My Dodgy Disco, an update and a plea for advice....

**Mattskii** · 14th January 2011, 08:12 PM

Wow, I am overwhealmed by all the help and kindness from everyone here! Thanks soooo much!

Tank - I have checked the IAC Valve, it is tightly attached. I will get some spray and clean it out as you described on Monday. I am working every day until then. I'll let you know how I get on.

CircusFreaks - I'll check out that 4X4 wreckers, there are a few things I want to pick up. I need a new mud flap for the rear passenger side, as it is missing. I also need a parcel shelf and an attachment to fit it - I want to leave tools in the back and not have them on show! And I need a jack, the fella who sold it to me keeps forgetting to give me the damn jack! I already have a haynes manal, and also a RAVE disk, which I got with the car.

Landover - thanks so much, will be messaging you shortly!

Cool! I can't wait until Monday now, will be up early and off to the shops for tools and supplies. Then will go through some of the advice given here and see how far I get.

Thank you everyone, will report back soon

**Mattskii** · 14th January 2011, 08:44 PM

Thought it would be nice to post a pic of the beast. I do love this vehicle, despite the engine issues. Here she is

MyDisco.jpg

**Mattskii** · 16th January 2011, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by justinc

A few other things to check,

.... Also, make certain someone hasn't conected the fuel temp sensor plug onto the coolant temp sensor and vis-a-versa. Don't laugh, I have seen it done.

JC

Hi,

I have just been digging arrond:

Looks like the plug going to the coolant temp sender has a brown plastic housing, and the one goinng to the fuel temp sensor has a grey plastic housing. Is this right?

I also just checked the spark plug in position 1. It looks quite clean on one side, the other side of the insulation arround the electrode and "hook" over the top is very black. The whole thing is a little oily and smells of fuel. More worryingly, the electrode gap appears to be about 2 to 3 mm - according to the haynes manual it should be 0.8mm. Is this something I can fix? What effect would this have on performance?

**PhilipA** · 16th January 2011, 04:25 PM

the electrode gap appears to be about 2 to 3 mm - according to the haynes manual it should be 0.8mm. Is this something I can fix? What effect would this have on performance?

Do you REALLY mean 2 to 3MM or 0.2 MM . If 2MMYou can close it up to 0.8MM just by tapping it on a hard surface. BUT if it is over say 2MM then the plug is probably very old and should be replaced. This only applies if the plug has a thick electrode ie is conventional . If its iridium no go, but then its gap should be OK. Look at the centre "post" . Does it have round shoulders? or does it have nice sharp square shoulders? If round then replace.
That would certainly make it start and idle and go and everything better!!!!
Regards Philip A

**bee utey** · 16th January 2011, 04:31 PM

Originally Posted by Mattskii

Hi,

I have just been digging arrond:

Looks like the plug going to the coolant temp sender has a brown plastic housing, and the one goinng to the fuel temp sensor has a grey plastic housing. Is this right?

I also just checked the spark plug in position 1. It looks quite clean on one side, the other side of the insulation arround the electrode and "hook" over the top is very black. The whole thing is a little oily and smells of fuel. More worryingly, the electrode gap appears to be about 2 to 3 mm - according to the haynes manual it should be 0.8mm. Is this something I can fix? What effect would this have on performance?

What you need is a feeler gauge, looks like this:

Available on ebay for $10 - $20, auto shops for less. Beats guessing plug gaps.

**Mattskii** · 16th January 2011, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by PhilipA

Do you REALLY mean 2 to 3MM or 0.2 MM . If 2MMYou can close it up to 0.8MM just by tapping it on a hard surface. BUT if it is over say 2MM then the plug is probably very old and should be replaced. This only applies if the plug has a thick electrode ie is conventional . If its iridium no go, but then its gap should be OK. Look at the centre "post" . Does it have round shoulders? or does it have nice sharp square shoulders? If round then replace.
That would certainly make it start and idle and go and everything better!!!!
Regards Philip A

Hi,

Just checked it again..... I should know better than to try and estimate, I know I am no good at that! lol OK, so it looks like the gap - according to my engineers ruler is about 1.5mm. I will buy a feeler gauge tomorrow, and a torque wrench and go through and check all 8 of them and see where we are.

The shoulders on the centre post are pretty sharp, and there is a slot cut accros the centre of it, like on the top of a screw. They look pretty clean, they were supposed to have been replaced about 1000K before I purchased the car. According to the Haynes manual hard black deposits mean it is running rich, and oil on them means the engine is worn. Not sure how it can be that warn thoug, only done 200,000K's....

Thanks guys

**justinc** · 16th January 2011, 07:24 PM

Originally Posted by Mattskii

Hi,

Just checked it again..... I should know better than to try and estimate, I know I am no good at that! lol OK, so it looks like the gap - according to my engineers ruler is about 1.5mm. I will buy a feeler gauge tomorrow, and a torque wrench and go through and check all 8 of them and see where we are.

The shoulders on the centre post are pretty sharp, and there is a slot cut accros the centre of it, like on the top of a screw. They look pretty clean, they were supposed to have been replaced about 1000K before I purchased the car. According to the Haynes manual hard black deposits mean it is running rich, and oil on them means the engine is worn. Not sure how it can be that warn thoug, only done 200,000K's....

Thanks guys

Hmm, I've seen these engines trashed at less than 100K, lack of maintenance will finish them off REAL quick

Did you put a fuel pressure gauge on to check bleed off? That could be why the plugs are wet with fuel

JC

**dullbird** · 16th January 2011, 07:35 PM

Slow maneuvering and conking out sounds like the airflow meter along with running rich

**PhilipA** · 16th January 2011, 10:09 PM

If the MAF is not supplying a signal to the ECU, then the ECU will go into "limp home" which is quite rich on my car anyway.
Regards Philip A

**Mattskii** · 16th January 2011, 10:38 PM

Hi again,

I don't have a fuel pressure gauge, and I think it would be a bit pricey to purchase one just for this 1 test, is there an alternative, can anyone lend me one? ;O)

I'm not sure what a MAF is..... I think I saw something about this on another thread, but can't remember where. I am a novicce remember. How would I check this?

Tomorrow I will be working on the car, goig to check the gaps on all the plugs, take off and clean the IAC(I think it was called) on the back of the plenum as per instructions in this thread. If I can afford to get a multi meter I will check the output from the cooling temp sensor - I read somewhere what the reading should be, I will try and look that up again. I can check the MAF too if you can let me know what it is!

Also, did the fuel and cooling temp sensor colours sound right, as per my previous post? Someone said to check they had not been swapped over.

Thread: My Dodgy Disco, an update and a plea for advice....

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