Cavalier (Mk3) Attitude - MoT result

[RobT]

Good work Rob. Cleaning out the throttle body sorted the poor idle on my micra.

For a couple of hours work, a can of carb cleaner and a tooth brush it made the car a lot more pleasant to drive. 

 

Might be worth a look.

I tried that before, although probably wasn't as thorough as you so will have another go. I also swapped the air flow meter but that made it even worse.

[RobT]

Five weeks after the above post I finally cleaned out the throttle body on the Cav tonight. I was lazy and didn't remove it completely, but another reason was I didn't want to break the balljoint where the throttle cable attaches as it wasn't budging. The downside being I was in a confined space (the garage) so ended up gassing myself. Eau de carb cleaner.

 

 

The above pic is before and doesn't look too bad, but once carb cleaner and toothbrush were deployed a fair bit of crud came out. More crap came out of the inlet manifold. I also did the ICV and throttle linkage.

 

 

It seems a tad better, but not the improvement I was hoping for. Maybe I need to pay out for a new ICV, best price for a new one is £40 on eBay.

 

I also replaced the rear brake pads a few weeks back which did see an improvement, but I won't be buggering around with it anymore this week as I'm taking in on hols next Monday to Dorset. Was supposed to be Brittany but a combination of mingebag and CBA means we'll stay domestic.

[RobT]

Last night I decided to tot up all the work I’ve done to this since buying it in March 2015.  Some costs are approximate and I only farmed out a few jobs (the welding, front shocks and brake discs) which goes to show even a mechanical arse like me can work on these effectively.  All the costs have been spread throughout each year, but we’re hardly looking at big money overall. None of the jobs have left it out of commission for a long period either.

 

 

March 2015 - March 2016

 

Spark plugs £8

Air filter £4

Air flow intake pipe £18

Front shock absorbers + labour £82

2 Hankook tyres plus fitting £106

Cam cover gasket £6

Oil and filter £25

Small patch of sill welding £60

MoT October 2015 £54

Year total £361

 

March 2016 - March 2017

 

Oil and filter £24

Air filter £5

2 Kumho tyres plus fitting £110

Mintex front brake discs and pads + labour £80

Gearbox oil change £20

Front OS door lock £15

MoT October 2016 £54

Year total £308

 

March 2017 - September 2017

 

Mintex rear brake pads + fitting kit £16

Central locking motor for RH rear door £10

Radiator £45

Cam cover gasket £6

Fuel filter £6

Fuel pump (not required but useful spare) £32

Dinitrol underside x1 aerosol can £8

 

Yet to fit…

Front stabiliser links £8

Febi Bilstein wishbones £57

Rear exhaust silencer £30

Year total £218

 

The one significant cost that I keep putting off is rear arch replacement.  It’s probably uneconomic to get the work done, but that’s not really the point is it.  I’m willing to spend on a car that keeps being reliable (hopefully they’re not famous last words…).

[Shep Shepherd]

I think it deserves to have the rear arches done, and done properly with actual metal

[RobT]

Blimey, doesn’t time fly.  My last proper update on this was September 2017.

 

This March I’ll have owned K415 KGW for four years.  Mileage was 122,000 in March 2015 and it now stands at 141,800, so that’s only 4,950 per annum.  Hardly the mile munching it was originally designed for, but I see it as a much deserved semi-retirement.

 

A photo from 2015.

 

 

It now looks rougher than this as I keep it parked on a busy road.  It’s accrued some knocks (such as the non-folding mirror casings getting clipped, now held on by gaffer tape) and the rear arches have deteriorated to the point where I bodged the near-side one with wob and a very poor paint job.  I couldn’t justify the expense of doing it properly, there’s always something else to spend money on, be it car or life-related, plus it’s grotty in other places too.  The boot floor corners for example, currently expertly* bodged with CPT off-cuts, so those really could do with being welded up.  More for practical reasons than aesthetic, as during wet weather rain can enter the boot leading to a moist carpet and misting up.  It doesn’t mist up any more than some cars I’ve had, but still.

 

This pic isn’t of my car, but it’s illustrative of where they go.

