Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

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Phil - Nottingham
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Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:45 am
Location: Nottingham

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by Phil - Nottingham » Mon Oct 19, 2009 9:58 am

Nice job - always liked the 800 Series but too complicated and unreliable for me when they were new. If they had sorted this then they would have far superior to BMW/Mercs

I understand your reasons for not renwing your RSR membership but your input was and hopefully still will be welcomed here.

I have renewed once more but it does cater well (its the only one!) for the running board Rovers far better than more modern ones (modern being not running board ones!)

http://www.rover-forum.thersr.co.uk/pos ... =23&p=1830#
P2/P4/P5/P5B/LR's - EXJ 8**/2**8MY & others

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Mon Oct 19, 2009 3:26 pm

Phil - Nottingham wrote:I understand your reasons for not renwing your RSR membership but your input was and hopefully still will be welcomed here.
I'm not planning on staying away.
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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Phil - Nottingham
Posts: 357
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 10:45 am
Location: Nottingham

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by Phil - Nottingham » Mon Oct 19, 2009 4:17 pm

Well its ridiculous and a waste of money being a member of too many clubs - I am now down to just the RSR and P5OC having been in the the Mini Clubs, Rover P4 DG and LR S2 Clubs until recently.
P2/P4/P5/P5B/LR's - EXJ 8**/2**8MY & others

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richard moss
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Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Fri Oct 30, 2009 12:55 am

I've now fitted self-levelling rear struts to the car - much better ride height now. Details here: http://www.rover-forum.thersr.org/viewt ... f=23&t=572
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Fri Oct 30, 2009 9:34 pm

Here's the after shot - I've got at least 2" more clearance than before and should then spend less time with the towbar whacking speed bumps. Previously, thanks to the weight of the LPG tank, the back was sat right down.

Image
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:34 pm

I don't think I've mentioned before that the car doesn't like being cold - it stumbles and chugs along, feeling like it is well down on power and chucking in the odd misfire or two. It's OK (ish) when warm but still doesn't feel right and is not as smooth as it should be.

I've changed the spark plugs and Coolant Temperature Sensor as these are cheap and easy to do, but it hasn't helped. Today, though, I think I got to the bottom of it.

With the engine running I pulled off each plug lead in turn and got two big, healthy sparks and two feeble ones. As the coil packs on the later T series engines consist of two coils, each firing two plugs at the same time, this would point to a partial failure of the coil pack. Obviously it's better when warm when the fuel vapourises more easily and ignites more readily.

Rimmer Brothers do them at stupid prices for the original item, Intermotor also do them so they will be better prices from Intermotor agents and unfortunately, I haven't had the chance to check out local suppliers (Best of British and local scrapyards) yet.

At least I know what the problem is.
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:26 pm

End of November update:

I've got a replacement coil pack on the car now and it seems happier - a couple of cold starts will test that.

Whilst the faulty coil pack was on there I suffered a couple of backfires, due to unburnt LPG, and it blew the airbox lid into three pieces! So, I've invested in a cone filter to avoid it happening again - that should avoid any further damage if it happens again.

Image
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:28 pm

Dec 6th update:

I've fitted a second hand coil pack (but I'm not 100% sure how good it is, so I'm still getting hold of another known good one). It's hard to tell if it's made a lot of difference, so it probably hasn't!

My father in law was chatting to the chap who runs his local garage (where the last MOT on my car was done) and he reckoned that they are prone to hydraulic tappets gumming up if the oil is overdue a change. The problem is worse when cold as the oil thins out and fills the tappets when warm. The oil in this car hadn't done that many miles but it had been standing for 6-8 months before I put it back into service so I decided to change it today.

I put a dollop of ATF in the engine to flush it, stuck on a new filter and filled it with a fresh load of 10w/40 semi-synthetic (an attractive price at my local car spares shop). I'll need to see how it is with a cold start in the morning but it does seem smoother now - but that could just be wishful thinking.

Dec 14th update:

The oil change seems to have improved things a fair bit - it's still not perfect but is a lot better than it was. I'm giving it lots of revs when warm, using the excuse that it's pumping oil around the tappets!
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Thu Feb 04, 2010 1:29 pm

I'm seriously thinking of selling this and going back to the mk1 Sterling. Neither of my 820s has run really well on LPG and this one is just not happy in anything other than the warmest of weather and is no more economical than the 827. I could shell out on a £1500 on an expensive multipoint injection system** but that would defeat the object of fitting LPG for a cost saving.

MEMS just doesn't give enough control over elements such as idle speed and ignition timing which make life more difficult when trying to get it set up. PGMFI is much more adjustable and now that I've got the steering rack fixed the Sterling will be nice to drive again.

PS: One bit of good fortune today, though. I fitted a new thermostat today (£6.99 for a QH one) and it came with a huge selection of gaskets for various applications and one of the unused ones was a rubber ring that was just perfect for resealing the leaking element on my kettle!
_________________



** in fact I couldn't because I can't afford it!
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

User avatar
richard moss
Posts: 233
Joined: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:23 pm
Location: Wolverhampton

Re: Rich Moss 1997 820 Si saloon

Post by richard moss » Mon Feb 08, 2010 1:10 am

I got the car running smoothly again by cleaning all the oily gunge out of the bottom of the original LPG vapouriser and refitting that. You get an oily build up over time and that was stopping it operating smoothly. Normal service has been resumed.

However, I'm probably still going to sell it and go back to the mk1. I may even sell both and go back to my Jag - same tax and insurance and only another fiver per week to fuel up.
1990 827 Sterling manual
1990 Jaguar Sovereign 4 Litre on LPG
1969 MGC GT (currently hibernating)

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