Lord Sterling's fleet of failure - Goodbye Micra 😢

[Lord Sterling]

14 minutes ago, Bren said:

Sad about the vectra. Maybe we could have a joint car funeral? Also sad your garage disappointed - I suspect a lot of the bad ones may well go to the wall.

Thanks man. I think with the garage, they were very good, a lot of the work was quality and almost certainly outlasted the life of the car. But the quality of work has dropped.  Since my BMW, both the Micra and Vectra have suffered badly. Thankfully the Micra is now in rude health again. But both the BMW and Vectra are or will be bean cans.

[Lord Sterling]

So there you have it. A deceased Vectra which suddenly saw the Peugeot 407 shoot up from unwanted 'buy to sell' fodder to the dizzying heights of 'main everyday motor'.

I must admit, I am growing, rather worryingly, to actually like this car. I mean, a newish (to me) Peugeot ffs.

When I first got it, it was probably trundling on its way to a sad and unwanted end.  It had almost no suspension bush on the passenger side front so clonked everytime you moved forward causing that side wheel to eventually catch up and undoubtedly causing the tyre to scrub, the MoT was about to run out, one tyre had an increasingly fast puncture. Both keys looked like they'd seen better days, one just fell apart. Various bits of trim was (and some still is) broken, the spare wheel well still needs a wash and I finally did get a ton of what looked dog/cat crunchies type of stuff vacuumed out from underneath the back seat bench.

Now, the tyre has been changed (for a good marque too) both bushes have been replaced, no more clonking or squeaking and the thing now has a fresh MoT ticket on it for the next 12 months. I even managed to repair one key with good new buttons to a good standard! This really isn't like me...

Next, I'd like to tackle the tracking, change the rear tyres, clean the spare wheel well, change the front centre console (missed out on a good cheap one complete with gear knob recently) and sort various small bits.

It might be temporary, but somehow the LCD screen seemed suddenly display properly, its usually all pixelated and fuzzy, I can barely read off it, but tonight, I don't know why, for first time its clear! I've ever seen it like this:

So...erm...yeah. There ya go. A Peugeot, an 'an car' that kind of does what 'an car' is suppose to do...I guess.

[Floatylight]

Looking pretty good! We had a 407Sw before the C4GP, did us well until the clutch went. Performance of those displays is temperature dependent..

[Spiny Norman]

50 minutes ago, Lord Sterling said:

If I could manage to only ever look at it from this exact angle I could probably do one of these as a banger chariot, but I'm frightened I might accidentally walk round the front of it one day...

[robinmasters]

2 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

 

 

Too new PSA crew in the house....

 

[Lord Sterling]

Sponsored by: DOUBLE-ENTENDRES

After stepping in from abroad-land I self isolated away like hermit for 14 days and then decided on my first day of freedom that the Peugeot needed attention.

First of all it needed a wash inside and out. The rubber floor mats and tyres got some black shoe polish applied to shine them up and bring back the colour. Tyres also got a light coating of tyre shine on top.

At the same time I'd received a centre console lid which turned out not to quite fit:

So I chucked a handy small bolt through the hole made in the old lid which turned out to fit well and helps close the lid properly but its just about easy enough to open too.

I also bought a replacement gear KNOB off eBay as the Peugeot one was worn (ooer etc... and so on...) 

New vs old

Out with gear stick surround.

A bit of strength and the old KNoB was pulled off (yeah yeah, pipe down yer dirty bastards...)

New kn0b on. And I didn't even need to visit the doctors. 

However I wasn't happy. The new kn*b felt very cheap and light-weighted. The original kn◇b was solid, had weight to it like a snooker ball and was made of some sort of solid metal material. The new one felt too light-weight and cheap. Plus when selecting reverse, the reverse selector ring under the kn○b (here we go again 😒) wouldn't disengage due to the poor design of the cheap kn•b.  Plus it was too easily  removed which just added to its cheapness.

So, looking at the original, it was quite basic design, a weighted metal ball with a layer of (now melted and peeling off) leather and the (now ruined) plastic gear selector sign vs the new one which was light cheap plastic ball with a layer of cheap leather around it and the plastic chrome sign on top.

Both were thus similar in construction so I decided to decontruct the cheaper one and transfer the finishings to the old weighted metal kn¤b thus renewing it.

Old kn0b had its melted leather cut and peeled off:

I left most of the old glue on it as it packed it out to help keep the new surround stuck to it.

