320's Pug 306 daily derv devil

[320touring]

Had a look at the drain holes, seemed ok!

[twosmoke300]

See - it's not usually door seals

[320touring]

See - it's not usually door seals

Thats why I pulled the door card off- check before cutting:)

[320touring]

Read all about the coolant shenanigans here!

 

https://fuguttycars.wordpress.com/2016/01/09/proper-puggit-preperationings/

 

Have a wee pic to tempt you along..

 

[twosmoke300]

You do realise that by just swapping fuel filters you mix the clean and dirty fuel together . You should always drain and clean the housing first .

[320touring]

You do realise that by just swapping fuel filters you mix the clean and dirty fuel together . You should always drain and clean the housing first .

 No I didn't,

 

Shall bear in mind for future though:)

 

Its not been run on Veg, so seems clean enough at the moment!

[twosmoke300]

It's the same with the Vauxhall filters with the torx 30 on the top . It's my theory why dti fuel pumps fail

[Lacquer Peel]

You do realise that by just swapping fuel filters you mix the clean and dirty fuel together . You should always drain and clean the housing first .

 

How's that, unless unfiltered fuel gets to the top of the filter?

[twosmoke300]

They filter from outside to inside or vise versa so when you just pull the filter it mixes .

[beko1987]

Faaack that coolant! I just pulled the filter when I changed my fuel filter tbh. What's the procedure for draining the housing then?

[320touring]

Faaack that coolant! I just pulled the filter when I changed my fuel filter tbh. What's the procedure for draining the housing then?

No pretty eh? its a good bit better now but I may change it again later

[beko1987]

If the water ran clear from the hose you may as well give it a few thousand miles to dislodge anything else, then flush it all again. Can you check the coolant state from the header tank? It's built into the radiator on my ZX and made of dark plastic so unless its a really bright day you cant see shit. It's easier to open the top bleed nipple and observe from there.

 

When it comes out like Oxtail Soup, time to flush and change! You can observe to see if it's actually new oil going in or just old smeg coming out

[garbaldy]

I also did a coolant flush and thermostat change, but that stuff is going in the blog:)

That's nice tempt us all week with coolant flush talk and then don't show us.

[320touring]

Seeing as you asked so nicely!

 

From the moment I got the car, the temp gauge had never got above 70 degrees, and the heater was about as warm as the North Pole. The 25 mile commute needed hat and jacket most days – its been at most 3 degrees. You can see from the top pic that there’s a fair load of snow kicking about too..

It looked like the thermostat had failed open, but the user “generallee†on Retro Rides called it correctly as a seal popping off and jamming it open!





The ‘stat was re fitted, and the 3x 10mm bolts that held the housing on were tightened. Time to try a new trick..

Take 1x Dishwasher tablet:



Remove any non washery specific doodahs



place in a bag and apply a hammer vociferously:



Remove the top rad hose and tip the powder into the coolant



Re-attach the pipe and go for a little drive. I went to get coolant for the car, so did about 7 or 8 miles in total.

The idea is that the detergent helps to shift the gunk from the coolant system, meaning you get more of it out when you flush it through.

 

Back at base, it was time to strip it down and flush out:



I applied a hose strategically, and marvelled at the abundance of rusty water that flowed forth.

 

BE WARNED, these pictures are not suitable for viewers of a sensitive disposition!

**Viewer discretion advised**










Many, many minutes passed, and lo, it did run almost clear. But it was not a pretty sight



I got the coolant all cleaned up and papped the 306 back inside to re assemble and bleed.




Bleeding it up was really simple – I filled the rad via the top hose, re-fitted it and topped up the expansion tank.

Heaters were set to hottest and 4 on the blower.

Started the car up with the expansion cap off, and massaged the hoses to burp the air out.

It got to 70 degrees, so I fitted the expansion cap, and let it idle whilst I did some other work.

After about 5 mins, We got past 70 and up to the heady heights of an indicated 80 degrees! Success, and no more cold commutes!

