1991 Lancia Dedra 2.0ie - "Living with my Dedra"

[ian.cleary]

"think I've been hooked by this dull and unworthy, unremarkable and staid badge-engineered Fiat ";-)

  Ian, go and wash your mouth out with carbolic soap at once

0.5l of oil isn't bad at all, Pebbly Beach told me when I bought my first Dedra back in 1992 that it wasn't uncommon for them to use a drop of oil as they were "designed to do that" nonetheless it used to do about 1500miles to the pint until I blew a head Gasket at about 118K, after that it never did more than a 1000 miles to a pint of oil, so unless your really sure it's necessary I'd be inclined to leave it with the head intact, I also used semi-synthetic with a can of Wynns at every oil change.
It was the only one of mine that ever had the head off, and was still going strong when I sold her at 150k, only problem was the fella I sold her to (who worked for me) thought it a good idea to cut a bit off the coil springs & completey knackered the electronic shockers in very short order, which up to then had been fine.

I winced at the thought of someone wiping sand off your paint with a cloth

Like yourself, these days I always use colour magic with a major clean and in between a Meguires spray wipe on wipe off polish.

The power steering pump just probably needs topping up, I can't remember anyone changing one, they sometimes get a bit noisy on full lock if the belt is a bit loose though.

Brian
8227

Thanks for that Brian, that's reassuring stuff. You'd mentioned previously about the "designed to use oil" aspect of the Lampredi engine, and now I've got a few miles under my belt with her I've got the yardstick I guess. If I get to more than 1ml per mile then I'll look into it but in other aspects the engine purrs nicely, runs well and there are no untoward knocks or rattles at this time. I shall monitor things but otherwise let her be. With the PAS noise, I'll look at the adjustment on the belt, that's a good thought, shall check with the technical data and get it within tolerances for oil and tension and see how it is then... it's noticably quieter when it's warmed up.

LOL @ the reprimand for my Fiat-slurring... I've been re-reading the contemporary roadtests and LMC publications 

Having driven a few Tipos when they were newish I actually quite like them, in particular I thought that the 1.4 was quite nippy and a lot of car for the money, and the 16v was a monster. The Dedra / Tipo / Tempra floorpan is clearly a good 'un and I enjoy driving the Dedra immensely.

Question for the buffers amongst you: Is it possible to provide Lancia with my chassis number and obtain (at cost I imagine) a certificate of build, showing the cars OE specification and any options added at the time of build (excluding dealer fit, naturally)?

Might hunt down some of the Meguires that you mention, Brian. Is it one of these that you "don't need to wash" before applying? I'm a bit wary of those... I'd prefer something to apply after a wash, leather and a few hours drying time.

[fay66]

Question for the buffers amongst you: Is it possible to provide Lancia with my chassis number and obtain (at cost I imagine) a certificate of build, showing the cars OE specification and any options added at the time of build (excluding dealer fit, naturally)?
Hi Ian, Would suggest Fiat Uk is the best place to try, Tim Speechley     tim.speechley@fiat.com  He's a pretty busy man & he might not thank me, but I'm sure he can point you in the right direction assuming that information is available

Might hunt down some of the Meguires that you mention, Brian. Is it one of these that you "don't need to wash" before applying? I'm a bit wary of those... I'd prefer something to apply after a wash, leather and a few hours drying time.

When I get "Fay" out on friday ready for Silverstone Classics, I'll have a look and tell you exactly what the name is, & it is an apply after washing

Brian
8227

[ian.cleary]

Cheers Brian

Big day tomorrow as it's the first long run in the Dedra, am down in London with work for the next couple of days. Fortunately I have an underground carpark that I use... currently housing this:



Shall see if I can get a shot of the Dedra and it's Germa... *cough* Italian cousin together 

Fingers crossed, some of the parts I've been hunting should start arriving this week... starting with a stock of NOS Lancia filters and belts 

Wish me luck on my adventure, gave her a check over and a quick wash tonight and changed the n/s headlight bulb (dash check didn't pick that one up).

[fay66]

Hi Ian,
Good Luck
You may see I've made mention of a lot of Dedra HF turbo bits on ebay, A friend has just told me that the seats (in blueish grey alcantara) are Recaro's and as scarces as the proverbial rocking horse doo do.
Well worth a look if the colour will go, he is also selling a original fit leather steering wheel, I had one on K452 PLk, and it was lovely.

