General Should I disconnect the battery?

[Myusername]

So, lots of work completed, mainly centred around replacing the thermostat. But it wasn't plain sailing.

Maybe my hands are getting arthritic, but I'd like to meet the person who thought bolting the coil pack carrier to the side of the cylinder head was a good idea, and shake his hand. Until it falls off. The bolt underneath was almost impossible to get at, and let me tell you, when finally removed, was sent flying with great force clear over my neighbours roof. The 2 remaining ones are perfect adequate to hold the thing on. Not that they should be mounted there anyway, they should be bolted to the bulhesd out of the way.

Anyway, the thermostat replacement was fairly straightforward. I removed the hose at the radiator end, took the whole pipe out, easier to replace the thermostat that way. I had new hose clips thanks to the suggestions on here. The old one looked very old, possibly original? It had a gasket which came out on one piece, requiring very little cleaning up on the flange.

I used Granville sealant, along with the new gasket, and bolted it all back together. It had to sit overnight until I could get new coolant, which won't have done it any harm.

Also, I replaced the plugs. Having read the problems some have with dameged plug leads, I ordered new ones but they haven't arrived yet, however with a mighty heave all of mine came off with a loud "plop" and seem undamaged. So they can stay for now.

A service was clearly overdue, the plugs were very worn, as was the air filter which was black? I also had new Magnetti coils packs supplied with my parts order, and here there were problems again - the tiny bolts holding them in were chewed in some cases, making them extremely difficult to remove. Another job that took far too long.? But we got there in the end.

A new bottle of coolant plus water today, and all's well. Temperature right where it should be, heater lovely and toasty, and the engine seems noticeable smoother with its new ignition parts. Just the oil change to go...which is a bonus in itself, since I ordered 3 litres and they sent me a 5 litre container. Result!?

Which leads me (finally) to the question - should I disconnect the battery to make it re-learn the new parts, or will it run better anyway?

 

[koalar]

I dont bother, unless I change a clearly faulty part.

Unplugging the battery doesn't normally fully clear the adaptive memory but can be done via software.

It does sometimes reset things if the ECU gets in a knot. Similar to alt, ctrl, delete on a PC



restarts the program from the beginning but still loads the old values

 

[Yolanda]

Sorry to hear about the problem you had with the the bolt. I've had my coil pack off a couple of times and not had any problem. I use a quarter drive socket set. As regards to the plug leads I put some dielectric grease in the lead to make removal next time easier.
I learnt this trick with my Mercedes as the plug leads are notorious for sticking in place. I actually snapped two leads trying to get them off using a removal tool.

 

[Myusername]

Well to anyone who's put off doing their thermostat, I'd say it's well worth the effort, car now heats up properly and maintains the correct temperature regardless of speed. And you get a heater, vital for the winter ahead. Plus, fuel economy will be improved too.

 

[DaveMcT]

I'm guessing it's a 1.1 because the 1.2 "stat" is a much easier job with the battery box (and the coils) moved out of the way.