The new news 24 thread

[phil_lihp]

Good advice.  Big hills on the A361 to Tiverton too, lots of regenerative braking available.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Why do I never post in this thread?

 

 

Anyway as I don't seem to use it enough and think it's been about a week since it moved I took the Fiesta out for a tiny drive today.

 

Started and the third turn with very minimal choke. Was OK to start with but being damp weather it did its usual not firing right at one point. I should change all the plugs and stuff as I've no idea if they've ever been done but I'm also of the mindset that if it works don't fix* it. Tbh it needs some proper work doing but I worry that if I start it'll never get finished.

 

Been driving the Frontera a lot instead. It's only 5 years newer than the Fiesta but is so different in every way and shit on petrol.

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Diagnosing cars by phone for the wife is great* fun

 

Phone call one

The qashqai steering wheel is vibrating like mad above 40 and again while braking. What could it be?

 

OK come home I'm off I'll look at it

 

Phone call two

It's gone away now and it's fine at 70. What could it be?

 

Erm, come home and ill look at it

 

Phone call three

I braked and its back, its vibrating really bad and there's a burning smell. Is my engine about to fall out?

 

She's actually coming home this time

 

I know one of the front tyres is fairly low and a terrible brand so potential balance issue.... But she's added a burning smell into the mix. Sticking front caliper perhaps? Or maybe a wheel bearing.... But there's no noise...

 

I'll get it jacked up and if there's nothing obviously wrong I'll fire two front tyres on and see.

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Lord Sterling]

EXCITING NEWS.

 

I fitted some new rubber mates to the Starlet.

 

They look absolutely horrible, but they're nice and tough, and might even help quieten the little thing down a bit. Bought them to keep and swap between cars rather than stay with the car. Lord Sterling will be crying at the mere sight of them...

Ach! That is tingling at my OEM senses! However I see your point. It does help to keep the carpet clean and dry and there isn't many options for Toyota Starlet rubber mats. I'm guessing they are not as easy (or cheap) to obtain as K11 mats were (or used to be)

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Diagnosing cars by phone for the wife is great* fun

 

Phone call one

The qashqai steering wheel is vibrating like mad above 40 and again while braking. What could it be?

 

OK come home I'm off I'll look at it

 

Phone call two

It's gone away now and it's fine at 70. What could it be?

 

Erm, come home and ill look at it

 

Phone call three

I braked and its back, its vibrating really bad and there's a burning smell. Is my engine about to fall out?

 

She's actually coming home this time

 

I know one of the front tyres is fairly low and a terrible brand so potential balance issue.... But she's added a burning smell into the mix. Sticking front caliper perhaps? Or maybe a wheel bearing.... But there's no noise...

 

I'll get it jacked up and if there's nothing obviously wrong I'll fire two front tyres on and see.

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

And the verdict is in

 

Badly badly seized front calipers.......torn dust boots and corrosion on the pistons.

 

 

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Datsuncog]

And the verdict is in

 

Badly badly seized front calipers.......torn dust boots and corrosion on the pistons.

 

Yow. How old is the Qashqai??

 

I know there's been a helluva lot of salt dumped on the roads this winter, but that's scary stuff. Glad all concerned made it home okay.

[Hertz]

Well, the guy called me back and the Volvo is now sold pending collection on Weds next week.

 

Cool. Has he sent you a dipper?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Yow. How old is the Qashqai??

 

I know there's been a helluva lot of salt dumped on the roads this winter, but that's scary stuff. Glad all concerned made it home okay.

It's an early one (2007) and has 160k on it so I guess it can be forgiven. It sat for a long time before we bought it (cheap).

 

Hoping we can get away without discs and pads too as they have plenty of meat

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Datsuncog]

^^^ True, it's probably not stretching the bounds of credulity that an 11-yr old Nissan needs a bit of brake work. Hopefully a set of recon calipers can be obtained without too much grief/expense, or are repair kits available?

[They_all_do_that_sir]

^^^ True, it's probably not stretching the bounds of credulity that an 11-yr old Nissan needs a bit of brake work. Hopefully a set of recon calipers can be obtained without too much grief/expense, or are repair kits available?

I've ordered two rebuild kits with stainless pistons for the princely sum of £40 delivered.

 

The company are called big red and I've bought caliper seals for bikes off them without issue.

