General Free 1994 Cinq, 900cc ..

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General Free 1994 Cinq, 900cc ..

glenn2602

Member
Joined
Apr 30, 2017
Messages
297
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77
Location
Ashington, Northumberland
First of all, I've sent a message to a member called rallycinq, asking him if he wants this car? He has first refusal. A while back he sent me a fuel injector at no cost, to try and help with a particular problem. He's the sort of guy who makes a car club/forum what it is. So, fair play .. if he doesn't want the car it'll go to anybody who does want it. Free ..

I bought the car 2 years ago at auction. It had stood in a garage for a long time. It always had a problem with the injector warning light remaining on. I think every sensor was changed .. but .. still on.

About 3 months ago at start up, it sounded as though somebody had stuck a screwdriver in a rotating fan. The noise/cause was traced to bits of alloy in a cylinder. Where it came from and how it got there, I have no idea.

The head was lifted, the alloy removed, and the head refitted. Other than a few pit marks on the piston there was no apparent damage to the valves or bores. A compression test wasn't done.

The car seems 'tappety' and has an erratic tickover- like a surge, as though a valve wasn't fully opening or closing. The car has been standing in my back yard, unused. I doubt if the car has covered more than 300 miles since it came into my possession 2 years ago.

I'm told that it's possible that a piston ring broke and the bits found their way into the cylinder. The car starts and runs - I've just driven it 3 miles - it's first outing in many weeks.

It's maybe a car for somebody who has the time and inclination to remove the engine and put things right.

It has 31,000 genuine miles on the clock. There's a crack in the rear bumper but there's not a spot of rust on the bodywork. I think there's about 1 month or so MOT remaining.

I'm now at an age when you 'can't be bothered' to work on cars any more. The Fiat was seldom used and as I also have a Jeep and a Saab which are seldom used, there's very little point in keeping the Cinq.

Anybody who is looking for an old Cinq to do mechanical work on - here's the ideal car, subject to rallycinq ..
 

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I'll wait until I hear from the member rallycinq .. He went out of his way to help me, so ...

I didn't mention it earlier, the car is located in Ashington, Northumberland, which is about 15 miles north of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
 
Diagnostics start later today

I'm curious to know what you find...

Despite what others have said about the alloy found in the bores, I still don't think it's a bit of piston ring. I think it's a bit of exhaust valve seat. That Cinq stood for ages before I got it and had seized tappets. I reckon that caused a valve seat to fracture then later break up ..

I also reckon that the fuel injection warning light was caused by the same valve seat allowing unburnt gases to trigger the warning light .. which wasn't the o2 sensor at fault ... so those lambda sensors in the driver door pocket are probably ok ..

I never used a compression tester as I accidentally drove a Rover 3500cc over it way back in 1991. It wasn't much of a compression tester anyway ..

When I was trying to set the Cinq tappets I was using the tried and tested method of sticking a thumb over the spark plug hole to feel the compression as the piston approached TDC ..

No3 piston didn't seem to have much 'thumb compression'.

We await with bated breath ....
 
I'm curious to know what you find...

Despite what others have said about the alloy found in the bores, I still don't think it's a bit of piston ring. I think it's a bit of exhaust valve seat. That Cinq stood for ages before I got it and had seized tappets. I reckon that caused a valve seat to fracture then later break up ..

I also reckon that the fuel injection warning light was caused by the same valve seat allowing unburnt gases to trigger the warning light .. which wasn't the o2 sensor at fault ... so those lambda sensors in the driver door pocket are probably ok ..

I never used a compression tester as I accidentally drove a Rover 3500cc over it way back in 1991. It wasn't much of a compression tester anyway ..

When I was trying to set the Cinq tappets I was using the tried and tested method of sticking a thumb over the spark plug hole to feel the compression as the piston approached TDC ..

No3 piston didn't seem to have much 'thumb compression'.

We await with bated breath ....

Definitely number 3 and then I broke my hip on Sunday, so no further work since. The fact that the light comes on straight away is an indication the O2 sensor is ok, its not in circuit till its well warm.

More news much later when I get out of this hospital

D
 
Well.....I haven't been sitting on the garage floor. Nothing new to report yet, although I have returned to the world of international motor sport today. I had to come back to work, there is only so much daytime telly you can watch. Do all the Jeremy Kyle participants share the same tooth?

I will keep the forum updated with progress, the young lady whose car it is, was most surprised to receive a haynes manual for her birthday along with a set of keys.....

She has been told she has to help fix it.

Cheers

D
 
Progress report...

Nice day yesterday so popped the car out of the shed for the first time in over a month.

Evicted a family of mice from behind the battery and set the kids to work with paintwork renovator.

Step daughter had her first drive, only up and down the driveway. She will make a rally driver....5000 rpm, drop the clutch and left foot braking...

D
 
Well that didn't quite go to plan....

Back at the wee car now.

To recap, no compression on number 3.

Head off, upturned, plugs in and no leaks from any of the valves.

Valves out and number 3 exhaust has no witness marks on either it or the head so it hasn't been sealing.

All valves cleaned and checked for bending. All ok.

Head in work today for thorough cleaning and inspection.

Lapping tool and paste bought, children will be doing that this weekend.

Looks like its a stuck tappet on number 3 exhaust. I'll get them all cleaned up next week to check.

D
 
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