 

 

Anyway, enough agonising over rust issues.  On a positive note there’s some good memories attached to the Cav now, as I’ve done a few road trips in it.  The Reims-Gueux circuit was in July 2017.  It developed an annoying ticking noise mid-way through the journey.  Thankfully it was a simple fix, being a replacement fuel filter once back home.

 

 

With this year already having two trips to the continent, one to Ypres in January, and an overnighter in Holland earlier this week.  I’m trying to get in some trips before ‘that’ event happens…Have a boring photo of a deserted car park near Westkapelle, Zeeland province.

 

 

Approaching the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier, which is an interesting area to visit being part of the Dutch Delta Works, and the beaches along the coast up to Domburg are vast and rather lovely.

 

 

 

Despite being 27 years old now, the Cavalier is still the perfect tool for covering distance (close to 40mpg average), and it seems to track better on European roads.  The tracking isn’t out, so maybe it’s just because their roads are less shit on the whole.  I’m mindful of not taking the piss out of an old-ish crock though, so I’ll give it a service next month and just use it for local trips for the meantime.  The Impreza can be used for longer trips instead, assuming it passes the MoT OK.

 

Fingers crossed for more Cavalier-ing on a shoestring!

[mrbenn]

Just lovely, and great pics. Colour suits it so well. Friend of mine used to have a 2.0 auto in GL spec years ago. I remember it being ultra smooth and sounding ace. Also recall I liked the sound of the doors shutting......

 

Do you reckon you’ll have the arches done at some point?

[Shep Shepherd]

I was in Zeeland a couple of weeks ago, albeit in Westenschouwen, but I've been to Westkapelle before. I love the area

 

The Volvo rides a lot better on Dutch roads, which in my experience are invariably superb, even the rural ones. Being able to cruise legally at 80mph on some of the country's motorways is very nice, too.

[Jim Bell]

Lovely! How does one own a car for four years?

Is there specialist conditioning one must undergo?

[RobT]

Jim, in this instance it just sort of happened.  It helps the car only cost £300 and costs little to keep going.

 

Do you reckon you’ll have the arches done at some point?

 

In all honesty, no I'm afraid.  If the rest of it was good then possibly, but there's too many other issues to warrant spending big chunks of money on the bodywork.  By the same token I do make sure it's in good order mechanically, so this is far from bangernomics motoring!

[loserone]

Mental.

 

Well done.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Your Cavalier being 27 years old and it's not even one of the first, makes me feel very old.

I can clearly remember the supply problems and waiting list for these, especially the 2.0 ones, it got so bad at my company the transport manager took them off the list and made all those waiting have something else, to sweeten the deal he got Citroen Uk to do BX Gti's for the price of a 1.6 GL Cavalier, Citroen did very well and sold us about 100 BXes, the company suffered big time at disposal though...

[RobT]

I’m afraid this post is a rather lengthy travelogue, but hopefully it’ll prove mildly entertaining but also informative in some respects, so here goes…

My brother-in-law and his family live in France, just south of Geneva in the Rhône-Alpes region.  I’ve been meaning to do the drive for years now, so in January my other half said let’s just do it, otherwise we never will.  Initially the car of choice was the Impreza.  However, procuring euro breakdown cover was proving impossible or too expensive.  I can’t remember which.  Also, it’s more thirsty than the Cavalier (by about 10mpg on a run) plus I’ve got euro cover included on my classic policy with the Cav.  Despite some reservations, the decision was made and ferries booked.

It got put off by a month until April, which was fine as it allowed me time to change the oil and spark plugs, and generally go over it making sure it had a chance of doing the 1,300 estimated miles in six days.  My main concern was the radiator leak, which has been there for a few years now.  I replaced the rad in 2017 but within six months it was leaking a small amount intermittently, something I’ve just lived with (seems to be a hairline crack in the plastic casing).  Tools and some spares packed, and I replaced the spare tyre a week before, so it was set for the off.

Day 1 – London to Geneva, 599 miles

No photos as it was a 4am start in time for the 6.40am ferry.  Urgh.  Calais was achieved and we hit the road at 9.15am.  As we had to be there by the evening (a meal out was booked for 7pm) it was autoroute all the way.  Even if it wasn’t I’d be doing this anyway, as the purpose of the trip was to spend time with the OH’s nephews for the weekend.

At some services near Dijon, about 350 miles in.  All fine so far, although I was keeping an eye on the coolant.  None required so far.

