Hello, bought a 2011 dualogic twinair with a few issues that ive been fixing for my sister and working through a few issues. Already successfully repaired the selespeed unit, and done a number of other common repairs. Will be on here giving and looking for technical advice. I also have a proper licenced copy of MES and happy to help other members in SW Scotland too. Thanks, Richie.
Hello - dualogic twinair owner
- Thread starter Richie08
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Hello - dualogic twinair owner
You could start a small business fixing those! What did you do?
Thanks guys, sadly I have a full time job and no spare time so I have no capacity to repair these for others jut I am happy to share the knowledge that ive learned along the way.
I took the robot off the car and stripped most of it down on the bench to clean and inspect it, and test various components.
I'd found some O seals were leaking so I replaced these with a box of universally sized viton o rings I had. I didn't have every seal available and as you will know a seal kit is about 300 quid. My objective was to try getthe unit functioning again.
The oil leaks had killed one of the potentiometers that are used to measure what gear the car is in. I found that a Lucas SEB223 is a perfect replacement to the original Magnetti Marelli pf7c unit, and can be had for around a tenner.
Other issues found were a hacked up wiring loom and the selespeed reservoir had been topped up with the wrong oil, causing a horrible emulsifier mess that needed cleaned out.
After reassembly and refitted, I used MES for a final end of line test, and the car drives perfectly and smoothly, actually quite impressed with the wee car.
A few more niggles to work through, but it's almost all as good as new... heater flap repair and start/stop issue as mentioned in my other post are the final 2 niggles.
Have done a lot of other jobs on the car such as replacing the tailgate wiring harness which was badly damaged, engine earths, new battery, disconnected the Blue&me module and proximity aligned it out, and loads of other little jobs.
Bought as a surprise for my sister for her to learn to drive in, so im trying to get it perfect before I give her it.
Lastly a deep clean of interior by removal, and a quick machine Polish and wax and it's looking great.
Cheers
Richie.
I took the robot off the car and stripped most of it down on the bench to clean and inspect it, and test various components.
I'd found some O seals were leaking so I replaced these with a box of universally sized viton o rings I had. I didn't have every seal available and as you will know a seal kit is about 300 quid. My objective was to try getthe unit functioning again.
The oil leaks had killed one of the potentiometers that are used to measure what gear the car is in. I found that a Lucas SEB223 is a perfect replacement to the original Magnetti Marelli pf7c unit, and can be had for around a tenner.
Other issues found were a hacked up wiring loom and the selespeed reservoir had been topped up with the wrong oil, causing a horrible emulsifier mess that needed cleaned out.
After reassembly and refitted, I used MES for a final end of line test, and the car drives perfectly and smoothly, actually quite impressed with the wee car.
A few more niggles to work through, but it's almost all as good as new... heater flap repair and start/stop issue as mentioned in my other post are the final 2 niggles.
Have done a lot of other jobs on the car such as replacing the tailgate wiring harness which was badly damaged, engine earths, new battery, disconnected the Blue&me module and proximity aligned it out, and loads of other little jobs.
Bought as a surprise for my sister for her to learn to drive in, so im trying to get it perfect before I give her it.
Lastly a deep clean of interior by removal, and a quick machine Polish and wax and it's looking great.
Cheers
Richie.
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Fab post, very useful.
I know the job is difficult, but how long did it take?
I did it over several weeknight, mostly just cleaning and awaiting bit, plus lots of testing parts etc to identify what was wrong. Could be done in a day if you know what you're doing, but i was fumbling around and googling stuff. Found a useful video on YouTube of a guy reassembling one of these, which really helped me out.
Hi again Richard. Had a close look at your photo diary on your project. Great job! I noticed the ECO button on the dashboard and the title. So not only a dual logic but a twin air engine too. Some on the Forum would say you are a gluton for punishment! ( for potential major problems) We have two twinair 500s here but manual gearboxes and I have posted a few threads with issues. Curious on what mileage is on your car? Are you aware of the special little oil filter for the uniair actuator in the top of the engine? Might be worth checking this . See my guide on replacing a uniair and the discussion thread attached. Sadly, it was not possible to strip down and refurbish a uniair as you have done with the dualogic.
Thanks Mike, car is only on 55k miles and is a 2011. I serviced it last week and was aware of the uniair filter. I bought a thin walled 15mm socket, but it didn't fit, so I used a powerfile to 'thin' the wall of a standard 15mm socket. I got it out And it wasn't too dirty, but I gave it a good clean with brake cleaner and refitted it.
I bought the car as a 'spares or repairs' as the car wouldn't select a gear, so im just finding out more as I go along and mend things.
Thanks also for your help on the start/stop system; the relay was missing and now that ive used the one off the rear window heater, it all works perfectly
Hopefully you got it at a knockdown price! Seems you have the refurbishment well in hand and have done your research. I am thinking you must have a Euro5 engine with the alloy rocker cover and uses 5W40 oil. twin airs from 2014 the rocker cover is plastic and Euro6 using 0W30 oil. We have a 64 and 69 plate ones. The thin wall 15mm socket fitted ok through the plastic top.
Yep, it's the alloy head and 5w40 oil, I had to really research this as so many places recommended 0w-30, which is only for the later cars.
I probably paid a bit too much for the car but I felt sorry for the sellers; they had bought it a few months earlier for a substantial amount from a dodgy trader from Bradford who delivered the car to them in Glasgow, and left them high and dry when it all went wrong. The couple had a young baby and still lost a lot.of money on it.
I probably paid a bit too much for the car but I felt sorry for the sellers; they had bought it a few months earlier for a substantial amount from a dodgy trader from Bradford who delivered the car to them in Glasgow, and left them high and dry when it all went wrong. The couple had a young baby and still lost a lot.of money on it.
