Stanky's Car Fixing Thread - New Battery Day 25/10

[Stanky]

Haha, let me get it tested and taken to the redline - even just once! Apparently it'll top 70mph in 2nd 😳😳😳

Seriously though, it's been fun finding what it's issues were and fixing them, it's so rare and oddball it should be excellent on the road.

Oil your f5 keys now in preparation for Thursday.

[Stanky]

MOT scheduled for tomorrow, place bets NAO for the result. I'm hoping for pass with advisories for some limited corrosion.

WF04 YRZ for those who want to increase wear & tear on the DVLA's server. Not got a time yet, I'll drop it there for 8.40 and have day insurance so may have* to go the long way to the MOT station to make sure its fully test-ready.

I aim to be able to have a chat to the tester chap to set the scene, though they have always been entirely fair with my other heaps so fingers crossed!

[Talbot]

I'll open with a guess of Pass with advisory for corrosion on the rear chassis legs, and maybe an advisory for brake balance, given the brakes haven't been used in anger for a fair while.  I might have a slight* advantage over other members making guesses...

[mitsisigma01]

On 3/13/2021 at 3:09 PM, Stanky said:

Ok, poss not an issue if you can get the part numbers and we can see how expensive or otherwise some new parts are. An entire throttle body, brand spanking new is £80 delivered:

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001886060931.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.0.0.433f178aE3vSn7&algo_pvid=4be7c94a-5f62-4921-bb2f-8d6ad6ef9405&algo_expid=4be7c94a-5f62-4921-bb2f-8d6ad6ef9405-4&btsid=2100bdd716156480053051272ee039&ws_ab_test=searchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_

The clutch kit seems to be available, though is the thick end of £200 on ebay

Oops missed this one, have to pull my finger out, 6 shite cars, only 2 running and their both in need of time, money and/or a big hammer 😕

Good luck with the MOT tomorrow 

[Stanky]

Results are in

w00p w00p thats a result and a half! I can do the balljoint dust covers at my leisure as I have a bag of them along with the horrible clips but thats something for another day.

I suppose I best sort insurance and road tax now then!

Also, it revs like a bastard. I went the back way to the MOT test and it'll do an indicated 70 in 2nd gear - and sounds like a swarm of bees while doing so :D:D:D

The garage are having a look at whether there is adjustment in the clutch bite point as its quite high but doesn't slip or anything

[Tubbo]

That’s great news, I hope you get to enjoy it now all the hard work has been done 🤙🤙

[Tubbo]

Also, was there another hole in the exhaust then? Apart from the tail section that you replaced.

[Stanky]

Just now, Tubbo said:

Also, was there another hole in the exhaust then? Apart from the tail section that you replaced.

I'm going to ask when i go to collect it, I wonder if I didn't clamp the new rear section to the middle section quite tight enough - I put a crush gasket in between the sections so maybe I didn't do the bolts up tight enough?

[Tubbo]

51 minutes ago, Stanky said:

I'm going to ask when i go to collect it, I wonder if I didn't clamp the new rear section to the middle section quite tight enough - I put a crush gasket in between the sections so maybe I didn't do the bolts up tight enough?

Ok, let’s wait and see, unless there was a small hole on the top of the exhaust somewhere? Let’s wait events!

[Talbot]

2 hours ago, Stanky said:

Also, it revs like a bastard. I went the back way to the MOT test and it'll do an indicated 70 in 2nd gear - and sounds like a swarm of bees while doing so :D:D:D

I was about to ask if you drove it like your hair was on fire....

Superb result.  Very glad to hear it's passed.  I suspect the "rear suspension component is corroded" will be that surface corrosion on the spring, probably highlighted by the other one being so much better having been painted.

... and no advisories for galloping rot.  Winner.

[Stanky]

Collected it and had a chat with the tester who complimented it on how tidy it is. I asked about the balljoint dust covers and he said that they'd just begun to crack where they get pinched but that they didn't really need replacing yet. I also asked about the exhaust blow and he said that it was from the flexi at the bottom of the downpipe - Apparently there is a 2-bolt sprung clamp which one bolt is less tight than the other so I'll have a look at whether it wants doing up a bit or just ignoring for now.

