Finally sanded back the cracked black primer on my engine cover and colour coded it!
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Car club sticker is sealed in under the clear coat to add a personal touch (it was either that or DERV in capital letters to replace the ecotec logo)
Now considering what colour boost pipes to get when I fit my intercooler when this lockdown ends, and what colour to dye the yellow plastics in the engine bay. After seeing the yellow caps dyed black on the z22 forum, that would be a nice stealthy look, but matching red is very tempting... of course then I have to replace my silver+purple VXD centre caps with silver+red
Today's lockdown project involved giving the Vectra's engine bay some TLC, starting with getting rid of the ugly yellow plastic:
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All of the yellow rubbish was removed from the car, dumped in a pan with Rit fabric dye and boiled for 10 minutes. The oil cap, coolant cap, dipstick, and the plastic that the bonnet stay slips into when the bonnet is up, all took the dye really well. However, the clip the bonnet stay rests in, and the washer cap are both the shiny plastic that doesn't like dye so they had to be painted:
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Turned out pretty well I think! So now the only remaining yellow is on the bonnet stay itself, which I couldn't remove without breaking.
Finally, the vec got a new vacuum solenoid, and 3 of the 4 vacuum lines replaced with 4mm ID silicone from Ramair.
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Surprisingly, I noticed that it is way more responsive around 2krpm with the silicone hoses even though the old ones were in good condition, probably because the silicone ones have less play in them...
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Today's job - cleaning the MAP sensor and a couple of test drives round the block.
It revs a bit smoother now the MAP isn't gunked up, but since replacing the vacuum solenoid with a brand new unit I've been getting slight surging - like the car will rev, hesitate for a split second, then continue revving, multiple times with my foot down between 2000 and 3000rpm under load
Hopefully it's just that the ECU hasn't relearned for the new non-dodgy solenoid yet, but I'm not doing enough miles to find out any time soon due to the lockdown.
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Auto dimming rear view fitted today, and working perfectly!
When I ordered the loom I had to also get a new mirror and trim piece, because I didn't realise that nobody sells the loom separate from the mirror when I ordered a mirror on its own.
However, the new 5-pin mirror loom and the original 6-pin auto dimming mirror I ordered (didn't know these existed as I thought 6-pin was the memory version, which mine is not) went in with less effort than I thought.
I'm now waiting for some replacement gel for the rain/light sensor, which should arrive later this week along with an Opcom unit, then I'll be fitting the sensor, black vinyl around the sensor, and the mirror trim then enabling auto lights and wipers.
To pass the time waiting for the new rain sensor gel, today I did a bit of cutting and sticking (which I was never very good at in school when I was a kid).
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I cut some black vinyl into the shape of the trim piece that covers up the rain sensor. Using it and the rain sensor as templates, I also cut a hole for the sensor, and a slot for the mirror mount.
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The mirror had to be removed to fit the vinyl. I tried without removing it, and it was immediately apparent that that was a stupid idea. However, with my stupid idea out of the way, it went on easily (soapy water helps), and the result isn't too shabby.
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From the inside you can barely tell it's not the stock arrangement, and it's a lot better than the mess of ribbon cables that was visible before.
From the outside, it doesn't even look that daft. Hopefully it'll look even less daft when the rain sensor is actually on and there's not just a big gap.
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Also, yesterday I got Opcom set up and tentatively let the REC know that it has an auto dimming mirror now. Surprisingly, nothing blew up.
Found the cause of the surging under acceleration:
The "new" vacuum solenoid itself, being an aftermarket copy, was just plain crap. Lost most of this morning trying to figure it out though.
First I disconnected the battery for an hour to let the ECU reset it's learned values. It ran worse at first, then on the way back from my test run it smoothed out and was better than before, but the surging was still noticeable. In fact, I could now hear the turbo whistling, then stopping, then whistling, them stopping repeatedly mid-pull, rather than just a change in the tone of the engine.
I then removed the silicone vacuum hose where there used to be a reducer onto a joiner, connected to the line down to the turbo. I thought this was kind of a loose fit when I originally fitted it, so I silicone sealanted the joiner up and stuck the silicone line back on. No joy - vacuum leak theory busted.
Hence switching the solenoid back to the old one that I snapped while removing originally and siliconed back together. When a solenoid in as bad nick as that one fixes the issue, the other solenoid has to be pretttty bad.
Thankfully, eBay automatically approved my return + refund, and I ordered a Pierburg unit off an Alfa for £10 less. Hopefully this is a good example of why you should check whether replacement parts are genuine before you order them, and to avoid "Engitech" and other made-in-china aftermarket engine management components.
Automatic wipers working!
Unfortunately I could only activate auto lights in the REC and UEC with my cheap Opcom clone, which refuses to talk to the BCM. Trying to find a software version that will work, although I'm probably going to have to wait and get booked in for some Tech2 after lockdown.
Also, without the correct windscreen mount I had to just silicone the rain sensor in place, which has resulted in bubbles between the gel and the windscreen over part of the light sensor. There's a good chance that will impede its function too...
Automatic wipers working!
Unfortunately I could only activate auto lights in the REC and UEC with my cheap Opcom clone, which refuses to talk to the BCM. Trying to find a software version that will work, although I'm probably going to have to wait and get booked in for some Tech2 after lockdown.
Also, without the correct windscreen mount I had to just silicone the rain sensor in place, which has resulted in bubbles between the gel and the windscreen over part of the light sensor. There's a good chance that will impede its function too...
Pop down to Derby to activate it
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