Small (or maybe not) project. 91 elan

[Tuga2112]

Joao,

If you need a NEW controller, I have a few. Not cheap, $90.00 + postage but less that SJs price to rebuild yours. Unfortunately, shipping from the US usually takes 7 to 10 days.

John,

good to know you have some modules.
i have seen in some other post that you were going to send some other stuff to other members on a semi group buy. although i cant remember what was the specific item in the discussion.

Im going to open up the unit in hope of finding something wrong with it that i can fix with my basic understanding of electronics. either way, this is not a cheap part whenever i source it from. so if i can refurbish it myself. i will give it a go.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Joao,

The module was used in Pontiac Sunbirds, early Firebirds and later Fieros as well as a Buick or two, so more common over here.

I may have one or two or five working USED modules, but I would have to find them and then plug them in my car to see if they work.

I will see how I feel tomorrow and If I am up to the leaning required (my back has 2 damaged vertebrae and leaning is not a fun task), I will let you know the outcome.

At least I finally got my headlamp pods assembled and installed before the pain started, so I can test again.

[Brit-Car-Nut]

Not trying to sound like an alarmist, but if either of the bearings are damaged, it could disassemble and the hub, disc and wheel would have no idea where they are going and the wheel will go anywhere it wants - including away from the car and down the road..

It would probably cause a fair amount of damage, so, please think hard about removing the wheel, removing the caliper and removing the disc and physically looking at the bearings. Any blue-ish or brown/gold colors imply the bearing has run HOT and is likely to fail. It is really hard to drive a 3 wheel M100 and if it fails at speed, you might be testing the roll-over strength of the roof and windscreen.

[Tuga2112]

Not trying to sound like an alarmist, but if either of the bearings are damaged, it could disassemble and the hub, disc and wheel would have no idea where they are going and the wheel will go anywhere it wants - including away from the car and down the road..

It would probably cause a fair amount of damage, so, please think hard about removing the wheel, removing the caliper and removing the disc and physically looking at the bearings. Any blue-ish or brown/gold colors imply the bearing has run HOT and is likely to fail. It is really hard to drive a 3 wheel M100 and if it fails at speed, you might be testing the roll-over strength of the roof and windscreen.

i understand your consern John.
from the discussion so far. i am not 100% sure that my problem is in the rear bearings as the noise is not constantly there but only at speed. your not the only one of the opinion that a bearing that needs replacing would make a noise "all the time" instead of exclusively at some specific speed.
im just going to give this adjustment a try and see if the sound changes or dissapears (confirming a replacement is due).
unfortunately this weekend focus was changed from the bearing to other issues so im a bit all over the place at the moment (as john_w keeps reminding me)

[roy666]

Clemo - the other guy in the car park was moi. Sorry I had to dash off.. and Yes I still do think its the offside rear wheel bearing.. have not got around to checking as yet. will let you know.. Mike

[Tuga2112]

took the car for a spin and i can confirm 2 things.
first.
the noise now starts to be noticeable at 55mph instead of 40.
second
when paying very close attetion to it. actually, the noise seems to be constantly there. just dificult to notice it because of all the other noises that go with having a car moving (exhaust, tyres, engine, rattles etc etc)

i will be driving the elan to work this week and over the weekend will be fitting the WV golf bearings.
if situation seems to get worse, i will just drive a different car until the weekend.

[Tuga2112]

Bearings fitted on Saturday, took the car to work and back today without the noise.
There's still some noise coming from the passenger side that doesn't seem right. But I suspect being related to the tyres age. I've had the car for 4 years now, which makes me think it's probably a good time to get new shoes anyway

[roy666]

Further to this one chaps. I needed both bearings replaced. Got a good set from Lotus bits.. and they went in no problem. Couldnt find a torque wrench that when down to 25Nm to tighten up; jst had to guess it.. And my rear hub/discs are in a sorry state. Anyone know how to get them refurbished or are they available to purchase?? M

[Saltire]

Hi Roy
They are available to purchase from a number of sources, including Sjs, but I will have a used pair for sale shortly (I’ve just swapped for a separate hub/disc set-up). Old ones are off a 64,000 mile S2.