 

I've one off already

 

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Datsuncog]

Ah yes - fitted a set of recon Cortina calipers from Bigg Red only last weekend. Decent items, working very well so far. Hopefully that'll get you all mobile again - looks like they could certainly see the benefit!

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Set of 4 NGK BP6HS plugs on the way, as part of the cable-wiggling / fault-finding session on the CX to take place this weekend....

[Squire_Dawson]

Blimey, that caliper looks like it's been dredged up from the Clyde!

[320touring]

Blimey, that caliper looks like it's been dredged up from the Clyde!

Oi!

 

Other polluted rivers are available;)

[They_all_do_that_sir]

Blimey, that caliper looks like it's been dredged up from the Clyde!

That's the better side too....havent tackled the drivers one yet!!

 

Sent from my F3211 using Tapatalk

[Mally]

Dropped an escort diff on my leg yesterday, it fell 3 feet.

Thought of putting it in the grumpy thread, but nothing broke on me or the diff , so no grump.

Bit of skin missing and I only limp a bit. 

[dave21478]

My Freelander.

We have been through a lot together. I bought it from the "10 saturdays a year, piles of broken old shit" auction in Inverurie and brought it down here...

 

I converted it to LHD and had a massive bollock ache registering it as it was a 2 seater commercial never homologated here.

 

There were some bad times....

 

Actually, quite a few bad times....

 

Some of them more serious than others...

 

But overall I really fuckin liked it.

 

It was perfect for what I needed....comfortable on the road, the van rear section was perfect for my tools, it was capable enough on forest tracks and stuff at work and could tow a couple of tons with ease.. With decent tyres, it was actually surprisingly decent off road and is still the only one of the many 4x4s I have owned that I never got stuck on the farm test field. Lack of low-range was its only real drawback.

 

Following a gearbox blow-up, it has been sitting for ages and realistically I am never going to fix it.....gearbox, which means a clutch too, springs and shox, various bushes all of which are seized to fuck, general corrosion and it struggles to pass emissions.

 

So I stripped off what I wanted to keep, which was surprisingly little in the end....wheels with good tyres and the van floor/bulkhead, plus the boombox, amp etc.

 

And I scrapped it.

 

Good night sweet prince, etc.

Weirdly, I am actually quite sad about this. Yes, I know everyone thinks they are dross, but...I dunno....this one was good. I have owned it for eight years, which is a significant order of magnitude longer than any other car I have had.

 

 

 

The chunkychicken gets it tomorrow too....

I dont really give a fuck about that. It served its purpose and is just making the garden look messy now.

 

I think the old pickup will go soon too. I reckon I will yank the engine and box as spares for the new one and scrap the rest.

 

The upside about scrapping your fleet is you get a decent stock of batteries back....

 

 

 

 

[anonymous user]

The Land Rover let me down today. I put petrol in and then it failed to start, just a click. Checked connections, the battery is fine so it looks like the starter has failed (again). I had to wait for the RAC, so my apologies to Tesco for cluttering up the forecourt and grateful thanks to the staff who gave me a cup of coffee. RAC confirmed dead starter, but tow started me so I could drop it at the garage. I'm in work tomorrow so will be in a borrowed car (either a MINI or MR2), I really should buy a spare car.

[Bucketeer]

Just been out for a quick spin in the 205. It's a nice old thing, but probably gonna be for sale soon.

Please Sir, me Sir.

 

[GrumpiusMaximus]

Golf passed its MOT with one advisory.  Considering it's 13 years old and all I've done to it in the last year (and 25,000 miles) is new tyres and a rear wiper motor, that's not bad going.  Advisory is for a driveshaft gaiter.  Any know if that's a viable job for a newbie?

 

I know my way around tools in general and am handy, just not experienced with cars (except for changing batteries, filters and wiper motors...)

[xtriple]

Can be fiddly and definitely dirty! If you do it 'properly' and split the shaft/UJ then a new boot will go on dead easy, but splitting the damn things can be a right fiddle and you need someone with more specific knowledge than me to know whether it's a 'bash it' or circlip type.  You can get huge expending things to fit a new boot but I have never used one, so no idea.

 

I have been known to cut the old boot off, split the new one down the seam and then put it on and glue it together! You need to keep it clean and use good superglue as oppossed to 'Poundland' rubbish but it works fine!