With the old kn_b, I popped off the chrome gear selector sign then very carefully slipped off the leather surround off new kn○b:

Then I fitted the new leather surround to old kn0b, it was a bit of a fiddly job but done carefully it didn't cause too much of an issue:

Then I had to tuck in leather surround on old knob, the top would be held in by the chrome gear sign and bottom bit had to be tucked in behind the surround for the reverse selector ring:

Fitted!

It's a lot better but the "leather" still feels a bit cheap and I can feel where the "leather" is tucked in underneath, but the reverse ring is now free to deselect with ease plus the weight of the kn&b is as it should be. It feels good...

[Fumbler]

Looks like you need some

...I'll get my coat.

 

In all seriousness though, it's nice to see some love getting showered on the Peugeot. The red is rather fetching

[timolloyd]

Sorry to read about your knob problems, but glad your ringpiece is feeling better.

 

[Lord Sterling]

Well, the car that help start this thread has now left Lord Sterling towers, probably for good 🙁....

Its destined for a good home though and still in the fold. I still have a Mk1 Sterling and an 827 Sterling but in Mk2 guise.

I'm sure the new owner will open a fresh new thread for it when it's turn comes for a resto.

[red5]

Bit sad, but it might get saved and 'done' now - that's got to be the best of a bad situation (so to speak).

 

[Lord Sterling]

Absolutely. I'm not overly sad by its departing as I know it'll get the best it needs. I'm just a bit selfish in that I know I'll never be able to get another one like it.

[red5]

Yep. Know that all too well. 

[Lord Sterling]

Wow. I've done stuff to this car and most of it has been fairly easy 😮

Last pay day I bought a bumper finishing trim and a wheel to replace the odd rear wheel.

The bumper tag was a bit of a faff. It was cheap for a reason. However, I managed to get it on and there (hopefully) it'll stay.

I rarely get out these days and get bored of sitting at home. I no longer have use of a driveway but have found a small enclove I can safely keep the car, although other people know about it so its a bit hit and miss if I get a space there or not.

My drivers door has always clicked twice loudly when opening. I thought I needed a new check strap. Then a few days ago whilst messing with the car I looked a bit closer at the door check-strap and noticed one nut was very loose and another had gone awol I tightened up the one nut and noticed the clicking had become very quiet, so I checked out the size and saw I had a few similar sized ones, so I put it onto the bolt and tightened it up. Door opening and closing is now very quiet. 

Today I set about changing the wheel. The garage where my other cars are stored borrowed me a jack and breaker bar because I don't have a jack and my breaker bar is stuck in one of my cars now behind 2 massive locked gates.

Whilst there it met it better, sportier half:

Off with the old:

And on with the new:

I must admit, were almost there in making this car as good as I can make it and I am beginning to be quite enamoured with this car. It's a boring everydayer but the work I do to make it better makes it feel just a bit nicer.

I've enjoyed making it better than when I first got it.

Jobs I've done so far:

• Refurbish keys (still need a button selector for one key soldering on)

• Bookpack, manual and new service book bought.

• Changed tyre at front (previously a slow-ish puncture.

• Front lower arm bushes done, no more clunking when moving off from standstill. 

• Wheel tracking.

• Rear bumper finisher.

• Rear matching wheel with a good tyre fitted.

Next on the list to do:

- Service

- Sort out passenger window (switch is intermittent)

- Fit passenger side check strap

- Change remaining rear tyre

- Finish refurb of remaining key

- Fit a better steering wheel

So, still a bit to do but certainly now in much better and useable condition.

[goosey]

On 7/18/2020 at 3:54 PM, Lord Sterling said:

Last week I got chatting to an old mate of mine who was looking for a bigger motor for his missus. His missus has back problems and found getting into lower cars a difficulty. I mentioned the Zafira but was a bit weary as I wasn't actively looking to sell it. He wanted to reach a deal more so for his missus than anything.  In the meantime he had a Peugeot 407 2.0 SE HDi up for swap. We met today and he seemed very happy with the Zafira and off he went....

Leaving me with this:

Almost immidiately I swung into clean up action removing old plastic bottles and crisp packets. 

I visited the local IMO car wash place and chucked a bucket of water over it. It cleans up well. 

Driving it back, it was Ok. No rattles but a couple of minor knocks when going over bumps, there is also a bit of a suspension type squeak when going uneven road, which most of it is. I was told that it was down to suspension bushes which will get looked at. Other than that, it seems to drive Ok.

