The new news 24 thread

[HMC]

31 minutes ago, doug said:

Aye, hit a wee pot hole on a forest road. My fault, picnic cancelled.

How quickly did you manage to react to your bit of rallying? Will the engine live on?

[HMC]

3 minutes ago, stuboy said:

2 brothers at work have got new motors... I prefer the mini..

I like both but haven’t tried a 500 yet so will take that. I watched on old top gear recently where they ragged one around the Monaco street circuit just before the gp. 2011 ish so the old line up.

[doug]

How quickly did you manage to react to your bit of rallying? Will the engine live on?

I was only going about 5mph. New sump and oil level sensor should fix it. As long as the oil pick up pipe didnt suck up any shrapnel the engine should be fine I hope.

Sent from my SM-J330FN using Tapatalk

[wuvvum]

5 hours ago, vulgalour said:

Me and my big mouth.  Head gasket shat itself AGAIN.  Brown coolant, bubbles in the expansion bottle, lumpy idle.

Before you ask:

• I have checked the head bolts, none were loose, all were at the relevant spec
• It was fine the last time I took it out, the coolant was still blue
• No I haven't done a compression test
• No there isn't signs of water in the oil
• Yes there is signs of oil in the water
• The quantity of bubbles increases the longer the car is running

What to do.  If it were the first failure that's easy, just bob it all back together again, job done.  Thing is it's not the first failure and I've already spent quite a bit of money on trying to fix it previously which kinda says something is wrong.  Maybe the last head skim wasn't as good as it should have been, maybe the head gasket was bad, maybe the block is damaged, maybe I did something wrong... I just don't know.  What I know is it's a repeated failure and as much as I love the car and don't want to let it go, even if I fixed it I'm not sure if I feel like I could trust it at this point.  I'll have a think about it and figure something out.

The approved course of action in that situation is to drop a V8 in it.

[blackboilersuit]

4 hours ago, vulgalour said:

I have made a decision and ordered a new gasket set.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it was just a bad gasket, I won't know until I pull it apart and have a look.

Is it worth running it on three with one plug removed (and repeating for each cylinder in turn) to see which cylinder(s) is the cause of the bubbles? Might be worth while to give you a clue just in case you pull the head and there's no obvious cause staring you in the face.

[N19]

Yeah, I think that's an error... A Capri having done 870k miles...! (I think you can get it adjusted at the VTS within a week?) 

[High Jetter]

Abarth vs Cooper? Interesting, discuss.

[Burnside]

After at lot of faffing, my troublesome Punto is finally back together and running. It's even sailed through the Mot too!  

So naturally I'm selling it now. 

 

[vulgalour]

2 hours ago, blackboilersuit said:

Is it worth running it on three with one plug removed (and repeating for each cylinder in turn) to see which cylinder(s) is the cause of the bubbles? Might be worth while to give you a clue just in case you pull the head and there's no obvious cause staring you in the face.

I don't know.  I'm not sure what that will tell me that I don't already know which is that the head gasket has failed, I don't think it really matters which cylinder it's failed on since a fail is a fail.  If it's anything like the previous times it's done it there'll be obvious witness marks to what's amiss.  I'm expecting cylinder two or three to be the culprits, they seem most prone to it.

It's fine, worst case scenario I just work on getting the Lanchester safe to use and have that as my daily instead.  That's the Autoshite way.

[Aston Martin]

1 hour ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

So was out yesterday pottering about doing some errands and the idle stuck at at least 1,500 rpm possibly 2k rpm, being a CVT this made things difficult.  The normal tricks did nothing and going from N to D was basically a damn neutral slam and not going to work for any period of time, not to matter the poor brakes. 

Ended up calling up a mechanics that luckily was under 10miles away that I've used and since I had the new throttlebody in the car just having that fitted to stop the headache.  

The one removed I had fitted in 2017 before I was on Autoshite by a local group that is now gone.  So upon removing the offending TB this was found.

1. The Gasket was GLUED down, a wire brush, razor and swear words where needed, not in spots quite literally ALL of it.

2. The throttlecable was setup in such a way that full throttle likely was impossible.

And the lads who fitted the new one had much to say about the outfits workmanship.  They did a good job hiding their shoddy work that is for sure.

