Zel's Motoring Adventures...Volvo, Renault, Rover, Trabant, Invacar & A Sinclair C5 - Updated 30/03

[Zelandeth]

18 hours ago, Andyrew said:

Well fudge me! So that's where that bulb is ment to go! It was hanging down when I got the car so I just shoved it in the glove box. I had that heater panel off recently as the cable sleeve holders had broke and the cable for the heater valve was stuck. In a last min fix the cable was left disconnected for heat control and tucked up under the dash. 

That oil pressure fitting didn't leak before scotland I'm sure. Before scotland the car was hardly being topped up. It's a sweet little engine in my mind. 

I still reckon it is indeed a sweet little engine.  I think it was just time for that washer on the pressure fitting to call it quits.  Was a simple fix once I figured out what was going on with it.  Still looks to be dry there now at least.

[Zelandeth]

Well this isn't ideal.

Camera absolutely doesn't handle colour balance well here...offside headlight is a neutral ~4000K white.  Nearside one today has turned distinctly pink/orange tinted.  Whereas the camera has made the nearside one look normal and the offside one looks green...I gave up after fighting with the camera for about five minutes.  You're just going to have to trust me.

Good side.

Not good side.

Guess it was only a matter of time before I had to mess with this nonsense.  Especially given they run whenever the car is running, because Volvo.

Oddly, they're not actually to hard to get to - though the air box/ECU on the nearside is precisely close enough to just make it really ANNOYING.

2006 date codes on these, so they are entirely likely original to the car, in which case they've definitely done their time.

I'd been pondering changing them anyway on ages grounds as the headlights really didn't seem as bright as I'd have expected - I've only driven the car a few times in full darkness, and had expected better so I reckoned the lamps had aged a fair bit.

Pretty sure I didn't cause this damage when removing the lamp, which makes me wonder how long this has been like this.

New pair hopefully here tomorrow - and I'll find out precisely how much MORE in the way the air box is when trying to get the locking collar of the nearside one back into place.  Given the general decline in quality of HID lamps over the last 10-15 years with the march towards everything being LED, I find myself doubtful that the replacements will last anywhere near as well as the originals have.

[Zelandeth]

Replacements arrived today.  Shown here during the standard customs inspection.

Failed inspection on account of being too boring and not edible.  Better put them in the car then if they're not allowed in the house!

Shiny.

The driver's side is really easy.  You can clearly see where the access cover is off below.

Passenger side, not so much.

Of course this is the one which wouldn't just slot straight in as well isn't it.

Eventually I resorted to getting a camera involved.  It turned out that two of the springy "fingers" which connect with the square ignitor housing (I assume for RFI containment) had been bent over.

Given how wicked tight the locking collar was to release on the old lamp and tell tale scratches in that area, I reckon it's been like that since square one.  With them bent down slightly it slotted straight in and the locking collar clicked into place with an entirely reasonable amount of force.

Much better.

Both lights are now the same colour.  Definitely better than they were - definitely had a distinctly greenish tint before.

Be curious to take the car out after dark to see if they're noticeably brighter - kind of hard to tell just sitting in the driveway.  Really do need to get the lenses properly polished up though as they no doubt aren't helping, and do let down the look of the car a bit.  Job done for now though.

Now just to wait a couple of weeks for the skin on my right wrist to grow back!

[SiC]

At least with HIDs you won't be having to do this in a very long time. Perhaps they'll even be able to outlive the car. 

I don't think I've ever had to replace a dead one. Only because I noticed they weren't particularly bright against other cars and had dimmed with age. 

[Zelandeth]

16 hours ago, SiC said:

At least with HIDs you won't be having to do this in a very long time. Perhaps they'll even be able to outlive the car. 

I don't think I've ever had to replace a dead one. Only because I noticed they weren't particularly bright against other cars and had dimmed with age. 

Exactly my thinking.  A hundred quid service item that's only needed every 50-70K miles of work doesn't seem at all excessive to me.  Heck, it's less than a full tank of diesel if I let it get too low.  If you're willing to take a punt on a random name you've never heard of or roll the dice on the counterfeit lottery on eBay/Amazon there are cheaper options as well.  Shouldn't hopefully be something I need to worry about for a long while now though (assuming the self levelling/cornering mechanisms don't loose their marbles anyway).

[beko1987]

The self leveling rods are prone to snapping on the laguna 2, mine had to be cable tied back on to the passenger side for the mot...

The fix was 4mm or so threaded rod, then ball joints on the ends of those, replacing the full factory plastic linkage.

Always looked a neat and tidy job when I saw it done but I can't help but think in a smack it'll probably rip the ends off the headlight/wherever the other end goes and not snap the cheaper* plastic rod...😂

Luckily on my laguna it dipped the passenger headlight down a tad and away from cars so I could still see, no one got blinded and it never got fixed for more than a few days.

[Zelandeth]

Had a brief totally unnecessary panic today when I came back out from a shop to see a giant pool of rusty coolant under the VP.  Which puzzled me as it was neither hot enough to have caused the expulsion of large amounts of coolant, level of said coolant was exactly where it should be - and it was lovely and clean.  Which was the final piece of the puzzle, confirming to me that it must have been left there by the previous car that had just pulled out as I arrived and I just didn't notice it when I parked up because I walked away to the rear of the car.

I think one of the jobs for this weekend really needs to be to give the Rover a good clean.  It's filthy from a combination of just winter grime and from dust kicked up while the landscaping was underway.  I moved it this afternoon when getting some awkward furniture through the gate and could barely see out the damned thing reversing back onto the driveway.  

I have fixed one thing on that car though (or at least I hope I have), which was tightening up the securing screw on the driver's wing mirror - so hopefully it will now stay where it's put rather than ending up pointing at the rear wheel after you hit the first bump.  It's a tiny thing, but was a *really annoying* tiny thing when driving it.  Especially as the driver's window really doesn't like opening or closing.  That's probably going to be near the top of the list to investigate as again - it's really fluffing annoying and the sort of silly thing which leads to me just not wanting to drive the car.  It actually works just fine but is really stiff so hopefully just needs cleaning up and the relevant parts lubricating.

Reckon with that and the front camber sorted properly so it tracks right I might actually be inclined to get some more miles covered and maybe actually start developing a bit of confidence in it.

Oh...and sorting at least the trip/odometer (they packed in last time I had it out) so in the absence of a working fuel gauge that I have *some* way to keep tabs on the fuel situation...That should also be near the top of the list I guess.  Or try to sort the gauge - though that involves draining and pulling the tank, which quite simply put I really don't want to do, so yes I am indeed putting that off!  On the plus side, I am pretty good at removing and installing the instrument cluster by now, so that bit shouldn't take me too long!  I only had it out about 150 miles ago to attempt to sort the ammeter and replace several dead illumination lamps (one of which has already gone out again anyway).

Oh, and the Volvo is demanding more attention again.

Needy bloody moderns!

[PhilA]

Those old bulbs weren't long for the world if they were going green. The next step is when they go a 70% brightness pink- that's your last warning they're about to fail, and normally last about a week at that point. 

Worth doing. By the look of the chambers the salts were about done for.