Stanky's Car Fixing Thread - Looming MOTs and a day out 06/06

[Stanky]

For a while now the Dacia battery has been a bit crap, needing putting on the trickle charger about once a month. It does generally get used for local duties, doing 5-10 miles at a time, but gets longer runs fairly often. Now its getting colder, it seems to be worse so the trigger was pulled on a new battery from the excellent Tayna.co.uk.

As usual, it arrived within 48h. I trickle charged it overnight and fitted it this morning. I opted for a mid-price Yuasa ESB with more CCAs and Ah than what was on there currently. I came mildly unstuck when I realised that the new battery was about 40mm longer than the old one, and the battery tray has a weird plastic protrusion to hold the OEM battery in place

However 20 minutes with a hacksaw blade, stanley knife and a bit of sandpaper had that removed and sanded flat, and the new battery then fitted like a glove.

As usual, once the new battery was installed and the ignition put on, the dashboard lit up like Blackpool, but a short drive, turning the steering wheel lock-to-lock and confirming that the tyre pressures were OK had it settled down again. What was a little bit interesting* was all the errors it threw for things our base Sandero doesn't have. I got TPM, front radar, rear electric windows and something else warnings on first startup but these went away after I turned the ignition off then on again. 

Not radically interesting, but cost me less than half what Dacia wanted for a new battery of lesser spec. There seems to be a bit of internet noise about the longevity of the OEM batteries on Dacias, with lots crapping out with similar symptoms to mine at 3-4 years old, which ours is. I guess its one of the ways that Dacia can sell them so cheap and still make money on them but its a bit annoying. Anyway, the new battery should last another 5 years or so I hope.

One further annoyance is the SOS system, it began to flash up errors about a year ago intermittently, and has got worse and worse to the point its now on more than off. Apparently the system has its own battery in the dashboard somewhere which conks out after a while and throws the error. Alternatively it could be the GSM aerial being broken too. Anyway, I'll leave it for now but make sure it gets looked at when the car is in for its next service next summer. Dashboard warning lights bug the hell out of me, but my wife who is the primary driver isn't bothered by them at all - especially if its something like the SOS function which sh'd never use anyway so its not a big deal.

I'll keep the old battery as I have a 12v > 120w 3-pin plug inverter which might be handy in a power cut potentially. It'd keep a load of LED lights working for a few hours at least.

[mk2_craig]

3 hours ago, Stanky said:

There seems to be a bit of internet noise about the longevity of the OEM batteries on Dacias, with lots crapping out with similar symptoms to mine at 3-4 years old, which ours is. I guess its one of the ways that Dacia can sell them so cheap and still make money on them but its a bit annoying.

Certainly not limited to Dacia. Current shape Ford Focus, and especially the ST like mine, are also significantly prone to the same issue. 

[Stanky]

I've been living a charmed life since buying the Lexus about a year ago, but we all knew the dream would come to a crashing halt sooner or later didn't we? That something catastrophic would befall me and sour the ownership experience. Well, Last thursday was that day. Its taken me all weekend to come to terms with the scale of this disaster. Yes, I know what you're all thinking. Its a "Japanese car, they never go wrong!" and "Its a Lexus, the pinnacle of Japanese cars (which never go wrong)!" however it turns out we're all misinformed my the mainstream media, and bad things can, and do, happen.

Thats right, the worst has now come to pass.

I think we all need to accept that they really don't make cars like they used to. You'd not see this sort of shoddy attention to detail, and penny-pinching-at-the-expense-of-the-ownership experience with a REAL car made by a proper BRITISH company in the 1970s now would you? With a heavy heart, I pulled over on the side of the road, unscrewed the number plates, stuck a 'police aware' sticker from my confusingly large pile of emergency-service issue warning stickers and walked home in bare feet in the sleet. No sooner did I arrive at the end of my street, than did I see my wife hurling the last few worldly possessions out into the front garden from an upstairs window before yelling to me that I was a life failure with nothing to offer, that her affair partner had moved into the family home and had legally adopted my children and cat, that she had faked every orgasm she had ever had with me and that my penis was both smaller-then-average and mildly deformed.

