Lancia Motor Club

well today work has started in ernest to get Dedra back on the road for its 20th birthday next year!

to fix the fuel leak i've replaced the fuel regulator, blimey Lancia couldn't have made it more difficult, there is literally no room around regultor!. When i looked at the new unit, i thought two screws, how difficult could it be, if i ever mutter those words again, my wife has my full permisson to shoot me!
Next the starter motor, the original was obviously very tired, & more often that not would simply refuse to do anything, so got a re-conditioned unit which will hopefully get the job done. One quick question, (i could be going mad here), are there only two wires connected to the starter, one red going to the battery & one red going to the ignition?? Starter motor was thankfully quite easy to get off (ta Brian), three screws & a bit of tap with a hammer & she came off!!
Thought i'd end the day with something easy, removing the headlamps (the original ones have the wiper units which don't work - so i got "normal" headlamps cheap off ebay uk), so i undid three bolts & hey presto.....they refused to move, anyone got any ideas on what else i have to take off before i can remove a headlight??
Tomorrow i plan to finish changing the headlights, & fit a reconditioned wiper motor.

I'm going to try to keep this thread updated on my progress!

today i took out the old front lights, which had the wiper units, but weren't actually connected to anything, & didn't have wipers, so looked a mess, so bought a set of headlights off ebay, & i think they make the car look much better, or atleast they would had BOTH indicator leanses not come off!!!! Not sure if i can super glue the lense back onto the indicator unit though??

Also have all the nuts & bolts, screws soaking in good old Coke to take off the rust, as the last thing i want is a nice engine bay with rusty old bolts!! & have drained out the now 3-4 year old engine oil, & took off the very rusty oil filter (which came off much easier than i thought it would!)

Mark,
If you're talking about the indicator lenses themselves have come off, then I use a clear silicon to stick them back together, having said that they turn up on ebay, particularly in Germany, and the're not that expensive. I take it you did remove the wiring from the second wash pump for the headlight washers? as sometimes these can get a bit incontinent and just keep running until the pump empties the wash bottle, while you had the grille out did you clean the horn connections as they corrode badly, as your horns appear to be doing. Looking good  ;D
Brian

cheers Brian, i'll try some silicone, & then if i make a complete mess of it, i'll look at ebay - what did we ever do without ebay!!

Ah i never noticed a second wash pump!! Oops might have to have a look for that!!

Sits below the other one.

Brian

Brian, you might know this, can the revised Dedra rear lights (1994 onwards) be fitted to my 1991 Dedra?? I think they look a whole lot better, very similar to the set up of the Kappa.

yes they fit, my 1991 dedra has the later rear lamps on it, they were already on it when i bought the car but were removed when it was re-painted and looked as if they are just a direct swap, hope this helps and your cars looking good, james

No shortage of indicator lenses and lamps at the Thema Dedra Consortium.  ;D

Unfortunately, you just missed one of our visits to the storage unit in Wales.

If you aren't in the Consortium, you can get membership details at www.lancia-tdc.co.uk (http://www.lancia-tdc.co.uk)

COR! how about that, and I didn't even open my mouth  ;D

wow Brian, i'm impressed!!! ;D

seriously though, just bought the full set of rear lights off ebay Germany!

Nice one, they do look better than the originals, now for the front grille and the interior trim to go with them :D

Brian
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can't wait to get them, should make the car look much nicer, but hey interior trim Brian!!! ;D

I think we had to make a small mod to the connection for the later type lights, they screw in exactly the same but, now this was a few years ago on my brother Tony's Dedra Integrale, I can remember having to change the wiring. I can rember the excitment when the lights arrived bought from our local Fiat dealer, Just plug in and play , No! It was a very quick fix though. ;D

not a big job then HF Dave?

been a bit busy lately but today got an hour free so finally fitted a new brake master cylinder (which i bought about 1 1/2 years ago!), a much easier job than i thought it would be. & after draining out the very old oil she's now got brand new oil in her.

