mine, done the fuel filter (that's a cinch on a B230k). I fancy fitting this (see below), might be a bit of a faff though - the 745 came from the factory with one - useful item.

Jon.

The window tint is only from the B post back and is for a practical reason rather than just "pimping my ride".

Usually the dog sits in the front passenger seat as i need the back seats down for other reasons.

However at the tender age of 2 1/2, she's still very much a puppy so if she sees other dogs being walked and sometimes people just walking along (she thinks they've lost their dog so is trying to tell them) she gets a bit excited.

When she does she bounds into the back, is jumping up and down, barking and scrabbling with her paws at the trim and the glass.

Before i do the tailgate glass i need to play with the Electrocure as well as i have a few elephants that aren't working now on the HRW but the basic idea is with the extra tint, she's less likely to spot people and if she does, think they're further away.

That's the hope anyway. It should also keep the heat out of the car a bit if it's in the sun, making it more pleasant to get back into if it's been sat there a while. ;) :D

That's a good result for you.

On my 240 the high octane stuff makes a positive difference. Doesn't outweigh the cost. But. I figure the difference means the engine is running better. So I use the high octane.

Considering my local Shell charges 132.9p/L for normal unleaded, yes.
On ordinary unleaded i get about 22mpg for general running about which is usually short runs. On Super Unleaded, i get about 26mpg so almost a 20% increase in economy.

Taking Shells figures, the V-Power Nitro is 144.9 and the ordinary unleaded is 132.9p/L so the good stuff is 12p/L more which is about 9% (by rough mental 'rithmetic) and a 20% increase in economy far outweighs a 9% increase in cost!

Let's put that a different way - if i put £20 of ordinary in at 132.9p/L that's 15.04L or (using 4.5L/gallon) 3.34 gallons at 22mpg = 73.57 miles.
On Super Unleaded, £20 gives 13.8L or 3.067 gallons which gives 79.75 miles which is about 8.4% further for the same money - don't forget it's less actual fuel hence the discrepancy between how much further i go on the money amount compared to the fuel quantity.

You are getting a seriously good result. I'm paying the extra for any benefit to the engine. You also get that benefit.

Win win for you. That's cushti.

swapped wheels and more cleaning, best way to spend a sat afternoon

Maybe because mine is the "full fat" 170bhp (from the factory ;) ) V6 and it was designed to run ordinary unleaded, hence the knock sensors. It's possible it does the same as my Rovers do and advance the timing for power/economy until it knocks then retards it slightly and that's why i'm getting the best of both worlds.
I did try water injection on it but couldn't get the right place and/or jet size so it didn't pull any water through. I know that gives other benefits besides improved power/economy in as much as it cools the inlet charge and also cleans the engine on the way.

Good for another 32 years !
 

Thought I had a set of plugs, didn't so I cleaned and gapped them, gaps were slightly wide and #1 plug was a little rich, other three spot one. Plugs are NGK (preferred) but resistor type so I'll change them.

However the leads are silicon cored, I prefer copper wire and have a set - Bougicord - on my 60k from new spares car so I'll fit those. Oils all good, still quite clear so no issues with the engine or gearbox (AW).

Jon.

Why change resistor type plugs and for what Jon? :err:

They aren't a requirement on car that has little or no electronics*, as resistor plugs (guess you know this) are designed to eliminate electromagnetic interference - on those onboard systems.

*engine management, gps...

NGK resistor plugs have an R number, so I'll buy the non R type plugs. Plus, I've often had issues with resistor plugs...I'd always fit them to a modern for obvious reasons.

Jon.

I was interested in your reasoning Jon and you've explained it well, with a valid argument. The only thing you have left out is radio interference, especially if you're fitting copper-cored HT leads.

Normally a resistor plug eg BCPR6ES will provide a bit more interference suppression than the standard BCP6ES non-resistor plug. It can, surprisingly, provide a stronger spark as well, with more accurate spark timing which is all good for economy.

If you're not getting radio interference thought there's probably very little to be gained using resistor plugs as you rightly point out, however you may well find because of supply and demand that the resistor plugs are considerably cheaper than non-resistor lugs these days.

Radio interference is not an issue, you may well remember the old days when we used to fit those capacitors ?

I have a good source for NGK plugs at good prices...I've lots of cylinders ! And you know using best quality parts in the ignition system guarantee all should be well - and remember these B230ks don't make big horsepower, good torque though.

Off topic - I've seen a trick supercharger install in a 740 - that was interesting.

Jon.

Capacitors, in-line chokes and all the other tricks to improve interference!
Been there, T-shirt etc.

Finding the NGKs at a good price is pretty much essential, i tend to look on fleabay for sets of 6 for about a tenner delivered from carpartssaver/carparts4less/eurocarprats or go to my local parts factor and haggle for a deal on 12 or 18, depending how many i'm doing. ;) :D

This weekend, this arrived, so I cleaned it thoroughly and am looking forward to fitting it :D

https://i.imgur.com/er57xCQh.jpg?1

Also, paid for my new air-con pipework to allow me to (hopefully) get the system working on my 740 turbodiesel in the coming weeks.

Those are brilliant Jim! Surprisingly sturdy for what they are as well! ;) :D

Today, some free time so begin some detailing on the 744, the channel around the boot aperture, especially that under the rear window fills with debris and then during heavy rain cause the boot to get wet.

So. I removed the seal in the offending area and cleaned and polished the paintwork in the channel and cleaned the rubbers with Autoglym rubber lubricant - oooeer !

Here's a pic.

Jon.

To the matter of capacitors, and currently having my mind on alternators. I notice that there is a cap. on the back of it! Bosch Pt No 0 290 800 053 @ 2.2 µF.

Back to the thread .... cleaned the car Saturday evening and covered it today in dust as I attacked the front garden with the mower and strimmer!! Hey Ho :)

Painted on a bit of additional waxoyl underneath where it's been welded for the MoT. Will give it another dollop tomorrow.

Typical value for a suppression capacitor Bob, especially on an alternator or coil come to that.

Sounds like you need to get the hose out again! ;) :D

Finished the plumbing on the "new" fuel system the other day. Almost finished converting it from k-jet to lh2.4 but I decided to make things more complicated by running two pumps and a swirl pot. 7m of fuel hose required, despite most of the return still being the original hard line.

Am I in the wrong gang here ?

Jon.

Don't know Jon! :err: You started this thread! ;) :D

I know, there are posters here I know nothing about !!!

Jon.

You've created a monster! A good monster but a monster nonetheless! ;) :D

As disorientating as trying to buy a car from you Jon :tounge_smile:

Yesterday they forecast that rain would be somewhere in the UK today, so as my grass is parched and my 740 was dirty I washed it last night - and it worked today! A heavy shower just then so brushed off the small cherries that abound on the tree over my car (plus bird-droppings....) and the car looks fine again!

P

Strange though it seems, since i've started putting bread out for the local feathered fraternity, my cars have remained a lot cleaner!

Maybe i'm lucky, maybe it's karma, or maybe the parrots (general term for all birds for me) have had a dickie bird with the owl that usually sits in the tree over my cars.

From what I hear, fruit-poo is a different colour to bread-poo! From birds, I mean!

P

:err:

Berries tend to be dark in colour so that makes sense but it's not a case of camouflage - the cars are Silver-Green and White Gold so any defecation from the flying poop-droppers would be obvious.

Too much information!!
:D