Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

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humbucker
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by humbucker »

"While I was adjusting it I found this big piece of sheet lead".

Eh?! Stuffed in your bumper?

The sidelights at 'low power' are the same as those on my Saabs. I believe it is a safety feature, a bit like a parking light. No idea why the feature isn't on later cars, although leaving the indicator stalk on either L or R setting, the lights on and engine off can leave the selected side's sidelight on as a parking light (instead of having both sides on as your pictures demonstrate).
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Mk3alan
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Mk3alan »

Mines the same, I believe it's called 'dim dip' and was being used from about 87 (my mk2 Astra had it) to 90
I thought it was a good idea as it stops drivers driving around on sidelights.
It puts the headlight supply through a large resistor but I don't know where the resistor is!

Alan
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James McGrath
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

humbucker wrote:"While I was adjusting it I found this big piece of sheet lead".

Eh?! Stuffed in your bumper?

Yep, just resting in the bottom lip of the bumper. No idea how it got there or where it came from.
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James McGrath
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

For the last month I have been using the CD auto as my daily driver. Primarily to recharge the battery as it was in storage for 2 months prior to reactivation, and also because the MOT was looming up.

It's been a nice change to go from the slightly decrepit Diplomat to this.

This short period of reactivation has also enabled me to get a few things done.
Apart from finally getting that fog lamp realigned, I also got a full set of much needed new tyres.

Just a bit of back story as I'm not sure I ever mentioned it on this WIP; ever since I bought the car it has been running on 3 truly appalling Tigar Hitris tyres. The amount of tread was fine, just they felt like they were made out sawdust and braking and handling were affected as a result. The other tyre was in fact the original Pirelli P600 tyre dated the 14th week of 1990! Obviously the previous owner, or more likely the previous owner's son had seriously cheaped out when it came for a new set of rubber and bought 3 cheapo tyres and put the spare one on. I suspect this mainly because in the spare wheel compartment was a Goodyear Eagle NTC 60 tyre also dated the 14th week of 1990 which I'm pretty sure was one of the original 4 tyres that it left the factory with!

This Goodyear tyre has now been thrown away. It was a shame but it had no tread and it was that or the original Pirelli spare which is still useable.
I did however take some snaps for prosperity:


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Ended up going for a set of Hankook Hanko Kinergy K425 basically for no other reason than they were the best I could find. Any one who has looked for 195/60r14 tyres recently will know just how difficult decent branded ones are to find.
They have seriously surprised me as they have turned out to be great tyres. Certainly miles better than the god awful Tigar Hitris tyres that were on there before
Defiantly something to add to the recommended list.


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I have also kept the original Pirelli P600 spare tyre in the boot for the sake of originality.


This milestone was also reached. Barely ran in I hear you say!
But I feel guilty for adding so many unnecessary miles to her.

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The other major thing this month was the dreaded MOT where she got this pretty amazing result:

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(The tyres were replaced after this, hence the advisory)

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Unbelievably good emissions for a non cat car I thought. :)


All too soon, August is over and it's time to go back to the Diplomat.

One last wash:

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Change over of the guard:

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Sleep tight old girl, see you next month:

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James McGrath
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Right this is annoying. Just as I get one car fixed another decides to break.

I was planning to take the car out of storage and run her for a while.
I tried to start her up this morning and after a little encouragement (2nd turn of the key) she started up fine.
I went to move her and as soon as I put it into reverse it stalled. Odd I thought for an auto to stall.
Went to start her again and it wasn't having it. It turns over a few times and then just stops. :scratch
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

I checked the spark plugs, they were quite black and wet with petrol (so fuelling isn't an issue) so I gave them a clean up.
I had to replace the HT leads as one of them broke when trying to remove them to get to the plugs. :wall

I think it needs a new battery as despite being left to charge for 2 hours it didn't hold enough charge to turn the engine over.

After that it was too cold and dark to get the jump leads out again so I've left it for today.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by cavalier1990 »

James McGrath wrote:I checked the spark plugs, they were quite black and wet with petrol (so fuelling isn't an issue) so I gave them a clean up.
I had to replace the HT leads as one of them broke when trying to remove them to get to the plugs. :wall

I think it needs a new battery as despite being left to charge for 2 hours it didn't hold enough charge to turn the engine over.

After that it was too cold and dark to get the HT leads out again so I've left it for today.
Sometimes takes a car a while to "come too" after being stored up. As everything stone cold and damp it can shock the system and it just doesn't cope until there is some heat going through it.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

I hope so. I'm all my experience of Cavalier ownership I've never had a problem starting them up before.