Tried to take off the old windscreen wiper motor, & whilst the two top bolts on the metal plate above the motor (which i think the arms slot into, the two bottom screws seem to have broken and are just turning around but not coming out!

guys, have done something wrong, put the battery back on the car today & the starter motor kicked into life, but i hadn't left the engine bay!!! any ideas what could be causing the starter to kick into life on its own???

i would guess the 1st place to start would be the started solenoid and see if the thin starter lead has shorted to the main battery lead, if you short accross them without ignition on it will still crank the engine over ,

chugga, ta for coming back to me, but i aint got a clue what u said, engines are really my weak point

on the starter motor you have the main motor body and a smaller cylindrical item on the top of it which is the solenoid to operate it, the main battery lead connects to it and a small thin wire which activates it from the ignition switch, if these wires were to short together or something bridge accross their respective connections it would turn the starter motor over without any ignition, just check out the connections 1st to make sure nothing is obviously wrong, hope this helps and let us all know how you get on , james

thanks James, i've got a day of work tomorrow so i'll have a look to see whats gone wrong. I'm literally learning this stuff as i go along, most of what i'm doing turns out good but sometimes i do mess up!! ;D

i'm full of admiration of someone prepared to have a go , theres parts of my projects that i just hand over to my dad to sort as he can usually do a better job but solving problems does give a good sence of satisfaction when it goes your way  ;D another thing to try is dis connecting the thin wire on the starter motor if nothing obvious is wrong, if it still spins over i'd say bizzare fault on motor if it sorts it then somewhere along the line there is a fault with the black cap on the back of the ignition switch or wiring, hope you sort it james

yeah, if i ever get the Dedra back on the road, through an NCT (MOT) etc i'll be over the moon. The way i look at it its a dirt cheap car, i'm constantly learning as i go along, & hey if the worst were to come & i did something stupid & blew it up then its all part of a learning experience (though hopefully it'll stay in one peice!)

A few years ago I probably couldn't have checked a car levels, let along attempt a project like this, its certainly worth it, & when things go my way & i actually fix something its such a buzz! ;D

That's the way most of started out Mark ;D

Brian
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waiitng on my rear lights to come, hoping i get them for the weekend!!

well again, work commitments have ment my time working on the Dedra has been extremely limited, however good news is that the starter motor now works properly, i had put the wires on the wrong way!! Oops!!!

But she started today, & there are now no fuel leaks after i'd replaced the fuel regulator. Left the engine running for a fews minutes as she's not been running at all for a couple of months, until a screeching noise came from the engine, i reckon it must be belts need changing??

Also, odd thing to say, the engine seems to "rock" alot when its running, any thoughts??

Hi Mark,
Pleased to hear you've got the starter and the fuel regulator sorted.
If you haven't had the belts changed then get them done ASAP preferably without a lot of engine running before they are changed, don't forget to change the idler bearings as well, these are a must at the same time.
If the engines rocking a lot it might need new engine mountings, but it would certainly be worth locating an engine steady bar and the brackets from a 2.0 lt, don't really understand Lancia not fitting it to the 1800's unless it was to save cost.

Brian
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Cheers Brian, have no fear the engine will get little or no use until the belts are changed. I suppose this is a mechanics job, & not something i could do at home then??

My rear lights finally arrived (actually they arrived on 16th June, but the girl at reception in the company i work for never told me!) i seem to recall someone saying somehting about a slight change in the wiring for the new lights??

when you either do the belts or get them changed make sure you get new tensioners and its also advisable to change the water pump at the same time james

James, you're just costing me more money now! ;D ;D ;D

Mark,
I'd suggest getting someone whe knows what they are doing with this engine to do them first time, as it's pretty critical you get it right, I never did any of my 5 Dedra's, I always let someone else who knew what they were doing, & had the correct tools and knowledge do them carry out the work for me.
Must admit I've never changed the pump at the same time as James suggests, on the other hand he's better at it than I am, and I've never had a Dedra standing without being used.

Brian
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ah you're far too modest Brian! yeah i agree, belts kinda terrify me, the thought of it going wrong terrifies me!!! But when i get the belts done, i'll go the whole hog & get the tensioners & water pump. Guy i work with does all the work on his own BMW 5 series, including belts etc... so might get him to quote me!

I've finally got a day off work, so tomorrow i'm going to change the rear lights (well thats the plan!) & if the weather holds up (we had 12 hours of non stop rain yesterday!) i might even take the suspension apart & see whats what!

OH Dear! Glutton and Punishment spring to mind :o

Brian
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you might have hit the nail on the head there!! ;D

lights done! can't believe how big a difference they make! Now i just have to figure out how to get the connectors from the new lights to fit the cars original connectors...

