Issue with the Zed :-(

Flocka · 27-05-10, 06:09 PM

Right, I'm not mechnically minded so when it comes to anything more than the very basics under the bonnet, I'm not a lot of use. Sunday, during the blistering heat, the car ran out of coolant (my own fault for not checking it regularly enough) and broke down by the side of the road. Luckily no problems, once the water got running round the engine again it was fine. But something's happened to my idle speed - not sure if it's related or not, but only noticed it after Sunday. The ZS is meant to idle on 1000 revs, all the while I've had it it's been perfect and smooth on the dot, but now it will idle on 1200 when cold, and around 850 when warm. I thought it was a problem with the timing, but it's not as simple as that apparently - took it to the local garage and they had a look, they reckon it's a fuel management issue - either the fuel filter, fuel pump or something else that I can't remember related to it. He reckoned the fuel filter looked like it needed changing, so I've booked it in in a few weeks to get it changed. I just hope it's not the pump, they reckoned they're an expensive bit of kit and I don't really have the money to spend.

Does this sound right to you guys? (It's a MK1 03 plate 1.8 Saloon btw).

RudeDogg1 · 27-05-10, 06:35 PM

your car shouldnt run out of coolant unless theres a prob cuz its a sealed system

RudeDogg1 · 27-05-10, 06:39 PM

lol how can they tell the fuel filter needs changing just by the look of it? :0s must b one of them specvial gifts cowboys have

KevG · 27-05-10, 06:58 PM

Hi, you should always start a thread like this with size of engine you have!

Anyway you've got a 1.8 (120). if the car has dropped its coolant then I suggest that you have a look at all the various things that go wrong with the 4 cylinder engine;

Head Gasket (Mayonnaise looking oil, when looking at the oil filler cap)
Water Pump
Inlet manifold gasket
Rubber coolant hoses

As for the idle, then the 4 cylinder engines always sit at 1200 RPM when cold as this a feature on all cars until the cold start valve has shut off or when the coolant reaches a pre-determined temperature.
They dont sit bang on 1k RPM, they should normally sit around 850 +/- 100rpm

Ritchy · 27-05-10, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KevG

Hi, you should always start a thread like this with size of engine you have!

he did say at the end kev

its likely whether the head gasket was away before the car stopped the first time, its likely itll be fried now, once theyve overheated once thats it really with the elastomer gasket, the uprated gasket doesnt suffer so much with this

Simon's ZS-120 · 27-05-10, 08:38 PM

well save your money as mine and niks have been drinking coolant and we checked all the areas like head gasket but couldnt find a fault so i chucked a bottle of K-seal in and it fixed both problems

Ritchy · 27-05-10, 08:41 PM

rather sort it properly than chuck k seal in, wouldnt trust it to go away a 1000mile round trip with just k seal in it

Simon's ZS-120 · 27-05-10, 08:48 PM

i put mine in some time ago as mine was drinking coolant had to keep topping it up twice a week. but never found any leaks went in for its service done full fuel filter and oil filter plugs and 2 days later coolant runs low so toped back up and added a bottle of k-seal job sorted

if yyou squeeze the water hose next to the rad and hear a clicking noise your inlet manifold is fine as thats the bull bearing moving and its very doubfull its that thats gone

but also run a diagnostics on the car see what the oxagen readings are as your lamber sensor could be on its way out causing it to over fuel and rev arratic

28-05-10, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Simon's ZS-120

i put mine in some time ago as mine was drinking coolant had to keep topping it up twice a week. but never found any leaks went in for its service done full fuel filter and oil filter plugs and 2 days later coolant runs low so toped back up and added a bottle of k-seal job sorted

if yyou squeeze the water hose next to the rad and hear a clicking noise your inlet manifold is fine as thats the bull bearing moving and its very doubfull its that thats gone

but also run a diagnostics on the car see what the oxagen readings are as your lamber sensor could be on its way out causing it to over fuel and rev arratic

Whats the jiggle valve rattling got to do with gasket being ok?
Its like saying your spark plugs are ok coz your stereo works!
I had heater valve leaking on mine once - very hard to spot.

Flocka · 31-05-10, 06:28 PM

Sorry for the late response. The zed's going in to have a few minor things done in a few weeks when I get back of my holiday - the fella said thet fuel filter looks filthy, so I'm gona let them change it, and if it doesn't fix the prob, ill try some k-seal. Been using the car a lot over the weekend and its only very minor, maybe I'm just making a big deal out of nothing! Thanks for all your help fellas, very much appreciated