My vision faded to greyscale and a man approached me introducing himself as Ken Loach, and that I was going to be the main character in his next film but that it was to be an unpaid role due to circumstances outside of his control. 

A single tear ran down my cheek, froze in slow motion and then the scene faded to black accompanied by the soundtrack of children laughing...

 

*ahem*

Sorry about that. Yeah so basically the Lexus has behaved impeccably for a year, literally nothing has gone wrong, everything still works as Lexus intended/it left the factory 15 years ago and it continues to be a warm, fast, comfortable place to be. Its getting a mixed 28mpg on local drives in winter (32mpg in the summer), does 37mpg on a run, has plenty of power to overtake dawdlers as demonstrated on the A32 last weekend when I blasted past a mk4 golf that had been lowered to such an extent it couldn't/wouldn't exceed 40mph. My kids choose it as the car to be driven around in and are still fascinated by all the toys it has. Its hands-down the best car I have ever owned. I really can't recommend these enough if this is what the ownership of an 'average' one of these is like. The plans for this year are to replace the spark plugs which are about due based on 60k interval, this is a slightly complicated job due to needing to take part of the inlet manifold off, but gives me a good opportunity to inspect the valves for carbon buildup since this is direct injection. Depending on the outcome of that I might get it booked in a specialist to have them walnut blasted if they need it (though apparently this is much more prevalent in the US and rarely seen here). The only other job that I'm considering is an ATF change which I will probably outsource. It'll want a service later in the spring but thats not hard or expensive. Otherwise it just does everything I want it to. If they had made the 2nd generation of IS with an estate body it would be a literal forever car. That said, I still can't see me replacing it with anything else for a long while, and I'll almost certainly get another Lexus after this. I'd love to have a go in a similar age CT which I think is basically a fancy Prius? I wonder if the quality engineering extends to the entry level models too?

 

[Stanky]

The front tyres on the Dacia had worn on the outer edges, assumed because the tracking was off. This had bugged me a bit, but on a recent long journey (its usually doing local trips) it did understeer quite a bit on a wet and greasy roundabout which has focused my mind on getting them fixed.

I fired up tyreleader and ordered a pair of Kumho Ecsta PS71s, I have a full set of these on my Lexus and have been very impressed with them. If they do the business on a 200bhp RWD car then they ought to be fine for a 90bhp FWD hatchback. Unfortunately, tyreleader emailed me back about 10 hours later to say they were out of stock and refunded me. So I went for the next best option, Kumho Ecowing ES31s. These are a bit cheaper, and less performant in the tests but still a solid midrange performer from what I could see. I placed an order for two of them.

As usual, they arrived within 24h and were date coded in week 48 of 2024 so nice and recent.

I called up the local tyre fitters who are happy to fit tyres that they don't supply (and do part worns too) and mooched over to them today. As usual they sorted it out there and then, swapping the tyres and putting in new valves and balancing them for me. Their prices have gone up a bit, but not outrageously and cost for tyres + fitting was comfortably cheaper than anything that any of the supply & fit places nearby could do so I'm happy with that.

The old ones were a bit more than just badly tracked I think though

This is the outer edge of the passenger side one, but the inner edge had worn the same, as had the inner edge on the drivers side. The middle of the tread was fine though, so I think that what has actually happened is that they have been run underinflated which has worn both shoulders. I'm usually pretty on it with tyre pressures so I suspect its prior to our ownership that the majority of the damage was done? Hard to know, I'll probably take it and get it tracked at another place before long just to make sure its not that as I don't want these tyres worn out in 20k miles time because of something totally avoidable.

On the drive home the new tyres seemed good. Granted it was a dry day  but they were definitely quieter than the old Hankooks. I'll need to drive them a bit to wear off the casting gloop but they seem to be decent. I'd definitely recommend Kumhos for most applications. I've used them quite a few times now and as a mid-range tyre they're totally adequate.