There are various non-mechanical bits and bobs that need to be rectified. The passenger door has a missing check strap. Rear bumper has a missing finisher (seen above) the radio does not have a clear screen so texts on screen are ineligible. the boot was filthy, full of sand and various nuts and bolts. All cleaned out now.

It does have boot carpet too.

I'll probably sort out as much as I can and stick it up for sale. It's not a bad car.

Did you make the swop at the precinct in Wallheath ? 

[Lord Sterling]

1 hour ago, goosey said:

Did you make the swop at the precinct in Wallheath ? 

Yep, indeed I did. Are you local or did you get the info by a bit of detective work 😉

[goosey]

Wallheath is where I grew up, as kids we used to call that area “the Pree” my brother worked at the coop but back then it was called Alldays 

[Lord Sterling]

37 minutes ago, goosey said:

Wallheath is where I grew up, as kids we used to call that area “the Pree” my brother worked at the coop but back then it was called Alldays 

Nice! I live near Kidderminster so Wall Heath isn't far from me. Its a delightful little place but used mostly as through route into Kingswinford/Dudley/Wolverhampton. When I did the swap, I went for a little walk around Wall Heath.

Ma and Pa Sterling had friends in Kingswinford back in the late 80s and early 90s, we lived in Telford then ans used to use the rabbit run quite often.

[warren t claim]

Saw this and thought of you @Lord Sterling

[Lord Sterling]

Yo, moar boring updates.

The under bonnet stay catch onnthe 407 basically broke off long before I had the car so lifting the bonnet would have the bonnet stay catching on a pipe or something so I needed to sort this out. I looked for one on eBay but no cigar.

So a rummage through some plastic bits and bobs I had, I found a couple bits that might be of use.

Off with the broken bonnet stay catch.

On with the bodge:

The new bodged bonnet stay catch is held in by the semi-circled flared-end that I squeezed into the hole where the original catch used to live.

I also thought I had repaired the passenger side electric window, but then the switch decided not to work again. So, back to square one.

The blowers in the 407 blow out warm air. It made it a tad uncomfortable driving up from the IoW so that'll need looking into very soon.

Also, I discovered that the passenger door actually has its original check strap, but it was buried in the door. The problem is, attaching the check strap to the door pillar as the hole in the check strap is smaller than the hole in the door pillar and getting behind the pillar doesn't look easy. Hmmmm.....

Whilst in the IoW I chucked some newer original wheel trims onto the roffle Micra as the white originals were looking a tad past it.

Before:

After:

Although the original white trims were OEM, the white paint was starting to really peel off. 

The Micra barely gets used. When I saw it, it needed a good wash and the tyres re-inflating plus a good run which I gave it around the island.

It looks tidier than it actually is. The steel wheels are quite rusty and need changing at some point and some of the wheel arches need rubbing down and repainting. But as its Ma_Sterling's car now, I'll leave that up to her.

[red5]

Off there in the summer. IoW ftw 😁 

[Lord Sterling]

13 hours ago, red5 said:

Off there in the summer. IoW ftw 😁 

Winnah! Yep love the IoW. Will be going back soon.

[Lord Sterling]

Boring update:

The Peugeot has always had a poor heater. As the days are now very warm I booked the car in for a look into the blowers system as when in the IoW, despite me setting it to 'cold' the heat that came out of the blowers rivalled that of an oven 😡

The AirCon system was topped but made very little difference. Then a larger machine was used, again, very little difference, there was cool air which made a difference but not bitingly cold as I would have expected. I didn't have to pay for the job as little difference was made. Looks like its something either expensive or very difficult to sort. Fucking annoying.

My BMW was the only car I ever had that had functioning Aircon. 

Spotted this rare honey in the carpark:

The Peugeot is due to go back for a rectification to the passenger side check strap. There is one attached to the door but it needs a bolt.

[Floatylight]

407 heater problem - powered flaps break off the control motor and the flaps stick in pulling air through the matrix..

 

[Lord Sterling]

Did some small bits recently to the 407. Enjoy.

Tyres:

The car always had a mixture of tyres on it. I hated this and as the front tyres were beggining to harden and wear more, I got a couple of Michelin tyres shod up at the front now, the rears are to be done at the end of this month with some Michelins so all tyres match. 

Screen:

Been the bain of my life since I got this car. All screens were £silly money, the ones I did purchase, despite being the same part number did not have Bluetooth connectivity or were the wrong ones which were sent back. Thankfully @iainrcz came to the rescue recently with a free screen so now I have a working screem with Bluetooth connectivity!

