valver help

[paradox]

i may be going to look at a valver, the problem is the electric sunroof doesnt work, any ideas what this could be? also its on 123 k what sort of mileage will these things go up to?

help appreciated

[Coops]

lecci sunroof will be motor, i got one from ebay for £30 thats what normally blows cuz of water leaks when people leave the roof open!!

thats an average kinda mileage these days for a phase one valver, thats J to L plate and kinda higher end for a phase two which is L to N plate

part of the territory is these cars will run forever but they are high maintenace so expect big things to go like clutch, gearbox, steering rack and engines but all can be replaced with second hand parts not too expensively!

[Allan]

yeah sunroof is cheepish if you do the work yourself or just seal it shut ;) rest of the car is pritty much good as long as it been maintained and serviced, just check for rust on the arch's and play in the steering.

Other places for rust are bottoms of the doors back windows and the boot hatch so check all those.
If its a high miller you want to check gearbox make sure it stays in gear while accelerating if it doesnt you may need new engine mounts, check clutch ect basilcy everything that would normaly go on a high mile car.

engine wise they will pritty much run forever if you service them so check for history and obvious signs of abuse

[Coops]

whats most likely cause for play in the steering? i had new rack mounts and bushes bit theres still play, but i got no leaks on the rack itself?!

HELP!! :oops:

[Allan]

normaly right at the bottom of the colunm there is a joint which has a rubber bush in it, this goes soft or wares away and will cause play, a few mm play at the bottom can cause over an inch at the top end !

easy solution is replace it totaly with either a new one or get your current one welded.

Is easy enough to replace tho takes about 30 mins if you have a haynes manual :)

[Coops]

i heard bout the welding thing! is that a good option or will it cause problems if i later have to change the rack or something?!

[Allan]

its only a joint in the coloum your not welding it to any other part, so when it comes to needed a new rack it still just 1 bolt connecting them, the weld is above the connecting bolt.

basicly if you look in your foot well near the clutch pedal will be a big rubber cover. Take this off, might take a bit of work to get out of the floor but it will come out. once you have that out slide it up and you will see a bolt, that bolt is connecting your rack to the coloum now if you go about 4 or 5inch's up there is a little join, and this is where the problem is.

In the join is a little bit of rubber to stop vibrations basilcy when this ware out it gives play in the steering sooo if you weld it theere it will stop the movement, but will also mean you can feel more vibrations through the wheel.

Im using a welded colunm in mine and its fine... so your choice really £30 to get it welded or few 100 for a new coloum and then + fitting if you dont want to do that yourself :)

fitting is easy todo aswell