Today on my lift... (spanner monkey stories)

[ruffgeezer]

As some of you were kind enough to request in the tales of a breakdown driver thread, I've decided to post some of the interesting things I come across during my time in the workshop, I will try and keep it to just the interesting bits, as I'm sure you don't want to be bored with "today I serviced this" etc.

 

Today's drama was of a Pug 308 flavour, in for a winter check and the Engine light had come back on after we cleared it a few weeks ago.

 

A lot of people get modern Code reading software wrong, because when the car comes in initially, it'll be full of any old shit fault codes that have occurred, without any indication of what the cause of the EML is, firstly any faults are written down and then wiped, I'll re-scan and then road test the car and see if any return.

 

In this case none did and so the customer took the car until the light reoccurred, and in this case there appears to be 2 faults, one of which is related to various fuel pressure issues.

 

It would seem quite a common thing now with the 1.6 hdi family of engines, that if the fuel filter isn't changed frequently, the net result is a loss of performance and occasionally an engine light on, these show up as insufficient pressure readings, or out of range readings on the scan tool, but without any indication as to cause.

 

So far we've seen this on a Bini, C4 and now a 308, all similar symptoms & fault codes too.

 

The other fault this time is a stuck EGR, which is disappointing as they are a swine to find on this engine!

 

 

[twosmoke300]

Rg, are you ok if I contribute to this thread ?

I run my newly established garage down in darkest Cornwall where men are men and the cars are old and rusty.

[ruffgeezer]

Yeah sure, the more the merrier, it's always interesting to see how things get done in other workshops!

[twosmoke300]

Had a cv joint on a 10 plate hilux today. The snap ring holding the joint to the shaft would not let go. Shaft off in a bfo vice and since I had a new joint I could go crazy with the hammer but no joy. Had to smash the cage, drop the balls out then cut as far down the inner race as I dare. Finally let go after I ran a bead of weld around it and the heating and cooling cracked it.

[Angrydicky]

Ruffgeezer, I'd love to hear more about that lovely Daimler Conquest you were fettling recently, if you have any stories to tell about it!

[londonm]

Reading this makes me want to buy a car you don't have to plug in to a computer next time.

[Pillock]

Welcome to Autoshite, where an LCD clock is considered frivolous!

[Split_Pin]

Keep these coming, grand thread idea!

[Twiggy]

Ruffgeezer, I'd love to hear more about that lovely Daimler Conquest you were fettling recently, if you have any stories to tell about it!

 

I can`t find the post about the Daimler Conquest........ how do I find it ?

[oldford]

We had a Skoda Fabia 1.4 petrol in that would put the engine light on every 3 weeks and show a system too lean code.  Replacing the 3 bar pressure fuel filter with a 4 bar one sorted it.

 

Last week we serviced a Fabia and replaced a rough rear wheel bearing, customer gets 5 miles down the road and the engine starts revving up on its own and shortly after the speedometer stops working accompanied by the ABS and steering warning lights coming on.  A bit of head scratching later (read that as a strip down of the engine bay to check the wiring loom for water ingress, which for once on one of those was nice and dry), we replace the new pattern wheel bearing with a genuine one and the car behaves itself.  Both bearings looked the same complete with the pick up for the ABS sensor, the pattern one must have been generating an ABS signal the the car didn't like.

[Joey spud]

Re blocked fuel filters we had loads of grief last winter with filter blockages on the Korean and Jap Diesels some of it was down to poor preheat systems but i think a lot was down to excessively long service intervals that allowed water to collect in the filter assembly which then froze and stuck to and blocked the filter element.

