The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

3 hours ago, clayts450 said:

Leather* and wood* for the win, Mister ?

It has leather*, but no wood* sadly.  The leather* is about half a step up from a Project Drive Rover, so not the worst ever used in a Korean car but not exactly Connolly hide either.

3 hours ago, Spottedlaurel said:

I thought these might be a logical progression from the Camry. What's your verdict on it?

Well this probably isn't the best example, being an ex-taxi with 280K on the clock, but it's not dissimilar to the Camry in some ways, being a big roomy slightly bland barge with not a great deal of feel through the steering.  Ride is firmer than a Camry, though not overly hard.  It has the typical Korean feel of being well screwed together from relatively cheap components.  The diesel engine pulls well and seems pretty good on fuel (did the 200 miles back from Congleton on £20 of diesel), but you do have to work the gearbox as the gears are very close together (it's a 6-speed, but 60mph in 6th is 2,000rpm so it's not particularly high geared by modern diesel standards).  I imagine a V6 auto petrol would be a relaxing beast, but the VED on those is a bit silly.  Seats are comfy, although the driver's seat only just goes back far enough for me - I do like to drive stretched out though.

Apart from a bit of vibration at idle (don't think the DMF is in the first flush of youth), a slightly feeble heater and an occasional noise which sounds like a wheel bearing on its way out, I can't really fault this one.  Yes it's been well maintained being a cab for most of its life, but the fact that a 280K Korean car can still drive so well means that they must have done something right...

Anyway, it's booked in for an MOT on Monday so we shall see what we shall see.

[wuvvum]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention - I stopped at Asda in Grantham for a bite to eat.  Came back out again and there was another silver Sonata parked two spaces away.  Guess what I did?  Yep.  Unfortunately managed to time it just when the owner of the other Sonata was coming out of the shop, so couldn't really pretend that it hadn't happened either. 

[skattrd]

You should have given me a shout Wuv, I'm not far from Grantham, and was in town today doing errands.

[Noel Tidybeard]

On 11/8/2019 at 8:09 AM, dollywobbler said:

BX Milestone.

350,000kms! Well done BX.

pah that's only 217,479.9 miles! ?

[Split_Pin]

The Mini started chugging again in Cumbernauld Town Centre car park this afternoon before conking out altogether. 

Thankfully it wasn't in the middle of a busy junction or something.

The dead o2 sensors which I believe are the cause look like a right laugh to access and change out. A special o2 sensor socket is meant to help with this. Many skint knuckles look likely!

[Jamie]

10 hours ago, xtriple said:

I like them! Will they fit an SLK350?

They sold today unfortunately but yes they do fit (5x112 bolt pattern) 

[Jamie]

10 hours ago, GBJ said:

She's right, it looks shit.

The wheels are Ok though.

Brilliant. 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

13 hours ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

pah that's only 217,479.9 miles! ?

D'ye not think it's idling a bit high? Thought BX's idle speed was around 900rpm....

[richardmorris]

Perhaps the ac is running or the auto choke is engaged?

[xtriple]

Glad you sold the wheels from the Audi, I made an utterly derisory offer on a set of genuine AMG wheels, and I mean Cavcraft type derisory, insulting type... and I new it would never be accepted.

 

Just got the dreaded 'pay now!'  e-mail!So now I need tyres which even if I buy mingebag tyres will cost more than the wheels. I won't though cos I am a tyre snob... something else for me to be ashamed of  

[somewhatfoolish]

On 11/8/2019 at 7:28 PM, Yoss said:

We have a new drive for Felicia to leak oil over. A simple tarmac affair. We looked at block paving but it was more than twice the price, would have shown oil leaks and be more awkward for jacking up cars. 

 

Take care with jacking on tarmac, especially in warmer weather; the wheels on smaller trolley jacks aren't very big and put a lot of weight on a small area and tarmac can let them sink in, if holding a load on the jack put it on a bit of plywood or better still swap to axle stands, although some axle stands aren't great in this respect either.

[Jamie]

Ha! Good effort, are they the 5 'star spoke' ones? 

