The new news 24 thread

[wuvvum]

So today this happened.

Then, literally 400 yards later, this happened.

At least it had the courtesy to wait until after the test!  That join was always a bit marginal as the front pipe was only just long enough, and in the intervening years since I fitted the new rear section the end of the front pipe has rusted away so the join collapsed.  The rest of the pipe is sound so I'm going to order an extender and join it all back up, so should be back on the road in reasonably short order, but it's a bit* noisy at the moment.

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

So today this happened.

Then, literally 400 yards later, this happened.

At least it had the courtesy to wait until after the test!  That join was always a bit marginal as the front pipe was only just long enough, and in the intervening years since I fitted the new rear section the end of the front pipe has rusted away so the join collapsed.  The rest of the pipe is sound so I'm going to order an extender and join it all back up, so should be back on the road in reasonably short order, but it's a bit* noisy at the moment.

Amazed there was no sign of it leaking for the mot  - there doesn’t look like any black soot either.

[High Jetter]

Spent a very interesting time after work today meeting up with @Rust Collector over a pint and admiring the XM, shiny after the attention to paintwork. Don't believe him when he says he can't weld, the NSR sill end is a top job close up.

Absolutely top bloke, 110% would sup with again. But what's that photobombing?

This old survivor turned up to join our mini AS meet, not sure where the occupant(s) went though.

[wuvvum]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Amazed there was no sign of it leaking for the mot  - there doesn’t look like any black soot either.

It was quiet as a mouse until it wasn't...

[richardmorris]

6 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

It was quiet as a mouse until it wasn't...

Same as my x1/9, no problems at all until it fell off. The 2cv would get noisy when it was blowing.

[wesacosa]

On 02/07/2024 at 13:10, Rust Collector said:

After all of the struggles with this thing as of late, it was quite pleasant to finally be able to use it for my commute to work!

The ride is currently a bit harsh though, so my future looks like it will involve some time and money spent changing spheres.

fine looking machine

if the spheres are totally dead its pretty obvious there will be no suspension travel at all and high resistance when you push on the corners. They can be a bit harsh and fidgety on certain types of road input such as pot holes and other short sharp impacts.  If the corner spheres are ok could be the central sphere or the controller sticking in hard mode (search XM suspension diodes on one of the forums if you haven't already)

flat spheres 

new spheres 

 

 

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Spent a very interesting time after work today meeting up with @Rust Collector over a pint and admiring the XM, shiny after the attention to paintwork. Don't believe him when he says he can't weld, the NSR sill end is a top job close up.

Absolutely top bloke, 110% would sup with again. But what's that photobombing?

This old survivor turned up to join our mini AS meet, not sure where the occupant(s) went though.

It was a pleasure to meet you @High Jetter, and I greatly appreciated the celebratory pint! It was nice to take it easy and chat about shite cars for a change, rather than work on the bastard things 🤣

[Rust Collector]

21 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

fine looking machine

if the spheres are totally dead its pretty obvious there will be no suspension travel at all and high resistance when you push on the corners. They can be a bit harsh and fidgety on certain types of road input such as pot holes and other short sharp impacts.  If the corner spheres are ok could be the central sphere or the controller sticking in hard mode (search XM suspension diodes on one of the forums if you haven't already)

flat spheres 

new spheres 

 

 

Thanks mate, my suspension travel is identical to yours in the first vid 😢 I’ll have to have a look at what I can afford to do in the short term, but I will investigate the knackered diode first just in case.

[artdjones]

Autodoc order arrived on Friday. ⅔ of the expenditure is due to one double pothole strike about 3 months ago which also wiped out an expensive tyre and a drop link.  The recent test showed up some play in a ball joint and although the shocks passed there was a lot more imbalance between them than I want, which is annoying, as they were new genuine Renault items fitted last June.

The damage was on the way back from buying my wife a second hand sewing machine. With all the expenditure that caused on the car we might as well have bought a top of the range new one.  The wishbone went on on Sunday and the discs and pads today.

Saturday for the front shocks, and also fitting a fusebox to my brother-in-law's Citroen C8, the part arrived in the post today.

[wesacosa]

27 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Thanks mate, my suspension travel is identical to yours in the first vid 😢 I’ll have to have a look at what I can afford to do in the short term, but I will investigate the knackered diode first just in case.

