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| TECH TALK | . Body Work and Trim . |
TECH TALK |
Q/ I find the drivers seat on the Rover 800 will not go back far enough to get really comfortable, a further 2 inches or so of travel would do it. Is any one aware if Rover either provided different primary or secondary seat mountings to accommodate the taller/larger driver before I take out the seat out to investigate.
Any help or advice appreciated. Regards John (johnsharvell@cs.com)
A/ ?
Q/ I have a '94 214 Si Cabriolet which unfortunately needs a new roof. Have any other members had any good/bad experiences in this area and can anyone recommend/unrecommend (if that's a word) anyone in particular? Pref. in the S Yorkshire area or not a million miles away. There are several people who advertise in the Autotrader etc. I just need to know if there are any that are good and any that I should perhaps stay away from. Charlie Rawson C.Rawson@IC24.Net
A/ ?
Q/ Club member, Bill Higginson, has a problem with the back door of his 800. He can't open it! Neither the outside or inside handle will unlock it. Short of destroying the door-trim card to expose the interior mechanism, does anyone know any other possible solution to help Bill out?
A/ The description of Bill Higginsons problem is not too detailed, but I assume that neither the sill button nor cdl are unlocking the affected door. The other possible problem (and worst nightmare) is that the latch is unlocking but is siezed in the shut position. No use unbolting the hinges because the checkarm will not allow the front end of the door to be swung out. There are loads of 800s in breakers, so a door trim should not be too hard to find - I believe that this is Bills only way into the door internals. But even once he's in it's no picnic.
Q/ As you are aware the Coupes have removable roof panels. I can hear a reasonably loud draft coming from above the passenger side. I have checked all of the seals and have replaced the flaps that push up against the roof. It is winding me right up now, any ideas? Or is this a common problem with the Coupes?
Ben Coombe e-mail: bencoombe@hotmail.com
A/ A good way to find the source of wind noise is to get someone else to drive your car whilst you sit in the passenger seat. Equip yourself with a stethoscope (ELC, around £4) and pull off the listener at the end of the tube. Move the tube around your windows, doors etc and you will hear where the noise is coming in. Once you know where the noise is being generated you should be able to find a reason. Check that closures are sitting down on seals (the seal footprint should be 3mm wide), seals aren't damaged, closures aren't warped etc. If there is a gap between seal and closure then often the flange can be bent slightly to ensure better contact - this should be done very gently with a hammer and small piece of wood. A thin piece of paper (eg air mail paper) placed between the seal and closure should be gripped quite tightly - if you can pull it out really easily there is poor seal contact.
If you can't find (or don't trust) anyone else to drive your car then close the car up (including air vents) with the stereo on so you can just hear it from 5 feet away and use your stethoscope to listen for noise leaks. (Paul Carter)
Q/ I own a 216gti and want to know, do the coupe bumpers fit and what body kits are there?
cheers
Via e-mail: Robert Cook - Robshaz.Cook@btinternet.com
A/ You can get bodykits from Mynheer (01865 395326) and Motobuild (0208) 8934553. The coupe bumpers will fit, however I don't personally like the look of them, but it's an individual thing. (Ian)Q/ I have a 214 Cabriolett SEi and have found no manual about the power hood. Is there a Rover manual with this in? If not what preventative maintenance is required? What level and fluid is required in the pump for the hood.
Thanks
Gary via e-mail: gary@scarlouie.co.uk
Steve & Ian, I wondered if you had an answer to this problem on my 1990 216 GSi .
Q/ After standing in rain, when tailgate is opened, rainwater spills into the boot - flowing from the bottom right and left corners of the rear window. It is water from outside rather than a leak. Seems to be caused by the spoiler not allowing water to drop off rear of tailgate, but rather trapping it so that as the tail is lifted, it moves forwards then drops off. If the car is absolutely level side-to-side then the water may miss the boot cavity as it falls. but otherwise it will splash in at one side or both. Regards,
Grahame Owen via e-mail: grahame_owen@uk.ibm.com
Continuing with the saga(s).
I have a 1992, 214, convertible with a leaking boot, I can't see any obvious cause,
any ideas or is this a common fault. Thank you.
Regards G Coley. via e-mail: e-mail: Geof@gcoley.freeserve.co.uk
and also - I own a 95 rover 220 turbo coupe which leaks water in the boot I can see where the water is comming from but I cannot trace it back to the source (the water comes from inside the boot around the metal work under the speakers ) If this is a common fault, or anyone has any ideas.
