The new news 24 thread

[greengartside]

Picked up another beaut of a motor following the demise of the Poxhall Coarser which failed it's M.o.T in spectacular fashion on emissions and wheel bearings t'other week.

 

Was pretty stumped for a new mode of transport and tried pretty much everyone I knew but in the end I went back to my usual 'supplier' of my chod, just in town.

 

 

Picture taken at 6pm, in the dark, spies a rather green Peugeot 106.

 

So I go back the next day and view it in the light. First impressions are good, it's a 1997 P-reg 1.1 XN (XN standing for Xtra Nothing, although it's been specified with a seat and a 4th roadwheel) and has covered just a mere 121000 miles. No tax but the all important M.o.T is August 2012 so plenty of time for me not to worry about it.

 

Ex-giffer owned, judging by the GRANDAD keyfob I received when I purchased the car, no doubt the previous owner was the King of Grandads, Clive Dunn himself. He didn't need to panic about any maladies with it as there's sod all with an XN model. Powered by the 1124cc of pure Gallic charm, which means it's a bastard to start in the cold. I reckon a baguette would be more responsive in the morning. Still it goes alright and I managed to get £100 for my Poxhall in px. Cost? £371.50 which included the tax.

 

Sweet.

 

 

[DSdriver]

Now that's what you call basic. Just get a beret and a striped t-shirt and pretend you're a rustic Frenchy. You would have got extra shite points if it had been silver for total blandness.

edit: forgot to mention I do like that colour and you can probably drive right round the world on a cupful of petrol.

[M'coli]

Splendid, sir! Take a look at the sparkplug gap for the cold starting. Are they 3 or 4 stud hubs?

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Fucksticks. The alternator in the Scorpio has had it by the looks of things, which may also mean that buying a new battery a few months ago was a complete waste of money. Clearly, the battery light on the dash is only there for decorative purposes (and yes, it does light on start-up). However, the new battery itself, even if it still is in reasonable condition, is also a bag of shite and not strong enough to start a 2.3 in the freezing cold, so I might take the opportunity to return it to the motor factor's after I've sold a kidney and bought a new Motorcraft.

 

You need to get a multimeter on it. That's the only way to tell if the alternator is actually pumping out juice. Could be something as simple as a loose belt. On the BX, I've noticed that with lots of electrical stuff on, the alternator light glows very dimly. You can only see this at night.

 

Hmm...I am really reluctant to do much in this sort of weather...not helped by the fact that the road's full of rubbish including broken alcopop bottles, either. The in-dash diagnostics (the existence of which I only discovered the other day) say charge drops to 11.3-11.6v when everything is on. Is there really a possibility that's anything else apart from the alt itself?

[scaryoldcortina]

Do you remember a couple of months ago I said to check the battery positive terminal? The bit with the 8mm headed bolts attaching half a dozen or so red cables..... Well, I'm saying it again. It could also be a dying alternator, or an iffy engine earth strap though. Drive belt is less likely unless it also makes squealing noises and/or the PAS goes funny too.

[trigger]

What has a road full of broken bottles got to do with checking a batteries voltage? It's not a duff battery is it? even a brand new battery can drop a cell sometimes, especially this time of year when your lights are on, the heated windows, stereo etc, which all drains the juice.

[Angrydicky]

Don't say that, we'll have another 10 page thread on its way about fucking batteries.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

The battery voltage is fine, however access to the alternator is not very easy.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Do you remember a couple of months ago I said to check the battery positive terminal? The bit with the 8mm headed bolts attaching half a dozen or so red cables..... Well, I'm saying it again. It could also be a dying alternator, or an iffy engine earth strap though. Drive belt is less likely unless it also makes squealing noises and/or the PAS goes funny too.

 

Cheers for that- I think I might have done it, but I'll definitely have a look in the morning.

[Shep Shepherd]

Despite replacing its overdrive relay, The Volvo STILL won't go into top gear/overdrive. I now fear that getting it to do so won't be a quick, easy or cheap undertaking

 

Any suggestions, apart from sending it over the bridge?

[wuvvum]

The Estelle went yesterday - seems weird not seeing it on the drive any more as it's been there for about 8 months. It went back to its last-but-one owner, who's going to sort the engine out and put it back into use. Had a fair bit of interest in it on RR - Pandaselecta even offered me more money than I was asking, but I know if I'd sold it to him it would have appeared back up for sale in three months' time in exactly the same condition for £600 because he'd just joined the BNP and couldn't stand to drive a car built by communists.

[RoadworkUK]

I'm at work. Standing in as emergency cover for the receptionist. Been here an hour and a half and the phone hasn't rung once, not even from somebody with an unexplained light on their dashboard or enquiring after winter tyres. And, it appears, nobody wants to buy a Mercedes on the last Sunday before Christmas. Who da funkit?

 

And looking out across the forecourt I wish it would pull its finger out and snow properly, not this crap fish-nor-foul half arsed part snow part drizzle nonsense.

