Some TLC for my QV

Hi Urs,
I would need you help here with the fuel filler flap solenoid. So I also have some issues with it. It does rarely work so I took it off the car to test it. Resistance is perfect and it also works perfectly when I attach it directly to 12v. But in the car when plugged to the connector it does nothing as the voltage at the connector is too low. So I would assume that it is the ground as well. Can you describe where I can find it's ground exactly so I can clean it? Do I need to take the wheel liner of the left side off?

Best regards

 

Hi schelle_pelle
The grounds are on the lh vertical chassis member near the two main engine harness plugs.
No need to take out the wheel arch but I usually remove the alloy chassis trims so I don't damage them while working.
The other thing to check may be the switch. The contacts on mine were fairly burned and cleaning them up helped also. I suspect there is a bit of power loss in the old lines too.
Good luck!

 

Thanks Urs for the quick reply. So the access would be from underneath the car? I just have one alloy cover right behind the oil pan.
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No, from above on the lh side of the engine bay. If I am not mistaken, that ground wire bundle includes the filler flap and also the plate lamps:
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It's located on a weld stud here:
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The alloy you're referring to is actually an air scoop guiding air up the rear firewall, cooling headers and final drive and filling in the low pressure area on the engine bay to kill some lift and reduce drag.

The 2 mounting bolts should include a spacer between the scoop and the chassis, about 15mm tall.
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You can just detect the distance of the scoop from the chassis on this old picture of my car before restoration

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Hi Urs,

as always your answer is highly appreciated. Now I get the location of that ground wire. For some reason I expected a thick woven copper wire. But yes, now I know which one you are referring to. I'll check, clean and report here.
Thanks also for the hint concerning that "air scoop"! I initially thought of it as a protective cover. And as you saw it right that spacer is no more and I did not know that it was missing...
It also does not show the spacer on Tavola 19?

Best regards
Michel

View attachment 131928

 

You're welcome Michel and yes, 11 is referred to only as a washer and drawn quite thin. You'll find that when you add a spacer the scoop will be horizontal at the bottom and vertical at the rear and also easier to refit.

 

Moin Schelle_Pelle,

My fuel flap did not work at all and I had to open it with the pull-strap from the engine compartment.
However: After a good spray with De-Oxit (in our case Kontakt 60 from Conrad Electronic) it works like a dream....
Try that before fiddling with wires.

Best,

Mondi Cab

 

Thanks for the additional info! That's exactly my scenario... Sometimes it still worked. 1 out of 30 tries... ;-)
Don't want to hijack Urs' thread too much, but just one more question... Where exactly did you spray that Kontakt 60 (have that in my shelf)? On that ground strap contact?

 

No, directly into the switch on the dash.
Use the thin straw in order not to spray to much around on the plastic, but spray in the gap between switch and surrounding.
(in die Ritze !)
Then cycle the switch several times. At a certain moment my flap popped open and I knew I was heading the right way....

Worked for my slow rear-right window as well

 

I would take the switch out, a bit more involved to remove the control plate to do that, but many electrical cleaners will dissolve or stain the plastic cover, spraying in situ will inevitably have some overspray or drops land on the plastic.

 

This one?

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Yes
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Hi folks it's been a busy year so far, including intl travel for over 10 weeks so far so here's an update re the Mondial's behaviour since the beginning of the year - in which I covered a bit of over 5'000 mls.

The year started badly with a slow leak on AC. I used UV dye to track it down one of the 2 hoses you cannot change without removing the dash...

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There was hairline crack on the 90deg fitting in the sealing area - and yes, I did replace that hose when I rebuilt the car:
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The other bad news was a cracked output shaft bearing housing on the Sankyo compressor
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Out came my spare NOS Sankyo, valve cover/gaskets/seals changed to the Mondial set-up:
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I also fitted a new clutch

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I had a new hose made within a day (HK is great for certain things)

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The car also got a service, MOT and its Classiche renewed. I opened up the fuel filter out of curiosity to see how much "dirt" is actually in there:

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AC blowing nice and cold again - just on time for the hot season.

