fatharris

Few small jobs this weekend - firstly, the Beat has been booked in for a custom exhaust section that links the downpipe and the backbox - £240 all in, including fitting, I'm not going to argue at that price, hopefully that'll enable another MOT. In the meantime, the Beat has been evicted from the cosy garage, because it's the turn of the big grey pain in my ass to have another spell of residence - I'm hoping to have a chance to work on it in the coming weeks, but that's always subject to life/work/kids/other cars/pints. Didn't bother trying to start it - it didn't happen last time, I presume its out of fuel. Pushed easily enough uphill though: The following day saw a day trip up to Plymouth with the family in the Rover - all worked nicely with no mishaps. Noticed some fluctuations on the boost gauge when going through the rev range, I think there's a small leak somewhere. Still pulled lovely though. Today, with my assistant building something for his playhouse - think he was making a 'water pump' : I knocked up a heatshield for the diesel heater exhaust - I added the nuts as spacers to give the plate some clearance from the wood for better heat dissipation, and to prevent the screws from piercing the unit: And screwed it in place - Had it running on max chat for over an hour and all was fine - it won't be run for that long at that heat level during normal usage, so I'm calling that a win. Did notice the diesel pump has started leaking from the body though, so a new one will be ordered/fitted.

As it has been precisely approximately 12 months since the last big job was carried out to the garage (insulation in between the roof joists with two layers of celotex), it was time to do this years job. I'd bought an infrared heater last year, which was lovely when on, but wasn't a lasting heat. With 'leccy prices remaining high, it was time to search for an alternative solution, and a diesel heater was routinely touted as the answer to my prayers. I waited until summer this year when prices would be lower before pulling the trigger on one. I didn't want it to be at floor level, or to be in the way at all, so it had to be elevated, and I wanted the exhaust to be out of the building as soon as possible, without the entire unit being outside. That left just one location - the shelf above the garage door. The location for the remainder of the kit required was mocked up to get an idea of what would be required, and where: The intended routing of the exhaust marked in orange - proper technical drawing skills on here! So, onto the very first job - fitting the vertical pickup fuel pipe in the tank. Piece of cake, right? Bollocks, Yep, somehow I got all turned around, measured zero, drilled once, and didn't realise my cockup until I went to mount the tank. No worries, solution procured, courtesy of the ratchet strap that was holding the Laguna's fuel tank a few months ago Eventually, with no photos because I was actually quite busy on it, but eventually I had everything all plumbed in - the power cables were extended to allow the battery to be mounted adjacent to the fuel tank - this has a smart charger fitted 24/7 as well - the units require a cooldown programme prior to shutting down, and in the event of a power cut, the unit could become heavily damaged as a result due to overheating, this makes the battery an essential bit of kit. The ducting will be replaced for longer items in due course - this was just to test the system - ideally the heater output will be at floor level to allow the heat to travel through the full height of the building. A longer exhaust ended up being used - still not 100% happy with the routing of it. The battery used also wasn't up to the job, so was swapped out for my mate's surplus Shogun battery. There was not a lot of wiggle room with regard to the routing of the fuel, exhaust and intake pipework. With the work done, it was time to fill with diesel, prime it and give it a test run. How did it work? Bloody lovely, is how. Even with the shoddy duct routing and on the lowest setting, the back of the garage thermostat reported an increase of about 5c in four hours. The fuel pump was initially mounted into the underside of the shelf via a rubber mount, but the constant 'clicking' sound was incredibly loud - following advice from other users, the rubber mount was suspended by a cable tie, which has lowered the noise considerably. It's still very noticeable though, but isn't a problem as I always have music on in the garage. My biggest concern was the exhaust routing and proximity to the wooden shelf - I've removed as much adjacent wood as possible and it clearly didn't burst into flames, but I will be adding some form of metal heat shield around the area, to allow better heat dissipation. I want to try and change the routing at the other end too, to route the tail end of the exhaust round the corner from the garage door to reduce the risk of the fumes being blown back in. I'll also be investing in a smoke and CO alarm, because that's just common sense. If anyone was planning to have one of these Chinese diesel heaters, I'd recommend upgrading the jubilee hose clips (the factory ones are shite), and reading the installation instructions of a similar Webasto equivalent - the instructions for installation are largely the same, with the control panel operations are well covered in Youtube videos. Either way, I'm looking forward to working in a warm garage over the winter months, with the insulation in place to keep the heat in! As a final billy bonus, I used the Laguna for the school run today, first time I drove it in the dark since the heater repair - was happily greeted with this sight: Yep - the heater control backlights - they'd never worked in the time we owned the car, and I simply assumed they weren't a thing on Lagunas, so clearly the new heater resistor has rectified further dealings with the system than I thought! Cheers!

Good news for the Rover.

Besides, you took mine there in the past!