[Tuga2112]

as Jonathan said, SJS has them. they are a bit pricey (if i recall correctly i paid something a little over £70 per corner), you may want to consider the skimming alternative,
I was not able to find anyone that would do the job on a brake lathe in my area. and the only alternative i found was 50 quid a corner which ended up being a saving of only 20 quid per disc.

but if you find someone with a brake lathe willing to do it for a reasonable price. I have 8 discs that i been collecting over the years from multiple cars that need skimming so it may be worth the trip for me

[Tuga2112]

the newest issue that im working on now is the fan blower resistor.

i have found out recently that the 2 lower speeds dont work at all.
after an inspection of the electrical manual, i have concluded the most likely point of failure was the resistor pack for the fan speed controll.

after looking at the electrical manual and servicing manual i couldnt find the location of the Blower Resistors so after asking on FakeBook i was told they are just behind the glove compartment on the passenger side.
removing the compartment was the easiest and quiquest way to access the resistors. took them off both cars and tested on the bench, the blue car's resisotrs are fine. so i decided for the moment they will be used in the yellow car.

as i suspected, the second resistor in assembly was broken.
i am now in the process of investigating how to repair this in order to put it back on the yellow car.
Geoff has mentioned that the resistors are
"0R3, 0R7 & 2R0 all at 20W"
which i am not 100% sure how to read. but i suspect he means.300ohm, 700ohm and 2kohm. all rated to 20watt power.

location of the resistor seen from underneath

left is the broken yellow car's resistors, and right is the blue car's ones

close up fotos of each resistor unit.



and a x10 closeup of the failure point of the yellow car's resistor


I am thinking about using nicrome wire to replace the faulty coil
after some investigation. i found this on ebay which seems a reasonable price.
based on these tables
https://nockers.co.za/specifications/ni ... ight-table
i think i need about 25cm of it to get 700ohm resistance effect.

Geoff made me aware that nicrome is a PITA to solder. so i am thinking about crimping the wire into a space/fork connector and then solder the connector into assembly.

parts have been ordered. i will update when completed. unless someone tells me i am missing something important that could be dangerous ?

EDIT
one picture was duplicated

[dapinky]

Joao,

I don't know what lengths you will need (but the tables on the interweb will help, and it doesn't need to be exact anyway)...

... you are reading Geoffs 'notation' correctly - industry standard way of writing resistance values..... but you can always use a multimeter on the good ones to check what they are.

If I were doing it, I would 'bodge' it a bit, and having cut the correct(ish) length of wire, I'd probably use a 'straight-through' crimp connector to join a short length of copper wire to the resistance wire (a bit of household twin and earth would probably be what I'd go for) and then solder that to the board....

... there again, I may even just clean up the break in the current set-up and join the ends together with a crimp connector .

[Tuga2112]

so, its been a while since i last posted.

the resistor was fixed on the 16th of december last year (assuming the dates on the pictures in my phone are right.
the final instalation does not include the plastic because the resistor wire heats up enough to burn the plastic, so in order to avoid the smell i cut the plastic out.

rather pleased with that fix done for a mere £3 instead of the hassle of sourcing a replacement part.




As many know. the elan has been daily driven since the head gasket replacement. so i can confirm from experience that the fix was succesfull

currently it clocks a little over 125,000 and for those sceptical about the elan being a reliable daily.
the folowing picture is dated 25/09/2018
giving it 9 months of running and 8k miles where all i had to do to it was top up the coolant water 3 times and top up the oil once.
generally speaking. i am very happy with the elan sadly the paint work is really letting it down, i just need to figure out a way to get that issue solved

[Tuga2112]

i guess its been a while without any updates so. in order to keep the Log for the car up to date....
failed the mot with the rear brakes working below requirement and needed a wheel bearing on the drivers side front.

i replaced the bearing and the rear pads + th whole handbrake fidling and its gone through last month.

sadly a week ago 3 different issues appeared in the space of 5 days.
1 - heavy steering feeling randomly.
2 - driver side light pod only raises up to half
3 - the passenger side is making a noise similar to what i have experienced last year that turned out to be the rear wheel bearing this time i think the noise is coming from the front.

