2CV on the road

gibgib

gibgib

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At last I have my 2CV on the road :)

Driving it today there is quite obviously some pinging going on under load, it's more a pop sound.
As far as I know (AKA AFAIK) the fuel I put into it came from my lawn mower supply gerry can which is Ultimate 98 ron.
If anything, I thought this fuel octane should have improved a potential problem in this department. I have checked the timing & it's dead on.

Do I need to retard the timing or try a different brand or octane?
 
How old was the fuel?
If it was an EFi car, it would be a bit more mystical, but as it's a basic system, I'd be inclined to go for a tankful of newer juice before I started doing any adjustments just in case you have mistakenly filled it with ULP.
If that fails, then opt for a slight retardation of the spark. Better if you don't have to performacewise.
FWIW, some of the guys doing the sprints circuit are of the opinion that Optimax for example has a tank life of one week. That's what I meant by "old" fuel. :eek: :eek:

Alan S :cheers:
 
Yeah the fuel was about 2 weeks old.

Reason I ask, I want to fill 'er up tomorrow & at this stage I may try Optimax & see what happens on that.
 
I'm on that list but I thought I'd try here first.

Incidently, is there an easier way to search a yahoo list w/o the "search more" senario?
 
Gerry, is it cooling sufficiently? (esp in this brisbane heat lately).

Not sure with aircooled engines but carbon build up can create hot spots leading to detonation. Water injection could help... or, see if it still does it on a very humid or rainy day (whenever that will be :rolleyes: )
 
My mate who works in a country garage has many customers with problem small engines and a lot of the time the problem is stale fuel. Would aceton rejuvenate it and stop detonation?
The other day i saw an additve at bunnings called fuel preserver or conditioner.
 
gibgib said:
At last I have my 2CV on the road :)

Driving it today there is quite obviously some pinging going on under load, it's more a pop sound.
As far as I know (AKA AFAIK) the fuel I put into it came from my lawn mower supply gerry can which is Ultimate 98 ron.
If anything, I thought this fuel octane should have improved a potential problem in this department. I have checked the timing & it's dead on.

Do I need to retard the timing or try a different brand or octane?
Click to expand...


Does it sound like its only firing on 2 cylinders?

Chance.
 
Filled it up on Optimax & the problem seems to be gone, although I only drove about 5 k's.

Does it sound like its only firing on 2 cylinders?
Click to expand...

It does actually. Perhaps that is the problem. It says 2C V6 on the boot lid so I've got 4 lazy ones happening :confused:

Gerry, is it cooling sufficiently? (esp in this brisbane heat lately).
Click to expand...

It was doing it even when cold so I don't think it's due to the heat.

All reports indicate the 123 ignition fixes faults like this. I think I will invest in a blue one with the vacuum advance addition.
 
JoBo said:
My mate who works in a country garage has many customers with problem small engines and a lot of the time the problem is stale fuel. Would aceton rejuvenate it and stop detonation?
The other day i saw an additve at bunnings called fuel preserver or conditioner.
Click to expand...

Although I realise that for every person on this forum that says 'I've used "Product XYZ" and it worked' there are three others who pipe up and say it doesn't, I'll stick my neck out and say that I've been using Moreys Upper Cylinder Lubricant for years and I'm really happy with it, and it is meant to be a fuel stabiliser too. It goes in both my (air cooled twin) bikes and both the GSs without fail (in conjunction with PULP).

Based on my own experience with my 900 Duke I'm also inclined to accept Morey's claims that it prevents fuel going off, or at least slows the process down. The bike is EXTREMELY sensitive to fuel quality and as it's not the sort of bike one rides to work, depending on the weather, etc a tankful of gas can hang around for a month or so, but I have never had a problem with it that I could attribute to stale fuel.

Being desmodromic it has, by production car standards, quite critical valve clearance requirements however I've achieved excellent results here also. The Cits run well on it and I've had to adjust valve clearances twice in around 70,000km, rather less often than the factory recommendation for these engines, reinforcing for me, at least, that used correctly it will prevent VSR as well. Best of all it's reasonably cheap! Not sure if it's sensor safe though, would check this out before using in any vehicle with an O2 sensor. No doubt others will beg to differ with the above but one of the great things about this forum is that you do get a variety of perspectives from the members...

Gerry, I've been wondering how you were going with the 2CV since we exchanged PMs (a while ago now) great to hear you've got it on the road. If all else fails perhaps stick in some octane booster after a tankful or too if there's been no improvement, at least that will eliminate insufficient RON as a quality issue if nothing else, and as a last resort even try refuelling at a few different outlets. How about a photo or two of the beast?

Cheers,
Brett
 
Some pics.

