The end of the road

The coolant issue is common as muck. All C1's nearly need to be just a smidge over the max mark. The battery light being on could be a wire off or blown fuse from a short maybe when refitting everything. The pump, probably wants bleeding in all honesty. These things won't take half an hour to go through.

The clutch will be the bigger issue. If the slave was refitted and even slightly off sync, it will have split seals and dumped fluid inside the box. That doesn't sound the case if the hydraulic fluid reservoir is full. Could be an air lock perhaps that when the clutch is under pressure is weakening along the line? Maybe the rubber hose was snagged on removal or refit causing it tu "bulge" under pressure when the pedal is down and when the clutch is engaged? Either way it's a box out. Easiest way is indeed to undo the steering column in the drivers footwell and lower subframe complete. You can actually do this without undoing any PAS hoses however it sounds like it might be worth draining the system and refilling?

After all all the efforts gone into the big swap over, it would be a crying shame to break the car for the sake of a few hours exploratory work and accurate diagnosis. You could pull the rubber seal up fron around the bleed nipple on the top of the bell housing and maybe use a USB periscope/camera to have a peek inside the box without pulling it. I'm sure someone might have such a gadget. That short amount of juice and minor effort might change the game? It might save the car or it might absolutely concrete it's fate.

Worth a sleep on ;)
 
I have an endoscope camera Steve's welcome to borrow. I wouldn't be able to make a trip to MK until next weekend but if anyone is passing my way I'll gladly hand it over.
 
Guys put the clutch aside for a moment and still it just drove horribly, I can't explain why but the car felt awful and about as far removed as you can get from the smooth running car I had last week.

Add up the other stuff, factor in the worsening tin rot...

I'm done with it.

I may buy another but not sure yet.
 
It is up to you mate at the end of the day mate how can I convice you or anybody for that matter to keep a car you have fell out with. One a personal experience it is harder to get rid of the car because you simply cannot afford to run it and then you turn into a bus ******.
 
I'm staggered, but understand totally where you are coming from Steve, as most of the gang is aware with my own experience with S97/DG. Niggles are bound to be inbuilt when so much work is undertaken by any group of people but ignoring the minor issues, obviously the clutch needs looking at and i see two possibilities ie: either the fluid faults as suggested already, or, and this is a very rare occurance, but could the friction plate possibly have been loaded onto the shaft backwards?
Sleep on it Steve, damn, you talked me round more than once and i'm sure if you hold for a sunny day, have a fresh look at things, it won't seem quite so bad. Obviously, if the clutch is slipping, it's going to be a crap drive and every other minor issue is going to add to the pain but take a break, and think about what the real issues are with your car.
Yes it's your choice, but you've put a lot of hours into your car to just blank it over night.

My 2p ;)
 
When you say it drove horrible, how exactly. Many faults have occurred on refit simply from not fitting the earth strap that goes to the front of the bell housing (top left corner as you look at the bolt layout from the passenger side wing) cleanly and securely. These cars are over sensitive to earth connections and the integrity of loom connections. Worth a gander.
 
V6SINGH said:
When you say it drove horrible, how exactly. Many faults have occurred on refit simply from not fitting the earth strap that goes to the front of the bell housing (top left corner as you look at the bolt layout from the passenger side wing) cleanly and securely. These cars are over sensitive to earth connections and the integrity of loom connections. Worth a gander.
Click to expand...

so true, when i replaced the engine in my scorpio i had a ton of elec faults causing lights coming on and misfiring for months b4 i ironed them out.
if the car drove fine b4 the change then it can only be problems caused by the moving it all about.
is the clutch your original one off the old engine or one from the donor?, not dissing anyones mech abilitys here but if the clutch was removed from the old engine and put on a different flywheel it could be wear mismatch..if its new(pressure plate incl) has anyone considered the part could be faulty...its happened to me twice, once on a rover and on a p100 pickup truck i had..it slipped badly when the engine was hot yet was fine when cold...they said the pressure plate was faulty, it expanded when hot and moved against the release bearing causing slight disengagement..
as for rust, you can put years on a car just by spraying oil on it all. not the proper way i know ,you cant beat rubbing down to metal and proofing but it will make it last a while longer.why does everyone get scared when they see a patch of rust!
if your shovel in the garden got rusty would u throw that away?
if however its holed then thats a different matter..but even bigcatdazzers car which had massive holes around the jacking points was solid generally,we stuck a camera in the sills and they were still nice and grey/solid after the hole.
i understand how you feel though ,nothing worst than slugging your guts out all over the weekend only to discover things havent gone right at all..ive just had to put 3 alternators on my car the 3rd i refurbed my old one as the tw8t kept giving me faulty new ones! ..jeess did i swear at it...and ebay!
let others look at it first ,after a job like that a fresh mind can find solutions a tired mind can't..
 
Ive been where you are Steve with one of my Cougars, spent a fortune fixing problems on it and it kept throwing more at me and like you I fell out of love with it and sold it despite the support and encouragement of forum members to give it a last chance and a few hours fettling. About a week after selling it when I got my composure back and stopped sulking I realised what a mistake I had made and wished I had kept it, acting in haste when totally pissed off is understandable but try and step back for a day or so and think on it, just give it one more try to try and sort it. What harm could a few more hours spent on it trying to sort it do and if its still not fixable then go down the route you have planned for it. I wish I had given my ebony cat that chance as I regret it now.
 
I was in your position mate with mine and sadly I regret flogging her but I totally understand how you feel but it would be a real shame to write off hundreds of hours of hard work from yourself and the other club members without spending a couple more hours of exploratory work to see what's happened and if you still don't want to keep her after that it will at least help everyone to understand what went wrong to help other guys who do engine swaps in the future.
 
Well she's gone but not without a fight...

chained up and ready to lift...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WcbEPr]20140904_131846_zps0bcapqc6 by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

and the nose got wedged under the back of the truck...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/W8P7gw]20140904_131850_zpsna3h3ipg by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

dumped it down and tried again...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/WcbEAa]20140904_132038_zpsb13dpuqg by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

nope...
[url=https://flic.kr/p/W8P73W]20140904_132518_zpspilitmwd by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

20140904_132529_zpsvrn0ljux by Steve Morris, on Flickr

drop it back in the road

[url=https://flic.kr/p/W8P6NY]20140904_132707_zpsnhhkgg2m by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

and try this end

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WcbEbH]20140904_133019_zpsbiz61y3q by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

[url=https://flic.kr/p/W8P6wf]20140904_133021_zps9vvwh1yf by Steve Morris, on Flickr[/URL]

Bye dead cat...

[url=https://flic.kr/p/WoKwQT]20140904_133138_zpsqyr0wydq by Steve Morris, on Flickr
[/URL]
 
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She won't be forgotten mate.
Before I put the bumper on mine I think I'll paint her reg number on the inside. Not for show, but I'll know its there.
 
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