This year i am keeping a couple of the popular filters on the van.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I worked as a mechanic for a short while, short, because I was shit at it. A turbo diesel one of these came in knocking its bo11ocks off one day:

 

 

Took the injector pump off and sent it away for testing, came back OK. Decided the engine must be fooked. Got one from a breakers yard, cost £600 back in about 1993/4 and the car can't have been more than 3 years old, I was shitting myself about taking it to bits. Anyway I got the engine out and started fitting this replacement. It was out of a Regata and every external bit was different so i swapped them all over diligently. Reinstalled the engine after a lot of faffing and it fired up like a champ to my amazement. Set off up the road, but after 2 miles the engine died. Couldn't get it going so they sent the truck out to fetch me. After investigation the flipping cam belt had slipped because i hadn't tightened the bastard crank pulley nut!!!! I bent half the valves trying to start it   Anyway another £60 was spent on a genuine head gasket and we fitted the head from the old engine which had it running again. The gaffer came up with some chat for the customer about why the job took an extra day and cost an extra £££££ but I think that was the beginning of the end for my career as a 'pro mechanic'

[ruffgeezer]

Ruffgeezer, I'd love to hear more about that lovely Daimler Conquest you were fettling recently, if you have any stories to tell about it!

Ah yes the Daimler, well I have been back to it a couple of times, I replaced the coil, distributor cap & rotor arm, but to no avail.

 

The engine turns rather slowly and even bypassing the starter solenoid and adding an additional earth between the battery and engine hasn't helped.

 

Next time I get to it, I shall take a booster charger as I'm not sure the battery is up to the job.

[panhard65]

Here are a couple of recent interesting cars that have been through the workshop. Other than all the normal modern rubbish it's nice to see some older stuff. I had this estafette in for what started as an engine rebulid but ended up being a real challenge to fit a replacement block courtesy of the AA revving it up and throwing a rod through the side. I the end I managed to fit a 1347cc block out of a super 5 and it's original 1289cc head. It was a bit of a challenge but worth it in the end

Then today this came in. It is a turbo technics converted 1.6i escort. It has helpfully been modified over the last 20 years since conversion to a non turbo. The only trouble is all they did was remove the turbo charger and change the manifold. I rang the supplying dealer and they remembered converting the car. Which explains why it runs so rough, they used to do a proper job re-machining the pistons fitting extra injectors and re-mapping the ecu so it will never run quite right unless it has the turbo re-fitted or it's converted back to factory settings. As the rest of the car isn't in brilliant condition it looks like it will be for sale. So if anyone fancies a rare old escort that is currently worth bugger all make an offer. It does run and drive and has tax and test. It is a bit gutless though and needs some tyres amongst other things

[oldford]

Had a MK 2 Octavia in today with the airbag light on.  Code read said implausible signal from the drivers side airbag crash sensor.  We got a sensor delivered (£50) but as it's located in the drivers door and probably behind the rivetted on door carrier plate, which is a pain to remove, I decided to have a look at the wiring where it passes through from the door to the A post.  I found 3 plugs, one of which was yellow which is a good sign as yellow is used for airbag system wiring, two wires into the plug, one of which was broken.  A bit of soldering later and all was well, customer was happy as he didn't need a new part.

[ruffgeezer]

I had a Mitsubishi Delica once that was a pain to start, it'd had fresh glow plugs after finding two duff ones and the glow system checking, all of which were fine.

 

Then I took a look at the fuel side of things, the 2.8 is prone to having the fuel pump seal leak, so I wanted to make sure that the obvious things were checked first.

 

As with all jap stuff, the fuel filter was a pain in the arse to get to, and required the battery to be removed to get to.

 

The filter was still an original item, so I was fairly sure it was an original item. I changed it as well as the rather perished rubber pipes.

 

All this still didn't improve the starting, if it did start it was running very lumpily, next I bypassed the filter altogether, and once I had the truck going, the running was much improved, so the air had to be getting in to the filter or filter head.

 

I removed the filter housing again and bunged the outlwt. With the inlet pressurized with an airline, I chucked the lot in a bucket of water, expecting the filter seal to be at fault.

 

Imagine my surprise the when a steady stream of bubbles escaped from the top of the primer bulb, yes that's right, it's diaphragm had split.

 

A new filter head cured the starting and running issues. Result!

[warren t claim]

Latex glove over primer bulb. Job done.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I would have loved to see the AA man's face when he blew up the engine in that Renner camper van.

[oldford]

Our full time MOT tester was off today, so I had the best part of a day doing MOT tests.

 

First off was a a 52 plate Astra, followed by a 52 plate scenic - both passed. 

 

A 55 plate citroen C4 diesel followed, a couple of lamps not working, a small cut in the nearside front tyre in which I could see exposed cord, a broken rear coil spring and headlamp washers not working (HID headlamps fitted), I could have advised these last year.

