1990 el sportrak questions


hello folks...

just bought a 1990 sportrack el, which im chuffed about Smile I've never driven a 4x4 before and apologise if the following questions seem moronic Blush

what setting should the dampers be on for road driving? im assuming that you'd use the H setting for offroading?... its on N at the mo, and seems ok... so whats S for and when would you use it?

I've been reading some of the threads on here, and theres a bit of talk about automatic and manual hubs....what are they.. where are they.. and if i dont have to turn anything to get it into 4wd does that mean they are automatic? .. yes yes.. i know the questions are getting blonder....theres better to come Blum 3

On my way home tonight, im crawling up the motorway in 1st gear, and whenever i dipped the clutch the engine was still revving at about 2000 rpm (i've had it less than 2 days but it does idle around 900-1000 rpm sometimes) even when i shifted gears, the revs didnt drop, just stayed the same at 2000 and climbed from there...after id got back up to speed for a bit, and stopped again it was idling away at 900 again. im thinking its maybe the throttle cable sticking or freying... anyone had this problem with theirs? ...is it likely to be something else?....


Bonjour! H,N,S could be Hard

H,N,S could be Hard, Normal, Soft.. Normal or Hard for the road, Soft off to give compliance, but the general concensus is that they don't really do much, and chances are your's have long since been replaced by standard shocks as the originals are about Ã‚Â£170 each whereas standard shocks are about Ã‚Â£30 odd...

The idle problem could be an airleak or blocked jet? I think you have a carbed model do you not? Enlighten me further..

Oh, and you now not to use th

Oh, and you now not to use the 4wd on dry tarmac don't you? Sorry, not trying to patronise, but this is really important if you don't know as it will cause torque wind up and possibly snap an axle... It's a good idea to find some gravel track at least to run in 4wd occasionally. I think your hubs are manual locking? In which case yo uhave to get out and engage them before true 4wd takes effect? Then disengage them just as you switch out of 4wd and re enter tarmac, but I'm sure someone who has them will pop along soon and join in...

Oh, and here's some off roading tips for those boring evenings with nothing better to do:

revving up

im pretty sure theres a carb sitting under the air filter.... i attacked the throttle mechanism last night with wd40 as it looked pretty gunked up... took it for a drive and its not as bad as it was... going to have a proper poke about at the weekend.. thoughts of sitting on the m1 in traffic with the engine screaming does nothing for my nerves.... Smile

as for these hub thingys.... have these got anything to do with the funny bolt looking things sticking out of the wheels?... long bolts.. one on each wheel that are different from the other wheel nuts?..... are these the things i turn to lock the hubs?... sorry...

Ill Keep the dampers on N just in case, and no i didnt know that you shouldnt use 4wd on tarmac... thanks for that... id definately prefer to keep the axle in one peice! Smile

Yep, that's the hub thingies.

Yep, that's the hub thingies... There should be a thingy in the middle bit of the big thingy that you can turn. One way says Lock the other probably Unlock... If i had any idea where the hell I keep the owners handbook, I'd give you a more indepth lesson, but basically, you want 2WD and hubs unlocked on the road.

Good luck! Biggrin

hub things

ok.. i have located the bolts... so far so good... one of them has like a screw thing in the top which is mashed beyond belief, and the other three have a hole in the middle with a visible thread.... am i to understand that the bits which should be in the middle of these big bolts are the bits u turn to lock the hubs...... apologies for the lack of technical detail....need a haynes manual or similar Lol

As for this revving problem.... had a look under bonnet again in the light tonight.... if my air filters sitting on a carb, its the most complicated carb ive ever seen.... far too many hoses and what i can only describe as little flying saucers (i know i know dumb blonditis).. the engine was replaced at 80,000 miles so its probably got injectors?... but i found a hose thats been connected at both ends with single strand fine grade wire.... not surprisingly the hose slips on and off the bits its connected to easily.. so i think it might just be drawing air.... gotta fix it asap cos this motor has worse fuel consumption than my 320i G reg beemer! i got a whole 103 miles to 20 quid!!! Not to mention im being periodically gassed by petrol fumes Lol

thanks for all your patience and info


Looking at the picture of your Sporty, the hubs look like Automatic ones to me. Wink

The extra long wheel nut is p

The extra long wheel nut is probaably a security nut, to help prevent the local scrots from having the wheels away. The Free Wheeling Hubs are located in the centre of the front wheels. If there is a 'dial' in the centre, which you can twist between teo stamped marks (Free and Lock) then they are manual. If there is just a large 'dome' with no dial, they are automatic.



ok so they are automatic Smile one less thing to fanny about with... Lol


Auto is good. They will engag

Auto is good. They will engage when you slap it in 4wd, but to disengage them you have to go into 2wd then reverse in a straight line about 3ft or metres, can't remember, then pootle off.

Have fun...

Damper Settings

I keep mine on N - Normal for road use as Hard is too hard and you feel every bump in the road, and I found that the wheels "skipped" as well.

I found Soft a liitle too soft when it came to cornering, the body tended to lean over more.