What I don't understand is why it started fine the first time and then stalled. :scratch

I have a new battery that I'm going to fit today, see if that helps.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by cavalier1990 »

James McGrath wrote:I hope so. I'm all my experience of Cavalier ownership I've never had a problem starting them up before.

What I don't understand is why it started fine the first time and then stalled. :scratch

I have a new battery that I'm going to fit today, see if that helps.
That's quite normal for a lot of cars stored for a long time, first kick it goes then chucks it, and sometime struggle to restart. Hopefully a few churns from new battery will get it going. Also remember oil in hydraulic tappets will be low for a bit until it really gets going so best to let idle for a few mins before any revs.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Robsey »

Indeed - let it idle for about five minutes.
It will allow any hydraulic pressures to reach their normal levels,
And also helps boil off any dampness or condensation in the engine and / or electrics.
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James McGrath
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Well it did idle quite happily for a good minute or two before I tried to move it then it cut out the instant I put it into reverse.
It's not been that long since I last started it up. It was just after new years I believe, and about a month before that I took it out and drove it.

I put the new battery in and it still won't start. It just turns over and over.
There must be something wrong here. :scratch
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Robsey
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Robsey »

Hmm -
None start eh?

Has your fuel pump / ignition relay died?
The one underneath the ECU in the driver's kick panel.

I think that is the weakest link for a non-start.
Other than a crank angle sensor that has been knocked, or has died.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Steven715 »

I agree, time to do the basic checks, constant spark & fuel sounds like a possible fuel pressure issue.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Ahhh, it started! :D

I've just tried it and it started up after a couple of turns.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Ok well there was slightly more to it than that.
After a couple of minutes of idling it seemed to go down to just 3 cylinders. After a bit of reving it seemed a bit better so I decided to move it. I put it in reverse and... It cut out and I couldn't get it started again.

After this I decided to check the distributor and found it full of water. :?
Well not full but lots of condensation anyway.
Cleaned this out and it started first turn of the key.

I'm going to take the old girl for a drive now. 8-)
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Steven715 »

James McGrath wrote:Ok well there was slightly more to it than that.
After a couple of minutes of idling it seemed to go down to just 3 cylinders. After a bit of reving it seemed a bit better so I decided to move it. I put it in reverse and... It cut out and I couldn't get it started again.

After this I decided to check the distributor and found it full of water. :?
Well not full but lots of condensation anyway.
Cleaned this out and it started first turn of the key.

I'm going to take the old girl for a drive now. 8-)
Nice :thumb glad it was an easy fix a well deserved long drive to dry everything out.
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James McGrath
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Indeed, nice and simple for once. Can't think why I didn't think of it sooner.

Thankfully, It's now driving perfectly.
It felt like the brake disks had warped at first but it was just rust and after about 10 miles they felt normal.
I almost forgot what it's like to drive. The suspension is a fair bit softer than the later cars which pairs with the auto box rather well. This gives it a wonderfully smooth 'luxobarge' cruiser type feel.

Also gave her a good clean when I got home:

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I was going to show a before and after shot of this but after examining the photos I have realized that the car looks exactly the same when it's clean as it does when it's covered in grime.
Rembrandt silver really is amazingly good at hiding up dirt it seems.

One area that has suffered however is the engine bay. During its time in storage lot's of powdery white aluminium oxide has had time to form over the aluminium parts of the engine. Luckily this is pretty easy to brush off though so I'll tackle that tomorrow.
This also shows the new Vauxhall trade club battery and Bosch HT leads I fitted:

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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by cavalier1990 »

Defo like the pre-facelift CD wheels, nice match with the rembrandt silver.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Managed to get a couple of small but important jobs out of the way on the weekend.

I had suspected that the thermostat needed replacing back in the summer.
However, after taking it for a good 20 mile run the other day in the cold weather, the temperature gauge barely moved out of the blue.

One of the best things about clearing out my garage has been that I can now effectively hide from the rain.
At least for some jobs anyway.
Just for anyone who doesn't know, if you want to change the stat, take the coolant return hose off the header tank and lower it down to ground level.
This will effectively siphon the coolant from the system with the least amount of mess.
It doesn't get all the coolant out of the system, but it gets enough out so that you don't end up with coolant over the floor when you take the thermostat off:

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Praise the gods! All 3 bolts came out without breaking, makes a change:

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Obviously the person who put them in last time remembered to grease them up properly.
Here you can also see the gap which coolant can get through rendering the stat useless:

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New stat on. This is the Wahler part I temporarily fitted to the LS a couple of months back.
This will be replaced again with a genuine part when it arrives.
Yeah I know, I'm a total genuine parts nazi, I can't help it.

