Hey all,

I hope someone out here will be able to shed some light on my situation :(

What happened was my girlfriend and I changed the waterpump on my car, everything went well, taking the cambelt cover panels off, supporting the engine on a jack with wheel ramps underneath the subframe as extra support and precaution, put a draper locking tool thing in to the flywheel and locked it with a bolt. Then inserted pins in to the camshaft drive sproket, so all the usual precautions taken to make sure the shafts did not move.

Then we undone with great difficulty was the crankshaft pulley bolt, but before doing so we put the car in 5th gear so help prevent the whole lot moving. After the bolt was undone, pulley was remove marking-up where everything should be put back with some chalk, removed aux. belt.

After doing the above we removed the timing belt whilst being very careful not to move any of the sprokets. We made sure we found and mated up the white bit of paint of the sproket with the little bit of white paint parallel on the engine block.

We drained the system of water for a few hours.

Changed the water pump easily, secured all back properly with gasket sealent, then proceded to put the old cambelt (only done 3000miles on it) back on, measuring the tension by turning the belt 45 degrees on the longest run, and then securing the tensioner.

Next we cleaned the camshaft pullet bolt, and applied some loctite threading compound, we then put the pulley back on properly with and tightened the bolt to the specified torque.

We then fitted a new aux. belt as old one had some fine cracks, placed all cambelt panels back up, put new antifreeze in radiator with enough water.

After doing this, we secured all the rest (engine mounts, wheel etc) and the went on the road with it. Carried 3 bottles of water. Went up the road, all was fine and the temparature increased at a fast rate, pull over, engine off, filled up with water, fans were kicking in for a while, went along, warning light came on for low water, filled up with more water, and then all seemed fine.

We let the car idle for 25-30mins, making sure the fans kicked in when up to around 95-100 degrees (we let it do that twice).

So all was fine that night, car working properly, pulling through gears fine, turbo spinning up normally.

The problem today was in the morning, started her up, was a strange 'clattering', went down the road a bit more, and this clattering became worse with the engine shaking violently.

Was soo worried about this, I got the car towed home by greenflag.

We have re-checked everything was aligned as we took the parts off again, we just can't work out why its doing this?!

I've got some questions about this:

What is the significance of the little embossed markings on the camshaft pulley, which looks like this:

\ . /

Does the fuel pump, which is has a sproket, require timing?
Autodata states that it doesn't. Also, on the fuel pump sproket, what is the significance of the embossed 'capsule' shape?

I know this post is very long winded, I just wanted to make sure whoever reads this knows what has been done.

Please, can anybody help???

Thanks for any replies,

Paul :( Read more

My lad has just had a nail go through his back tyre, and he is talking of getting it repaired on Tuesday.

Personally I have never had a type repaired - I have always taken the opinion, rightly or wrongly, that a repaired tyre will never be as safe as it was before the burst, and my life is worth more than the 50 quid it would cost to put a new one on.

Am I Right, or should I stop worrying and get a life!
Read more

I am in desperate need of help!!!

I have a 1990 H-reg 205 GTi 1.9 (is the slightly later style of engine with the ignition coil bolted to the inlet manifold.) I bought the car with the intention of using it as a daily hack and some track day / autotest type events. The was fine when I bought it in Jan of this year, the only fault being it would occasionally not start when the ignition key was turned (i.e. a total not start wouldn't turn over you could just hear the fuel pump pumping and a relay clicking on the fuse panel). I thought initially that this would be something like a sticking starter motor solenoid as the car had only done 200 miles in the last year. When it would do this you would just have to try again and then the starter motor would pick up and go and start the car.

I used the car daily until Feb then was away with work for about 4 weeks therefore car sat unused. When i needed the on the first morning back to work the car would not start. It would turn over the engine (unlike the normal failure mode listed above) but would just not fire. I then managed to flatten the battery by various attempts to get it going. I checked I had fuel in the tank, checked fuel was getting to the fuel rail, checked the spark from the plugs, seemed a little weak so i installed new leads and dizzy cap, but still she would fire but not start!!!

