New 9000 acquisition

[carrera]

The link just seems to be a folder name, without any files in. I even logged into my long dormant Dropbox account to access the files through sharing

Did I mention Medusa 

[phoenix]

Hmm, should be able to see all the folders.

Here's the VSS one:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1syb1fbxiln89tjpiwinh/9000_3_5_Anti-Theft_Alarm_M1996-_362400ENG.pdf?rlkey=rn5atfpoggpshlm3970cfiybp&dl=0

[carrera]

Thanks again, that worked

It looks to me as though on the original share the folder was shared, but not the files within?

[phoenix]

Try this one for all the folders:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/4y6lqyqg2upzyhesg1t1h/h?dl=0

[welshwizard]

So there has to be some good news. Well I was curious as to whether it was a 170 hp LPT or a 200 hp FPT, so armed with a 9000 VIN decoder took a look.

Well, to discover that it is fitted with a B234R engine was a bit of a surprise to say the least    VIN is YS3CFR65R7W1xxxxxx if anyone else would like to check. I can't see any other Aero bits. I'm very confused.

If it's like the 9-5 the 2.3t LPT 170PS variant did not come with a turbo boost gauge.  The 9-5 2.3t only got the gauge when it received the updated 185PS engine for MY2000...

[carrera]

Well, the 9000 is back on the road & I'm finding some minor niggles:

Temperature gause only goes to the normal position when warm idling. So I guess the thermostat need replacing.

Acceerated hard in first & suffered a misfire as I grabbed second. Tried again a little more gently, coughing & spluttering. Only 1/2 mile from the petrol station so put 3 gallons in & the problem was gone. So it seems the tank float is stuck, I'll put some more fuel in to see if that can free it off

Turbo gauge doesn't move, but there's plenty of boost. Can't quite remember if it's mechanical or electrical, but IIRC it's mechanical so probably a pipe off somewhere. Maybe when I've been swapping the ECU.

Boot light. Got a s/h one which works, but doesn't switch off, better than not having one at all

... and back to the ECU

Went out for lunch, came back and the car wouldn't start with the ECU not accessible to an OBD reader or Tech II. I had to do an ECU swap & Immo code transfer to the spare ECU to get the car to work again.

Puzzling 

[carrera]

The non working boost gauge was down to the hose on the pipe connection on the bulkhead being off.

So I pushed it back on yesterday and normal service was resumed

Driving it this morning & I accellerated hard in 5th, just to see how far the needle would go....

... and she's back to reading ambient air pressure 

A tie wrap may be in order, as I don't think I have any fresh hose with me

Another £20 and the fuel gauge is up to 1/4 tank. DTE seems to be calculated correctly, but I'm not convinced the needle is dropping. Perhaps more £££ needed, but the gauge was working until I removed the tank to do the brake pipe, but the pump was never removed 

[carrera]

I missed something out on the thread.

A few days ago the car was running fine, I checked the ECU with an OBD reader and it had an error code stored P1640, which is really P1641, don't ask.

Cleared it and a few hours later went out for lunch

The car wouldn't start. Quick call to International Rescue (aka better half) and a second car appeared, complete with jump leads & tools. Short trip to pick up the spare ECU and Tech II resulted in another apparent loss of the ECU connection. So, I swapped ECU's around, reprogrammed the Immo code (now I understand what happens here, thanks Audax), and she started.

I have run her for two days without problem, confidence is returning

Thinking about things, it may be this was the reason the car was taken off the road 11 years ago. Clues:

• The sound insulation trim above the pedals is in the boot
• One of the spring nuts was missing from the aquarium, so one screw was simply sat in there
• The ECU just seemed to slide into place, no fixings to remove

I did have some vacuum pipe available, so replaced all 3 pieces. The gauge is working properly and the needle goes just into the red area. Just as I remember it

Doing that job allowed me to see a couple of small slits in the pre warming pipe to the throttle body. Just close enough to the end that I could shorten the pipe & stretch it to fit back in place. Now water tight and a replacement will be on order

I have been prepping the green 9-5 for MOT, that's now ready, so the 9000 is ready for a new thermostat to be fitted. It looks a bit more fiddly than the 9-5, but at least it's the same component, so I have one on the shelf
 

[phoenix]

It's a while since I've done a 'stat on a 9000, but I don't recall it being a problem at all. It's pretty much the same as the 9-5. Same location, you just have to move the rigid pipe out of the way, which is held in place as I recall by one of eh thermostat housing bolts.

