All manner of odd noises that the engine used to make
Original article date: November 2000
The other day, I took the plunge and performed some fairly major maintenance work on my car. It hadn’t been running too well, but the problems were all bit non-specific so I was advised by a mechanic friend to strip the engine down completely.
I took very careful note of the positions of all the adjustment screws, ensured I had all the tools I needed, then went for it. Complete strip down. Not too much of a worry – I have done it a fair few times before, although not always with total success.
This time it really went smoothly. The whole job, including the removing and re-installing of my ‘optional extras’, took me only about 30 hours. What’s more, some of this time I was able to do other things because I have constructed some automatic machinery to perform bits of the re-installation task. I’m not saying there weren’t a few scary moments towards the end – I needed the car on Monday morning for work and by the end of Sunday it was looking like I wasn’t going to get it finished. But in the event it all ended well.
You might be amazed that I chose to do this. But the advice was correct – the engine really does run better now. All manner of odd noises and hiccups that the engine used to make have gone, even though I have no idea what exactly I fixed. It is also more powerful now, which is nice.
On the down side, there are a small number of things I overlooked – I have mucked up the security coded radio for example. And some of the bits I took off were not so easy to re-fit so they are still not back in service yet.
But the saddest thing is that, according to my expert friend, I may have to do the whole thing again in six months time to keep it running sweetly.
Now, obviously I’d much rather do ongoing maintenance than strip the engine down from time to time, but apparently that’s not how these things work. It’s a fairly new type of engine, designed in 1998, and the company that designed it is the leading engine maker in the world, so I’m told. And it does provide a handy ‘engine update’ service where, if it finds a design fault with, say, the fuel pump, it tells you and you can order a free replacement pump of a new and improved design from its mail order company.
I have no idea what it would have cost to pay a professional to do my strip down job. And I guess I wouldn’t have done it myself if I didn’t partly enjoy this sort of work. But even though I am quite practiced at the actual stripping down, I must confess I am not 100% sure I understand how this engine works.
What really makes me jealous is that my mate the mechanic has a different type of engine in his kit car that never needs to be stripped down like this. It’s a hotch potch of bits from different companies, so there’s no one big car company associated with it. But that seems not to bother him – in fact he says it’s more reliable.
When he first told me about this, it sounded like a pretty risky sort of technology – apparently there were no UK garages that understood about these engines. That’s fine if, like him, you’re a professional mechanic. But in the last two years, more and more folk are using these engines and some big name companies have moved over to them for their whole fleets.
I guess I’m just too chicken to take the plunge. I’m told that one of these engines would fit in my car and I could fit it in a weekend. But I’ve just spent 30 hours getting my existing engine running right. And some of my gadgets would not fit the new engine.
What I might do is fit one of these new engines at the back of the car and leave my existing engine under the bonnet. I think this is called a ‘dual boot’.
November 2000