 

I shall call it snizzle.

[Pete-M]

RS1600i cam cover ftw!

[dollywobbler]

I really need to fit some new glow plugs to the BX. This job is far harder than it seems, because various pipes and bits of engine get in the way, making an easy job a right royal pain in the arse. And there are some tiny nuts that invariably get dropped at some point. And it's fuggin' cold! Most annoyingly, I had to do the same job on the previous BX at the same time of year. Note to self. If you suspect the glow plugs are duff, do something about it in bloody Autumn before it gets really cold!!

[DSdriver]

I really need to fit some new glow plugs to the BX. This job is far harder than it seems, because various pipes and bits of engine get in the way, making an easy job a right royal pain in the arse. And there are some tiny nuts that invariably get dropped at some point. And it's fuggin' cold! Most annoyingly, I had to do the same job on the previous BX at the same time of year. Note to self. If you suspect the glow plugs are duff, do something about it in bloody Autumn before it gets really cold!!

 

Rule no1 at Citroen Design HQ: Never make it easy to work on.

 

MrsDSdriver has just clocked your avatar and is fascinated. I now have her under a hypnotic spell and dressed as a French maid.

[marcello-gandini]

I'm not sure if any hydraulic pipes get in the way of the glow plugs on the BX, but I've just done the glow plugs on my 405, access isn't too difficult it you remove a couple of injector pipes and the coolant pipe that bolts in to the block.

The glow plug behind the pump was stuck pretty fast, I think it's been neglected for a while as it was a rogue Champion to the other 3 NGKs. Knocking the injector off and filling the combustion chamber with release oil seemed to help, along with a decent (not Draper Value) pair of vice grips.

Stock up on release oil, and get a deep six point 12mm socket before you wreck the bolt head like I did.

[dollywobbler]

Thanks. I think it is one of those jobs that does get easier if you remove a load of unrelated stuff - mainly induction on the BX I think. Just annoyed that I never do this when the weather's nice. I have now at least ordered some glow plugs. Weather forecast for the week ahead is now mainly rain. Bother.

 

I also need to get new alternator belts for the BX and the Peugeot. They both shriek like a dodgy B movie actress. 2CV still needs a service or at least the grease points attending to. I really want my garage back!

[Cavcraft]

Finally got started doing the cam belt on the Zafira. Naturally it's best to do this sort of job in the dark during freezing weather conditions with a wind up torch to 'help'. Got the engine mount, engine cover, top cam belt cover, fan belt pulley and airbox off, the bottom cam belt cover doesn't want to play ball though. It looks like we have to remove the lower cam belt pulley off to get the bottom cover off, can someone (alber?) confirm this if possible please, it's the X16XEL engine.

 

Lower cam belt pulley will need a buzz gun to remove the holding bolt, attempts at using a crack bar got us exactly nowhere. No worries, my lad has one at work so we'll use that to make the job easier.

[dollywobbler]

I undid the crank pulley bolt on the BX by putting a large breaker bar on it, wedging it against the ground and starting the engine. It's possibly the most terrifying thing I've ever done, but it did work! Make sure the engine is turning the way you want it to and if you can, put some pressure on the breaker bar to hold it against the bolt. I employed a mate holding a broom. Funnily enough, this approach has yet to appear in any publication.

 

EDIT - This news just breaking, Autoshite is now over 300,000 posts!

[Lankytim]

Went out in the snow to work on the rear suspension of my Volvo AGAIN. Actually, I do quite enjoy it.

 

 

This time a rotted trailing arm was being replaced with a good used one from my donor Vol. The rusty one was an advisory on an MOT a few years ago and had never been fixed or noted on any MOT paperwork since. I thought i'd play it safe and replace it seeing as I had the parts to hand.

 

 

 

Turns out it was surprisingly crispy! A section of webbing on top of the trailing arm had rotted completely though and around the spring platform and axle mount the metal was getting very thin. I had to sweep alot of it off the drive after i'd finished. Strange for a Volvo I thought. The other side has been scrutinised carefully and looks fine however.

 

Its all back together ready for the daily commute tomorrow. Hope I remembered to tighten all the bolts up properly!

 

On another note, after driving everywhere at bang on 55mph the fuel consumption has remained at 27.2mpg. Time to accept thats its an elderly petrol Volvo and not an Axiam or something.

[M'coli]

Out in the garage today, releasing the rear suspension crossmember from the body to get a look at the mounting underneath it. I wasn't looking forward to it and thought the engine would have to come out first, but I've been reading George Mowat's book Imp which shows a production line picture of engine, gearbox, rear subframe and suspension sub-assemblies awaiting fitment, so that's how it came off. Many thanks go to Cav_estate and Hillman Imp for leaving plenty of slack in the replacement copper brake pipes, I haven't had to dismantle the hydraulic circuit. The driver's side is ok-ish, I'll only have to let in a couple of inches of new metal - the passenger side will have to wait until I move the car over to the other side of the garage.