Remember it does switch mode when door or boot is open (can never remember if it switches to hard or soft, you can hear the valves buzzing when doors are open) but maybe try bounce test with door open and then with door closed (waiting for buzzing to stop) and see if that makes a difference 

also the front will be quite stiff even with decent spheres so its more about the travel than the force/resistance on the front, but the back should be light and floaty 

[Rust Collector]

1 hour ago, wesacosa said:

Remember it does switch mode when door or boot is open (can never remember if it switches to hard or soft, you can hear the valves buzzing when doors are open) but maybe try bounce test with door open and then with door closed (waiting for buzzing to stop) and see if that makes a difference 

also the front will be quite stiff even with decent spheres so its more about the travel than the force/resistance on the front, but the back should be light and floaty 

That’s interesting - my car hums away at all times. I’ve noticed it when I’ve been on the floor beside it doing other work. The humming at the back axle is particularly loud.

[wesacosa]

23 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

That’s interesting - my car hums away at all times. I’ve noticed it when I’ve been on the floor beside it doing other work. The humming at the back axle is particularly loud.

its a while since I did the suspension on mine but I am pretty sure they buzz if boot, bonnet or doors are open but should stop a short time after they are closed but I'd say have a read up on club XM as there will be confirmation or a much better description on there 

[Rust Collector]

3 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

its a while since I did the suspension on mine but I am pretty sure they buzz if boot, bonnet or doors are open but should stop a short time after they are closed but I'd say have a read up on club XM as there will be confirmation or a much better description on there 

I’m having a dim recollection now of using a power probe to actuate the individual solenoids months ago, and that made the suspension go soft. I think I need to sort my hydractive system out before chucking money at spheres.

[wesacosa]

2 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I’m having a dim recollection now of using a power probe to actuate the individual solenoids months ago, and that made the suspension go soft. I think I need to sort my hydractive system out before chucking money at spheres.

 

[wesacosa]

also does the suspension light come on with the ignition? I believe if it doesn't come on with the ignition it means the ECU has a stored fault which you should be able to read with a blink code reader on the correct pin on the plug 

[Rust Collector]

3 minutes ago, wesacosa said:

also does the suspension light come on with the ignition? I believe if it doesn't come on with the ignition it means the ECU has a stored fault which you should be able to read with a blink code reader on the correct pin on the plug 

No, but again I have a dim memory that I couldn’t flash codes from the system either, worryingly. I’ll try again at the weekend.

[lesapandre]

Granada   Grenadier being advertised on railway billboard London.

[Joey spud]

The abs light came on on my Granvia a few weeks back and looking on line it's possible to bridge a couple of terminals in a plug under the bonnet and read the blinks of the abs light to decide what was wrong. 

Decoding the blinks and flashes revealed my offside front sensor was dead. I tried to carefully remove it but it was corroded into the hub and I totally killed it beating it out with a hammer and punch.

I have been looking everywhere online for a replacement and anything that was listed for a '96 Granvia was nothing  like my one.

Then while looking on Rockauto for Subaru bits I also had a look at various U.S spec Toyota's and found a sensor for a '98 Tacoma that looked really similar so took a punt on it being usable.

Ordered late Saturday and delivered to me Wednesday afternoon for £42 all in.

Unfortunately the little pointed wedge didn't line up with the reluctor ring the same as the old one (90 degrees out) but I fitted it anyway. With the ignition on the abs light went out ok and when driven it stays out so maybe it's not that critical which way it points.

Happy days because its got a MOT due next month and I was starting to sweat on the abs fault.

[Split_Pin]

On 02/07/2024 at 13:10, Rust Collector said:

After all of the struggles with this thing as of late, it was quite pleasant to finally be able to use it for my commute to work!

The ride is currently a bit harsh though, so my future looks like it will involve some time and money spent changing spheres.

What a car. Just shows you that executive presence doesn't mean it's got to be German.

Well done on the MOT.

[Joey spud]

Although the Subaru is still not on the road there is a farm track next to my house that I run it up and down every now and then just to keep it free but last time out it was running really poorly and bogging down and stalling.

I know it's the Hitachi carb messing about and the thinking is to replace it with a Weber carburettor conversion kit but when I priced one up recently (before they become unavailable) I was dismayed to see they are £478 plus the vat.

So being a meanie I once again had a dig around Rockauto's warehouse and bought their last cheap carb repair kit for £34 delivered.

Got to worth a try first I reckon.

[Ghosty]

Been in A&E all day.

Had absolutely awful headaches as soon as I wake up for about two weeks, painkillers do nothing but they pass after about an hour.
Yesterday one didn't shift for 3 hours, and for a bit it affected my speech, called 111.

They said A&E or they'll send a paramedic, I opted for the latter but the ambulance service declined and said take paracetamol and see the GP.

