My 480s so far!

[Themasteryeti]

I've had a recurring problem with one of my headlights since I've bought the car, originally I assumed it was the motor which did bugger up and die a while back so it got replaced but the headlight started getting sluggish again recently and would only go up if I physically pulled it up a bit , so this time I thought maybe the struts were on their way out, so the other day I got the pleasure of meeting Jeff and seeing his wonderful collection and to also pick up some new struts!

Stuck them on this weekend and it unfortunately didn't make much difference, but the old ones were looking a bit tired so was still worth putting on!

Then had a bit of a brain fart and thought to check the actual switch and sure enough there was a small bit of crud on one of the spade connectors, quick clean and now they work perfectly!

Can't believe it didn't think to check it first but it's still a win in the end

[royhedger]

Do you mean the rotary light switch on the dashboard?
I have a sluggish drivers side light and want to get it sorted.

[Themasteryeti]

Do you mean the rotary light switch on the dashboard?
I have a sluggish drivers side light and want to get it sorted.

That's the one! Give it a bit of tug and it'll come out
There's a few spade connectors on the opposite side, I just cleaned them up, stuck it back in and violà

[Themasteryeti]

Back at it again with my everlasting headlight problem! After my last fix the headlights they seemed to work okay for ages but the past month or two the same drivers side headlight had stopped popping up. Now all it took was to gently pull the headlight and it'd pop straight up, first thought was maybe it just needed greasing so I sprayed sime wd40 all around the moving parts and it seemed to work again for a day until it rained amd washed it all off, so then i went for some propper grease which again worked for a day or so then when back to not working properly but now with the next MOT coming up next week I thought I'll dig into it a bit more

Two things I noticed when pulling it all apart
1. The angle of the arm attached to the motor was at a different angle to the other one
2. The arm wobbled on the motor like so even with the nut done up fully

This is the spare motor that was in the boot when I bought the car so I assume that this is probably the reason it was taken off in the first place, I'm currently on the hunt for a new one ATM but they seem to be quite scarce so as a quick fix I put two washers here (forgot to take a picture with the washers actually on) and put a new nut on too as the old one was pretty shagged, all this to take the slack off it and it has stiffened it up and seems to be working pucker again but ill have to give it a few weeks of use to be sure but thought id bring it up in case anyone else has this problem and needs a quick fix!


Altho my other issue I'm finding is one headlight (obvs the problem one) doesn't quite pop up as high as the other one, it seems if I adjust it so it goes to the same position as the other It then sits to high in the closed position and the cover won't go low enough and bottom out on the headlight I tried several positions and moved the arm on the motor about but nothing seems to sort this, don't suppose anyone else has managed to sort this problem?

[royhedger]

Have you tried adjusting the cover to make it sit flush. If you loosen the 4 Allen screws which hold it in place, I've found a good 5 to 10mm adjustment.

[Themasteryeti]

Have you tried adjusting the cover to make it sit flush. If you loosen the 4 Allen screws which hold it in place, I've found a good 5 to 10mm adjustment.

If the headlight sits at the same level as the other even with the cover adjusted as far down as it'll possibly go it still sticks up to high!

[Themasteryeti]

Update, fix didn't work it's back to being shite again

[Themasteryeti]

Had the joy of taking the car to it's first proper car show last Saturday, safe to say it was the only 480 there

Did have a bit of an overheating issue waiting to get in, had 20min of slowly driving to get into the place and the car just didn't like it had the heating on full blast just to try cool it down, which In Fairness it did until I had to drive on the grass then i guess it just couldnt get enough air in to keep it cool so had to just park up with the bonnet open till it sorted itself out, dont know if anyone else finds this problem with their car? I have the same issue with waiting in drive through, I did change the thermostat last year so not sure what else I could do to sort the problem


Either way here's a nice picture of us rolling into the show!

[royhedger]

Was the cooling fan cutting in at 88/89 Deg C?

[Themasteryeti]

Was the cooling fan cutting in at 88/89 Deg C?

Couldn't give you an exact temperature but from what I could tell it was kicking in as normal!

[royhedger]

Did you put correct temperature thermostat in?
When was coolant last changed?
Has it ever been flushed to get rid of any silt build up which could block the pipes?
Is radiator in good condition, IE all cooling fins still attached and in good condition, and free from blockages?
Is there white gunk in oil filler cap (hopefully not this one..)

