1989 90 Rebuild

boguing · Mar 2, 2017

I reckon it may well be the swivels.

Your car should have the Raiko bush type top swivel pin - the bottom is a taper roller. The bush is made from a fibrous substance and the pin is a slip fit into it. What you achieve with the shims is to press the end of the pin into the bottom of the cup-shaped bush - increasing the pressure by removing shims.

That's all fine and well, but when the bush wears (and gets a little crushed) by the forces from resisting accelerating, braking and turning it's the sides of the bush that suffer. You can't really adjust them to compensate for that because all you're doing is pushing the pin onto the bottom harder, and while that may make it a bit harder for the pin to slide around in its hole, it isn't a proper cure.

Testing the swivels pins for play isn't like testing a wheel bearing - you need to use all your body weight and strength to get the wheel to move the hub around, and you need to test by grabbing the wheel at 6 and 12 o'clock and trying to change the camber angle, and also trying to rotate the braked wheel in both directions.

The bottom taper roller is rarely a problem.

gse1986 · Mar 2, 2017

Vagueness in steering I'd look at the steering ujoints - make sure they're all nice and tight

Sakara · Mar 2, 2017

Brilliant reading, I have just read the whole thread from start to finish. You have done a great job. I am about to start something similar on a 1985 90 so you have given me some great info. Has the silent coat been worth the money? I am also going to look at the keyless RFID system as I hadn't thought of that.

Southernlandy · Jun 19, 2017

Sakara said:
Brilliant reading, I have just read the whole thread from start to finish. You have done a great job. I am about to start something similar on a 1985 90 so you have given me some great info. Has the silent coat been worth the money? I am also going to look at the keyless RFID system as I hadn't thought of that.

Sorry for the late response, the Silent Coat stuff is pretty expensive but well worth the investment. I've just another load to finish off the roof but be warned you need to cover it otherwise it'll blind you on a sunny day. The RFID system seemed like a good idea at the time but I haven't actually had it connected up as it still needs the key to be left in to release the steering lock. When I get a solution to the problem I might use it again.

Southernlandy · Jun 19, 2017

Been a long time. Time for a small update.

The swivels were rebuilt with new bushes and new panhard rod bushes fitted and there is still some vagueness in the steering, still a mystery.

Recently been on a big spend as I finally decided to get around to changing the catflap to a puma rear door (not cheap). With all the parts that went with that and the paint it was around £600 to do the swap. While I had the roof off, I filled all the holes, and changed the colour. Unfortunately the paint doesn't seem to have stuck so it'll have to come off again to be redone at some point. The tub and sides also have had a repaint along with the new door. The front will get done as soon as I have some more time off. Not 100% happy with the paint but it's the best I can do with the equipment I've got. Finished off the silent coat on the roof. Today has been putting it back together in the swealtering heat. I need the car tomorrow so all the trim will have to wait until I have more time. I now have a fair few bits for sale so check out my ebay page for anything you might want. http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/mattsailing200684?_trksid=p3984.m2303.l3972

Southernlandy · Sep 3, 2017

Been pretty busy recently with one thing and another so haven't been able to update as much as i'd have liked. About a month ago I was driving to work when I suddenly lost oil pressure. If I kept the revs up, the pressure could be maintained so I carried on driving around carefully as I didn't have time to investigate. After and oil change and a new sender, it was clear there was a much larger problem. A couple of weeks ago I decided to take the sump off and remove the oil pump. As soon as I took the sump off, it was clear what had happened. One of the oil jet bolts had somehow sheared and the oil jet had been forced through the ladder frame after hitting piston 1 and 2. Luckily I was already part way through the rebuild of my original engine so I quickly finished it off and decided it was easier to swap them over whist I investigate how much damage has been done. So all in all an expensive month. Very odd however as I rebuilt the engine almost a year ago now and the bolt didn't come out, it just sheared.

Also I have managed to fit my LED rear light now the missing bracket has arrived from China. Just need some time to wire it up correctly now.

Southernlandy · Sep 7, 2017

Starting to think about MOT now as I'm back to uni next week. Had a leak from the rear wheel which I thought was a leaking halfshaft seal but it turns out it was the brake cylinder leaking brake fluid. Changed the leaking cylinder and then had to fit new shoes because of the contamination. A few small jobs to do now including sorting the exhaust. I need to buy the conversion downpipe and as you can see in the post above the rear box has a hole by the mount. Debating whether to change the whole system to a 200tdi or just change the bits I need and leave it as the 2.5td system.