the good news is.
1 - upon some diagnosis. i think the issue is down to the UJ on the bottom of the steering rack. part of the diagnostic included changing the PAS fluid and after that didnt work i swapped the pump with a known working one. so, given the situation as it stnads. a land rover defender UJ was ordered and is in the glove box waiting for a sunny weekend. in case that fails. im afraid i will end up learning how to refurbish a steering rack.....
2 - common issue, which is rather funny another owner in the midlands had just 2 months ago. so i have contacted BNC who refered me to wayne for the repair kits. which should be on its way from bharain at the moment and will be fitted as soon as it arrives.
3- "luckily" i bought 2 front bearings when i got the car past the MOT. although only 1 was fitted to pass. the other is securely packaged in the desk in my living room. just like the heavy steering feeling... this one will require a sunny day to be addressed.

apart from all that. i guess theres nothing else improved in the car. im still in the process of getting a place to work on it regularly which will then allow me to sort out the more time consuming tasks that have been postponed for the past 5 years

[Tuga2112]

I havent posted any updates in here for a long time.

as some are aware, i have been putting videos in youtube of the work done now.

I cant rememebr all the work that has been done in the car since i last posted but some things would include
instalation of front and reverse cameras
instalation of a buzzer to tell me when im walking out of the car with the lights on
fitted the full set of jamie's seals which are in place but not sealing, so they will need to me revisited
installed a radiator fans override switch
new lower ball joint on passenger side for MOT
brakes both front and rear have been refurbished with new front pads
the central locking instalation was moved to underneath of the wood stowage compartment
front wheel arches have been re installed with all new stainless fasteners
boot release mechanism has been re-installed with custom made brackets to ensure it will work properly
added gaz struts at the boot which now hold the lid up but are not strong enough to raise it automatically when the release mechanism activates
the windscreen washer reservoir was removed and cleaned and all fasteners reokpaced with stainless steel
handbrake has been re-adjusted 3 times
hood frame has been re-alighned for the seals
power steering pump swapped with the original one from the car (part of diagnosing an issue with steering)
a USB switch has been installed

[Fredjohn]

Joao
Why not add these videos into the "How to" guide section of wikilec?
That way they won't get lost in the thousands of posts in the main forum.

[Tuga2112]

Joao
Why not add these videos into the "How to" guide section of wikilec?
That way they won't get lost in the thousands of posts in the main forum.

That's something that just never ocurred to me.

I have no idea how to add stuff to the wiki, but when I get some time to spare will have a look.

[dapinky]

Well, It's not for me to try and hijack your videos - but I wonder if they could be added to the 'manuals' link - as that has far more useful documents than just the manuals.

Obviously, they are your videos, and you can do with them as you wish, so if you didn't want them on there, no problem.

Obviously, there is a choice between actually hosting the videos, and simply putting a link to your youtube channel.........

[Tuga2112]

Well, It's not for me to try and hijack your videos - but I wonder if they could be added to the 'manuals' link - as that has far more useful documents than just the manuals.

Obviously, they are your videos, and you can do with them as you wish, so if you didn't want them on there, no problem.

Obviously, there is a choice between actually hosting the videos, and simply putting a link to your youtube channel.........

Im happy to have them in whichever place they are most suitable to help others.
I would prefer to have them linked to youtube, My channel is not exclusively filled with M100 content, it just happens that Recently i have worked in the Elan more which ended up in more videos with Elan content.
Even tho I have no intention of monetising my channel via youtube, if the channel ends up getting enough people interested I may one day setup a patreon to give viewers the oportunity to help fund the parts/mod installed in the cars.

one thing important to note is that unlike Toby, my videos are mostly a "how I done it" style and not necessarily a "how your supposed to do it". It wouldn't be the First time someone looks at how I do something and say its bad advise

[Tuga2112]

Found my passenger side front jacking point failing.

im in the process to adress that, after a few consultations with Pinky, i got the confidence to start it but even tho i have a good idea what i want to do, im finding some serious dificulty with acess.




My angle grinder cant reach the back of the jacking point box to cut the rear area. suggestions are welcome.