Went to see paramedic at the GPs. Straight to A&E, had a CT scan and all ok, been sent home. They reckon it's bastard migraines but they can't rule out that I've had a minor TIA. A mini stroke. Been referred to the stroke unit.

Can't drive til all clear. Everything is on hold. I'm devastated. I have nothing left in my life. Hoping to sort it asap. A month without the cars would destroy me.

[Wibble]

33 minutes ago, Ghosty said:

Been in A&E all day.

Had absolutely awful headaches as soon as I wake up for about two weeks, painkillers do nothing but they pass after about an hour.
Yesterday one didn't shift for 3 hours, and for a bit it affected my speech, called 111.

They said A&E or they'll send a paramedic, I opted for the latter but the ambulance service declined and said take paracetamol and see the GP.

Went to see paramedic at the GPs. Straight to A&E, had a CT scan and all ok, been sent home. They reckon it's bastard migraines but they can't rule out that I've had a minor TIA. A mini stroke. Been referred to the stroke unit.

Can't drive til all clear. Everything is on hold. I'm devastated. I have nothing left in my life. Hoping to sort it asap. A month without the cars would destroy me.

Crikey that’s scary but  hopefully it was just a migraine and you’ll be back on the road soon. Try and stay positive, I very well know that’s not always easy!

[wuvvum]

Wasted a couple of hours today taking the Merc in to ATS for an aircon regas - they reckoned it's got a slow leak and they can't do it.  Which surprised me as when I poked the Schrader valve the other day there was still pressure in there - the chap reckoned it's the compressor pumping air round the system but the compressor doesn't kick in so it can't be that.  Anyway it's a small leak so probably a dodgy O ring or something but with how cramped the engine bay is I don't fancy my chances of fixing it even if it can be found.  Oh, and on the way home the alternator light came on several times, so I'm really going to have to sort the aux belt and alternator pulley before I do any more long runs in it. 

It's rather frustrating - I knew it needed a couple of bits doing when I bought it, but I wasn't expecting it to be a full-on project.  At least it has choonz again now - I found a used non-satnav stereo on eBay for 20 quid and it plugged straight in and works fine.  Ideally I'd have liked to keep the original setup but secondhand Comand head units seem to be daft money for some reason.

The Renault 6 had a bit more welding done on it this afternoon - the passenger side front floorpan is now devoid of holes, which is an improvement.  There's still a few more bits to do but that was the biggest area of concern.  I did manage to briefly boil it up though when I lost track of time and left it idling for too long without the radiator fan running - it cooled down as soon as I started driving but when I got home the radiator top hose had collapsed - it regained its shape once I took the lid off the expansion bottle so hopefully no damage done but will need to have a proper look tomorrow.

Still, at least we can look forward to waving goodbye to Sunak & co in the morning, and we can then enjoy five years of being governed by the other cheek of the same arse.

[SiC]

JLR quality on show with the former PMs police escort vehicle 🤣 

Nice "__nge Rover" mate. 

[artdjones]

4 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

I think this is running on two stroke, huge blue clouds!

Its 4 stroke with an undisclosed fault🙄

[artdjones]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

blurb says long term museum storage - they've probably put something in the tank to  clean the system out. Can smell it indoors here !

Cheap though - less than £6k.

1959 Borgward Isabella Coupé | Cliveden House | RM Sotheby's (rmsothebys.com)

 

A nice looking car in a very Germanic way.

[richardmorris]

1 hour ago, artdjones said:

A nice looking car in a very Germanic way.

It is definitely taking the American design approach rather than a more delicate European/ Italian pen.

[grogee]

I was supposed to be servicing my Dad's 15-plate Focus today along with front brakes and lower arms but it's absolutely pissing it down here in Southam so we've postponed. 

Instead I went to Tesco which is always frustrating, all the pensioners come out on Saturday morning and make it unnecessarily busy. And they decide to stack their shelves during the busiest period. And it's ridiculously expensive. 

Did a tank-to-tank calc on the Avensis and it averaged 56.6mpg after a fair bit of motorway cruising, which included the hot spell when the AC was on. Pleased with that. It's been a brilliant An Car so far. 

I'm going to try and catch up on some F1 because I'm two races behind. The only good thing about this rain is the possibility of a wet Silverstone tomorrow. Fingers crossed! 

[doug]

Off on a wee collection mission.

[SiC]

1 hour ago, doug said:

Off on a wee collection mission.

Maybe I'm stereotyping, but you don't look like how I would have thought a Doug would look like. 

Going to Langport?