[Stanky]

Buoyed with the success of the tyres on the Dacia, I gave my youngest an impromptu lesson in car maintenance last night by showing her how to change the oil and filter on the Daihatsu. To her credit (she's 6) she was really enthusiastic and listened carefully to what I was telling her, then told wife_Stanky exactly what we had done, and why when we got back indoors.

So thats another job ticked off the list. Just the Lexus oil change & rear brake caliper strip and grease to do at the weekend then the fleet is fully up to date with scheduled maintenance.

On a bit of a tangent, where is 'safe' to buy spark plugs from these days? The Lexus will be due a set of plugs by the summer and since they are fancy-pants iridium jobbies at £25 a go I really don't want to buy some fakes. Also, the job is a bit of a chore as you need to remove the intake manifold to access one bank of the vee (though it does mean I can inspect for carbon buildup on the valves at the same time) so I really only want to do it once if possible. 

[Stanky]

Took advantage of the good weather and wife_Stanky and Kids_Stanky going out earlier to get in the garage again.

I changed the oil & oil filter in the Lexus, the oil filter housing came undone a lot easier this time around! I've done a bit over 8k miles in a year based on my servicing records. I also stripped and regreased the rear brakes to keep the sliders from seizing up. I'm into a rhythm of doing this every 6 months now as preventative maintenance, probably overkill but it only takes about an hour to do both sides and is basically free. Discs are fine, nice and clean and no lip to speak of, and the pads have plenty of life left.

I also took the Daihatsu out and gave it a thorough wash and wax while I waited for the Lexus oil to drain so thats another job done.

Next up will be changing the spark plugs and replacing the coolant later in the summer. I eyed up the access for the spark plugs, various Lexus forum posts say its a horrible job but doesn't look too bad to me. Yeah there is some stuff to remove to get access but its not that bad. I'll report back on that later. Coolant look easy, there is a drain tap in the radiator and another one in the block so shouldn't be hard to do that.

[Stanky]

The Lexus has developed a slightly irritating ICE issue where the audio just stops working. Sometimes it can go a couple of hours without it happening, other times (like today) it does it three times in 5 minutes. The symptoms are that regardless of input (I have tried bluetooth & Aux-in from my phone, and an actual CD (remember them?) it will be playing music or podcast or whatever and then suddenly it cuts out and the nav screen displays 'audio off' - with Bluetooth or Aux-in it just stops, if its playing a CD then it ejects it.

sometimes you can press the audio button and it will allow you to re-select the input and it starts playing again, but often pressing the audio button does nothing, and it is basically non-responsive until you cycle the ignition. I have discovered (during a long journey where I couldn't easily stop or pull over) that if left for long enough, it would magically come back to life if left alone for about 20 minutes and carry on though nothing had happened.

I've tried another phone in case it was my phone being weird, but happens with my daughter's phone too, and the CD behavior today is even more frustrating. I've not tried just listening to FM/AM radio to see if it does it with that too, but have no reason to believe it wouldn't.

Its both odd, and annoying. The car has the 'regular' audio rather than the Mark Levinson setup, I've hauled the amplifier out the boot a few weeks ago and opened it up and there was nothing obvious amiss in there, so plugged it all back in and the intermittent issue persists.

I'd really rather that it wasn't the head unit as a secondhand one (with no guarantee that this issue isn't present there too) is £300, and because its a smarty-pants Lexus, its not just the audio - the nav screen also handles the hilariously out of date maps, and rather more importantly the controls for the AC too. When the issue occurs though, its just the audio, the nav and AC controls work fine, so I think its specifically an audio issue.

Anyone got any suggestions of what to look at next?

