The new news 24 thread

[RoverFolkUs]

After a meager 1000 miles covered in the Picasso since purchase, I thought it was about time I do some work on it. With a couple of hours spare this afternoon, I thought I'd work through a couple of bits that seemed more urgent.

Replaced 2x tyres, I knew they were perished but they were good enough for an MOT. As suspected, only when deflated after removing them - the cracks were deep enough to be showing cords! 😬 - definitely glad to have changed them despite the fact they still had 6mm and 4.5mm of tread! Not a bad lifespan for a 2005 DOT code!

Next I thought I would investigate the persistent and very annoying "pop" noise that was presenting itself mainly when pulling away from roundabouts, and during engine braking. Found the long bolt through the lower "dogbone" engine mount to be slightly loose, tightened it up and after a quick test drive I was pleased to confirm that is all it was as it's gone! Free fixes for the win

Gave it a good checkover and it's generally in fantastic condition for a 2005 Xsara Picasso. You can tell it's been garaged for most of its life, the backbox is still mostly rust free however the centre silencer is starting to heavily corrode around the seams so I expect that may need to be replaced some point soon

It appears to have a minor power steering leak so that needs cleaning off and investigating to decide whether that is something that needs sorting or just needs to have an eye kept on it. 

The only other more imminent things I can see it needs is a wheel cylinder which is weeping and has filled the dust boot with brake fluid, and a track rod end which the cover has come off of. £20 or so later I have bought these to fit ASAP. 

The sills appear original and rust free! However some gentle tapping revealed suspiciously dull sounds in places so I will not poke further and will allow nature to take its own course... 

I was disappointed to find the offside front arch liner was insecure when I took the wheel off, clearly the person who replaced the washer pump last year decided against reattaching some of the fixings so it has become misshapen and was fouling the spring 😐 - but now I've sorted it, another free fix! 

All that's left to do is a full service (oil, air, fuel, cabin filters and spark plugs) to get it up to date, it's probably not due yet on mileage but according to the book it was all done over 5 years ago so for the sake of £50 or so in parts it just makes sense to bring it up to date, and I'll sort the wheel cylinder and track rod end.

So all that's left for me to investigate/keep an eye on is the power steering fluid seepage, exhaust condition and maybe the sills in the long term. Not bad at all for a 18 year old Xsara Picasso I don't think!

[junkyarddog]

Oh dear what have I done??

I had a perfectly lovely little Vauxhall Viva HC......

That I decided to swap for this.....

A ratty 1991 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, with nigh on 200k on the clock!

😮

I do wonder about myself at times🙄😂

 

[stuboy]

13 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Oh dear what have I done??

I had a perfectly lovely little Vauxhall Viva HC......

That I decided to swap for this.....

A ratty 1991 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, with nigh on 200k on the clock!

😮

I do wonder about myself at times🙄😂

 

resto or pineapple?

[junkyarddog]

2 minutes ago, stuboy said:

resto or pineapple?

Neither,do the essentials tidy it up and daily driver.

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, junkyarddog said:

Neither,do the essentials tidy it up and daily driver.

Beef up the back springs if you're planning to ever carry passengers in the rear seat. Otherwise they drag their behind along like a dog with an itchy rectum.

When I had one I also had a four wheel trailer, and on a bumpy road at 40 the front of the trailer would push down on the towball, and its rear tyres come off the road causing the back end of it to wave from side to side. You used to be able to get tailor made helper springs to sit inside the main ones.

Edit: Where did you get it?, it looks vaguely familiar.

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Oh dear what have I done??

I had a perfectly lovely little Vauxhall Viva HC......

That I decided to swap for this.....

A ratty 1991 Volkswagen Jetta diesel, with nigh on 200k on the clock!

😮

I do wonder about myself at times🙄😂

 

Swap? You're not richer?

[junkyarddog]

I have a set of new helper springs somewhere.

2 hours ago, artdjones said:

Where did you get it?, it looks vaguely familiar.

