Sean's (& Ed's & Scott's) Astor GTi6

[Ed Doe]

And the welding on his will be better cuz ill be able to afford the service my welder this time round...

It don't look pretty, but its a solid weld. I'll be doing mine ad soon as I order the steel for it

You, me.... we talk

[samass]

You, me.... we talk

You know were to find me

---

*where

[Ed Doe]

I don't think I updated this to say I've taken my Pugsport 2-1decat pipe & Magnex exhaust off now, and fitted a Magnex win-pipe & Mongoose cat-back now It is a bit louder than the Magnex, and a bit more boomy at 3krpm, but I don't really mind that much. I can still hear my music & the parrot over it when driving a long at 60 so no dramas. Not sure Mazz is going to enjoy the trip up to FCS this year so much though haha!

In the spirit of Scott writing out the hitlist for the car when he has it, I thought I'd update with my to do list for when I have it;

1. Fit replacement o/s F Hub
2. Fit replacement Meyle HD wishbone
3. Fit replacement engine wiring loom
4. Fit Gearbox Engine mount
5. Fit oil cooler (now JJC have sent me a replacement adapter for the sandwich plate)
6. Replace gearbox oil
7. Bash Lower strut brace straight again (bent on some bad roads )
8. Reset service light
9. Fit buckets & resistors to stop the effing airbag lights blinking all the time!!!
9. Adjust exhaust hangers to pull exhaust up a bit
10. Proper clean indside & out!!!


Cannnn't wait for the WEEEKEND!! Sunday things gon' get FIXED.

I'm hoping we'll get the engine loom, lower strut brace, hub & wishbone sorted as a minimum, and if we have time start fitting the buckets, but they really aren't the priority given the preceding problems!

[Dum-Dum]

Do you have a new engine loom or do you need one as I have a spare.

Also I was wondering how long it would be before you updated this seen as Scott had just done his.

[Ed Doe]

I think I've got one at the moment Chris, cheers though

Yeah well I thought I'd deal with the important bits, seeing as Scott's mincing about with the trivialities

[Niall]

Sunday? Wait you mean saturday!

[Ed Doe]

No, I mean Sunday... Saturday I'm playing hockey....!!

[samass]

Told you it was Sunday crayon boy!

[Niall]

f*ck you kiddie fiddler!

[Ed Doe]

Crikey what a weekend! I'm still reeling a bit, it was a long old slog in the cold on Sunday to get everything (or nearly everything) sorted.

On sunday the target was the following;

1. Replace engine loom
2. Replace O/S F wishbone
3. Replace ovalled hub
4. Sort out bent lower strut brace
5. Fit buckets & harnesses


We managed to get all but the ovalled hub changed, which is really annoying. The replacement hub came off my diablo '6, and being the clever sort I am, I took it off with the driveshaft as I didn't have a hub socket and breaker bar handy. Trying to take a hub nut off when the thing isn't connected to the car is a NIGHTMARE. Sam even welded a plate to the driveshaft and then stuck it in a vice and hung off the breaker bar but with no luck at all. So I've got a brand spanking new wishbone in the old knackered hub. which is IDEAL :S

That aside the only issues with the wiring loom are that some of the plugs were different for the same sensor (nice one peugeot, good continuity there), so Niall had to raid the old loom for some of the plugs. No biggie and all sorted, but there are teething problems;

1. We didn't replace the reverse plug, so that still needs doing
2. The oil level sensor has a dodgy connection (waves between max & min fast for 3secs, then goes to zero again, but oddly worked fine when I turned the car on this morning?? but then did the wavey thing again when I turned it to accessories in the carpark at work having just turned it off?)
3. The engine temperature; more below…


Basically, I turned it on last night, and left it idling in the drive whilst sorting everything out and tidying up. I then got in, and the temperature was at about 80-ish. By the time I'd got to the end of the drive, it was above 90…. Driving the 6miles home, it stayed prettymuch bang on 90 the whole time, even though I was pottering it (no revs or hard acceleration). When I got to the fuel station, I turned it off, and when I turned it to accessories after filling, the temp went to 70. As soon as I started it, it went up to 90 again….???

Now this morning, I got to work and the coolant temp was up at 90. I wanted to check the operation of the fans, so left it idling. It got to the line above 90, then I unplugged the fans to cool it down. BEFORE unplugging the fans, I noted the rad was hot, but only the bottom 2/3s. After 2mins of the fans running, I felt the rad and it was practically stone cold……?!?!

Anyone got any ideas? Could it be the thermostat? Is the thermostat electrically controlled, or is it completely mechanical?

Any help on this much appreciated, it's not a huge issue right now as it's not 'overheating' per se, but I want to get it sorted and running as it should be asap so I can stop worrying like a big girls blouse about it!!


I have to say a MASSIVE thanks to Niall & Sam; Niall did all the engine loom, and sorted bits when I struggled and then decided I couldn't fix it, and Sam stayed on until about 8pm to get the bucket subframes sorted out and fitted. Complete friggin legends both of you, I'd be screwed without you! #Manlove

And also thanks to Fooby for being about all day and helping where he could, and for just staying with us even though it was facking freezing all day! I wouldn't have blamed you this time for going to sit in the car and play angry birds hahaha!!