 

The rest of the fleet are behaving themselves. I've just booked in the Dacia for its service and MOT in June which is looking like a slightly salty £500 for oil, oil filter, spark plugs, air filter & MOT (to be fair, this is the first 'big' service in our ownership). It does mean we maintain the FSH and also the warranty, which is handy because the SOS system is b0rked so I want that fixed at Dacia's expense while its in for its service. I'm 90% sure that its the separate SOS/GPS battery which might or might not live behind the instrument cluster which are known to fail at about 4YO and need replacing. I could do it myself but if its under warranty then they can fix it. Its not a big issue other than the fact that the EML is lit as a result of it being broken, and the screen basically constantly has the 'Error, check SOS System' message displayed which makes my teeth itch.

The Daihatsu doesn't get used enough. I love driving it and it puts a huge smile of my face but it only does about 1000 miles between MOTs. I took it up to the Flower Farm meetup which is the furthest its been in a long time and felt guilty that its not being used more. It needs a little bit of cosmetic welding to one rear wheelarch where its rusted, been filled from behind and now looks a bit scabby but I need to either use it more, or sell it I think. I'm torn because its brilliant to drive but I feel guilty about having it in the garage for 95% of the time. Its also one of about 12 left on the road so I also feel a huge responsibility to keep it alive, which slightly clouds my 'just sell it if you're not using it' minimalist approach - I'd hate for it to be ruined by someone, or to go to a home where its not looked after. I'm rather torn about it all...

[Stanky]

I need to stop prevaricating with jobs that ought to get done, so today I called up the Dacia dealer to make sure the booking for the service & MOT had made it from Dacia to them (I've been burned by this in the past) and they confirmed all in the diary so looks like that little issue has been fixed.

I also phoned up the local Lexus specialist about changing the ATF and filter in the gearbox of the IS. Had a good chat to the man there who recommended an even-more-local automatic gearbox specialist. He said that they tend to farm out automatic gearbox work to these guys anyway, so I might as well go to them directly. Seeing the stories of woe on here with made-up excuses from mechanics when it comes to jobs they don't want to do, this was refreshingly straightforward

"Can you replace the ATF and filter on a 2010 IS250?"

"No, but we know someone who can. Call this person and they can help"

"Thank you, have a good afternoon"

So I'll pop by there on Friday as tomorrow is super busy with meetings. I'm perfectly happy to pay someone to do it, and it tells me everything I need to know about DIY'ing the job if a Lexus specialist isn't hugely keen to take the work on.

A productive afternoon.

[mintwth]

Lin Autos? 

[Stanky]

7 minutes ago, mintwth said:

Lin Autos? 

Have you had any experience with them? There is another specialist in Titchfield too that a cursory google threw up

[mintwth]

23 minutes ago, Stanky said:

Have you had any experience with them?

It's where the Saab garage recommended for the 9-5. Seemed to be a 1 man outfit who knew his stuff. 

[MrBiscuits]

9 hours ago, Stanky said:

Have you had any experience with them? There is another specialist in Titchfield too that a cursory google threw up

Titchfield will be Crucial Automatics. I've used them several times - nice people who really know their stuff.

[Tickman]

On 06/03/2025 at 09:54, Stanky said:

On a bit of a tangent, where is 'safe' to buy spark plugs from these days?

With anything like this I use an independent motor factor, yes it is likely a little more expensive than online but you should be fairly confident that genuine.

Good luck with the audio, sounds really frustrating.

[Honey Badger]

Sounds like a dry solder joint to me, opening up when it's getting warm?

They have Android head units on Amazon for the IS250 with car play is that option or do you prefer the OEM look?

[Stanky]

Just now, Honey Badger said:

Sounds like a dry solder joint to me, opening up when it's getting warm?

They have Android head units on Amazon for the IS250 with car play is that option or do you prefer the OEM look?

The odd thing is that its worse when stone cold. Once its warmed up a bit it tends* to behave.

I have no particular affinity for OEM look, it just want something that works. I've look at the Teyes CC3 option at ~£250 which seems fairly well reviewed and largely compatible so that might be an option. Seems to maintain all of the HVAC and GPS functionality which is my main concern with wholesale replacement.

