Pomp and Pageantry

So Zedster has been running fine since the phantom misfire issue UNTIL he wouldn't start one morning. Engine turned but wouldn't catch. It felt like it was a fuel delivery issue so I checked the LP fuel pump. The filter looked empty so I disconnected the pipe but fuel flowed fine. I then pulled the pipe off the LP pump and turned on the ignition - fuel came out so the pump was working. Connected the pipes back and tried re-starting the engine - started first time. Weird. Did I clear something out of the filter? Are the electrical connections to the pump dodgy and my mucking about temporarily re-connected them?

So now, every engine start is Russian Roulette - great!

Anyway, had an enjoyable day out to the Bromley Pageant in...er... Bromley with SKCC:

A huge show of modern classics, with some wonderful reminders of my driving past - for example, one of my early cars was a 1988 Golf GTi, similar to this one (which is the more desirable 16V - mine was the 8V):

As you might expect, within a stone's throw of Essex, Ford's were everywhere:

And there was a HUGE stand of Mini's - don't think I've ever seen so many in one place before (sorry, forgot to take any pics) - must have been at least 60.

Some other highlights:

A good day out and Zedster started OK on the way home, so all good...

Cleaned out my pipes

So, I ordered a new starter motor (£65) and struggled for another hour to fit it back on. The new motor is a slightly different design and I couldn't get the socket around the top bolt, so I had to use a spanner, turning the bolt about 1/20th of a turn at a time - took 15 minutes just to get that one bolt in!

Finally on and scared the life out of me when I turned it on - seems to be much more powerful than my old one and spun the engine so much quicker.

So, repairs done, out for a drive and...bugger - misfire still there. Very annoyed.

Back home, I emailed Emerald to ask if the ECU had any diagnostics I could use to try diagnose the problem. They replied the next day (impressive) and said there aren't any diagnostics BUT there is a datalogger which records ignition, injection, coolant temp etc. In theory, if I drove with the laptop connected and the datalogger on, any break in the signal of one of those areas could suggest where the problem was.

So, I decided to try this out. Unfortunately, the Emerald manual is sorely lacking in describing how to use the datalogger - there is one line in the appendix that is the only mention of it. Ironically, this oversight fixed my problem! I sat on the drive for about 10 minutes with the engine idling, trying to work out how to turn the damn datalogger on. I finally did it and drove off, waiting for the misfire to kick in. But it didn't - Zedster ran as smoothly as ever! Problem fixed!!

I can only assume I had dirt or something in an injector and the time spent idling on the drive cleared it out, although I'll wait until my next drive out to fully confirm it's fixed.

I may also need to consider fitting a filter after the HP pump and maybe also changing the HP fuel lines. Despite being R9 (supposedly the best), they already seem to have small cracks in them where they bend round to the fuel rail.

My brother and family arrive next week from Florida and he seems very keen to drive my car - he's never been one to worry about the banality of laws of the land, so keeping the keys away from him may be tricky.