The new news 24 thread

[Popsicle]

The couriering Caddy hasn't been out much lately, I did 300 miles in it on Friday, but that has been it over the past few weeks. Unsurprisingly the brakes felt a bit rough for the first few miles after being sat for so long, there is also a very faint brake judder when slowing from NSL speeds. Time for a quick shufty. 

The front brakes were last changed at 138k miles, its now on 396k miles, so these front pads and discs have lasted an incredible 258k miles.

A small lip on the discs, a couple of mm left on the pads. I genuinely can't believe how long they have lasted.

The front shocks were an advisory on the last MOT, I also reckon the top mounts are groaning a bit, the front shocks were last changed at 140k miles, the top mounts at 213k miles, sigh, nothing's built to last these days 😂, time to start gathering parts to keep it earning its keep.

 

[artdjones]

3 hours ago, Popsicle said:

Thanks for the tip - I've been out and had another shufty, still not found it. There is a pouch in the bag for the wheel brace and jack, nothing in it though.

I did find another compartment I'd missed, more strange bounty received.....

I'm really trying hard not to be judgemental, but a salt pot in the boot lining, seriously!

I bought an 85 B2 Passat estate back in the mid 90s as a project. I brought it home, but thought it was a bit smelly. After a bit of tracking down, it was coming from a compartment in the LH boot lining. I opened the door to find a very used disposable nappy floating on top of a couple of gallons of water, as the compartment drain was blocked.

It was strange, the family that owned it was ruled over by a fanatically clean termagant. I have noticed, however, that women often have different standards of cleanliness between their houses and their cars.

[Popsicle]

9 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I bought an 85 B2 Passat estate back in the mid 90s as a project. I brought it home, but thought it was a bit smelly. After a bit of tracking down, it was coming from a compartment in the LH boot lining. I opened the door to find a very used disposable nappy floating on top of a couple of gallons of water, as the compartment drain was blocked.

It was strange, the family that owned it was ruled over by a fanatically clean termagant. I have noticed, however, that women often have different standards of cleanliness between their houses and their cars.

Urgh sounds a grim find. The mate who I got the Passat from, his Mrs was the main driver - what you've said sums her up perfectly. I found a load of used cotton buds in the centre console while cleaning it out, amongst various other bits of rubbish stuffed in every orifice.

[Split_Pin]

Got the Saab starter out. Unless you're like me with small hands and thin arms there's no chance you'll reach it! 50% of the job was still done blind as the single arm I could get up the back of the engine was then blocking my view.

New one looks bigger but all the connections and mounts seem to line up. We'll see!

[Popsicle]

Decisions, decisions.

Brands I like and trust, £290.
Stuff I've not used before, £179.
Both from GSF.
ECP coming in at £380 for quality brands, Carparts4less, £389.
Parts in Motion seem similar to GSF, but I find their website a bit awkward to decipher whats what and my Caddy has wider shocks, 55m instead of 50mm, due to heavy duty set up and there are 3 different disc sizes, 280, 288 and 312mm.

I could get cheap shite from Ebay, but I've been down that road before, its just not worth it for the miles I do.

Due to not wanting to do the jobs twice, I'll probably go with the Brembo/Monroe stuff. Unless you folk reckon Drivetec, Friction1 and Amtex are any good?

For context, if I just left it to the garage I use they always fit the 'gold' rated stuff from GSF.

[Dyslexic Viking]

5 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

Brands I like and trust, £290.
Stuff I've not used before, £179.
Both from GSF.
ECP coming in at £380 for quality brands, Carparts4less, £389.
Parts in Motion seem similar to GSF, but I find their website a bit awkward to decipher whats what and my Caddy has wider shocks, 55m instead of 50mm, due to heavy duty set up and there are 3 different disc sizes, 280, 288 and 312mm.

I could get cheap shite from Ebay, but I've been down that road before, its just not worth it for the miles I do.

Due to not wanting to do the jobs twice, I'll probably go with the Brembo/Monroe stuff. Unless you folk reckon Drivetec, Friction1 and Amtex are any good?

For context, if I just left it to the garage I use they always fit the 'gold' rated stuff from GSF.

I am of the opinion that on cars that you plan to have for a while, it is worth buying good parts. And when you are using it to make a living, it is certainly worth it.