 

That's been the only problem - I struggle to fit under it when I'm on my side but can't get the imp much higher in the air, and if I did I'd need arms that wee bit longer to reach everything!

[ashmicro]

Battery is the Rover is fucked. Again. time to dig out that receipt.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Mini's battery (I know I've whined about it recently) goes flat five or six times a year. Don't know why, nothing obvious causing a drain. It also tricks my battery tester into thinking it's still flat after a 12hr charge. Halfords battery health tester says it's perfectly healthy, which might not be a bad thing because I don't want another weedy little 038. You can fit a much larger battery in the hole.

 

Anyway ten seconds with a screwdriver doubled the size of the hole in my boot floor so I've been watching welding tutorials on Youtube. Also the cause of the petrol smell in the boot was a small hole in the tank, not perished rubber pipes Hope it's not too late to ask Santa for some Petro Patch.

[MK5 Escort]

The Escort is booked it in for it's MOT early next month, so I'll give it a few usual preliminary checks at new year.

 

Took the Escort for it's first run in a couple of weeks yesterday in preparation for it’s journey down to Chelmsford on Saturday. I only wanted to give it a run to Chester and back but I got a little carried away… As it was sunny and had nothing better to do, I took it for a trip down ‘Memory Lane’. A route (give or take a minor diversion) it used to commonly do in it's first few years as a company vehicle with my father when he was an area manager. Down the A55, A483 and A5 past Wrexham, Ruabon, Oswestry and round to Shrewsbury. Had a quick pit stop, then followed my nose to the Escort's 'birth place' (old Furrows site – not been there for several years), then up to the existing Furrows I know well, then up along the A49 and A41 back home. A round trip of around 110 miles.

 

This may sound very sickly or daft, but gives me warm satisfaction that almost 21 years on, it's still doing pretty much the same route it done when new – and it still 'visits' it's supplying dealer.

 

I'll be using it for work on Thursday (my last day before Christmas hols), give it a once-over on Friday and then down to Chelmsford in it on Saturday morning.

 

All's not well in the gearbox department though. I feel it’s very slowly 'dying'. All gears are there and work as they should. For a while now (the last few years actually), you can't 'rush' reverse. It has to be selected very slowly to slot in without crunching. Not really a problem, just a little annoying. Over the last six/seven months it's also started to develop a slight 'dry grating' sound when accelerating in third (fine when not being pushed). It’s not the thrust bearing as that was replaced a few years back. All other gears are fine and all gears select as freely as they should.

 

So it looks like I have three options open to me at the moment:

 

a) Replace it with a spare (and tested) gearbox from a previously scrapped Escort my mechanic friend has, a former Halewood worker, with a guaranteed 85k which we did buy two years ago in preparation for this when the first symptoms developed.

Refurbish the existing gearbox – which I'd much prefer if possible, or is 335k considered a 'good innings' for a Ford gearbox!?

c) Ignore it and just keep using the existing original gearbox until it really does ‘give up the ghost’ (which is what I'm doing at the moment).

 

Any suggestions welcome! Gearboxes are a bit of a 'no go' area with me…

[TagoraSX]

The Avant can haz MOT with no advisories

 

On the downside it has the infamous Audi/Bosch hot start gremilins which is a right ball ache.

[cort16]

It would seem the Laguna is dead. Well in the UK anyway.

http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/renault-laguna-wind-and-espace-dropped/260529

[Cavcraft]

Which Furrow's's's did you go to Escort, Shrewsbury or Oswestry?

The Shrewsbury one partially flooded one year (about 12 years back iIrc) and the old Oswestry one was ace, especially the bodyshop. They always seemed to have some great people working for them too.

[dollywobbler]

Has your Escort's gearbox actually got oil in it? Another trick to avoid a reverse gear crunch is to select fifth before reverse. This was always necessary in the BX (the old one, this Mk1 doesn't seem to have an issue but reverse is next to first. First gear synchromesh is entirely non-existent though!)

[Craig the Princess]

So it looks like I have three options open to me at the moment:

 

a) Replace it with a spare (and tested) gearbox from a previously scrapped Escort my mechanic friend has, a former Halewood worker, with a guaranteed 85k which we did buy two years ago in preparation for this when the first symptoms developed.

Refurbish the existing gearbox – which I'd much prefer if possible, or is 335k considered a 'good innings' for a Ford gearbox!?

c) Ignore it and just keep using the existing original gearbox until it really does ‘give up the ghost’ (which is what I'm doing at the moment).

 

Any suggestions welcome! Gearboxes are a bit of a 'no go' area with me…

 

I suggest c, then a while doing b. That is what I would do. That's not quite true, I'd do c then a while starting b and leaving a half dismatled gearbox on the floor for months on end.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Your Escort's done 335,000 miles?!