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What have you done to your Elgrand today?

Bought my first E51 with a camper conversion yesterday. Very excited to wake up and see it on the driveway. I spent today playing with the new toy and getting the Bluetooth connected so I can get my tunes on the speakers, - got to get those priorities in order! Next on the list, underseal and cats. Looking forward to my first trip away 8-)
 
I will kick my arse into Elgrand restoration mode after a year of watching the auld bugger sitting, sad and unloved, in the street. Neglected the poor lad for too long now. ☹️
 
Had a busy weekend! Replaced the PCV valve & relocated it in an accessible area in the engine bay, fitted an oil catch can, upgraded the spark plugs, loctite'd the swirl flap valves, cleaned the upper & lower plenums & throttle body, replaced the gaskets, put it back together and went for a run to Cleggy.

I bit the bullet and exceeded my comfort zone by addressing the smoking issue I'd had on my S1 3.5 as it was doing my head in. The engine ran absolutely fine but it had been smoking badly, so by a process of elimination (head gasket test, fluid monitoring, LPG isolation, valve saver isolated) I came to the conclusion that it was the PVC Valve.

I followed the 'How To Guides' on the forum which were very helpful and thanks to the contributors, the removal of the plenums was tricky for me and took longer than I thought (fat hands and lack of correct tools) but eventually I did it. My PCVV was clogged open and the plenums were really oily and needed a good clean, I was relieved to find the fault with the PCVV as it justified the strip down!

A few cuts and grazes later I had it all put back together with the new PCVV located next to the OCC in the engine bay in case I needed to change again.

I went on a blast down the M180 to Cleethorpes and have noticed an improvement in the smoke since, I'll need to monitor it over the next few weeks but fingers crossed we are sorted.IMG_5839.jpeg
 
Well, today I swapped out the ECCU's. Bravery Corporation out, Impul in. No marked difference, perhaps I sense that the Impul is a little less crisp on the low down pick up and possibly differing gear change points, but might just be imagination. Also, idle is a tad higher and it won't respond to an IAV relearn, but that could be unrelated. Otherwise seems to be much the same.

I did clear the self learn so I'll run it for a while to let it get used to its new home and see if there is any small change in fuel consumption. I'll be doing a top end service soon so will try another IAV relearn after that.
 
I decided to take on a job that is really above my station.

But I thought, just have a go, what’s the worst thing that could happen…

I wanted to install an air conditioning unit to work in tandem with the OEM set up.






It was easier than i thought.

IMG_8060.jpeg

I’m really happy with the install. 👍
 
Highway Dave said:
Maybe Peter is a short arse and doesn’t need too??
Click to expand...
The sun always shines on the righteous, my visor is always down.

Has anybody ever smelled a Bahama Breeze ?

It smells a bit like High Karate pour homme.
 
You carp-fishing lot are a strange bunch.
3am in the rain
WhatsThisFor said:
I decided to take on a job that is really above my station.

But I thought, just have a go, what’s the worst thing that could happen…

I wanted to install an air conditioning unit to work in tandem with the OEM set up.






It was easier than i thought.

View attachment 115013

I’m really happy with the install. 👍
Click to expand...
i have a midnight mist from theM and well worth the £4.
 
What have I done to the Elgrand today - Absolutely nothing, but I took it to Simon @Lpgc and he fit new plugs, PCV valve and loctite'd the flaps, plus got the LPG working and a service, ran home on gas and it was more responsive than it has been on petrol, great job and I'm very pleased, so that's some of the jobs done on the long mental list. :)
 
BrianH said:
What have I done to the Elgrand today - Absolutely nothing, but I took it to Simon @Lpgc and he fit new plugs, PCV valve and loctite'd the flaps, plus got the LPG working and a service, ran home on gas and it was more responsive than it has been on petrol, great job and I'm very pleased, so that's some of the jobs done on the long mental list. :)
Click to expand...
Nice to meet you Bri. :)
 
Yay! Machine polished at last. Of course it pissed down all day, didn't it? A HUGE thanks to @Winchester for doing an amazing job on fitting the bodykit. I bloody well love my Elgrand, I really do, and thanks to all you lot for all the help, tips and advice over the last 8+ years, you are all legends!

