Chazza

Use an end-mill in the drill press. Depending on the size flat you need and consequently the shank diameter of the end-mill, you might have to buy a tapered-shank collet to fit your drill press. If it won't work on your drill press, find an engineering firm; it will probably be cheaper, Cheers Charlie

Nice work Quattro! Reference your dipstick - I had a similar problem with a 200tdi engine in my S3 and I managed to bend the outer tube forward to make it work, but the dipstick is still a bit stiff and hard to get down the tube. What I considered doing - and later noticed that the new cars at work have - is a flexible wire instead of a stick. The distance from the top of the tube in the block to the end of the original dipstick, is the critical measurement of course, Cheers Charlie

Really nice work Quattro, the P6 looks beautiful! Try some stop-leak in the cooling system, Cheers Charlie

Classic symptoms of a worn-out camshaft; however; you say it is misfiring. What type of plugs are you using? A poor plug can produce good enough spark for idle but not for higher revs. I use NGK Iridium and never have problems anymore, although I did have a newish one fail once. Have you checked that the injectors are getting current? How long since they were cleaned? Good luck, Cheers Charlie

Nice work Nigel! Are you going to sell the labels as a kit? Cheers Charlie

You are right to be concerned - take this from a bloke who killed a new camshaft and lifters by cranking a 3.9 trying to get the oil pressure up! The Rover V8 needs oil splash from the crankshaft to lubricate the cam lobes and this is best achieved on a new camshaft, by running the engine at 2000 to 2500rpm for a minimum of 20 minutes. Allowing the engine to idle at all is a bad thing! The purpose of the above is to work-harden the cam lobes to stop them picking-up on the lifters. Cranking and idle speed allow the lobes to dwell for too long on the lifter, when they have the maximum pressure on them from the valve spring, this creates friction which in turn causes scuffing and ultimately failure of the camshaft. Using special grease on the lobes and lifters during assembly helps, but of course during cranking most of it gets wiped off; this is why instant starting is so desirable, to get the oil splash going. It is OK to stop the engine during the 20 minutes to check for leaks etc, but do not let it idle! Cheers Charlie

There was no requirement for cars to have limp-home mode in Australia so all of the Fords arrived without EDIS, unfortunately.

Have you: Tried new spark plugs? Replaced the HT leads with Magnecor. Checked the ignition timing with a light on the timing mark. Are the compression pressures within specification? Checked that the injectors are actually spraying and not dribbling - send them to a specialist for cleaning and checking. Cheers Charlie

I had similar symptoms on my car and it turned out to be the loose connection of one of the wires at the VR sensor. Peel back the rubber boot and give the wires a firm tug - they shouldn't move, Cheers Charlie

Yes, agreed - I didn't write my explanation well.

I asked a similar question when fitting Megajolt to my Alpine and the answer given then, was that the EDIS automatically defaults to 10 degrees BTDC when in limp-home mode. So; start the engine with only the EDIS connected and check the timing with a timing-light; if the mark is not exactly on 10 degrees, adjust it with the trim-value until it is in the right place. Trim allows for small errors in installation, etc. Cheers Charlie

You are 100% correct. Known as limp-home mode; though in my experience the car drives quite well.

Sounds nasty! I suggest the following: 1. Do a compression test using the starter motor. Do it hot and cold, wet and dry and record all of the observations and post the results here. 2. The only way oil can be getting through the inlet tract, is when it is pushed there by the piston with the valve open; therefore; oil must be getting past the piston rings, or through a hole in the piston. It can escape past the valve if the valve is burnt; or if the valve clearance is too tight; or if the inlet valve is sticking open; and without knowing the valve duration, possibly when the piston starts to come up on the compression stroke. 3. Oil can also get into the cylinder past the valve stem, but this would be unlikely to cause misfiring and it wouldn't be enough to blow up the inlet tract, it would probably be burnt before then. 4. I am guessing that No. 7 has serious piston/ring/cylinder wall wear. I am also alarmed at the colour of the oil; it should never be allowed to get that black. I change the oil on mine every 10 000km and the darkest it has ever become was a light tan. Dirty oil does not help piston rings, or the camshaft. Hopefully I am wrong and you can get out of this cheaply, Cheers Charlie

Slightly off-topic, but on the same Trigger wheels page that discomark10 linked to, is a USB serial adaptor. I bought one when using MJ and can confirm that it worked very well, Cheers Charlie

NGK BPR6EIX are an alternative iridium plug, which I have found last much longer - 100 000km so far - and also do better when using LPG, Cheers Charlie

Awesome report Cobber! What about posting some pics as well? Cheers Charlie

I too have a P6, though not as shiny as yours - it is easily the best car I have ever owned! Joining the shield on an extension should not be too hard and could be done with soft solder. It is a good idea to shield the PIP and SAW as you propose, Cheers Charlie

Top work Cheesy! I enjoy your explanations and photography, Cheers Charlie

I did this on my carburettored Alpine; because it uses DCOE Webbers - which is essentially four carburettors for four cylinders - I used an old fuel filter for the plenum, just before the Megajolt, Cheers Charlie

Incorrect - that issue was established on page 4!

Are you sure that the VR sensor is properly connected? Checking the continuity of the wires from the EDIS to the VR connector is not enough, if the pins inside the connector have been damaged by the number of times you have removed the wires. I checked the VR sensor by removing the VR harness and inserting a piece of plastic between the pins, and then connecting two test leads to the sensor. When the engine was cranked a consistent AC voltage was shown on the muti-meter. At this point I finally twigged what the problem was, because I new that I had good continuity in the VR harness, so therefore it had to be the connection between the sensor and the harness that was faulty. Good luck - faults like this can be maddening, Cheers Charlie

I did this once when installing my Megajolt and in the process I buggered-up the tabs which hold the wires in place, inside the female connector. When the connector was pushed onto the sensor, one wire never connected. My solution was to cut off the connectors and solder two new ones on, Cheers Charlie