The new news 24 thread

[sporty-shite]

Dutch electrical woes have arrived at Sporty Towers.

 

Mrs S came home from work tonight and told me "the lights on your car keep going on and off". Looked out of the window, and there was the 480 with the driving lights shining away. Looked away, looked back, and they were off. Fuck. Worse still, I taxed it today, so I'm committed!

 

Disconnected the battery for tonight, but I can see this is going to get awkward. It's already having a right moody. The info centre has stopped working, DRLs packed in, and now driving lights have a mind of their own. Oh, and the N/S headlight only pops up when it feels fit, although at least it popped up for the MOT

 

Any ideas, guys?

[Pete-M]

There's a multitude of control units around the dash. Check and clean all the connections. Sounds like an earthing issue.

 

I stripped most of that shit from Jon's white one. It's a mess.

[Volksy]

I think that 480's have walk you home lights, flash the lights after the ignition is first turned off and they stay on for about a minuite, so you can walk up the drive. My Turdbot one had them anyways.

 

Googled it, and Flash the headlight switch off the ignition, and they will stay on for a miniute or so to illuminate the drive for you.

[sporty-shite]

I think that 480's have walk you home lights, flash the lights after the ignition is first turned off and they stay on for about a minuite, so you can walk up the drive. My Turdbot one had them anyways.

 

I parked it there about 7 hours earlier! That's a bloody long walk home!

 

I think Pete, you might be on to something. What worries me is that is has got quite damp whilst it's been standing around, and things have failed one-by-one as the car has been running and warmed up. In the words of Gorgeous George, "this will get messy."

[Volksy]

Ah, Maybe the relay that controls that has stuck then.

[dollywobbler]

Peugeot has just sold. Buyer took seconds to decide to have it, despite viewing in the dark. Sub-zero temperatures may have hastened the decision...

 

£240, so £20 more than it 'made 'on Ebay. Now to see about getting my fee back...

 

Gumtree delivers the goods this time.

[R9UKE]

Went to view the Citroen C5 V6 on gumtree this afternoon with the view of buying it. Possibly the least cared about car in the country awaited. Car was filthy inside and out. Hydractive system is free from fluid thanks to a completely fooked steering rack, which, by the way, is a bastard to change in these. So the suspension and steering were "difficult" to say the least and must have suffered some kind of damage with a month of no Fluide LDS. Bald tyres also. I offered £350, he says £400 is the rock bottom. I think my offer was generous enough!

 

On the verge of buying an 01 Scénic. 1.6 Petrol Auto - so its definitely shite.

 

Clio now carries a spanner in its passenger footwell to whack the shit outta the starter motor when it sticks.

 

Volvo failed its MOT and may be on eBay soon.

 

Mégane is being retaxed.

[Cavcraft]

Been pissing about trying to get decent pictures of the latest chariot. This is about the only worth showing as struggling to get decent photographs of it...

 

Really impressed with the car, some daft niggles (temp display and clock don't work, couple of minor rust spots, rev counter packs up when warm, CD multichanger doesn't work) but it's bloody ace to drive. Doesn't hang about but nice to drive slowly too and feels sort of 'special' to cruise round in.

Things to do? Aftermarket CD player if we can't get this one going, remove stupid/pointless 'supercharger' badge from boot (it's not the supercharged model) and maybe some nicer wheels.

[tonedepear]

That does look swish Billy.

[HMC]

Nice looking merc! So what engine does yours have? I really liked the look of those from when they were current and they can be found at tempting prices. TBH I always assumed insurance would be a problem as my policy requires cars 1995 or older.

 

Just finshed ordering my parts for the w124 estate. Comfortably more than the purchace price of the vehicle! I'll be ready to collect them next week and get started the following weekend. A new or good s/h rad will also be needed as the engine rad and gearbox oil rad are mixing fluids. Arse! MB quoted 350ish but I can get the same item elsewhere for half price. Often MB themselves arnt too bad for parts prices- depends what it is. As you order by the chassis number its always the correct part- there wasnt much difference in price for the engine mounts but i'd heard about hassle with the pattern ones so avoided those. Plus I can have the surreal experience of going into the glossy world of an MB showroom, complimentary refreshments if waiting etc, to collect parts for a car that cost less to buy than a low profile tyre for the latest sporty C class!