Window:

Passenger side windows couldn't always be arsed to work,  my passengers seem to be unable to get the window down. Given that the window always worked well from the drivers side, I made a wild guess that the switch wasn't all that good, despite taking the switch apart and cleaning the contacts (they were very clean anyway) it made no difference. A couple of quid on a second-hand switch, arrived and now the window works exactly when it's asked to.

Centre console lid:

Some, few or even none of you may remember that I dashed a screw into my centre console lid when it refused to shut when I got the car. It did well for a while but then got quite loose. The lid stayed shut no bother but I decided to try and sort this once for all. I found a small piece of rubber which I fitted into the console lid hole where the screw had been. It shut and closed very nicely and was no longer loose its not pretty but does the job and does it well. Result.

Gear gaiter:

Yeah, so after the KNOB (yeah yeah) debacle. The gear gaiter was still a tad tatty. I could feel it ay the top where the fake leather had ripped and dug into my finger when changing gear.

So a cheap eBay special (I really must learn) later and much difficulty of fitting, it finally got fitted and looks a bit better.

Old gaiter:

New gaiter:

Fail:

My drivers door squeaks from inside whenever I close the door or go over an bumpy road. This is annoying. I have some foamy-type packaging material that I've had for some years.

The squeaks come from the window rail mechanism that is bolted to the door, but because of its location, it is very difficult to track down the the source of the noise exactly so I can pack it out with foam material. Another job maybe for next year when I can be bothered with it again.

[iainrcz]

@Lord Sterling I'm glad someone got some use, I'd totally forgotten about the screen and the iPod adapter until I was rooting through some cupboards.

[goosey]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:43 PM, Lord Sterling said:

Boring update:

The Peugeot has always had a poor heater. As the days are now very warm I booked the car in for a look into the blowers system as when in the IoW, despite me setting it to 'cold' the heat that came out of the blowers rivalled that of an oven 😡

The AirCon system was topped but made very little difference. Then a larger machine was used, again, very little difference, there was cool air which made a difference but not bitingly cold as I would have expected. I didn't have to pay for the job as little difference was made. Looks like its something either expensive or very difficult to sort. Fucking annoying.

My BMW was the only car I ever had that had functioning Aircon. 

Spotted this rare honey in the carpark:

The Peugeot is due to go back for a rectification to the passenger side check strap. There is one attached to the door but it needs a bolt.

That Honda is still there I drive past it most days, do you know what the deal is with the yard further down the road on the same side? 
He’s got some very interesting stuff in there

[Lord Sterling]

On 09/05/2022 at 23:08, goosey said:

That Honda is still there I drive past it most days, do you know what the deal is with the yard further down the road on the same side? 
He’s got some very interesting stuff in there

It was run by someone else up until the current owner took the garage on.

I've known the current owner for years way back when he was in actual Bridge Street, Cradley Heath (which is now West and Sons garage) I also worked for the owner for a year and regularly help out moving cars when I'm there.

[Lord Sterling]

Kin 'ell. Another update in less than a few days? 

Today, I 'woke' (lol) up to a day of doong stuff down the unit. Initially I was going to do nowt more than remove the parts from my Mums old Micra to put the interior back up normally as it had been used as parts storage for around a couple of years. 

@fraser.innes.3 and myself agreed to give the KV6 Sterling's bonnet another tackle as it refused to open before

Somehow it had freed itself off before I could tackle it with a crowbar, and with the bonnet open we had access to try and start the thing.

We tried a jump pack but that didn't really work so a MASSIVE caravan battery was used as a jumped pack.

Initially the Rover tried to start and had a lot of cranking but wouldn't fire. I remembered that I had actually run out of fuel when I last drove it up to the yard it was last stored at and had to have pushed up the hill with my Peugeot.

So half a gallon of fuel later and some more cranking and the Sterling fired up from a long slumber.  It wasn't as steady as it would have been before but it was enough to keep it moving.

I popped it down the our mate Dave's unit as the jetwash was there, I gave the car a long overdue bath, enough to get most of the crud off it but not to my usual shiny polished standards.

it looks cleaner than it actually eventually dried off to be.

The car has got considerably rustier than when it was last in use. Outside storage hasn't been kind, so its a case of weighing up the options. The engine has had little work since I got it and has kept on going for me despite a holed radiator and cambelt roulette. 

