Grand Move with Hi-Jet problems.

My 70 quidder has taken a bit of abuse in the past couple of weeks since I got it on the road with mot work costing me nothing. 

The clutch was slipping a little in top gear but it has lasted a couple of weeks and several heavy tip runs and pulled in two vans as well.

It got to the point on Sunday where it was more like an automatic than a manual so parked it up Monday. My friend Jim in the next unit

offered to lend a hand so the decision was made for me so disembowelled it this morning --- took over two hours to stip everything off

then pushed it over the pit and dropped the box out. Put a used clutch from the 1600 engine back in and put it back together. 

Turned the key and away it went. Magic !!! Parked up and turned off then tried again and it was dead, just a little " machine gun noise "

from the solenoid and then -- Nowt!!

Got to be a loose connection so went over everything and still the same ---- and then I spotted it ---- no engine management light. 

Could this be the Famous Battery connection into the loom Syndrome that HJ has to go through explaining to everyone with a non starting Hi-Jet ?


Well it certainly was. The connector block  WAS the problem and soon sorted. Hooray for HJ.  What would we do without you mate ??

Dino and his mate have pointed out something called the table of galvanic corrosion.

It points out which metals should be put together, and which shouldn't.

It turns out that Daihatsu used zinc plated steel banjo connectors.

Steel on copper on the battery connector is a bad combination.

They should have been copper banjo connectors, but y'know...... Daihatsu are cheap bastards!

Cheap ?? They are poisonously expensive .  Cheapskates yes and while

on the subject of electrics' what REALLY gets me is the wiring looms.

Absolutely no room to pull them about the engine bay or elsewhere. That

is penny-pinching.