Had a lovely snooze just now.
I find that New Scientist has that effect these days.
It never used to.
I find that New Scientist has that effect these days.
It never used to.
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I decided to go for it. The Corolla's MAF sensor has been cleaned!
I got it off, which was easy apart from having to pop over to the hardware shop to get some pliers as the clip on the electrics plug was a bugger to hold shut, and sure enough the very obvious sensors on the outside were filthy. Now, the mistake most people make is cleaning these and refitting; do this and, after a brief improvement, things will go wrong again. This is because the sensors that actually need cleaning are two tiny things on very thin wires, hidden down inside the tube that has the other sensors on the outside. People accidentally get a bit of solvent down there, leading to temporary improvement, but you have to focus on getting them properly clean for a real fix.
They were hard to see down there, but clearly very dirty. A few good drenches in carb spray later and they were much easier to see because they were back to being shiny, as nature intended.
I refitted the thing once the solvent had dried off; the O ring was indeed a bit bent out of shape but, with a bit of fiddling, it got back into place and everything went smoothly. Then I went to start the engine.
It fired up straight away, idling at around 800rpm. After a second or two it obviously realised something was different, because it suddenly surged up to around 1250 - 1300rpm. It stayed there for a couple of minutes, then gradually started easing back, until eventually it was around 1000. (Before the cleaning, it tended to start, go to 1000 for a few seconds, then gradually ease back to 800.) At this point, I decided to take it out for a spin.
The only thing I've experienced that could have been attributable to the dirty sensor (apart from the Check Engine light) is that the car just didn't seem to have the same degree of power it used to. I particularly noticed this in cases such as being stuck behind an overtaking lorry on the A14: once it pulled in I'd accelerate and, although the car did get back up to 70, it would take its time about it.
I don't think that'll be a problem any more
I was quite taken aback at how quickly it shot up the road when I set off, given it's a 20mph limit so I wasn't even trying to accelerate much. Then it took me by surprise when pulling out of the T junction at the top. Once I got down to the M69, which is never too busy meaning you can bugger about a bit without inconveniencing other drivers, I confirmed that it now has no trouble at all getting from 60 to 70 in short order. All in all, it's a lot friskier than it was this morning, or had been for some time past
So although I've got nowhere with sorting the kitchen out, I reckon that was a jolly good way of procrastinating
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Excellent.
You are now a certified Master Mechanic.
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For a laugh, could I suggest an Italian tune up? Put in some Shell "V-power nitro plus to infinity and beyond" (or whatever they call their expensive version of the fuel), and then rake the guts out of it - high revs in low gears at high speeds. That will clean the engine and let you know if all is OK.
After that, your next stage is to buy an Alfa.…Maybe we ain’t that young anymoreComment
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Wait and see if it's still running in a week before sending the certificateOriginally posted by zeitghost View PostExcellent.
You are now a certified Master Mechanic.
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'Course you do malcom, just stick it in 2nd.Originally posted by NickFitz View PostIt's an automatic, so I don't get to choose the gears
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I think the car's doing a pretty good job at choosing gears now anyway. I realised when I was playing around on the M69 that the reason it had seemed so sluggish accelerating at high speeds was that before, it would happily kick down a gear when I give it some welly, and it had stopped doing that. Now it's doing it again, hence more zoominessOriginally posted by zeitghost View Post
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Dinner tonight has been strawberries with Ben & Jerry's Karamel Sutra ice cream
I had a four-sausage fry-up for lunch so, not surprisingly, I'm not massively peckish this evening; but that just hit the spot. Healthy too - well, the strawberry bit is
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I had a Peters' Steak & Kidney (without so much kidney) pie plus Heinz 5 beans snackpot.
Living the proverbials.Comment
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