Brian
8227

[ian.cleary]

Well, a work trip scuppered quite a few of my plans for eBay hauling the last week or so, and am exhausted!

I lost a few auctions, had to take some further drives and identified a few more challenges to work through on the car:

1) Steering pump: becoming really noisy, I've replaced the fluid with Slick50 PAS fluid and it's calmed things down a bit but a new pump needs to be sourced
2) N/S/R wheel bearing: has become noisy, had a flip through the manual and looks like the bearing is part of the hub and not available separately... hmmm, great design there Lancia 
3) Front end clunk: I'm thinking that this is either a track-rod-end or a ball-joint, it's not pronounced but I'm noticing it when turning at a halt or when on cobbles / speed humps. It's not a top-mount, different noise.

So looks like I need to plunk down for TDC membership and get some parts ordered and fitted, all good fun stuff and should keep the car driving nicely 

[ian.cleary]

Been another busy week and have put another 500 motorway miles on the Dedra as a result 

1) I've swapped out the PAS pump and it's now purring like a kitten... yay!!
2) My screenwash ran low and the checklight came on, I filled it up and the checklight stayed on... not so yay (any quick tips from the Dedristi before I grab the manual and my testlight?)
3) Wheel bearing really noisy now... cannot tune it out and so need to get that sorted pretty quickly
4) Thanks Alan for the mail about the clunk... looks like a pattern part is fitted there but there's also some play in the n/s trackrod end
5) ICV causing the cold idle to play up again, need to get it off and clean it out. Been almost 2000 miles since I did it which doesn't seem very long... shall have to try some gentle solvent in there to clean it all out.
6) Front tyres are a bit long in the tooth, if I'm going to be buying two tyres then I should consider carefully what I'm doing about wheels and either get mine reconditioned at the same time or if I'm going to change wheels then sort myself out and get the timing right on wheels and tyres.

Been an expensive month (thanks TFL for the congestion charge penalties... that helped  ) so I've not got the free cash to grab parts until the end of August now, so shall be trying to keep the miles down until then.

[fay66]

Hi Ian,
Glad the power steering pump is now purring.

Windscreen wash warning light, gently prise the sender out of the washer tank and clean up, as I recall it's it has a float around the central core which tends to get gunged up with the screen additive residue, & while you're at it clean the terminals, with a bit of luck that should fix it.

Rear Wheel Bearings only available from Fiat/Lancia as the complete Hub & Bearing although both sides use the same hub, however if you do go this route check first if you have ABS, if so you require 46425959 (£132.49 list 2005). or non ABS 51754192 (£50.45 List 2005).
however if you go onto ebay europe enter item 230279677965 then go to the sellers shop, once in there in the search put Lancia, you will find that they will supply Hub Asms with or without phonic rings, single bearing kits, or a kit with 2 of everything you need at very reasonable prices.

Idle Control Valve, the clean out you did doesn't seem to have lasted long! I usually leave it upside down to soak overnight, filled with WD40, Plus Gas or your favourite cleaner, a good work out of the centre valve against it's (strong) spring, then another flush out usually works, if this doesn't work then I think you're in the market for a replacement; I have read elsewhere, but I can't remember where, that you can take it completely apart to clean, as this involves a strong spring & visions of it shooting off behind the workbench somewhere never to be found, & making sure everything lines back up the way it was, I'd sooner not

Dedra's always look best on OEM Wheels, although you can go to 195x15 tyres & 15" wheels as fitted to Dedra Turbo, I was always unhappy at the coarse ride these gave, compared to the excellent ride on standard 14" Dedra Alloys.

Sounds like you need a set of Dutch Number plates

Brian
8227

[ian.cleary]

LOL, it's Polish plates round here Brian...

Took your advice on the screenwash sender, and somehow it removed the warning lamp... YAY! (I've even drained the screenwash reservoir to see if it came on when empty and went off as I filled it - yup!). Option 2 would have been to disconnect it, but nice to have these things working. I always feel like letting something like this fall out of use is the thin end of the wedge when it comes to maintainence

Again, the wheel bearings... had a look on the eBay links and looks very reasonable. I'm assuming that these are decent quality parts and the vendor is good? Do you have experience with this seller?