Don't fancy sharing my chassis number or MOT test details 👍

Well, one MOT done. Sadly, it wasn't to be. Luckily, the MOT tester was clearly fond of the Beat, showed me where it was leaking (the mid section aft of the cat has been on borrowed time for a while) and gave me the number of a local fabricator. Luckily the Honda is off the road now for the winter, so I can assess all my available options. Rover has been dropped off, should hear from that dreckly too.

Sod it, I plowed on and did some small jobs today: The varnish on Hermans knob was chipping and flaking off - a painful situation, I'm sure you'll agree! Found one online for a fiver - the varnish is cracked, but not peeling off yet, so an improvement. Next up, the Laguna. Passenger airbag out. Rested it on the pink bucket to avoid straining the cables. Two connectors on top, then prise the bugger out! Out with the old, in with the also old. Quick check with the multimeter before connecting it all back up - all seemed well, and it worked perfectly in all modes when connected to the motor! Naturally, with my to-do list looking a lot smaller, the Laguna reminded me that cars are never actually finished: Balls. Job for another day there.

Another somewhat busy week. First off, the Honda was occupying the garage again so it made sense to get underneath and give it a bit of a clean and checking over prior to the MOT on Monday. Getting underneath it found nothing too shocking thankfully, a couple of small scabs here and there, which was quickly coated in Dynax UC. Despite being parked in a dry garage for a few days, there were signs of dampness on the underside of the rear sill pockets. Assuming that rainwater had gotten into the rear quarter cavities again via the side grilles and was struggling to get out, a small gap between the rear quarter skin and the sill was found and 'percussively enlarged' with the help of a small hammer and a flat point screwdriver. Wow. Other side was no better. Thankfully, the inner cavities had been well-protected in the past so I don't think any corrosion has set in. Both new drain holes were protected with Dynax UC once fully drained. Since then, the Beat's been parked out in the rain and you can see the water leaving it correctly! Lastly, I gave the car a once-over for the MOT, lights, levels etc. All seemed well, except the rear fog light wasn't working. found the fault with the earth return spade connector, which was replaced, bringing light back into my life! There were only 2 other things I observed. First was the coolant level had dropped slightly - those steel coolant pipes still not allowing an effective seal to the rubber pipeline. Given how many miles I did this year and the amount I topped up, it isn't worth worrying about. Secondly, the clutch fluid was flushed through early last year, and checking it this time showed the level was very, very low and looked like mud in the reservoir. Guess it's time to start sourcing parts for the clutch hydraulics change. With the Beat parked outside and ready for a wash on Sunday, it was time to bring the Rover in to the bombsite garage and get it up on ramps for some more work: First job - fit the OE replacement ARB D bushes - very lucky to find these, and at a great price too! Despite replacing the bottom balljoint last month, there was still a clonking occasionally heard over speed bumps. I'd already loosened and tightened all the bolts when I did the clutch change, so I knew they weren't seized, making this job a piece of cake This part of the vehicle was very corrosion-free - a testament to the T-series sweating oil from every pore! Look at the difference in size between the left and right bushes - the constant exposure to oil has caused it to swell and go spongy, whereas the other one has gone dry, hard and crack/split in several places. The new bushes and contacting surfaces were given a light coat of rubber grease, to hopefully prevent any annoying squeaking. Whilst underneath, I applied more Dynax UC to exposed metal areas - when in Rome. Next, the big job loomed - the ABS unit. With the deadline of MOT day looming ever-closer, salvation arrived in the form of this box, presumably delivered by Ace Ventura: Fortunately, the ABS unit itself was unharmed. The pipe fittings were snipped off at the breakers, so I applied a 50/50 ATF-Acetone solution to them to soak before they came out - this solution was applied to the unit pipeline fittings on the car too. Spot the difference! Thankfully, this job was a breeze - the only irritating thing was the plastic pipeline guides broke at two positions, causing two pipes to touch - this was resolved by tactical application of tape, and pipeline clearance was achieved! With the old unit out, I separated the ECU to carry out resistance checks on the pump, to see if I could confirm the component at fault. All the resistance checks came back fine - there are no checks documented on the ECU anywhere, so I'm confident that's where the fault lay. With that confirmed, the ECU was fired into the bin and all four wheels removed for a vacuum bleed - the Autodata page and the Rover factory manual suggested two different bleeding sequences. Simple solution? Do both sequences and hope for the best Moment of truth: Success! With that done, it was time to reassemble the boot, which had been partially stripped when I was incorrectly chasing the NSR sensor. Whilst in there, I noticed an excessive amount of water in various parts of the spare wheel well, and behind the CD changer trim. Didn't take long to find the culprits. Four of the steel floor bungs had either lifted due to failed adhesive, or had rotted through! The remains were removed and the area de-greased. Suspicious of another area where water could come in, I shone a torch towards the rear light around the grot spot, hoping I couldn't see any light: Arses. A closer look inside revealed there's going to be some rather intense work required soon - nothing structurally concerning, but cosmetically it's poor. It's clearly been Kurust'd before - if the car is still with me when I can afford it, then it'll get sorted. For now, it was a case of whipping the rear light unit out: And applying aluminium exhaust tape to the compromised areas to environmentally seal them. The missing floor bungs have been done in the same manner until I source replacements. With everything reassembled, and the wheels re-fitted, it was time to take it for a quick couple of laps around the village - the bleeding procedure stated that at least two ABS-invoked stops were to be carried out before another bleed. Just to be safe, I carried out six, which confirmed the ABS system was fully functional, with no ABS warning light present. Once the second bleed was carried out, it was time for a slightly longer lap, which confirmed everything was now working successfully. I did notice a top end tapping at idle that eventually clears - I think a sticking tappet is at play there - will look into it when I eventually get to the cambelt change. That's me back up to date for now - had some more parts delivered yesterday. Was planning to fit them yesterday evening, but beers with @twosmoke300 proved far more tempting, even if he was being a fanny and not partaking in the Karaoke

