Practically Classics Forum

I forgot to say that during the previous week I had called a few
car parts stores for a price on spark plugs for the V6 engine.

Lets just say that the usual price quoted was about £12+
and that was for ONE spark plug!!

I did a lot of research for a UK based parts supplier and found one
online who could do them for £2.10 EACH with free delivery.

I ordered one to make sure it was the right one, it was ordered at
07:52 on 18th Nov, and arrived at about 2pm on 19th Nov.

It was the right one it went in no problem, so after having dozed off
I have just ordered the other 5 I need.

So £12.60 for six Bosch Super and not only were the stores wanting
£12+ per plug but would have had to be especially ordered in for me.

Bosch Part No.: 408772690

So it does pay to research and then shop around.

I had painted the lip at the back(the bit I just trimmed) yesterday,
but with the thick fog, it went pale green as it hadn't cured enough.



The cover went back on and so did the wiper arms, after I removed
excess sealant.



Then finally the weather strip.



Then dropped the bonnet



No problems, I then connected up a battery to the fuse board to get
the wiper motor going and adjust the arms before I forgot.

The battery tray was removed, ready for me to deal with the gear
selector tomorrow if it's dry enough.

As an after thought I removed the old hoses which went from the
transmission to a cooling radiator, and fitted 2 new hoses to connect
up later.

First task of the day pop the intake manifold back on for a
check against the clearance again with the weather strip.





The bracket used for holding the gear selector cable off the
Neon's three speed transmission is being used, this is due
to the fact it is made out of sheet metal so easy to adapt.
Where as the bracket that came with transmission was cast
alloy and damaged.

I cut a bit of angle iron an bolted it to the front not the side
of the transmission mount. This is so spacer plates or
washers can be used for fine tuning the selector bracket.





OKAY I HAVE SCREWED UP SOMEWHERE !!!!!!!

The gear selector on the mk1 neon has 6 positions, where as
there are 7 positions on the transmission.

And yet the operators manual which I got from the Voyager
states the below with the neons:

The Neon..........P, R, N, D, 2, 1.
The Voyager......P, R, N, D, 3, L.

Anybody know why I have seven positions on the transmission
and why the handbook/operators manual says six?

Now for pipes!
Dad's handy work on the bending of the copper 15mm copper
pipe for the run from the water pump to the heater matrix.
For that pipe I need to cur and solder some strips of copper to
the pipe for bolting it in place.





And the air filter arrived at 5pm which was a little late for
the last post!

A little research shows the early Voyagers were available with either a 3 speed or a 4 speed auto box. I didn't take this any further, not knowing the year of the engine/box you are using. I suggest you try Wiki (like I did) and see the types used and compare to yours.

The transmission is the 41TE made in 1998 and is the 4speed electronically controlled.

The transmission is the 41TE made in 1998 and is the
4speed electronically controlled.

Here is a couple of photos of the operators handbook
showing the gear selector positions.





Which would be 6 positions not 7.

As I understand it, this is a 4-speed device, so the seventh position would be to allow manual changes from 3rd to 2nd. A quick glance at a colleague's PT Cruiser shows that 1st isn't on its quadrant either, so if there are seven indents on yours, use the matching quadrant & job done.

Today the rear exhaust manifold went on, all but one nut,
and bolt. That nut and bolt is under the manifold an not
accessible from above.
(not when my hand was painful with arthritis)





The delivery guy came at 3pm with spark plugs but one was
missing, I have called the supplier they are poping it in the post!

So all but one of the cylinders have new plugs fitted ready.
Before they arrived I had trimmed the pipe from the transmission,
and connected up the oil cooler radiator. Yes I finally found a
split pin that fit the drain plug on it.



As stated previously the V6 engine takes 4.3 L (4.5 qts.) of oil,
I put about 3-3.5 L into it. The reason I have not put the full
amount in yet, is as it needs to be pumpped around the engine.

I will be starting on the ancillaries and crank pulley tomorrow I
hope. So I had to fit the oil cooler radiator I poured 4 L of
transmission fluid down through the dip stick pipe.

As the transmission was totally emptied, and the capacity taken
in total is about 8 L. Once the crank pulley is fitted, the
transmission will be slowly pumped when the crank is turned by
hand I hope!

Only then I will be able to add the rest of the transmission fluid,
I dare not just fill and let the engine pump it when it starts, as
it has been drained of fluid for some time.

As the above picture shows I have the Oil radiator through the
grill and with the pipe ends up over and the other end on the
floor. This is so that the air can escape when the fluid is pumped
through the system.

Dean popped over to sort dad's Land Rover Discovery as the
replacement prop shaft arrived on Monday. Dean spotted that the
rubber donut on the rear prop/drive shaft was perishing.
That donut was replaced about a year ago too, oh well better safe
than sorry.

Dad's not happy as it means a couple of more days with out his
Discovery! I'm not happy as it means he will be under my feet for the
rest of the week as he has it off work!

Dean listened to me and I showed him the details and even he is
wondering why the transmission selector on the Voyager only uses 6
positions when there are 7 positions available.

Then use all seven. PT Cruisers have the suitable layout printed on the quadrant and it's only a sheet of cellophane or similar to change over.

Sorry jpb I missed your original pt cruisers post.

jimbo in MI wrote:Every 4 speed ever has had the same number of positions as the 3 speed.
They did this so it was compatible with either shifter on vehicles that got
a choice of 3 or 4 speed on the assembly line. I am not sure what you are
feeling.

As the three speed transmission you could select the gears individually
for driving in snow and ice. I'm wondering if the 7th position isn't in fact
1st gear, and L is 2nd gear!

Think about it.

Mk1 Neon P, R, N, D, 2, 1
Voyager ...P, R, N, D, 3, L

The idea....P, R, N, D, 3, 2, 1
As in the hand book it says if put in position '3' the transmission will select
1st, 2nd and 3rd gears.
If the gear selectors for both the 3 and 4 speed transmission selectors were
made the same they must have changed the lettering and not bothered
about being able to select 1st manually.

Why do you think they did that then and made it so they could have a clip so
that on the 3 speed selector go that far?

When the engine is running, and the car almost ready for the mot.
I will put her up in the air start her up then select that 7th position and see if
it's 1st gear which could be good to 30mph.

Better make sure that old girl is well supported while she is up in the air when
doing it!