Lunch, plus sandwiches made at home to save a few quid, because mingebag.

The scenery gets a bit more interesting south of Dijon, but from Bourg-en-Bresse eastwards it gets very pleasant indeed.

 

Piss stop at the péage. Too much of this occurred as the car copes with long stretches of driving better than my bladder does. I shouldn’t drink coffee at the services, but even from a machine it’s very good over there.

Destination was achieved 10 hours and 599 miles later.  I wanted to round that up by driving around the block but we were already late for dinner.  Some might be thinking, why did it take so long?  Well, factor in my aforementioned bladder, a three stop strategy of around 20-30mins per stop, and only doing around 70mph, possibly less when the rain hit.  Many other brits tonked it past us at probably a ton plus, but mechanical sympathy and wanting to making it there fairly relaxed were key factors.

The car was parked up and left for a couple of days to rest, although the following morning I noticed it had dumped a load and needed 2 litres of coolant.  This made me a tad concerned for the return leg on Monday, to be stretched over three days.  But otherwise it was all good.

[RobT]

Day 4.  Geneva to Beaune, 150 miles

Today the journey home commenced by touring through Burgundy and staying in Beaune, the wine capital of the region.  The ‘avoid tolls’ tick box was clicked on Google Maps, and the route was 150 miles or so going via Macon and then up along various D roads.  Many of the roads turned out to be a bit shit in terms of surface quality, and I wonder if that’s to do with the traffic the Route des Vins de Bourgogne must get.  Ride quality isn’t the Cavalier’s forte either, but I did spot a friend.

The Route des Grands Crus was interesting, visiting such legendary places as Pommard, Mersault, and the Montrachets.  We also stopped off at Santenay, which has 12 Premier Cru vineyards blah de blah.  But never mind that, how about this...

Now that’s how to do touring.  On German plates too which I only spotted after the drooling ceased.

Lowering the tone I parked near some vines.

Beaune itself is pleasant enough, although I didn’t find it particularly special.  Maybe my expectations were higher because of the wine link.  Either way I meant to buy some properly decent bottles considering the location, but ended up just getting one single bottle of basic Bourgogne from Lidl for 3.99.  I had it the following night and it was fine, but then my palate is also rather basic…I’m still learning!

Day 5.  Beaune to Troyes, 250 miles

This was the best day of travelling by far.  I set the ‘nav to take us via the hilltop town of Vézelay in central Burgundy, with the basilica being a UNESCO World Heritage site, so needless to say the place was bloody lovely.  I also liked this shop chock full of old photos.

The driving was gr9, along some fast sweeping D roads going through the Morvan regional park which is a beautiful area (and a northern extension to the Massif Central).  Very much the sort of rural France I like.  The Impreza would have been the much better chariot on this stretch, but the Cav did the job and took a bit of punishment from a few hooning sessions.  Rural France also offered up these gems.

The 21 looks like it’s painted in Rover Henley Blue.  Never seen one in that shade before.  Fuggin’ marvellous.

Also, what the fu…..

I had to turn back and get a slightly better photo of this.  Unbelievable.  I endured a few Gallic glares to get this but I think this is the first 14 I’ve ever seen in the metal.  It did look mostly metal too.  I shared this photo with Skizzer and he got very excited.

There’s no way to top that, so I'll just say Troyes in the Champagne region is a nice town with a good feel to it, and is an ideal mid-way stop off if you’re heading down or back from the Alps.  There’s plenty of medieval buildings as it was largely rebuilt in the 16th century and escaped bombing in WW2.

As for the car, all seemed OK apart from some slightly rough running (it idles a bit unevenly anyway) which led to it stalling in a supermarket car park.  I think it was just being a bit grumpy after some fairly hard driving, plus I’m not sure their E10 fuel agreed with it entirely.  I moved on to 98 super in the later fill ups which only has up to 5% ethanol I think.

Day 6 Troyes to London, 320 miles

Not much to say about the last day, apart from the fact the Cavalier kept trundling on for the final 320 miles and oddly only needed an extra 200 ml or so of coolant in the morning.  This leak is very much intermittent but replacing the radiator is definitely on the cards soon.  This is one reason why I haven’t replaced the thermostat, as it has run cool for ages which has been a good thing up to now.