[holbeck]

I rolled up at work today in my RAV4, turned of the engine and the alarm went ballistic. No amount of key fob pressing would abate the noise. 

Restarting the car would stop it, but turn off and the alarm started again.

 

In the end, I pulled off the battery terminal and walked away. 

 

Bugger.

[AlabamaShrimp]

My Freelander.

We have been through a lot together. I bought it from the "10 saturdays a year, piles of broken old shit" auction in Inverurie and brought it down here...

DSCF0006.JPG

 

I converted it to LHD and had a massive bollock ache registering it as it was a 2 seater commercial never homologated here.

P1000957.JPG

 

There were some bad times....

P1000744.JPG

 

Actually, quite a few bad times....

IMG_20150606_163446.jpg

 

Some of them more serious than others...

P1000947.JPG

 

But overall I really fuckin liked it.

P1010172.JPG

 

It was perfect for what I needed....comfortable on the road, the van rear section was perfect for my tools, it was capable enough on forest tracks and stuff at work and could tow a couple of tons with ease.. With decent tyres, it was actually surprisingly decent off road and is still the only one of the many 4x4s I have owned that I never got stuck on the farm test field. Lack of low-range was its only real drawback.

 

Following a gearbox blow-up, it has been sitting for ages and realistically I am never going to fix it.....gearbox, which means a clutch too, springs and shox, various bushes all of which are seized to fuck, general corrosion and it struggles to pass emissions.

IMG_20180328_143505.jpg

 

So I stripped off what I wanted to keep, which was surprisingly little in the end....wheels with good tyres and the van floor/bulkhead, plus the boombox, amp etc.

IMG_20180328_190421.jpg

 

And I scrapped it.

 

Good night sweet prince, etc.

Weirdly, I am actually quite sad about this. Yes, I know everyone thinks they are dross, but...I dunno....this one was good. I have owned it for eight years, which is a significant order of magnitude longer than any other car I have had.

 

 

 

The chunkychicken gets it tomorrow too....

IMG_20180328_190439.jpg

I dont really give a fuck about that. It served its purpose and is just making the garden look messy now.

 

I think the old pickup will go soon too. I reckon I will yank the engine and box as spares for the new one and scrap the rest.

 

The upside about scrapping your fleet is you get a decent stock of batteries back....

IMG_20180328_190026.jpg

Does this mean there are very few Freelander in France or are the rest are the ones with seats?

[BavarianRetro]

Good thing a thief wouldn't think of doing that.

 

My E30 BMW alarm is the same. what's the point?

 

Ben

Unless it's one of the rare factory remote locking alarms from 1990 on, E30 alarms are best just ripped out completely. There is often more than one of the bodged useless bastard things in there. Usually a Clifford.

 

My best was the remains of four separate alarm/immobilisers from one 325i convertible. They used to get a new one at each owner change.

[17-Coffees]

My work went bust and I got made redundant today...

 

Typical, just as I was planning on buying parts to finally get the LS fixed up. 

[320touring]

My work went bust and I got made redundant today...

 

Typical, just as I was planning on buying parts to finally get the LS fixed up.

Bugger.

 

Sorry to hear that!

[Rod/b]

Earlpart liquidators note tells a sad story:

 

http://www.smithcooper.co.uk/news-insights/march-2018/motor-vehicle-parts-and-accessories-company-earlpa

[SiC]

Earlpart liquidators note tells a sad story:

 

http://www.smithcooper.co.uk/news-insights/march-2018/motor-vehicle-parts-and-accessories-company-earlpa

That is sad. Hopefully someone will buy up the tooling and stick to continue running it.

[dave21478]

Does this mean there are very few Freelander in France or are the rest are the ones with seats?

 

Both. Land Rover stuff is not a big seller here generally and the Special Vehicles commercial versions would have required extra homologation so they never bothered. I had to put mine through the equivalent of an IVA test.

 

In all my scrapyard fettling here, I have found precisely two other Freelanders. The first one was a crashed French one years ago which I stripped for bits to convert mine to LHD and the second is currently in a big yard I know, British reg etc, looks like it kettled on someones holiday and just got binned.

 

I am starting to see a few more on the roads, but most are the newer models, probably leased.

[oldcars]

My work went bust and I got made redundant today...

 

Typical, just as I was planning on buying parts to finally get the LS fixed up. 

Nightmare, happened to me as well once. You will get paid it just takes time.