The new news 24 thread

[sporty-shite]

Spent this morning washing and hoovering the 480, before putting the standard wheels back on and going to town with the bumper dressing. Took photos of it in it's shiny "glory" for an advert on car and classic.

 

Also updated pics on my FS thread on here, hint!

 

Washed the 156 too, and got pissed off at the fact that no-one wants to buy it. Looks like I'm going to end up with it at this rate.

[wuvvum]

Hmm. It seems the nasty scraping noise from the Laguna's gearbox that was evident under acceleration may not in fact be coming from the gearbox at all, as the noise also occurs when the car is in "park" and pointing uphill. With "park" engaged and the car on the flat the noise isn't present - it only seems to happen when the car is putting rearward tension on the engine / box, either under acceleration or by hanging off the parking pawl on a hill. I hadn't discovered this before now as living in NE Norfolk I don't get the opportunity to park on a hill all that often.

 

So my initial feeling is that it may be a weak engine / gearbox mount which is allowing the engine to move, and some pulley or other is scraping against something it shouldn't. I've not been able to spot anything as yet as it was dark by the time I made the discovery and the Laguna's engine bay is quite full, but I'll investigate further over the weekend, weather permitting.

[messerschmitt owner]

squandered £250 on an XM estate!

[scaryoldcortina]

Driving home today the (usually very boring) voltmeter started being a lot more interesting, waving about between 13v and 11v. If I put the lights on, it fell off the scale completely. Getting 13.5 across the battery at idle, so hopefully it's just a fault with the voltmeter.

 

It's not likely to be the voltmeter... does the car have an alternator or a dynamo and control box?

[BMC Dan]

Has anyone in the Essex area had or know of a red Renault 6 that has been pinched? There was a shabby L reg example abandoned in a layby on the A12 by the big Royal Mail building in Chelmsford with a Police Aware sticker on the rear window. Registration started RLO iirc.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Driving home today the (usually very boring) voltmeter started being a lot more interesting, waving about between 13v and 11v. If I put the lights on, it fell off the scale completely. Getting 13.5 across the battery at idle, so hopefully it's just a fault with the voltmeter.

 

It's not likely to be the voltmeter... does the car have an alternator or a dynamo and control box?

 

Alternator (Lucas ACR I think, don't know the output).

[scaryoldcortina]

Most likely that then. Check any recent thread by Scooters for the testing sequence

 

Check battery voltage with engine off - 12.4v or thereabouts is healthy. Put the lights on - voltage will drop but shouldn't get below 12. If not, charge the battery and try again. If charging didn't help it's a dud battery.

 

If that was ok, check the belt tension on the alt first then start the engine and check battery voltage again - should be above 13.5 and rise quickly to about 14.2 when revved. Add some load at idle (lights again) voltage shouldn't drop at all. If not, alternator.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Thanks for the help

 

Just been out with my meter and got this: The battery is okay, but it doesn't look so good for the alternator. I get 13.3v at idle, 13.3v with the lights on, and however much I rev it, the meter just flickers between 13.3 and 13.5. There's no obvious fault (belt is fine, wiring all good etc) so looks like I'm going to be learning about alternators this week.

 

At least it had the decency to keep working at 13.3, and as it's not left me stranded anywhere it doesn't count against the car's reliability.

[meggersdog]

If cylinder 1 is the one at the back of the engine next to the bulkhead, yes. Mine's also been doing it for months... was your cylinder head OK with a skim, or did it need a new head?

 

Mine was the front of the engine.The head was fine, one full skim back and forth took 4 thou off and a two notch gasket was used.

[wuvvum]

Has anyone in the Essex area had or know of a red Renault 6 that has been pinched? There was a shabby L reg example abandoned in a layby on the A12 by the big Royal Mail building in Chelmsford with a Police Aware sticker on the rear window. Registration started RLO iirc.

When was this? How long had it been there? Renault 6 is a rather unusual choice of car for someone to nick - maybe it'd just broken down?

[scaryoldcortina]

I get 13.3v at idle, 13.3v with the lights on, and however much I rev it, the meter just flickers between 13.3 and 13.5. There's no obvious fault (belt is fine, wiring all good etc) so looks like I'm going to be learning about alternators this week.

 

There's a point - is the charge indicator light on the dash working? If the bulb just blew it would cause this.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

The charge light comes on with the ignition as usual.

[BMC Dan]

Renault 6 is a rather unusual choice of car for someone to nick - maybe it'd just broken down?

 

Only this morning, looked undamaged so could have just broken down or ran out of fuel come to think of it.

