GTA Le Mans Number 03 has a new owner!!

[BIG_MVS]

I think Pat Fitz may have been interested to solve his running issue on his Le Mans which is now yours Paul....

Tim (VW Nerd) why are you selling? Have you upgraded to a more powerful engine in your T25?

I think Pat Fitz may have been interested to solve his running issue on his Le Mans which is now yours Paul....

Tim (VW Nerd) why are you selling? Have you upgraded to a more powerful engine in your T25?

That thought had occured to me. But at this time I am not looking for a complete engine etc, too much money and hassle for me to cope with just now.

I Have upgraded to more miles per gallon not bhp. Now running a Golf TDI motor with ecu and fly by wire throttle still on the UN1 07 transaxle. This has taken the fuel consumption from 200 miles to a tank of fuel to 450 miles to a tank.

The Alpine motor has been fun and the performance in a van has turned plenty of heads, but fuel economy is what I need right now and I love driving the van so the engine has to go.

Also the D502 motor is best fitted to a Le Mans not a VW transporter.

Any enquiry for the engine call Tim 07810320464.

Hi Guys

Just a quick update!

I am still waiting for the water temperature sensor ordered from the USA, Jen recently had a 2 week wait for something to come from the State’s so still have a few more days on that score if her experience is par for the course.

But on the bright side I went into Autocraft today to collect the MOT Pass Certificate so that I can send away to have the car registered in my name and get it taxed. You never know I might actually get to drive the thing around before too long!



Paul

Hi Guys

Just a quick update!

I am still waiting for the water temperature sensor ordered from the USA, Jen recently had a 2 week wait for something to come from the State’s so still have a few more days on that score if her experience is par for the course.

But on the bright side I went into Autocraft today to collect the MOT Pass Certificate so that I can send away to have the car registered in my name and get it taxed. You never know I might actually get to drive the thing around before too long!



paul...... quick solution idea buy the VW guy's engine rob the sensor and sell the engine on......

Paul

Hi Guys

Just a quick update!

I am still waiting for the water temperature sensor ordered from the USA, Jen recently had a 2 week wait for something to come from the State’s so still have a few more days on that score if her experience is par for the course.

But on the bright side I went into Autocraft today to collect the MOT Pass Certificate so that I can send away to have the car registered in my name and get it taxed. You never know I might actually get to drive the thing around before too long!



paul...... quick solution idea buy the VW guy's engine rob the sensor and sell the engine on......

Paul

Hi Andy

I just don't have the cash!! Xmas and what I have paid out so far have me counting the beans!!


Paul

The parcel/delivery tracker shows the part is now in Heathrow so might get it tomorrow.

It has travelled from Long Beach, CA, US to Cincinnati, OH, US to East Midlands, UK to London, Heathrow-UK so far, only another 50 or so miles to go!!

The parcel/delivery tracker shows the part is now in Heathrow so might get it tomorrow.

It has travelled from Long Beach, CA, US to Cincinnati, OH, US to East Midlands, UK to London, Heathrow-UK so far, only another 50 or so miles to go!!

The part duly arrived on Monday and was dropped off at Autocraft on Tuesday, no news as of yet, I will call Gavin tomorrow to check progress.

Road Tax arrived today, so I will be a legal driver when I get the car back off Gavin!!! The log book will be along sooner or later and then it is all official.

Hi Folks

Just to put this thread to bed now, Le Mans 03 has finally returned home after much faffing about to get it through the MOT and then to ensure correct running and emissions.

Earlier in the thread I asked for help in diagnosing the fault that was causing the “Electronic Defect Warning” light to come on and flash in synchronicity with the “Service” light. This has now been rectified as it was indicating a fault which was caused by the D502 ECU being replaced by a D501 ECU, in essence the car was telling us that the CO potentiometer was not working, well it wouldn’t because there wasn’t one as a Lambda Probe was installed because the Le Mans originally had a catalytic convertor. We installed a CO Potentiometer and the D501 ECU became satisfied and the lights went out and stay out when they should.

