Martin's 197 Lux Project

Martin what did ye clean the arches with a few posts back mate?

The Chubby Pirate said:

Martin what did ye clean the arches with a few posts back mate?

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Autosmart G101 all purpose cleaner to scrub them
Autosmart Tardis to remove the tar - took 3 or 4 go's
stuck a coat of Infinity wax synergy ceramic on them as I had some left, would probably use qtechniq c4 next time (probably wont be a next time as im too busy taking the engine in and out on it)

Bought an Akra for it, absolutely love how they sound, ironically I got a 200 diffuser for it so I can use the carbon tips as my last akra on my 197 I couldn't use them, and they were missing from the box Ktec looking into it

currently driving about like this as 2 months later KTEC haven't been able to sort out the missing tailpipe trims yet - Nightmare


Its had an ABS light, a rear wheel with no speed reading, replaced the sensor, still the same so onto the rear discs it was as assume the bearing pickup is gone (annoying as they aren't the oldest discs but they did get HOT with a sticking rear caliper, that was a saga, the bearing was seized SOLID onto the stub, que hours of penetrating fluid, heat, hammers etc etc


luckily i had got some rebuilt calipers for it ready to go on


When i overhauled the front brakes i got KTEC braided lines for it so still had the rears to do, a few months back i managed to get brand new genuine rear brake pipes as someone had replaced the rear beam pipes and it was a shite job. so i wrestled with that.





MRS was over the moon at the evidence


Still got the other side to do as swinging a hammer for an hour almost killed my arms!

As is always the case with this car, nothing is ever easy, after overhauling the rear brakes, chasing ABS issues, getting all that sorted etc my mate was looking to have his airbags disabled on his 200 track car, not a problem I said, I've got an RSTuner, we can go half's on the module and do his airbags, so i got the module unlocked and plugged it into my car to test it, had a look at the different options etc. Now my car has always had stored Airbag codes but I couldn't read them without the module but I could see they were all historic codes.

It wouldn't let me clear any of the codes but it was letting me change settings with my airbags etc I just kept getting an error when I tried to clear. I tried locking the airbag system into service mode - This worked fine until I tried to unlock it and of course it wouldn't, Dashboard lit up like an xmas tree.

I reached out to henk who took a look and said it looks like the airbag module is faulty on my car, I took a gamble with another one with matching codes from the scrappy - Luckily this solved the issue and it now all works as it should and lets me clear the codes from that module!

Then the next saga started, I don't use the car often so sometimes 3 or 4 weeks go by when I don't go near it, I went out and it wouldn't start, just a CLICK from the starter. With FCS getting closer I started working on it this past few weeks. by trying the following....

• Jumper pack - No Start
• Jumper pack and new earth using a jump lead - no start
• known good battery + jump pack + new earth using jump lead - no start
• Check/Replace/Swap fuses, relays and all the above - no start

This is when I made the mistake of ASSUMING I was dealing with only one fault and all of the above was ruled out as OK

New Valeo starter Fitted - Now I was in a rage fitting this, as weeks previous when the engine was out I thought about ordering one since it doesn't look a fun job to do when the engines in, I priced it up and decided against it due to the fact I've never had a failed starter before! - Proper s**t job, from both underneath and the drivers wheel well, exhaust manifold off etc


Turned the key, now instead of CLICK I was getting CLICK CLICK CLICK - Back to the same routine...

• Jump pack on - No start
• new earth with jump lead - no start
• new earth + Jump pack - BOOM, Starts!

pulled off the gearbox earth strap that I had previously cleaned up the ends on, and while they were ok, the cable its self was green! - replaced it and the battery and its good as gold!

So it looks like I was actually dealing with 3 faults at once, a faulty/sticking starter solenoid, a poor earth cable and a poor battery! - When you diagnose or replace any 2 of those it still wont start.

So today the real CSF prep could start - the pedal feel hasn't been great since I overhauled all the brakes - I had planned to re visit so today I got it up off the deck, all wheels off and carried out a full brake fluid change and ABS bleed - Pedal is now mint and the brakes are MEGA!

I got under it and made sure all arch liners, under trays, heatshields etc were all secure so its not spitting anything out at CSF then got it out for a road test to give it a good shake down. Feels brilliant now with the 200 engine and RStuner map, I remember the press propaganda at the time saying the 200 had 20% more torque under 3000rpm than a 197 - it certainly feels like its got more now!

Quick wash and now she's ready for an MOT tomorrow morning - The car is now almost mechanically perfect but the bodywork is tatty so didn't bother doing any detailing - I need to work out if its worth spending any more cash on the exterior or just enjoy it for what it is


And the CSF backup just in case (love this thing!) ...

Clean pass!