Sad story, Always a few dodgy traders about , There is definitely a premium to pay to get a dualogic as there are so few small automatic cars about of an age and moderate budget.
Hopefully I was diligent enough checking on the one my daughter has bought. I connected MES and checked for errors, especially on the dualogic the day she collected it. It has been OK for the first month.
Hopefully I was diligent enough checking on the one my daughter has bought. I connected MES and checked for errors, especially on the dualogic the day she collected it. It has been OK for the first month.
My advice would be to remove the front lower potentiometer and check there is no oil contamination in there, as this will cause the car to be immobilised suddenly if the oil contaminates it and It fails.Sad story, Always a few dodgy traders about , There is definitely a premium to pay to get a dualogic as there are so few small automatic cars about of an age and moderate budget.
Hopefully I was diligent enough checking on the one my daughter has bought. I connected MES and checked for errors, especially on the dualogic the day she collected it. It has been OK for the first month.
You can cut a small slot in the green o seal so that any oil blowpast from the seals can escape out the bottom, which will prevent this from ever happening.
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Thought I'd share my latest updates. I noticed the car was slowly.losing coolant, so i ordered a pressure tester. There was water coming out under the battery tray, which initially I thought was the heater pipe outlet from the block, but with the battery tray removed, I discovered it was the plastic outlet pipe on the thermostat housing.
I replaced the housing and decided to pressure test it all again. I found two new leaks, one from the rad top hose (poor hoseclip had presumably lost tension) and the other from the temp sender on the new stat.
With both of these repaired, it's now holding full pressure with no leaks.
The plastic spigot had gone brittle and broke off completely when I poked it!
I then got on with the heater flap repair. Someone else had had a go at mending this, and the gear was missing too. Ao i used an old plastic gear i had lying around and trimmed it to work the end stops. I then fitted it to the flap spindle and then affixed a 3d printed fitting for the actuator.
Did a calibration in MES and now everything works as it should, toasty heater or freezing air-conditioning.
A few minor jobs to do, got a new aux belt on the way as present one has some light cracks.
Lastly, when i ran it up to temp, i left the airbox off so i could easily see any leaks. I put a spare induction kit over the inlet to stop any debris entering the turbo. I could not believe how amazing this wee 0.9 engine sounds, had to record a video lol...
I replaced the housing and decided to pressure test it all again. I found two new leaks, one from the rad top hose (poor hoseclip had presumably lost tension) and the other from the temp sender on the new stat.
With both of these repaired, it's now holding full pressure with no leaks.
The plastic spigot had gone brittle and broke off completely when I poked it!
I then got on with the heater flap repair. Someone else had had a go at mending this, and the gear was missing too. Ao i used an old plastic gear i had lying around and trimmed it to work the end stops. I then fitted it to the flap spindle and then affixed a 3d printed fitting for the actuator.
Did a calibration in MES and now everything works as it should, toasty heater or freezing air-conditioning.
A few minor jobs to do, got a new aux belt on the way as present one has some light cracks.
Lastly, when i ran it up to temp, i left the airbox off so i could easily see any leaks. I put a spare induction kit over the inlet to stop any debris entering the turbo. I could not believe how amazing this wee 0.9 engine sounds, had to record a video lol...
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Great job on the water leaks. I will know where to look first if I start to loose coolant. Many of those hose clips are single use and are a pain to release. I keep a box of assorted jubilee clips to use. Impressed with 3d printed part.
It is a square 7mm tool for moving the tensioner on the aux belt. I changed a belt recently and it was quite a struggle getting the new one on . Though I probably spent more time just removing the rusty screws on the RH wheel arch liner!
As you are doing such a thorough job you probably already know this check, but have you released the air hose off the bottom of the intercooler? There will likely be a tea spoon of oil comes out from the turbo. If it is more then it could be the seals in the turbo.
I too love the sound of these engines! If you have driven the 1.2 engine before and then drive a twin air you don't want to go back.
I had previously bought my niece a 1.2 a number of years ago as a fixer upper and the engine was reliable and simple to work on, but was slow and weasy. I couldn't believe how nippy the TA is. Im just hoping this investment in time and maintenance sees it being reliable.
Thanks for the tip on the intercooler hose... having a number of other turbo cars I know that there will always be some oil in the cooler, but will take the lower hose off and see what comes out of it. What are the symptoms on these if its an issue. Oil burning?
I guess a miniscule amount of oil must get through and burn in combustion anyway. I suppose the bottom of the intercooler serves as a bit of an oil trap and it just collects there. If the leak rate was high enough I think you would note a high consumption on the dip stick and maybe smoke . Possibly an EML from from Lamdas. First time I drained the hose maybe 20 ml came out and I was a bit concerned (at about 20k miles) but I hadn't noticed consumption on dip stick. Checked again 1000 miles later and only got a teaspoon and same at recent service so I am not worried . About a teaspoon on the other engine at service. Will check it next month when service is due.
If yours uses the 0w oil, that's a very thin grade so its not surprising that some extra might get through too
One of the things I did was disconnect the Blue&me module, which meant no handsfree calling. It never seemed clever enough to do music streaming, but I saw one of these 7" android auto / carplay screens that takes a reverse camera, on Ebay for 19.90. No idea how they can be that cheap, but decided to give it a go.
Very pleased with it, still to run the camera in to the tailgate etc but a quick test shows it works as it should (hence the image of the passenger seat.
Tucked the wires behind the dashboard panel, not as tidy as an xtrons but I think it works quite well for what it cost!
Very pleased with it, still to run the camera in to the tailgate etc but a quick test shows it works as it should (hence the image of the passenger seat.
Tucked the wires behind the dashboard panel, not as tidy as an xtrons but I think it works quite well for what it cost!
