The last couple of weeks have been pretty horrendous on the car front. The Audi decided to set up in competition with Hellmans in making mayonnaise. First and natural thought was head gasket, so off came the head. It was skimmed, pressure tested and replaced with new gaskets, the cooling system thoroughly flushed and it was up and running again. This took about a week and left me with a severe pain in the wallet. It wasn't running for long though as 10 miles later it was back in production again. Further investigation revealed that the oil cooler was leaking oil into it's water jacket. For those not familiar with Audis what they call an oil cooler is a box about 5" square that fits to the oil filter housing and has a water jacket round it. How the heck hot water is supposed to cool oil is anybody's guess but that's Audi for you.
Whilst this was going on, the TA had its MOT and failed. A few minor things, soon sorted and I got the retest done in time for the MGCC Tyne Tees Centre Prince Bishop's run from York to Durham, today.
On the way to York, the misfire that I thought was cured, reared its ugly head again and we were later than we wanted to be at the start. We set off on the run well enough, living with the intermittent misfire until the car finally died. There was absolutely no electrical power at all. The battery isolation switch hadn't come adrift so it was dig down to the battery time and sure enough one lead was loose. I tightened it, or so I thought and we were on our way again.
A few miles further on we came to a halt again. Straight to the battery this time and I made sure that the lead was tight. The car started and ran roughly for about 30 seconds then died. There was spark at the plug leads so the next step was fuel. I lifted the top of one float chamber to find it dry. Ther was no clicking from the solid state SU fuel pump so I took the cap off it to be greeted with the recognisable odour of burnt components.
That was the end of the journey for the TA and we called the RAC. Eventually we were recovered and taken home. It was a bit of a damp wait.
On the way to York, the misfire that I thought was cured, reared its ugly head again and we were later than we wanted to be at the start. We set off on the run well enough, living with the intermittent misfire until the car finally died. There was absolutely no electrical power at all. The battery isolation switch hadn't come adrift so it was dig down to the battery time and sure enough one lead was loose. I tightened it, or so I thought and we were on our way again.
A few miles further on we came to a halt again. Straight to the battery this time and I made sure that the lead was tight. The car started and ran roughly for about 30 seconds then died. There was spark at the plug leads so the next step was fuel. I lifted the top of one float chamber to find it dry. Ther was no clicking from the solid state SU fuel pump so I took the cap off it to be greeted with the recognisable odour of burnt components.
That was the end of the journey for the TA and we called the RAC. Eventually we were recovered and taken home. It was a bit of a damp wait.
Once we got home and the TA safely back under lock and key we set off in the BGT to the finish at Durham for a chinwag and coffee. It was a wet finish to the day.
I must say that I've had better days, but it was still fun. The work begins now to get the TA sorted for the Beamish Reliability Trial next weekend.
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