sutty2006

Sat in the in-laws house and the heatings on about 25 degs. Sweating my testicles off now. 😭

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Sat in the in-laws house and the heatings on about 25 degs. Sweating my testicles off now. 😭

Finally got the matrix in. What a nightmare. Utterly crap. Gave up at about 2pm too cold, and the heating has packed up at home so been trying to fix that as well throughout the day. Nightmare. 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Sat in the in-laws house and the heatings on about 25 degs. Sweating my testicles off now. 😭

After selling my A6 le mans 3.0tdi jobbie (which I'm slightly unsure if it was such a good idea letting it go now) I replaced the very next day with a Lexus LS430
I'll put a link to the advert for your perusal.
TL;DR
Upshot is Ultra luxury package, 211k miles, broken things/things to do are:
Up/down motor for electric steering column
Rear tyres need replacing
Exhaust needs patching
Needs a timing belt (last one done 100k miles ago and 16 years a go... gulp)
Cam cover gaskets need resealing
Sunroof opens randomly (think this might be a slightly weak battery causing CAN to throw up some dodgy signals)
Heat shield needs removing for exhaust as its rattling.
Other than that it's a very solid motor especially for the miles, something you would expect to be on 100k miles if it was a euro example.
Think I'll need to get on the lexus forums for some advices.https://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/638478c328212/20221127_175829.mp4
 

This one slipped under my radar - what's the chances of Smyths getting them?

Probably just your store and a few others, so they can boast about them being reduced next week

Sat in the in-laws house and the heatings on about 25 degs. Sweating my testicles off now. 😭

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/1362580467818367/

I salute you @sutty2006 for your efforts in fixing the Carlton. Hope you have warmed up.

I wish you the best of luck. The 2.0 auto IS the best engine/powerhouse combo a guy could want. I’ve seen that listed a few times on evilbay and hummed about it. Ok it wants sills and a new fuse box. And if that’s it, then get it boughted. We can be auto Carlton buddies foreva! If that’s how the saying goes. Maybe. I dunno. 

Finally got the matrix in. What a nightmare. Utterly crap. Gave up at about 2pm too cold, and the heating has packed up at home so been trying to fix that as well throughout the day. Nightmare. 

Finally got the matrix in. What a nightmare. Utterly crap. Gave up at about 2pm too cold, and the heating has packed up at home so been trying to fix that as well throughout the day. Nightmare. 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

I had planned on updating this through the day, but things did not exactly go to plan! Started off fine, taking my friend Elaine as she speaks much better French than I do. Made good time from La Chatre sur le Loir towards Niort and stopped for a coffee at the last services on the A10 about 40 miles from Niort. It takes roughly 2.5 to 3 hours to cover the run.

Weather was great and Waze took me straight to the car park, where I failed to find anywhere to leave the trailer as all carparks were full and I made my first mistake. I decided the car park with the chod looked accessible, even if the height would prevent loading in the car park. Of course, once committed I found the exit was on the floor below and the turning points and the ramp curve were as tight as only the French could design. As a result, at each turn I had to disconnect the trailer, manhandle it around and the ramp had literally a half inch clearance  either side. Elaine could not believe I got it down!
Once I had found the chod I had gone for, I dropped the trailer and had a look at what I had acquired. Two flat tyres and a totally flat battery.

First job was to attach jump leads and see if any life could be coaxed.

After a couple of minutes, lights came on so I added my jump pack and gave it a turn. It was last started in September 21 (indeed it has not been touched since then) but it started first try. Amazing. Left it running and tried to air up the rear tyres. One took air, but the other refused and as locking nuts are fitted, I came to the conclusion it would still drive   Hitched the trailer back on and headed out and as some of the church crowd had gone, I found somewhere to park fairly close. Back to the new* one, another jump and we headed for the exit. I had been sent the pass card for the barrier but no matter what I did, the barrier stayed down.
After a couple of minutes a man appeared who explained he had seen us working on the Rangie, had phoned his boss, who instructed him not to let it out as over a years parking was owed! Eeek. I had been assured the parking was paid (since confirmed as being the case) but French bureacracy confused things and we were informed we would have to return tomorrow when the office was open. We persuaded him to phone his boss who despite not being at work on Sunday was in the area and came down to see us. At this point I was really pleased I had Elaine with me, and after an hour of discussion, showing lots of paperwork, taking photos of my licence etc he agreed to let us take the car as we promised to get in touch with the notaire who had been dealing with it to sort things out. A result, but it cost us 2 hours.
Once out of the car park, on 3 half flat tyres and one completely flat, I decided to push my look and park on a clearway half on the pavement with the flat tyre visible from the road, and left Elaine with it whilst I went for the trailer. Of course, just after I had left, the police stopped but they were apparently just concerned Elaine was OK. By this time I had collected the trailer and RR and was heading back, but of course fell foul of the one way system. As I turned into yet another one way street, I realised I was wrong so pulled over to check where I was. At this point a police car pulled up, told me the quick way back to "ma femme" and then stopped the traffic to let me reverse out of the one way street! Top guys.
Got to the car, drove it onto the trailer, strapped it down and headed out of town. Stopped at the same services for more coffee.

Took three and a half hours to get back due to reduced towing speed, but all was good. Now back at my place, where it was dropped off and I took Elaine out for dinner as a thank you. 
Tomorrow, I will see what I have got.

Finally got the matrix in. What a nightmare. Utterly crap. Gave up at about 2pm too cold, and the heating has packed up at home so been trying to fix that as well throughout the day. Nightmare. 

Finally got the matrix in. What a nightmare. Utterly crap. Gave up at about 2pm too cold, and the heating has packed up at home so been trying to fix that as well throughout the day. Nightmare. 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶
 

Blower motor is back in. Tested and had to tweak fan blades but all good now. 

 
the fun starts rebuilding this lot. It’s -3 outside 🥶