So, got out on the road, and o'lee shit it's a different car.  Actually sets off from a standstill without having to drop to DS and 50% throttle, 30mph is a feathers touch over 20% down. 

Bear in mind this is my first car and when I got it the MAF was broken so to me it was normal, but now it's far better. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Did they make a 1.3 CVT? 

[Fumbler]

15 minutes ago, Aston Martin said:

 

 

Did they make a 1.3 CVT? 

Indeed they did. Very zippy I'm told.

[Aston Martin]

6 minutes ago, Fumbler said:

Indeed they did. Very zippy I'm told.

 

It must fucking fly.

 

 

Edit: 1.4!!!!!!

[Fumbler]

2 minutes ago, Aston Martin said:

 

It must fucking fly.

...off the green light to 30, definitely!

[Aston Martin]

lidl have this back in stock.

[brownnova]

18 hours ago, stuboy said:

2 brothers at work have got new motors... I prefer the mini..

Having driven both models I’d take the Abarth every time... the one I drove stuck to the road like glue.... 

[egg]

Proof that any car job eats time.

i10 old number plate (broken)

removed to reveal old sticky pads

I use this 'kids' sticker remover stuff, which is actually quite good

Still took half an hour to make acceptable.

Done. 

[richardmorris]

Up and about early this morning and cycled into work and back via scenic off-road routes when possible. Then got the 2cv out to go to waitrose. Roof off too! 

[SRi05]

Got the Jag back from the bodyshop today, I haven't had a chance to give it a proper wash yet, but I'm absolutely delighted with how it's turned out. Bonnet, roof, boot and rear quarters all resprayed. Totally transformed the car from before. @domewill be happy to see how this has turned out as well I'm sure 🥳

[Tadhg Tiogar]

Oil and filter changed on diesel Borat after 5000 miles. EBC Rear brake pads next on list.

LHM topped up on CX, just short of 500ml. There must be a leak somewhere. No idea where. Or maybe it's evaporating. Good news is that I can actually see the levels on the oil and ATF dipsticks now.... Even the coolant is stable. 

[stuboy]

Spent the day car hunting for siL, dover, deal, ashford and ended up in Cranbrook.. 

 

We viewed a clio on 07 plate looked OK, drove ok.. but.... wipers wouldnt work, fan didnt work, but if u saddled about with heating, fan knows they spring in to life then stop working.... nah ill pass.. ended up in Cranbrook buy 2003 ford focus zetec.. pez shot included......

[clayts450]

Self-employment has somewhat restricted any work on any of the vehicles, as I'm bonkers busy. I did manage to drive five out of the seven in the fleet today.

However, I did manage to take a day off a week or so back, to finally replace the brake discs on the Streetwise. Naturally the retaining screws were FUBARed, so drilled them out, and swapped the heavily lipped discs with some shiny new ones I'd originally bought a million years ago for the Rover 45 V6 (RIP). One off the advisory list.

Not off the advisory list, however, are the outer CV boots, and one has deffo gone so will need replacing before the Boris test runs out in early October. Might just dump the car in a backstreet garage and get them to do it and the MoT, as I cannot see me having the time to do it myself. Do have all the bits, apart from new hubnuts, which I'll order off eBay. Due to absolutely no use, the battery was as flat as a pancake, so bunged another one in from the spares pile.  And that one didn't have quite enough juice to fire the car up. Cue the Chinese portable jump pack, and away we went on a blast around some fast roads. Forgotten how much fun that car is !

The 820 was severely neglected, but started first time today after a prolonged bout of inactivity. Pulled the front wheels off and took them down to my friendly indie tyre place and left them there for balancing, due to serious steering wheel shakage at high speed. Collected two hours later, parted company with five quid for the privilege (bargain), popped the wheels back on, gave it a wash, and away we went on a blast around some fast roads. Not quite eliminated the shaking, but so much better.  For a large wafty barge, the 820 really can lift its skirt up and party. This one has been reserved by a fellow Shiter so will be leaving for pastures new soon, just as soon as the two of us can get our shit together and sort out a handover.

The Accord coupe was on mundane chore duties today, weekly shopping, ferrying 820 wheels around, and naturally a blast around some fast roads. Have still got some noisy, squeaky brake-caliper related shit going on which needs investigating, but the more I drive this car, the less I feel inclined to move it on, even though it really is surplus to requirement.