 

First one after lunch a 2008 Jaguar XF diesel, cords showing on the nearside front tyre due to wear, deep cut with exposed cords in the offside rear tyre outer sidewall, other two tyres advised along with the aftermarket tint on the front side windows.  Came back later for retest with 4 new tyres fitted, 255/35 20, must have cost a few hundred.

 

Next a S reg Mazda MX5, just had a brakelight out.

[beko1987]

Not anything garage related, but popped over to a friend's to help him change his wing mirror. Caught a phesant and obliterated it. New eBay one weby on with 3 screws.

 

I then saw his rear brakes were down to metal, so drove over to halfords, who had nothing, then went to Euro car parts which had them.

 

Got back, and after freeing the alloys which had rusted well onto the discs, then freeing the caliper bolts whipped the pads on.

 

I don't think the rear brakes have ever seen any attention (51 almera Tino), so slapped copperslip everywhere. Brakes don't squeal now!

 

Currently waiting for my mot a lot with amys car, hopefully it will let me know what's causing front end clunking and I can do that next month.

 

Then back to mums to fit new front pads to amys car, then home for beer!

[ruffgeezer]

I apologise for neglecting this thread, but I'll fill you in on today's trials.

 

It's a true modern shite in the shape of an Alfa Romeo 159 with a broken rear spring. This particular model would seem to need the subframe dropping to get the springs out. Fucking beezer idea that.

[ruffgeezer]

Well that was fun, drop the rear subframe and completely gut the boot of trim, it'd better be a nice drive to be worth all this hassle!

 

Gut the boot:

 

To find these little feckers:

 

Once I'd got down to those, it was 4 wheel alignment time, and a subsequent road test, it's a pretty dull modern inside, the a/c controls are a pain in the arse and the seats are too hard for comfort, personally I'd have got a petrol version as the diesel is rather unrefined, the turbo comes in with a hefty kick rather than a gradual build up, very unfitting for the classy saloon it calls home.

[ruffgeezer]

This little delight came in on the truck from another garage yesterday, turns over fine, has spark, has fuel.

 

Tested the crank sensor and the engine bay fuse box (known fault on these, particularly when the lid is missing and has a broken lunchbox taped over it)

 

Still no go, no faults in the memory.

 

We try a bit of easy start up it, but it only gets blown back out of the inlet, so it would seem to be a timing issue...

 

 

This belongs to one of those customers for whom blame is like water to a duck's back. "A previous garage lost the fusebox lid" and "the recovery company broke that bit"

 

I had to bite my tongue, as this sort of thing makes me rather cross.

 

The plan is to chuck another belt on it and see what happens...

 

The Inlet is 3 teeth retarded, and the exhaust 8 teeth advanced, needless to say, I am not holding my breath!

[twosmoke300]

Boring day today, t4 exhaust , hazard switch replacement and mot . Rear caliper and pads on a crv . Cat on a saxo . 2 handbrake cabkes and a flexi hose on a mk3 mundaneo . Mot and abs fault on a pt cruiser and reassemble a clio sunroof and rooflining after a water ingress fix.

oh and a couple of tyre swaps for the old man.

[HH-R]

Bit surprised to see the boot of that Alfa just painted in primer. My Panda is like that but probably cost at least £10k less to buy new.

[Bren]

A lot of them like that now.

 

My brothers brand new focus had door shuts that looked like that had been rattle canned - they all seem to have defects like this.

 

I have pulled welding wire off door hinges before now.

[spike60]

I have a Z3, lady friend a 530D BMW, both grey primer underbonnet as well as inside boot. Surprised when 1st saw it but neither rusting, at least not in said bits.

[hennabm]

Just a sign of the times and obsolecense built in to modern s***

 

My 1series was also like that when I bought it new in 2010. So I dropped all the underside trays and finshed the job tht BMW couldn't. I 2 packed the underside and wheel arches and then waxoyled the whole lot before putting it all back.

 

Also did the same to the Punto when that was new.This included greasing the brake ipes and all bolt threads and nuts.

 

In future I know I should be able to repair it without too much gas axe (I hope).