The new news 24 thread

[danthecapriman]

Jeepers. That's impressive. Generally, I've had enough by the time I've finished the bonnet of whatever it is I thought would be good to polish. The Rover is covered in little dents and scrapes, so I'm pretty sure I'll never feel the need to polish it.

It really doesn't help that I've got OCD when it comes to clean cars. The Transit and Mercury are usually kept as pristine as possible, washed and waxed/polished regularly to keep the bodywork good. Trouble is, both of them are huge! It takes hours to do a good job of both of them.

The Capri will be the same once it's done.

 

All my cars are spotless inside too. No dust, no dirt on the carpets or mats, no food eaten in the vehicle, no random crap left in door pockets or the glovebox... Like I said, OCD, I just can't bear to leave it!

[MarvinsMom]

It really doesn't help that I've got OCD when it comes to clean cars. The Transit and Mercury are usually kept as pristine as possible, washed and waxed/polished regularly to keep the bodywork good. Trouble is, both of them are huge! It takes hours to do a good job of both of them.

The Capri will be the same once it's done.

All my cars are spotless inside too. No dust, no dirt on the carpets or mats, no food eaten in the vehicle, no random crap left in door pockets or the glovebox... Like I said, OCD, I just can't bear to leave it!

 

i wish that i could be so, so disciplined!

 

though sitting in a mobile shit-tip is something that does get on my wick, so that periodically i will muck the car out (especially the Rover, thats the daily driver so i see the insides of it alot) whereas the other half don't bother.

 

Kerry's car is a skip on wheels, though not the worse that i've ever seen. i used top work with a lad and his company cars had half eaten maccy D happy meals and discarded half consumed milk shakes littering the back seats. the smell was not a pleasant one, even with a couple of magic air fresheners didn't cover over it.

[danthecapriman]

i wish that i could be so, so disciplined!

 

though sitting in a mobile shit-tip is something that does get on my wick, so that periodically i will muck the car out (especially the Rover, thats the daily driver so i see the insides of it alot) whereas the other half don't bother.

 

Kerry's car is a skip on wheels, though not the worse that i've ever seen. i used top work with a lad and his company cars had half eaten maccy D happy meals and discarded half consumed milk shakes littering the back seats. the smell was not a pleasant one, even with a couple of magic air fresheners didn't cover over it.

Believe it or not my company owned van is similar. I try to keep the outside as clean as possible but the inside is spotless, at least as spotless as a working vehicle can be. The seats are like new, dash spotless, glass all kept clean, floor swept out regularly. The back of the van is the same! Floor swept clean, all tools etc have their own space and go back properly and clean, workbench and vice swept down after use, everything gets strapped down or packed in properly to avoid rattles and stuff sliding around... I go mad if someone leaves a mess in it!

 

The way I see it, it's my office and where I work from so if it's a mess it reflects badly on me, pisses me off as it smells or I can't find things, I don't know how people can leave things in a shit state. Everyone gives me a load of crap for it of course!

[Cavcraft]

Iveco fail ... I still can't believe it.

 

I can.

[garbaldy]

This is the truck. Its still new in my eyes!

 

I suppose it is eight years old now even though it's still new to us,

What was the cross member made of gold

[trigger]

I'm guessing its labour, plus looking in the mot checker there's a few other things. He said it had to go on the credit card

[Lacquer Peel]

 

Boring modern VAG diesel alert.

Ultra-posh minicab acquired, it has minicab mileage as well but drives like one with half the miles.

[Cavcraft]

Looks like an explosion in a Werther's Original factory.

[purplebargeken]

^^ Bad thing?

[New POD]

Yesterday I changed oil and Filters on the Mx5 and Mk4 astra.

 

I'm not sure I should have put fully synthethic in either of them, but I did.  but hey WCPGR (GM quote Semi, for the early 1.6 16V and fully for the Twinsport)

 

Also found one of the reasons for the rattle on the MX5 - Front pipe, has a heat shield which seems to sandwich padding round the pipe. Heat shield seems to be tack welded in place, but wasn't.  Fixed with 2 hose clips (to stretch around) fitting around the middle. No more rattle. Yeh.

[Richard]

Looks like an explosion in a Werther's Original factory.

 

Just look at it.

 

[Lacquer Peel]

LUXURY.