Buying cheap is like pissing in your pants to stay warm. It's good then, but it passes.

[Popsicle]

2 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

I am of the opinion that on cars that you plan to have for a while, it is worth buying good parts. And when you are using it to make a living, it is certainly worth it.

Buying cheap is like pissing in your pants to stay warm. It's good then, but it passes.

Cheers - I'd do a laugh emoji as well as thanks if I could mate!

[Sunny Jim]

Found a couple of bumble bees trapped in the porch at work today.

Put a saucer of sugar water down and left the outside door open for them.

Look after your pollinators and they'll look after you.

[Marina door handles]

Apparently the towbar on my Rover is a bit of a "hazard to shipping" according to Mrs MDH as she has clouted her leg on it more than twice. The car now has a cone of shame.....

 

[Rust Collector]

I spent the grand sum of £5 this evening, and in return the XM’s boot was graced with these:

My mrs asked me why I need two more mowers, as if over the course of 8 years she hasn’t yet noticed that I’m probably not normal.

The truth is that they were a bundle, but I specifically wanted the older one. When I saw the listing, it reminded me of the one that my mate had - it was a bit shit, but he liked and we got it running together one evening. This one’s a bit shit too, and if I get a spare evening then I’ll hopefully get it running and spare a thought to the times we spent together at his workshop.

[clayts450]

6 hours ago, Popsicle said:

The couriering Caddy hasn't been out much lately, I did 300 miles in it on Friday, but that has been it over the past few weeks. Unsurprisingly the brakes felt a bit rough for the first few miles after being sat for so long, there is also a very faint brake judder when slowing from NSL speeds. Time for a quick shufty. 

The front brakes were last changed at 138k miles, its now on 396k miles, so these front pads and discs have lasted an incredible 258k miles.

A small lip on the discs, a couple of mm left on the pads. I genuinely can't believe how long they have lasted.

The front shocks were an advisory on the last MOT, I also reckon the top mounts are groaning a bit, the front shocks were last changed at 140k miles, the top mounts at 213k miles, sigh, nothing's built to last these days 😂, time to start gathering parts to keep it earning its keep.

 

Proper courier, mate - we don't touch the brakes unless absolutely necessary.

Mine were the same on my old Combo (104K to 287K).

I've changed them on the Doblo too as they were heavily lipped when I got it - they will last until the day I scrap it. Which may be very soon, going on recent events. Piece of shit.

[High Jetter]

6 hours ago, Popsicle said:

The couriering Caddy hasn't been out much lately, I did 300 miles in it on Friday, but that has been it over the past few weeks. Unsurprisingly the brakes felt a bit rough for the first few miles after being sat for so long, there is also a very faint brake judder when slowing from NSL speeds. Time for a quick shufty. 

The front brakes were last changed at 138k miles, its now on 396k miles, so these front pads and discs have lasted an incredible 258k miles.

A small lip on the discs, a couple of mm left on the pads. I genuinely can't believe how long they have lasted.

The front shocks were an advisory on the last MOT, I also reckon the top mounts are groaning a bit, the front shocks were last changed at 140k miles, the top mounts at 213k miles, sigh, nothing's built to last these days 😂, time to start gathering parts to keep it earning its keep.

 

Gentle right foot, well done. I was shocked how quick pads wore out on my van - I only do 200 odd miles a week - so we'll see how NOS Piaggio stuff does, when I get the HGF sorted

[junkyarddog]

Today I was mostly welding.....

Toyota Hilux.

My mates Hilux failed it's test on corrosion on the nearside rear arch.

Unusual,as the vin plate says it's a South African truck!

The rot(minor)in question. 

Chopped out,there is silt/sand lodged between the outer skin,and a strengthening bracket.

Had to go a bit bigger.

Cleaned up ok.

Patch welded in.

Ground back.

Filled.

Primed.

Painted.

Turned out ok for an aerosol job.

Mate was happy.😊

 

[High Jetter]

12 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

I spent the grand sum of £5 this evening, and in return the XM’s boot was graced with these:

My mrs asked me why I need two more mowers, as if over the course of 8 years she hasn’t yet noticed that I’m probably not normal.

The truth is that they were a bundle, but I specifically wanted the older one. When I saw the listing, it reminded me of the one that my mate had - it was a bit shit, but he liked and we got it running together one evening. This one’s a bit shit too, and if I get a spare evening then I’ll hopefully get it running and spare a thought to the times we spent together at his workshop.

