Hi All

[Steve H]

I've been getting (and using!) some good information from this site for some time so thought it was time I came clean and introduced myself.

My name is Steve Hunt and live in North London. I bought Monty at a car auction in 1988, so this means I've had it as my sole means of transport for the last 17 years - is this a record or is it just sad?

For the record the registration is E590WHL and its a 1600 petrol engine.

It was just a baby of four months when I first got it which was just as well because it was still under the manufacturer's guarantee (the ECU had some faults from new - replaced FOC).

It's showing its age now - had to get some welding done for the first time this year to get through the MOT. It's very rarely (I think only twice) seen the inside of a garage apart from MOT, these occasions being heavy work I can't take on myself due to lack of facilities.

However, there are now a few problems that I hope you folks can help with - basically the engine is starting to sound like a traction engine, but I'll post this on the technical page when I've found out some more.

Monty has got to be reliable because it takes me up to North Yorkshire once a month so if I can't sort it all out I'll need to look for something else. Pity because I've kinda got attached to the old girl.

Steve

[Beaker]

Hi Welcome to the forums :beer:

[e692wtt]

Welcome to the forums. And I thought I was doing well having owned my 1988 model year (late 87) Monty for 8 1/2 years... :laugh:

They're not complicated cars, post something about the faults up and we'll do our best to help :) .

[Steve H]

Thanks for the welcome. I'll agree they're not too complicated (as cars go nowadays). Some of the closed-loop electronic set-ups on more modern systems set my teeth on edge and I KNOW it'll be down to a garage to sort problems out if I give in and have to buy one :horror: . However, for now Monty and me rub along OK..................

Just in the process of measuring valve clearances so I'll be back soon.

Steve

[tony]

Monty has got to be reliable because it takes me up to North Yorkshire once a month so if I can't sort it all out I'll need to look for something else. Pity because I've kinda got attached to the old girl.

Steve
hi steve and wellcome , its a nice part of the country to go to , what kind of mileage is on your car when you got your car , and whats on it now ?

[Steve H]

Hi Tony,

Well, I first got the car as one of three that were being sold at auction together. The three had consecutive number plates being sold by a car hire company. It was September 1988 so I reckon they were clearing out the old registration models to get in the new ones. They might also have heard that four star fuel supplies were about to be ditched and didn't want the bother of dealing with soft valve seats.

It had about 8,000 miles on the clock (probably about right for a four month old hire car). The only things I could see wrong were a nick out of the windscreen on the nearside and a broken wing mirror. Apart from the ECU fault fixed under guarantee it was clean. Considering I saved £5,000 by buying at auction rather than a dealer I could have afforded the engine to fall out the following day and still been in pocket.

It's now done 148,000 miles so has served very well over the years. Not that high a mileage but I haven't used it to travel to work.

Steve