The Micra will be getting some attention innthe form of a service. I'm looking at having the back of jigged out because of the damage, Dave is quite enamored by the Micra as he used to service many of them way back when.

The interior has been cleared of the bonnet and bumper that lived in there for the best part of a couple of years.

The KV6 has its battery on charge, more petrol will be got to at least get it regularly running and moving.

Some work on a Rover finally. Bet you never thought that would happen.

As a side note, on the way back home, the Peugeot 407 decided to make use of the new screen to chuck up a warning with "depollution system faulty" error message leaving the engine light on. Meh, I rarely use the car so it probably needs a good run up and down the motorway. 

L8rz.

[Pat Earrings]

16 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Kin 'ell. Another update in less than a few days? 

Today, I 'woke' (lol) up to a day of doong stuff down the unit. Initially I was going to do nowt more than remove the parts from my Mums old Micra to put the interior back up normally as it had been used as parts storage for around a couple of years. 

@fraser.innes.3 and myself agreed to give the KV6 Sterling's bonnet another tackle as it refused to open before

Somehow it had freed itself off before I could tackle it with a crowbar, and with the bonnet open we had access to try and start the thing.

We tried a jump pack but that didn't really work so a MASSIVE caravan battery was used as a jumped pack.

Initially the Rover tried to start and had a lot of cranking but wouldn't fire. I remembered that I had actually run out of fuel when I last drove it up to the yard it was last stored at and had to have pushed up the hill with my Peugeot.

So half a gallon of fuel later and some more cranking and the Sterling fired up from a long slumber.  It wasn't as steady as it would have been before but it was enough to keep it moving.

I popped it down the our mate Dave's unit as the jetwash was there, I gave the car a long overdue bath, enough to get most of the crud off it but not to my usual shiny polished standards.

it looks cleaner than it actually eventually dried off to be.

The car has got considerably rustier than when it was last in use. Outside storage hasn't been kind, so its a case of weighing up the options. The engine has had little work since I got it and has kept on going for me despite a holed radiator and cambelt roulette. 

The Micra will be getting some attention innthe form of a service. I'm looking at having the back of jigged out because of the damage, Dave is quite enamored by the Micra as he used to service many of them way back when.

The interior has been cleared of the bonnet and bumper that lived in there for the best part of a couple of years.

The KV6 has its battery on charge, more petrol will be got to at least get it regularly running and moving.

Some work on a Rover finally. Bet you never thought that would happen.

As a side note, on the way back home, the Peugeot 407 decided to make use of the new screen to chuck up a warning with "depollution system faulty" error message leaving the engine light on. Meh, I rarely use the car so it probably needs a good run up and down the motorway. 

L8rz.

@Lord Sterling Mo pop down to me if you want so I can try out my fancy Foxwell diagnostic tool I bought. Can do a DPF regen on it so will clear the soot and associated code.

Also as a side note, what garage do you allude to as having let you down with the quality of work? If it’s who I think it is, I had an experience which I genuinely think was down to poor workmanship from them. Never returned since. 

[Lord Sterling]

6 hours ago, sims00 said:

@Lord Sterling Mo pop down to me if you want so I can try out my fancy Foxwell diagnostic tool I bought. Can do a DPF regen on it so will clear the soot and associated code.

Also as a side note, what garage do you allude to as having let you down with the quality of work? If it’s who I think it is, I had an experience which I genuinely think was down to poor workmanship from them. Never returned since. 

Oddly enough the "fault" on the Peugeot has now disappeared. I gave it a hard run down the bypass and up the motorway to Birmingham this taking a longer route. With the fault, the car oddly ran more "concentrated" when overtaking a line of moving traffic on a small dual carriageway the car flew, but despite the power, it still concerned me.  Then whilst taking Ma shopping, when switching the car back on the fault just disappeared! I'm hoping it was just a blip otherwise it runs great.

However, I will take you up on the offer of the regen say next Saturday if thats Ok? As I'll be using a little bit more now to pop into Brum a couple of times a week starting from week after next.

The garage I was alluding to was Mahmouds. I feel that whilst most of the time, the work he does is good (the work he done on the Peugeot was tops, couldn't fault it) there have been a couple of times where the work wasn't up to standard. But then again, I guess my reaction was a little over the top. He is an absolutely popular garage and always absolutely rammed with customers. I still go there but make sure the work is done properly. There are a few minor things they do forget but being so popular I think sometimes he is a victim of his own success.