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Topped the system up with coolant, this has been watered down before hand 50/50 by the way.
I'd say a good two thirds was drained out:

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Mmmm, genuine...


Next job was to change the gearbox oil.

For this, the car was switched to the other side, just to confuse you: :p

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Despite being changed only 8,000 miles ago (well supposedly anyway, I didn't do it myself) it was looking quite dark and had lost it's red colour. It also wasn't smelling too good:

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After a bit of a faff going down the road and back (twice) to get the right spanner (this is a 24mm bolt by the way [absolutely no where on the internet or in the Haynes manual does it tell you this by the way]), the old oil was drained:

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Far more oil came out than I thought, about 6 pints (or 3.5 litres for all you Frenchies):

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It was surprisingly difficult to fill the system up again as Vauxhall in their wisdom failed to put a fill point on the gearbox, meaning you have to fill the system up from the dipstick tube. This means that the tube gets coated with oil on the inside:

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This has the unfortunate consequence of giving you a totally inaccurate reading when you check the oil level with the dipstick. This is because it gets covered in oil as it gets inserted into the tube.

Now, sensible folk among you may say simply measure the amount of oil you removed and put the same amount back in.
Yes, good point.
I however wanted to drain out as much of the old oil as possible. I achieved this by putting a small amount of fresh oil into the system and then draining that out too. This meant I had more oil in the drain pan than was initially drained. Oh well, I'll remember next time.

Anyway, almost 4 bottles of Dexron VI later, it was full of oil once more, huzza!!

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It wasn't quite as clean looking as I thought, considering I just put it in. :scratch
This is after running the engine for a few minutes and selecting each gear to allow the oil to flow into all areas of the gearbox properly:

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One thing that is slightly disconcerting are these metal fragments left at the bottom of the drain pan. :?
Pretty sure that's not supposed to happen.

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Oh well, it'll be fine... probably.

On with the obligatory photos!


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Fun with puddles!

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cavalier1990
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by cavalier1990 »

Some of the old oil will remain in the torque converter so will mix with new oil when you run it again. Only way to drain it all is to remove box then empty converter and I'm pretty sure you don't want to be doing that! In fact I think on some cars the TC has a drain plug, don't quite me on that though. You can remove inspection plate and drain it, however I'm not sure if cavy has that plate on auto.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Mk3alan »

Had a similar oil drain problem on my 1.8 Auto mk4 Astra, not a great deal come out I'm guessing half. Topped up with fresh, 60 miles then drained again - did this 5! times, used 10 litres of oil. Looked alright in the end but bit of a palava.
My previous mk2 auto didn't even have a drain plug, the whole gearbox sump had the come off - could be very messy!
Saw a bit of footage on you tube where the guy disconnected the oil cooler pipe from the gearbox and with the engine running allowed the oil to pump out while fresh oil was poured in, looked a very effective way of dealing the 'system'
The secret I guess is not to let the level drop too low!

Alan
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Steven715 »

Hi James, I need to change my auto gearbox oil when the weather gets better the colour of my oil is like a light brown a bit like new engine oil. I also have a 1.4 Honda Civic Auto I changed the oil in that 2 years after I bought it and that was still red although darker than the new oil. To note I think that the metal fragments you see is normal as the Honda drain plug is magnetic and I was quite alarmed at how much the plug had on it, it was more of a paste looking.
Do you know if these have a filter up in the gearbox? I thought they did.

Also it's fairly common for automatic gearboxes to be refilled by the dipstick tube the Honda is the same that was deap down to and a pain ahh the fun of maintaining cars. I love it.
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Lowrider Dave »

Superb work JM - the CD looks lovely - nice pics.
Lowrider Dave.

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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by Metallicav »

Don't know how I haven't noticed before but it's identical to the cav in the "Car of the future today" advert, only noticed after admiring the stunning colour.
Reminds me that I really love standard pre facelift saloons as well.
Also reminded me that I really need to do my gearbox oil!
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Re: Mike and James' 1990 CD Auto

Post by James McGrath »

Thank you for the positive comments everyone.
It's been nice to use it again this last week.
Just a shame the weather hasn't been better.
Metallicav wrote:Don't know how I haven't noticed before but it's identical to the cav in the "Car of the future today" advert, only noticed after admiring the stunning colour.
Yes I do quite like that about it.
There is also an identical car on the front cover of the 1992 Cavalier sales brochure.

Steven715 wrote:Hi James, I need to change my auto gearbox oil when the weather gets better the colour of my oil is like a light brown a bit like new engine oil.
Sounds like it's due for a change then.
You can normally tell from the smell too.

Not sure if they have a filler. If they do I couldn't find it.
I know the manual gearboxes have a level check plug.
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