Looks great, can you not remove the connectors from the old block to fit in the new, or failing that cut & splice the cables.

Brian
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Those facelift lamps make such a difference to the Dedra. Good call to do that!

gonna take my time with the wiring, the last thing i wanna do is mess it up, didn't really get a chance to look at it today, hopefully will during the week.

i can't quite believe the difference the lights make, i always liked the originals, but got a brochure on the revised dedra off ebay, & thought, oohh they're nice, i wonder.... ;D

I took a bit of a chance though, couldn't find the 4 door version of the rear lights, could only find the estate's lights, but had a close look & took a chance on the 4 door & estate using the same rear lights, thankfully they're spot on!

finally we got some dry weather so back outside to do some more work, replaced the motor for the windscreen wipers, tested it &......nothing! Checked the connections (theres only two) all ok, checked the fuse, & it looks ok, any ideas what could be the problem???

Earthing?

Brian
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erm, how do i test for that?? ???

Nice to see the new red lghts on a white car they look good. I spoke to Tony about the mod to the connecter I couldent quite rember what we did with them. It invulves removing the clip on the male connecter on the car then the plug wil fit. Are you in Dublin ? you could call and have a look at the car.

cheers dave, i had looked at the clips & thought about removing them but better to be safe than sorry! Not in Dublin, born in Dublin alright, but moved to Longford about 6 years ago, but thanks again!

well had to move the Dedra today as we're getting some work done on the garden behind the house, & the digger couldn't get through. She sounded rough, very lumpy, mis-firing, & when i got half wau around the house she died, took a while to get her started again & had to rev the nuts off it to get it to move again, & there was more smoke than i'd like out of the exhaust (there is a black covering on the ground where the gases come out of the exhaust when i had to rev her hard) Now i realise that she hasn't properly moved in about 4 years but i'm a bit worried there could be alot more work & expense in getting her back in proper working order.

might have been a bit over dramatic there!!! I ran the car for a bit yesterday & she seemed much better, i just have to remember she hasn't done any running for 4, maybe 5 years, & she's not gonna be perfect!! oops!

The plugs tend to get fouled very easily, My thema suffers from this when I dont drive it for a few days. I find that starting and stopping the engine befor it gets a chance to warm up cause the problem. once in regular use there's no problem :)

Is it soot or oil? if everything is set up ok and you are using the right plugs you shouldn't be having those problems.

Brian
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I've been using origional equipment plugs in the Thema (I have a box of them ) but i still have this problem every now and then. :) Hey Brian I noticed we are nearly twins, David 8228 ! ;D

my dedra turbo suffers with plugs fluffing up if i dont let it warm up propperly, if used regurlary its fine if just pulled in and out of unit a few times the plugs need cleaning and it will miss cough splutter backfire THE LOT!! :D and tonnes of black c**p on the floor afterwards, grale was the same

Hi guys, I've gotta remember to run her a bit on a more regular basis, i wouldn't mind i wouldn't actually have to take her out on public road, we have a bit of land so i could do laps!!

Thats all they need, just enough to heat the engine so it's hot enough to come off the cold idle setting. This can cause some debate as to weather you could do more damage by letting the thing run and not get as hot as it would on a proper run ! ???

well as its sunny out, i uncovered my Dedra and took her for a wee spin around the house & she felt very good, even the engine sounded good! And all was well........

.....actuallly when i say well i'm not telling the whole story, opened the bonnet to disconnect the battery & noticed something very odd...oil is starting to appear where the spark plugs sit!!! The car runs brilliantly, no misfires now, but where the hell is the oil coming from, & more importantly how do i stop it!!

I started the car again & took a look to see whats happening, as the engine is running i can see the oil bubbles in one of the spark plug chambers, i'm worried now!

Mark,
Sounds like the plug might be loose or needs a new seal, see what that does first before going off to look for anything else, are you sure the oil itself isn't coming from the cam cover gasket, as that's the normal source, or spilt oil when topping up which head for the lowest point, the spark plug recess!, and the bubbling maybe nothing more dramatic than the plug is just loose?

Brian
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Definately sounds like a cam box gasket leaking. Before mine was fixed on the Beta I was constantly using a syringe to drain plug recesses 1 & 2. These are the gaskets below the cams unfortunately. Not the easily replaced 'rocker cover' gaskets.

