The new news 24 thread

[w00dy]

Clean pass on the Insignia. Took a bit of faffing to get rid of an engine light, but thankfully not much spend

[High Jetter]

Mrs J's Auris passed today. Not clean, but nothing much on a 14yo car to worry about apart from an advisory on corrosion on a rear mounting.

[Ghosty]

Both my mum's Civics have passed their tests, which almost marks two years with the EK, and a year with the EF.
Silver hatch is going in for test on Thurs, which will round out MOT season for us until the spaceship is due next June, assuming I've not chopped it in for a Rover 220 or a Cavalier by then (I sort of want to).

 

 

[Lankytim]

On 8/22/2023 at 10:21 PM, RoverFolkUs said:

As said above check the rearmost bush on the bottom arm, also get it put on a proper 4 wheel alignment which also checks camber and castor. Once you have those figures as well it will be easier to see what you're up against

Check for vertical play in the steering rack, get someone to rock the steering side to side while you observe the inner track rod, you won't find any play with the car in the air rocking the wheel, you will only find this type of play with the weight of the car on the suspension. I have seen this before and it's been tricky to pick up on

Swap the left and right front tyres (not front and rear) and check for any difference. I've also seen shitty budget tyres (but not exclusively in the case of an underlying suspension fault) that wear the tread in such a certain way that it causes a pull. 

Also just because the arms are relatively new don't assume they're good, aftermarket arms only really have an expected lifespan of a year or two, so if you're doing the steering check I mentioned above then check the arm bushes and also the lower ball joint

Some Renaults are notoriously difficult to find play in a bottom ball joint with the suspension hanging free so also pay attention to this while someone rocks the steering

I’ve just thought of another symptom to consider, it doesn’t pull under braking, only acceleration. Surely a worn bush would have to do both? 

[Tenmil Socket]

Spotted a couple of frooty motors earlier at possibly the worst services I’ve had the pleasure of visiting.

Is that a nitrous cylinder?

[Split_Pin]

I went to see this last night. It was 1 mile from me. I have wanted a Jaguar for some time so I couldn't not go and see it.

2.7 V6 diesel. It was a lovely, honest car and knocked spots off the 75 in the driving experience department. But with just 4 weeks ticket it seemed a bit dear at £1500. The seller was a respectable looking older chap and said it would pass another MOT no bother. I couldn't make sense therefore of why he didn't just submit it for a test and be able to get at least £500 more for it. For a car that he's had for 8 years, it's free money.  I also couldn't see the sills properly as they are covered in plastics and on that basis I walked away. Had it been £600 or so I may have bought it. 

I'd still really like one though as I think they are cracking cars.

[horriblemercedes]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

I went to see this last night. It was less than 5 miles from me. I have wanted a Jaguar for some time so I couldn't not go and see it.

2.7 V6 diesel. It was a lovely, honest car and knocked spots off the 75 in the driving experience department. But with just 4 weeks ticket it seemed a bit dear at £1500. The seller was a respectable looking older chap and said it would pass another MOT no bother. I couldn't make sense therefore of why he didn't just submit it for a test and be able to get at least £500 more for it. For a car that he's had for 8 years, it's free money.  I also couldn't see the sills properly as they are covered in plastics and on that basis I walked away. Had it been £600 or so I may have bought it. 

I'd still really like one though as I think they are cracking cars.

They are great cars but I think the pick of the range is the 3.0 petrol - very reliable engine and not really bad on fuel. I'd have either a 3.0 or an R

 

The sills will be rusty, I guarantee it. They always are. You just can't tell thanks to the shaping of the plastic covers

[Ghosty]

Get in, VTEC front seats tomorrow. I'm now skint.  

[Sigmund Fraud]

8 hours ago, Tenmil Socket said:

Is that a nitrous cylinder?

Looks like an accusump to me.

[stuboy]

7 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

is nice

[RoverFolkUs]

10 hours ago, Lankytim said:

I’ve just thought of another symptom to consider, it doesn’t pull under braking, only acceleration. Surely a worn bush would have to do both? 

