The new news 24 thread

[Mally]

Would have been worse in a 2cv, but you'd not notice until it started smoking.

[richardmorris]

5 minutes ago, Mally said:

Would have been worse in a 2cv, but you'd not notice until it started smoking.

Not overheated a 2cv. Yet! I’m similarly nervous in the fiat though- scouring the gauges!

I am just a hypochondriac driver- not helped by knowing that the Mercedes wiring loom disintegrates in high temp. 

[HillmanImp]

Hey everyone.

Not been on here much of late. Real life getting in the way etc. Hope everyone is groovy and I've not missed much. 

Heres my update on things car related. 

Took the Legacy to the garage a few weeks back to sort out the stalling. 

They charged me £33 but didn't do the work, they said the car was fucked and I was best scrapping it. The £33 was for them looking at all the broken stuff on the car apparently. 

Most of it was minor things, broken spring, ball joint etc but they reckoned I needed a full exhaust system as it was blowing and the rear subframe was cheese. 

Now, none of this appeared on the last MOT. How's it got so bad? 

So I jacked up the car..... what a fucking hassle that is on this, you jack it on the diff but need to jack it up elsewhere beforehand to get the jack under.....and had a look at the subframe. 

Yeah, its rusty but its 15yr old. So I got out the wire brush and the dremmel. 

Brushed back everything I could get to on the floor of my drive, then gave it a lick of chassis paint. 

Most of it ended up on the exhaust and my head though. 

Take 2 bottles into the shower? Not me, I just use white spirit. 

Also looked at he exhast. Its blowing (slightly) from 2 joins. I'm just gonna bandage them for now. 

Fucking idiots at the garage it seems. Definitely not taking this for its MOT there. They'd probably fail it for me having shit music on the stereo. 

Letting the car off the jack was fun, especially as this one is a bit jolty, it will not move at all, then suddenly..... SLAM. 

Managed to keep my arm though. 

Anyhow, onto the stalling. The cars got an intermittent drain on the battery. At one point I'd left it and it had gone completely flat.

Volksy found some instructions online about what you have to do for some Subarus with an electronic throttle body if you've had the battery go flat. Had no idea if my car did or not but gave it a punt. 

Here's the instructions:

1) Turn off the lights, aircon, stereo or any system in the car that draws extra current on top of the engine.

2) Disconnect the battery for 30 mins.

3) Reconnect the battery.

4) Before you start the car for the first time, turn the key to the ON position but do NOT turn the engine over. Wait 10-15 seconds so the electronic throttle body or IACV has time to go to the factory programmed home position.

5) After waiting, start the car and let it idle without any load, lights, A/C etc.

6) Every 20 seconds or so the idle will be adjusted up and down as the ECU tries to adjust it towards a stoichiometric fuel / air mix.

7) Leave the engine running for a full 10 mins but DO NOT TOUCH THE ACCELERATOR during this time or turn on anything that will cause extra electrical current draw.

Turn off the engine, and leave the key in the OFF position for at least 20 sec.

9) As per step (4) turn the key back to the ON position for 10-15 sec without actually starting the engine.

10) Start the engine and leave to idle for a further 5 minutes without touching the accelerator and without turning on other systems in the car.

11) Turn off the engine again and wait at least 20 sec before restarting.

12) Take the car for a test drive as the ECU should now be fully retrained.

FFS. Why didn't I think about doing that in the first place, seems so bloody obvious now..... 

It worked though, cars running fine again now. So the garage wouldn't have been able to do anything with that anyway. 

Anyhow, have a photo to cause people to have kittens on t'interweb. 

There were 2 other axle stands under the car, I just had to lift the car and move one of them every now and then to paint where they were and that was an emergency measure to hopefully allow me to get out before it folded if something happened. You cant be too careful. 

Still need to service the fucker though and sort everything else. 

Porsche news is that Imp Jr found this in the toy shop today. 

ABS sensor needs sorting though. ABS lights came on the other week. No judder in the pedal or owt, just a light. However some kids ran out infront of me on a country road the other day so I braked harder than normal and the o/s/f wheel locked so something is amis. Will have to look at it in the next few days when I get a chance and also get rid of the dent the kids left on my bonnet as I couldn't stop /s

Regarding the other cars:

Visa is Visa.

Imp is shelf. 

[loserone]

Sorry the legacy is being a pain.  I had the stalling thing after I was advised to leave the battery disconnected to try to get the old stereo working and did the same as you to sort it.  The exhaust blow seemed to be really slight and didn't get any worse (or be worthy of mentioning on an MOT) all the time I had it.  

 

Definitely sounds like a garage scared off by a Subaru.

 

Which spring?

