Practically Classics Forum

TerryG wrote:I have seen people offering to replace these components on various forums for £25 so I could be on to a "nice little earner"

I probably shouldn't join at least a couple of these fora and offer to do the job for £18.

+VAT

Don't mind if I do, no lemon in mine thanks.

A few pounds (for enough parts to fix 10 of the damn things), 20 minutes with a soldering iron, some scrubbing to get as much "burn" off as i can and.....

TADA! The PCB itself is black but all the tracks are good. Fingers crossed it works again! I collect the car back from the MOT place tomorrow (hopefully with a new ticket) so will test it then

Well, I'm moderately irritated. My repaired ECU doesn't work I have compared every line local to the damage with my other ECU and they match so definitely not a problem with the PCB itself. All the relays test OK. After a really close look, there is a small black mark which is just visible under the "computer" so I suspect that it may be scrap
On the plus side, my spare "faulty" ECU is now repaired and working fine so I can adjust the seat again. Just as well I didn't think about fixing it a few years ago as I would probably have sold it and now I would be stuffed!

Oh well, still a good result if not the one you'd have preferred. Hang on to the faulty ECU though, you might find that the chip can be replaced at sensible cost and the unit then sold on as a working one.

The broken one will take residence in the box where the "faulty" spare has lived for the last few years. I'll keep my eyes out for another faulty one as normally the problem is a leaking battery eating it's way through a load of tracks on the PCB. The "computer" is far enough away not to be affected by that so I should be able to make one good one from the two.
Now back to the actual problems that matter and a quick "splice" of brake lines (cutting the corroded 4" out, flaring the end of the pipe, adding a coupler after swearing at myself for forgetting to add the screw bit before flaring the pipe so ending up doing it twice) MOT re-test booked tomorrow. I have left it on the garage forecourt tonight with the keys through their letter box. The MOT man will drop it back to me on his way home. I love country garages!
Then I have to replace both front swivels as I have "isolated" the clicking noise to them both but worse on the drivers side. I'm sure the car noticed that I was working proper hours again so decided to require the extra money I am earning to keep it on the road rather than buying me little things like food

Meh, food is overrated anyways

I have taken my intake apart in search of the cause of poor idle when hot.
Looking at these, I may have found it One of them has rattled loose and was so high that it was rubbing against the top of the plenum chamber! I was able to pull all 8 trumpets out (not difficult as 3 of them weren't actually in!) by hand, no heat required so I will put them back in with some liquid gasket to hold them in place after I have given everything a good clean.

It looks a bit better after a good clean and having the trumpets epoxied in place. Still have a problem with the oil pressure light flicking on when putting the car in drive when it is hot. the Idle drops down below 400 when it happens so I have ordered a new idle air bypass valve as the one that is on it works fine but may not be reacting quickly enough to bring the RPM up and stop it trying to stall. I wouldn't mind but this has happened before which lead to me replacing the oil pump only to find it was a bent butterfly. "unfortunately" this time, it is fine.
I have also ordered a new PAS pump and flame trap. The former as the steering is a bit heavy and after driving a friend's car last week when I borrowed some electrical bits from it is very heavy comparatively speaking and the latter as it is weeping.