I best get it insured and taxed now, then I can go and terrorise the mean streets of Hampshire over the long weekend! It drives exactly like a more powerful version of the 989cc triple Cuore we had years ago which is brilliant!

[Jim Bell]

Think we might need a vid of the HOON NOISE

[Stanky]

I'll go out in it a bit later and will get my co-driver to make a video

[Stanky]

@Jim Bell- This is it held to about 6500rpm, there is another 1000rpm to go. The Road is rather bumpier in the little Daihatsu than it is in my Mercedes though and it got a bit hairy!

Audio quality* isn't great I'm afraid.

 

[Jim Bell]

13 minutes ago, Stanky said:

@Jim Bell- This is it held to about 6500rpm, there is another 1000rpm to go. The Road is rather bumpier in the little Daihatsu than it is in my Mercedes though and it got a bit hairy!

Audio quality* isn't great I'm afraid.

 

 

He he!

Weeeeeee. That looks class!

[mitsisigma01]

Make a bigger hole in the flexi, more rorty noise needed. And can you get the cameraperson to turn the phone round for panoramic view please, I didn't recognise the road, not the best, or have you got hard rally suspension? Congrats on the mot pass. 👍

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Make a bigger hole in the flexi, more rorty noise needed. And can you get the cameraperson to turn the phone round for panoramic view please, I didn't recognise the road, not the best, or have you got hard rally suspension? Congrats on the mot pass. 👍

Its the road from Titchfield out along the Meon to Hill Head Harbour - its a funny road but the closest, best-sighted NSL road to me. I'll take it for a run up in the south downs over the long weekend and really stretch its legs. It did throw the EML after this escapade but after returning to Stanky_HQ its just a bad reading from the post-cat O2 sensor which I didn't replace and suspected to be iffy anyway so can sort that in due course. Its only an issue flat out which TBH I won't do too much if I can help it! A blueprint part is <£30 and a replacement part has cured the more important pre-cat sensor issue already, so I see no reason it shouldn't sort out the post-cat one too.

The suspension isn't especially hard, but doesn't have very much travel so can get a bit bouncy on crappy road surfaces - probably not helped by the car being so light (850kg apparently) so it gets a bit skittery sometimes. Still a lot of fun though! Given unlimited time, money and patience I wonder if Lotus-spec softer springs and harder dampers might help? 

[mitsisigma01]

It needs a good shakedown test hopefully not literally! Some good roads up north of Bishops Waltham and then onto the A272 if you get a clear run 👍

[Eyersey1234]

On 4/1/2021 at 9:55 AM, Stanky said:

Results are in

w00p w00p thats a result and a half! I can do the balljoint dust covers at my leisure as I have a bag of them along with the horrible clips but thats something for another day.

I suppose I best sort insurance and road tax now then!

Also, it revs like a bastard. I went the back way to the MOT test and it'll do an indicated 70 in 2nd gear - and sounds like a swarm of bees while doing so :D:D:D

The garage are having a look at whether there is adjustment in the clutch bite point as its quite high but doesn't slip or anything

Chodtastic news about the MOT 

[Stanky]

I've stuck 130 miles on the car since the MOT, reducing tyre pressures from 33psi all round to 30psi has helped it feel less skittish, but its still quite bumpy! Light car with stiff springs on hampshire's B roads makes for exciting progress!

Its absolutely brilliant to zip about in though - the steering is light but feels very direct, the car is tiny so you can make use of all the tarmac on the bits where you can see whats coming and it'll rev like mad in 2nd and 3rd gear which is really all you need between 5mph and 70mph.

I'm keeping an eye on the oil level as @Tubbo said it does use a bit, no blue smoke as far as I can see though. It also uses practically no fuel, even using most of the revs I don't think its doing less than 40 the gallon.

Here are a couple of pics of the car at my second home, which is currently undergoing some renovation work

I was pondering painting the chrome rubbing strips matte black, or potentially buying a replacement set from a breaker and painting them to keep the chrome ones for originality. I'm not sure though. I also urgently need to address the vulgarity of a car with NO MATS inside.

[Stanky]

Some multi-car minor-fixing madness today. 

