Project "Silver Streak"

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Aye to say I'm a student it's a really good place. Don't be fooled though, the area two streets away is rife with chavs!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

I was going to update this thread last night along with the V6 thread, but that took me a while to write and was pretty mentally draining having only had 4hrs sleep the night before...

Right well I've been going on about how the bodywork is really beginning to bug me so tomorrow I'm going to go over the shell with a fine tooth comb and list every last imperfection, complete with supplementary photographs for your viewing (dis)pleasure!

I have two perfectly good subs stuck in the boot of my car complete with an amp that refuses to work despite working perfectly before I built the false floor for it. It's been like it since before Christmas and as yet I just haven't had the motivation to rip it apart and work out what the prob with it is, so that's another problem doing my head in!

Other than that the only thing depressing me is that I have a bedroom full of new parts to fit but a lack of tools/competency/equipment/cash is holding me back from fitting! Currently this list of parts includes:

Renault 19 16V front bumper (requires respraying)
Renault 19 16V chamade side skirts (require respraying)
Monroe Sensatrac front shock absorbers (have no spring compressors)
Renault 19 16V Ferodo brake pads (require 16V caliper assembly)

With regard to the oil leak saga, I've been keeping the engine clean using a foam action degreasant known simply as 'Gunk'. It works surprisingly well and my observations reveal that the engine stays relatively oil free for about a day before it starts being deposited.

One interesting observations seems to be that the 'epicentre' of the oil deposits seems to be located around the dipstick, so I've hypothesised that there might be some sort of fracture either in or around the base of the dipstick holder? If this could be then it looks like more of a nightmare to fix than a HG, but that's just my uninformed assessment anyway.

That's it for now. Pics to follow tomorrow!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

dipstick tubes can split but its not common, its an easy fix though!

13mm bolt (also supports the metal water pipe) then pull the tube out.

Get the subs etc out the boot, put them in your room or something. No point in dragging them around everywhere. Will make the car quicker and use less petrol with them out. Also 1 less thing to go if its gets nicked/broken into and they can work on it.

the rust is always worse than you think.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Right well Photobucket is being incredibly shite and refuses to upload the pics I took so I will have to try again tomorrow!

Well today the drivers' side side repeater decided to stop working today. I knew it would since it was taking on water and I could see the LED's in them starting to rust up. Got a set of crystal style ones at my parents' which I bought of eBay a while back.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well as Chris said I decided to take the amp and twin 12" Pioneer sub setup out of the boot and stow them in my bedroom temporarily.

An improvement in acceleration was immediately apparent, enough to almost make me not want to put them back, it would save me the headache of figuring out what's wrong!

Speaking of which! When I unscrewed the false floor to get the amp and subs out I started trying to find the fault. Once the amp was free of it's wires I gently inverted it a few times listening to see if there were any loose electrical bits swimming around inside. I couldn't hear anything so I've ruled out the problem being due to a faulty amp.

To be honest I've not actually had the subs wired up yet - am still waiting to knock up some leads! The problem I've noticed is that the little green LED on the remote gain unit doesn't light up!

Anyway electronics has never been my strong point so I hoovered out the boot, cleaned up the terminals for the remote, power and grounding cables as they were a bit grubby and left it at that. I've screwed the floor back into the boot merely for the fact that I don't want my bedroom looking like a carpenters' workshop!

Much like everything else, I probably could get this prob sorted myself but a lack of circuit testing equipment, tools and expertise are holding me back yet again! Crying or Very sad

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Picture yellow and silver mixed together......mmmm doesn't sound quite right does it! Hence my latest purchase:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4551387480

Clear front fogs for my 16v front bumper. Couldn't stand the thought of the yellow 'uns in there, especially once painted silver so these should look mint once fitted. Good price as well IMO, I've seen these clear replacements retail for up to Â£50 before.

Just need a pair of clear indicators for it now!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well it's been a while since I had anything to report about Silver Streak.

In light of my recent Clio purchase the 19 has decided she's gonna annoy me until I take receipt of my new car.

One annoyance comes in the form of non-functioning reverse lights.

Both lights were not working, which I had my suspicions about but my first port of call were the rear clusters. A quick check and test with good bulbs showed that the bulbs were not blown.

My attention then turned to the fusebox. A quick check and new 15A fuse at position 18 did little to remedy the situation so the only conclusion I can draw is an open break in the circuit somewhere.

As the rear wiper and cigarette lighter both run off the same fuse and circuitry, I decided to see if they were functioning - they were. In conjunction with the fact that both reverse lights weren't working, the fault therefore lies somewhere between the cig lighter/rear wiper circuitry and where the circuit splits to supply both rear clusters.

Grrrr! Evil or Very Mad

FCS Event Manager Joined: 04 Jan 2005 Posts: 3680

have you checked the reverse light switch on the gearbox ?

the connector may have been pulled off, been damaged, fecked switch etc

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Good idea Batman, hadn't thought of that! Very Happy

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well I rather surprisingly got a fair bit done today.

