nelmo

It's not vanity - I (and I assume others) have a very low ride height. If I put a full size plate on, it would be forever getting whacked and probably ripped off.

Probable stupid question alert: I've wired a simple LED strip with the 12V ignition to one wire, earth to the other and I'm blowing the 10A fuse every time I switch it on. I know current=volts/resistance, so I guess the resistance of an LED strip (in one direction) is very small? Is it normal to wire in some extra resistance with an LED strip or is there an alternative method?

On the front, yes.....

Well, whack a whopping orange box on top of an orange car and you'll get noticed

The green colour of the protective film is actually really nice :-) Looking awesome - you should get in contact with one of the big caravan mags, they might be interested in doing an article on it (after we've done one :-)).

After an hour of listening to YouTube videos, this sounds like engine knock and nothing mechanical. Oil change to look for metal bits and maybe just new oil... fingers crossed.

Yes - I assume it would have caused a problem before now if I hadn't?

Hmm, Ok changed the pump but not fixed it :-( I've now noticed that just a light touch on the clutch pedal produces a light, machine gun type rattle. I've done a video (link below) - see what you think. At the start, you can hear the rattle as I touch and release the clutch pedal. Then, as I'm driving with clutch out and rev up to 2500 in 2nd gear, you can hear a louder but similar rattle (clearest at 47 secs in) . Is this the same rattle? Clutch? https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XW31q6pDsoQbR93wgK08yj462ksZmnjy/view?usp=drivesdk

Annoyingly, that's the only one I can't find for sale except as a kit with the belt, which I don't need. Ordered an Airtex - seem to be good reviews online... Thanks for suggesting the water pump as a possible problem, Rich - I may never have considered that otherwise...

Send a PM to Stu (the Duck) - he'll be able to help you with that. For your picture, I just use MS Paint (every PC has it) - edit your picture and there is a 'resize' option. Set it to, say, 10% of the original, save it and then upload through your profile.

OK, sounds like a plan - do you know what is a good brand? I can see a choice of Circoli, Airtex and Gates - never heard of any of them before EDIT: Holy Crap - this site has loads of them...

Might be this - took the belt off, ran the engine briefly and no rattle. There seems to be a tiny amount of play in the bearing, literally 1mm or something - does that sound enough to be knackered? What happens if I just leave it? Will it just gradually get worse or can it go bang in a big enough way to damage the rest of the engine?

I love the way everyone talks about just 'taking the engine and box out' like it's an easy job. I know how long it took me to get the damn things in - I'd hate to have to try take them out again. Hope you get it sorted and look forward to the pics...

Hi Bob, I've been trying to PM you but the system wouldn't let me, for some reason? I'm afraid it's not looking good - my father-in-law had to go into hospital and it looks like we will be going up to see him (Norfolk) on this June 2nd weekend. Not definite yet but looking likely... Many apologies - I should have replied to this thread but kept forgetting... If anything changes, I'll shout nearer the time...

I did wiggle it by hand and it seemed fine but I'll check it properly when I next get some garage time.

Nope, not a clue. But if this was the problem, would symptoms not be bad running, smokey exhaust etc? Engine runs fine and pulls cleanly. The rattle is not always there, if it was the water pump, wouldn't it be continuous? Same for other suggestions, it doesn't rattle all the time and it happened suddenly, it's not grown from a slight rattle to a big one. Surely if it was wear, it would be more gradual?

Someone on here recently tried the foam (Brumster?) and it didn't work. Best solution is an external swirl pot and HP pump, like the current Zero uses.

So not likely to be a loose chain, damaged valve or something actually broken? What's actually doing the rattling?

Interesting - but is that likely in 3k miles? I've been considering fitting a wideband lambda to improve the fuelling - looks like now might be the time. And an oil change...and maybe a coolant change as that looks a horrible rusty colour in the thermostat.

Wow, that is creepy - so you think that might be the issue, dirt in the oil? I've just gone out and also found a cracked plastic adaptor that the temp coolant sensor screws into so I'm not going anywhere for a while - let me know if the additive does the trick.

Not sure about oil pressure, my gauge isn't calibrated and is always off the scale. Smelt the cap, smells of petrol which sounds dodgy...

Sounds like the initial rattle you get on startup before the oil's pumping round but louder. Smell it? Why? While hot or cold?

On a drive today, my 2L blacktop Zetec started a very worrying rattle - seems to be worst on light acceleration and actually doesn't seem to happen at all on hard acceleration. At idle, it's sometimes there but not always, weirdly. Seems ok below 2000 rpm, no smoke, no loss of power etc. I checked for obvious loose items in the engine bay but doesn't seem to be anything - sounds internal I've never done any work on an engine before, just bought a crated one for my build. It's done 3k miles since I fitted it... Any suggestions about how I continue? What to try/look for?

These are the wipers I bought - assuming you have the standard size gearboxes etc: https://www.carbuildersolutions.com/uk/stainless-steel-adjustable-right-park-wiper-arm

Yes but it costs half as much as a single RR session and, in theory, it's like having your car on a continual rolling road, always monitoring and allowing for ambient changes (temp, humidity etc), differing grades of fuel, changes to the engine as it wears etc. And you don't have to rag it to within an inch of it's life