M23 Nightmare

[Chrissy G]

Anyone get stuck on M23 this afternoon, spent 1hr 45min in 8 mile tailback. Car behaving admirably until 1hr 30min when engine died (no warning) left with oil light flashing, startedher up turned no problems, then the alarm came on, eventually navigated to slip road on left. Pulled up, waited 5 minutes. No sign of engine overheating, temps between 90-95deg alltime, oil pressure 20 (normally 38 at 2k revs, 40-42 at 3k revs on mobil 1 0w/40 oil). Started engine first time carried on another 200yrds same happened again. Managed to start her up turn round and head back home (out of heavy traffic) and no further problems. Also to my dismay when fetching map behind drivers seat it was saturated with water as well as my footwell (hadnt noticed this when i got in). The bottom half of drivers side door wet too. Back at home some 250miles later car behaving impeccably again, hmm. Leaving things dry overnight.
Figure that being stuck in traffic that long would cause trouble but more annoyed with water leak (car was left outside last night - heavy rain) perhaps maybe window closure didn't work last night when showing car to rels, no obvious damage underneath.

Still love the car though! I'm sure its just teething problems.
Has anyone else experienced this problem when held up for v long periods in crawling traffic.

Regards

Chris (still surprisingly happy)

[madasahatter]

Chris.

Sorry to hear about your journey - I know what you mean about the car sitting in traffic, always a worry especially in Summer.

Mine sat in the M5 traffic in August this year with the A/C on, and the temperature seemed quite happy (my engine temp can rise to an indicated 100, but I think this is just the guage, since i have been told it is fine).

I cannot advise on the engine cutout, but the leaky door is something that I have too. I think the problem is actually in the door, and thus it needs to be stripped down to sort the problem out once and for all. THere are other threads on how to achieve this.

Certainly on mine (and I think on yours too) it is not the door seal giving up - the water is definitely coming through the bottom half of the door which seems strange at the moment but may be obvious once the door panel is removed.

I know of other people who have had to seal the cerbie up in this way, but then report that the car is totally waterproof afterwards - so it is easily possible to seal the car completely.

Best of luck - I need to get around to doing mine soon!!

Steve

[yellowcerbie]

Have recently noticed that there is a quarter inch gap between the rear of the passengers window and the car (when the window is closed). I am told that it can be fixed by tilting the window (in my case, not by me!).

>> Edited by yellowcerbie on Monday 30th December 13:47

[Chrissy G]

thanks steve

will do a search on "the leaking door scenario", before then I'll wait until things have dried out. Have a thorough look, when its light and dry before contacting dealer.

[s100 spb]

Hi Chaps

I have the same issue and am looking for the fix. First to find the thread wins! I'll post it here if I get to it first.

By the way, a larger leak may suggest the baulk head needs sealing up again. Andy at APM recently did this for me and I now just have the door dribble to sort. I mention Andy as he maybe useful for you as he's a Hampshire based AJP V8 specialist and general good egg. Cheers. Simon.

[Thom]

on mobil 1 0w/40 oil

hmmm...
Isn't this a bit too much fluid for the AJP8?
Please enlighten me

>> Edited by Thom on Monday 30th December 22:39

[s100 spb]

This might be useful. Plenty of info under door leak as a topic search. Cheers

(url)www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=6&t=24190

[madasahatter]

Thom.

I believe it 0w40 is a little thin for a Cerbie - I had heard that it leaks through certain seals. I also heard that due to its thin viscosity that it doesn't protect the engine right after startup quite as much as a slightly thicker oil.

Lots of care needed when first starting then!!

Steve

[whatever]

Not wanting to make any ad hoc diagnosis, but bear in mind that the ECU for the engine is located in the passenger footwell. If you are getting water ingress there, make sure that the water's not playing up the box of tricks.

I've moved to the motorsport version of Mobil 1. It's a bit thicker and my oil consumption decreased quite markedly.

[mlumb]

strange this door/car leaking thing.ive had both my doors apart several times to fit speakers,check wiring,retrim etc and have never resealed the doors in anyway,even the top rubber bit near the glass yet my car is bone dry.surely then not much water can come in through the doors? or maybe im just lucky.

[Chrissy G]

Car finally dried out, but still lets in water if left outside in rain overnight, made sure window closed fully, I think whats happening is water is leaking into door from outside via sill and then somehow gravitates to the footwell. Haven't managed to inspect car in good light and dry conditions yet but think it will be drier over the weekend so I'll let u know what I find. The passengers side is bone dry so maybe worth comparing two doors.