A/ Water leaks into coupe boots, this is a well known problem at rover dealers. At the base of the rear screen there are some support clips for the screen which just push into the body. The fix for this is to remove the rear screen and replace the clips and seal them to the body then refit screen. This usually cures the problem. This is a genuine rover fix. One note of caution: a lot of screen companies say they can seal the clips without removing rear screen, DON'T!!!!! let them attempt it. It won't work also some say they can't guarantee to remove screen with out breaking it, shop around it can be donehope this helps, Dave
A/ With regard to the above, I bought a '97 coupe with EXACTLY the same symptoms as described. Took the rover dealer 3 WEEKS to sort, by re-sealing the rear screen in situ 3 times, then taking screen out, re-sealing, no use, so sealed it again (but the muppets doing the work were too lazy to remove screen). Then they supplied a new screen, as some of the rear screens fitted to the coupe were alegedly 'out of profile' - I think they mean 'bent'. Each time they sealed it, they also fitted new clips and finishers etc. The new screen seemed to do the job, as it is now dry.
Hope this helps. Mike.
A/ With regards to your leaking boot. I have a 214 Cab which had a leaking boot. I found 2 areas where the water was getting in.
1. Around and down the arial.
2. The water travelling down the boot lid gully and supposedly over the rear light cluster. Here the water was getting under the gasket between the body work and cluster. I removed the lights and stuck the gasket to the car and the stuck the light to the gasket. The best thing for this I found was selastic from an aquatic shop as this can if need be pealed off.
Hope this helps, it did mine. Gary
A/ I had a 216 coupe (Lreg), this was terrible for filling up with water in the wheel well. To combat this I eventually drilled two holes on either side at the bottom of the rear wheel arch in the softer part of the metal which led to the outside world.
The reason for this was that the water seemed to come from condensation on the inside of the body panel, then drip onto the arch and run down, eventually moving into the well, this cure made the water flow outside of the car and away causing not one problem, worth a try!!
A/ My 820 had a propensity for collecting water in the boot and particularly the spare wheel well which disappeared when I replaced properly the bungs or plugs associated with fittinga towbar. Subsequently, I removed the towbar and replaced the original bungs and all continued to be dry. It appears that water comes down the channel on the boot side and cascades out just above the two holes, so these need to be sealed properly by the blanking bungs. Just to make sure, I coated the bungs with instant gasket just before shoving 'em in place, which made the job easier anyway. A test for joint leakage round thr boot lid is, of course, to grip a small piece of thin paper into the seal and see if it comes out freely. If it does a little judicious repositioning of the seal is in order. Just a little bit can be achieved by putting a length of string into the back of the seal, rather than trying to bend the metal.
John Bloomfield.
Q/ I have a 1995 Rover 216 Coupe with the standard factory-fitted Rover alarm and immobiliser. I recently became a crime statistic when someone came onto my driveway during the night and unbolted and removed the bonnet, grille, front bumper, front lights and nearside front wing. The thief made no attempt to gain access to the passenger compartment or boot, so I assume the parts were stolen to order. The car was alarmed as usual, but the alarm failed to go off when the thief opened and removed the bonnet. He did not disconnect the battery, nor did he interfere with the ignition or electrical systems. In fact, when I went to the car the next day the red light on the dashboard was still flashing indicating all was OK. Of course, once I opened the door and locked it again, the alarm failed to set as there was no longer a bonnet!
I'd be grateful for anyone's thoughts on how the thief managed to get round the alarm system, and if there is anything I can do to the alarm in future to stop this happening again. (Alan Simpson).
A/ Hi , i was just looking through your site and notice Alan Simpson had become a victom of car theft . I suffered a similar theft of my previous 220GTI with factory fitted alarm .It is extremely easy to stop the alarm sounding the horns . Both horns are mounted behind the wheel arch liners the criminal has only got to pull off the wiring plugs and is then free to operatate with out making a noise . Whilst i would recommend a Thatcham catergory 1 alarm to be fitted there is a simple alternative , fit the horns in the engine compartment and pull the wiring looms back in to the engine bay and then re-connect them .I hope this will be of some help to you . I am not yet a member but think i will join up to your club . Wayne jones ( vehicle Mechanic)
Q/ The speedo on my 1992 Vitesse saloon is playing up. Sometimes it works okay and sometimes it does not work at all. On other occassions it will register erratic speeds when moving but will also show that I am doing up to 50 mph when stationary. The sender on the gear box might be the fault, but these are nearly £100 to buy. A bit much for an elimination process of fault finding. Do you have any ideas?
