Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

The work that has gone into John's Vectra ST200 and the finish is superb any petrol head should appreciate it. The only comments made on the day were about having another class for cars that are trailored to the show, as how can cars that get used / driven to the show compete, but that is another topic.

That will be be cause of the slight fuel leak at the back of the fuel pressure adaptor plate. Look at the state of the O rings perished / seen better days.

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Rather than replace the O rings I have put a TX autosport one on instead.

Apart from that I am having issues with it running lean (16.5 - 18) on the AFR on tick over and sounding lumpy. It gets slightly better when it warms up (goes to about 15.5), but it feels like it is struggling when you Rev it.

Changed the ICV and CTS for new ones just in case either of those were at fault with it getting better as it gets warm, but no joy.

Thinking possibly a vacuum leak? Should the fuel pressure gauge move as you Rev it?

Also going to try a different AFM incase that is at fault, but struggling as to what to try next?

Gutting as I am supposed to be at Retro Rides Gathering in it on Sunday, but hopefully I can get it sorted before then.

Sounds like a vacuum leak, but unsure what to suggest as I don't know turbo engine very well. Hope you get it fixed for Sunday. oh, Happy Birthday!

Hopefully got to the bottom of the poor idle / rough running issues after putting a load of new parts on and swapping loads over from my mates Cavalier Turbo which is currently in bits.

Anyway it turns out that at some stage the outlet on the hot start valve had been broken off and glued back on. I only thought to check / swap this over as it had blown the hose off it twice recently. I had originally put it down to a loose connection on the rubber hose, but after pulling it apart found this:

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So may be this indicates that it was blocked / damaged and was not letting enough air through.

Anyway now it is starting from cold and running lovely without hesitation. So fingers crossed it is all good for a while again.


Also look at the plug on the old CTS it had been hot at some stage lol

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Crikey. Good spot!

Spare wheels on the Cav so that the Speedline's can be refurbed. Actually look quite smart.

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Very smart.

That would explain why I was putting air in one of the tyres every time I used it. British roads have taken their toll again...

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Luckily I have dropped 6 of for refurb (including another that has been welded) so that I end up with two spares (the welded ones) that all match. Look too good to need redoing though lol

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That's a bit of a crack. Lucky you have replacements!

Wheels back from the alloy wheel refinishers and I am really pleased with them. Just need to seal them and get them moved out of the kitchen lol

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Refitted my repaired / refurbished wheels and went for a quick spin. Doesn't look too bad for saying it has not been cleaning since September! Cannot wait for the good weather to be out in it again properly

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I am guessing gun-metal grey.

A very nice finish indeed.
I did wonder about doing my Fan-Blades in gun metal or standard alloy silver.

Hmm - that gun-metal looks very nice.

Not at all shabby

That looks gorgeous.

A real credit to you.

K26 Turbo fitted and first drive / clean of the year. Cannot wait to use it again this year

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Looking very nice!

Alan

Also while the turbo was off and had access to the crank sensor we changed the crank sensor too as the revs had been bouncing all over the place of their own accord. This has thankfully sorted the revs out, but look at the one that came out It was one of the old style original ones.

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Also put new strut tops on as the rubbers had gone and an exhaust elbow as the bolts had gone in the old one, but you don't need to see pictures of those as we know what they look like!

A friend popped over yesterday with Tech 1 and did a few checks on the 4x4 including a solenoid check and when he did this the solenoid clicked once and did nothing else. He had told me to try swapping this over before, but I could not get two of the Allen bolts out.

Anyway after some fighting with pliers and other tools it came off. Note the rust on the threads and the piston that just feel out!

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Got it all back together and went for a spin and I am pleased to say I have 4x4 once more I had forgotten how good the uprated system is


Finally while he was over I got him to look at the thermostat as I had seen water dripping down the down pipe and forming a puddle under the car while it has been parked in the garage.

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When he eventually cracked the bolts on the head we found the problem the rubber gasket was flat and it was like plastic and brittle!

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Great work getting the 4X4 working again - what rust! And at least you know why the thermostat was leaking now. Good work Mark.

On Monday I set off at 4AM to get to Courtenay for an 8.30AM start only to have an eventful morning, as the fan belt pulley cut through the crank sensor and I had to plead with the RAC to send a flat bed and not a partol to try and fix it (as I had already found the problem and it wasn't being fixed at the side of the road).

Anyway after a 3 hour wait at the side of the A14 dual carriage way crossing my fingers and praying that it did not get hit by a truck I got recovered to Courtenay and it made a healthy + safe 310BHP / 350 ft lb torque. That is a conservative figure as it will do more (even on other rollers), but it needs pistons and rods before it can be pushed harder and a few other bits.

Pleased with how she did though and it sounds awesome too

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Excellent result! Amazing how a little nick in a cable could have mucked your whole day up.

Alan

Mk3alan wrote: Amazing how a little nick in a cable could have mucked your whole day up.

Alan

Indeed, but that is not just any old cable...
I presume the cable must have been routed slightly wrong or had come un-clipped.

A pain, as the only proper fix is yet another new replacement sensor.

Very good rolling road figures there.
Probably a lot more than I could handle safely.
I will stick with my 113bhp - ha ha

I have been having issues with getting the Cav to start recently.

The final straw was when I went to check the tyres and get fuel and it decided to play up and would not start for 20 minutes!

I have tracked it back to the immobiliser, which over time has been exposed to vibrations and heat (from its original location) and caused some of the solder joints to break down (solder broken around the pin / board). I have also found a few posts on the internet with issues similar to this with this immobiliser on the internet.

So I have re-soldered 5 of them and it seems to have sorted it (fingers crossed!)

The pictures below show the worst one with the burn marks / broken joint the others were cracked round the pin to the board and cannot be easily seen.

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That is the worst one re-soldered. I didn't take any after I re-did the others.

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Good work, harsh conditions over the years have obviously taken their toll on the poor old board.

Alan

The car is currently at the bodyshop and I hope to get it back Wed for another last minute rush to get it back together ready for PVS, but while it has been at the bodyshop I decided it was time to finally sort the headlining as I had been putting it off for a while.

Unfortunately after removing the original headlining I found that it had seen better days and was creased and very weak as well the foam backing breaking up and starting to peel.

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Luckily I found a chap quite local breaking 2 GSi's and an SRi so I took a visit and managed to get a good one out of the SRi as the the other two were just as bad.

So I took the the new headlining, a pillars and sunroof blind cover off for trimming along with my original seat belts

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I went for a charcoal colour alcantara which shows the material off and looks stunning.

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And I head the seat belts re-webbed in blue

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For anyone that ever wondered if a Cavalier headlining will fit in a Corsa C the answer is just lol

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While the car is in the bodyshop I am having the windscreen replaced with a genuine GM screen (last in the UK) as the none genuine one I put in 3 years ago was marking and scratching very easily.

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The bonnet still needs flatting and is just out of the gun so it is not mirror like just yet

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Just need the car back now to get the interior rebuilt and cleaned inside and out! It might be a case of do what I can and leave the bonnet shut lol

Always like to see this car