The second pic is the underbonnet everything melted before repairs, then 2 from yesterday morning to up my Shannons insurance agreed value.

The interior will be plum & custard tomorrow (hopefully) to match the outside.

:):):)

More to do yet!

Man it's cool :D
 

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I Agree

I agree totally with brett Moreys works a treat .I use it in all my cars as sometimes they sit for extended periods while I play with other toys. :tongue: Fuel stays fresh and even doesn't get that stale smell Moreys and Ultima makes all the oldies go like stick :evil: pity it doesn't help them stop in a staight line :joker:
 
For some reason those colours seem to suit them so well don't they? But some of that wiring looks NASTY! Was this fire damage Gerry? Great to hear it's running well now anyway.
Cheers,
Brett
 
Brett R said:
For some reason those colours seem to suit them so well don't they? But some of that wiring looks NASTY! Was this fire damage Gerry? Great to hear it's running well now anyway.
Cheers,
Brett
Click to expand...

There was a fire somewhere, it may have began at the stereo that had been installed (found + wire rubbed through on body), however I found some perished fuel line as well & have also heard the heater pipes often drop onto the exhaust causing fires:confused:

I took it for a spin to the Sunshine Coast today. It happily sits on 110k, but I think it is most happy at 95k.
Travelled about 240k's on half a tank, prob 12 litres :D

Major failure at Beerwah though! A valve spring snapped :(
Dad towed me to his place & we fitted a GS valve spring.
Only difference we could find was varying tensions. The 2CV ones require more force to compress.
I drove it back to Brisbane with no problems & certainately not in a hurry to replace with a 2CV spring :)
Thanks to Peter F & Steeley for their phone support.

I will be changing the oil again tomorrow, retarding the timing, re-routing the speedo cable (noisey), greasing the steering column & some other little things. Hopefully my interior can be fitted also.

:cheers:
 
gibgib said:
There was a fire somewhere, it may have began at the stereo that had been installed (found + wire rubbed through on body), however I found some perished fuel line as well & have also heard the heater pipes often drop onto the exhaust causing fires:confused:

I took it for a spin to the Sunshine Coast today. It happily sits on 110k, but I think it is most happy at 95k.
Travelled about 240k's on half a tank, prob 12 litres :D

Major failure at Beerwah though! A valve spring snapped :(
Dad towed me to his place & we fitted a GS valve spring.
Only difference we could find was varying tensions. The 2CV ones require more force to compress.
I drove it back to Brisbane with no problems & certainately not in a hurry to replace with a 2CV spring :)
Thanks to Peter F & Steeley for their phone support.

I will be changing the oil again tomorrow, retarding the timing, re-routing the speedo cable (noisey), greasing the steering column & some other little things. Hopefully my interior can be fitted also.

:cheers:
Click to expand...

I think the idea is just to cruise on 70mph with your foot flat to the floor. I've heard many times the worst 2cv's are the ones that are treated gently :eek: :eek:

Don't lubricate the gearshift with any mineral oils, it swells the bush, rather use something like silicon spray :)

seeya,
Shane L.
 
Valve spring was broken in two bits & made for instant failure of engine. No compression on right hand cylinder.
I am getting 135 PSI on both cylinders now, I assume is OK for 8.5:1.

The pinging still remains under load but much less on the Optimax fuel.
 
gibgib said:
Valve spring was broken in two bits & made for instant failure of engine. No compression on right hand cylinder.
I am getting 135 PSI on both cylinders now, I assume is OK for 8.5:1.

The pinging still remains under load but much less on the Optimax fuel.
Click to expand...


give it the redex treatment and if that fails then let me know if you need any help sticking water injection on it

BTW DO NOT back the car up to the better 1/2's white sheets on the line when giving the redex treatment as you may find yourself living in the 2CV for a while :D

and please take pics while doing it as i'dlove to see a james bond 2CV in action :clown:
 
Ping almost gone. I think it will do the way it is for now until 123 ignition blue is purchased.

Retimed the engine (after grinding back the pitted points) to best I could muster at 8deg & slightly less on the other side of points cam.
Bought 6litres of Castrol GTX oil from Super Cheap for $11 to clean out engine before adding the new oil filter & Mobil 1.
Re-checked the tappet clearances while the covers were off, only one needed attention.

Degreased engine bay (not that it was bad) concentrating on the oil cooler & barrell fins behind the fan.
Also managed to fix heater flap, it was always half on - not good in qld.

Will do the steering column tomorrow, which looks as though I need to undo at the spline on the rack to get the grease down the tube.

I recommend buying 2CV parts from http://www.2cvaustralia.com.au/ online shop. The owner is most helpful & anything I have needed thus far has been in stock & delivered promptly. Very happy with the service :D
 
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