Ex Krujoe Pug 106 exhaust welding.

[spartacus]

So, in a continuation of today's frenzy of activity I've managed to sort out a long term running fault on the 'mini tractor', my girlfriend's lawn tractor that I bought for her to haul stuff around the paddocks where she keeps her horses.

There's a bit of a back story, which involves a fairly narrow track that runs next to a small carp pond then up a hill towards the paddock from the stable, My girlfriend's mum was driving the mini tractor down the hill, lost control and the tractor ended up nose diving into the pond up to the level indicated by the black line!

 

She dragged it out with her car and unbelievably it started straight away. Since then though it's slowly developed a running fault where it'll run progressively rougher then die. If you left it ten minutes or so it would often start up straight away. It had all the symptoms of crap in the float chamber, so tonight, in the dark and cold and snow I decided it would be a good idea to strip the carb and see what was what. The pictures show the rusty crap that I managed to clear out of the float bowl, satisfyingly the tractor fired straight up and ran perfectly once it was put back together.

 

 

And a couple of atmospheric shots to finish with...

 

The work light is a rechargeable LED affair from B and Q, the gloves are also from there and are cut resistant, they're great for this kind of work, not being too thick to dull any feeling.

[DodgeRover]

I left a couple of dishwasher tablets in for about a week when I flushed my van - I dropped the coolant and saved it - then flushed a couple of times with water then ran with water and dishwasher tablets, seemed to shift some rusty goo out judging by the stains on the road when I drained and refilled again. Fitting an auxiliary water pump to circulate water through the matrix is a quick and easy fix for not warm heaters.

[spartacus]

Thanks. I'll give it a try, I'd really like to have everything working on the car and this is the final sticking point!

[The Moog]

Fair play to you out in the snow doing that! Very hardcore shiting

[spartacus]

Ha ha, thanks dude! It kept Mrs Spart happy and that's what matters, she's worth it!

[tommotech]

Daz non-bio is also good for flushing and cleaning cooling systems. Usually better after the dishwasher tablets though.

[spartacus]

So, a brief update on the reliable* Golf mk3 GTi that let me down about three weeks ago.

It left me stand by the roadside with a mystery fault, after consulting the 'net and asking a few knowledgeable folk it first appeared to be a faulty ECU relay. After fitting a new genuine part it was still the same. I couldn't be bothered with the grief so had it recovered to AF Tuning in Chesterfield, the owner is a proper diagnostic wizard on this kind of thing and fairly quickly pulled a message it off the dash EPROM, I think, that told us the ECU had a fault. I took the numbers off it and ordered a used one from a seller on eBay. It came with the immobiliser ECU, transponder ring and chip too. That cured it, the ECU was only £65 so in a typical man maths, running an old car kind of way I've ignored the peripheral expenses and told myself it was a cheap fix! I'm just pleased to have it running again. I've learnt my lesson though and won't be selling my WBOD 106d until the weather is better and I've got another vehicle with enough seats for my and my girls.

[spartacus]

I threw a dishwasher tablet in to the cooling system of the 106 in the hope it would aid the ailing heater, I'll be honest, I don't think it's made much difference but at least I tried.

When I sold the Peugeot to doubleyeller the N/S driveshaft was clicking every now and then on a tight right hander. Presumably he went on a left hand spiral tour of Milton Keynes for a substantial portion of the 3500 miles he had it, when I got it back the driveshaft was clicking like a good 'un on every corner, when he text me last week to ask how I'd gone on changing it he was surprised to learn it was still going. I picked one up from a local factors for £36, which I didn't think was too bad. My girlfriend and I usually nip down to London on Christmas Eve, (from Yorkshire), so I thought I'd better change it. All in, including done messing about rigging up a gear oil filling pipe, the whole job took about an hour.

New driveshaft on...

 

A couple more pics to follow when I can get fucking imgur to work!

 

Helpful daughter on the brake pedal while I undid/did up the hub nut.

 

Gearbox 'filler'.

 

I found a length of 10mm copper pipe, with an upturned oil can cap stuck in the end filling was slow but accurate with the synthetic EP gear oil I found in my garage. It must have been a few years old, it was in a gallon container!

[doubleyeller]

I threw a dishwasher tablet in to the cooling system of the 106 in the hope it would aid the ailing heater, I'll be honest, I don't think it's made much difference but at least I tried.

When I sold the Peugeot to doubleyeller the N/S driveshaft was clicking every now and then on a tight right hander. Presumably he went on a left hand spiral tour of Milton Keynes for a substantial portion of the 3500 miles he had it, when I got it back the driveshaft was clicking like a good 'un on every corner, when he text me last week to ask how I'd gone on changing it he was surprised to learn it was still going. I picked one up from a local factors for £36, which I didn't think was too bad. My girlfriend and I usually nip down to London on Christmas Eve, (from Yorkshire), so I thought I'd better change it. All in, including done messing about rigging up a gear oil filling pipe, the whole job took about an hour.

New driveshaft on...

A couple more pics to follow when I can get fucking imgur to work!

I got pissed off with the lack of heat, the persistently failing front tyres and the increasingly ropey sounding front cv joint so I pulled a "Topcat" and sold Spartacus back his own no-good deal lol. Still, it got me about admirably enough, and Spartacus got it back (a bit) cheaper than he sold it me for. Pug 106's....... Fuggin shite Rubin!

[spartacus]

I'm hoping to address the lack of heat soon, it's annoying me too. The noise of the CV joint was such a part of the driving experience in missing it on right handers! It's much more pleasant to drive now though.

[doubleyeller]

I'm hoping to address the lack of heat soon, it's annoying me too. The noise of the CV joint was such a part of the driving experience in missing it on right handers! It's much more pleasant to drive now though.

 

Personally I would look to get a full Saxo interior in there whilst keeping the 106 steering wheel! The drivers seat is absolutely excellent, gets right under your knees. I noticed when I got into the original Peugeot passenger seat that time just what the difference was!

 

With power steering and a working heater I would like to have it back. But it hasn't so I don't!

[overrun]

Hey I had a 106D, bought from a mate. One of the inner CV’s clicked like a good ‘un for years in his ownership - and then mine.

 

It’ll be reet, man.

 

Nice job on the tractor.

[spartacus]

So, the little 106 has been running like a good'un, the only downside in this fine* weather being the lack of heater, a shame as it's proven itself to be a good car in the snow.

A week or so ago it started making a familiar tractor like noise, a bit of a surprise as I had recently reconstructed the down pipe and had replaced the rear box about 6 months ago. A quick look underneath revealed the rear box was somehow separated from the centre pipe.

I whipped it up on to the ramps and shuffled underneath to take a closer look. The flange on the rear box that attaches to the centre pipe had fractured all the way round, a bit disappointing for a part less than a year old! I could see that welding it up was going to be the quicker/easier option so I broke out the MIG and it was back in the car in under 45 mins.