LM 03 is now tucked up under a cover in the BIG TENT and will have to await further attention as I am now “temporarily embarrassed” for a few months. It will however get a few runs out weather permitting over the next few months.

I would like to say many thanks to all who have provided guidance, ideas and support during the last few months; mind you I am sure I will be bending your ears again in the near future.

Hi Guys

The latest job ticked off the list for Le Mans 03 is a new roof lining, this took a little while to complete but the result is quite good so worth the effort. I followed the Saint’s lead as per this thread.
http://www.renaultalpineownersclub.com/ ... highlight=

1, I bought a sheet of foam rubber ½” thick of eBay.
2. Removed the old roof lining and foam.
3. Cleaned the remaining old foam of the back of the roof lining cloth and had the lining cleaned in the washing machine. Following that it was ironed, god bless her in doors.
4. Removed the remains of the old foam from off the roof using a wire brush, not a nice job because I got covered in old tacky foam dust, goggles are a must.
5. Washed the roof down with warm weak soapy water.
6. Using contact adhesive from Car Builder Solutions I glued the roof lining to the foam sheet.
7 Two trial fitting and trimming sessions followed.
8. Painted the contact adhesive onto the roof and the foam sheet.
9. Brought the foam sheet and the roof together when the adhesive became tacky, and here it was very much a case of take your time but not too much time and be careful.
10. Replaced the interior panels etc.
11. Checked out my handiwork with a big smile on my face.
12. Job done.

I had a bit of time today so I wanted to have a look at the electric windows and the door mirrors.

In my previous experience when the electric window becomes reluctant to rise despite the window dropping in an acceptable way, it has meant that the grease in or on the worm drives and channels has got old and solid. To rectify this I have applied copious amounts of WD-40 to the worm drives, the channels and the motor, it has worked so far.

So that was the plan for today, I was eventually able to gain access behind the door cards; previously I could not budge the screws that held the door mirror capping’s in place. This time I put my up close reading/seeing glasses on and saw that the screw was in fact a number 2 posidrive on both doors. The passenger door came off okay with a lot of evenly and carefully applied grunt, but when off it showed signs of rusting. The driver’s side snapped on the shaft despite carefully applying the grunt, again this showed signs of rusting. Anyway I gave the passenger’s side window mechanisms a good soaking of WD-40 and operated them up and down and eventually they came back to life with a reasonable movement. The driver’s side was next but by now I was low on WD-40 but I did get an improvement before I ran out. Must buy more and give both mechanisms a good soaking over the next week or so.

Next I thought I would have a quick look at the door mirror adjustment as it does not work. I found that one of the wires had come out of one the funny cylindrical connectors so I re-attached that and tried it out. For a few seconds I thought I could hear clicking from the passenger side mirror then nothing. The driver’s side did not do anything at all. Then I noticed two wires not connected to anything, see the photos, what are these for? Are they a problem? Any other Ideas please guys

Then I noticed two wires not connected to anything, see the photos, what are these for?

If these two wires are on the drivers side, they are for a blinking LED which is mounted on the internal triangular cover (the one I think you had trouble with getting the screw out of) which indicates the car alarm is armed if you have one fitted. The wires go back to the connector in the passenger foot-well where the optional OE alarm plugs into.

Next I thought I would have a quick look at the door mirror adjustment as it does not work. I found that one of the wires had come out of one the funny cylindrical connectors so I re-attached that and tried it out. For a few seconds I thought I could hear clicking from the passenger side mirror then nothing. The driver’s side did not do anything at all.

Further to the above post..... just for info, the Red & Black connector carries 12v for the Heated Mirrors, but only comes alive when the Heater Rear Screen/Hatch is switched on via the dash button.
There are no relays for the adjustment of the mirrors, just the switch to select which mirror you want to adjust, and the joystick for mirror position.
If nothing appears to be happening, there is a 10amp fuse which feeds the mirror circuit.
It is also possible that the clicking you heard was due to the mirror being at its limit of travel, and the motor still being activated. In this condition the mirror would be twitching.
Before trying again, I would check for a blown fuse, then make sure the mirror selection switch is fully one side or the other (not in the middle where nothing happens) and if the clicking still happens, then move the mirror manually by pressing on the mirror glass its self, where it is protruding most, it will move and click a few times and hopefully get into a position where it will move in all directions with the joystick.
Hope this helps.

