Death rattle?

I really shouldn't have rattled the cage of the Gods of Reliability in an earlier post...

Out for a drive and after pulling out from a junction and nailing it, an ominous rattle suddenly started up. I pulled over, assuming something had just come loose in the engine bay but nothing obvious. I slowly drove home - the rattle sounds like the same noise you get on cold starting, before oil gets round the engine. Only seems to happen over 2000 rpm and on gentle acceleration - hard acceleration doesn't seem to be a problem, weirdly.

A post on a forum brought forward ominous warnings of terminal bearing failure caused by petrol in my oil because I'm running too rich. OK, yes, I am running rich but not excessively, I don't think, and even if it was, could it cause that much damage in just 3k miles?

While looking for the problem, I also noticed that I was leaking coolant from the temp sensor in the top of the thermostat. I took it out and found that the plastic adaptor the sensor plugs into has cracked! Wonderful...ordered a couple from Emerald (1 for a spare).

I've been thinking about getting a wideband lambda sensor for a while now; ordered one and will see how that goes (specifically, will I be able to get the bung out of the exhaust). I've specifically ordered a Spartan2 because Richard L has one and he posts lots of very useful detail about it and I may need all the help I can get.

Next step is an oil change to look for metal particles, which will help tell me if there is any physical engine damage. I would like to also change the coolant - it's a horrible rusty colour - but I've got enough to do.

While I'm wiring in the lamdba sensor, I've also got a couple of other jobs I could do at the same time:

1. Get the water washer working.
2. Move the main beam switch away from the headlight beam switch, so I don't mistakenly turn off ALL my lights when trying to get main beam on.
3. Fix my USB charger port on the aux panel - seems to have stopped working (I've checked the fuses).

Not happy times....

Stoneleigh me

This weekend was the kit car show at Stoneleigh. I went as a member of RHOCAR as I was nominated for magazine editor. As I was the only nominee, I was duly elected. Only afterwards did the outgoing editor tell me he had been trying to find a replacement for 3 years! Sounds promising...

The drive up was fun - I drove past the scene of my off-road incident (see last post) and the bollards are still missing. The weather all weekend has been amazing, almost too hot and I almost put my roof up just to keep me cooler.

The RHOCAR stand was pretty full:

Worryingly, the show halls were quieter than last year, less people and exhibitors which is not promising for the future. Hopefully a one-off..

Still lots of fantastic vehicles:

I camped overnight and had my usual solid 2 hours of sleep - i don't know why i persist with camping, I never sleep well.

On the way home, it was even hotter and, while stuck in a slow queue, I decided to switch off the engine. The temp gauge was fine but I thought it was a good idea. Nope, wrong. After a few minutes, the queue started moving and Zedster wouldn't start! Everything seemed to work; lights, hazards, fuel pumps but no starter motor. After a bit more panicking, i remembered reading that some people had issues with hot starter motors, so i sprayed water over mine and left it for 5 minutes (with cars crawling past me). Amazingly, it worked but a useful issue to remember for future.

Also, hopefully, another RHOCAR member has offered to do my doors. I left all the stuff with him at the show so hopefully I might have some doors in the near future.