[Angrydicky]

Unfortunately joyriders do tend to target old cars with low security that are easier to steal

[Cavcraft]

CU L8R VAG.

 

The Aldi estate has now offcially departed Cavcraft, sorry to see it go (will miss economy and room) but it was a waste of garage space and we'd probably have never got round to doing anything with it. It does therefore mean garage space for TR7 and bikes etc, or possibly as somewhere to keep the old Merc out of the way.

The collection of the Audi was performed completely to an Autoshite manor, involving a trailer that was too small really, no winch, some ratchet straps and a fair bit of swearing. Pictures to follow later.

[Cavcraft]

[cort16]

I can't believe it took you so long to sell that Cav. Did it go to someone off RR?

 

In other news I'm after a decent estate I can use as a bit of a van and possibly use for a bit of towing. I want to spend a max of £800. I've been looking at Astra Vans, bid and missed out on a Fiat Multipla then this came up on gumtree for £550 with no T&T.

It looks tidy but I recon by the time I get it back to my side of the country, get it through it's mot and tax it it'll be beyond my budget. Anyone know what I should lookout for with it if I go and have a look? It'd be good to save it from potential engine rapists.

 

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/ford-scorpio-cossworth/104611169

[CYANIDE STEVE]

The main things to look for on these is, make sure all the electrics work especially the lights. Check the headlights work when you switch them on and that they actually switch off too. The reason being that if water has got into the fuse box, the electrics start doing all sorts of strange things almost as if the car is possessed! Headlights not working properly is usually the first sign.

Also if the car has done over 100,000 miles and you are able to test drive it to over 45mph, check that it doesn't lose drive suddenly as this would indicate an expensive problem with the autobox.

Hope this helps.

[Cavcraft]

Yes, Cort. I don't think he was a 'big name' user on there but a nice enough lad who didn't mess about or try a stupid offer. Someone else was interested but pretty much spent 2 or 3 weeks asking me the same questions about the car that I explained I couldn't answer. He rang me ten minutes after I'd taken a deposit from the buyer the other night and sounded put out I'd sold it. He kept saying he would have left a deposit and would have bought the car but he'd had long enough to sort something out and didn't.

Looking at the grief that Bruce fella's had trying to offload the MX5 on RR I'm glad I listened to my head and sold it to the first person to turn up. To be fair to the lad who originally wanted the Audi he didn't go off his head or start getting abusive like some people do.

[peter9000uk]

I can't believe it took you so long to sell that Cav. Did it go to someone off RR?

 

In other news I'm after a decent estate I can use as a bit of a van and possibly use for a bit of towing. I want to spend a max of £800. I've been looking at Astra Vans, bid and missed out on a Fiat Multipla then this came up on gumtree for £550 with no T&T.

It looks tidy but I recon by the time I get it back to my side of the country, get it through it's mot and tax it it'll be beyond my budget. Anyone know what I should lookout for with it if I go and have a look? It'd be good to save it from potential engine rapists.

 

 

As much as I want it myself how about the Scooters scooby? Even has a towbar.

 

Can't believe the messers I am attracting with the Lag estate and I haven't even dipped into e-bay or gumtree yet!

[Pete-M]

Personal record. Not one, not two, but three different Pikeys have knocked this week about buying the 604.

 

"I'll give ya some money, take it off ya hands..."

"Ok, give me £1500 and take it away"

"That's a fair bit more dan I was tinkin'"

"It's the cheapest road legal one for sale in Europe and you still can't afford it? Shame that.."

 

So far, it's still the banger racers who're the only ones to actually have the cash. Fucking depressing that.

[skattrd]

R25 now has MOT until July 7th 2013

[cort16]

The main things to look for on these is, make sure all the electrics work especially the lights. Check the headlights work when you switch them on and that they actually switch off too. The reason being that if water has got into the fuse box, the electrics start doing all sorts of strange things almost as if the car is possessed! Headlights not working properly is usually the first sign.

Also if the car has done over 100,000 miles and you are able to test drive it to over 45mph, check that it doesn't lose drive suddenly as this would indicate an expensive problem with the autobox.

Hope this helps.

 

Yes thanks! I'd really like it but the lack of t&t means it'll more than likely turn into a ball ache I've no energy for.

peter9000uk, the scoots scoob would probably fit the bill but it doesn't really float my boat. I enquired about his gold Volvo 745 he has but was pipped to the post!

[CYANIDE STEVE]

Yeh, it worries me slightly when they won't mot a car when putting it up for sale.