Co.Clare,Two owner car,The Viva is a Clare registered car too.

 

12 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Swap? You're not richer?

No,straight swap.

 

[High Jetter]

I wish I'd owned that Jetta then.

[junkyarddog]

45 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

I wish I'd owned that Jetta then.

Why?

I like the Viva,but the Jetta to me is more useable. 

Besides I still got two more HC's. 

 

[JJ0063]

£400 Volvo still winning at life. Kingsize bed frame and mattress collected this morning 

[High Jetter]

10 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

Besides I still got two more HC's. 

Didn't know that, makes more sense now.

[HMC]

[junkyarddog]

Turd polishing. 

Of course as soon as I stood up to take this pic a gust of wind knocked over my bottle of boiled linseed oil 🙄

Comes up quite nice. 

 

[Matty]

1 hour ago, HMC said:

Duct tape makes it look like it's pinching the roof in at the front 😄

[Lankytim]

Soooo, it turns out I’m now a Rover P4 owner, well more accurately a Rover 60 owner. A deal was struck last week with @Minimad5 and on Friday I popped round with my dolly to haul the Rover back home. 
 

All went to plan and the black and white wonder was soon sat on my driveway. The engine runs really well but the clutch was slipping too much to get it out of the dolly, this turned out to be fixable with some adjustment on the clutch linkage. The brakes are completely absent, in fact the brake and clutch pedals were seized together on the shaft they share inside the chassis. After a bit of lubrication they’ve started to unseize but will need more work.  The OSF brake was binding badly which after I removed the drum (the largest drum I’ve seen on a car!) turned out to be delaminated brake shoes, I’ve also reassembled one of the rear brakes so I’ve at least now got the parking brake working on that wheel. 
 

Im not sure what I’ve got planned for this old tub. The bodywork does need a bit of welding but it’s not as bad as I was expecting, the brakes need total renewal and the electrics are well past their prime (by about 40 years) but it’s an endearing old thing that seems to be responding well to some fettling. I deffo can’t have 3x old cars that don’t work though so something will have to go. 

[wesacosa]

queue of needy cars outside the house whilst the Estelle hogs the drive and my free time

At least two likely to have departed the fleet by this time next month 

[Ghosty]

^I was talking to the lass that runs the Favorit FB group last week. She's mental, but good mental.

Just been to collect half a Civic VTEC interior. My wallet hurts, but the car's going to look cool.

Oh, and the MX5 sold.

[Bren]

My car failed to sell. Never even reached £3k - somebody offered this after the auction ended but it's not enough.

Only very cheap stuff sells - or stuff with finance advertised.

[Supernaut]

7 hours ago, Bren said:

My car failed to sell. Never even reached £3k - somebody offered this after the auction ended but it's not enough.

Only very cheap stuff sells - or stuff with finance advertised.

Not to state the bloody obvious, and I do wish you the best of luck selling it, but with petrol averaging £1.50 per litre and the cost of just existing right now being extortionate, it's no wonder a V8 BMW isn't selling easily.

Hell, I'll be SORNing my 323i for an indefinite period starting in September.

[Bren]

59 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Not to state the bloody obvious, and I do wish you the best of luck selling it, but with petrol averaging £1.50 per litre and the cost of just existing right now being extortionate, it's no wonder a V8 BMW isn't selling easily.

Hell, I'll be SORNing my 323i for an indefinite period starting in September.

I agree. However where I live I have noticed lots of V8's on the road - old chrysler 300's, jaguars  and audi's right up to later mercedes.

Another thing I have noticed is the amount of super cars you see - ferraris and Lamborghinis. I joked to a colleague thst maybe people are remortgaging?

[Schaefft]

Tbf, 3 grand probably is right around market value for a 545i I would say. Would be a very different story if it was a manual though.

[Bren]

32 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

Tbf, 3 grand probably is right around market value for a 545i I would say. Would be a very different story if it was a manual though.

