MOT time...

So, with my MOT now expired, I'm doing my last checks before I take it to be tested. A couple of questions though.

So far, I've done all the obvious checks, lights working, tyres have enough tread etc. But I have a couple of things bothering me. Firstly, several people have told me they reckon my front shock absorbers are going, and it is pretty bumby going on these Welsh roads, but when I wobble the front on either side of the van, it returns to normal position within one or two bounces. Is it just the way these things are?

Next, I reckon I may have two warped brake discs, as when I spin the wheels, they catch slightly. I don't feel it through the pedal when I brake, but is it something the MOT man will fail? I've taken both discs and one set of pads off today and sanded them down with an orbital sander to remove the glazing, and in a quick test on the track, it appears to have helped a fair bit.

Finally, the flanges at either end of my Cat are warped, so I've not been able to make a good seal at the joins. My cat is looking pretty beat up and may fail the MOT, but I'd like to at least temporarily seal the joins so they can get an accurate reading when they test emissions. Is putty and exhaust bandage acceptable, or does it need to be more solid, like a weld?

And last thing, is there anything else I should look out for that tends to be a problem on these vehicles, before I take it in?

Cheers,

LBV.

Little Black Van wrote:So, with my MOT now expired, I'm doing my last checks before I take it to be tested. A couple of questions though.

So far, I've done all the obvious checks, lights working, tyres have enough tread etc. But I have a couple of things bothering me. Firstly, several people have told me they reckon my front shock absorbers are going, and it is pretty bumby going on these Welsh roads, but when I wobble the front on either side of the van, it returns to normal position within one or two bounces. Is it just the way these things are?

Next, I reckon I may have two warped brake discs, as when I spin the wheels, they catch slightly. I don't feel it through the pedal when I brake, but is it something the MOT man will fail? I've taken both discs and one set of pads off today and sanded them down with an orbital sander to remove the glazing, and in a quick test on the track, it appears to have helped a fair bit.

Finally, the flanges at either end of my Cat are warped, so I've not been able to make a good seal at the joins. My cat is looking pretty beat up and may fail the MOT, but I'd like to at least temporarily seal the joins so they can get an accurate reading when they test emissions. Is putty and exhaust bandage acceptable, or does it need to be more solid, like a weld?

And last thing, is there anything else I should look out for that tends to be a problem on these vehicles, before I take it in?

Cheers,

LBV.

Yep they drive like a fat girl on a trampoline as standard.

Warped disks are fine as long as they pass the brake force tester. As long as the don't fall into "excessively corroded" etc.

Depends how much it blows really, applying paste to the outside tends to blow out/off pretty quickly but that bandage stuff, with paste underneath can work ok. It might pass anyway.

Rot it your worst enemy, wheel arches, behind the arches under the seats. Oh and the brake bias proportion valve, but you need to put it on the rollers to find out.

Don't worry it will be fine, as long as you don't fail on stupid things like bulbs, wipers/washers, seat belts, tyres etc then you know if you get a fail certificate it wasn't from your own laziness and stupidity. I always wash and hoover out cars before I MOT them as I think the tester will give the vehicle more respect.

I always find this website helps when I'm unsure where the pass/fail line is:- http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm

Thanks for the reply, I'll have a go at bandaging the joins then, possibly with a bit of sheet aliminium to be a bit stronger. Will get the pressure washer out tomorrow and hose it down and see what horrors are uncovered, hopefully none. The last MOT had nothing on it regarding rust, but it has now moved to Wales, so that could all change. One more thing, I didn't manage to get one set of pads off to sand them as the bottom pin on the calliper appears to be seized or rusted in place. Assuming it hasn't welded itself to the calliper, any ideas on getting the damn thing out? And failing that, I assume I should cut it, drill it out and get a new pin?

Had the same problems with the pins myself. Shit design like on other high quality cars.

If you look at the calliper, there is a couple of bolts on the back which hold the caliper in one piece. It keeps the C shape on the front to the piston bit at the back or something.

What I did was loosen the bolts, removing the one almost entirely at the end of the seized pin. Then send the piston back home, then pack some hard metal stuff in the gap to give you more piston travel.