Total miles were 1,320 at around 40-42pmg average, and I’m really impressed how it just kept going with minimal fuss in quiet comfort, and didn’t actually feel like it was about to conk out at any moment.  That’s what it was built for I suppose, but not bad for a 27 year old crock with 143,000 on the clock!

Have an amusing* photo to end this post, and a double-decker train.

[stuboy]

cavaliers they go on for miles

[Floatylight]

Of all the cars I've had my Cav is the one I miss the most and it went in 2000 after 6 yrs and having driven it 100k miles, same colour as yours.. Lovely motors!

[lisbon_road]

Looks a good trip Rob and the car is clearly a good one.

I'd just get a radiator and put your mind at rest.  A decent old stock one if you can but if not a cheap one, they're generally ok in my experience.  

[egg]

Marvellous stuff. Much virtual enjoyment. 11/10.

[Amishtat]

Big thumbs up here too, enjoyed reading about the trip whilst remembering how much I like these Cavaliers. Yours looks lovely in that colour 

[Noel Tidybeard]

12 hours ago, RobT said:

 

The 21 looks like it’s painted in Rover Henley Blue.  Never seen one in that shade before.  Fuggin’ marvellous.

i think French electrical services used this shade of blue- friends of family had a montego estate in henly blue and it raised eyebrows en France with a caravan on tow for this reason!

[egg]

Comme ça?

 

[RobT]

Good info there Mr Edmonds, cheers!

[wuvvum]

Nice write-up.  I'll be doing a not dissimilar journey in July when I drive down to Annecy for my cousin's wedding - I'll be going with my parents in Dad's Auris hybrid though, so shouldn't be any breakdown worries - I'll be sharing the driving with him as Mum won't drive on motorways these days.

[Burnside]

Thank's for sharing your trip it's making me question why I'm selling my Cavalier reading it ! 

With the radiator leak, I've replaced two on mine in nearly 11 years motoring. The first one was a core failure with age and the replacement [ Nissens item ] only lasted 4 years. It failed on the plastic joint round where the top hose fits on.  At first I thought the top hose had split until I'd removed it. Think the first rad cost £60 and the second only set me back £40 all in.  Really easy job to change unlike the Vectra B 2.0 Ecotec SRI a friend had. 

[Cavcraft]

Brilliant, really enjoyed that.

[holbeck]

Nice work Rob. I'm toying with the idea of a French road trip at the moment myself.

[RobT]

35 minutes ago, Burnside said:

Thank's for sharing your trip it's making me question why I'm selling my Cavalier reading it ! 

With the radiator leak, I've replaced two on mine in nearly 11 years motoring. The first one was a core failure with age and the replacement [ Nissens item ] only lasted 4 years. It failed on the plastic joint round where the top hose fits on.  At first I thought the top hose had split until I'd removed it. Think the first rad cost £60 and the second only set me back £40 all in.  Really easy job to change unlike the Vectra B 2.0 Ecotec SRI a friend had. 

That's pretty much where mine has gone, although I've a suspicion it might be slightly further down.  I'll only know when I remove it.  I was going to get another Nissens but will try a different brand, still only £50.

[RobT]

17 minutes ago, holbeck said:

Nice work Rob. I'm toying with the idea of a French road trip at the moment myself.

I can thoroughly recommend central and northern Burgundy, especially the Morvan.  It's the first time I've ever been there.  Auxerre is supposed to be a lovely town, and I'd have preferred staying there to Beaune.  But would have meant too much mileage in one day.

[Burnside]

8 minutes ago, RobT said:

That's pretty much where mine has gone, although I've a suspicion it might be slightly further down.  I'll only know when I remove it.  I was going to get another Nissens but will try a different brand, still only £50.

£50 seams pretty fair though forget which brand the current one is, but I made sure it wasn't another Nissens item ! 

[mrbenn]

Great write up and pics, brilliant car. The mk3 Cavalier really stirs something in me. 

Thanks for sharing!

[Saabnut]

Great write up!

I would say  to anyone thinking of a French road trip - just do it! Get away from the tourist tails and see proper rural France. You do not need anything fancy, I just did my last trip in a 150 quid Honda Jazz, and France is not far. My trip was 939 miles each way, but 639 of those were in the UK!