[Cavcraft]

Cheers, it's the 3.2.

Merc parts have always been pretty good in my experience, well stocked and reasonably priced. They also used to stock parts for older models and if they didn't have them on the shelf they'd get them for you no hassle.

Still impressed by getting parts for a 22 year old 609D straight off the shelf from an MB commercial dealer a couple of years ago.

[Father Ted]

BAD NEWS:

Came out of work after a late shift and its freezing my nadgers off cold to discover rear nearside tyre softer than a Mr Whippy. Spare also soft and does not appear to be holding air.

 

GOOD NEWS:

Tyre compressor that normally lives in the shed at home is in the boot of my car

 

BAD NEWS:

Smoke seen eminating from fag lighter socket after a few minutes of running.

 

GOOD NEWS:

Managed to get 30.5 PSI in the tyre before fag lighter socket finally melted.

 

RESULT:

eBay - Brand New Caramac tyre on Micra rim £25.95 including delivery by 4pm Friday

[RoadworkUK]

 

Gr23 picktcha. Gr27 car. I take it the parking enforcement officer was just out of shot?

 

When viewed from the rear three quarters, this, in my humble opinion, is the best looking "normal" Merc there's been during my lifetime. Removing the daft extra badging is a thoroughly sound plan. If you decide to change the wheels, may I suggest a set of the period five spoke AMG jobbies?

 

 

To be honest, the 18" ones like that are slightly on the bling side, but the 17s are a lesson in tasteful restraint (I have a set on the A4, and I'm as good an arbiter of excellent taste as ever lived, like).

 

....Hydractive system is free from fluid thanks to a completely fooked steering rack.....

 

You may have just triggered a mild internal panic that the 825s power steering leak might be more than a dodgy hose connection....

[cort16]

Those CLK's are nice looking cars and seem to have come right down in price recently.

So is the BMW Cab-ray-olay gone? Cavcraft must take no prisoners when it comes to it's stock turn around policies.

[Cavcraft]

Yes mate, did a straightener for the BMW so quite happy with that. So far the Merc seems bloody good on fuel but I've just had to put some in for the first time so the jury is still out!

[cort16]

That seems like a nice result. Great timing for the new owner of the BMW just as the temperatures plummet.

[dollywobbler]

Servicing the Maverick and it could be going better. I've been sent the wrong spark plugs for a start. Oil filter is in the most ridiculous place. Impossible to get at above or below. There is a hatch in the inner wheel arch, which allows you to see the filter at least, but access is still horrific! Got it done, but not fun.

 

Found the cause of the brake issue. The offside caliper is entirely seized. The inner pad was down to the metal! What I don't understand is why it only made a 'down to the metal' sound very recently. New caliper and brake disc required as well as pads. Budget is getting a walloping... Not sure I can be bothered to try and rebuild the caliper. The bits alone come to over £30, which puts you in second-hand caliper territory.

 

Now going to change the coolant as there was ice in the expansion tank this morning! Thankfully the rest of the engine seems ok...

[ashmicro]

Managed to replace all 3 discs and pad sets on the bike, replace the fluid, job done. The I fell over the box that I had put all the old bits in, hit the deck and bruised my arm. D'OH!

[trigger]

That sounds like a bloody good swap Billy, The BMW was nice but not as nice looking as the merc, what plate and mileage is it?

[Lord Sterling]

Spare also soft and does not appear to be holding air.

 

Ah! You've just reminded me, I need to get some air into the spare tyre in the Micra, the wheel is pretty clean and unused, yet there is no air in it

 

Nice Merc Billy. Had a drive in the 2.4 saloon version, I'm sure a 3.2 CLK drives completely differently.

[Cavcraft]

That sounds like a bloody good swap Billy, The BMW was nice but not as nice looking as the merc, what plate and mileage is it?