Earn a bit of cash in the evenings with them, M9 😀

[Popsicle]

11 minutes ago, clayts450 said:

Proper courier, mate - we don't touch the brakes unless absolutely necessary.

Mine were the same on my old Combo (104K to 287K).

I've changed them on the Doblo too as they were heavily lipped when I got it - they will last until the day I scrap it. Which may be very soon, going on recent events. Piece of shit.

Cheers mate, as you know its the 95% motorway, dual carriageway running and taking it easy.

I thought you were getting there with Doblo?

[Popsicle]

9 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Gentle right foot, well done. I was shocked how quick pads wore out on my van - I only do 200 odd miles a week - so we'll see how NOS Piaggio stuff does, when I get the HGF sorted

Cheers mate - like @clayts450 I thought you'd got your van sorted too?

[clayts450]

20 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

Cheers mate, as you know its the 95% motorway, dual carriageway running and taking it easy.

I thought you were getting there with Doblo?

So did I.

It's had (a) replacement turbo (b) replacement high pressure fuel pump (c) another replacement turbo (under warranty - first one failed, reasons unknown) (d) DPF cleaned (bought it with a DPF issue - self cleaned with some magic chemicals).

Now I have an oil leak, which looks like it's coming from around the low pressure EGR cooler (Euro 6 vans are a pain, the twin EGR set up was an interim measure by Fiat before they caved in and added AdBlue) - so possibly turbo feed/return pipe or something else entirely.  This isn't a water cooled EGR cooler either - as it's low pressure exhaust they use a mechanical filter, which has probably got sooted up pretty bad due to the DPF being constantly blocked. 

Not worked for 13 weeks now....

[Popsicle]

10 minutes ago, clayts450 said:

So did I.

It's had (a) replacement turbo (b) replacement high pressure fuel pump (c) another replacement turbo (under warranty - first one failed, reasons unknown) (d) DPF cleaned (bought it with a DPF issue - self cleaned with some magic chemicals).

Now I have an oil leak, which looks like it's coming from around the low pressure EGR cooler (Euro 6 vans are a pain, the twin EGR set up was an interim measure by Fiat before they caved in and added AdBlue) - so possibly turbo feed/return pipe or something else entirely.  This isn't a water cooled EGR cooler either - as it's low pressure exhaust they use a mechanical filter, which has probably got sooted up pretty bad due to the DPF being constantly blocked. 

Not worked for 13 weeks now....

Oh fook, sounds like a right muddle of shit going on there - I know its frowned upon, but is there a delete it all option?

This is no exaggeration, but every courier I know thats run euro 6 vans has had emissions kit problems, from Berlingos to Sprinters.

I know I'll have to take the plunge one day for myself, I'm just putting it off for as long as possible.

Best of luck with the ungrateful bugger mate, after 13 weeks off you're due a change fortune.

[comfortablynumb]

9 hours ago, Rust Collector said:

I spent the grand sum of £5 this evening, and in return the XM’s boot was graced with these:

My mrs asked me why I need two more mowers, as if over the course of 8 years she hasn’t yet noticed that I’m probably not normal.

The truth is that they were a bundle, but I specifically wanted the older one. When I saw the listing, it reminded me of the one that my mate had - it was a bit shit, but he liked and we got it running together one evening. This one’s a bit shit too, and if I get a spare evening then I’ll hopefully get it running and spare a thought to the times we spent together at his workshop.

Why would you buy one, when you can get two? 😁

A premise I've come to live by, probably assisted by my collection of land rovers...

[High Jetter]

9 hours ago, Popsicle said:

Cheers mate - like @clayts450 I thought you'd got your van sorted too?

No, not got back to it. Was so busy running up to Xmas then my op on Jan 2nd. Should be able to have a go now on warmer days though.

[Split_Pin]

New starter is too big for the 9-5, it's fucking massive, in fact most of the back of the engine would have to be binned to make it fit. Ebay, fucking arseholes.

What's worse, I cannot find a replacement ANYWHERE. Fucking pissed right now.

Here's the original, if anyone can help:

 

[JMotor]

18 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

New starter is too big for the 9-5, it's fucking massive in fact  most of the back of the engine wouldnhave to be binned to make it fit. Ebay fucking arseholes.