If you look in the classifieds at what e60 you would get for £3k most of them are approaching the end of life. In fact some have so many issues and mileage over 200k -  they really are parts donors. Mine is a beaut.

I will treat it to a new set of plugs which look a pig to change.

[grogee]

14 hours ago, wesacosa said:

queue of needy cars outside the house whilst the Estelle hogs the drive and my free time

At least two likely to have departed the fleet by this time next month 

Well I like three of them so that's good news for me. I suspect the blue Fav is staying though 

[wesacosa]

17 minutes ago, grogee said:

Well I like three of them so that's good news for me. I suspect the blue Fav is staying though 

I really can't decide.. clearly I don't want to sell any but need to be realistic.. The Favorit is going to be the hardest one to drum up interest in I think. As I previously mentioned it does qualify for Khan's £2000 bribe but don't think I can bring myself to do it.   Citroen most likely to go as its my daily so to keep would relegate it to show/weekend toy but already done 2 FoTU , one Bromley and one Citroen National show in it.  Its fucking glorious to look at and cool to drive though, and needs a few bits doing if I was to get decent money I think 

[RayMK]

I'm developing withdrawal symptoms because my '94 Tipo has been away since 17th July.  On that nice, sunny day I drove it to Fawsley to soak up the warmth in pleasant surroundings.  The drive over there was uneventful, typical of the way the car has reliably operated since we bought it just over ten years ago.  I parked, ate a packed lunch and read a car magazine.  About 2 hours later, I decided to head home.  Turned the key and the starter kicked the engine but instead of it immediately firing as it normally does, it just carried on churning.  There wasn't the slightest cough during my three or four 5 sec bursts on the starter.  Funny, I thought (a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore phrase).  I checked under the bonnet for loose connections, broken wires, leaks or anything untoward.  Tried starting  again.  Same.  The symptoms were very no sparkish,  so I disconnected the king lead at the distributor end and lodged it on the block where I could see and hear a spark if there was one.  Nothing.  As mentioned, the weather was glorious and the scenery pleasant. I sat in the car and contemplated my predicament for a few minutes. I recalled that my son and I had joint membership of the AA.  An attempted phone call to my son to see if our membership was still current revealed that I was in a poor signal area judging by the conversation which went something like 'Hello.  Hello. Hello??'  when he answered.  I managed to squeeze a text message to him through the airwaves, giving my location and asking him to call the AA.

A perfectly reasonable hour later a nice AA man arrived, listened to my brief description of symptoms, ran several tests which confirmed power was getting to the coil but no spark coming out.  The crank sensor was pulsing and the fuel tank was 3/4 full. After a few more tests which drew blanks, he decided to dolly the Tipo to a garage of my choice.  I texted my son and got a ride home in his luxurious BMW.  

Since then, the Tipo has been given attention at the garage on a 'filling-in job' basis.  I've got another car, so there's no urgency and I know the garage chap well.  No problems with the wait.  So far, a new coil has been tried but that had no effect. A new crank sensor will be tried next before more head scratching occurs.  The car has standard electronic ignition with a non-points type distributor and has single point fuel injection - which will be investigated next.  I don't think it has a diagnostics port but does of course have an ECU.  Fortunately the ECU does not sit in a drainage channel like some cars.

I am thus missing the old Italian chariot.

 

[sdkrc]

My old commute for dropping my boy off to nursery. Anywhere up to 2hrs15mins when schools were open.