IMG_4865.jpegIMG_4866.jpegIMG_4867.jpeg
 
KKOK said:
Had a busy weekend! Replaced the PCV valve & relocated it in an accessible area in the engine bay, fitted an oil catch can, upgraded the spark plugs, loctite'd the swirl flap valves, cleaned the upper & lower plenums & throttle body, replaced the gaskets, put it back together and went for a run to Cleggy.

I bit the bullet and exceeded my comfort zone by addressing the smoking issue I'd had on my S1 3.5 as it was doing my head in. The engine ran absolutely fine but it had been smoking badly, so by a process of elimination (head gasket test, fluid monitoring, LPG isolation, valve saver isolated) I came to the conclusion that it was the PVC Valve.

I followed the 'How To Guides' on the forum which were very helpful and thanks to the contributors, the removal of the plenums was tricky for me and took longer than I thought (fat hands and lack of correct tools) but eventually I did it. My PCVV was clogged open and the plenums were really oily and needed a good clean, I was relieved to find the fault with the PCVV as it justified the strip down!

A few cuts and grazes later I had it all put back together with the new PCVV located next to the OCC in the engine bay in case I needed to change again.

I went on a blast down the M180 to Cleethorpes and have noticed an improvement in the smoke since, I'll need to monitor it over the next few weeks but fingers crossed we are sorted.View attachment 115002
Click to expand...

I don't like to say it but in my opinion smoking is usually down to piston rings / blowby, if the PCV is clogged it's often because ring blowby caused it to be clogged. Sometimes if the PCV is clogged it could work as good as a new one after being unclogged (clean the gunk out of the PCV) but ring blowby might see it get clogged again. The PCV valve doesn't actually do a lot on these normally aspirated engines and has no roll in separating oil from crankcase gasses, on turbo'd engines they prevent boost pressurising the crankcase, on normally aspirated engines they do much the same kind of thing but to a lesser degree because normally aspirated engines never have boost pressure... But at least a functioning PCV prevents plenum gasses that might contain petrol fumes entering the crankcase when you put your foot down. I reckon you could probably glue the PCV valve open and it still wouldn't use any more oil into the plenum from the crankcase than a new PCV valve, it still offers around the same restriction to air (and oil) flow from the crankcase when open (as long as the internals are still present) as when closed because it is normally open unless you've been driving at part throttle then suddenly put your foot down at which point it will momentarily close before opening again. Likewise you could probably replace the PCV valve with something that just has a small hole of around a couple of mm diameter and it wouldn't cause the engine to smoke any more than a good or bad PCV valve. The difference would be that the small hole wouldn't have a one way valve so when you put your foot down it could allow plenum gasses from flowing into the crankcase. Said it many times, a failed PCV doesn't cause oil in the plenum or engines to smoke even if it is stuck open. Cleaning gloop out of the plenum may initially lower the amount of smoke from an engine because it gives the engine less gloop to inhale and burn until the gloop builds up again, the gloop builds up because of blowby. I've worked on thousands of Elgrands and replaced the PCV on many (usually at owners request, including one I changed today) but I've only ever seen a couple of PCV's that had failed in a way that saw them cause less restriction to flow of crankcase gas and oil into the plenum than a good/new one. Even if stuck open they normally only give same restriction to crankcase gas and oil flowing into the plenum that a good/new PCV will give in normal operation because in normal operation they are in the open position anyway, it is only if they fail in a way that sees less restriction than the usual open position that they could cause smoking and increased oil use because they are normally open except for a brief moment at a time when you've been at part throttle and increase throttle quickly.
 
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