OV9

Simon wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 10:37 pm

Jobbo wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 6:03 pm Our R5 is home. 7 weeks with the Renault dealer awaiting repair - the air-con failed at the beginning of the first heat wave. After it had been with them 5 weeks Renault sent parts and they were wrong. I got pretty fed up at this point and when they were threatened with us rejecting the car, they took parts off a car in stock and fixed ours.

So, don’t buy a Renault 5 and think parts supply is any good. Very, very disappointing. I’ll be taking it further because a nearly new car should never be off the road for the best part of 2 months awaiting parts for a simple repair. We could have had a new one built and delivered in that sort of timescale.

Glad to have it back though.

Please tell me you said "Don't you know who I am?" at some point during the exchange with them?

Nope, I didn’t even correspond with them from my work account.

I’m debating what to do to be honest. They offered an Enterprise hire car but we turned it down because we’ve obviously got other cars. But didn’t expect it to take this long; we’ve probably saved them £60/day. Which by coincidence is probably the actual loss to us (cost of tax, insurance, finance on the R5 and extra cost of fuel and putting miles on the Cayenne). Do I pursue it?

The 928 has working A/C!!! I initially thought it had been converted to R134a due to the coloured covers someone had put on the charge ports. Turns out it hadn't. Managed to find a complete R134a conversion kit from a company in the US for £130 (way cheaper than the £245 Porsche one that didn't include the Ester compressor oil). Got Strasse to fit it and lo and behold I had cold air coming out of the vents on the hottest day of the year. I was fully expecting the compressor to be toast or some hideously expensive pipe to be leaking but all is working fine.

The air isn't ice cold like a modern system, but R134a isn't as efficient in converted R12 designed systems, but it's cold enough for me and did the job admirably on the drive home.

Alex88 wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 11:36 pm Thanks - I agree. I kept the originals and will get them welded back on. Will then take it from there

Welded ? Erk. That sounds a PITA. I assumed they would bolt on / off.

Delphi wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 9:58 am The 928 has working A/C!!!

Nice. Had the Evora regassed last year, but it stopped blowing cold a couple of months back. Got my mobile guy to pop back out, and he spotted it has a tiny leak in the corner of the condenser - will get it replaced at the next service as I think it's a front-clam-off job. It's still blowing cold today, but I don't think it'll last much longer.....

Sundayjumper wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:04 am

Alex88 wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 11:36 pm Thanks - I agree. I kept the originals and will get them welded back on. Will then take it from there

Welded ? Erk. That sounds a PITA. I assumed they would bolt on / off.

That. Did they have to weld the sports cat(s) in too? If you are getting smells and heat in the interior - possible they aren't gas-tight? Is it throwing any wierd codes or check-engine lights?

mik wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:45 am Nice. Had the Evora regassed last year, but it stopped blowing cold a couple of months back. Got my mobile guy to pop back out, and he spotted it has a tiny leak in the corner of the condenser - will get it replaced at the next service as I think it's a front-clam-off job. It's still blowing cold today, but I don't think it'll last much longer.....

Are they expensive? I'd imagine it's a parts bin job as I doubt Lotus would design and manufacture their own.

Luckily, my condenser is only a couple of years old - I had it replaced when the car was resprayed. I still need to replace the blower motor as it's squeaking occasionally and at speeds 3 & 4, it causes the voltage gauge to drop to just above the 12v mark. I've got a replacement motor from a Skoda Octavia that's a direct replacement (£25 off eBay!), but it involves butchering the Octavia unit and disassembling the 928 one to swap out the core motor. 928 blower motor removal requires me to remove the bonnet as it's located in the front scuttle panel against the bulkhead and there just isn't the room to get it out otherwise.

mik wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:48 am

Sundayjumper wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:04 am

Alex88 wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 11:36 pm Thanks - I agree. I kept the originals and will get them welded back on. Will then take it from there

Welded ? Erk. That sounds a PITA. I assumed they would bolt on / off.

That. Did they have to weld the sports cat(s) in too? If you are getting smells and heat in the interior - possible they aren't gas-tight? Is it throwing any wierd codes or check-engine lights?

@Alex88 I'm not familiar with these cars in the slightest, is the exhaust in this arrangement ?




Noting the position of the lambda sensors, I'm wondering if the problems all trace back to when the cats were fitted. As mik says, you shouldn't get smells (of any kind), and specifically fuel smells mean it's running rich. The lambda sensors play a vital role in controlling the mixture. An air leak upstream of them will play havoc with things.

Are you able to unplug them and see what happens ?

Thanks all for the trailer tips. I'll take a gander at the connectors and bulbs, see if anything is obviously amiss and try and improve the connections.

Delphi wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 11:13 am Are they expensive?

About £320 from Lotus, but I see some genuine oem items for sale on ebay for £240.....

Sundayjumper wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 11:19 am
Noting the position of the lambda sensors, I'm wondering if the problems all trace back to when the cats were fitted. As mik says, you shouldn't get smells (of any kind), and specifically fuel smells mean it's running rich. The lambda sensors play a vital role in controlling the mixture. An air leak upstream of them will play havoc with things.

Are you able to unplug them and see what happens ?

It could genuinely be as stupid as them being plugged in in reverse depending on how the loom is laid out, so it's seeing bank 1 needs 25% more trim, and sending that to bank 2, etc etc.

@Alex88 It can be useful at times like this to have
1. An OBDII dongle. Such as this one
2. An app like "Car Scanner" on your phone.