New commute is a 6min walk each way. Total commute time is 30mins per day  including waiting and regardless of traffic. An extra hour each day, fuck yeah

[andy18s]

3 hours ago, RayMK said:

I'm developing withdrawal symptoms because my '94 Tipo has been away since 17th July.  On that nice, sunny day I drove it to Fawsley to soak up the warmth in pleasant surroundings.  The drive over there was uneventful, typical of the way the car has reliably operated since we bought it just over ten years ago.  I parked, ate a packed lunch and read a car magazine.  About 2 hours later, I decided to head home.  Turned the key and the starter kicked the engine but instead of it immediately firing as it normally does, it just carried on churning.  There wasn't the slightest cough during my three or four 5 sec bursts on the starter.  Funny, I thought (a Peter Cook and Dudley Moore phrase).  I checked under the bonnet for loose connections, broken wires, leaks or anything untoward.  Tried starting  again.  Same.  The symptoms were very no sparkish,  so I disconnected the king lead at the distributor end and lodged it on the block where I could see and hear a spark if there was one.  Nothing.  As mentioned, the weather was glorious and the scenery pleasant. I sat in the car and contemplated my predicament for a few minutes. I recalled that my son and I had joint membership of the AA.  An attempted phone call to my son to see if our membership was still current revealed that I was in a poor signal area judging by the conversation which went something like 'Hello.  Hello. Hello??'  when he answered.  I managed to squeeze a text message to him through the airwaves, giving my location and asking him to call the AA.

A perfectly reasonable hour later a nice AA man arrived, listened to my brief description of symptoms, ran several tests which confirmed power was getting to the coil but no spark coming out.  The crank sensor was pulsing and the fuel tank was 3/4 full. After a few more tests which drew blanks, he decided to dolly the Tipo to a garage of my choice.  I texted my son and got a ride home in his luxurious BMW.  

Since then, the Tipo has been given attention at the garage on a 'filling-in job' basis.  I've got another car, so there's no urgency and I know the garage chap well.  No problems with the wait.  So far, a new coil has been tried but that had no effect. A new crank sensor will be tried next before more head scratching occurs.  The car has standard electronic ignition with a non-points type distributor and has single point fuel injection - which will be investigated next.  I don't think it has a diagnostics port but does of course have an ECU.  Fortunately the ECU does not sit in a drainage channel like some cars.

I am thus missing the old Italian chariot.

 

My last Tipo was an L reg 1.4i 3dr in black.

Bought for the Mrs as she found it easier to get our daughter in and of it than a 5dr Astra she had.

It coil was a constant failing on it,a square item on the bulkhead iirc.

I assume they've checked the new coil ?

[RayMK]

1 minute ago, andy18s said:

My last Tipo was an L reg 1.4i 3dr in black.

Bought for the Mrs as she found it easier to get our daughter in and of it than a 5dr Astra she had.

It coil was a constant failing on it,a square item on the bulkhead iirc.

I assume they've checked the new coil ?

I'll have a chat with the garage on Friday to see how they are progressing.  It seems the old coil (mounted on the front bulkhead near the headlight)  was receiving 12Vdc but it was lacking any electronic triggering pulse despite the crank sensor checking out ok.  There is an electronic control module near the headlight which is also part of the digiplex ignition system which may require replacement (or checking if possible). I'm not at all at home with electronic ignition and my experience with any cars which have significant electronics is that they are ultra reliable.  However, unlike old-fashioned points and condenser ignition systems which are fine, albeit with regular servicing, the more modern stuff when it fails ends up being a game of replacing components until the magic is restored, requiring not necessarily just one visit to the garage.  This applies to main dealers with all the specific diagnostic equipment as well.  It's not exactly confidence inspiring.  Nissan and BMW dealers have both provided endless entertainment* when trying to exterminate error codes and/or faulty operation of engine and systems.   Touching wood, my two experiences with Mitsubishi and more with Hyundai have had no such problems.  Anyway, I'm prepared to throw a bit of money at the Tipo because I've grown to like it.

[Cavcraft]

Just dawned on me that going flat out down a steep by-pass hill on a Yamaha 50  achieved the grand total of just 3mph faster than I did it on a push bike.

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Cavcraft said:

Just dawned on me that going flat out down a steep by-pass hill on a Yamaha 50  achieved the grand total of just 3mph faster than I did it on a push bike.

Where you lighter then, though?