[carrera]

It was straightforward, much quicker to reassemble simply because I knew the order to do things.

Not having a radiator drain (like the 9-5) was a bit of a pain & messy as I couldn't get the container in when I removed the top hose. The bottom hose was looking a bit crusty to be bothered messing with it

I did test the old one, and it seemed to be working correctly, but now the car warms up quicker, the temperature gauge is just below the halfway point and fuel economy on my short 8 mile commute increased from 28.5 to 33.5 mpg 

[carrera]

I decided to let her stretch her legs for a longer run today, 65 miles each way.

No problems at all, driving the 9000 is a much more relaxing experience than the 9-5, perhaps it's the improved visibility, or the long gearing. The torque levels seem very strong compared to the 9-5 at very low revs

I'll be ordering a service kit for it shortly. The "time to start" seems much longer than the 9-5, which I don't understand, unless the platinum plugs help starting in the 9-5. Or perhaps the starter motor is just a little bit slow ??

The fuel gauge needs looking at. I put 30 litres of petrol in & the gauge didn't move. I suspect this is self inflicted, relating to me removing the tank to do the brake pipe & draining some of the excess fuel off. Perhaps a baffle has come loose, I didn't remove the pump at all. If it's tank out, then everything will be free but perhaps I need to try removing the pump first

[sgould]

I've been using NGK  BCPR6EIX-11 upgrade plugs in the 9-5 and it seems to be fine with no starting issues. They are the new iridium ones.   

They list some other alternatives for the 9000.  MAybe worth a look...

Page 75...   https://www.ngkpartfinder.co.uk/assets/Uploads/NGK_Spk_GP_Lowres-2021.pdf

[phoenix]

No need to stray from the stock NGK BCPR7ES-11. I normally gap them to 1mm when first installed.

Slow starting could be due to fuel pressure taking time to build up, or DI not being able to properly sense which cylinder is firing- at first start up it simultaneously sparks the cylinders in pairs as it can't know from the CPS which one is TDC given that there are 2 revolutions for every ignition cycle. The DI then senses cylinder is firing and uses that to synchronise subsequent individual sparks. If the CPS signal is poor that could also cause  a problem with snychronisation.

So if you haven't already, chuck a new set of plugs in. To check fuel pressure, turn the ignition on and see if you can hear the pump pressurising. Leave it for a few seconds then try cranking. If it starts more quickly, it's pressure.

[sgould]

The original plug spec is now 25 years old, and technology moves on!

I took advice from the guys in the USA on the TurboX forum, who have largely changed the plug spec to an Iridium version.  I fitted them to the Carlsson with the aim of reducing the energy required to run the coils.  I have no idea if the temps/voltage have dropped, but the car is running fine, and by perception is that fuel consumption has improved quite a lot.  We now see over 30 mpg on a run whereas it was only around 27mpg at best.  Others have confirmed that the iridium plugs improve consumption.

So I thought that I would try the iridium plugs on the 9-5 to see if it had any effect on the DI cassette or consumption.  My impression is that the  fuel consumption improved on the recent trip to France, but mileage is not that high at the moment, so I have no firm conclusion.

[carrera]

I've ordered a service kit from Bill, which includes some Swedish stuff so it'll be a couple of weeks before I can swap them. Wonder if I should chuck some used PFR6H-10 that I have lying around

The Twin had Bosch Iridium in when I bought it. Without going into the reasons why I could see the misfire counts increasing, which was eliminated when I put some fresh PFR6H-10 in. Maybe it's a Bosch vs NGK thing

Before then I should treat her to an oil change, 13 year old oil is probably past its best

The fuel gauge showed some movement today after some  on a roundabout. Perhaps that will be the solution, it was roughly where I expected it to be so I'll see where the gauge is in the morning and maybe chuck another tenner in to see what happens.

Another little wrinkle on the drive home today. Braking caused strong interference on FM radio. I'll see if it's a bad connection on a bulb, because it's linked to brake light operation. If not it'll be more complex...