Left her for another week, until I had time to have another fiddle, now when I tried starting her she would still turn over but not fire, but now when I released the ignition switch from the start position the car would continue turning over!! and wouldn't stop until I turn back to accessory position. As I had the problems previously with what I thought was a sticking solenoid thought this was a good time to change the starter motor. I had a spare starter motor from a previous GTi a few years back fitted it and low and behold the same problem was there, this when the starter motor was trying to mesh with the ring gear there was a terrible 'crunching / clattering' type noise as if the start was not quiet engaging with the gear properly when rotating. Checked the condition of the teeth on the ring gear and you could see the some 'damage' to the teeth caused by the incorrect engagement.

When I was trying to start the car you could see a small amount of smoke coming from under the bonnet, I presume this was because the starter motor was being continuously supplied with 12V?

At this point I thought I had best call an auto electrician.

He looked at the car whilst I was at work,his report to me on the phone was that he thought the ignition switch was faulty, and to change this and the starter motor. So I bought a new ignition switch, fitted it, and bought a new starter motor and fitted it.

Guess what.....??? The problem is STILL there.........but now the car nearly starts, i.e. the engine fires but I have to turn it off as the starter motor is still going.

Found another relay that was not located by the other bank of relays. It is under / near the steering column on the same bolt that secures the ECU. This is what I have found when I disconnect it. The engine turns over BUT when you release the ignition switch from start position the starter motor actually stops spinning!!! (unlike when the relay is plugged in) When it is plugged in the starter motor is continuing to be energised when the ignition switch is released from start position. Logically thought this was the cure to all my answers, apparently it is called a tachymetric relay that is involved in the fuel pump, starter motor solenoid feed, injectors, coil the whole nine yards. Replaced it, (peugeot tried to charge £69 VAT) eventually found one for £29 VAT, talking to the supplier i said that this would be the cause of all my problems - great!

Now the unit has arrived....plugged it in and it is doing the same flipping thing!!!....so what the hell is wrong!!! My electrical expertise is not too good, I have however located on a wiring diagram a relay on the fuse board that is also involved in switching to control the starter solenoid. Is there any way I can run a feed directly to the starter solenoid??? Help!

damn this french pink fluffy dice car!!!! I feel like chucking it in the skip......

Any help would seriously be appreciated....sorry its chapter and verse.....


{amended to make use of drop down menus that weren't previously available when post first composed} Read more

The blue lagoona is knackered again. It sounds like it running on 3 cylinders. It has a lack of power but no engine management light. It is driveable and can reach 70 if your bones can take the vibration.

Could it be one of the coils gone? It makes sense except that I am sure that I read a post saying that one went on a Megane and it was undriveable.

If it is an individual coil gone, I can't understand why there is not a load of unburned fuel blasting out of the exhaust like a Red Arrows display team.

Anybody had a similar problem? Read more

I have an R-reg 1.2 Corsa Merit. When I was driving along the motorway last week, I noticed the enginer temperature was higher than I'd normally expect, but it was still below 100. I continued driving 30 miles to my destination (the temperature varied slightly, but never above 100) and parked for the day. that evening, I started to return home, but only got miles down the road when noticed the temperature gauge was in the red. I pulled over immediately and called the breakdown service.
The breakdown man spent almost an hour at my car, but could not find the cause of the problem.
The part of the engine containing the temperature transmitter was very hot (in the red) and the radiator was cold. He looked for blockages, but couldn't find any. He ddn't think it was the cylinder head gasket, but he could not be sure, so I was towed home.
My car has been in the garage all week (a small local garage that I have used for 4 years) and they have replaced the transmitter, sender unit, gauge and cylinder head gasket, yet the problem remains.
Could someone please advise me on my best course of action as I am finding I am getting quite stressed - from the length of time it's taking, the cost and havine to manage without a car? I'm not sure I'm getting the best work from the garage, who have always done a good job for me in the past and I'm concerned I may get unjustifiably angry with them.
What can the fault be? Might it be "terminal". How long should I reasonably expect the repair to take?

Many thanks. Read more