Die!

[mjb]

He "rearranged" his rear bumper during a trip to the Nurburgring... Duct tape has been keeping the Coupe's arse on since then

Hey, it's got through two MOTs and had numerous encounters with my pressure washer since then, and is still holding well - don't knock the duct tape!

[highlander]

As an avid watcher of Mythbusters, I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say I never doubt the capabilities of duct tape!

[Doggy]

Having noted how well the duct tape blends with the coachwork, I was wondering whether a silver coop was selected for this very reason?

[Welly]

But now he's got to transpose the new bumper cover to the car without 'her indoors' noticing

Why do women draw comparisons to car spending to something 'they' could have had or something you could have done 'together'

For example, an expensive suspension or braking upgrade could have easily been a 'weekend city break' or a new set of Wardrobes. They see not the value it has brought to the man's well-being ever, in fact the spending is seen as a 'waste'

My alloys are currently corroded, she saw them and commented on it exited at this unexpected lead-in I offered the suggestion that they are in need of a 'refurbishment' and that there are specialists around who do such things for you.........she ventured back in the house, head held high, like a school headmistress, with no f*cking chance of me wheels being done the conversation later returned indeed to a new set of Wardrobes.......since my frequent 'repairs' to the old one are no longer suited

[steve_earwig]

Just tell her that chipboard & gaffer tape wardrobes are "in" this season.

[highlander]

Every piece of build-it-yourself flat-pack furniture I've ever built has been built in italics.

[mjb]

OK Well a week on and the engine's not so much as hiccuped, so I think I got it right with the relay box.

Also managed to get the new bumper on Thursday evening, with the replacement light cluster that's been sitting in the garage for a year. The wing was starting to rust under the duct tape, so cleared it up and gave it the world's worst paint job ah well I'll get someone qualified to fix it up soon (in a year or two...)

Just got to go out and have another hunt for this coolant ecu now I have no idea where the hell it is!

[mjb]

Found it! After ripping everything out under the dashboard (including the BSI! ) I sat down and figured out it could be under the bonnet... Lo and behold it's just to the side of the battery (where the big fuses are on a D8). It looks ok, but one of the big thick earth wires from the battery which rubs against it has had some of its insulation burned!

At least I know what to look for (and where) now!

[steve_earwig]

Splendid The diagram showed it somewhere there but it could have been anywhere from the rad to the suspension top. Would sir care to post a pic for future reference?

[mjb]

I love the clutch how-to: so many pics I can re-use

This is where the battery box should sit. The red connector is attached to the coolant ecu.

Since messing about, removing it, replacing it, replacing the BSI, etc the temperature gauge is appearing to work perfectly! I'd prefer it if it had totally stopped working - at least I'd be able to pin-point the problem. Instead I'm left just hoping it doesn't break at some inopportune time


BTW, if you open the access panel to the 'other' side of the BSI's circuit board, superglue won't put it back. You need to use a hot glue gun...

[steve_earwig]

All is revealed Incidentally as yours is an early D9 I was hoping to see where the join is on the r/h headlamp feed, although it could be that join under the battery terminal. I do see a bit of fuzzy insulation tape and that earth point could do with a clean...

Intermittent faults can be a real pig to find so fingers crossed that's the last you'll see of it.

Don't knock the HGG! Perfect for joining stuff most glues won't touch, hardens really quickly so you can rapidly build up surfaces and has the added advantage of making a join you can undo without resorting to a hammer & chisel. It belongs in your toolbox alongside the gaffer tape

[mjb]

one of the big thick earth wires from the battery which rubs against it has had some of its insulation burned!

It's now a hell of a lot worse, and the exposed wire at the battery terminal is rather oxidised now!

How do I know this? Because it's started playing silly buggers again

On a long drive in the rain yesterday I noticed that if I put the heated windscreen on, the temperature gauge would go haywire. If I turned it off, it stopped and returned to normal. Then the windscreen wipers stopped working. Cutting the ignition and restarting cured it. Having the heater blower on causes electrical whoopsies too. This morning the body electricals (but not the engine) cut out for a split second, meaning I've got to set the bloody time again

You know what I think? I think the car has too much electricity I think the earth that looks fine (the gearbox one) might not be doing its job, and as a result putting too much current through the short (body) cable, which is causing all sorts of crap like floating voltages and excessive currents, which would have knackered the engine relay box and caused the CTS sender to go nuts as well as crashing the BSI

Where can I buy *thick* earth cable from?

[Doggy]

You know what I think? I think the car has too much electricity

You know what, I think you're onto something. I reckon the lightning can't tell your silver coupe isn't a De Lorean, (vehicle identification at 300,000 km/s can be a tad tricky).....

Where can I buy *thick* earth cable from?

The best stuff for what you want is welding cable, (massive current rating vs diameter, flexible, relatively cheap), sorry, don't know where to get any retail, but if you know someone in the welding game....

[highlander]

You know what I think? I think the car has too much electricity

You know what, I think you're onto something. I reckon the lightning can't tell your silver coupe isn't a De Lorean, (vehicle identification at 300,000 km/s can be a tad tricky)....

Nonsense - at that speed, time itself would be markedly slower, so you'd have plenty of opportunity to recognize the car!

[mjb]

Update on this... Pulled the badly melted and corroded earth strap off, cleaned up the fixing point on the body, grabbed an 18" length of earth strap from euro car parts for about £3, fitted it and it runs perfectly now

Since the ECP wire has two ring connectors on it (the PSA part has one), I decided to keep the other ring and use the battery clamp tightening nut to hold it on. This has let me feed the gearbox earth all the way through the clamp so it's now held in by two screws instead of one. Think this'll work quite nicely.


Also discovered I whoopsied putting the air filter box back, and managed to push the air intake pipe off its mount so the engine's pulling in warm air from the engine bay. The result? Sweetness! Better throttle response, more torque under 4000rpm, no 3000-4000rpm flat spot, and best of all an orgasmicly sweet bassey ROAR when the throttle' open wide over 2000rpm (no major difference in sound, even at 70mph, unless I'm giving it beans). I also seem to be getting better economy too (24mpg from the commute instead of 21). Dunno whether it's due to the easier airflow, or the noise making me more aware of when I'm putting my foot down, but I'm not complaining


Also good news: I SOLD THE GOLF!!!! Finally...