91MR2

Goce, hard to argue with you, but they are actually vdo not Smith, and quite accurate from what I can tell. After knowing many other Esprit owners/cars, I can say with confidence my gauges are at the very least, in line with theirs... Thanks for the oil cooler info. Good to know in case we pursue that route...

Fair enough. I'm just not used to these oil temperatures, even my Esprit usually runs around 80-90 Celsius no matter how hard I run it...

Hey guys, have any of you ever run an oil cooler on your cars? If so, any specific kits to recommend? I'm running pretty hot lately (over 230 if the gauge is to be believed), and while I know it is summer, this just seems too high compared to what a lot of you guys are running at. And this is just running around, not hammering on the car...

Also, just got my cv/axle clamps in the mail, unfortunately just in time where I have to head out of town for a couple days...will be done early next week...

I agree, Rabin. I feel fortunate to have been able to own both...

Did some maintenance on my mom's MR2 today, so had to pull the Peugeot out of the lift bay. Parked in next to my buddy's S60R. Was cool to see 2 great European cars together from different generations. Amazing how tinny and "thin" the Mi16 looks next to the much heavier Volvo. Still though, both awesome cars...

Another update, we went to change my cv/axle boots, but realized we did not have the clamps. Bummer. Ordered them as well from Brian Holm, hoping to do this next week now...

Rabin, I'm so glad you kept/keep it going. I hadn't joined a car forum in a very long time, only ever joined a couple to begin with, and was reticent to join here, as I was not sure what to expect (other than Savo's amazing build threads which is how I found the place). In any event, this place has become a daily check in for me, as anytime I made progress or had a question, you guys were the first ones to know. It also kept me motivated, and I felt a real responsibility to save this car. I didn't want to let you all down, as you were all so helpful and giving of your time and expertise. This car objectively does not stand out too much in my line up, but I've really grown to love it. I shudder to think that almost a year ago I sold it without even knowing what I really had (not to mention first spending years trying to find one). The lack of activity here also made me feel that maybe a new member could coax some movement into it again too. And here we are, on page 11... Again, you guys have been so helpful, I really enjoy checking in here and keeping you all updated. I will continue to do so, even though my once long list is now down to...gulp...nothing but routine maintenance now? Of course as I type this, I may be jinxing myself... I hope one day we can all meet up with our cars...open invitiation to Buffalo for anyone that wants to come here...I can put you all up... Now before I get all misty eyed, here are my rear floor mats. I was pleased with how the fronts came out, so I cut these as well and took them to the carpet store for binding...

SRDT and Goce, thanks for the info., good stuff here. I suppose what threw me off is that it seems to be running hotter lately, but then again summer heat may just be the cause. It's also wild having a car with such active gauges, my Esprit is also the same, but I don't see the same highs with that car ironically...

Thanks for the information, numbers are similar to what I assumed with the conversion equivalency. What temperature does your car run at? Is it consistent with what I described in my post?

Changing gears a little bit here, let's talk about oil temperature... I know several pages ago I expressed some concern over my oil temp., and the consensus seemed to be that my readings (assuming the gauge is to be believed), were normal. I've also done a lot of reading on engine oil temp. as well, and some interesting findings. From all I've read, oil temp. around 230-260 is supposedly not just normal, but even good. This seems awfully high to me, but that's what I've found. With synthetic oils (I use Mobil 1), you can apparently be well north of 300 degrees. Not even sure engines can handle this? Anyways, let's talk about the markings on the oil temp. gauge specifically with the Peugeot. Starting with the relevant markings, it has a 190 reading, and then 2 blank dashes, and then 300 is the last one. Assuming they are spaced evenly (which they appear to be), those middle dashes would represent ~37 degree increments, so it would go 190, ~227, ~264, and then finally 300. So lately, my car has not only been running at the ~227 dash pretty consistently (seems like before it would be somewhere between the 190, and ~227 dash, usually the middle area, I'd imagine around 210ish), but I've noticed lately it has temporarily gone past the ~227 mark when driving it harder, but not much and not for long, probably topping around 240-250 if I had to guess, and then it settles back on the ~227 mark. I posted a picture below from my drive yesterday. Important to note it has been quite hot and humid these days, mid 80's and high humidity. Using the a/c does not seem to affect this, fyi. Here' are my questions. Is the slight increase in operating temp. concerning to any of you? Is it because of the outside temp. being so high? Do your Mi16's exhibit similar behavior? Anything I can do to bring the temp. down (changing oil type,/viscosity, add oil cooler, etc.), or do I not want to do that? Thanks in advance guys...

Ok guys, I think we're going to call this car fixed... Just drove the car about 40 miles, ran excellent, no cel at all, and again the cold start was great... Going to continue to drive and monitor everything, but these early results are fantastic... Before I forget, let me use this opportunity to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to everyone here on this forumthat has helped guide and educate me throughout this process over the last several months. This car was a particular challenge for me for many reasons, mostly due to the lack of parts, people willing to work on it, and just general lack of information out there. Without you guys, this car would not be where it is today. I am so appreciative, and I hope my daughter who will be driven around in this quite a bit learns to love the car as well… Many updates still to come…

Some more before of the injector findings, and now installed after...

Ha, what can I say Rabin, you win. I agreed with you then, and probably should have done this sooner, however I was kind of working my way through the fuel system, and the injectors were the last stop on the ride. Took a little longer to get here, but that's ok. The fuel system is now completely new (both fuel pumps, fuel filter, FPR, and now correctly cleaned injectors), and I have no regrets on that end... Again, not going to say we're done, but with how nicely it idled up on the cold start, hard to imagine it isn't. At the very least, it idles wayyyy better. I didn't even realize it until now, since it has only been in that state since I've owned the car... Send me your address for where to send the flowers...