Thank rung a bell Neil!,
it was the same gasket that I had leaking that was dropping oil onto the exhaust manifold, and if you're going then it's the ideal time for belt change and decoke.

Brian
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Yes that's the one Brian, if it's leaking at both sides (or both gaskets) oil drops onto the exhaust on one side and into the plug recesses on the other. The oil on the manifold burns of course and makes that awful smell.

Neil,
Don't I know it!

Brian
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cheers guys, when i get the belts done i'll get new gaskets. Thats not going to be done for a while though - maybe not until next year at this stage! Is there any harm in running the car every so often just to keep her ticking over???

Hi, I don't know anything about the gasket problem, but I do know that if you run the engine with a loose plug it may loosen further and eventually blow out!! When this happened to me, at 80mph, it stripped the plug threads and caused all sorts of mayhem.

Just nip it up and, I suggest keep the engine in use and deal with the leaking oil as and when necessary.

Good luck,

                 Andy

ah yes, no worry, as soon as it stops raining i'll be out to tighten the plug, oh & the Dedra is in no state to get to 80mph ( i wish) any running is of a really gentle kind, kid gloves i think they call it! ;D

Hi Mark,
As the Cern suggested tighten the plug, the oil itself shouldn't be a problem with how you intend to run the engine, apart from the bloody awful smell of the oil burning and the mess it makes, the one thing that does concern me is running the engine at all unless you are sure of the condition of the belts, if one of them lets go you'll wreck the engine, at least 4 of the valves will probably get bent besides the possibility of any other damage, and you're probably looking at £1000 to repair, in my mind unless you are sure of the condition of the belts as I've already said, my number one priority would be to change them.

Brian
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well with the weather turning bad, & the fact i still have no garage means i've had little chance to do any work on her. So yesterday i thought i'd keep her ticking over & fair play to her she started first time, then i looked into the passenger side footwell & there was about 2 inchs of water on the floor! I've taken out as much water as i could & left the windows open to try to dry out the floor! having not sat in the car for a couple of months i've no idea how long the water has been lying there, worried now about what damage its done....

You need to get the carpet and all the underlay off the floor, unfortunately it means a big strip out, the underlay soaks the water up like a sponge and will never dry out unless you do remove them, I had the same problem with my first Dedra, it had a car phone in originally as it was an ex company car, when they took the phone out they took out the rubber plug on the left hand side just below the windscreen drain channel, we suddenly found my wifes handbag was attempting to float in the nearside front footwell.
Same as yourself we got out as much wet as we could and even propped up the carpet and used a fan heater to blow under the carpets, but it still didn't dry it out enough, so the carpets had to come out, at which point we found that it had also run into the rear footwells, because it's a nylon carpet the carpet doesn't feel wet.
You could try using microfibre clothes to soak up the water as they are far more effective than anything else.

Brian
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cheers Brian, i'll have to have a go at it tomorrow.

Happy new year to you all, I think you should get yourself a car cover, Halfords have a reasonable quality cover for around €80.00 I use a cover all the time to keep my thema and Grale dry. Also the added bonus is that thy keep the inside dry.  :)

I had a problem with water coming into the Drivers foot well, the odd thing was seeing water coming out of the head lining. Had the sunroof looked at by a specialst and they could not find anything wrong. Only happened when the car was pointing down hill. After pouring water over the roof with the headlining down spotteda pin prick of a hole in the windscreen sealent. Fixed with some bathroom sealent.

Regards

Simon Davis
8477

Further to Simon's comments, Dedra's with sunroofs also have front and rear drain tubes, fronts are behind the headlining and A pillar trims and push on to a stub on the corner each side of the sunroof, not a common problem, but I've know more than one Dedra to have a pipe come off the stub. rear drain tubes go down the rear pillars under the headlining but exit through grommets and holes in the floor behind the wheelarches, hidden by boot side carpets, these sometimes can get misplaced and if they do the water can run inside the boot behind and under the carpet, if not spotted this will rot out the boot floor around the seams.
Also at the bottom of the front drain tubes where these exit under the heater plenum chamber is a bulb type valve, over the years debris eventually blocks this and the water can't escape from the drain tube, this then backs up and water lays in the sunroof aperture and when you go around a corner you get an unpleasant cold shower.

Brian
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Brian