 

2001 'Y' plate with 165k I think.

[CreepingJesus]

Either the curse of Fife roads has struck again, or the Volvo's hit a bit of an expensive patch.

NSF tyre went unexpectedly on Monday, not a big deal in itself, but the death of the tyre seemed to hasten the demise of the track rod end behind it. Again, not a big deal; limp up to factors, buy track rod end, attempt to fit it, fail, pay garage to do it instead.

All's well for a day, now the CV joint on that side's clicking slightly, and while having a better look at the driveshaft, it's obvious the ARB bushes are pretty bad too, and I'll need to investigate the subframe donuts too.

It's cracking on for the 100,000 mark, so I'm a bit concerned that it's going into a 'one thing after another' phase. During a traditionally slack month at work, and with a trip to Elgin in 3 weeks. Fab.

[barefoot]

Drove Porsche at 1**mph yesterday, I thought, "I'll just pass that Insignia device on this stretch of dual carriageway".

Well, it took off like a scalded cat & rather than argue the toss, I just followed it to see how fast it would go.

I was surprised.

Now I've not driven it fast since just after I'd bought it, when I achieved 1**mph right on the limiter.

I was disappointed by this speed until I realized that the car was in 4th rather than 5th - which was actually quite impressive.

Now some 15 years later, I was disturbed to find that the parked wipers lifted off the screen at this speed.

Do you think that I should invest in stronger springs?

Do you think that this is the beginning of the end?

Do you think I should forget about it for another 15 years?

[DSdriver]

Get a set of these:

[barefoot]

Can you really still get them?

Do they work?

Where from?

[dollywobbler]

I seem to be buying a lot of stuff lately. Recent Ebay purchases are a pair of circlip pliers (because of), BX thermostat, BX fan switch (because if the stat's actually working, there's a chance it might get hot enough to need the fan!), Maverick discs and pads, Maverick caliper, feeler gauges (as mine are rusty and I can't see the numbers anymore).

 

Expensive times. Good job HMRC didn't want as much as I expected! Question now is, will the weather be nice when all the stuff arrives and I need to fit it? I'm hoping to reclaim the garage soon, so the BX will be ok as I can work on it in there. I'm not sure the Maverick will fit through the door...

[RobT]

^^Carrying on the BX theme, mine took six cranks to start yesterday so I'd better get those glow plugs changed tomorrow. That'll teach me to leave it until the cold weather kicks in Will also bandage up the back box on the Montego whilst I'm at it.

[dollywobbler]

Good luck with that job Rob! It's a fecker* of a job. You'll need a 12mm socket for two of the plugs, and a 12mm spanner for the others. It's also VERY easy to lose the 8mm nuts and washers... Quite how they managed to put so many different bits of engine in the way I really don't know. I'd recommend NGKs. I fitted Bosch ones to the last BX and it made very little difference. I usually give it at least two bursts of plug this time of year anyway.

 

* Fecker of a job is just annoying rather than a f*cker of a job which is nigh on impossible.

[RobT]

Good luck with that job Rob! It's a fecker* of a job. You'll need a 12mm socket for two of the plugs, and a 12mm spanner for the others. It's also VERY easy to lose the 8mm nuts and washers... Quite how they managed to put so many different bits of engine in the way I really don't know. I'd recommend NGKs. I fitted Bosch ones to the last BX and it made very little difference. I usually give it at least two bursts of plug this time of year anyway.

 

* Fecker of a job is just annoying rather than a f*cker of a job which is nigh on impossible.

 

I'm ready for the challenge Ian But it does seem odd how parts that look so accessible are in fact a PITA - it's the main reason why I've left it so long. In true shite style I bought some cheap un-branded Made in Slovenia parts. Let's see how good they are...!

[Richard]

Drove Porsche at 1**mph yesterday, I thought, "I'll just pass that Insignia device on this stretch of dual carriageway".

Well, it took off like a scalded cat & rather than argue the toss, I just followed it to see how fast it would go.

I was surprised.

 

Are you sure it was an Insignia? I've never seen one doing more than 66mph.