For < £18 total you can see live data for things like fuel trim on each bank (and many other things), and it'll save historical logs etc too (al user configurable). Can't clear airbag lights or anything like that, but can be useful for troubleshooting (and clearing fault codes/CEL etc).

Jobbo wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 6:13 am

Simon wrote: Mon Aug 17, 2026 10:37 pm Please tell me you said "Don't you know who I am?" at some point during the exchange with them?

Nope, I didn’t even correspond with them from my work account.

I’m debating what to do to be honest. They offered an Enterprise hire car but we turned it down because we’ve obviously got other cars. But didn’t expect it to take this long; we’ve probably saved them £60/day. Which by coincidence is probably the actual loss to us (cost of tax, insurance, finance on the R5 and extra cost of fuel and putting miles on the Cayenne). Do I pursue it?

I'd absolutely email head office and make a complaint. Nothing to lose, although I'd only expect some kind of small gesture, I'd probably not take it further for my own sanity.

You're a better man than me if you can resist sending it from your work email, full signature and qualifications to boot

Matty wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 1:19 pm

You're a better man than me if you can resist sending it from your work email, full signature and qualifications to boot

Yours

Matty

Head honcho of the ov9 forum

C.U.N.T.

Only two of those things are true!

Sundayjumper wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 11:19 am

mik wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:48 am

Sundayjumper wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 10:04 am

Welded ? Erk. That sounds a PITA. I assumed they would bolt on / off.

That. Did they have to weld the sports cat(s) in too? If you are getting smells and heat in the interior - possible they aren't gas-tight? Is it throwing any wierd codes or check-engine lights?

@Alex88 I'm not familiar with these cars in the slightest, is the exhaust in this arrangement ?




Noting the position of the lambda sensors, I'm wondering if the problems all trace back to when the cats were fitted. As mik says, you shouldn't get smells (of any kind), and specifically fuel smells mean it's running rich. The lambda sensors play a vital role in controlling the mixture. An air leak upstream of them will play havoc with things.

Are you able to unplug them and see what happens ?

Ah, my mistake!

You're both correct. They new cats are not welded on, they're clamped on.

@Sundayjumper yes I think that's it - I've found a set for sale so this is definitely what they look like:

https://ebay.io/m/L4ia2z

Glad I didn't get rid of the original pair. The reason I replaced them was because one of the cats had a slight dent and also had a bit less honeycomb inside. But they can go back on for the test at least. I can't get under the car myself to reach the sensors, so I might have to get it somewhere nearby to check underneath

Perhaps it could be that a fuelling or sensor issue has caused the car to overfuel and somehow damage the new cats. I never noticed this smell or heat or engine temp before. It feels like those cats are absolutely cooking under there and Modurstang have treated one symptom but not the cause..

mik wrote: Tue Aug 18, 2026 12:40 pm @Alex88 It can be useful at times like this to have
1. An OBDII dongle. Such as this one
2. An app like "Car Scanner" on your phone.

For < £18 total you can see live data for things like fuel trim on each bank (and many other things), and it'll save historical logs etc too (al user configurable). Can't clear airbag lights or anything like that, but can be useful for troubleshooting (and clearing fault codes/CEL etc).

Thanks Mik

I do have already have a similar Veepeak device that I use for the Mini. I tried using it for the Mustang, but it seemed that most car scan apps weren't compatible. I'll have another look, but I agree, it's definitely worthwhile.

I realise there have been several posts already, but my thoughts are…

The ‘specialist’ is no more specialist than they have worked on a few before. The new oil pump seems rather random. I know vtec etc needs good oil pressure before it will engage, but never heard of otger issues without other symptoms. Maybe it’s a known fix on them, just instantly rang alarm bells with me.

The cats getting hot is worrying, you’d expect sport cars to flow better and not cause as much heat, sounds more like a fuelling issue, where are the sensors, ills there a reader that can show their data while the engine is running? Fuel smell isn’t always rich, an over lean mixture can cause incomplete combustion and smells too.

The weak starting could be a mixture issue, but could also be a fuel supply issue, I don’t know how your engine used to behave but an engine wouldn’t usually be using lambda readings for initial fire up. Has anyone had a look at the fuel pump / fuel supply / pressure? Wonder if it’s a constant load pump or modern pwm style?

Post cat lambdas can be upset by sports cats, but you’d usually get a check engine light unless they’re still sending readings but can’t work out there’s anything wrong. A lot seem to work fine with just an extension to space the sensor slightly away from the direct flow.

FORScan will be the best app for your mustang as it’s designed for fords systems, it’ll show you all the codes, even ones that don’t necessarily flag a warning light

Cats do get hot, they need to to work, but they can get too hot if excess fuel is coming through and burning off inside the cat. ECUs are often set up to deliberately run rich for a short period at startup for exactly that reason, to get the cats up to temp quickly.

If only Alex, Harry & I lived close together I bet we could get to the bottom of this quite quickly.

Any chance of pulling the spark plugs to see if they’re blackened and fouled up ? Or white and burnt out. Are the tail pipes sooty ?

You said it ran OK for a bit after the oil pump was replaced, was that long enough to notice if the fuel consumption had changed ?

I’m thinking air leak from when the cats were changed and/or a problem with the lambda sensors. I can’t imagine it being anything catastrophically bad.

And dare I ask…. have you cleaned the MAF ???