Wild wipers

[MatthewL]

I’ve got an issue with the wipers on my new Montego. The driver side one sweeps right past the A- pillar, they sometime park half way up the screen if switched off but then seem to work it out and return to roughly the correct seating position. Any suggestions for what to look at first?

[Jeff Turbo]

Nice car, saw that at mattewsons and previously knew of the car in new Zealand before it was imported
Wipers may need to be reset. I see on your picture one is higher. Normally when turning off they should park on the two stay bars on the scuttle panel. You can try first removing the wiper arms and lowering them so they park properly. If that doesn't work you'll need to look at the mechanism on the wiper motor . When parked the rod to the wiper mechanism from the motor should be level

[MatthewL]

Thanks Jeff. I’ll try that reposition on the spindles and report back.

The car is lovely underneath and the under bonnet is is great condition. A few things needed to return it to original under there. The interior is great for its mileage with just the red trim missing on the driver seat. I need a new console around the gear-lever/handbrake, a new tail light, a rear seatbelt buckle (plastic outer held on with tape) and a terrible sunroof rattle sorting. Apart from that a tune up and some use and it should be in great shape. Really pleased with it so far. Wad of history implies it’s been loved.

[Jeff Turbo]

Thanks Jeff. I’ll try that reposition on the spindles and report back.

The car is lovely underneath and the under bonnet is is great condition. A few things needed to return it to original under there. The interior is great for its mileage with just the red trim missing on the driver seat. I need a new console around the gear-lever/handbrake, a new tail light, a rear seatbelt buckle (plastic outer held on with tape) and a terrible sunroof rattle sorting. Apart from that a tune up and some use and it should be in great shape. Really pleased with it so far. Wad of history implies it’s been loved.

Yeah I see under the bonnet has been messed with, tail light should be easy to find, as should be the rear seat belt buckle. You can strip down the seats and have the red stripes sewed back on. What's the issue with the center console? Sunroof rattle maybe the slide back part as that's plastic and has been known to break.
The tune up? What's the running issue?

[MatthewL]

Good to know about the seats. I don’t have the stripes which have come off so I’ll perhaps have to have something created? If you’ve any tips on the smelling less “ancient British Leyland” I’m also all ears!

Centre console has been chopped up at some stage. I reckon maybe one of those crookloks that bolts to the centre tunnel but I’m guessing. I think it’s Turbo specific as it has a rear cigarette lighter - they seemed keen on smoking back then!

Good news if driver side rear light and buckle are an easy find. Wonder if carb fan hose and air filter box/pipe are often found? Sunroof louvered cover rattles but sunroof itself also. maybe it’s banging on the loose louvred cover? I find myself tilting it to stop the noise.

Car is a little hard to get off the line, bogs down if you’re pulling from very low revs ie under 1500. After that it feels ridiculously strong and very smooth. I’m impressed.

[Jeff Turbo]

I had these done on my turbo many years ago
https://maestro.org.uk/forums/forum/...-montego-turbo
Center console are the same as a Vanden Plas but are getting hard to come by now, carb cooling fan hoses are on ebay as are filter hoses, air filter boxes are all the same on efi and turbo. Is the original bracket still on the car?
Running. You may have an air leak somewhere, first thing is to test the vent valve to see if it's working correctly. If it's still on the car it should be on the rear bulkhead with two wires attached to a valve with a fuel pipe from the carb to nothing as it's only an air pipe. To test you will need to remove the pipe from the carb and keep it plugged in. to test, turn ignition on and blow down the vent pipe to the valve, it should be clear, Turn ignition off and blow down the pipe, it should be blocked. If that's ok look at all the pipes to the carb and turbo actuator to see if any have a leak

[Doctordiesel77]

If adjusting the position of the arms doesn't fix the random parking, it may be the control unit, which Rimmers still have (& cheaper than ebay)..I'm assuming here that yours isn't the later one which incorporates the carb cooling fan... Mine were acting up in a similar way, but got better with use, since they 'self repaired' I have noticed that if I don't use the car for a while they sometimes act up, but recover after a bit of use. Whether this is a bad connection wiping itself clean, or a lazy capacitor I don't know, my new control unit is on standby, just in case it is ever needed...

[MatthewL]

Thanks to you both. I reset them with the aid of the Haynes. The driver side one sweeps to the very edge of the windscreen but seems to be fine now.

My next issue is a pool of coolant. Incredibly a core plug must be suitably rusted from inside that it was spraying coolant out as the engine ran. Got sone new ones on order. Wasn’t sure if the O-Series has 25mm ones or 1 inch so I bought both so I’m not waiting twice for parts. Are they imperial? Thought they might be if the O-series started in the Marina.

[Doctordiesel77]

[QUOTE=MatthewL;n339090]Thanks to you both. I reset them with the aid of the Haynes. The driver side one sweeps to the very edge of the windscreen but seems to be fine now.

My next issue is a pool of coolant. Incredibly a core plug must be suitably rusted from inside that it was spraying coolant out as the engine ran. Got sone new ones on order. Wasn’t sure if the O-Series has 25mm ones or 1 inch so I bought both so I’m not waiting twice for parts. Are they imperial? Thought they might be if the O-series started in the Marina. [/QUOTE
If I remember rightly they are imperial, last ones I got were from Rimmers, but not sure if they still have them, I'm about to change them all on an efi , so will be measuring up very soon. If you've ordered both you should be safe anyway. Jeff will probably know for sure which size they are...

[Jeff Turbo]

Same as these, all O series have the same core plugs
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314893073...Bk9SR7iMuafYYw

[Doctordiesel77]

[QUOTE=Jeff Turbo;n339094]Same as these, all O series have the same core plugs
[URL="https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314893073545

Quite a reasonable price...

[MatthewL]

Thanks both! Hoping they arrive today. Will be swapping the damaged one and the one next to it for now. Busting to use the car so it can’t be in bits!

Have had the door cards off to swap the Austin speakers - the paper cone was completely disintegrated! Amazed to see the poly sheets in place (sone tears driver side but not bad and zero rust in the door bottoms. Delighted. These are now further filled with Dynax s80 cavity wax.

I need a new rear seatbelt buckle (female) and have ordered a T50 torx spanner to swap out when I can find one.

If I have confidence in the car after the core plug repair I may head to the Oxford Drive It Day thing. 7 hour round trip so I’ve got to be sure!

[MatthewL]

Core plug fitted. The one that came out was 25mm rather than one inch which surprised me. Was rusted from the back. New one fitted so I’ll test that doesn’t leak today.

[Doctordiesel77]

Core plug fitted. The one that came out was 25mm rather than one inch which surprised me. Was rusted from the back. New one fitted so I’ll test that doesn’t leak today.

I guess they must have gone metric at some point, I'm glad I didn't just buy a box of imperial core plugs rather than just ordering the sets on Jeff's ebay link!