A/ When you say that you have a Vitesse, is it the825/827 version? If yes, then it will more than likely be the sensor on the gearbox, as you say. I had the same problem on my 825 Sterling. The wire vibrates at the top & breaks inside its sleeve. I removed the sensor (it's held on with a circlip) dug out the epoxy resin on the top, resoldered the wire & sealed it with ordinary window type silicone sealant. It worked & I even sold the car with it still working. Even if you end up buying a tube of sealant it is cheaper than a replacement. Alternatively, you could always try a dismantling yard.
Q/ I have a '93 216 GTi twin-cam in Carribean Blue. I was wondering if you know about touching up the paint on the car, nothing I buy (even from Rover) seems to match the colour.
Also, my car suffers from vibration when the car is at idle and suffers from carbon fouling on the plugs. Emissions are all okay. Any ideas?
A/ I don't know if you've ever heard this but someone once told me that spraying metallic paint through a hole in a piece of card gives a better match by dispersing the metallic flakes more randomly. I've never tested this theory myself. (Club Member)
A/ As far as I'm aware your can tint the rear lights but not heavliy. Your lights must clearly show the colour that they are supposed to be. If you tint the reflector on the cluster you must replace it with another, one for each side ( most people seem to put these on the rear bumper). (Club Member).
A/ The carbon fouling on your plugs may be caused by overfuelling. This is ( I have been told ) quite a common fault on the MEMS ECU which can be rectified by having the car hooked up to a diognostics computer and tested. The computer will check all the cars systems and sensors, check for fault codes, and then reset the timing, fuel mixtures.
Another reason could be a poor lambda sensor switch which also causes the car to be over rich. The sensor can fail in a variety of ways, to ground, or at an output of 0.8v. Defects of this sort may throw the ECU into ' limp home mode'.
With regards to having a diagnostics on your car - SHOP AROUND!!!
When I had to have my car tested my local Rover dealer wanted to charge me £52.50 per hr, Quoting times of about two hours.
HOWEVER, a local garage had just bought the chip kit for their diagnostics systems and charged me £15. And get this, it only took about 20 minutes!!! ' above all we're rover dealers' yeah right. (Club Member)
Q/ I want to tint the tail lights on my 216GTi but don't want to use the black tint you can buy. The car is Caribbean Blue and I think this colour is dark enough to do a tint with. Does anyone know the ratio of paint to lacquer I need to use to get the right effect? Also where exactly does the law stand when it comes to tinting.
A/ We will certainly look into the law side of this question, it is something that crops up on a regular basis, so we really ought to know. In the mean time if any one can enlighten us on the law or the ratio, Drop us an e-mail. ian@rovertorque.co.uk or stef@copywright.co.uk
A/ Motech (Tel: 07000 455 666) sell a product called 'Foliatec' which is available in black, red, mint, blue & orange and costs £11.50 (02/99) per can. It tints the rear lights but allows the bulb colour to still show through. However, whether these products are legal is a cloudy issue, although if the bulb colour shines through at the correct shade & brightness, one would assume that there is no problem. You have to decide for yourself if the end result will be worth any hassle.
A/ One comment on the tinting of rear lights is that the most common offence isn't the tinting job itself but that the car no longer displays a valid pair of red reflectors to the rear. There is normally somewhere (on the rear bumper?) where a pair can be stuck (they are easily available from car accessory shops or camping/caravan suppliers).
A/ You might likt to try using Ladies Black tights!, Stretch them around the lights, it works and are easily removed! (David Broadhead).Q/ After a recent valet to my L reg 800, I have noticed that the drivers side front & rear doors 'creak' whilst driving along. If I open the doors whilst driving, the creak stops. It was a windy day when the car was valeted & the doors were open whilst the interior dried. There does not appear to be any straining on the hinges or door stay
A/ Over to you readers, any ideas? You can either e-mail, phone or fax us or contact Bob Kilduff direct with your answer. Tel: (01706) 210964 01/99
A/ One possible solution which, in this instance didn't work, was the suggestion that since the doors had been left open, the rubber may have dried out excessively, requiring some form of lubrication to eradicate the noise.
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