[samass]

Twas a good day, albeit it f*cking tiring!

Stat is fully mechanical, could try changing it along Sith a coolant flush and rebleed, that might help, I find the stats are wank on these anyway

[Dum-Dum]

Is your oil temperature still normal?

[Ed Doe]

Yep, oil is completely fine.

Ruan reckons it's classic Thermostat symptoms....

On that basis, will pattern parts be ok, or should I only get genuine pug?

Pattern Pars:
http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Peugeo...304&000325

http://www.eurocarparts.com/ecp/c/Peugeo...cf2&000574





btw Dumdum, I'll sort paypal payment for the loom in a sec, sorry I completely forgot over the weekend!!

xx







EDIT: Btw Sam & Niall; one of the mobile mechanics we use for work was in the yard this morning, got the buzzgun on the hub and then gas-axed the welded bit of metal off; it took all of 2minutes, and made me very depressed at the stress and effort we put in on the weekend to no avail!!!!

[samass]

EDIT: Btw Sam & Niall; one of the mobile mechanics we use for work was in the yard this morning, got the buzzgun on the hub and then gas-axed the welded bit of metal off; it took all of 2minutes, and made me very depressed at the stress and effort we put in on the weekend to no avail!!!!

and thats the benefit of having all the right tools eh

[darrenjlobb]

For hub dont u know anyone local Ed with a rattle gun? will bang that nut off no issues..

[Niall]

For hub dont u know anyone local Ed with a rattle gun? will bang that nut off no issues..

Ive got one but problem is i had all my weight on the bar trying to crack it off so it was obviously fooking tight. Problem is, my compressor is about as manly as Ed so wouldnt of had the bollocks to get it off!

[darrenjlobb]

Hm, sounds like you need a better air gun and compressor haha, 150 psi + decent gun will un do just about anything, cant u grip the back of the driveshaft in the vice and use breaker bar?

[Niall]

Hm, sounds like you need a better air gun and compressor haha, 150 psi + decent gun will un do just about anything, cant u grip the back of the driveshaft in the vice and use breaker bar?

Yeah its only a baby 50L compressor. Gun is a bluepoint one which i know is fairy powerful as ive used it with bigger compressors. Might go and knock the psi up on mine tomorrow and see what happens lol

[Scott]

I've got the costco card ready for you to get the big one there when yours blows up tomorrow.

[Niall]

I've got the costco card ready for you to get the big one there when yours blows up tomorrow.

Always have faith Scotty!

[Dum-Dum]

btw Dumdum, I'll sort paypal payment for the loom in a sec, sorry I completely forgot over the weekend!!

Thats a fairly long second? Still waiting.....

[Ed Doe]

Sorry dum ill sort now

I've got the hub off guys, re read my post took the mobile mechanic at work about 2mins,and most of that was gas axing the welded strip off the drive shaft so we could get it out of the hub!

[Ed Doe]

Soooooooooo, this update will be an interesting one.....


Since changing the loom, I've either been suffering from one of 2 issues;

1. Dodgy loom feeding the temperature gauge
2. Overheating problem caused by airlock or thermostat

The first time I ran the car up after changing the loom on Sunday night, as soon as I pulled out of my grans drive, the temp shot up to 110 degrees on the gauge.
It went back down to about 90 after a while and stayed prettymuch there for the remainder of the journey.

On Monday morning it did the same thing. When I got in to work, the temp was still high, so I got out the car. The rad was luke warm, when I unplugged the fan plug after 2mins of the fans being on it was stone cold. The Rad hose was also cold.

Monday night I went down to Eurocarparts and bought a replacement 'stat thinking it would solve the issue.

Tuesday the issue was the same on the way to and from work. I was in Haslemere after making another stop in at ECP and looked down and the gauge was up at the line bordering the red. FUCKKKKK!! So I pulled in about 30secs later and switched the car off. Turned it on 2mins afterwards (fan plug unplugged, but rad ice cold again after 2mins), and the temp stayed around 90-110.

I rang Ruan when I got onto the A3; he suggested it was likely an airlock and to pull to the side of the road and get it bled asap. So I did.

Being me I undid the top bleed cap, dropped it. Pissed water over my fingers at 90+ degrees, then switched it off and called the AA. Typically I'd taken my tools out the car the night before, otherwise I had enough water and the stat to do the change completely myself.

Anyway, after waiting for 3hours, the recovery man arrived. I presented him with the parts and the service box exploded diagram, and said "fix it" lol. I did a lot of it anyway, but we swapped the stat and bled it up. It started and was warming up nicely on the side of the road for 10mins. So the mechanic left, and as I started to pull onto the motorway.............................. the temp shot straight back up to 110 again. So I tickled it home and left it.

This morning I packed my tools with the intention of checking it was properly bled up on my way to work once the temp got up.