My new wheel nuts arrove for the Daihatsu so I could replace the 3x locking wheelnuts and 1x random not-locking-but-not-right wheelnut so that was a quick job which has put my mind at rest. Locking wheelnuts are a complete liability in my book.

The Mercedes handbrake has become more and more reluctant to release over the last 6 months, resulting in me having to pull the stupid release lever thing upwards of 20 times to get the light to go out on the dash, and I'm fairly sure that the passenger side was still binding a bit as it has continued to make the odd rubbing/creaking noise at low speed. Its definitely worse in cold weather, but I finally snapped and lifted the rear seat squab and undid the access hatch then emptied about half a can of plusgas all over the release mechanism. I then sat in the drivers seat and set/released the handbrake about a dozen times to work the mechanism out, then left it overnight to soak in.

This morning I went out and did the same again, flooding it with plusgas then setting and releasing it lots to work the mechanism.

I have to say that the foot operated hand/parking brake is the shittest thing ever in a manual mercedes. Needlessly fiddly, with zero feel making hill starts something of a harrowing episode. Its just a shit idea. Its not like they even made much use of the centre console space that was freed up by not having a conventional handbrake lever. Its probably sort-of-ok in an automatic where you can leave the car in P, but having to leave a manual car in gear when parking in a in a slightly sloping car park in 2021 isn't cool. 

[Talbot]

56 minutes ago, Stanky said:

I have to say that the foot operated hand/parking brake is the shittest thing ever in a manual mercedes. Needlessly fiddly, with zero feel making hill starts something of a harrowing episode. Its just a shit idea. Its not like they even made much use of the centre console space that was freed up by not having a conventional handbrake lever. Its probably sort-of-ok in an automatic where you can leave the car in P, but having to leave a manual car in gear when parking in a in a slightly sloping car park in 2021 isn't cool. 

In an Auto it works fine, for several reasons.  1)  You don't actually need to use it very often as "P" will do just fine.  2)  Without a clutch to operate, your left foot now at least has a function.  3)  It does mean you can get more force on the parking brake for really horrid hills.

In a manual it's just stupid and I hate them too.  Hill starts are impossibly complex with them, and the "bang" the mechanism makes when you release it is hardly in keeping with what should be a quiet and pleasant car to drive.

Same with a manual-gearbox XM.  Well nigh impossible to drive in a hilly stop-start environment.

[Stanky]

The mercedes handbrake is much better now, I gave it three blasts of penetrating oil over a couple of days, then a good dose of hi-temp grease all over everything that moves or pivots

I then took the opportunity to hoover all the muck out before putting the lid back on. The heandbrake now releases on the first pull of the release cable with a satisfying clonk and the rubbing noise at low speeds is noticeably less. I think it still wants the handbrake mechanism on the passenger side wheel cleaning up with a wire brush and making sure its releasing properly, maybe this weekend.

I spent my lunchbreak today applying Dyanx S50 to the box sections on the daihatsu. If it sticks to metal as well as it sticks to my hands then it'll last forever! I had kept it inside overnight to make sure the contents of the aerosol can was warm. jetting it into the cavities was easy with the supplied lance thing. I took the time last night to pull off the door sill covers, revealing the holes that the poppers go into

I was able to poke the lance down these holes and fill the void with lovely brown wax. I had also removed the boot furniture and treated it to the same 

I was able to do the voids above the rear wheelarches as well as the chassis rails - there are 2 tiny holes in the boot floor, giving access to the rear end of the hollow chassis rails from the top. I also filled the boot lip void as well while I was here.

I then got the car up on the lift and ran wax through the chassis rails front to back and the two cross-sections too. One 750ml can was JUST enough to do it all to my satisfaction. I'm pondering getting another can and giving it another go but I'm in 2 minds about it really. 

Finally, I gave the zinc primered sections in the boot a coat of black enamel for good measure. 

The Dynax is more runny that I expected - I thought it'd be really gloopy but it goes on like paint. I have left the doors and boot open and the trim off for 24 hours to let it creep all around and for the solvent bit to evaporate off a bit before I refit everything. If I do get another can then I'm going to focus on the chassis rails which are all accessible from underneath anyway. The last thing on the list is to get a rattle can of Daihatsu S28 Silver paint to fix the scratches on the roof and by the petrol cap, as well as the primered bit on the front passenger sill. Being pale grey its nearly invisible but would like to properly finish it off.