The 420's battery had also flattened, so the Chinese jump pack worked its magic, and cue a blast around some fast roads. Man, I love this car to bits - my absolute favourite on the fleet.

The Combo and I did a little local job this evening, which entailed a blast around some fast roads. I'm doing oil changes every 10K to avoid any timing chain/disintegrating oil filter disasters, well known on the Fiat 1.3 Multijet engine. Stuck four new tyres on it 20K miles ago (about three months ago) Toyo Nanoenergy 3's - holding up well, recommended. 

Two vehicles not blasted around some fast roads were the 620 (not enough time to take it for one) and the 214 (still on the naughty step somewhere in Watnall).

 

 

[wuvvum]

Had another bash at cleaning out the Spacy carb this evening.  There was quite a lot of crud that had found its way back into the float bowl already - not sure where it had come from but I have a suspicion it might be disintegrating rubber fuel hose.  One of the float bowl bolts completely rounded out this time (it'd been on its way for a while) but fortunately the head is chunky enough that I was able to wind it out with mole grips.  I dismantled the carb more thoroughly than I did last time and gave every nook and cranny a good blast out with carb cleaner, and left the jets soaking in a container of cleaner for a while.  Tomorrow I'm going to buy some new fuel line and refit everything - if it still won't start then I've discovered that I can get a brand new Chinese knock-off carb for £23.19 delivered, so that might be the way to go.

[High Jetter]

I'd persevere with the old carb tbh, that sounds a bit too cheep

[strangeangel]

12 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Had another bash at cleaning out the Spacy carb this evening.  There was quite a lot of crud that had found its way back into the float bowl already - not sure where it had come from but I have a suspicion it might be disintegrating rubber fuel hose.  One of the float bowl bolts completely rounded out this time (it'd been on its way for a while) but fortunately the head is chunky enough that I was able to wind it out with mole grips.  I dismantled the carb more thoroughly than I did last time and gave every nook and cranny a good blast out with carb cleaner, and left the jets soaking in a container of cleaner for a while.  Tomorrow I'm going to buy some new fuel line and refit everything - if it still won't start then I've discovered that I can get a brand new Chinese knock-off carb for £23.19 delivered, so that might be the way to go.

 

I had trouble with the vacuum taps on a couple of my Spacys, the carbs were generally reliable IME. If the Chinese copy carbs are as utterly wank as the copies of the CH/CN250 Keihin then you're in doorstop territory. Re-piping the fuel supply is a good idea, as I've experienced crumbling lines on my similarly aged Helix.

 

These are great scooters - I got my first one after having seen your one, and I ended up having four of them! Do wish I'd kept one... good luck.

 

[SiC]

On 9/18/2020 at 2:21 PM, vulgalour said:

What to do. 

Fit a B-Series. 

(I'm actually serious. Pretty darn solid old lumps)

[wuvvum]

11 minutes ago, strangeangel said:

I had trouble with the vacuum taps on a couple of my Spacys, the carbs were generally reliable IME. If the Chinese copy carbs are as utterly wank as the copies of the CH/CN250 Keihin then you're in doorstop territory.

The vacuum tap is brand new and appears to be working fine.  I'll bear that in mind re the Chinese copy carb - thanks for the heads up...

[strangeangel]

2 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

The vacuum tap is brand new and appears to be working fine.  I'll bear that in mind re the Chinese copy carb - thanks for the heads up...

 

They're worth buying if you need a float bowl gasket, as one of those from Honda (if available) will cost you as much as the Chinese carb. That was how I came to buy one, but out of curiosity I stuck it on the bike just to see how well it worked... it didn't. Whacking open the throttle in the way I had always done to pull away resulted in a flat spot or a stall, with the bonus* of a second, killer flat spot at about 40mph. This was supposed to be identical to the original Keihin, jetting and all. I stuck my old one back on with the nice new float bowl gasket, never a moment's bother since

 

 

[wuvvum]

Aye, the float bowl gasket is looking rather flat so I might end up doing that.

[beko1987]

3 minutes ago, jamiechod said:

Just done a buy 

You bought a new tyre? 

[stuboy]

One of the sil was car must have isofix, well in my shed I had brand new bracket I never used when I had my focus, so I genouresly gave it too her so she can go buy new seat from halfrauds