[holbeck]

For reasons I find difficult to explain, I volunteered to roffle a car which I don't own and  will not financially benefit from.

 

So, please buy a ticket for DW's colt.

[For Fiats Sake]

Yesterday I spent:

 

1 hour walking to train station

 

3 hours on 3 different trains

 

30mins driving

 

2 hours waiting for AA

 

3 hours as passenger in AA truck

 

 

Suspected OMGHGF no compression cylinders 3&4.

 

 

Still the A1 in lincolnshire is a nice place to spend 2 hours if you like the smell of piss and looking at bags of shitty nappies.

 

 

 

[robinmasters]

Drove the wife's car yesterday (Scenic), got home-'When's your MOT due?'. Obviously she didn't know.

 

According to the DVLA it runs out on Wednesday. Likely to be taking James Brown's advice, but I thought I'd put it on eBay-£50 already. More than scrap. Whether the bidder actually turns up with the cash before Thursday remains to be seen.

[wuvvum]

It's Sunday, so I'm on a train going to collect a car. Hopefully.

[Eddie Honda]

It's Sunday, so I'm on a train

Sunday? Train? Shocker! When do you get on a rail replacement bus?

[Bear]

Yesterday I spent:

 

1 hour walking to train station

 

3 hours on 3 different trains

 

30mins driving

 

2 hours waiting for AA

 

3 hours as passenger in AA truck

 

 

Can't complain about mine, then, at least it was fixed...

 

News 24: Can't afford a new bike now because tyre. Considering the fate of the hearse, it has a nanosecond of MoT left and is highly unlikely to get another. Itching to get to work on the Smart.

[wuvvum]

Sunday? Train? Shocker! When do you get on a rail replacement bus?

Done that bit already - Norwich to Ipswich.

[DeeJay]

 

Giving the back seat passengers the finger.

[dollywobbler]

Rover out of use due to tyre from hell, RAV4 blocked in by Nippa, so the Colt had a little outing earlier. Gosh it's hilarious after you've driven something good! It feels like a hippo in a shopping trolley. Quite pleasant to bimble around in, just best not to ask it to travel quickly. 

[Ghosty]

Is that a Laurin & Klement Octavia? They have particularly lurid interiors iirc.

[Richard]

Yes. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/skoda-octavia-1-9-tdi-lauren-Klement-/142080310372?nma=true&si=FlXpl9lLvx%252FSY6yH7NJwoi8Gaj8%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

[Ghosty]

Just had a look in Glass's. 

 

 

That's a lot of car. 02 makes it pre-PD as well.

[Richard]

I'm a wee bit jealous actually.

[BorniteIdentity]

Is this rectifiable with filler and an aerosol? Never done it before but looking to learn on something.

 

 

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[worldofceri]

Saab news.

 

Lately I have mostly been using the Gooner because, as one would expect from a Mr_Bo11ox-fettled motor, it Just Works.  The Saab also works, but has several petty issues that make me disinclined to drive it.  In no particular order, these are:

 

1.  PAS fluid leak.  Those with exceptional memories may remember that the power steering pump fell off a while back.  My local garage fixed it back on but since then it's leaked a bit.  It's liveable-with provided I keep it topped up, but there is a large stain on the road where I tend to park it that I'm a bit sheepish about.  Fairly sure none of my neighbours would notice, let alone care, but, still.

 

2.  Vibration.  Above about 50mph there's a disconcerting shudder that gets worse with speed.  It's more severe under load but disappears altogether if the clutch is disengaged.  In my head this rules out unbalanced wheels or driveshafts and points to a gearbox issue.  I let local spanner-expert and AS  member Dave Aspley take a look and he thought it was just the (brand new) exhaust vibrating on the underside of the boot.  He adjusted the angle the exhaust was sitting at and the vibration did indeed disappear ('Hooray', I thought).  Weirdly, it was fine for about a week, but then the vibration returned and has kept getting worse since.  Reckon it's a bit more involved than just a wobbly exhaust.

