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Joe's '91 405 Mi16 (and '90 SW and '92 Mi16)...


91MR2

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Oh, and got my homemade floor mats back today from the carpet store. I measured and cut it from some excess carpet I had from an old project over ten years ago, and took it to them for the binding. For about $20, I'm pleased with the results. It's the little things...

 

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7 hours ago, 91MR2 said:

Hey guys, another update...

Drove the car another 80 or so miles this evening, it continues to run flawlessly now, for probably the 5th or 6th day in a row now. This is most excellent. A couple theories on this one as to why...

Mainly, I think I had some bad fuel, and with the Castle Fireball and a whole bunch of running (at least 3-400 miles in the last week), I think it is safe to say it has worked it's way through the system and worked some magic... 

Next theory is a little out there, but hear me out. While doing all the work over the last few months, the handle on the oil dipstick kind of deteriorated and fell off. No problem, we made a new one, nothing fancy, but it works just fine. Here's where it gets interesting. Ever since all this work has been done, the car was leaving a little oil on the ground, whereas before the car never leaked anything. I'm wondering if the oil may have been a little overfilled (due to the marker points on the dipstick maybe not being completely accurate now if the dipstick may be a little lower in the sump than before?), and maybe worked it's way through the came seals (the oil was always on the timing belt side). Funny thing is over the last few days, the car has no longer been leaking anything on the ground, and all has been well on the car. I'm thinking it is possible that if the oil was a little overfilled, it could have blown by the ring gap and eventually got to the plugs, hence causing my fouling/stuttering. I know this is a wild theory, but it seems plausible???

I don't think is possible for the oil to get in the combustion chamber of the oil is overfilled, i've overfilled my engines often. Also don't forget Mi16 engines have oil jets behind the pistons, the pistons are sprayed with oil all the time.

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My guess would be that the seals and gaskets have been somewhat revitalized with use the last little while and are working better.  In tank Fuel system cleaner are usually great for maintaining good systems but usually are no replacement for removal and proper cleaning - but it definitely could have been enough to bring back borderline injectors that weren’t atomizing properly.

One comment you made about the oil dipstick breaking also reminded me to mention to make sure the pcv system is 100%. Dipstick should be sealing, and the system should be working as designed, or with improvements like an oil catch can inline before the vacuum sources.

Rabin

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Yea, you guys are probably right, I told you my theory was a little out there...well then I guess I'll chalk it up to the fuel...good enough for me...

I didn't drive the car at all today, but did finish the last piece of my suspension project which was the driver's side sway bar bushings, they finally arrived. Funny, I replaced the passenger side first because it was obvious they were perished, but I did not think the driver's side was too bad on initial glance...guess I was wrong...

 

 

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On 6/17/2020 at 8:34 PM, 91MR2 said:

While doing all the work over the last few months, the handle on the oil dipstick kind of deteriorated and fell off. No problem, we made a new one, nothing fancy, but it works just fine. 

it sounds like you've discovered that the 405 mi16 dipsticks (1172.99) are nearly unobtainium. NOS units show up on eBay UK and eBay France on rare occasion, but they are around US$100 (before shipping!) when they are available, instead of the usual $15-$30 for other 405 dipsticks.

fortunately, spoox motorsports in the UK sells a reproduction that they say is a perfect match and made by the OEM (spoox has a shop on eBay UK, but the dipstick isn't sold there, only on spoox's own website). it's only £35, but once you add shipping, exchange rate, etc., it's US$82.89...I know this because I ordered one recently, I'll post about it when it comes in.

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Hi Andre, I actually haven't even looked into buying a dipstick, the modification we made keeps it in the holder just fine, and with the several thousand dollars I've invested in this car in the last few months, I'm not looking to buy stuff that's gratuitous at this point. Even if I should…

I'll post a picture later today of the modification I made, it's not going to win any awards, but then again this car never was going to. I'm just trying to create a mechanically restored, mostly all original car that doesn't leak anything and is as reliable  as it is capable of being, and looks like a well preserved survivor...

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Gave the car a proper wash (but not dried in these photos...) and interior clean, in preparation for the local cars and coffee event this Sunday, (my first father's day), will be bringing my daughter in the Peugeot...

 

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18 hours ago, 91MR2 said:

 I actually haven't even looked into buying a dipstick, the modification we made keeps it in the holder just fine...

...I'll post a picture later today of the modification I made...

I made my own replacement dipstick hand out of rubber hose and silicone.  Hose seals decent inside the tube for a nice seal, and it stays in.  As long as the dipstick seals it should allow the pcv system to work as designed.  Pic of your fix would be great to see.

Car itself looks fantastic - LOVE the clean lines, truly a timeless classic!  Congrats on a really great build.

Rabin

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5 hours ago, Bean said:

I made my own replacement dipstick hand out of rubber hose and silicone.  Hose seals decent inside the tube for a nice seal, and it stays in.  As long as the dipstick seals it should allow the pcv system to work as designed.  Pic of your fix would be great to see.

Car itself looks fantastic - LOVE the clean lines, truly a timeless classic!  Congrats on a really great build.

