OV9

Lambda?

Mito Man wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:35 pmLambda?

Clio had its holiday at Beaniesport. The hunt at idle was due to the inlet cam being 5 degrees advanced. Also the clutch was done as mine was too heavy, I never found it an issue but it was not normal.

So it had cambelt, tensioner, water pump, cam dephaser, clutch, air con seals, oil leak and a check over. Turns out it’s ad solid ad I thought. A big bill but I can terrorise Fiesta STs again when I get home.

I wanted a specialist to look at it as I’ve still not found my car mojo.

Very much looking forward to driving it when I’m back in 3 weeks as it’ll have a bit more power now.

Then it’s an arch liner to mess with and fit, a new cup holder (this is a big deal as the cup holder situation in a Clio is cans only, we don’t drink cans) and lots of fiddle fuckery as I like fiddle fucking.

Dave!

Mito Man wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:35 pmLambda?

Would a faulty Lambda sensor cause an engine to cut out completely?

Marv wrote: Tue Aug 19, 2025 8:02 pm

Mito Man wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:35 pmLambda?

Would a faulty Lambda sensor cause an engine to cut out completely?

Yeah I've seen it cut an engine at idle out.

speedingfine wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 10:58 am Ah bugger. Any reason you can think of? I guess they dry out. They're not somewhere where water can get to are they?

Just an old MAF - 38 years old and 130000 miles. I sent the MAF off to Mike and he confirmed it was well out of spec and was the cause. The MAF on the 928 sits at the back of the engine underneath the airbox. There's not much moisture that can get there and they're generally pretty reliable.

Carlos wrote: Mon Aug 18, 2025 11:03 am Do 928s have DME relays like 944/968s?

The 928 S4 doesn't have a DME relay, it uses Bosch L Jetronic electronic fuel injection that requires a proper ECU (also known as the LH module). My second thought was possibly a faulty LH which would have been expensive (although JDS can fix these too).

New MAF arrives tomorrow so everything should be sorted for the weekend.

Recently I became known to the BMW parts guy on first name terms. It’s always a slightly concerning thing for me, like when it happened to me at my Chinese takeaway. Anyway after today’s visit I got a gift, perhaps in sympathy of my self flagellation.

I don’t even have a M Sport BMW so don’t dare put it on my own car

Mito Man wrote: Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:10 pm I don’t even have a M Sport BMW so don’t dare put it on my own car

There is a law against it in Germany

They are also a bastid to keep clean.

Mito Man wrote: Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:10 pm I don’t even have a M Sport BMW so don’t dare put it on my own car

Are you running a sweepstake for how long they remain on the car that they are first fitted to?

mik wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 10:45 am

Mito Man wrote: Wed Aug 20, 2025 8:10 pm I don’t even have a M Sport BMW so don’t dare put it on my own car

Are you running a sweepstake for how long they remain on the car that they are first fitted to?

The beauty of metal valve caps is that if they stay on the car for a week they become welded for life

yep, they offer zero advantage over black plastic ones. They look worse, cause issues and get nicked!

Mustang has developed a bit of an issue.

Once it's been driven and warmed up, it's sometimes not getting in gear from neutral. Not any gear. I've had to turn the engine off, get it in 1st, and then pull away.

The drivetrain is also very sloppy.. I hoped to try and fix that next year with a one piece propshaft and new bushing, etc.

I have no idea what's causing this but ChatGPT reckons it could be a clutch engagement / hydraulic type problem.

I'll get it booked in for a look. Unfortunately the Mustang specialist is about 2hrs from me.

Alex88 wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 2:38 pm
Once it's been driven and warmed up, it's sometimes not getting in gear from neutral. Not any gear.

I had a similar issue with the Evora a couple of months back when it got very hot. As you say - it's caused by the clutch dragging even when the pedal is fully depressed. A "Ranger Method" bleed bought brought it back to life, and it hasn't returned, but I'll get the specialist to properly bleed the clutch line when it's next in for a service. (I'd do it myself, but the slave cylinder bleed nipple is a PITA to get to).

"Ranger Method" is easy to do, and you think "that'll never bloody work", but it does! Big syringes readily available on ebay etc.

"Brake fluid is corrosive so make sure you do this with bare hands"

Jobbo wrote: Thu Aug 21, 2025 2:54 pm "Brake fluid is corrosive so make sure you do this with bare hands"

Aged approx 20 I got some in my eye whilst under the car (my Superstrada). Had to wriggle out from under the car, find my house keys (as I was home alone), get in and shove my face under a tap for a few minutes, actively pulling my eye open. It involved pain, and much panic that I'd blinded myself

All was good however - although my eyelids were bright red and my eye all bloodshot for about 24hrs. Phew!

Always wear protection

If you don’t bathe in it for 20 years it will be absolutely no problem at all.

Definitely sounds like clutch.

Dave!

Clutch hoses can get old and soft too, particularly when hot. I don’t know how much of the hose you can see without crawling under it no not all that easy to diy diagnose.

I seem to be going through one of those phases.

Jacked the mito up to diagnose what I thought was a worn wheel bearing, can’t feel any play or roughness, one of the brake disk shields is very close to the disk so wondering if there’s just enough flex to make it scrape under heavy cornering load.

While there I found one of the driveshaft boots split. An easy fix, but finding part numbers and compatible parts is a nightmare, various sources seem to contradict each other. Part of the reason I ended up with BMWs, realoem makes it very easy to track down the exact part you need.

Also the paint has suddenly decided to start falling off. A couple of chips on the roof have started to expand, it’s got a big ugly patch of lacquer peel on the bonnet and you can see where it’s started to go milky and going to lose a load more soon. Annoying as it’s always been pretty well looked after. It’s nice having something sensible and modern, but anything ‘better’ I could replace it with seems to be silly money, like twice what I paid for it 6 years ago. Probably in the just keep it until it dies stage now.

X5 booked in for two new rear tyres Saturday. Daft size means even midrange ones are pretty spendy. Couldn’t bring myself to buy some much more sensibly priced Acceleras just yet. I know they’re going to tell me my alignment is miles out. It is, but only because I’m a knob and have lowered it, it can’t be corrected without a set of spendy aftermarket rear arms.

Compact, ok, could really do with turning the tyres around because I’m a knob and have silly suspension settings. Seems to be driving alright.

Alfasud, noticed yesterday one of the rear wheels looking more brake dusty than the other. That’s the one corner I haven’t rebuilt the brake caliper on so guess it now needs doing. Haven’t noticed it getting particularly hot or smelly but will do it before it gets that far.

Thanks all!

Mik, that incident when you were younger sounds pretty bloody scary! At least it didn't do any damage. Cheers for the video link, I'll give it a watch