 

3.  Exhaust.  The exhaust is virtually brand new but I can't get it to sit right.  I don't think the garage fitting it have cocked it up, as such;  I expect it's just a shit pattern part that doesn't really fit properly.  After Dave adjusted it, it was fine for a while, but then started knocking on the rear axle (which the old knackered exhaust used to do).  So I put it back to how it was, vibrating on the underside of the boot.  Then one of the (brand-new-SHITE) rubber mounts split so it was knocking AND vibrating.  I figure the only real cure is to take it off and try to bend it to the correct shape (I think it needs a greater curve on the part that loops over the axle), but for the time being I have bodged it to sit a bit lower where it doesn't contact any other parts of the car.  It's looser now though, so it still clonks over speed bumps and what have you.  Zip-tie-bodge:

 

 

4.  Coolant leak.  It's been losing a bit of coolant for ages now and I've not really figured out where from.  Prime suspect is the header tank, which is not in great condition.  I'd have replaced it by now, but brand new ones are ca. £40 and Ebay scrapyard-shitehawks seem to want around £20.  Fuck that.  I found a crack in the little leak-off pipe, but pushing the pipe on a fraction further seems to have stopped that weeping.  Then yesterday I discovered a big hole in the hose between the water pump and the header tank.  Not a good photo, but you can see it here if you squint:

 

 

I managed to cut the pipe about Â¼" shorter and stretch it on a bit further, thus getting the jubilee clip the other side of the split.  Needs a new hose though really.  Having bodged the cooling system satisfactorily I drained it and gave it a quick flush.  The drain plug on the radiator is a nylon bolt you can undo by hand - ideal for lazy 'mechanics' like me;  there is a drain plug on the block as well, but it looks awkward to get to, and as the car was on a slope the bottom of the rad was the lowest point of the system anyway, so I didn't bother with it.  I ran some water through from the expansion tank;  I didn't want to disturb any other hoses in case I ended up with another split one.  Quite a bit of brown water came through before it ran clear:

 

 

5.  Hot-start problem.  It's getting increasingly reluctant to start when hot.  I suspect some sort of fuel-vapourisation issue.  I could try lagging the fuel lines, I suppose but, even if it works, it's a sticking-plaster approach that won't address the underlying problem, whatever that is.  Googling 'Saab 900 hot start problem' brings up about eleventy thousand suggestions as to what the issue might be.  I don't really know where to start.

 

6.  Headlight relay.  Dipped beam frequently fails to work.  Current solution is to give the relay a wiggle.  Long term solution is to get a new relay, but they seen expensive for what they are.

 

I know I'm coming across stupidly tight-fisted here, but to be honest I'm broke at the moment and I can't justify spending more than a few pennies on this car whilst I have another that (for now, at least) doesn't need owt doing.  But then, if I'm not using it, I can't justify the forty-odd quid a month I spend taxing and insuring it either.  The Gooner is great for just being a car, but doesn't really interest me enough to call it a keeper; the Golf fulfills the role of boring reliable* family hack.  I'm disinclined to part with the Saab when it has so many unresolved issues, but lack the resources to tackle them.

 

Hoping it would renew my enthusiasm, I washed, polished(!) and vacuumed it and took it to the Warwick Retro/Classic show/meet.

 

 

Unfortunately on the way back the vibration got so bad I had to come off the dual carriageway and take the B-roads back to Cov so I could keep the speed down.  I won't be able to bring it to Chumley if this isn't fixed.  Mojo is at a low point, and I don't quite know where I'm going from here.

[Ghosty]

(Oh, and if anyone else wants a page from Glass's Car Checkbook 2004 snapping - so basically for any car available in the UK 1996-2003 - let me know. It's full of power, weight, towing weight, CO2 and other such figures).

[Richard]

Re. SAAB vibration problems

 

It sounds as if it might be the mainshaft bearing in the gearbox. I think it's reasonably straightforward to change if you don't mind taking gearboxes to bits but you have to take the engine out. IIRC if it's that it won't be happening in every gear, but I can't remember the details.

 

The other possibility is that the inner CV joints are worn. As they wear they tend to run off centre and vibrate. The cheapskate fix for this is to swap the joints side for side so they are driving on a new surface. The symptom here is vibration under power but not on the overrun. I think they are held in with circlips so you have to open the diff, but that's not as big a deal as it sounds. Provided it hasn't been done before that's a free fix.

 

Headlamp relays just do that sometimes. It's often the result of people running high powered bulbs. You might be able to clean up the relay contacts but probably not.

[For Fiats Sake]

 

OMGHGF confirmed.