68k_dude

I did the MOT early to give me time to sort it out.

Failure list:

1) Registration plate bulb. Easy.

2) Two rear tyres. Cheap part worn ones (Continental somethings) £50 fitted.

3) Hole in centre section of exhaust. I will look at this tomorrow to see about doing a quick bodge job.

4) A combination of minor windscreen chips in zone a amounting to a failure. I'm fully comp and know a mate who works for a large windscreen company who does this for a living. Sweet.

That's it.

Not bad for a badly treated older motor.

At the weekend I fitted two new knock sensors. If you have never done this let me tell you, you don't want to. I have some pictures on my camera I'll upload a little later. The job was a nasty one, it included much swearing and once done, a lot of drinking. The car now runs much better, on cold start before there was a lot of badly timed firing. There is now only one ECU error code left to deal with. Code 1-3. On reading up, this seems to be due to the cam belt being fitted incorrectly. I have eliminated both cam sensors and loom ( 1.2kOhm for both sensors with 6.5kOhm back to the ecu) the only other one is the crank position sensor, I haven't got to it yet. The cam belt was last done when I was still at school so it looks like it is time for another nasty job. I'll replace all the associated parts at the same time. If anyone has any advice I'm all ears.

The knock sensors are here. A bargain from an eBay auction. I'll replace the culprit at the weekend.

Thank you everybody for your replies. I think I'll purchase one of the CDs from eBay. The knock sensor looks to be difficult to get to. I shall take pictures and make notes of the job at various stages. I'll post them here and use them to put the thing together again. It won't be done next weekend maybe the weekend after.

P.S. The fuel filter was a nasty job.

If anyone knows where I could buy a Haynes style manual for this I would be most grateful. All I can find are cd-rom types, not that that is a problem I can print it out but if it has to be a CD can someone recommend one.

More bad news. The ecu is also reporting a knock sensor problem. Before I try and find it can some kind soul tell me where the number one knock sensor is. I have found a replacement in America ( yes, more money) that will arrive only days after ordering. Before I go and buy it I would like to eliminate any wiring fault or fitment problems. Any advice on this fault would be greatly appreciated.

Unfortunately I did. Oh how the sweet ambrosia is forever out of reach.

I'm still here. I apologise for the delay.

As things stand the car runs much better than before. Below is a list of parts I have changed so far.

Distributor caps and rotor arms. "Bosch parts"

Ignition leads "Denso"

Spark plugs "Ngk iridium ix"

I have the following coming tomorrow.

Air filter

oil filter (and the oil)

Fuel filters.

During the changing of the ignition parts I have inadvertently introduced an engine ecu fault code. It is 1-3, rpm signal number 2. During tomorrows work of changing the filters and the oil I shall look into this fault. If anyone has had this fault code I would appreciate any help you may have to offer. I am presuming I have damaged a sensor wire, but we shall see. When I get this thing running I am going to drink a toast to the diy gods and no mistake.

P.s I am dreading the first MOT.

Yes I did. I found their website to be excellent. It's a pity I couldn't find them for a reasonable price in the UK. When I say reasonable I include in that the time and effort navigating around google and various rubbish UK sites. One glimmer of hope has been http://www.japtec.com they are based here in plymouth. I only found these guys through a friend saying that I should have gone to them. I was wondering if anyone here had any experience using them as I shall look at them for air filters and other bits when the misfire is sorted.

P.s : I have looked into a new cam belt. They seem cheap enough, however, the kit and water pump are going to sting. Does anyone have advise as to where to go for good quality parts at a sensible price. They seem ok from Rock auto and I have seen them on eBay but every little helps.

Unbelievable, according to the fedex tracking number the parts are in Stansted. They say that the parts will be delivered tomorrow. Wow that is some service for you.

Reply to steve2006: Yes it was on eBay. The guy said it wasn't like that when he got it in and that it developed that fault while it was sat around. Dubious at best.

Reply to floggit: The car is a very very dark green I think, might as well be black. It also has the wrong colour bumper and is M reg. I'll be going up the A38 at the weekend to blow out the cobwebs. I hope it will anyway.

I knew where to look when I saw four plugs hadn't fired for a while and the leads all went back to the same cap.

P.S : This is a great forum. I've also gone gold, now waiting for my gold card. Got to laugh, if you didn't you'd cry.

Hello everybody. Thanks for the interest and the moral support. Below should be two pictures one of a cap and its rotor arm ( the bits in the bottom of it ) and the next is of the other rotor arm ( cracked and a nasty piece missing ). The other cap has been cleaned so makes for a useless picture, however it was very coked and took come cleaning ( I shall not be re using it). The car cost £525. It came with six months tax and three months MOT. When It isn't pouring down and daylight out side I'll take some pictures of the car. I won't be doing anything to it until the bits arrive from America. As for the general condition of the car I am quite pleased. It has done over 130000 miles and certain parts look like it has, however the bodywork ( as far as I have inspected on one rainy day) looks in good condition. The only concern I have is the cam belt. All these bits of rotor must have gone somewhere especially that big bit. I've just checked my inbox and the replacement parts have been dispatched and should arrive early next week. I shall endeavour to keep a record of what I do so others can benefit as well. I can't wait to get this running properly ( like being a kid waiting for Christmas ).

If the pictures aren't below then I'm more useless at this than I thought and you will have to look at my gallery.

At the weekend I liberated a ls400 from a scrap yard. It didn't cost me a lot so if it turns out bad I won't worry about it. The thing was misfiring badly had a damaged front bumper and light cluster. Luckily there was another there which was in a bad way so I took a bumper (wrong colour but not too bad) and its cluster. I was unable to do anything at the time about the misfire. I nursed the thing home (with the overdrive off as it was able to get up hills easier) for over forty miles on what I thought was half an engine. On Sunday I discovered that it was only running on four cylinders as one of the rotor arms was actually just dust inside the cap. That's right, it was gone, the other one was in a shocking state with a bit cracked off and all coked up. How it got home is amazing, I bet when this cars is running sweet it must be fantastic. Anyway, I have purchased new plugs, leads, caps and rotors from a good company in the states (loads cheaper than I could find them in the UK) and shall be fitting them as and when they arrive. I can't wait hee hee, living the dream. Well, if this hasn't bored anyone too much I'll post a continuing saga to keep interested people informed.