Mk3 Cavalier Owners Club | Vauxhall Cavalier Dot Com

Don’t worry, mines leaking from everywhere at the moment

Not sure if it is the same on the hatch but there is a join for the back panel about half way along the boot drain, and another for the light panel about near the end of the boot lip drain area on the saloon. Mine was leaking here even though it looked ok, no visible rust or swelling, It still leaks somewhere higher up near the bottom of the back window if you park it downhill and the drain fills up at the bottom of the window.

Robsey, use some old newspapers under your boot carpet at the corners to soak up the water, it destroys the material so don't let it happen to often. Me being from West of Scotland and having old cars I am, dare I say, a bit of an expert on the old water leaks

I have a dehumidifier and it works wonders in this grotty weather, just let it run in the car with all the doors and windows shut, and vents closed. It dries the car out great.

I aslo used the dehumidifier in my gsi years back, I thought it worked wonders.

Drain holes - I’ll have to check my car as it’s bare shell at the moment, so easy to inspect.

I've used talc powder in the past to trace leaks. Cover the inside of the boot in it, then when the water runs over it it's easy seen the way the water came from.

Greig

Not a bad idea...

Had a small leak in my Astra, drove me mad, perhaps a teaspoon a night.
Removed rear windows, roof rails (Estate), sunroof, lights, tailgate hinge bases you name it. Finally removed whole headlining and had an endoscope in all the roof sections. It was entering over the driver's door (5ft away!) through a roof joint under the roof trim, looked fine but sealing it with neutral cure sealant stopped it.
It was tracking along the seams until it was finally visible in the back corner!

Alan

Hmm - patience being tested.
Got up yesterday to find that I had lost a rear nearside wheel trim.

What was annoying was that all four trims were the original from the factory / delivery.

For some reason, in the past I had obtained three scratched up pre-facelift SRi trims.
I couldn't have two odd trims on the same side, so I got the two best SRi trims and fitted them front and back on the near side.

The red griffins are peeling on one trim and badly painted over on the other.
But at least I have moderately matching trims.

So here is the off-side with tired looking original '94 LSi trims.



And here is the near-side with equally tired looking Pre-Facelift SRi trims.



It will be interesting to see who notices at work in the morning.

And if Gary (Envoy) is reading...
Yes I will try to get the old girl washed and vacced before we see you in the week.

EDIT / UPDATE: -
Just found two for sale on ebay.
Used but in much better condition than mine for £7.50 the pair, delivered.

Just snapped them up at that price.

'Lost' ? or been nicked!

Alan

Damn. Didn’t you have any tie clips on or double tape on the inner trim..?

D'oh! And yes, get it washed! Hiding that lovely colour (though it doesn't have a patch on Smoke Grey )

The old trim just fell / flipped off.
Nobody would pinch a wheel trim, it isn't blingy enough.
I went to a town 15 miles away, and noticed that the rear near-side SRi trim had gone missing too.
So none of the trims want to stay on that rim.
Drove back home, and there was my SRi trim just lay there on the car park.

I used to fit cable ties before the restoration, but they have stayed on for a year since the resto without ties fitted.

When the replacements arrive, I will cable tie them on.

Hmm slight bias to Smoke Grey hey Gary?

It suits the red of the SRi trims well.

Polar Sea Blue is amazing in bright sunshine. The colours "pop". Sparkling blue and purple... Absolutely stunning.
It doesn't suit red SRi trim stripes though.

I do like the bluey-green of Fogs too.

I will fit in a quick scrub on Monday lunch.
And a quick vac on Tuesday afternoon.
Should be good to go for Wednesday evening.

Robsey wrote: EDIT / UPDATE: -
Just found two for sale on ebay.
Used but in much better condition than mine for £7.50 the pair, delivered

It usually takes me a while (days, or even weeks) to do deep searches for exactly what I'm after but It's always worth it to find parts at the best prices.

Excellent find there!

Better still he had another 2 in his car for a fiver.
So I now have 4 trims for a whopping £12.50, and he hand delivered them to my works.

Robsey wrote:Better still he had another 2 in his car for a fiver.
So I now have 4 trims for a whopping £12.50, and he hand delivered them to my works.