Next I thought I would have a quick look at the door mirror adjustment as it does not work. I found that one of the wires had come out of one the funny cylindrical connectors so I re-attached that and tried it out. For a few seconds I thought I could hear clicking from the passenger side mirror then nothing. The driver’s side did not do anything at all.

Further to the above post..... just for info, the Red & Black connector carries 12v for the Heated Mirrors, but only comes alive when the Heater Rear Screen/Hatch is switched on via the dash button.
There are no relays for the adjustment of the mirrors, just the switch to select which mirror you want to adjust, and the joystick for mirror position.
If nothing appears to be happening, there is a 10amp fuse which feeds the mirror circuit.
It is also possible that the clicking you heard was due to the mirror being at its limit of travel, and the motor still being activated. In this condition the mirror would be twitching.
Before trying again, I would check for a blown fuse, then make sure the mirror selection switch is fully one side or the other (not in the middle where nothing happens) and if the clicking still happens, then move the mirror manually by pressing on the mirror glass its self, where it is protruding most, it will move and click a few times and hopefully get into a position where it will move in all directions with the joystick.
Hope this helps.

Hi John

BIG THANKS for the information.

The two wires are on the driver’s side, and yes it was those covers I was struggling to get off! I do not have an LED in the triangular cover; my car has an aftermarket Cobra category 1 alarm immobiliser with the LED mounted on the centre console so I have no need of them wires/plugs.

The mirror switch has now been removed from the door card and has been connected to the wires protruding from the driver’s door, I am tempted to replace the connector block in which one of the wires detached to attempt to improve the connections, I will use my multi-meter to check for continuity between the connectors etc when I have another go at it this coming weekend, fuse will be checked also.

I applied more, (Lashings), WD-40 to the window mechanisms this evening and can now report I have functioning driver and passenger door windows. Okay they are not exactly gliding smoothly up and down but they are moving in an agreeable manner.

Another thing from the weekend, on Sunday I took the car out onto some nice quiet roads on the business park located behind my house with the express intention of giving it some big braking input to encourage the ABS to work. After quite a few big pushes I finally began to get some pushing back through the pedal and I could hear a difference in how the tyres behaved on the road surface suggesting that the ABS had begun to work as the brakes were applied and released just as the ABS should do. So it seems I have got that sorted, or at least I hope I have.

However on the way home I ran out of petrol! The petrol gauge stated 0.8 gallons was in the tank but we still ground to a halt. I bought a gallon of petrol and put it in the tank and tried the ignition, the engine fired up almost straight away which surprised me as if it had run out of fuel then surely it would have taken at least 10 to 20 seconds for the fuel to travel from the tank at the front of the car to the engine at the rear? This left me thinking that it must be some sort of pressure thing, assuming the gauge is reasonably accurate and there was some fuel in the tank then it was not able to deliver fuel from the tank until another gallon was added, what is that all about? Anyway we got it going and drove straight to the petrol station where I put 20 litres in. So is it an inaccurate fuel gauge or something else?

And yes before you all tell me I should never let the fuel level drop so low I know I shouldn’t but I was just being lazy as the gauge said I had 1.1 gallons when I left home and I planned to put the fuel in on the way back home.... Best laid plans and all that eh?

on Sunday I took the car out onto some nice quiet roads on the business park located behind my house with the express intention of giving it some big braking input to encourage the ABS to work.

Paul, one of the best ways of checking out the ABS, is to do it on wet grass.... if you can find some.... the ABS will kick in readily without doing any damage to your tyres. I also understand that the wheel sensors must be kept clean, as being magnetic, they have a tendency to pick up all sorts of crap which makes them insensitive.