The VBOA National Rally at Market Harborough is fast approaching and I've been scrambling to get my cars ready; my dad and I have chosen to take the LS and the CD auto this year.
Despite taking this week off work so that I could spend some time getting them looking good, so far most of it has been spent fixing some niggles that I should have done years ago.
First of all a new drosselklappenstellungssensor!!
That's a throttle position sensor to you and I.
Interestingly the C16NZ2 uses a more advanced magnetoresistive type sensor rather than the usual potentiometer type sensor found on the C20NE.
I had hoped that this may have been the cause of the pinking/nocking (pre-ignition) that this car has had since the late 90s.
(I think I mentioned this back on page 3 of this thread.)
Old on the right, new on the left:
Unfortunately this has not solved the knocking and I still get it under medium throttle loads.
Once again, it's fine on light and heavy throttle loads and it only happens when the engine is under strain such as going up hills.
So far I've just been managing it simply by the way I drive and also using super unleaded petrol helps an awful lot.
Still an on-going problem though.
On the up side, It could be my imagination but since fitting this the car does seem to have a bit more punch, especially in the higher rev range.
Next little job was to fit one of these bump stops:
I bought 4 of these form genuine parts search. When they arrived, one of the bags had two in it. Meaning I was sent 5 instead of 4, which was a nice surprise:
I've already fitted one to the V6 and one is destined for the Diplomat (if I ever get it back), which will leave me a couple spare if I ever need them.
Next up, something that has been bugging me for a long time, one of the bulbs behind the instrument cluster had blown leaving it unevenly illuminated:
So I took the clocks out:
Fitted 4 of these 12v 2w bulbs:
I also cleaned it inside and out:
Now the dash is fully lit:
The perceptive amongst you may have noticed the 113 mile difference between the before and after shots.
Well, while I was doing this, I decided to replace the speedo cable as the speedometer needle had begun to wobble around in a comical fashion at low speeds. A tell tale sign that the cable was knackered.
I tried for about a week to get a new cable but just couldn't find the right one. Frustratingly both Genuine parts search and Online-teile.com had them incorrectly listed as in stock when really they were not available. Luckily Vauxhall green parts came up trumps and found this for me:
It's the same length as my original one, just it has an elongated fitting on the gearbox end.
Not sure what the part number is but it's got the indent number MU. The original was LT.
Here is my old cable side by side with the new one:
Just for good measure I got one of these and fitted it at the same time.
My old one was probably fine but, what the hell:
Old cable removed:
New one in:
I've had a real bugger of a time fitting this today. Fitting the cable to the gearbox and instrument cluster was easy but fitting the rubber grommet/bung to the bulkhead has proven too difficult. There is just not enough hand room to fit it properly, so for the moment I've just left it. Obviously this doesn't make any difference to the working of the cable, but it would be nice to know that it's fitted properly and there aren't any unsealed holes in my bulkhead.
Anyway, it's nice not to have a wobbly speedo any more, just got to try and fit in the cleaning and detailing before Friday.
Tomorrow I'm going to see the original owner of my CD auto, Gordon Jackson. It's his 100th birthday so I'll be taking the car along for him to see again. I've got between now and 1pm today to get it looking nice for him and I've got to fit in some sleep somewhere as well.
First world problems I guess.
)