Rabin

Will get a picture of it today

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Some bad/good news here, drove the car last night, and the stumble seemed to come back a few times. It wasn't bad, but still present. So this morning I threw on my new fuel filter and took it for a ride, and it didn't stumble at all, so that was nice. But again, this seems to be an evolving thing, eventually it will get sorted, but it does seem like it is fuel related, which is what I've thought all along...

Forgot to get pictures of my dipstick, but will do later tonight...

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I've fixed my dipstick on couple of peugeots, but i've started to make them from bronze, i'm pretty sure they will outlast the vehicle, i'll post a picture letter. Joe, those battery terminals look very bad, i'll changed them, they can be causing your problem, those look like the cheapest china clamp style terminals you can buy at the parts store. I've upgraded the engine to chassis and chassis to battery ground cables on all my cars, after 20 years factory cables corrode.

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Hi Goce, thank you for the input, the connections while they may not look like the best option out there, they are at least solid and tight. I have a hard time believing that this could be the cause of my problems, but I suppose anything is possible...

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 I pulled my plugs again last night and cleaned up the middle 2, car drove very nicely today to the cars and coffee meet. Also replaced the fuel filter yesterday. Going to keep upgrading the car with new parts as I go, hopefully one day I can report that there are no issues at all...

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Couple updates today...as always, good and bad...

Drove the car to my mechanic's today, ran very well. While there we fixed my sunroof rattle (the left side arm on the wind deflector was missing, anyone have a spare?), put in a new coil (I bought one recently and while I didn't really need one, I figured why not), and removed the afm to inspect and clean. We had the battery disconnected as we also checked my cel codes again (still sending just code 52), and when we re-connected the battery and started the car, it sounded and ran quite poorly. So much so that it stalled a couple times on my way home and struggled to re-start each time...sigh...

I've noticed that each time my battery is disconnected, it always runs shitty for a bit after it is reconnected again. Anyone else have this experience too? Are the ECU's so primitive on these cars that they don't know how to run right for a bit after reconnecting the battery? Even more frustrating was the stalling and failure to restart right away, as that has never happened before...

So, all in all, kind of a lousy day with the car, but I'm getting used to these. I'm glad to keep replacing parts with new, since many are old and original anyways, I just want to get some results in the form of a great running car...

As far as next steps - I ordered a new in-line fuel pump as well as in-tank fuel pump today. Once those are installed, the only part lefts in the fuel system that haven't been touched/replaced will be the injectors themselves (I've replaced the fpr, fuel filter, and ran a bottle of Castle Fireball through the system so far). From a lot of the reading I've done, and with the symptoms I have, many signs point to the fuel pump/s being a potential problem. I've thought all along that my main issue with the car has been fuel related. I guess we'll find out soon...

Oh, also ordering a used AFM today off eBay. Mine looked clean, but again, replacing everything I can to try and get this car right...

 

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Well Savo, as we have spoken before on this matter, if I can't get it sorted this summer, that is exactly what I'll be doing...I'd love to send it out to you for a real expert opinion/repair...

When it has run right, it has been great. I think I'm close with it. Maybe I'm not, but it seems that with all the parts that have been replaced by now, I have to be close...

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Yeah, those ECU are very primitive, don't forget they have been developed early 80's, i remember seeing a dyno testing on the mi16 engine in 1982. All Mi16 run bad till they made their own ignition and fuel maps, they need to reach operating temperature and idle then they make adjustments. I have an Air/fuel gauge in my mi16x4 and they run very lean, idle low run like crap if you reset the ecu for long time, drive them they adjust and work fine, as you drive it more and more you'll figure it out. On the highway at consistent speed you can feel the engine surges, and i can see with my A/F gauge the ecu is taking out fuel to make it more economical, also if you take it on a spirited mountain road and drive it hard, take every gear up to red line, next day it feels much faster.

Joe, i don't know what roads you have available, my advice is find a fast mountain road and drive it, at the top stop leave it idling then drive it harder, you'll feel the difference.

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Hey guys, another update...

Drove the car another 100 or so miles tonight, ran great for the most part, however...

It did start rather poorly, even stalled out on me once during the drive while coasting to a light in neutral, and every time I tried to restart the car, it took several tries and cranks. But while driving, it was great, no misfires or anything it seemed. So I drove it back to the garage and pulled the plugs again. Same deal, the middle 2 looked a little wet/fouled, so I put a set of 4 new ones in and took it for another ride...

The car fired right up and ran excellent, even shut it off a few times, and again it would start back up no problem...

I'm hoping I have a bad afm, and that might be causing my plugs to foul at the rate they are. I ordered a used one off eBay, will install when it arrives and go from there. Also waiting on my 2 new fuel pumps (both inline and in tank)...

Oh, and of course I still have the CEL going on/off, still code 52...

Thoughts?

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Looks very familiar when my afm went bad. I think when the engne's cold the afm flap was more open and wiper contacts were on unworn part of the track.

Until the new afm arrives try writing some graphite on the position where the wiper contacts stay at idle.

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  • 91MR2 changed the title to Joe's '91 405 Mi16 (and '90 SW and '92 Mi16)...

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