The new news 24 thread

[vulgalour]

Wasn't it a member of the SVM that accurately described that blue as Nana's Leg Varicose Vein Blue?  As also seen on Volvo 340s.  I haven't seen one of those Fiestas for ages, it's exactly the spec and colour of one I'd have in my imaginary lottery win garage, I think they're an iconic bit of budget motoring.

[andy18s]

Called into work as there's a panic on.......

6am on a Sat? That'll be double time then........no no,I insist........

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[Coprolalia]

In my infinite VAG wisdom I ordered the wrong colour temp sensor, so if yours is the green four terminal one, I have a new one you can have, let me know fella.

 

Bang on, just been looking at this, and mine's the green four pin jobby. Looks like a half hour job too. Best get some pink OAT in.

PM sent.

 

This website IS etc etc

[cms206]

Father in law passed away last night at 11pm aged 56, two weeks before I marry his only daughter. He held on as long as he could but I didn't make it back to Glasgow from Cannock in time. At a total loss now

[eddyramrod]

Condolences, Andy.

[phil_lihp]

A productive morning has been had.  The Rover 214SLi, formerly of JohnK, RobT and an elderly chap who drove it into a few things, has been revived, insured and put back into use following the Prelude's sale.  Time therefore to service it and sort out the mushy, noisy front brakes.

 

Assume the position.

 

 

Say ahh.

 

 

Rough running diagnosed as knackered HT leads, manky spark plugs, corroded rotor arm and distribution cap contacts and filthy oil.  Fortunately the oil filter came off without too much effort and it soon had fresh Castrol GTX swirling around its arteries.  As I didn't have a new dizzy cap or rotor arm to hand, I sanded the corrosion off the contacts and cleaned them both up until I can get new ones ordered.

 

First start: huge improvement.  Sounds a lot healthier, smoother and generally content.

 

Moving on to the brakes, as soon as the driver's side wheel came off it was clear that something was amiss.

 

 

One pad was millimetres away from ruining the brake disc, there's some light scoring on the disc but it's fine for now, there's barely any wear on either of the front ones so they should do the job nicely.  Oddly, the inner pad wasn't half as worn but the sliders and piston were both free and the caliper came apart with no bother.  Here they are with a new one for comparison.

 

 

The near side pads were hardly worn at all and didn't look as ancient so I wonder if it's had one side changed and not the other, all a bit odd.  Never mind, it now has brand new pads all round on the front and braking performance is much improved.  It needs a brake fluid flush as it's a bit mucky so that will be a job for another weekend.

 

I was interrupted halfway through by a bloke and his teenage son coming to see the Volvo.  We went for a test drive, it behaved reasonably well and they've gone away to get some lunch and think about it.  He's a mechanic and obviously knew what he was looking for, they've come down from Bristol so I hope they will buy it but we'll see.

[phil_lihp]

Ah, they've decided they don't want it.  Never mind, on to the next one!

[M'coli]

Condolences, CMS206 - I know how it feels. My father passed away a month before my own wedding.

[stuboy]

Managed to source a 2nd hand icv for gfs nissan tweeno... usually mega dear or new only... so swapped it over and see if better during the week

[twosmoke300]

I had no end of trouble with an I cv on a tino . Came in non start - ign fuse blown . Traced to the icv shorted . Used one fitted but idle high - soldered on new connector cos it looked a little melted . Still the same !

Turned out the old icv has burnt out the switched earth part of the ecu that drives the icv .

[Cheggers]

Virtual man-hugs from me too CMS. It'll be hard, but don't let it overshadow the wedding.

[Angrydicky]

I've also been doing brake pads today! I noticed the first time I took the front wheels off that the pads on the Victor were low, so I bought a set of NOS Lockheed pads from eBay. Which I promptly lost. Having found them recently, and having a spare day today, I decided to tackle them.

 

 

Now, it may come as a shock but I've never changed a set of brake pads before! I've done most jobs on cars but I haven't owned many cars with disc brakes and it's not a job I've ever needed to do before. Strangely like Phil's Rover, I found one side far more worn than the other. The caliper pistons were a bastard to retract far enough to slot the new pads in, but I got there in the end. Here's an old pad and a new one for comparison.

 

 

My dad helped me with them, and spotted that the fan belt was loose. Investigations revealed the alternator was only held on with one of the top bolts; the other one had sheared off and I found the remains on top of the steering rack. The bottom bracket was not attached to the engine as when we changed the alternator last year we found the bolt was missing and it's an awkward thing to get to, hidden behind the plastic cambelt guard. Anyway, I decided to do the job properly so have secured the alternator with new bolts and nyloc nuts to stop the thing coming loose again, and I cut down an M8 bolt to the right size to fit the bottom bracket to the engine. I then tensioned the fanbelt with the time-honoured method of levering the alternator out with the trolley jack handle, before tightening everything up.

 

I then washed it and topped up the fluids ready for the London Shiters' meet tomorrow

[Skizzer]

Father in law passed away last night at 11pm aged 56, two weeks before I marry his only daughter. He held on as long as he could but I didn't make it back to Glasgow from Cannock in time. At a total loss now

 

Aw, man.  Sorry.

[trigger]

Sorry to read that Andy, my thoughts are with you all.