[Themasteryeti]

Did you put correct temperature thermostat in?
When was coolant last changed?
Has it ever been flushed to get rid of any silt build up which could block the pipes?
Is radiator in good condition, IE all cooling fins still attached and in good condition, and free from blockages?
Is there white gunk in oil filler cap (hopefully not this one..)

I can't remember where I got the thermostat as I changed it quite early into owning the car, but it was the only one available for the 480
& Coolant change I haven't done but I do have a small leak somewhere that I haven't been able to find so it gets topped up more than most, but not a ridiculous amount tho but a proper flush is definitely on my list, would the best bet to just take the pipes of the rad and hose down the inside?

&& Definitely no white gunk round the oil cap! I'd dread to find that

[jifflemon]

Pressure testing the best way of finding leaks. Flushing? I normally drop something in the tank and drive the car for half an hour, drain, fill with water, half an hour, drain, fill with coolant. Driving, rather than sitting at idle, just seems to make it work better.
One of the first things I do on 480’s is find out the temp the fan cuts in (or doesn’t!). It’s the terrifying game of sitting and waiting, but it means your better prepped for the inevitable queues we seem to get!

[royhedger]

Where are you based yeti?

I have a pressure testing kit if you need to borrow one..


Does it overheat when it's moving? What's the temperature when you're ambling along at say 50 mph?

If you find it's running ok and the temp is about 80 to 82 degrees ISH when moving, that would suggest the cooling system, pipes, pump, radiator etc are doing their job and id then be checking that the fan does switch on at 88/89 Deg C. It should run until it's cooled all the way down to 80ish. If it's not switching on at the correct temperature, then you may have found your fault.

If it's a high temperature when driving I'd check the following

Check the airflow through the radiator, and also make sure that the waterways are not full of sludge blocking the radiator core.

Check thermostat temperature rating and operation

Check if water pump is ok, and consider replacing

Check also engine temperature sender switch ( maybe telling you it's overheating and it isn't)

You said you're losing water and topping up regularly. Could it be an airlock in the system?

If all above are definitely ok, I'd be looking at the head gasket. Maybe do a "sniff test" on the coolant.

[Themasteryeti]

Where are you based yeti?

I have a pressure testing kit if you need to borrow one..


Does it overheat when it's moving? What's the temperature when you're ambling along at say 50 mph?

If you find it's running ok and the temp is about 80 to 82 degrees ISH when moving, that would suggest the cooling system, pipes, pump, radiator etc are doing their job and id then be checking that the fan does switch on at 88/89 Deg C. It should run until it's cooled all the way down to 80ish. If it's not switching on at the correct temperature, then you may have found your fault.

If it's a high temperature when driving I'd check the following

Check the airflow through the radiator, and also make sure that the waterways are not full of sludge blocking the radiator core.

Check thermostat temperature rating and operation

Check if water pump is ok, and consider replacing

Check also engine temperature sender switch ( maybe telling you it's overheating and it isn't)

You said you're losing water and topping up regularly. Could it be an airlock in the system?

If all above are definitely ok, I'd be looking at the head gasket. Maybe do a "sniff test" on the coolant.

I'm in bedfordshire

I do have a pressure test kit that I initially bought when I first got the car as I was having to top up coolant everyday, I did find the main problem but I don't see it leaking from anywhere else now while using it

Also back when I first got the car and none of the gauges worked I did check the temp the fan kicked in as I was paranoid of it overheating and it did kick in at about 88deg, I have since changed the thermostat so I might re check this then

& How can I check that the water pump is okay? Looking at an old ad of the car it looks to have had its cambelt changed (weather that's true or not who knows) but I would have assumed the water pump was changed too as that would just make sense! I'll have to check through all the old paperwork and see if there's a receipt for it tho

Where would the engine temp switch be located?


& I might try Jeff's idea of flushing toping up and driving and repeating this a few times to see if an airlock is a problem


Head gasket doesn't sound to bad to do, but surely the oil would be milkshakey if it was the issue?

& Never heard of a sniff test before o.o

[Themasteryeti]

Pressure testing the best way of finding leaks. Flushing? I normally drop something in the tank and drive the car for half an hour, drain, fill with water, half an hour, drain, fill with coolant. Driving, rather than sitting at idle, just seems to make it work better.
One of the first things I do on 480’s is find out the temp the fan cuts in (or doesn’t!). It’s the terrifying game of sitting and waiting, but it means your better prepped for the inevitable queues we seem to get!

The flushing idea seems like a good call, I'll give that a go and hope that it sorts the issue!
Suppose I won't know until I'm stuck in the same situation tho