[HillmanImp]

7 minutes ago, loserone said:

Sorry the legacy is being a pain.  I had the stalling thing after I was advised to leave the battery disconnected to try to get the old stereo working and did the same as you to sort it.  The exhaust blow seemed to be really slight and didn't get any worse (or be worthy of mentioning on an MOT) all the time I had it.  

 

Definitely sounds like a garage scared off by a Subaru.

 

Which spring?

Nah, its fine. Just service stuff really. Was the n/s/r spring.

The subframe was a worry, especially combined with the exhaust but they were both fine IMO. Panic over. 

I was shitting myself initially as the MOT was due today but I've got my Boris extension till December. Result. Gives me some breathing space. 

Exhaust blows not bad. I had noticed it a while back but its nothing excessive. Not like they suggested. 

The garage I used do classic rallying and probably go a bit OCD on shit with their own cars. When they see my old badly maintained clunkers they most likely have an aneurism. 

[tooSavvy]

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/police-called-sinkhole-opens-up-18480935

Ahh! I drove over/through that (when it was the Mother of all Potholes) about 4hr before the feds arrived.....

Near tore the ffin wheel off ?

*made 'note to self' then >> mind out round the manhole!

[Liggle]

Two bucket wrong'und my Leon yesterday, about melted even in the shade!

Now my Bongo has gone my oldest car is 2014 64 plate... I shall retreat to the modern section ?

[N19]

The Bluebird is in for MoT today, and also to have a new starter and reverse light switch fitted. I'm not a fan of getting the garage to do jobs that I am able to tackle, but realistically I'm pretty manically busy, all of my tools are in disarray following a house move and the only working space I have isn't the most convenient. And I'm reliant on it for transport to work. 

Nervous eye being kept on the check mot website... 

[andy18s]

2 hours ago, tooSavvy said:

https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/police-called-sinkhole-opens-up-18480935

 

 

 

This is how you report on sinkholes!

[Shep Shepherd]

I've owned The Aero for four years today. It's turned out to be a lot better than I expected, especially considering I only paid £995 for it and never bothered to test drive it when I collected it:

Here's to the next four years

[00833827]

Dragged the volvo V50 over the line for its test - two blown parking bulbs i had not noticed were its only issue, replaced them and all was well in the world.

I quite like the car and its one of the better sh1tters i have owned, still needs a few bits doing so i think i will put a few bob into her and get it all sorted. I can think of the following:

- nearside front wheel bearing

- injector seals to stop the cabin filling with fumes

I'm sure theres a few more bits to do...

[HMC]

Spent the week dailying the a30. 


 

 

Verdict; fun and perfectly sized for modern day parking issues.

[loserone]

You managed to squeeze out of that space?

[sdkrc]

Genuinely surprised at the number of kids you can fit in an A30. 

1 across the back shelf and a couple more lengthways and that's a proper mini MPV 

[Borsuq]

Left the Polonez with a mechanic friend today to have a belt change done. Car was still on its 25 year old original cambelt so I thought it was worth doing. While he was in there the guy was supposed to replace the main seal and the camshaft seal, because there was some oil seepage from under the timing belt cover. When I picked the car up he'd only done the cambelt and the accessory drive belt since he reckons the seep from under the main seal isn't big enough to worry about. Hopefully this won't bite me in the arse down the road.

Luckily there might be a 2nd opprotunity to do the seals as I'm planning to convert it to a newer style cambelt from the Daewoo-FSO era, which is much less likely to jump teeth than the older one. Just need to find the newer style pulleys, which I guess would have been much easier 10 years ago when scrapyards were chock-full of those cars.

At least for now I've got the peace of mind that the timing belt is much less likely to snap on me.

[Split_Pin]

Back in the 60s my dad's pal had an A30. He used to pick him up plus 2 other guys to go to pipe band practise, together with all of their instruments. Quite impressive!

[GBJ]

1 hour ago, Borsuq said:

Left the Polonez with a mechanic friend today to have a belt change done. Car was still on its 25 year old original cambelt so I thought it was worth doing. While he was in there the guy was supposed to replace the main seal and the camshaft seal, because there was some oil seepage from under the timing belt cover. When I picked the car up he'd only done the cambelt and the accessory drive belt since he reckons the seep from under the main seal isn't big enough to worry about. Hopefully this won't bite me in the arse down the road.

Luckily there might be a 2nd opprotunity to do the seals as I'm planning to convert it to a newer style cambelt from the Daewoo-FSO era, which is much less likely to jump teeth than the older one. Just need to find the newer style pulleys, which I guess would have been much easier 10 years ago when scrapyards were chock-full of those cars.

At least for now I've got the peace of mind that the timing belt is much less likely to snap on me.

The original belt lasted 25 years but you want to change for a different type?