I've learned the hard way how good* cheap head units are and I've no desire to have a repeat of the fiasco that was the £50 double DIN head unit that I fitted to my old Celica which would randomly and without warning glitch and then turn volume to 11 and play 1997 modem sounds until you switched the ignition off and on again. It was bad in a manual car, it would be apocalyptic in an auto.

[Stanky]

A bit more info and a rash purchase later...

The OEM stereo/nav unit in the IS250 looks like this:

Its sort of two distinct parts. When it does 'the thing' all the buttons in the lower section (red box) stop working, most notably the power/volume button in the top right. The top section remains working. This includes the nav screen, HVAC stuff, hazard lights and a few other things. The stereo also responds fine to steering wheel controls - I can change the volume and power it back on if off/off if on using the steering wheel buttons so I'm a little puzzled.

A complete nav head unit is somewhere between £150 and £350 on ebay which is a bit salty for me currently, however I had a brainwave (that's 2025's one used up....) earlier and found that it comes apart, so I was able to buy just the bottom bit. Also, a seller had one which should be compatible for £35, with £12.50 of discount vouchers so I was able to bag it for £22.50 delivered. I suspect that this might be a screwup on their part somehow and I might be contacted to say it has mysteriously broken or some such once they realise how little I'm paying for it, but we shall see.

I aim to try and remove and disassemble the current head unit, swap the new-to-me bottom part over, connect it all back together and re-fit it to the car and see if the problem persists. Its a bit more parts-cannon-y than I usually like but seems like a cheap option to determine if that is the issue. If its not, then I know that its probably an issue with the top bit, in which case I can justify spending £250 on a new Teyes CC3 android setup and sack off the 2010 OEM Nav arrangement. I'm not willing to do that until I am sure that its not something else though.

Anyway, hopefully it'll pitch up here in the week and I can have a play and see if I can break everything and trigger the immobiliser or some such lolz

[Stanky]

I think* that I may be an idiot.

The lower bit of the stereo arrived and I'm very happy with the service. It arrived well packaged, and with a slip giving the reg and VIN of the donor vehicle it came from. So far so good. I've been hugely busy with work and general dadmin recently so its sat on a shelf in the study this week awaiting some time to get stuck in. Anyway, the other day I was driving to work and a thought occurred to me, the turning off antics only happened going over bumps, at a standstill, or on smooth roads it rarely ever happened. Maybe there was a loose connection? Then two of my remaining functioning neurons made a connection. Maybe the power/volume knob was partially stuck down?

Since this was easy to do, it seemed like a good place to start. I gently pulled it outwards and there was a pop and it clicked out. Since then, its not done the turning off thing at all! So I think that possibly I was a bit heavy handed and pushing the power button to turn it on, I may have jammed it partially in, and going over bumps may have caused it to power off with the connection being made.

I'll keep monitoring it, but I think I may have solved the issue - and as usual the cause was me being a ham-fisted dolt.

[Tickman]

Fixed is fixed, just gloss over the cause.

[Tubbo]

I’m so glad that I’m not the only idiot round here 😂😂

[Stanky]

Minor updates today.

This month is MOT month, with all three cars needing tests (heroic planning, I think you'll agree). First up is the Daihatsu which is in for its test on the 11th. I have only covered about 1000 miles in it this year, and last year it passed with the only advisory being 'oil leak, not excessive'. I spent an hour or so yesterday evening checking the lights and tyres and fluids and whatnot, and lifted it up to check the state of the rear chassis rails. Its got some surface corrosion but nothing that looks concerning to my expert* eye. 

I took it to a Japanese car themed 'Daikoku Night' event at Caffiene & Machine earlier this week and got some pics of other attendees

 

My Sirion got quite a bit of positive attention which was nice, I was surprised that it wasn't busier since it was a nice evening, but was good nonetheless. Anyway, it was a fun evening. The lad with the Daihatsu Hijet let me daughter sit on the back while he drive slowly round the field, and the bloke with the Honda City Turbo 2 let her ride the Motocompo folding moped round the field too, which was her first ever ride on a moped (though I suspect it won't be her last!)