Well guys, my car finally may be fixed… The new injectors went in this evening, and I fired up the car, and it started in a way that it is never started before in my tenure of ownership. It was very smooth, consistent, none of the lumpiness that I had before, although I never realized how bad it was either since it is all I ever knew. Most telling though, is that after idling for quite a while and getting up to temperature, the CEL never came on at all... It is late now, calling it a night, will report back again tomorrow… Hard to even describe this feeling, but it is exciting to say the least…

Totally agree. Hoping you're right. Will report back once reinstalled...

Hi Goce, I have not looked into testing the air fuel just yet, want to get through this phase of work first and see where it took me. On my way to pick up the injectors as we speak, they told me that all four had some restrictions with the filters, but they cleaned up well and are flowing very nicely now, so going to clean the head ports really well before reinstalling today and see where we end up…

Hey guys, some updates... Went to my mechanic's today to install my new cv/axle boots, but realized we did not have the proper clips. So that will be another day. But not a total loss, as we installed the new fuel pumps (both in tank and outside the tank). This was not needed, but I had already bought them and figured they were the last pieces in the fuel system that I had yet to replace. So that's done... Next up, I wanted to revisit my injectors. The shop that cleaned them, did so with a product through the fuel rail, and while maybe it helped, it still didn't give me a full understanding of the health and operation level of them. So when I got home today, I decided why wait any longer. Off they came, and here are the findings. Cylinders 2 and 3 were pretty gunked up, compared to 1 and 4. See photos... The injectors are at a machine shop that does ultrasonic cleaning and bench testing. They should be done tomorrow, and I'll promptly re-install them. Really thinking the state of these could be behind my on/off cel...causing slight misfires, leaning out the mixture, etc...

That's a great point and I started to think the same thing too. That might have to be a winter project, diving into something at that level...

Goce, thank you very much, this is certainly helpful, I will show this info. to my mechanic. While it's nice to know that I can go for a while without doing this, it's not really my style, plus he has availability next week, so good enough reason to just knock them out now... Different note, I did try the "spare" ecu that is was supposedly tested good, based on the shop's determination that I may have a bad ecu (after cleaning the injectors, and finding/fixing 2 very small vacuum leaks, they were still unable to clear and keep the cel off). The messed up part is that this ecu actually made the car run quite terribly, even the stumbling and hesitating came back during the test drive. That had not happened in a couple months, and it was not fun to experience again, (peugeot ptsd...). I guess maybe the spare ecu isn't good after all??? In any event, I put my original ecu back in and everything seemed fine again (of course, still have the on/off cel), but I did foul the middle 2 plugs again when that other ecu was in. So again, I just put 4 new plugs back in, and everything seems right back to where it was...seems I'll be living with a very nice running and driving Mi16 that has the occasional cel while at idle...

My silicone wrap lasted a couple days, boots should arrive by the end of the week, r/r scheduled for early next week...

Ok all, just as I thought the car was "done" as far as maintenance and repairs, a new one (2 actually) cropped up... It's been a custom since working on this car to check underneath before and after each ride to make sure things are ok. Well, the other day I noticed the driver side inner cv boot let go and much of it's grease all over my otherwise cleaned up undercarriage. Not only that, but I noticed the inner on the passenger side also has a small slit. Yay... Oh well, put a call into the mechanic, he's booked a couple weeks out, so in the meantime I cleaned everything up as best as I could, re-packed with some bearing grease, and found some self fusing silicon tape I had and wrapped the hell out of both sides. Should be good enough to get me to the shop... Edit: Ordered all 4 boots from Peugeot Holm, glad to finally do some business with him...

And on an entirely different note, and while I know this was covered earlier, here are some photos of my glovebox arrangement. You should all do this, as I imagine your gloveboxes are all as blown apart and rattly as mine was. Nothing left to squeak or rattle when it's all gone inside...not to mention easy access to the underdash componentry...that is if you can live without a glovebox...

Ok guys, got the car back from the shop today...some interesting findings... First of all, they found a couple very small vacuum leaks via a smoke test and then repaired/replaced the lines. Ok, good start. Second, they ultrasonically cleaned the injectors, so that's great too. And finally, the last issue, the CEL...still on, ha... They think I might have a bad ecu, and I think they're probably right. We're at the point where just about everything has been replaced, and this is about the only conclusion to come to at this point. They couldn't even clear the code (52)... I still have the spare ecu from the guy I bought my car from, going to test it again and see. There were still other issues with my car the last time I tested the ecu, so maybe now that everything else has been done, this will be a better time to test and be able to trust the findings... Having said all this, I can honestly say I'm at a point with the car that I'm very pleased with. It runs and drives excellent, it's comfortable, suspension and brakes are great, the exterior and interior both cleaned up incredibly well...it's really turned into the car I hoped it would be... Going to continue to drive it a lot this season and monitor everything, as well as test the spare ecu. Worst case scenario, it doesn't change anything and I have an occasional intermittent cel light coming on and off. Given all the effort thrown at the car over this, if that is all that remains, I suppose I can live with that... I washed and spray waxed the car and cleaned the interior today after getting the car home, and then took it on a long driver this evening. Some photos because why not... It's great to have it back, I actually really missed it...

The car may be done today, they found a small vac. leak, maybe 2, waiting to find out, will report back...