Good Question.

The Bypass Module, the LPG Wiring, Computer, relays etc, all live in the passenger pillar cavity behind the ECU. I am thinking in heavy weather conditions, some water makes its way inside.

The LPG parts are all wrapped in bubble wrap and electrical tape, so should be fine, but the bypass module just had a rag taped around it.

Cheers
BenJ

Any rust in the bottom of the plenum? Drain tubes are not blocked up are they? Otherwise, if there was really, really heavy rain, maybe the tubes couldn't flow enough & some come into the car?

Cheers

ToranaGuy

wet ecu.. um got a place to look first as mine in the eb kept getting wet.
in the doorjamb where the electrics pass from the shell of the car to the door there is a rubber sock\grommet.
it may not be sealing well anymore so removing it and wiping some sealant around the edge of the boot and refitting works a treat.
where the boot would be making contact with the shell of the car. and wipe with your finger around to make it look neater when fitted. i havent had issues since i did that back in january.

looking further up the plenum drain is above this.. a bit of a stupid design by ford i reckon
it had me stumped as i thought i killed a manual ecu and mine always started after being swapped dried out

one thing i did also was. i took out the sound deadner bags out of that pillar behind the ecu as mine were soaked and didnt smell that nice.
i havent noticed a difference in road noise being louder at all so it may be something you may want to remove aswell

but sucks to hear it damaged a few things though.
mines still presmartlock atm. im thinking of keeping it that way

Hopefully you're on the right track now, you think we'd know better than to play(modify) cars at our age!

XB GT Bonnet - Refresh Time

After 40000+ kays and 1000s of heat cycles the XB GT Bonnet needs a bit of love and attention.

I will begin by stating that as this bonnet is a one off custom build, with half of the work done by myself, I did expect to correct any issues that showed over time. To be clear, the current problems with the bonnet are in no way connected with SWCs workmanship and I expect to continue working with SWC with some other future mods for the Wagon.

****************************************************************

The following photos show most of the issues that I will be correcting.

As you can see, from a short distance the bonnet looks fine.


However, from very early on there was a bubble under the paint, that I believe was caused by a nasty bird leaving me a present while I was painting it.


Also from early on it was obvious that I did not prep the edges of the bonnet very well at all.


And more recently there has been some paint crazing.



Other areas have also shown signs of heat and fatigue.



The most obvious area is here.



The plan is to sand back the entire bonnet, until the relevant areas are removed, and in some instances I will need to go back to bare metal. New filler will be applied, before I repaint the bonnet.

Previously, I did not really look at the sides or underneath the bonnet. This time I want to make some small changes to the engine side as well. Some of the changes are just to tidy it all up, and others will be an attempt to do something about the heat and prevent repeat issues. Only time will tell if I have any success.

Here is a photo of the bottom area of the bonnet.


I want to make some filler panels for the areas between the supports, and may attach pieces of the std bonnet liner.

The support structure near the bonnet vents I would like to trim a bit and weld in a cap. This photo gives an idea of what I mean.


The red marks indicate where I want to cut, with the blue area being removed. The green lines show where I want to weld in a cap to tidy up that area. The final step will be to paint the entire area in body colour.

Now, you may be wondering what I am going to use as a bonnet on the Wagon while I work on the GT one.

I had originally thought I could use the Poly Green bonnet on the ED Ghia here, but, then the engine bay would be exposed to the weather, and, the wagon would look like crap. Then I started looking around for a cheap bonnet I could give very quick coat of paint, but there was not much available.

Luckily for me, while on holidays in QLD, I noticed SVOMatt had put up a bonnet for sale. And the best part is that not only is it already Black Pearl, it has received the SWC touch. So for $50 I scored this.




At least the Wagon will be getting around in style.

Cheers
BenJ

what scoop is that???

From memory it is an XT GT bonnet scoop copy or similar.

Cheers
BenJ

Similiar to XW but not

Smartlock Bypass Module

Quick Update.

The Smartlock Bypass Module arrived on Monday. Very nice unit. Came neatly packaged with full written instructions with diagrams. This unit also has Pos and Neg inputs to disable the module via an alarm system.

Installed it easily and put the original EL Ghia ECU back in.

Car cranked and fired and then idled like crap before stalling. Before it stalled the cluster was beeping it's little heart out and the temp needle was way above red with the warning light on.

Hmmmm, not so good.

Cranked it again with the same result. Really, not good at all.

Luckily I had acquired a spare EL Ghia ECU recently, so swapped it in.

Cranked her over, and she fired up and purred like a kitten. Excellent.

I believe the other ECU may have received some damage due to the dodgy ECU relay.

The wagon is driving wonderfully again, and I am a happy chappy for now.

Cheers
BenJ

that bonnet brings back memory's...

I FIGURED AS MUCH . . . . .

After the battery issues last fortnight, I was expecting the battery would need to be replaced in the near future.

I just didn't expect it to be this morning.

Got in the car to go to work at 7.20ish and it gave half a crank then nothing. The battery had so little ompf that the clock reset itself back to zip.

AARRRRRRGGGGGG.

Got out the battery charger I have borrowed, and juiced it up for an hour or so.

After I called to work to let them know I would be late, I jumped on the internet and went hunting for batteries. I recalled seeing some on special in one of the Auto Store catalogues and a few minutes searching found a bunch of batteries going cheap at Autobarn, and a $10 discount for the old battery. Store opens at 9am.

Walked out to the Wagon at 8.50 and with fingers crossed tried to start her. A slow crank or two later and we have a winner.

Got a battery with 600CCA and a 3 year warranty for $149, and I hope that is the last of any electrical gremlins for a while.

Cheers
BenJ

I have had the same happen twice with batteries. one day fine then next morning dead as a dodo. I had to ride a few kays on the bicycle one time trying to find a servo with a suitable battery. That damn thing cost me $135 and only lasted 2 years. K-mart used to have 20% off weekends now and then and I got a battery a few years ago which is still good. They don't seem to do this anymore. I find that I have to put it on the charger every couple of months as the car does not drive enough klm for the battery to be fully charged. I just got a new battery in the 2.3 year old FG work ute as it was starting to go soft. I will use the old one in the project car for the moment but it is not likely to last much longer.

i pay $60 for cheap ones from bigW lol.. more then 6 months and still not a single issue with it. still got the same warranty as the others. its only a 360-380 cca but starts the ltd no worries. i even crank the music hard core some days and still going great. if it dies in 6 months im not worried as ill only be out 60 and now 180 like the last one before that i bought

Hey if the $60 big W battery does the job then I am all for it. Batteries are way over priced if you ask me.

Far out BenJ, you have been a busy man haven't you? I can't wait to see the new work on the bonnet. In regards to batteries, sounds like you got a good buy for that price! Batteries are expensive these days as the price of lead is very high in comparison to the past.

That's why I jump for joy when I find a near new battery in a car I'm about to strip, I always find a use for it somewhere lol.

Pitty about your ecu issues, at least you had a spare I guess. Thought about cracking it open to see if it's just some dodgy caps & possibly an easy fix?

Cheers

ToranaGuy