I have owned my 16v from new and maintained it myself since it was 10 years old. I have a couple of problems that you may be able to help with, I will post them in Technical.
Hi Tristan, car has 2 current problems- 1 Intermitent HP fuel pump failing to operate on start-up and stopping during driving. I believe the relay is drien by the FEI unit and am considering ways to monitor it. 2 Selecting first gear. Started as inabiltiy to to selct 5th and over the past year I have changed the two ball ended links which has restored 5tha and eliminated a lot of the play in the system. I think it needs a bit of adjustment and have bought the EPYTEK164 adjustment plate, but need a bit of guidance on how to use it.
Thanks SS, I was a member a few years back but let it lapse. I have owned the car from new so I can fix most thing!
Most like the relay is getting tired ,when the contacts get arched out or dirty the relay won't stay latched when powered up I have cleaned them before but its only a temporary fix in most cases. Cheap enough to replace ,just buy OEM not "no brand" type . Have you replaced all the bushes ? ,the ball end links are only the start of it and will do little ,you need to replace all of them as in buying the full kit,for example the orange bush on the main rod from the lever is the main issue. Once you have fitted the WHOLE kit fitted you will be good ,but if your engine mounts are worn out you will still have issues...ask me how I know,cheers.
Thanks for the suggestions W, never had a relay fail on the car before so it didn't jump to mind, Relay ordered. Yes I have changed the bushes including the orange one, the only bearing that I have not touched is the bell crank, but the overall play is greatly reduced. The EPYTEK164 is an alignment tool that sets the neutral position for the gear lever. As far as I understand from the simple instructions on line is the you fix the tool on the gear lever with the box in neutral then tighten the clip on the shift rod at the gearbox end. The adjustment is then complete. I was interested if anyone has used it and what they found.