Then you get your slave/dog/wife/granmother/child etc to push hard on the brake pedal using the force of the caliper to shift the pin for you.

Be careful not to bend it too much, although you can straighten it up afterwards easy enough.

While you have the pressure applied from the brake pedal give the calliper some gentle taps with a hammer in the right places to apply more shock force that would get it shifted.

I wonder whether smearing a little copper grease on the end of the pin would stop it seizing again once it's out. Thanks for the tip.

Yep, good plan, brakes should always get built back up nice. Everything should in an ideal world.

Your average garage can't be arsed though as doing the brakes next time will be someone else's problem!!! Rush rush rush £££

Argh, found some pretty horrendous rotting on my back wheel arches. I wish I hadn't washed it now. Once it's all sorted, going to jenellite every rust patch and underseal all the wheel arches. Living where I do, I need to be somewhat OTT to prevent rust, as it gets everywhere. Damn you Wales.

You couldn't make it up, I drove it in, and the MOT started, it had the sensor in for emissions tests, and just as the guy was about to test it, the engine died. So he tested what he could, but no brake test or emissions test was possible, which means it will be a first time on the retest. I got towed back home, and I do have a fail sheet for what he could test.

Rotten arches and sills, repairable with welding.
Dust cover on suspension ball joint degraded.
Wiper blade failed, I hadn't thoroughly checked it as it was doing a perfectly good job of cleaning the windscreen.
A tyre had a tiny bald bit, which it failed since it was within the three quarters.

So as for this engine problem, it basically sounds like it can't get a spark. When my friend came to tow me, she had a guy with her who was a mechanic and had a quick go at starting it with easy start, at which point it attempted to fire, but then died. The HT leads, dizzy cap and rotor arm are all new, so possibly the ignition coil? Is there a way I can test the coil without specialist equipment? The best I have is a multimeter.

Never mind, found out how online, can be done with a multimeter. So much for needing specialist tools, which is what the MOT man said.

Bet its the wire on the battery!!!! Little one on the live terminal. Does the engine warning light come on with the key? If not then that's the problem.

Dust cover on ball joint is a new thing for this year, mot law has changed for the worse, would have passed pre january.

Not a bad fail sheet though. Put the spare tyre on it, steal a wiper blade of a mates car, glue up the ball joint rubber.......

Just that barstuard rust!!!!

It turns over, the starter motor works and everything, but no firing. Will look at it tomorrow and test the coil.

When that lead brakes it turns over fine, seriously check that first, about 4 or 5 people on here have had that fault

Ok, will check that next. Just tested the coil, primary coil is outside the range in the workshop manual, secondary coil is fine, did a spark check and got no spark at all. Oh, and the engine warning light does come on with the key.

Ok so its not that then,

Check your fuel pump, see if you've got power to it.

You can do it under the dashboard at the main relay or on top of the tank.

Or if your a bite pikey like me, you can crack open something on the fuel rail and see if you get a petrol shower!!

Well, when I turn the key, I hear the fuel pump wirring, and when I do the spark plug test, I can smell petrol from the open cylinder, so I'm pretty sure fuel is coming through. While I'm at a standstill though, I'll change my fuel filter to my universal one, and see just how much black sludge comes out of the old one. With it looking like original equipment and the van having done at least 170k, I'm expecting a lot.

I think if your hijet has done 170k I'd stop wasting my time and effort on it. By the time you've fixed it, welded it up too meet the MOT (for this year anyway) and fixed the other items it just won't be a sound investment of time and money. I'm not one to give up often, but it sounds long in the tooth man!

Well, it's my estimation based on the online MOT history. To be honest, the rust I've found is pretty much it, which isn't bad for its age, and if I deal with all upcoming rust before it becomes holes, I reckon I can keep it going for a while yet. It won't have much resale value, and when it works, it works pretty nicely, so I'm not going to give up just yet. Call me stubborn, but I like it.

I scrapped my silver one with 45k miles on the clock after i welded it for one MOT then failed the next one with more rot. Shame as I should have kept it for parts as it never over heated or anything. You have to work out how much your own time is worth as crawling around under cars using welding stuff etc costs money.