[Stanky]

We're back to square 1 with the mercedes handbrake I'm sad to report. left on overnight, it is very reluctant to release in the morning, often needing 10 pulls on the release handle to extinguish the red warning light on the dashboard. I wonder if any fellow shiters could help me? Its a 2001 W203 c-class with manual gearbox. This is what I have done so far:

Applying the parking brake with my foot (its a 4th pedal to the left of the clutch) I get approx 8-10 clicks. pulling the release handle immediately releases the handbrake fine. Leave it overnight, or in the work carpark all day and you often need to pull the release handle 5-10 times to get the light to go out and the handbrake to fully release.

I have lifted the inspection hatch under the rear seat squab and used penetrating oil on the release mechanism multiple times, then applied hi-temp grease to everything that moves under there. This has helped, but its still reluctant to release fully after a few hours of the handbrake being applied

Last night I attempted to tighten the cable adjustment under the rear seat squab too. The internet suggested that I should leave the handbrake off, tighten the bolt under the rear seats until I could not push the car on level ground by hand, then back off 4 full turns. I did this, was able to push the car again. applying the handbrake was now 4-6 clicks on the foot pedal, and release was instant on the release handle.

fast forward to this morning though and it needed 7 pulls on the release cable to get the handbrake light to go out on the dash. 

Often its easier if it won't go out to put the car in gear and drive forward or backwards a foot or two then try pulling the release cable again and it usually releases. This is fine, except when I'm in a tight spot like being parallel parked. 

Can anyone suggest what to do next? Based on the rubbing noise I have had on and off for the last 6 months or so, I believe it is the passenger side that is binding slightly. The rubbing noise has been nearly non-existent since the greasing of the adjuster under the rear seats and my MPG has improved, but I'm still chasing this issue. 

If it was an Auto, i'd just live with no handbrake until the MOT next year, but its a manual so its a bit of a prick. I have already managed to ram my own garage door once trying to fix it and parking at work is a shit, having to leave it in gear to stop it rolling away. 

Youtube seems to suggest the handbrake acts on a pair of shoes at each side, which in turn push on the inner concave bit of the brake disc - might this be full of brake dust and crud and need removing and cleaning out? Access looks appalling due to the brake dust shield which can't be removed without removing the wheel hub, which apparently then requires a new wheel bearing? 

Has anyone fought with one of these and won?

[Talbot]

When you say it won't release, is that when you pull the handle on the right, the pedal doesn't come back up again, or it does come up, it's just the brake is still on?

If the pedal isn't coming up, then it's not the brakes themselves but the release mechanism.  Fairly easy to access, and if you need a spare setup I can likely get one from another W202 fairly easily.  It's sortof similar to a push-button release for a normal handbrake, but using a cable rather than a pushbutton.  With the lower trim panel out above the driver's footwell, you can get to it moderately well.

[Stanky]

6 minutes ago, Talbot said:

When you say it won't release, is that when you pull the handle on the right, the pedal doesn't come back up again, or it does come up, it's just the brake is still on?

If the pedal isn't coming up, then it's not the brakes themselves but the release mechanism.  Fairly easy to access, and if you need a spare setup I can likely get one from another W202 fairly easily.  It's sortof similar to a push-button release for a normal handbrake, but using a cable rather than a pushbutton.  With the lower trim panel out above the driver's footwell, you can get to it moderately well.

Ah sorry yes I should have been clearer - the pedal immediately springs back up to the top of its travel on the first pull of the release handle. It does not need any assistance from my foot or anything. The issue seems to be further back, after pulling the release, the pedal springs back up but the actual shoes have not released correctly from the inner edge of the rear disc(s), and the warning light on the dashboard does not extinguish.

I believe the handle and pedal are fine (for now, until I wrench the handle off in frustration) but there is a sprung component further back that isn't releasing properly when I pull the release handle to release tension on the actual parking brake cable.