[320touring]

Fuel light came on last night on the way home- did another 34 miles before filling up at Morrisons next to work.

 

99.7p/litre.

 

it did 612.2 miles on 56.17L of derv, total cost £56.00.

 

thats 49.55mpg

 

not too bad considering 1/2 of the tank was done at 70-75mph on the way home from collecting it.

 

Additionally it was running very cold for about 2/3 of a tank.

 

scope for improvement I'm sure!

[Lacquer Peel]

Only a little improvement on that without becoming a rolling roadblock, the Octavia TDI spoiled you with its parsimony.

[320touring]

Only a little improvement on that without becoming a rolling roadblock, the Octavia TDI spoiled you with its parsimony.

I reckon 55 is achievable..

 

we shall see!

[320touring]

A fairly frosty start this morning was followed by a fair smattering of snow.

2 yeats of the Glowplugs saw her up and running no bother!


Could do with a bit more underbonnet insulation I think - managed to melt the snow on the 1.5 miles to the supermarket.

[320touring]

This wee 306 continues to impress!

used it on Sunday to facilitate collection of my brother's new E38 730i and attempt to collect a Lada Niva- although that didn't go quite according to plan..

[Inspector Morose]

THE CX LIVES!

[auldford]

Following this thread with interest, as i've been mulling over picking up one of these for the work commute (65 mile round trip).

 

Any tips on things to look out for on a potential purchase?

[beko1987]

Bosch fuel pump

[Lacquer Peel]

Following this thread with interest, as i've been mulling over picking up one of these for the work commute (65 mile round trip).

 

Any tips on things to look out for on a potential purchase?

 

Chafed or stretched door loom, leading to no electrics in the driver's door.

Leaky heater matrix, a PITA to fix but mild cases can be fixed with Radweld or similar.

Knackered trailing arm bearings, can lead to weird camber or one side lower than the other at the rear, in my experience they go on for a long time before they get totally knackered.

 

Not familiar with HDis or the petrol engines, but the XUD engine either runs like a champ or it's fucked, rarely anything in between, there's not much to go wrong with them if you keep on top of belts, oil and coolant.

[320touring]

Following this thread with interest, as i've been mulling over picking up one of these for the work commute (65 mile round trip).

 

Any tips on things to look out for on a potential purchase?

I'd say 2 things:

 

1.What lacquer peel said!

2. Billy (Cavcraft) had a decent N/a bosch pumped (will run 100% veg) for not much coin. He sold me this one-it was as described

[Inspector Morose]

<Mulls idea over for potential BX replacement*>

[Cavcraft]

I do still owe you FACE though, more apologies as I just keep forgetting to find it

[320touring]

<Mulls idea over for potential BX replacement*>

Not too bad a shout and a Dturvo will feel like a rocketship compared to the bx. the 406 is about 300kg lighter than the octavia too-so muchly GLFingtons

 

I do still owe you FACE though, more apologies as I just keep forgetting to find it

Thats ok Billy- I'm coping so far, lucky for you that you make a guid cuppa;)

[auldford]

Champion, cheers guys! The Escort is proving a bit too costly to run and the tin worm is starting to set in so i'm looking at change in the coming months.

[omegod]

Chafed or stretched door loom, leading to no electrics in the driver's door.

Leaky heater matrix, a PITA to fix but mild cases can be fixed with Radweld or similar.

Knackered trailing arm bearings, can lead to weird camber or one side lower than the other at the rear, in my experience they go on for a long time before they get totally knackered.

 

Not familiar with HDis or the petrol engines, but the XUD engine either runs like a champ or it's fucked, rarely anything in between, there's not much to go wrong with them if you keep on top of belts, oil and coolant.

Good to hear that, one of my rears has a lean and nay sign of a decent second hand one appearing with discs  

[320touring]

 

Think I need front arms and dampers on this-feels a bit vague especially on Left hand bends when "pressing on".

 

something to look at during the weekend.

 

any suggestions where to start?