Had the machine polisher on this today 

[chancer]

Checking over the Ka earlier as its only mot'd til next month. Couple of small holes in the sills nothing too bad....but behind the fuel filler its rotten! Totally crumbling away. Daft question and i think i already know the answer...but is this structural or am i better calling the scrappy? Potatocam pics....

 

[Yoss]

38 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Take care with jacking on tarmac, especially in warmer weather; the wheels on smaller trolley jacks aren't very big and put a lot of weight on a small area and tarmac can let them sink in, if holding a load on the jack put it on a bit of plywood or better still swap to axle stands, although some axle stands aren't great in this respect either.

See post from yesterday. Already covered and aware, but again thanks for your concern. 

[Yoss]

23 hours ago, Yoss said:

Thanks for that, but don't worry, I never use OE jacks, certainly not at home anyway. I have one of these in the garage. 

Which has a nice roller to spread the weight at the front. But even then I have a large sheet of steel that I'll be using for a while until it hardens properly. I used to do all my work in a council car park when I still lived at home. Different times etc.., you could get away with anything then. But they resurfaced all the car parks on the estate and they took a long time to harden properly. There are still triangular holes there where my axle stands sunk into the new tarmac. So yes, I shall be careful. Thanks anyway. 

Sorry, this one I mean. Multi quote not working. Or just confusing me. 

[SRi05]

11 minutes ago, chancer said:

Checking over the Ka earlier as its only mot'd til next month. Couple of small holes in the sills nothing too bad....but behind the fuel filler its rotten! Totally crumbling away. Daft question and i think i already know the answer...but is this structural or am i better calling the scrappy? Potatocam pics....

 

Ka gonna Ka.... 

[chancer]

2 minutes ago, SRi05 said:

Ka gonna Ka.... 

This is the newest one ive had so far...its a 2008 model...and its by far the worst for rust

[SRi05]

10 minutes ago, chancer said:

This is the newest one ive had so far...its a 2008 model...and its by far the worst for rust

I find it incredible that even at the end of the production cycle, they still weren't rust proofing anything on those cars 

[adw1977]

A minor thing really, when people have died, but poor Jag!

[richardmorris]

50 minutes ago, adw1977 said:

A minor thing really, when people have died, but poor Jag!

I saw that earlier, and too am conflicted. Mostly that the Australian government have ignored climate issues for decades.

[danthecapriman]

Something incredibly rare happened today...

It didn’t rain!!

So, since it’s wet, cold and undoubtedly shit weather wise now for the foreseeable I used the dry day to dig out my dehumidifier trays and refill them with those weird crystal things that absorb moisture from the air. I’ve put two in each car and the van, should keep the damp and mould away from the interiors over winter. Also put a couple in the garage with the Capri, that should be ok without really but since I had them spare why not.

While doing this I thought I’d give the Mercury a check over since it’s been sat unused for the last three or four months. I’ve been busy with the Capri and other things and it’s been pretty much left and ignored for ages. The thought of selling it had entered my mind recently too.

It actually seems to be fine. Started up ok, though the battery was a little on the low charge side, but it fired straight up and ran lovely. Got it nice and warm and left the heater running for a while. Made me realise what a shit idea selling it is!! It’s such a cool car and it just sounds and feels magnificent once it’s running! Give it a quick rev and the whole body shakes and shudders! Power!!

For now, I’ve put some of the dehumidifier trays in it and covered it up but I’ve taken the battery out and left it on trickle charge for tonight. Next dry day off I get I’m going to get it out for a drive - road salt or not, it’s coming out!

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, chancer said:

Checking over the Ka earlier as its only mot'd til next month. Couple of small holes in the sills nothing too bad....but behind the fuel filler its rotten! Totally crumbling away. Daft question and i think i already know the answer...but is this structural or am i better calling the scrappy? Potatocam pics....

 

Not at all, as long as there are no sharp edges and the fuel filler device seals properly you'll be fine. 

[Split_Pin]

Went out to check the fault codes on the Mini again today, still the same 2 which both point only to the pre-cat o2 sensor. 

Bosch item ordered, ouch. 

Also ordered an o2 sensor socket.

Despite it's foibles, it is a hoot to drive and thus far has never actually let us down.

[clayts450]

Sunny day means car fettlin' time, and the two projects I set myself were easily* achieved.