Maybe we should change your name from Robsey to "Mr Hartley".

I am not "that jammy" very often.
The hassles of the car often out-weighs the good fortune.

The second pair of trims were cheap because they were said to be tatty.
But they were cleaner and much tidier than my existing trims.

Smiles all round.

Normally Gary, you are far luckier than I am at finding parts for a good price.

As for searches.... my longest search was for four years. Not sure what it was, but I got there eventually.

Robsey wrote:I am not "that jammy"
As for searches.... my longest search was for four years. Not sure what it was, but I got there eventually.

Must have been the leap year bargains!

Do you not fancy getting your alloys done yet ? It's not made the choice easier by you getting a fantastic deal on wheel trims !

My missus would love these ;



Not a hope in hell though. I've got my standards, although they'd probably be cool on a "sleeper"car

I will get my Fanblades done when the finances are sorted.

Hopefully get straight enough to play again by Easter, all being well.

A pukka refurb and 4 decent new tyres will cost a hell of a lot more than 4 second-hand plastic trims.

The blades need shot blasting, cleaning, stove enamelling white and then spraying aluminium colour or gun-metal grey.

Also, the steelies are slightly narrower, so cut through the snow better during the winter months.

Therefore alloys for summer, steelies for winter.

[ Image ]

Better be quick if you want those alloys Ronal are ending production soon.

At £550, you can keep 'em.

Who would seriously buy alloys with teddy bears on?
My wife would... must be a woman thing.
But I am not a woman.

Robsey wrote:I am not "that jammy" very often.
The hassles of the car often out-weighs the good fortune.

The second pair of trims were cheap because they were said to be tatty.
But they were cleaner and much tidier than my existing trims.

Smiles all round.

Normally Gary, you are far luckier than I am at finding parts for a good price.

As for searches.... my longest search was for four years. Not sure what it was, but I got there eventually.

Found a few more jobs to do...

1 - The driver's front door lower hinge seems very baggy, allowing the door-handle end of the driver's door to be lifted and dropped by a good couple of inches.

Hmm - cannot think of a quick and simple fix. Possibly drill and tap to allow an over-sized bolt to be fitted.
And then drill through to the correct diameter for the lower hinge pin.

2 - Self tapping screw missing from front passenger wing to A Pillar.
I have a few spare self tappers - so hopefully the screw hole isn't too baggy / stripped.



This jobs list is starting to get very long.

And the saga continues...

I have had some running issues since the car came back from restoration just under a year ago.

It is the usual C20NE lumpy idle when the engine is hot, and also a tendency to stall on a hot start.

When in normal driving, the car pulls like a train. Plenty of power delivered smoothly in all rev ranges.
The car revs willingly and starts on the first turn of the key, hot or cold..

Other than that, the car initially failed it's last mot on high emissions. I have found fuel consumption to be a bit on the poor side.

So far we have had...
A full exhaust including cat.
A bosch lambda sensor
A new throttle position sensor
A new engine coolant temperature sensor
A new yellow octane plug
.
And today a new bosch idle control valve.

The result is no change.

I have a new ECU (Alpha Code GE) and a new Air Flow Meter on their way.
Both were ebay specials... an ex-Vauxhall mechanic's family selling off "new old stock" at knock down prices.
Try £120 for both delivered.
Did I say new??
Yep, you bet ya.

If they do not help, then there is only the fuel pressure regulator left to try.

A thorough check has found no split vacuum pipes and all wiring connectors look clean and securely fitted.

I even tried unplugging the air flow meter today to see if that was at fault.

I can safely say that the car runs 1000 times better with the AFM connected.

The noise pedal felt heavier and speed changes were more jittery / harsh.
Not smooth at all when changing between gassing, cruising and decelerating.

Normal post restoration idle consumption is 0.4 to 0.5 gal per hour when warm.
With the AFM unplugged this virtually doubled... 0.8 to 0.9 gal per hour. Eek!!

(Prior to the restoration, it was a constant 0.3 gal per hour on warm idle.)


I love 1990's cars - ha ha.

Well today the typical 500 rpm lumpy idle and cutting out appear to have disappeared.

Fingers crossed.

The fuel consumption is still no better though.