Club 80-90 Forums

what2d wrote:

MarrV wrote:Tried adding a 15a fused wire from batt +ve to coil - she did not fire, only turned over on starter motor

Tried without it & that clunk noise but nothing more

3rd time no electric or anything - taken battery out & charger is saying its low again

Are you still spraying something into the carb whilst turning it over? It would be fab to hear that this van successfully ran for a while even if you were spraying blooming funny fuel into it!

Ah it did run successfully yday for a while until we saw white smoke, panic'd & turned her off.

While it may be a record am thinking beers may be turning into cases of beer soon....

MarrV wrote: The wire coming of the alternator which is labelled in the above pics is a mystery to me

Not in the league of the other guys on here but after having lots of alternator problems recently, I'm pretty sure the "mystery" lead you refer to is the one that eventually runs to the battery charge light in the dash.

SamsBus2012 wrote:

MarrV wrote: The wire coming of the alternator which is labelled in the above pics is a mystery to me

Not in the league of the other guys on here but after having lots of alternator problems recently, I'm pretty sure the "mystery" lead you refer to is the one that eventually runs to the battery charge light in the dash.

I agree blue in the loom is alternator light and that connects to the rear of the alternator as it should
wiring looks ok from the pics at a glance, it has run so dont worry about it for now

so measure the batt voltage a few hours minimum after charging, preferably next day, what is it?

also try measuring the current draw, disconnect the pos terminals and with everything off measure current draw one by one
total should be very very low if not something is draining batt

Got a new battery, about to test it out.

Was just thinking on the ignition coil wiring;

The +ve has a wire from fuse box (assuming ignition switch?) a wire to the inlet manifold preheater and a wire going to the ECU (or whatever it is called)

The -ve has a wire going to the ECU

The ofc the HT wire to the dizzy.

Will check the old battery if this doesnt work, either way calling a mobile mechanic if she doesnt start with new battery.

Well despite my concerns above, new battery & she starts & runs fine.

White smoke;

We have traced its origin to a oil build up on the exhaust pipes underneath the engine. Waiting for it all to cool & we will clean them off & see if She still produces smoke.

Job for a later time; clean/degrease entire external engine & see where oil appears to try to narrow leak.

Next on to do list; find out how to thank you guys.

Well done

loads learnt along the way too

RESULT!!!


You'll be back for more at some point in the near future but until then, enjoy your successes.

Still worth doing the current draw measurement with a multimeter otherwise you may end up with another flat battery by the end of the week

stereo is often a culprit for current draw.

itchyfeet wrote:Still worth doing the current draw measurement with a multimeter otherwise you may end up with another flat battery by the end of the week

stereo is often a culprit for current draw.

Would truly be amazed if the stero is drawing as it is currently disconnected - the was not one wired in when we got her, I installed one when we first couldn't get her started as something else to do between hitting head on engine trying to fix it.

Will do a draw test once it is connected though

How did you wire it in? Does it work without the ignition on?

Itchyfeet will be scoffing at my 'expertise' because he diagnosed mine about a fortnight ago!! It's all about learning

First things first;

The white smoke could be two things;

The clutch & accelerator cable were both hard up against the cam cover - their plastic cover's are both damaged, but the cables both work fine. Moved these away from cam cover in case these were getting melted & producing the smoke.

The second is that the 10mm bolts on the nuts that secure the cam cover (and the top half of the timing belt cover) have lost their thread - they don't tighten up, so possible the cover was not on tight enough & the smoke was escaping from the cam case?

Either way off to get new 10mm bolts

As for how did we wire up the radio? With a lot of patience - the wiring was already in place but the issues we that I had to manually wire the adapters & work out what the different abbreviations meant. It is disconnected as the 12v supply cable has a bullet connector inline which we disconnected while we were fixing the rest of ruby.

MarrV wrote: so possible the cover was not on tight enough & the smoke was escaping from the cam case?

not smoke, oil.
the oil will seep on to the exhaust header, just get it hot it will burn off.
Antifreeze will smoke like that too.

kevtherev wrote:

MarrV wrote: so possible the cover was not on tight enough & the smoke was escaping from the cam case?

not smoke, oil.
the oil will seep on to the exhaust header, just get it hot it will burn off.
Antifreeze will smoke like that too.

Aye we got new nuts & tightened her up & she stopped smoking (should tell the NHS that ). Also drained some oil from her sump as Katie realised she got the level we were told was her max level wrong (engine @ angle so dipstick level's not accurate). Waiting for it all to settle & try again tomorrow to see if more smoke appears.

The end is in sight I hope though. Kev - you still not given a preference on what you like to drink (nor has anyone else tbh)

Corona.

Got to be Barrs irn bru washed down with an ale