Wow what a mental night..
This:



Led me through many posts on here and spyderchat which led me to finding this:





Which I guess created a short that lead to the evap solenoid not working.

I tested the solenoid with a power pack and got my clicking sound so I think it works, and put it back together.



I then remembered reading about some posts how there was a 7.5 amp EF12 fuse  that kept blowing. So I had a look:



And sure enough:



So I replaced it with the kind that glow if they are blown.. should make future diagnosis easier..



Decided to run the car and then test to see if there was any pressure build up.
Turned car off, popped the fuel filler flap and... oh no.. flap would not open..   

Started a variety of investigations..








Left arm nicely shredded, and getting no where I had another look at the lever in the front.. and at last!




No idea how it came out of its spot.. maybe with all my wiring I must have done something...no idea.


Best flipping view ever 



And to finish it all off there was no hiss of gas when I opened the fuel cap! Yay! Now I just have to put the interior back together and again.. but that's for another day!

Hi all- thanks very much for the input!
I shall consider these all over the next week or so.. they'll only get bought post mapping. Speaking of which..
Ventured out a bit further today and managed to score a bunch of new error codes!

Got my usual running too lean malarky,
But then got heater circuit malfunction, which was new.. filled up with fuel and got a substantial hiss from the fuel tank- like way more than usual.
Cleared the codes and then got a P0443 evaporative emission canister purge valve- circuit malfunction canister purge valve malfunction.

Now, a while back when testing the bigger injectors I remember getting substantial "clicking" noises from the engine bay.. so I'm wondering if I need to test my purge valve...

I'm also thinking that since this is going standalone and the O2 sensors and purge valve solenoid can all be done away with it might not be worth pursuing at all..

I know Flevas don't get a lot of love on here, but I've got a set on mine and they're great in pretty much all conditions I've come across. I've never lost grip or aquaplaned even driving in some really horrible conditions, they're quiet and efficient.

However, I've only got the horrible cheap mis-matched set that the car came with to compare them to...

Quote from: jvanzyl on May  3, 2024, 21:59Thanks Alex - my wife might occasionally drive the car and it could be in rainy weather, she's by no means a fast driver etc but I'm assuming that if I said no faster than 60 in rainy weather then all should be absolutely fine?

If it's driven normally (wet or dry), there will be zero issues with your wife.

If she's interested in a bit of spirited driving, but you're not confident of her abilities in the wet, go for Uniroyal rain sports.

What you are looking for, unfortunately is a compromise.
With tyres, you can't have your cake and eat it I'm afraid.

Koni inserts can be used with standard springs.

My fave dampers for all rounder use - god enough comfort, good enough control for road blasting and a bit of track, well built, proper damping curves, decent value. Have had 3 sets on various cars now and they have all been great!

I stick with my opinion that the AD08Rs are unfortunately just not great in cold and wet. I was slipping all over the place and that's just fact. Even with calm daily driving, I had to take care on corners when I just set out. So much so that I used to have a bit fun a drift out of our street when it was wet and all I needed to do was steer in a bit harder.

In warm wet, fine. In cold dry, fine. In warm dry...fkin epic.
It could also be the roads here? Busy daily-drive roads up here are slippery, poorly maintained and badly draining.

Never had that issue with the NS20s and certainly never with withe RainSports. I did push the NS20s quite hard in the summer and they grip absolutely more than plenty for public roads with good predictability. RainSports were a bit snappy, kind of like T1-Rs.

I always got the AD08s in the end because of how epic they were those 20 days a year in the summer hehehe

@jvanzyl

If we lived closer I would lend you a set to try so you could judge for yourself.

Quote from: Alex Knight on May  3, 2024, 20:49I wouldn't consider the Fleva at all.

AD08RS gets a bad rep, because it didn't move the game on from the AD08R or AD08, but it's honestly still a really great tyre. You'll not regret it.

Thanks Alex - my wife might occasionally drive the car and it could be in rainy weather, she's by no means a fast driver etc but I'm assuming that if I said no faster than 60 in rainy weather then all should be absolutely fine?

Ever since a Marshall at Blyton park told me an entire fire engine could not extinguish a Lithium battery that caught on fire, I'm not ready to risk my car for a few KGs, especially on the road. I doubt even Senna would tell the difference in a comparatively lardy road car.

I wouldn't consider the Fleva at all.

AD08RS gets a bad rep, because it didn't move the game on from the AD08R or AD08, but it's honestly still a really great tyre. You'll not regret it.