Not strictly, it will tend to cause the wheel to definitely toe out under acceleration but sometimes actually toe in under braking. The force of acceleration causes the wheel to have a tendency to go outwards, so a worn bush allows this to happen to an excessive degree and that's what scrubs the inner edge of the tyre, and causes a pull in more extreme cases. 

What type of inner tyre wear is it? Can you post a photo? 

[Lankytim]

26 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Not strictly, it will tend to cause the wheel to definitely toe out under acceleration but sometimes actually toe in under braking. The force of acceleration causes the wheel to have a tendency to go outwards, so a worn bush allows this to happen to an excessive degree and that's what scrubs the inner edge of the tyre, and causes a pull in more extreme cases. 

What type of inner tyre wear is it? Can you post a photo? 

Here’s a couple of pics of the wear, it’s right on the shoulder. I moved the tyre to the back as it looks like it’ll be down to the plies within weeks if I leave it on the front. 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 minute ago, Lankytim said:

Here’s a couple of pics of the wear, it’s right on the shoulder. I moved the tyre to the back as it looks like it’ll be down to the plies within weeks if I leave it on the front. 

That looks like camber wear to me, so something is probably bent or incorrectly located

Definitely get it on a proper 4 wheel alignment, one that measures camber and castor and toe against the rear wheel flags. 

A place with the proper hunter alignment kit shouldn't cost much more than £50/60/70 ish, well worth the money I can tell you

[Lankytim]

1 minute ago, RoverFolkUs said:

That looks like camber wear to me, so something is probably bent or incorrectly located

Definitely get it on a proper 4 wheel alignment, one that measures camber and castor and toe against the rear wheel flags. 

A place with the proper hunter alignment kit shouldn't cost much more than £50/60/70 ish, well worth the money I can tell you

I’ll get googling and see if there’s anybody local! I’ll also have a close look at these lower arms. 

[dome]

7 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I went to see this last night. It was 1 mile from me. I have wanted a Jaguar for some time so I couldn't not go and see it.

2.7 V6 diesel. It was a lovely, honest car and knocked spots off the 75 in the driving experience department. But with just 4 weeks ticket it seemed a bit dear at £1500. The seller was a respectable looking older chap and said it would pass another MOT no bother. I couldn't make sense therefore of why he didn't just submit it for a test and be able to get at least £500 more for it. For a car that he's had for 8 years, it's free money.  I also couldn't see the sills properly as they are covered in plastics and on that basis I walked away. Had it been £600 or so I may have bought it. 

I'd still really like one though as I think they are cracking cars.

I definitely think you've dodged a bullet there, they can rot like fuck. 

I'd not rule out an XJ, they are fucking amazing cars. Find a non rusty one and enjoy the waft

[brownnova]

11 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I went to see this last night. It was 1 mile from me. I have wanted a Jaguar for some time so I couldn't not go and see it.

2.7 V6 diesel. It was a lovely, honest car and knocked spots off the 75 in the driving experience department. But with just 4 weeks ticket it seemed a bit dear at £1500. The seller was a respectable looking older chap and said it would pass another MOT no bother. I couldn't make sense therefore of why he didn't just submit it for a test and be able to get at least £500 more for it. For a car that he's had for 8 years, it's free money.  I also couldn't see the sills properly as they are covered in plastics and on that basis I walked away. Had it been £600 or so I may have bought it. 

I'd still really like one though as I think they are cracking cars.

I am, and continue to be very tempted by an S-Type. I was at the motor show when it and the 75 were launched, and so they’re very much on the list of cars I want to own. 
 

On a similar vein, I went to look at this this week… it was local and cheap. 

Sadly, it was badly hunting at idle, kangarooing at low revs and the sills had certainly seen better days. It had clearly been quite neglected so much as i really want an XM… I walked away from this one! 

 

[ruffgeezer]

4 hours ago, brownnova said:

I am, and continue to be very tempted by an S-Type. I was at the motor show when it and the 75 were launched, and so they’re very much on the list of cars I want to own. 
 

On a similar vein, I went to look at this this week… it was local and cheap. 

Sadly, it was badly hunting at idle, kangarooing at low revs and the sills had certainly seen better days. It had clearly been quite neglected so much as i really want an XM… I walked away from this one! 