[Stanky]

So, having bleated on about the handbrake issues with the merc they have now vanished. I went to grab some lunch today, the mercedes hadn't moved since I parked it up and applied the handbrake on wednesday evening. I was fully prepared for 10 pulls on the handbrake release thing but no, one tug (fnarr etc) and it released absolutely fine first time. I'll keep an eye on it, but this is positive. I had tightened the cables a bit under the back seat so there are now fewer clicks on the pedal which might mean there wasn't enough tension in the cable previously. 

Also the scraping/squeaking noise has gone too, all is good in Mercedes land for now.

In other news, my second aliexpress o2 sensor arrived for the Daihatsu. The one I replaced before the MOT is doing fine, but the old post-cat one wasn't very happy and would put the EML on when giving it the beans sometimes. The post-cat one is a bit easier to get at, lying on the floor you can reach underneath the front bumper and unclip the wiring harness and then use a 3/4" ring spanner to undo it from the exhaust pipe. I fitted the new one and clipped it into the harness on the loom and just need to charge up my Delphi laptop to clear the stored code for bad position #2 O2 sensor reading and it should be fine.

The EML doesn't affect running at all, but it annoyed me seeing the EML on the dash!

I also got the Aliexpress ICV for the 'spare' throttle body which was fitted in 5 minutes earlier in the week,so now I have two known good throttle bodies - the one fitted and a spare in a box. Both polished. I also have a spare unpolished TB with a bad ICV. I am on a Daihatsu forum and have offered up a throttle body refurb and polishing service, so I can use this as an exchange unit if I get any interest. The ICV is basically a well documented weak point but if I can get new ICVs for £15 delivered and swap them over in 10 minutes its not a bad way to make some pocket money. These throttle bodies are shared with a lot of daihatsu models and some Toyotas too so might be a bit of interest. Otherwise I'll just have a couple of known-good spares boxed up.

[Stanky]

Having put a couple of hundred miles on the odometer in the daihatsu since replacing the 2nd o2 sensor I am confident that the erroneous sensor readings issue is resolved now. I guess they live fairly hard lives going from stone cold to being blasted with 900c combustion gasses so its not a huge surprise they have short-ish lives. The 2nd one is actually reasonably easy to replace, being on the elbow at the bottom of the downpipe so you can actually unclip it and unbolt from the exhaust with the car sitting on the floor. The top one is a bit more fiddly but still not awful now I know where it lives.

I splashed out on a new battery for the daihatsu too. The old one wouldn't hold charge and while the car would crank over and start at 11.8v it wasn't going to get better by itself. I paid the nice people at Tayna £37 for a brand new Varta 014 battery which turned up next day. Whacked it in the car and left it on the trickle charger overnight and it seems happy enough. I got £5 weighing the old one in so it cost almost nothing to replace.

[Stanky]

Not been much to report on the car front recently, the Daihatsu dispatched a 4 hour round trip to the FoD without any issues the other weekend, it uses a bit of oil if you really give it the beans, but 220 miles of motorway/a-road at 70mph it barely used a drop. I need to get the tracking looked at and the wheels rebalanced as its wobbles like crazy over 80mph. For now though its a useful tell-tale that you're going to fast!

This weekend I gave the mercedes a thorough cleaning and was motivated enough to have a proper look at the brakes on the passenger side rear wheel. I've been moaning about the reluctance of the handbrake warning light to go off on the dashboard for a while, and the occasionaly scuffing/rubbing noise from that side for a while now, and since it was a nice day and the rest of the the family were out I set to stripping it all down.

Hubcap and wheel off, the brakes are easy enough to get at, the caliper undid with no fuss, and then with the handbrake off, front wheels chocked and axle stand in I was able to remove the brake disc. The C180 has rear disc brakes with the handbrake mech acting on a pair of shoes inside the concave flanged bit of the disc. On a more potent W203 I could see the benefit of rear discs, but the C180 with its modest 129bhp is really a bit underpowered to need such mighty stopping power. The hand* brake mechanism is actually foot operated, which would be fine on an automatic, but on a manual (like mine) its a bit of a shit combo. Hill starts are something of an art form. Frustratingly, this also means that handbrake application issues are also more of a problem, as you can't just ignore it and leave it in P with the transmission locked.

