It's entirely possible the car is well beyond the point where it makes sense to continue throwing time and money at it... That said, I'm fond of it, it makes me smile when I drive it and my eldest seems intent on inheriting it, should he ever get around to taking and passing his driving test.

He has his level one and two in Light Vehicle Maintenance, so could assist with the repairs and what have you, but seems not to want to... That leaves me, a knowledgeless, incompetent idiot to try and deal with all of this on my own.

Here's everything that's currently wrong. I'll post updates as and when I manage to resolve any of them. Will try to get pictures / videos if I remember and think they might be helpful to anyone else.

If anyone smarter or more knowledgeable than me has suggestions on how to fix any of this lot, please comment below... Like, subscribe, etc..

 

All the things wrong with my ’97, 2.6 Cabby…

 

• Ignition switch… Kinda broken, although the car still starts and a little faffing with the key gets the accessories to come on, so I can use the indicators, have working brake lights, etc. They all seem optional these days though, judging by everyone else I see on the road around here. Got a replacement module from zee Germans, which obviously wasn’t the right one, even though the part numbers matched. Got another, but that looks remarkably similar to the other wrong one, so not holding out much hope it’ll fit. Temporarily fixed with some superglue and gaffer tape, maybe that’ll last the winter and save me having to dismantle the dash again. A fella can be optimistic sometimes…
• Gauges not doing gauging… Oil Temp, Oil Pressure & Battery gauges not reading anything, although they are illuminated when the lights are on, so at least I can see they’re not doing anything.
• Engine temp gauge also not doing much of anything, unless the car is stationary and idling, when it seems to work just fine. Perhaps there’s no engine temperature when I’m driving due to the incredible speeds this quality vehicle is capable of… Nope, not that, guess I’ll have to fix it. Doesn’t seem to be air in the system and the fan comes on if the car’s left sitting and running… No idea what’s going on here.
• Hesitation / Lag on acceleration. Most noticeable going from 2nd to 3rd. Possibly injectors, although it’s had two lots of injector cleaner over four tanks of fuel and I only run it on Momentum 99. Maybe new injectors or lightening hoses..?
• Stereo won’t turn on. Temporarily fixed by wedging a bluetooth speaker next to the handbrake, but I guess between that and the gauge cluster not working maybe there’s some kind of power issue to the centre console...
• Blowers not blowing. Settings 1 and 2 are like an asthmatic vole wheezing in the direction of the windscreen, setting 3 is basically the same vole but after a couple goes on its inhaler. Still, indicates there’s power to the centre console, or at least to the blowers. Hot and cold dial seems to vaguely do hot and cold things… Might try flushing the heater core, don’t imagine it’ll make any difference but at least makes me feel productive.
• Roof hydraulics leaking. Seems to be worse on the drinkers side, guess I should check the fluid reservoir make sure it hasn’t all escaped. Fixing this seems like it might involve some actual knowledge and more than basic tools… Also feels like it’s a job that can wait till spring, when it isn’t cold, windy and damp and I might want to put the roof down. Must be complicated as all the local hydraulics specialists I contacted didn’t even bother replying… maybe it’s a coupe now…
• Door cards falling apart. Apparently spray adhesive doesn’t stick the vinylette back to the card, so maybe it needs Sticks Like !Removed! instead… Or could remove all the vinylette and paint them instead or have them retrimmed I guess is an option, but one that involves spending money I don’t have, so not a good option. Maybe just fashion some new door cards from acrylic or aluminium - lightweight racing door cards for extra speed and performance.
• Headlights… Seem to have been replaced with two anorexic fireflies… Tried polishing the glass, didn’t make any difference but at least they look clean now. Maybe some questionably legal high-power bulbs will fix this, or a set of rally lights so I can blind all the arsehats in their SUVs…
• Suspension… I’ve sat on firmer bouncy castles… Could replace with stock or maybe it’s time for some adjustable coilovers and a small height reduction, do something about that wheel-arch gap. At least that’s a job I can manage myself, kinda.
• Paint and body… Rubbery, plasticy trim things under the doors got all bendy and detached. Removed these and fixed with heat and moderate application of force. Need to clean up the fittings and see if that’s fixed the problem. Paint has some minor age related dints and dings, plus a massive gouge on the drinkers side, thanks to some goblin in the supermarket carpark… Probably another SUV driver, they seem universally unaware of the width of their pointless vehicles. Might be time for a respray if I can get all the actual problems fixed. Might Dip it as at least I can do that myself reasonably cheaply…
• Windscreen leaking… Looks like the rubber seal has failed with age, should be simple enough to clean out the old and gunk in some new black silicon or something. Temporarily, permanently fixed with gaffer tape, until spring at least.

I admire your determination Andrew, however I doubt you will find many folk here able to advise on such an old car, so maybe you need to cast your net a little wider by looking for classic car clubs dedicated to the marque.

Any progress is better than no progress...

 

Managed to figure out why the gauge cluster wasn't working - as expected it was a connection issue. Not sure how three individual plugs got pulled from behind the centre console but it seems they did...