[Tayne]

CU L8R VAG.

 

The collection of the Audi was performed completely to an Autoshite manor, involving a trailer that was too small really, no winch, some ratchet straps and a fair bit of swearing.

 

 

 

 

And just too keep up with the theme, those wheels on the Land Rover aren't supposed to be on 110s as they don't have a sufficient weight rating for a fully loaded one...

[dollywobbler]

500 miles in the BX 'Safari' this weekend. Had a poor trip over to Lincolnshire on Friday. Nowt horrendous, just lots of fugging slow people. One dawdler got overtaken by a Merc with a caravan! Torrential rain in Coventry wasn't much fun either. Five hours straight from home to a petrol station just the other side of Stamford.

 

We were lucky to get that far. When we reached the M54, it did strike me unusual that while economical, the BX didn't seem to have used any fuel at all so far. After two hours of driving.

 

It was while we were approaching Stamford that I looked at the trip meter. It'd just gone over 400 miles. Then I remembered that the last time I filled the tank, I didn't brim it because the filler neck was lose (now fixed). We then had a stressful drive through traffic-jammed Stamford trying to find a fuel station. I got just over 47 litres into the 52 litre tank. Not drastically low but when some of that is filler neck and the pick-up can't pull all of the fuel out, low enough. I reset the trip.

 

I'd forgotten how 'busy' the BX is at speed. By 70mph, it's already doing 3500rpm, but while the engine buzzes away very noticeably, it's not that loud. This is the one car that actually has a working stereo as well. Bonus! There is a really irritating buzz from the gear lever, which might be related to me replacing the broken knob with one from a 2CV. The steering wheel has a bit of play in it - you can pull it up away from the column by about 1mm, if that. This explains why the wheel seems to catch on the column, making a horrible squeak. Perhaps I need to fit a washer.

 

Otherwise, it was absolutely fine - almost sublime. A Bentley Turbo R came wafting past at one point. I did think about the fact that his car was probably doing 12mpg to the 50mpg mine was doing. I like a V8 but you can't really deny an XUD for economy!

[DSdriver]

Fuel leak chaos on the DS saloon today.

I drove it home from the storage with it faffing all the way and when I got it on the drive at home I noticed there was a pool of petrol developing under the offside sill. Behind the sill cover is the fuel filter and pump. Removal of half the sill cover involves about a dozen self tappers. Once it was off I found that the leak was coming from the fuel filter. Not the connections but the joint in the casing. I disconnected the inlet pipe and stuffed a conical wedge up it then checked to see what I could bodge it with. Found an old clear plastic fuel filter that I bought a job lot of many moons ago which is probably totally unsuitable for modern fuel with ethanol but better than nothing. The only problem was that it is shorter than the metal jobby so a longer bit of pipe had to be found. Eventually got it sorted and only lost a couple of pints of petrol into a bowl and some up my sleeve.

I have bought a new filter from the local car parts store but decided that it would have to wait as being doused in super unleaded once a day is quite enough. Anyone any idea how long it will take for the plastic filter to melt?

I presume that the bit of rubber sheet wrapped around the old filter and fastened with a couple of cable ties was some sort of anti rattle device and hopefully not an attempt by a professional mechanic to bodge up a leaking filter.

[skattrd]

Deal with the R25 for a fuego didn't happen - bugger.

[Ross_K]

Personal record. Not one, not two, but three different Pikeys have knocked this week about buying the 604.

 

"I'll give ya some money, take it off ya hands..."

"Ok, give me £1500 and take it away"

"That's a fair bit more dan I was tinkin'"

"It's the cheapest road legal one for sale in Europe and you still can't afford it? Shame that.."

 

So far, it's still the banger racers who're the only ones to actually have the cash. Fucking depressing that.

 

I'd move it somewhere secure soonish if I was you. If that many pikeys have been to your door, someone's going to have it - with or without paying...

[vulgalour]

When it's wet (and I've only noticed this since moving the Princess more permanently into the garage) the Princess doesn't always like to start first time and sometimes, when I've set off, will throw a tantrum and pretend like she's going to stall. Bit odd as it only happens when it's damp/wet/raining tonnes. Also found that in the wet conditions, if I have to do lots of fiddly manoeuvring, the engine runs on a bit. None of this happens in the dry and it's not particularly worrying, just irritating, genuinely surprised she's not played up like this sooner really. I'll just keep plodding away at the maintenance side of things and eventually get a bit more on top of the issue; distributor cap and rocker cover gasket next, I think.