The to do list shrinks – and grows!
Inspired by the long winter nights and knowing that I’ll occasionally be driving the 944 in the dark, my attention has turned to improving the rather poor standard equipment lights the car is saddled with. To do this I fitted a pair of Osram Nightbreaker Laser Next Generation H4 bulbs. I’d already fitted uprated bulbs previously, but these Osrams are the latest, 150% uprated versions, and are a definite improvement with a longer range and crisper light, but without being so intense that they worry oncoming motorists – a bugbear of mine is overly bright or badly-aligned headlights. The bulbs I’ve removed won’t be wasted as they have found their way on to my modern, the Volvo V50.
I might be switching to LEDs in the future, but there’s a lot of research I want to do first. However, whilst busy with sorting out the illumination, I also kitted out the sidelights with LED bulbs, and fitted Nightbreakers to the auxiliary mains and the front fogs. That was all fine until I went to remove the offside front light cluster and discovered that it was only held in place with two screws instead the usual four. Worse still, the screws (which are recessed quite deeply) had been completely rounded off. So I had to carefully and laboriously drill the heads off in order to remove the cluster.
Then I had to work out how on earth I was going to reattach the cluster after having upgraded the bulbs. I could have bought a new cluster of course, but since one of those costs almost £600, I was disinclined to do so! What I ended up doing was drill out the rusted/seized screws, enlarge the holes, and bond in Rivnuts using epoxy resin. Having allowed the resin to cure properly, I refitted the cluster and secured it using socket-head button bolts. I’m really pleased with this fix.
Interestingly, ever since I’ve owned the car, one of the front fogs has never worked. This has been on my ‘to do’ list for ages! Plus, I thought that the rear fog light only operated on the driver’s side. Well, in changing the nearside front fog light bulb, my good friend Nick Cleak, who was with me at the time, spotted that it was wired incorrectly. The cluster had obviously been replaced at some point, and whoever had done the job had swapped the wires around. This was a quick fix and, hey presto, I now have two working fronts and two working rears!
Elsewhere, the Jeep Grand Cherokee has had some attention too, in readiness for its MoT. David had spotted a rusty section around 6in x
“I could have bought a new cluster, but since one of those costs almost £600, I was disinclined to do so!”
2in that needed attention. Although not structural, it didn’t look good, so he cut away the rusted metal, welded in a fresh piece, then primed and undersealed it.
Next, it was the turn of the Lambda sensors. There are four on the Jeep, two ahead of the catalysts and two further back, and all are specific to their location. They had to be changed as they weren’t functioning correctly and had triggered warning lights on the dash. Two were removed relatively easily, but the other two were seized. Fortunately, having doused them with WD40 and after making a special tool from an old spanner, they eventually relinquished their grip. The engine is now running much more smoothly, and returning better mpg too, plus the associated warning lights are now notable by their absence. However, the engine warning light is still illuminated. According to the fault code, it’s due to an issue with injector number 8. Well, we changed that injector and the light is still on. The engine is running perfectly, but obviously more investigation is required.
As for the Davrian, well, the non-functioning wiper I mentioned last time was due to a spade terminal having come loose on the wiper’s live feed. Of course, by the time this was discovered (it is in a very awkward spot to reach), I’d removed the front bodywork to gain more access to the wiring. The front bodywork is now back on, and on the bright side it is rather more secure than previously, as I’ve used a mixture of Rivnuts and small bolts to hold it in place.
Removing the front also reminded me that I need to try and get the blower motor working. It’s attached to a plywood diaphragm and operates perfectly when connected directly to the battery. It’s beautifully installed, and has ducting and an on/off flap incorporated too, yet oddly there’s no sign of any actual wiring, or indeed any sign of it ever having been wired up. That’s another job on the ‘to do’ list, then!