Great cars - adored mine.

Photo of split tailgate action pls. What a honey.

Glad to see you're on the up, remarkable how a change of scenery helps!

It's been a bit manic this week, with illness and other factors taking my time. Firstly, after a lot of investigating and questions, Phill kindly provided some diagnostic information for the Bosch 5.0 ABS system used in the 620ti, along with some further information kindly provided by a Polish gentleman in one fo the Rovers groups - I'll be collating and sharing this information here at some point as a dedicated post to hopefully let Google pick it up on search results. It transpired I'd been going down the wrong path, as I'd mis-interpreted the fault code as '18' (Rear left signal implausibility) when in fact, it was '81' (ECU fault) So, a lot of investigation was carried out, with only a loose earth stud being found on the unit - whilst this was rectified, the earth strap and points were cleaned up either side. The ABS ECU is part of the ABS unit itself - albeit removable if required. Using the information from Autodata, the plug was dismantled and wiring checks carried out: All the fuses etc were found to be in good order, and the wiring checks found nothing untoward in that regard, so the next step was to remove the ABS ECU for further testing.... ....aaaand typically, one of the securing torx screws has rounded off, so the entire unit would have to come out for further investigation. By this point, I was content that the ECU was at fault anyway and ordered a replacement from eBay - should be here Monday. So to console myself, I replaced the front indicator bulbs that had shed their coating and turned white and ran a compression test on the engine - happy with the figures. So with that waiting, it was onto the Laguna. The garage was emptied of the Beat and Mazda now all the stormy weather had passed. I photocopied the Haynes wiring diagram and got my head wrapped around it. Never seen a heater resistor unit contain two relays. One is to send power ultimately to the fan speed switch/to the second relay contacts, and the second relay is energised when the fan speed is set to max. All fuses and power supply lines were checked - no issues were found. Not surprising, as it had suddenly decided to start working properly the day before. The fan itself was removed and checked for obstructions etc - no issues found, and bearings lubricated and exercised whilst I was there. Eventually, some overheating had been observed on line A3 of the heater resistor unit - this is one of the main power supply lines. Em mentioned that just prior to the fan coming back to life, there was an extended period of clicking coming from that area before a thump brought it back to life. Suspecting the relays, I then knocked up some flyleads to manually change it over and check for continuity - the old MX5 battery may not be good enough to start an engine now, but it worked fine for this! Unfortunately, the wiring diagram differed massively from what results I was getting - I could get both relays to change over, but I still wasn't content with the pin out locations or the wire colours to aid the diagnosis. Found out there were at least three different types of heater resistor fitted and the diagrams were just typical ones. Eventually, I refitted the system, and started mucking about with the fan speeds and ignition switch to try and make it fail. Once again, it was working fine at all speeds and all modes initially, Eventually, the fault came back when it went back to 4 and you can hear a relay chattering in the video, which went away and the fan resumed when clicking back down to 3. Earth returns etc were all checked with no fault found, so the heater resistor itself was deemed suspect and I've started the hunt for one - tricky, but I think I've got a good lead on one. In the interim, I've left a rubber mallet in the footwell for MrsH, along with instructions on where to 'tap' it back into life effectively. When it comes back into the garage to get fitted, I'll be removing and lubricating the bonnet cable at the same time, as it's very stiff and I don't want it to snap! Will investigate the cable routing and popping the wing dent out whilst I'm at it. Cheers.

.....aaaaahnd typically, MrsH came home today and informed me that for the first time in nearly two months, the ventilation has been working perfectly all day. Cars.

Still waiting on bits to fix the Rover's ABS snag, so onto the Laguna, which has decided to not ventilate any more. Was liveable during September, but now it's getting colder, and thumping the dashboard isn't making it cough into life, MrsH has said she'd really rather have it fixed. Back into the wiring diagrams it is then. 🤣 Most likely a loose connection but I've been disappointed before.

Yeah, I'm in