Power Steering pump survives + gas smell + window film

[ClareQuilty]

The thread in which I asked for advice about my power steering pump has been locked, so I thought I'd mention here that it has already been fixed without a need for a new pump or new belt. I haven't picked it up yet as I'm out of town, but I'm sure it will be very cheap. The mechanic said he was able to repair the pump easily, and the belt is in good enough condition to last quite a while longer, so all's well.

The mysterious gas smell upon cold-starting has gotten worse sometimes,while still being absent at other times (seemingly when the engine is warmer). When last the mechanic had it, he thought it was the 'regulator' regulating the flow of gas from the gas tank to the fuel injectors, and preventing backflow, but I'm not so sure.

Also, does anyone have any opinion on window tinting? My mechanic had offered me free film as part of the deal when I bought the car from him a while back (there was no tinting on it at all, just factory original), so while its marooned at his shop this weekend, he's putting "number 80" tinting on the back windows, and "number 40" tinting on the driver and passenger side windows. I assume nothing on the windscreen, but we didn't discuss that. What grades of tinting do you all use/prefer?

[MadMac]

Bad idea. You don't need anything on the back anyway. Don't go over 60 or you fly blind as all the other clowns (cant see anything in rear mirror).

Edited September 26, 2015 by MadMac

[WarpSpeed]

80? No way! Go no more the 30 front and 40 rear, even that'll still be too dark at night especially but during the day a decent compromise and tell him stay away from the front windshield, if anything just put a strip of maybe 60 across the top about 4 to 6 inches down depending on windshield height.

Clare I have the feeling that your gas smell is still related to the emissions, I had a hole in the return vent hose to my tank on mine up high on the fuel filler neck where it was quite out of sight but not smell and I always smelled fuel too but I also had a CEL(check engine light) on too and it indicated that there was something a miss with my emissions. Given that, it took a little while to track down having started with the fuel cap first, not sure if your car is OBDII or not but if it is it should have the CEL on but as I'm thinking about it and viewing your pictures there has been enough work done on your gauge cluster to have removed the bulb previously if it was on prior before your ownership? So I'd see about checking that too it may be a starting point if it is on?

In any case it seems counter intuitive that you smell it more when it's idle and less when it's running as when it's running of course everything is pressurized the most including the return line and he may have been speaking about the solenoid that controls the return "vent", which is not really and actually should not be any liquid fuel return it should be ONLY fumes therefore making it more noticeable. Usually this, in most cars vents to a charcoal or similar, catch tank to filter out the fumes and why they tell you NOT to over-fill your tank as the liquid fuel can run backwards into this vent hose and cause damage.

Edited September 26, 2015 by WarpSpeed

[Ace of Pop]

The only safe way for all driving conditions imo is Factory 10% or a Clear Heat Film,like 3M/Hi Kool. Im aware this will upset those who Pose and think it looks nice,have no Air Con and cant afford Ray Bans. No Doubt Frodo and Sam will be along soon to start spoiling your questions. The Strip over the screen does no harm as its O.E. in many cars. Safety is the only thing i care about here, the rest is just a fun read.

[IMHO]

Spend an hour on a commute path that melts you with afternoon sun through the side window all the way, and you'll soon understand why *everyone* tints their cars in Thailand.

When I see untinted cars I just think "happy melting in that car, poser?"

Well, that or "couldn't afford the tint hey?"

Edited September 27, 2015 by IMHO

[JaseTheBass]

I never have any film on the windscreen. Even the clear stuff leaves you looking through an orange peel effect.

[IMHO]

I never have any film on the windscreen. Even the clear stuff leaves you looking through an orange peel effect.

Seriously? buy better tint. Good tint has perfect optical clarity.

[WarpSpeed]

Have to disagree with you on this one IMHO, you may not be noticing it as much since you get somewhat used to it, but it definitely has a blurred effect no matter the quality.

[Ace of Pop]

IMHO ,dont You mean everyone needs Heat Shield Film .. O.E Tint at 10% is enough for anyone, unless you need to hide tatty interior, and Ugly Wife. .

[Ace of Pop]

Have to disagree with you on this one IMHO, you may not be noticing it as much since you get somewhat used to it, but it definitely has a blurred effect no matter the quality.

So very true,even my expensive film stuff here isnt optically perfect because the Glass isnt either.Jaguar never denied this fact and changed 2 screens on my rides before film without a wriggly denial.

[ignis]

No idea why, but appears they see a non Thai and so it must be 80, they will argue that I need/must have 50 or 60.. I stuck firm and have done the same of all cars/Pickup here, 30 front and 40 on the rest of the windows... On one D-Max they put a 80 band across the top of the front window = had to put the tax and back then Insurance stickers way down the screen in the way, as you could not see them through 80, crazy

Edited September 27, 2015 by ignis

[VocalNeal]

If you drive much at night don't put the film on. It restricts night time vision. At least mine does.

[IMHO]

IMHO ,dont You mean everyone needs Heat Shield Film .. O.E Tint at 10% is enough for anyone, unless you need to hide tatty interior, and Ugly Wife. .