The temp gauge moved up normally from the stop to 85, then started moving up and down a lot more quickly (I would possibly suggest too quickly for it to actually be the probe responding to variances in temperature...???) I pulled over thinking "oh its just an airlock in the stat housing, bled it a bit more, but water came out prettymuch straight away.
After this, on driving, everytime I touched the throttle, the temp would move quickly from 82 to 90, and then almost immediately move back down on coming off the throttle...
So I nursed it to work at 3krpm and below, and then tried bleeding it again a bit, but no air really came out.

When idling at work in the carpark and bleeding it, I bled the rad top, a bit of air came out, the rad was fairly hot, but when the temp gauge moved up to 110, the fans didnt kick in, and the top rad hose didn't really feel like it was getting hotter or very 'pressurised'. So I unplugged the fan plug again, and the rad got cold almost immediately.

In the course of looking about the engine bay, I have noticed that the bottom (green) plug on the stat housing has got exposed copper wire just where the wires meet the resin mould on the back of the plug...


Having extensively discussed with Ruan yesterday and this morning (who I may point out has been a complete legend dealing with me in varying states of depression agitation and stress), he thinks the combination of the rad almost immediately getting cold when I unplug the fan switch and the fans come on, and the fans not coming on at 110 when plugged in points to the actual temperature gauge not reading the right temperature...??


Does anyone have any experience/ideas with this? I'm a bit lost, and its FRIGGIN un-nerving driving around with the temperature reading all over the place....!




On a complete side note, on the way to work, the engine seemed to develop a misfire at part throttle at about 2.5k, and when planting the throttle it really really juddered. I assume this is likely to be the coilpacks as when the top bleed point went last night, it put a fair bit of water into the recess between the rockers, where it then sat for a good 4hours last night...

[Dum-Dum]

Does sound like it could be a dodgy sensor to me.

Try swapping the plugs on the temp sensors and seeing if it makes a difference. The ECU temp sensor is thought to be one of the reasons for 6s running badly.

[Jimmyboycheck]

surely if you know it should be hot after a drive and the rad and pipes are cold you know you have a airlock and gauge is correct. I would get a leak test...You continue with air locks you will most likely get a 'hot spot' and get a head gasket issue.

It sounds like air is getting in. Hopefully not exhaust gases.

[darrenjlobb]

Does the motor smeel / seem hot? If its near the red, when you lift the bonnet it will be "hot / oiley" kinda thing, u can normally tell wen a motor is actually overheating...

No pressure in the tank i assume after a drive? given it was fine before the loom swap? and you didnt change any of the sensors? it would seem like some kind of electrical issue is kicking off to me... trace the wires from the sensor that runs the dash gauge and make sure there not bare anywhere / bad connection on engine connector etc...dosnt take much to throw it right off with gauges.

[Niall]

Ed get PP on it then you can get the temperature reading from the ecu.
As Darren said, you can smell when a engine gets properly hot!!


Once again Ed, it's probably just you being a complete woman about it all.

[Ed Doe]

just to clarify, I made a mistake in the write-up, the plug with the exposed copper wires (both wires, about 1mm apart where they meet the back of the plug) is the bottom (green) one on the stat housing.

@ Jimmy: The rad pipes get hot, as does the rad, but not BAKING hot, and when the fan plug is pulled so the fans come on high, the rad goes stone cold.
Also, as a point of note, the heaters get warm after about half a mile, and theyre nice and hot. Surely if there was an airlock, the heater matrix would be the first place affected, with the heaters running cold??

@ Darren; I've got a stinking cold at the moment so can't bloody smell a thing!!


@Niall; I'm gonna buy one. I just need to wipe my computer, and install XP on it so I can run it! Can you link me to the one you bought again?

I think at this rate, I'll be replacing the loom again this weekend.... :'(

[Ed Doe]

Don't know if there's any point bothering with this much more, the whole thread just seems to be a big moan about things not being right, followed by half-fixing things and continuation of the moaning by me....

I thought I'd just doubledouble-check there wasn't any air in the system, so bled the coolant at the thermostat bleed point this morning... and snapped the bleed bolt. Thankfully managed to get the thread out with a screwdriver, and the local mechanic dropped in a replacement non-hollow bolt. So after work I'll be bleeding that through properly before driving anywhere!

As we speak I believe Samass will be on his way to/from Gloucester to collect Ruan's old '6 engine loom. So I'll be making a very early start tomorrow morning at my gran's house again with the intention of changing the hub and engine loom for the second time. Fingers properly f*cking crossed this works!!

Sam if you're reading this, I'll be down my gran's from about 8am, I'll smash out as much as I can getting the hub off and ready to be swapped. Let me know when you're on your way, I'll text you the postcode tonight, and I'll try and get the inlet off so we can crack straight on when you get here. Ps. you're a complete legend for helping me out buddy!! xxx


Christ I still cannot wait until summer so I can get the car properly sparkling again and start to enjoy it as it was intended to be enjoyed Still got the love for it, I just wish it was a bit more straight-forward getting it sorted at the moment!!

And for anyone else who's actually interested, I'm getting my new design adjustable top-mounts delivered early next week, so watch out for another weeks' worth of panic updates as I damage part x and

[Jonny b]

Ha ha gay broke gti!!