Technical Koalar random thoughts

[koalar]

You can tell if the coil pack is getting a control signal and giving a good spark like this

If one is weeker and the spark does not jump as far than the others it's suspect

It is possible to get a jolt if you do something wrong, probably not a good idea if you have a pace maker

As long as the spark has an easier path to earth than you will not get a jot, I have never had a jolt doing this, I still don't lean on the car and put one hand behind my back while doing this

 

[koalar]

The injectors can be a little tricky to back probe, if you unplug them and fit a noid light, it will tell you if it being controlled but not if an injector is shorted, open, or jammed

You can hear them opening and closing by holding a metal rod to the injector and your ear

This simple test tells you that they have power and are being controlled by the engine computer, they are opening and closing no need to unplug anything, no special equipment. The only things not tested is spray pattern and flow rate

 

[koalar]

I hate the lag in modern cars, about half a second there.

Here's throttle angle vs rpm

approx the blink of an eye delay, I divided the 5 second in half then in half again and so on. Approx 1/16th of 5 seconds

Takes a bit longer to get the mass of the flywheel up to speed and slow it back down again though,

 

[koalar]

The connector is great
Between the battery and engine
Both the alternator and starter control wires go through it, Saves crawling under the car

Back probed with a T pin on the starter solinoid wire

Not a great video as the sun is behind it
But in real life the bulb is glowing brightly


As you can see the starter is electric and nothing to do with ECU which I have left unpluged,

 

[koalar]

Here's a good example of a good crank speed but the car almost does not start

The Crank sensor almost fails to register before the battery fell below 6V

The whole event is roughly 1/3rd of a second, too fast for most multi meters

Here is the main beam switched on and off
Looks very choppy because of the auto scale, there's a small decrease in revs and voltage

If I leave it to settle there is about 5 RPM drop and 0.1V drop

Here I have all the electrics on, front and rear fogs, fans full, main beam, really struggling to cope revs and voltage are starting to fall

 

[koalar]

Same connector allows you to back probe the alternator D+ wire

Here's mine

Thickest wire starter
One underneath is alternator

Key out

Ignition on

Engine running

If the ignition on is high check the resistance to ground should be around 1.5K

If way above it's time to check at the alternator post to confirm if it's a faulty altinator or the wiring.

 

[koalar]

Car running on two or three cylinders

Normally you would unplug the injectors one at a time to prevent bore wash

The clips on the panda are a little awkward

I just unplug the spark leads one at a time for a few seconds

The one or ones that makes no difference are the cylinder/s not firing

Here's mine on 4 then 3 and 2 cylinders

 

[koalar]

If there been a problem in the past, the radiator expansion can be full of muck making it hard to see the level

Problem solved


If you need to check the level in a hurry put your thumb on a pipe and pull it out

Blowing down the pipe while lowering it into the expansion tank works even better. Stop when you hear bubbles and measure

 

[koalar]

Changing the cambelt on engines that are timed by locking the cam and crank

There no need to undo the pully

However you can not get the right hand side tight enough with them both locked

I stuff a rag at the bottom to hold the belt on the Crank pully and pull the belt up to the cam pully, and mark the pully and belt, remove the cam locking plate and turn the Crank clockwise about half a tooth and fit the belt it should look like this while still locked, belt slack, you can not pull it up to the next tooth

View attachment 429818

And like this after rotating the cam, and rotating it back belt tight

The whole process only takes less than a minuite

 

[vexorg]

The whole process only takes less than a minuite

A bold statement!

 

[koalar]

A bold statement!

Yep that can read wrong

Process of putting the belt over both both pulleys correctly without loosing the cam pulley is much quicker to do that it was for me to write it up.

Something that some garages seem to mess up occasionally

The two photos does demonstrate well how even though both pulleys are locked it can still be put on one tooth out

 

[koalar]

2011 cars either have Bosch or Lockheed rear brakes, mine has Lockheed pads

Supplier charge a lot more for lockheed drums

I can not garentee the rear drums on my car are the original or correct fitted at the factory

But the Bosch drums (under half the price) measure the same

 

[koalar]

Rear lockheed

This is how I do them, there are other ways

Disconnect the brake cable, first

Photography the ones coming off for reference

Testing the bimetallic strip watch the left side, need to be viewed full screen

Testing the adjusters are adjusting

I have done them both ways but find it easier to remove the hub

 

[koalar]

I check the slide pins, if the seal is still good and they slide smoothly then I leave alone, this one is on 110K miles

I fit the pads dry no brake grease, here in Cheshire I have never had any problem with rust or jamming but it pretty flat here

They are supposed to be free to move


The caliper is spring loaded and pushes against the top of the pads (not my video)

These are the tools I used

1/2" Breaker bar nice but not needed
32mm socket 1/2" quicker, not essential
17mm socket 1/2"
12mm socket 1/2"
10mm socket 1/2" handbrake cable
1/2" extention handbrake console
1/2" racket
Hammer
Wire brush
Manual impact, not essential but nice
Flat blade screwdriver
High temp grease, where the rear shoes rub
Trolly jack and axle stand, could be done on factory jack if you are careful and never go under the car, place the wheel taken off under the car as an extra precaution

Here a photo of the tools used for the fronts minus the wire brush, two aren't strickly necessary

Pads, discs and buying the tool would still be cheaper than paying a garage

 

[vexorg]

Controversial now, i always use copper grease, I've seen problem without it, and generally no problems if i use it.

Some now claim cooper grease can damage the brakes (like bmw), years and years of use tells me otherwise

 

[koalar]

Controversial now, i always use copper grease, I've seen problem without it, and generally no problems if i use it.

Some note claim cooper grease can damage the brakes (like bmw), years and years of use tells me otherwise

Waste of time on the backs these days as they come pre done

Corvette says yes

mitsubishi say no and void brake warranties if it found anywhere near the brakes


this is how my 110K look like, not been touched for the last few years

Not mentioned on Fiat's eLearn

But at the end of the day it's down to the individual

 

[vexorg]

Having seen our fiat brakes, i would never leave them dry, pads seized in at relatively low mileage and age.

 

[koalar]

P0016
P0011

Aren't usally serious

They often turn up a few days after head gasket has been changed

Just one bolt

Often looks fine from the top

And blocked underneath, cleans easy with a tooth brush and some petrol

P0016 is also a common code if the cambelt is out by a tooth

 

[koalar]

Clearing code on some ECU can be problematic, some scanners and software fail unless you pull the adapter straight after you clear the code and before you switch the ignition off

Never had a problem with my older panda

It's definitely the software

Android, elm327 and car scanner fails
Android, elm327 and torque works

 

[koalar]

It's possible to trick the ECU and BSI to put the fans on both slow speed and fast while moving the gauge, the temperature sensor can be substituted for a variable resistor

Once it's been past 60 degrees and you can't drop it below while the engine is running will put the engine check light and fans on