Skoda Rally Blog

So, I’ve been pretty short of time recently, and as a result I’ve not always posted stuff when it happened, or I’ve totally forgotten things that have happened.

One of them was the night before the MOT, the car sprang a leak.  Or two, in fact.  The fuel system on the Ibiza is (in my opinion overly-) complex, having an FIA-spec ATL fuel cell in the boot, which then feeds an under-floor pump setup.  I’d never really looked into it (after all, it worked OK), but it turns out there are two ‘lift’ pumps (for the two outlets on the ATL cell) and then a high pressure pump and filter.  The HP pump and filter look to be a VAG group item, which has been put in place here instead of the standard in-tank item.  This means that there are about 9 hoses under the floor connecting this and the return all together.  Two decided to leak, and I had to fix them for the MOT – fortunately I had the right hose in the garage, so it was just a late (10pm!) pain in the bum, being soaked in petrol and then rain, in the dark.  Nice.

However, previously I’d replaced the engine-bay hoses as well, as these had perished, so clearly all of them were on the way out.  The last thing I need is a DNF (or indeed a car-consuming fire!) as a result of a failure of one of these, so it was time to change them all.  Off to Thread and Pipe to get some more hose, and then all the hoses and fittings came off, with 6 needing replacement (one is a much better spec all rubber hose and isn’t a problem).  Easy enough, except they can be a right pain to get off, and getting the Goodridge fittings off the old braided hose took some work as there was lots of corrosion in there, as well as loads of mud and grit that needed to be cleaned scrupulously to get it all out.  With that done, all the hoses were cut to match the originals (two more of which were definitely weeping, so who knows how long they would have lasted?), and then replaced.  Easy, but another couple of hours taken up, including testing it – no leaks, and it looks a lot better.

The many pipes!

Maybe it’s just me, but every car I’ve had which has had braided hose on, it’s degraded after a few years.  The Favorit did it, the Felicias both did it, and so has the Ibiza.  Braided looks amazing when it’s on, but the cheaper rubber hose inner stuff just dies after a while, and ‘sweats’ fuel vapour normally – the smell in the Felicia was pretty bad even when brand new; replacing it with rigid hose transformed the feeling in the car on long road sections as you were no longer off your face on unleaded!  Rant over.

Next up, final check of everything before putting the guards back on.  A general check showed nothing stupid had happened, but there was some oil on a couple of lines that was a bit suspicious; cleaning it up and then running the car for a while showed that it was just left over from the previous issue with the old oil cooler, as it now works without any leakage, thankfully.  Time to dig (literally) the sumpguard out from behind the shed, give it a good clean and bolt it up… except the bolts were missing after they were so much effort (read: needed a nut welding to them) to get off.  Another trip to AllFix got that and the bumper bolts replaced with nice button-headed ones, and in place.

Finally, removing Tammie’s name from the windows and wing, and putting Paul’s there instead.  It’s been a LONG time.  On Saturday, we’ll be doing the Sunseeker, the first rally mileage I’ve driven since June 2012, and the first gravel event since February 2012!  To be blunt, I’m hoping for a finish, nothing more – it’s been a LOT of work to get the car back together, and hopefully I’ve addressed all of its issues – the suspension is better, the geometry spot on, the cooling better and power increased too, as well as better traction with the Gripper diff.  Here’s hoping all goes smoothly.