What's worse, I cannot find a replacement ANYWHERE. Fucking pissed right now.

Here's the original, if anyone can help:

 

Any use for a cross ref?

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/bosch/1157088

Seems to match the Mitsubishi M000T86781 P/No. I'd check the details with the one you have (if it's already off).

Maybe can get another from place. Or if you're really stuck, (no promises) I might see if there is one from the Vauxhall list sat about me.

[Split_Pin]

2 minutes ago, JMotor said:

Any use for a cross ref?

https://www.autodoc.co.uk/bosch/1157088

Seems to match the Mitsubishi M000T86781 P/No. I'd check the details with the one you have (if it's already off).

Maybe can get another from place. Or if you're really stuck, (no promises) I might see if there is one from the Vauxhall list sat about me.

Thanks John, as you say I had to end up doing some weird search using the Mitsubishi part number. I managed to find one for about £15 more, comes Thursday.

What a faff!

[JMotor]

Sadly it is.

Glad you got another sorted one quickly.

[EyesWeldedShut]

19 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Got the Saab starter out. Unless you're like me with small hands and thin arms there's no chance you'll reach it! 50% of the job was still done blind as the single arm I could get up the back of the engine was then blocking my view.

New one looks bigger but all the connections and mounts seem to line up. We'll see!

"These cows Dougal ....."?
No, wait, the one further back is bigger? Damn. Ahhh - photo is obvs. back to front, no fooling me

[Split_Pin]

Refund is being processed.

My washing machine tensioner arrived today. Fixing something in the warmth of the house is much more preferable! (The part does fit this time!)

[LightBulbFun]

On 10/03/2025 at 00:09, Steve79 said:

@LightBulbFun , saw this earlier on insta

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGd-WHsiTOT/?igsh=bW1mNWx5YnNlbGsw

thanks for the heads up  I had already seen it as someone else on here let me know about it in my thread but I do very much appricate the heads up none the less incase I had not, especially as I dont have instagram so I cant check it for this sort of thing

she does indeed get noticed and photographed quite a bit and I had been wondering how long it would be before I started showing up about the place, but its all part of the fun of driving her, I think its great how she brings many smiles to many people I wonder how long before I end up with a "reputation" tho as "that Invacar running around London" like how @Zelandeth when he uses his regular is referred to in comments as as "Oh theres a bloke here in Milton Keynes who runs about in one of those!" (same for the chap with MPH759P in Sheffield also)  

[clayts450]

15 hours ago, Popsicle said:

Oh fook, sounds like a right muddle of shit going on there - I know its frowned upon, but is there a delete it all option?

This is no exaggeration, but every courier I know thats run euro 6 vans has had emissions kit problems, from Berlingos to Sprinters.

I know I'll have to take the plunge one day for myself, I'm just putting it off for as long as possible.

Best of luck with the ungrateful bugger mate, after 13 weeks off you're due a change fortune.

The first thought that crossed my mind was DPF/EGR deletion, but then I learned DVSA will fine you £2500 if you get pulled in for one of their onceovers. Not worth the risk IMHO. If, as I suspect, this van is beyond redemption, then I'll definitely go back to a Euro 5 and just pay the CAZ/ULEZ as I go. Have my eye on a nice little 2013 Fiestavan which does OMGMPG of around 87 (1.6 PSA lump). Most of the work I do is small stuff, so a Doblo is probably too big, bizarre as that may seem

[Split_Pin]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

My washing machine tensioner arrived today. Fixing something in the warmth of the house is much more preferable! (The part does fit this time!)

Now running like a champ, feels good to save £300 and to not throw something away for a £13 part.

[Wgl2019]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

New starter is too big for the 9-5, it's fucking massive, in fact most of the back of the engine would have to be binned to make it fit. Ebay, fucking arseholes.

What's worse, I cannot find a replacement ANYWHERE. Fucking pissed right now.

Here's the original, if anyone can help:

 

When I changed the front subframe I tied to replace anything that was suddenly easily accessible..... The starter had always felt a bit lazy so I ordered a Bosh item from eBay.... Exactly what you got and far too big!

I got a refund, sent the part back and it turned up again a few weeks later after being refused by the seller 😂. Currently sat on a shelf in the garage. No idea which model it actually fits.