On the Lexus front, the audio has behaved impeccably since I popped the power button out so I'm now 99% sure it was me being a hamfisted oaf as usual and that I just need to be a lighter touch with the button, or use the steering wheel button instead. Either way its a free fix and its back to working perfectly again. The Lexus is in for its MOT on the 20th and last year only got advisories for tyres being worn (which to be fair, they were) and they were replaced with a full set of new ones shortly after, so hopefully nothing of concern there. I think once its had its MOT done I'll book it in for the ATF and filter to be replaced by the local automatic gearbox specialist since the gearchange is a bit lumpy sometimes.

Finally the Dacia which is in for its MOT and a full service on the 28th (after payday, mercifully!) which should be fine, again it got an advisory last year for one front tyre being worn and I got both of them replaced about 6 months ago so hopefully nothing of concern there.

What a busy month!

 

[Tubbo]

For a chap who’s handy with a spanner do you not service your own cars or is it for service history purposes you have it done at the garage?

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, Tubbo said:

For a chap who’s handy with a spanner do you not service your own cars or is it for service history purposes you have it done at the garage?

So, Dacia have a deal where they will extend the warranty by a year each time you have it main-dealer serviced, up to 7 years or 100k (sort of like Toyota), and since it needs a few bits sorting including the passenger side electric window and stupid SOS button I'm inclined to just lob it in with them for MOT and service.

All my old heaps are far too old for main dealer service history to matter and I do all the work on them myself, but the Dacia is only 4 years old and still worth maintaining the FSH on. I think this time its due oil and filters and spark plugs and brake fluid, plus MOT and its about £450 all in, which isn;t terrible, all things considered. Especially if they also replace the SOS system battery and fix the electric window too.

[Tubbo]

1 hour ago, Stanky said:

So, Dacia have a deal where they will extend the warranty by a year each time you have it main-dealer serviced, up to 7 years or 100k (sort of like Toyota), and since it needs a few bits sorting including the passenger side electric window and stupid SOS button I'm inclined to just lob it in with them for MOT and service.

All my old heaps are far too old for main dealer service history to matter and I do all the work on them myself, but the Dacia is only 4 years old and still worth maintaining the FSH on. I think this time its due oil and filters and spark plugs and brake fluid, plus MOT and its about £450 all in, which isn;t terrible, all things considered. Especially if they also replace the SOS system battery and fix the electric window too.

Ahh that makes sense now, thanks.

[hairnet]

yellow of oof

also stagea

[Stanky]

25 minutes ago, hairnet said:

yellow of oof

also stagea

The Yellow Bluebird Turbo  was a honey, 100% stock apart from some tasteful (IMHO) coilovers to give it a bit of stance and aftermarket wheels. Otherwise totally mechanically standard. It was highly velourish inside!

I thought it was a Stagea but its actually (AKSHUALLLLLLLLY) a Toyota Crown Athlete. Was still fit AF, basically a gen 1 Lexus GS300 estate.

[lisbon_road]

21 hours ago, Stanky said:

 Anyway, it was a fun evening. The lad with the Daihatsu Hijet let me daughter sit on the back while he drive slowly round the field

 

 

Stanky, your ability to get your offspring along never ceases to amaze me. No chance of that for me and I know I'm not the only one.

[Stanky]

4 hours ago, lisbon_road said:

Stanky, your ability to get your offspring along never ceases to amaze me. No chance of that for me and I know I'm not the only one.

Thank you, yes I am very fortunate that both my kids seem to be interested in car stuff. My eldest is keen to learn to drive in 18 months time which I'm trying to keep her focused on. The smaller one is still in the 'i like helping dad' stage but will often come and get involved with car fixing jobs and very much listens to what I'm telling her as we go along.