Anyway, with the disc off, I could see the handbrake mechanism so gave it all a really good cleaning out with brake cleaner and a wire brush, then took the disc into the garage and used a wire wheel in a drill to clean up the inner edge of the disc that the handbrake shoes act on as well. The inner disc was caked in brake dust and shitloads came out the innards of the cylinder thing too. I'm not sure why its doesn't self-clean, but it might all be trapped in the recess by the brake backing plate?

Anyway, with it all reassembled I went for a drive and it seems better. The handbrake released on the first pull of the organ-stop thing, and there was no dragging noises even after a run - The other side doesn't seem to drag but I may have a go at that for good measure next weekend just in case.

No pics because it wasn't really very interesting to see, but hopefully a job well done.

The cleaning went well, with the car shining up well but loads more lacquer sloughed off while I was doing it, and the paintwork is afflicted with a sort of very pale white speckly looking malaise. Its not visible from >6 feet away, but close up it looks like its been flicked with toothpaste all over. The bits with no lacquer aren't affected so I think its just the lacquer layer failing. Its a shame because mechanically its excellent but cosmetically needs some work to make it look the part.

[Stanky]

Some updates from the fleet.

The mercedes brake issue seems to be mostly fixed, its been fine for 3 weeks of daily use now, other than one day when there was slight audible dragging after driving to work on the motorway, its certainly better but maybe not 100%. I'm pondering replacing the rear discs and pads in case the discs are somehow warped or have a buildup of friction material on the inner edge or something. Its not an expensive or difficult job tbh so might be worth doing anyway.

Now, onto the daihatsu. I took it out for a run today and there are a few things that want attention if I'm honest. First up, the exhaust is blowing a bit on the join from the manifold to the front/centre section. The joint seems to have partially broken as one of the two sprung bolts that hold the flanges together is all wonky. As its just pipe - the cat lives in the manifold - I think i'm going to go crazy and get a stainless cat-back system for it in slightly larger bore pipe. I think that stock its 1.75" so I am kicking about the idea of a 2.25" system as replacement to add a bit more noise without becoming (I hope!) ASBO wanker.

Next up, the clutch. Now, the bite has been high for as long as I've owned it but it doesn't slip at all, even when hooning, however today showed up a new and quite concerning judder pulling away from being stationary. It self-healed after 15 minutes, presumably once the friction plate had warmed up a bit, but its not going to stay fixed I don't think. I can get a LUK clutch kit for the car on ebay for £90 delivered, or a 'stage 1' black diamond performance one for £300. The BD ones seem to have mixed reviews, with a concerning number of people saying that they are actually worse for judder than a standard clutch, and with milimetric bite point, with several people saying that they'd binned the BD one off and swallowed the cost of a second new clutch within a few hundred to a thousand miles. Anyone have any experience/comments?

This neatly brings us on to the next thing - a clutch on a daihatsu sirion is an engine-out job apparently. There just isn't enough room to get the gearbox out without either dropping the subframe out or lifting the engine out the top. Does anyone have an engine crane I could borrow?

Assuming the engine is coming out, the auxilliary belt tensioner pulley wants replacing, the bolt that holds in in is a bit mangled and while its theorteically possible to replace in situ, there is almost no clearance between the bolt and inner wing, and the mangled-ness of it doesn't help. It would, however, be a piece of cake with the engine on the floor, out of the car.

Finally, The bushes want a refresh too, there is quite a bit of clonking over poor surfaces as you drive along, most of which seems to come from the back end to be fair, but if I'm going to change the rear beam bushes to polyurethane then I might as well spend a little bit more and get the ARB retaining bushes, top-hat control-arm-to-front-sway-bar bushes and the control arm ones at the same time, especially since the only people making them are in Vladivostok and its £30 for shipping!

If I gather the requisite parts over the next month or so, is there any appetitite for a spannering session to get the clutch and bushes sorted here at Stanky towers? Probably a weekend in mid-late august? tea, coffee, biscuits and whatnot can be provided and there is a decent pub round the corner - first round is on me for anyone who is able to help out!

If we can do the clutch, tensioner & belt and bushes in a day, or over a weekend that'd be a major step forward, and I can get the exhaust sorted shortly after as it'll be a custom mode job I imagine. I think with a few people working this ought to be possible? Work would be in a double garage so we're protected from the weather and have most tools to hand other than the engine crane.