Of course that's what I mean... but I'm pretty sure it's normally referred to as 'tint' (Foreigners), or 'film' (Thais)

[Ace of Pop]

Yup, "DARFIM" as Thais call it. Now the savy ones realise there is "KEARFIM" that shows the nice white leather seats n woody trim , so thats the new trend. Now get back to your Orange Peel.

[arthurwait]

Peugeots of that era upon googling have the fuel filler inlet on the side of the tank as opposed to the top . They have a rubber pipe 90 degree bend from the tank to the fuel filler pipe. Both the top and bottom of this elbow bend are below the top of the tank. I;m wondering if there is fuel seeping out of this while the car is sat still , but not enough to be noticeable while the car is moving or sat for short periods of time.

[arthurwait]

This is a 309 tank I think but the same as a 405 but I can't find a decent photo.

[WarpSpeed]

I do worry about the OP..........

He does seem to be *edit* quite a bit out of his element with these project cars he keeps buying.

Edited September 28, 2015 by WarpSpeed

[ktm jeff]

^ WarpSpeed , thanks for your reply , in previous ( closed ) thread .

[ClareQuilty]

The gasoline smell is only present when the car is running, not when its off. It seems to me to pop up more at night or in the morning when the engine is cold.

[WarpSpeed]

If you smell it more when it's cold it's most likely the return pressure as it runs leaner when it's cold so it returns more fuel to the tank, just realized it's Motronic so it's not OBDII and it does have CEL though, it needs to be checked to make sure the bulb is installed and working to be sure it doesn't have a code on it, then go from there, but still the need to check and inspect the return lines and pressure canister still exists.

[ClareQuilty]

Wouldn't cars run richer when cold, hence a choke?

Today I got the car back film looks good, and though he couldn't trace the gas odor problem, he fixed the heavy clutch - it's much better now, takes a lot of the stress out of stop-n-go.

[lostinisaan]

When last the mechanic had it, he thought it was the 'regulator' regulating the flow of gas from the gas tank to the fuel injectors, and preventing back flow, but I'm not so sure.

Reading this one sentence scares the shit out of me.

[MadMac]

When last the mechanic had it, he thought it was the 'regulator' regulating the flow of gas from the gas tank to the fuel injectors, and preventing back flow, but I'm not so sure.

Reading this one sentence scares the shit out of me.

If you want to drop by and we plug in that OBD thing to read out the sickness of your car, you are welcome. But I'm in Hang Dong.

[ClareQuilty]

You mean to say the computer can tell you where the fuel leak is? Amazing. I appreciate the invitation to visit 'Hang Dong' (to be honest I had to look this up to believe it was a real place), but I'm way over here in Isaan and you appear to be near Chiang Mai.

[WarpSpeed]

Wouldn't cars run richer when cold, hence a choke?

Today I got the car back film looks good, and though he couldn't trace the gas odor problem, he fixed the heavy clutch - it's much better now, takes a lot of the stress out of stop-n-go.

Well fuel injection does not really choke as in the old carburetor sense, because fuel is right there immediately in the combustion chamber pumped in directly as soon as you turn the switch and pump comes on, it starts rich to get it started but almost immediately leans out once running so as not to foul the plugs quickly. They richen on top end while running higher speeds to produce more HP and choke down again when slowing or idling to prevent plug fouling and be more fuel efficient.

What year was this car again? I see nothing about OBDII on this car I see an older motoronic set up which I was rather surprised to see and it only has OBDI, used to have the same system on my VW I raced and I had a potentiometer set up on it in the cockpit so I could manipulate the fuel mixture via the values input into the ECU, this allowed me to run my car leaner on the bottom end and when it was cold or idling so as not to foul the plugs as the system was known for leaning on top end so to counter that many teams fiddled with the system to make it run rich but only they had no way to control it so it ran rich all the time. This would foul their plugs on idle around the pits while cold or during the pace laps of the race while my car ran perfectly and when the race started I was gone while they'd be forced to run slower for a couple of laps to burn off the fouled plugs before they got to maximum performance. I on the other hand was running leaner until full warm up and then would richen my mixture on top end and make the gap between us even longer. It's best advantage was in high humidity though which was much of the time but even worse when it rained obviously, was also very handy when I had any sort of charging issues and my battery power was waning and I had to keep it at peak by manually adjusting so as not to go into limp home mode but finish the race.

Edited September 30, 2015 by WarpSpeed

[ubonjoe]

Two off topic personal attacks have been removed.

[Ace of Pop]

Be nice if the attackers were removed as well.

[MadMac]

You mean to say the computer can tell you where the fuel leak is?

Who said it's a fuel leak? But a fuel leak will certainly be popping up, if there is one.

That's why I say get one of the small adapters, read the error codes out on your phone, google them, and then go to any workshop or mechanic with that background knowledge. You would be amazed what sh*t comes up.

[ClareQuilty]

I think this kind of electronic thing is beyond my ability.. for example, where would I plug in my phone to my engine in order to get these codes? I only just got a smartphone for the first time a few months ago.

Regarding the clutch, today the mechanic explained to me that he didn't simply adjust or fix the clutch to make it so light, he actually modified it in some way different from the original design! On one hand I absolutely love the feel of it now, as light as a Toyota, low stress and easy to use, but wow, I sure hope his modification is gonna last! :v

[MadMac]

Yeah, it uses bluetooth, not the toothpaste