Back brakes on the Accord Coupe - second time they've started making squeaky bedspring noises when being used, so another strip down and regrease . Will take it for a hoon later, but am quietly confident. However, a new issue has emerged - the small nearside section of the boot behind the wheel was a paddling pool. Got the Pela out and sucked it dry. First thought was rear light gasket but in digging some more, I've come to realise it's a side effect of the significant nearside dent. Will have to get the bumper off and see if I can persuade the metal outwards and wang some mastic in there to seal up any holes. I want to Vactan this sucker before I sell it on, too:

Elsewhere the Rover 620's washer was not squirting water through the jets, and I'd identified a loose end  of pipe flapping around miserably in the bay. Unfortunately, to reconnect it meant the front nearside wheel had to come off, as did the arch liner. One section of pipe was fucked at both ends, so replaced that, threaded it through and we have washer jets again. The 620 was pure filth as well, so gave it a clean up.

Nice relaxed fettling session in lovely sunshine.

Neighbour came out and pointed at the 820 - 'Number 6 ?'. Yup. She was amazed when I told her I'd won it. I asked her whether the neighbours were getting twitchy about my car park space monopoly but she just laughed and pretty much said 'fuck em'. The good news is I'm not actually using any of the other residents' spaces at all, and there's still two spaces left.....hmmm.

 

[egg]

New car show next April in Lille...(looks to be a significant event). Easy* 1.5 hr drive from the port (Calais), or very easy 10 minute walk from the Eurostar in Lille.

Diary tentatively marked.

https://www.lilleautoheritage.com/a-propos/

[wuvvum]

Got the brake pads done on the Scudo today - wasn't too bad of a job but the offside is now binding slightly - I'll see if it clears up with use, if not I might have to whip the caliper off again and grease the sliders.

Also got the replacement heater matrix fitted, which was a twat of a job.  The old matrix was definitely blocked though - the van now gets lovely and warm inside.  I did a coolant change at the same time - it remains to be seen whether it's stopped losing coolant, at the moment it's still getting rid of airlocks etc.  I treated it to a new expansion cap as well as the old one looked rather gunged up.  Unfortunately the bypass switch to the heater blower has packed up - I think putting the full current through it might have been too much for it, so I'm going to put a relay back in the circuit, but wired in properly this time...

Hyundai is in for a test tomorrow morning - I think it'll fail on brakes as the handbrake is pants.  Might need other stuff as well, but because I got it so cheap I don't mind spending a few quid on it if need be.

[dollywobbler]

BX has gone back to Stuno - many thanks sir! It was a fine steed for 2000kms of delicious New Zealand scenery.

Bought a new car. My first Australian car! Needs a headliner.

 New car cost $2000 (£1000) to buy, which I think might have been a bit much given I've already spent $276  (about £132) on fixing the air con. My orifice tube was duff apparently.  Also needs two tyres before long and an alignment, but I'll get some kms on it first. Has 12 months of WOF (MOT) and six months of rego (tax). 4-litre six pot OHC with 211bhp and vast amounts of torque. Nice slush box. Very wafty. Really struggles for traction when it's wet or on gravel. So, fun. Hoping to meet up with Phil_lihp tomorrow as I head to South Island (he's on his way back up).

[Split_Pin]

Heavy rain all night and yep, I definitely need that new door seal on the Audi. The towel I put in the seat bolster is soaking wet.

Getting messed around by 3 different supposedly reputable people on the Audi pages, all I want is that seal and have the money in my hand to pay for it. All they seem interested in selling are the high-value items. Another nail in the coffin of my enthusiasm for the car scene.

[brownnova]

Mrs_brownnova looked out the window and said “have you been out to the car this morning?”

“No, why?” Quoth I 

“The drivers door is wide open” she exclaimed.

She wasn’t wrong. In our haste and full handedness yesterday I had closed the door with my foot, but not properly! It had blown open on the wind.

 Thank Christ/Shiva/The Flying Spaghetti Monster/Mother nature that we live in the countryside where it’s quiet, or I’d have no Saab! 

 Best bit...?

 The battery wasn’t even flat  

[wuvvum]

Hyundai has failed the MOT - front brake pads and nearside headlight aim.  Not too bad at all considering.  Plenty of advisories though...