Flushed the coolant system, which, as expected made absolutely no improvement. I think the water pump impeller is failing. Coolant is circulating around the engine, but not passing through the heater matrix with enough pressure. Sourced a replacement pump, but now struggling to get the old one out. 

Seems also that the exhaust has failed, between the manifolds and Cat - replacement section on its way, although might have to be a garage job to replace it as I only have short ramps.

Guessing this might be the cause of the acceleration lag and loss of power. One can only hope anyway... 

Stereo is dead, searching for a replacement that looks like and old cassette deck but is actually a modern bluetooth unit.

 

Many thanks for the update Andrew, and congratulations on your success so far. 
Re. water pump. Personally I am yet to have experienced water pump issues which relate to inadequate pumping - without letting you know it’s distressed and noisy. 
Sounds like you may have heater matrix partially- clogged issues, and might be well worthwhile investigating that possibility rather than concentrating on renewing the water pump.

Regards,

Gareth. 

2 hours ago, Magnet said:

Many thanks for the update Andrew, and congratulations on your success so far. 
Re. water pump. Personally I am yet to have experienced water pump issues which relate to inadequate pumping - without letting you know it’s distressed and noisy. 
Sounds like you may have heater matrix partially- clogged issues, and might be well worthwhile investigating that possibility rather than concentrating on renewing the water pump.

Regards,

Gareth. 

Thanks Gareth, 

It was a guess based on symptoms... I flushed the heater matrix and water seemed to be coming out as fast as it was going in. The first bucketful out was brown but by the second it was coming out fairly clean. Same with flushing the rad and the whole system had a dose of coolant flush through it but it didn't fix the problem of the heater only getting hot under load and the temp gauge not rising. Water pump seemed the next most likely culprit - it's still on the original so swapping it can't hurt as I've already bought one.

Thanks Andrew - thermostat??

10 hours ago, Magnet said:

Thanks Andrew - thermostat??

That was the first thing I replaced 🙂 - this is definitely a process of elimination 😆

Temp gauge goes up as it should, fan kicks on around 100 degrees - but only at idle. Once you're moving and the engine's under load it stays just over 0.

It might not be the water pump either, but I'm out of other ideas!

Edited October 29, 2025Oct 29 by Andrew Bell

OK Andrew - didn’t know that. Since you say all gauges are troublesome, not just the temperature gauge  - which is OK at idle- then it sounds as if you have intermittent electrical connection issues. 
Dealing with the temperature gauge issues, have you actually assessed the coolant temperature at idle and then when rev’d? There are cheap hand held temperature measuring devices available.

Just concentrating on the coolant gauge:- have you measured the varying resistance from the coolant temperature sender, or indeed renewed it?

Regards,

Gareth. 

1 hour ago, Magnet said:

OK Andrew - didn’t know that. Since you say all gauges are troublesome, not just the temperature gauge  - which is OK at idle- then it sounds as if you have intermittent electrical connection issues. 
Dealing with the temperature gauge issues, have you actually assessed the coolant temperature at idle and then when rev’d? There are cheap hand held temperature measuring devices available.

Just concentrating on the coolant gauge:- have you measured the varying resistance from the coolant temperature sender, or indeed renewed it?

Regards,

Gareth. 

I "fixed" the oil temp, pressure & voltage gauges - turns out they were just unplugged.

I don't have a temp sensor, but the pipes in/out of the rad both get hot either under load or if I leave the car at idle for long enough. The pipe into the heater matrix also warms up, although the one out doesn't get anywhere near as warm. There is flow through the matrix though, just not much - which is why I flushed it, thinking it was a blockage.

I've cleared an airlock, but that required getting the front wheels up on ramps to get enough pressure through the matrix for air to be pushed out of the bleed valve. 

Wouldn't know where to start with measuring resistance - electrics escape me. I don't think the sender unit has been replaced, certainly not in the ~13 years I've had the car. Don't even know where it is. Probably worth doing though, if it's not that at least I know there's a new one installed and can eliminate it from the fault finding.

Oh - and the heater warms under load, but at idle it's barely above cold with the dial set to hottest. So could also be a faulty heater matrix I guess?

Edited October 29, 2025Oct 29 by Andrew Bell

The car must be fitted with a coolant temperature sender if it has a temperature gauge. Its function is that its resistance varies according to changes in the coolant temperature. This change in resistance alters the current to the gauge.

Have you got a Haynes manual ( or similar ) for this car? If not, it’s a must have. Try EBay

2 hours ago, Andrew Bell said:

I "fixed" the oil temp, pressure & voltage gauges - turns out they were just unplugged.

The pipe into the heater matrix also warms up, although the one out doesn't get anywhere near as warm. There is flow through the matrix though, just not much - which is why I flushed it, thinking it was a blockage.

Oh - and the heater warms under load, but at idle it's barely above cold with the dial set to hottest. So could also be a faulty heater matrix I guess?

These symptoms suggest you still have a restriction or partial blockage in the heater matrix. A cleaning fluid and reverse flushing under pressure may clear it, but there is no certainty it will.