[bub2006]

Condolences on your loss andy

[Bobthebeard]

More expense.... Thought I could get away without the special tool to replace the spring on the Oldsmobile. No such luck. Spring compressor tool needed. Another £200... Gah!

Bought one.

[fordperv]

Cms sorry to hear that, best wishes to you all

[cms206]

Thanks chaps.

 

He was up and about fine yesterday morning, was in A&E by 3pm, they gave him 24 hours to live and he was gone by 11pm. We've temporarily moved back into SWMBO's mums house to help sort shit out. Horrible atmosphere.

[Craig the Princess]

How awful, condolences to you are the family cms

[phil_lihp]

Condolences CMS, that's terrible.

[Coprolalia]

Thanks chaps.

 

He was up and about fine yesterday morning, was in A&E by 3pm, they gave him 24 hours to live and he was gone by 11pm. We've temporarily moved back into SWMBO's mums house to help sort shit out. Horrible atmosphere.

Our condolences CMS.

 

Was it unexpected? It's never a pleasant thing. Keep strong.

[cms206]

Our condolences CMS.

 

Was it unexpected? It's never a pleasant thing. Keep strong.

Not entirely unexpected; he had been undergoing chemo last year but his last scan showed that his cancer was in remission in the last quarter of last year. He was back in for a 3-month follow up on Monday and he lit up like a Christmas tree in the scanner. Looks like as soon as the Chemo left his system the cancer just attacked more aggressively than ever.

[dollywobbler]

Brake stuff.

 

Seems unlikely that one side would be replaced. I would suspect some seizing somewhere so it's a bit odd that you say it's all moving freely. Sure the sliders are in good nick? A little bit of pitting was enough to cause a slight bind on the XM, which caused massive wear on one pad compared to the other (thankfully I discovered this while there was still meat on both pads).

[scaryoldcortina]

Agreed - see also collapsed flexihose preventing fluid from returning and keeping the brake stuck on.

 

I've seen plenty of cars with one side worn out and the other fine (or one set of pads in the boot....) and it's always a sticky brake.

 

FWIW, caliper pistons should push back easily. If you have to use huge levers or a g-clamp it's because it is broken.

[phil_lihp]

It's entirely possible, the sliders seemed absolutely fine but after driving a few miles it's become evident that, not entirely surprisingly, the brake disc on the driver's side is slightly warped so I'll be changing those.  That will give me a chance to give the sliders another check over, something's clearly been seized on it even if it isn't now so I'd like to ensure it's working properly.

 

SOC, good shout on the flexi hoses, I might change those seeing as I have to have the brakes apart again anyway and the fluid needs flushing through, they looked OK but if they're original they're 20 years old now.  They're not likely to cost much.  The pistons pushed back easily enough, I used a G-clamp and the mullered pad out of habit but it was hardly necessary, very little effort was needed.

[dome]

Sorry to hear that Andy, thoughts are with you and your good lady. It's not easy, you just need to be there for her.

[twosmoke300]

That red hue to the disc is a sure sign it's been binding

[phil_lihp]

Really?  Interesting, I didn't know that, I assumed it was just normal surface rust.  It was definitely binding a little, I could feel it resisting on the subtle slope of the driveway whereas now it doesn't.  It didn't pull but was making horrible noises on the drive home from Milton Keynes when I picked it up.  The appalling weather meant that as the brakes were otherwise working fine I continued home cautiously, I think that pad disintegrated as most of the noise stopped suddenly when I got to Tiverton and the brakes continued to work fine, although I knew to expect some repairs as a result.

[dollywobbler]

Really?  Interesting, I didn't know that, I assumed it was just normal surface rust.  It was definitely binding a little, I could feel it resisting on the subtle slope of the driveway whereas now it doesn't.  It didn't pull but was making horrible noises on the drive home from Milton Keynes when I picked it up.  The appalling weather meant that as the brakes were otherwise working fine I continued home cautiously, I think that pad disintegrated as most of the noise stopped suddenly when I got to Tiverton and the brakes continued to work fine, although I knew to expect some repairs as a result.

 

If you'll pardon the expression, keep checking your nuts too. If I have doubts about a binding brake, I drive without touching the brakes as much as I can, find somewhere I can coast gently to a halt and then have a feel of the nuts. If there's warmth, then it confirms a binding brake. Not a guarantee of success, as the XM wasn't generating a lot of heat. Mind you, I suspect that brake had been very gently binding for rather a lot of miles. My Saab 9000 once bound up a rear caliper and you couldn't touch the wheel after a drive of less than half a mile!

[phil_lihp]

I did check both wheels during the trip home and the one with knackered pads was warm but not sizzling hot, then again it rained heavily for half the journey which might have helped cool it!  I avoided using the brakes as much as possible, they were making a lot of noise but worked effectively and didn't pull to one side so I decided it was likely to be something like a stone caught on the pad.  I was expecting to find scored discs and one side is indeed, plus very slightly warped.

 

NB. I don't for one moment advocate driving with knackered brakes and had it not been late, dark and pouring with rain on the long trip home I would have stopped and spent some time investigating the problem and attempting to fix it, I am fairly fussy about brakes and tyres and will change them on the cheapest old car if I'm not happy with them, the state of the pad shows how close I came to causing a lot more damage and I'm quite lucky.  It'll be getting new discs and probably flexi hoses too before it goes any great distance.