First order of the day was to have a look under the car for the reverse light switch. As my Haynes had gone walkabout yet again, I began my search by getting the gearbox and having a gander around.

The first thing that caught my eye though was the sheer amount of oil that had accumulated on the underside of the gearbox and sump on account of my persistent oil leak. I got out the sockets and had the gearbox drain plug cover off and to my horror it was harbouring more oil and than an Iraqi oil field! So I cracked out the Gunk (degreasant) and got to work, brushing the foam in with a paintbrush making a nice murky emulsion. Some was caked in so a wire brush and some thinners got rid of it all.

Also gave the sump and the underside of the gearbox a once over with the Gunk and it shone up a treat. The amount of oil there to drip onto the exhaust downpipe explains the number of funky smells I get in the cabin ever now and then! At least it's not my new clutch burning out!

Nevertheless I never did find the reverse light plug, and after coming in from lowering the car off the jack and putting the tools away I came in the house and found the Haynes manual more or less straight away! Bloody typical! Anyway, it turns out the switch plugs in on the side of the gearbox right next to the left hand driveshaft. When I get a chance to go looking for it again I can coincide it with a gearbox oil change as well! I'm hoping all that's happened is corrosion in the wire, and that the fault isn't located deep in the loom or auxiliary fusebox!

Another thing I got done was repairs to the speakers. One of my 6x9's and one of the 6.5" speakers I have in the parcel shelf had had a terminal snapped off. The old man dug me out some new Lucas terminals from one of his little old tins and we tinned them using some soldering flux. A couple of new terminal clips were soldered onto the leads in the boot and the job was done! I now have the full range of sound coming from the rear again! Makes you appreciate something when you don't have it anymore!

Next order of business to go fault finding with the amp, I need to find a simple way of testing it to make sure it works. I was told yonks ago that I could hook up a multimeter on test loop and have one wire on the +12V terminal and the other wire on the Remote terminal of the amp. Whether this is true or a crock of crap remains to be seen, so if anyone knows a simple test to judge whether an amp is fecked or not please do tell!

Well that's what I got done today, I did get some good pics on the digicam but didn't get chance to upload 'em today, perhaps tomorrow if I'm feeling motivated enough!

Got my induction for my new job tomorrow at 9am, gotta drive over to Melton Mowbray to get my overalls and hard hat so I'm off for a bit of shut-eye!

Site Subscriber Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3547

to test the amp, put 12v into the remote on terminal, instead of the blue wire, if it doesnt power on, then check fuses etc, otherwise im out of ideas

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well just a quick update.

Silver Streak has been off the road for 3 days now after my brake pads decided to wear out 40 miles from home in Derby when I was attending Street Cruise 2 (more info here.)

I was planning on fitting those special offer pads I bought and was keeping by for the 16v brake upgrade, but it turns out my mum had dropped my car off with Brian to fix for me.

Just popped by on my way back from work and apparently the caliper on the drivers' side is seized solid, and has been for quite a while! Anyway, he's had to order a new kit (to replace the rubber components) as he's been unable to unseize it and will have to resort to heating it up!

Good to get this sorted out! Car's acceleration might improve if it's been seized on the disc for a good while!

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

if it was seized on the disc then it would have blued the disc and pulled very hard to the right.

I thought you had 16V gear to put on?

Forum Moderator Joined: 18 Feb 2004 Posts: 7432

ive still got the calipers, was going to hand them over in scotland.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Well, she's back! I can drive again. Bill came to Â£30 inclusive of all parts, labour and VAT.

Just need a few hundred miles to get 'em bedded in properly!

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Right well another problem has decided to crop, that being the mileage counter not working!

I noticed on my day trip to Manchester yesterday. When I set off the trip counter said 820.1 miles and when I was nearing home on the way back I looked at it and it said.....820.1 miles!

I'm assuming a cable has come undone somewhere!

So in addition to my persistent oil leak and my recently made redundant reverse lights, I now have a lack of mileage counter functionality! Evil or Very Mad

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

if the cables come undone then the speedo won't have worked.

Assuming the speedo was working, did the main mileage clock round?

I have seen a couple that have had the trips stick, usually a good few presses on the reset sorts it out.

I told you to change the reverse light switch, easy job like I said.

Site Subscriber Joined: 13 Oct 2004 Posts: 4722

clio trip on the red one got stuck, all numbers pointing in random directions..

never did get it fixed.

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Yes speedo and rev counter still work.

Both trip and main mileage counters have stopped.

Forum Moderator Joined: 02 Mar 2004 Posts: 19978

gears probably cracked then, cables fine though

Site Subscriber Joined: 07 Oct 2004 Posts: 2281

Panic over, resetting the trip counter has sorted things out. Don't know why I didn't think to do that when I noticed it tbh!

Phew, thought it was gonna be a dash out job or sommets like that!