Southernlandy · Dec 16, 2017

Just got back from Uni for Christmas. Had the MOT in November and passed with flying colours and nothing seems to have gone wrong since then, apart from a couple of small issues that need sorting. Plan for Christmas is to fix the hazard lights, complete oil change and find whats causing an odd screaming/whistling noise under acceleration. With the snow last week, I finally got the chance to put it through it's paces and didn't struggle at all. Now I have some time off, I'll try and replace all the photos that photobucket have deleted.

Southernlandy · Jan 1, 2018

Stumbled across a TDCI clutch pedal for sale on ebay. I was still running the original 2.5td pedal setup with the long return spring which caused aching legs in traffic jams. I ordered the whole unit and set about swapping it, turns out the m/c on my old unit had a pretty bad leak despite being replaced just 10000 miles ago. While I was taking the old one out, the solid clutch pipe was already weakened from a previous removal and as I turned the union, the pipe snapped (on the 28th). Obviously no way of getting a new pipe before the new year so I'm hoping it will be delivered either tomorrow or Wednesday. Anyway, swapped the pedal housings over no problem making sure to use a bucket load of sealant to prevent the leaks. Now just waiting on a new pipe, then bleed it and hopefully should have transformed the clutch pushing experience. I'll do a video to compare them both once it's all up and running again. Also if anyone is after a clutch pedal housing or a TDCI master cylinder pressure switch, I have them.

Southernlandy · Jan 11, 2018

Fitted the new clutch pipe when it finally arrived and the new pedal feels much easier to push down, only slight issue is that the bite point is now right near the floor even with all the air bled so it could be a worn master cylinder. Got round to finishing the sound proofing of the rear tub wheel boxes and bought some MUD speaker pods and new speakers to replace the cheap speakers I had in my DIY holder.

Decision time- do I carry on the grass theme on the wheel boxes or go for some normal carpet?

Hippo · Jan 11, 2018

carpet - easier to clean

Southernlandy · May 6, 2020

Been a couple of years so thought I'd update on some of the changes. Lockdown has provided a fair amount of time to get those jobs done. Since the last update I've acquired a Volvo Xc70 meaning that I can now afford for the 90 to be off the road whilst I do the work, although the XC is only 2wd at the moment, another job that needs sorting during lockdown! I decided to give the paint a bit of an update in tamar blue and as I've had such hassle with spraying before, decided to go down the brushing/rollering route, whilst not finished (got the rear tub to finish), the results aren't too bad. The seatbox is now all sealed up from the outside, cubby box raised to the right height and the seatbox carpeted- just waiting on some aluminium strips to finish off the edges. Headlining also redone again without the foam backing on the material and now with extra supports to hold it up. Once the painting is done, the seat rails will get tidied up and then move onto the underneath giving axles and chassis another coat of paint to keep it looking tidy. Other changes have been the TD5 bonnet about a year ago and the LED lights all round. Anyone got any tips/tricks/correct paint to use on the rusty steel wheels?

Southernlandy · Feb 5, 2021

Been a while since i've been on. Repaint all finished now and still looking pretty nice. Need to tackle the underside now with some paint to bring it back to looking nice under there.

Now onto the issue- Starter motor has recently been reluctant to engage on the flywheel with it sometimes grinding on engagement and other times not engaging at all but still spinning up the motor. Had issues with the before where the key wouldn't turn over the engine at all and that turned out to be an burnt out ignition switch. With that all changed, I now have this issue. I managed to change out the solenoid last weekend, confident that it was the problem but no bueno. I struggled for a day to remove the starter (Those with a disco 200tdi will know the hassle). Now it's on the bench it works fine as they always seem to do on the bench! My dilemma is, I don't want to fork out for a new starter if there's nothing wrong with this one. On the other hand I don't want to have the struggle of changing it again any time soon.

With my knowledge of starter motors, I struggle to see how the motor can spin but not engage as the solenoid pulls the gear out at the same time as turning the motor and the bendix assists the gear popping out. Am I missing something here or could this just be an electrical problem in the car?

1989 90 Rebuild

boguing

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gse1986

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Sakara

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Southernlandy

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Hippo

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