Having had a good look underneath when it was up on the ramp, I can see the sills starting to get rusty, but if I catch them now, then I shouldn't have to worry about it. Going to try Jenolite, then anti rust primer, then an underseal of some kind, or just primer and gloss on the outer bits.

Where I work way back when they made bike frames they used to Jenolite the frames in a big tank and then zinc paint them and we have some used ones and they arn't bad at all 40 years on.

Ignition coil wasn't the fault. Still not working. I resistance tested the lead going from the coil to the dizzy cap, and it showed 5k ohms, which I guess is ok, seeing as it's likely a carbon lead rather than copper. The leads are also brand new. The rotor arm and dizzy cap are also brand new, any ideas why I'm not getting a spark?

First off, code check it:-

http://www.daihatsuhijet.co.uk/hijet-diagnostic-engine-warning-light-flash-codes/

Then you need to work out if the ecu knows the engines turning over - e.g. if the crank sensor/position sensors have failed. Can you hear the injectors clicking? Is there fuel in the combustion chambers? Looking at the 993cc wiring diagram there is something called rotation angle sensor - if that was dead you would never run, it has an orange wire and a white wire, i'd expect it to be in the distributor. If your fuel injectors are clicking, then its probably not the fault - probably!

Next bits to look at is the ignitor and the coil: the testing method is in here on page 59 (EF-59)

http://www.daihatsuhijet.co.uk/pdf_manuals/Workshop%20Manual%20-%20Daihatsu%203%20cyl%20993cc%20efi%20electronics%20system%20pdf.7z

It's ok, I found the problem. Bloody engine fuse had blown AGAIN. I pulled out a 20 amp fuse in a hurry at the MOT place, and it wasn't blown, but I had missed the fact it wasn't the engine fuse. So, £20 and quite a bit of swearing later, it runs, and I can get it up to the workshop to be welded. Now, I had this happen ages ago, but it's only now that it's happened again. For now I've put a 30 amp fuse in there, but I'm worried that won't protect components from being damaged. It only happens when its been left to idle for a long time, as it was at the MOT station.

Oh, and feel free to call me a bloody idiot for missing the bleeding obvious.

We all do it from time to time, usually while rushing or under pressure or feeling desperate.

I wouldn't worry about it being a 30 amp fuse, it'll be ok.

Another thing while I'm here, my engine has been running pretty rich, and when I took a plug out to test the spark, it was black with carbon deposits, but none of the other plugs were, they have brown/grey deposits as normal. From what I've read, if this only occurs one one or two plugs in a set, it could be sticking valves, cracked dizzy cap, or bad 'secondary ignition wires'. Are these the same as HT leads? I wonder whether sticking valves may be relevant, as the exhaust does put out a steady flow of white smoke when idling. Not excessive, but noticeable.

Yes 'secondary ignition wires' are HT leads, the 'primary ignition wire' would be the one from the coil to the dizzy.

Also it could mean that cylinder has worn or damaged rings or the valve stem oil seals are leaking, making it burn a bit of oil on that pot.

But to check, make sure the dizzy cap and arm is in good condition, swap that plug over, and try and use the leads on different cylinders. Then check after a week to see if the dirty plug is still happening and see if its moved with the lead.

Ok, I'll try that when I have it back on the road.

Wouldn't oil usage show oily deposits? I have noticed recently that it's stopped using oil anywhere near as much as it used to, although that could be due to me not having done nearly as much travelling with it recently.

Well, it passed its MOT this time, despite dying in the middle of the MOT again. I went through 3 30 amp fuses before the tester put a re-trippable fuse in, and it lasted the MOT. The thing was, the re trippable fuse was 25 amp, and didn't blow once. So I must have a short in the system somewhere. It was blowing fuses the second you turned the ignition on, but before you fired the engine. Where should I look first?

I would possibly suspect some chaff-age on the wiring loom somewhere, and I would start my search after the big blown fuse but before any little ones....

Just on my way out right now to go to the Grand Designs Live show at the NEC, if you want any pointers we could highlight some bits on the wiring diagram which would be places to start the hunt.

That would be good, thanks. I'm going to start at the fusebox, and work my way from there.

Which fuse is it which is blowing?

Is it the big fat one under the drivers seat?