 

Blimey, Mr Peck's Xm still lives.  He'd had a lot of money extracted from him year ago for all the high quality* welding.  We looked after the oily bits that his normal garage didn't want to touch.  I bought his Xantia estate from him when he first got this.

The Xantia was leaking coolant from the heater matrix hose, but that was soon sorted,  I shouldn't have traded it off to that fat twat in Norfolk for the Exclusive Estate that followed, that was total shit.

[brownnova]

 

1 hour ago, ruffgeezer said:

Blimey, Mr Peck's Xm still lives.  He'd had a lot of money extracted from him year ago for all the high quality* welding.  We looked after the oily bits that his normal garage didn't want to touch.  I bought his Xantia estate from him when he first got this.

The Xantia was leaking coolant from the heater matrix hose, but that was soon sorted,  I shouldn't have traded it off to that fat twat in Norfolk for the Exclusive Estate that followed, that was total shit.

Ah, you know the car! Fella selling it had only had it a few months. Did not seem like a great example of the breed, my instinct was walk away in the first 2 minutes. 😂😂

[eifion]

9 minutes ago, brownnova said:

 

Ah, you know the car! Fella selling it had only had it a few months. Did not seem like a great example of the breed, my instinct was walk away in the first 2 minutes. 😂😂

Is the that 2.5 diesel that's near Wrexham somewhere? If so it's a shame it didn't work out, it's probably the best engine the XM had. I loved mine.

[ruffgeezer]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

 

Ah, you know the car! Fella selling it had only had it a few months. Did not seem like a great example of the breed, my instinct was walk away in the first 2 minutes. 😂😂

Yes, he went all Europe in it as I recall.   He used to live on a nice street just outside the park in Boston. 

It has featured on these hallowed pages before...

[Schaefft]

The fact it's white and has these trims should be reason enough to get it!

[brownnova]

Oh that’s interesting… for me the sills put me off. If it had just been rough running I’d probably have gone for it… but then I wouldn’t have had the cash to make the ill advised purchase which I agreed yesterday…. 😂

[RetroShite]

This week's revolving door of shite!

The Rover P6 is up for a Rofl on Sunday night.

The Polo Van scraped through its mot on Friday.

And I bought another couple of cars, a mk3 Escort Ghia and mk2 Astra Expression.

[GingerNuttz]

On 8/25/2023 at 2:11 PM, Split_Pin said:

I went to see this last night. It was 1 mile from me. I have wanted a Jaguar for some time so I couldn't not go and see it.

2.7 V6 diesel. It was a lovely, honest car and knocked spots off the 75 in the driving experience department. But with just 4 weeks ticket it seemed a bit dear at £1500. The seller was a respectable looking older chap and said it would pass another MOT no bother. I couldn't make sense therefore of why he didn't just submit it for a test and be able to get at least £500 more for it. For a car that he's had for 8 years, it's free money.  I also couldn't see the sills properly as they are covered in plastics and on that basis I walked away. Had it been £600 or so I may have bought it. 

I'd still really like one though as I think they are cracking cars.

I've done countless pairs of sills on these and the Mondeo chassis one, total rot boxes.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Spooky - I have a revolving 'wants' list and that XM is on it - however I (i.e. my wife) has a set limit to how many cars we possess at any one time 

[RetroShite]

I bought something else this week but it's yet to arrive.

[Bear]

22 hours ago, brownnova said:

I am, and continue to be very tempted by an S-Type. I was at the motor show when it and the 75 were launched, and so they’re very much on the list of cars I want to own. 
 

On a similar vein, I went to look at this this week… it was local and cheap. 

Sadly, it was badly hunting at idle, kangarooing at low revs and the sills had certainly seen better days. It had clearly been quite neglected so much as i really want an XM… I walked away from this one! 

 

TBF I think the things that pass as sills on that would be better deployed as floorboards and plastering.

[grogee]

12 hours ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

 I (i.e. my wife) has a set limit to how many cars we possess at any one time 

Same. Does this mean we can set the limit on how many wives we possess at any one time? 

[HMC]

Look Around You is now on I player

[Ghosty]

Thanks, HMC.

ThMC.