[Lankytim]

Picked up a beautiful set of slot mags for the Volvo 145 today, the guy I bought them from is restoring  a late Capri and apparently parts are really hard to get hold of. He had to have a bottom pulley for a Pinto specially made which I found amazing. 
 

I managed to fit a set of part worn tyres using only washing up liquid and a couple levers.. in fact one tyre was fitted just by standing on it.

I still need to track down a set of wheelnuts so I can actually fit them, plus a pair of centrecaps , any pointers? 

[andy18s]

The ML270 has had an elusive cold start issue for a few months,occasionally needing a good few churns on the starter but always ended up starting 

No codes logged,nothing amiss with the heater plugs and fuel pipes not showing any air bubbles,it drove fine as well

Untill yesterday anyway when it started surging at idle,dropping to less than 500revs or so then picking itself back up to 800ish. Managed to get it home where it refused to idle at all

Bit of investigation led me to think the fuel pressure regulator had died so managed to get 1 at a local parts suppliers. 

Sharing the part with the Sprinter van meant loads of brands on offer,from £40 chinesium to a proper Bosch for £90.

Changing it was a piece of piss,probably took longer to remove the engine plastics than swap the fpr itself. 

Started 1st time after it self-bled and it even sounds a bit smoother as a bonus

 

[Borsuq]

9 hours ago, GBJ said:

The original belt lasted 25 years but you want to change for a different type?

The newer type is just better. Even though in my case the older type cambelt lasted 25 years, the car's only done 35 thousand kilometres during that time. The biggest problem with those older type cambelts is they're prone to jumping teeth, which is why the newer style was introduced in the first place.

[rob88h]

Fixed the headlight wiper motor this morning. The hopeless synchronisation really enhances the AutoShite appeal. 

[andyberg]

Fixed the 12v sockets on the Alfa today. I bought new ones, and after taking part of the dash apart it still didn't work ? Because the hand book says the Radio uses the same fuse, the radio works so it cant be the fuse, right? No. Because Alfa the hand book is wrong, the sockets have their own fuse. replace fuse, working sockets. Oh joy. Glad I went to check after only replacing one.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Finally got round to extracting the pollen filter from the diesel Borat - Jaysus the state of it, after five years - and slotted in a spare one that had been hanging around. Wish these things were easier to change without skinning your fingers.

[anonymous user]

18 hours ago, Lankytim said:

Picked up a beautiful set of slot mags for the Volvo 145 today, the guy I bought them from is restoring  a late Capri and apparently parts are really hard to get hold of. He had to have a bottom pulley for a Pinto specially made which I found amazing. 
 

I managed to fit a set of part worn tyres using only washing up liquid and a couple levers.. in fact one tyre was fitted just by standing on it.

I still need to track down a set of wheelnuts so I can actually fit them, plus a pair of centrecaps , any pointers? 

VOLVO 145???  Is there a thread, I  have missed this.

[jonathan_dyane]

My new MIG gas solution is now good to go

[vulgalour]

We've been getting a lot of tiny brown moths in the living room lately.  We'd been trying to find where on earth they were coming from to no avail until today when we spotted a little hole in the bottom corner of a run of wallpaper.  Turns out, the moths, or the caterpillars, maybe both, had been living behind the wallpaper in the corner where there was an air gap.  On the plus side, we now know the wallpaper in the living room is going to come off really easily at least and hopefully now we won't keep having a dozen or so moths wobbling around the place every time we turn the light on.

[Royale80]

Afternoon all, problem with my Senator this morning. After coming down a long steepish hill, started to drive up a long pull. Car seemed down on power-then I could smell brakes overheating. Pulled in expecting a sticking caliper, but discovered all calipers and wheels were extremely hot and a bit of smoke about! The brakes were on. Turned engine off-gave the Master cylinder a wack and drove it home about 7 miles-seemed ok-although wheels still hot but no lack of performance or smell. Dodgy master cylinder??

[hairnet]

pedal box fucked pushing the brakes on?

[cort16]

I made a feeble attempt to move the Granada out it’s lockup today to my lockup with power and toole . The battery is deed and I had ordered a legit flat post battery from eBay but they cancelled my order so to some weak sounding excuse to do with my postcode .

I attempted to jump start it from my Citroen but  don’t think the shite leads I have are man enough for the job as it cranked slowly and the leads got really hot. I just about did a hernia blood vessel combo pushing it back in the garage 
I then went to get the Megane as the DS has a really shit setup for jump starting but found it was blocked into the garage . 

I then went home and ordered a normal round post battery and a square post adaptor.
 

out the house 2 hrs achieved the square root of fuck all.

 

[BeEP]

2 hours ago, Stevebrookman said:

Dodgy master cylinder??

Or dodgy servo.