With the ICV I think I'm going to try some PlusGas in there, but also got a very interesting mail from Alan about possible causes (crankcase breathing sounding a very plausible cause...). In the longer term I shall look into the breather filter and Delta HPE ICV possibilities he mentioned - another mine of information on Dedra, Alan certainly knows his onions and his knowledge of my actual car is pretty handy too

Wheels... yes.... well in a case of ambition outpacing spending power I dropped into Zagato a couple of weeks back and was looking at refurb wheels... they can do either 14" Dedra, 15" Dedra Turbo or 15" Delta HPE (they might have been 16"... but they were smaller than the Evo rims next to them) at quite reasonable prices. I've not found anything aftermarket that I'd feel truly happy with, am just a bit too skint right now.

On a tangent though... I've noticed how there is an eerie similarity between my Dedra and the styling of the current Honda Accord. I know that the Accord name is not that exciting but (shoot me if you like) I've always thought that this generation is quite a handsome car... and it's a bit Dedra-ish to boot. Now, the Accord has a style of wheel that is a very plain, very flat anthracite 5 spoke and I think they'd look great on a Dedra, especially if a few mm was shaved from the ride height (this is daydreaming territory... my wallet just imploded at the thought of a full suspension overhaul and some Ohlins for each corner  )





I've always found the "face" of the Accord a bit Lancia-like 

[fay66]

Hi Ian,

Polish plates even better but I don't have any of those but Dutch plates !!!!
And another little irritation bites the dust, pleased the warning lamp now works as it should.

Re ATP-Autoteile, I have no personal experience of them but I've been checking them on ebay, they have a 99.5% feedback rating for the last twelve months, in that time they've sold over 90k items. they give a 2 year warranty on parts.
Admitted they have had quite a few neutral feedback, getting on for 400, and a handful of negatives; quite often the neutral feedback is due to shipping times, not what the buyer thought he'd bought etc, the Negative ones are obviously the more important but looking through about 30 pages of feedback I only found one, and this appeared to be that a damaged part had been received and not sorted out properly.
Taken in the context of the 90k sales, the neutral & Negative reports are not bad.
I note he's been selling on ebay for 9 yrears so he's well established.
bottom line is I'd be happy to deal with them.

As I've said before Alan & Steve are both well up on Dedra as well as other Lancia.

I often though about fitting Delta Hpe wheels as they are a nice looking wheel, also much easier to keep clean & they don't corrode like Dedra Alloys, I think Lancia have learnt the lesson regarding polished alloys. Don;t know if I'sve said so before but the Anthracite wheels from the Ypsilon Elefantino Rosso look good on Dedra, tried on once off of my Rosso on one of the Dedra's and it looked good.

See what you mean about the Accord! I like the wheels but I think they show too much of the brakes for my liking.


Brian
8227

[chugga boom]

erm what do ya recon to my wheels 16" delta hpe rims with 195 45 16 , nice ride on koni dampers with standard springs, fill the arches but don't fowel even with 5 adults in (looked cool rediculasly low with 5 in it )

[ian.cleary]

erm what do ya recon to my wheels 16" delta hpe rims with 195 45 16 , nice ride on koni dampers with standard springs, fill the arches but don't fowel even with 5 adults in (looked cool rediculasly low with 5 in it )

Drool!!!! They look lovely James!

BTW: sorry about having not been in touch, work and then holidays have been bonkers. However I'm still really keen to get some of those bits from you, so if it's OK to give you a call and sort this out then please let me know :-)

[ian.cleary]

And yours looks like my favourite colour... met bordeaux?

[chugga boom]

ROSSO SPEED .......appropriate very similar to winner red, anytime that suites you

[Philm]

The tool for the rear calipers locates in a slot in the piston and reacts against the caliper body. You can then wind in the piston and push it at the same time. Halfords sells them for around £10-20 I think. I do not know where abouts you are or I would offer to lend you mine.

[ian.cleary]

Was sooooooo sad. The wheel bearing didn't arrive in time so we had to go Auto Italia in the Laguna while Dedra sat alone in the garage... 

Had a great day though and am looking forward to getting her back on the road this week and with some fresh rubber under the arches. There was no auto jumble at Auto Italia, which was a mild disappointment... but there was a lovely burgundy (speed red?) turbo for sale... mmmmm