 

On the lighter side of classic car ownership: One of the access hole covers on the seat hinge covers kept falling off due the broken hooks. We drew up the data and 3d printed some replacements - sorry for the fantastic photo:

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I participated in a 5 day mainland China drive with the HK classic car club. This is a major undertaking: Even though part of the same country, we don't have the right to cross the border to China with our cars, or drive with our HK licences in the motherland. Technical inspection or insurances aren't valid either. So... I applied for a temporary Chinese driver's licence, had my car inspected at the mainland China MOT here in HK (yes, that does exist...), got insurance, car registered temporarily in China:

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It passed, China plate:
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Border:

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Below, in China - that's a truly rare sight. It's illegal to import used into China, so there aren't any classic cars anywhere other than some declared as foreign "art" in museums:

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We had to legally drive in a convoy, lead and followed by a mainland travel agent in their tour vehicles. No straying off course. They did a fantastic job getting us where we needed to go, and were very super friendly and helpful. We could not have managed without them. Their homegrown GPS navigation system is super good too, as were the road quality.

 

Unfortunately, getting onto and off a river ferry I damaged the front spoiler. The ramps were steep and fitted with rebars, which I caught:

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Damage done - front lip bent and corner up:

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Off came the lip

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Out came the tools

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back in shape

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I had it repainted and it's back on the car, with the rh valance readjusted:

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The recent adjustment to the warm control pressure on the WUR did turn into a lower fuel consumption. But since the control pressure was still lower than the maximum allowed by the book and the fuel consumption can never be too low - I decided to give it another try and adjust the pressure while the engine is running with the pressure gauge hooked up.

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at more than warm operating temp

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It does involve carefully hitting the fuel in with a big hammer to have it sit deeper in the WUR's body.

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I managed to get it right to the max allowed:

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That's the current summary of the measured data

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Let's see how that will affect the fuel consumption. The engine runs fine so far.

 

The steering developed a nasty creak:

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As I had a good used track rod end in my stock with an intact boot, I replaced it the failed one. That was an easy one.

However, that boot was only 2 years old. Not a good sign for its quality.

 

Then the speedo needle started jumping... I tracked it down to a failing speedo sensor when the milage counter failed as well. One of the wires on the sensor had corroded off:

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New sensor bought and fitted. It needs a long socket to tuck away the connector

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Everything worked fine again - for about 50 mls. Then both failed simultaneously. Obviously, something came off ?!? I checked all the wires inside the IP and trough the car...

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It all checked out... did the new sensor fail? I built a test reg so I can test the sensor in the car - I would have to get a changing voltage while turning the wheel:

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The old sensor does actually still work when connected. Voltage without an iron part in front:
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With an iron part in front:
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My test rig works, so attached to the car:

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Constant voltage = new sensor failed!
I took a used sensor (apparently with a slight leak?) from my stock and tested it:

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That sensor works fine so I exchanged the failed new one with the working old one and voilà, speedo and odo both work properly. I did get a refund for the failed new one.

 

Here's why it failed. It got hit by the iron pin inside the gearbox:
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Comparing visually and by measurement revealed that the sensing section of the new sensor stuck out more than it should have. Everything else incl the copper gasket thickness was identical.

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The difference was 0.7mm between the new sensor and the original Veglia item.

 

Shortly afterward, the steering/suspension creak on the rh side was back, and worse. Removing the wheel revealed badly damaged rubber boots on both ball joints and of course rust with the associated play - again only 2 years old parts. Not happy.

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No choice here - I bought new parts

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Both sides will be done as I am suspecting the lh boots to be in equally bad condition even though visually, they're still intact. Squeaks are gone with the rh side done

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The NOS door gaskets fitted 2 years ago started to degrade

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Off they came

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Car Builder Solutions in the UK sells compatible flocked door gasket by the meter at a fair price
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Just in case - you need 2 x 4m so get 9m total. It's tricky to cut nicely into the angled corners but once it's done it looks nice seals properly.

 

Just recently the throttle pedal started to be "sticky". Increased pressure didn't move it but then it sort of jump a bit. It became tricky to smoothly drive especially in car parks, stop and go traffic. Lubricating the pedal, throttle assembly and as much as possible the cable didn't help any. I bought a new cable and replaced it.

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It doesn't come with the thicker rubber hose at the end and it wasn't possible to remove it from the old one. I fitted the cable without it and it works fine.

However when passing it between the tanks I noticed cracks in the cross feed hose.

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This is a priority now to replace - again, 2 years old OEM hose... not happy about that.
Also, the gear shift rod is pressing on it and I don't know why. My engine mounts do not look like they have sagged but I need to check that.
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This just came up - at least that works correctly!