Technical Finally I have my car! - but lady needs knight in shining armour for help...

[MistyX19]

At last I am a proud owner of an X1/9 Gran Finale. I travelled over 400 miles to collect it. After my initial worry of 'gosh I do hope it wont break down', I enjoyed the country driving from Cornwall back to its new home in Dorset.
Now I have it safe and sound, there are a few questions which I need help with:

1. Door and windows - Any ideas how to straighten out the weather strip on the roof, so that the window goes under it to keep out the rain? It currently takes about 5 minutes to pull out the strip and lock the car. A bit inconvenient :bang:

2. Heater unit - A couple of problems here. The levers are VERY hard to move and in fact the bottom one has been snapped off by previous owner. Can these be unstiffened somehow and how easy are they to replace? Also, the heater unit itself doesnt work, but the fuse is fine. Any ideas?

3. Oil pressure light - The gauge reads ok, but the red light stays on permanently. I think this maybe a sensor problem. Once again, any ideas.

So to all knights out there, please can this distressed damsel be saved

 

[erich]

Re: Finally I have my car!

1. Door and windows - Any ideas how to straighten out the weather strip on the roof, so that the window goes under it to keep out the rain? It currently takes about 5 minutes to pull out the strip and lock the car. A bit inconvenient :bang:

This usually means that the window is raising too high. There's a stop inside the door that is supposed to prevent this, but it works loose over the years. There's a thread at xweb (http://xwebforums.org/showthread.php?p=63698) about this, nay not be precisely applicable to your car, but it'll be a start.

3. Oil pressure light - The gauge reads ok, but the red light stays on permanently. I think this maybe a sensor problem. Once again, any ideas.

Almost certainly the sensor, possibly the wiring between the sensor and the gauge. The sensor is mounted high on the block, just below the head, more or less in the middle, on the sparkplug side. Take the wire off the sensor and connect it to ground. If that makes no difference, the problem is the wiring; if it makes the light go out you need a new sensor. They're readily available new and used.

 

[digger58]

2. Heater unit - A couple of problems here. The levers are VERY hard to move and in fact the bottom one has been snapped off by previous owner. Can these be unstiffened somehow and how easy are they to replace? Also, the heater unit itself doesnt work, but the fuse is fine. Any ideas?

When you say the heater unit doesn't work do you mean the blower or the heater itself? The levers are a nuisance and require the whole cable/sliders removing to fix, they go stiff for a reason, hot/cold valve seized, cables seized etc etc. try and source a replacement set of levers for a start, then as the old one is removed and the reason for it being stiff discovered you can fix it. if going to this much trouble get a new heater valve and gasket, saves doing the job later. Check the heater matrix as well. make sure the coolant is fresh and maybe replace and flush the whole system, I got a 1989 GF with only 8500Mls and had to flush the system completely and also replace the radiator core, and there was coolant in it, it had "gone off" lots of crud in the expansion bottle and the auto choke housing. hope this helps. PS hope to get to the Steam fair this year, great part of the world, T

 

[jimbro1000]

Just a small note - the oil pressure light is on a completely different circuit to the gauge and uses a different sender unit. As long as the gauge is reading ok you can ignore the light but make sure you get the sender fixed (replaced). Odds are the sender has failed, a short would normally result in the light being off, not on.

The weather strip on the roof can be adjusted a little by a partial dismantling of the roof (along the strip) but this is generally more trouble than it is worth. As already pointed out it is most likely just the window coming up too high.

The heater controls are, sadly, notorious for getting stuck which is most likely how one of the levers got broken in the first place. You can check that the heater valve moves freely by operating it by hand (it is just under the dashboard on the right hand side just next to the centre console. If it moves freely then it is most likely the operating cables that have seized up. The control panel itself is unlikely to be the culprit but stranger things have happened. It isn't an easy job but it can be done (just) without taking the dashboard out.

The heater fan is on a box behind the dashboard with the heater matrix in it. The whole lot can be removed as a single component (with the control cables attached) but this *is* a job that needs the dashboard removed to do it and leave you with any sanity at the end of it. The safest bet is to hotwire the fan direct to a battery and see if it will spin when powered directly. If it does then no need to pull everything out - if it doesn't then you'll just have to get it all out and replace the fan.

Another small hint - the two outermost vents on the dashboard are not connected to the heater matrix at all and will only ever allow cold air in and then only when the car is moving - they just open to the outside world through the scuttle area in front of the windscreen. Only the vents that blow onto the windscreen and in the centre of the dashboard will blow hot air.

 

[MistyX19]

Many thanks to the knights erich, digger58 and jimbro1000 for your replies.
I am not so worried now for the red light on the oil pressure now as it seems to work even though the light does go out everynow and then. Ill have this seen to soon.
I shall have a look at changing the sender. I am currently waiting for my Haynes manual to arrive to ensure I do this right.
The weather strip I will gauge how far up the windows will be pushed up - so guess work or maybe I can put a tiny marker on the window sill as a guide
The heater valve has now been loosened under the dashboard so allowing two moving levers. So more investigations in this will have to be conducted. The heater seems to work as we are cooking in the car (nice and toasty for winter). Ill keep everyone posted on what findings come out of this.

Thanks again guys for your help.