Dan's 1.6 repairs

[Grapes]

Figured I'd start a single thread after all.

Just pulled the oil stick out and the tip has apparently broken off and is still in the block  

Any suggestions? I must admit I start to feel quite in over my head with this car.

Is it just a matter of draining the oil, taking the sump off, pushing it through, reassemble and fill up?
Maybe put a new oil filter in while I'm at it?

Oh and I guess I will somehow need to find a new stick I guess... 🤔

[roy4matra]

Figured I'd start a single thread after all.

Just pulled the oil stick out and the tip has apparently broken off and is still in the block  

Any suggestions? I must admit I start to feel quite in over my head with this car.

Is it just a matter of draining the oil, taking the sump off, pushing it through, reassemble and fill up?
Maybe put a new oil filter in while I'm at it?

Oh and I guess I will somehow need to find a new stick I guess... 🤔

Last thing first - unless you manage to find a good second hand one, you cannot get the electronic dipstick any longer.  It hasn't been available for some time.

If the end has come off, it has broken so you can't just recover the end from the sump and 're-assemble' it.  The way these work is that the end contains a fine wire through which a small current is passed.  This will cause the wire to heat up and change resistance.  Now if the oil level is correct, the end and wire will be submerged in the oil, and that will keep it relatively cool whereas if the oil level is low and therefore the wire is now exposed to the air, it will get hotter and the resistance change triggers the control module (under the left hand side of the dash) to signal the low oil level by flashing the oil level warning light.

Since the end had broken off, the connections are obviously broken, and I doubt you could repair it, but I've never had a chance to try one, so I can't say for certain.

Probably the easiest and certainly cheapest is to fit the old type manual dipstick and disconnect the module (to stop the warning light flashing all the time).  Then regularly check the oil level as everyone used to do.

Roy

[Grapes]

Yep I already suspected that reassembling that would be unlikely but I'm totally fine with manual checking.

What about getting the tip out? I guess I can fish that bit out of the sump though right?

Any other things I might as well refurbish when I'm draining the block? I haven't had a chance to check the compression unfortunately. But I figured it might be a good idea to replace some of the other things as a precaution.

It was leaking oil into one of the ignition wells last time I checked and with the failed cooling system I wouldn't be surprised if it needs quite a bit of work.

[Matraman]

It's been over 25 years since I put the same 1.6 engine which you have in your Murena, into my Bagheera, but from memory I think you should suspect the rocker cover gasket if oil is accumulating round the spark plug wells. It's a relatively simple part to replace so have a close look at where the oil is coming from.

As for extracting your broken dip stick tip; drain the oil first, maybe through an old sieve, and see if the part comes out that way. You're lucky it's a 1.6 engine because the sump should be reasonably simple to remove if necessary. You might need to disconnect the gear change shaft to do it though. Replace the sump gasket with a new one while you're at it. If you had a 2.2 and needed to remove the sump you would have to take the engine out! So count your blessings!

[Grapes]

I am really glad to have the 1.6 indeed. Seems very versitile and if it ever does brake down I could perhaps find a newer PSA engine to replace it. The 2.2 doesn't seem to have much options in that regard. But for now the aim is to fix it up as best as I can. If only for the educational value.

Ehm OK so when I'm draining the block anyway and removing the top and bottom, anything else that I should do while rummaging around in there? Other seals I might as well replace? Valves? That last one is a bit of a mystery to me but I read that they need checking at regular intervals and I have no idea when it has had the last service.

Would be a bit of a shame if I only replaced the cover gasket and filled the block back up, only to find out that I would have to do it again because of something else.

Do I need to take the carbs off as well? I want to be sure that I have all the right gaskets to replace when I have to put things back together again.

While I am going to be buying stuff anyway. I have the feeling that there is something wrong with the transmission as well. Maybe just the clutch though. If I'm running the engine stationary I can hear an ever so faint grinding noise. When I press the clutch it is gone.

[Matraman]

I'm not the best qualified to answer your questions because my current car is a 2.2 which I've just mechanically renovated and learnt a lot on the way, with help of people on this forum. To try and help I would say the following:
IF it's the cause of the oil leak, removing the rocker cover to replace the gasket is a fairly easy job and the gasket can be reused if you have to do it again for some reason, so there's no great need to do other stuff while your at it. Have you noticed any smoke from the exhaust or tappet rattle? If not you can leave valve seals for another time because they will need a spring compressor. I'm not sure whether you can leave the head on that engine and pressurise the cylinders in order to replace them, or whether the head has to come off. That's much more work than a rocker cover gasket. If there's tappet rattle you can adjust the valve clearances while the rocker cover is off.

If you're removing the sump I don't think there's much else to be done while you're at it, apart from the gasket. Obviously replace the oil and oil filter while the engine is empty.

You won't need to remove carbs for the rocker cover as far as I know.

The noise you hear before depressing the clutch pedal is probably the clutch release bearing. A faint noise is usually okay, a louder noise indicates it's on its way out.

I hope that's of some help

[Grapes]

Ah super. Thanks for pitching in. I will just start with the sump and valve cover seals etc so I can do a compression test. Knowing that the gasket can be reused is a great relief. Looking forward to tackle this.

[suffolkpete]

The noise you hear before depressing the clutch pedal is probably the clutch release bearing. A faint noise is usually okay, a louder noise indicates it's on its way out.

I hope that's of some help

Wrong.  If the clutch release bearing is on its way out you will hear the noise when you press the clutch pedal, not when it is released.  The noise you can hear is the constant mesh gears in the gearbox.  A small amount of noise is normal, you only need to worry if it starts getting worse.

[Matraman]

Oh well at least it was only one thing wrong! The best part is someone more qualified than me has pitched in to help.

[Grapes]

Even better 

[Grapes]

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement oil dipstick? Or should I just check with some second hand sellers?

[roy4matra]

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement oil dipstick? Or should I just check with some second hand sellers?

Assuming you are talking here about the electronic sensor dipstick, as I stated here on January 23rd, you can't get a new one as they haven't been available for a long time.  You can try for a second hand one, but I fear that will be unlikely.  A manual one should be possible, but I don't have a part number for one of those, but there must have been loads of them around since the same engine was fitted in a large number of Simca/Talbot 1307/Alpine/1308/Solara.

Roy

[Grapes]

No I actually meant the manual one because you already mentioned the electronic one not being available. I tried Autodoc for a manual one but they couldn't supply so I guess that may also have to be a second hand one.

[roy4matra]

No I actually meant the manual one because you already mentioned the electronic one not being available. I tried Autodoc for a manual one but they couldn't supply so I guess that may also have to be a second hand one.

Since you have the broken electronic dipstick, why not simply use the top piece where it fits into the dipstick tube and fix a flat piece of steel to it, cut to a suitable length and marked that with the low and high levels.  If you don't have the correct measurements I'm sure someone with a 1.6 could supply them from their dipstick.  Or alternatively with the engine empty of oil, fill it with the correct amount of litres, then insert the new manual dipstick, and mark it where the oil level has left its trace.  For a low level mark you can simply mark it about 10 mm lower.

Roy

[Grapes]

Is €350 an OK price for spare seats with slightly worn leather upholstery?
Carjoy is selling some and I figured it would be nice to have a spare set so I can re-do the current ones.