Ask a Shiter

[Tenmil Socket]

21 minutes ago, paulplom said:

Ebay mate. I've done loads of galaxys on there.

 

Yup. I sorted it via eBay fort 99p ?

[Floatylight]

15 hours ago, brownnova said:

If it’s French... make the headlights more yellow not less... 

 

(no helpful advice was available at this time) 

No, Japanese, thank you for your input ?

[Floatylight]

Noticed a wire hanging down under the front of his '98 Fiesta 1.25 16v, any idea what the sensor is and where I cam get a replacement connector from?

[Jazoli]

Aircon pressure sensor by the look of it, get down to a scrappy and cut one off any similar aged ford and resolder it back onto the old wiring.

[Floatylight]

No aircon fitted! Will try and get into a scrappy at the weekend but none round here lettering anyone in..

[Jazoli]

Is it the PAS pressure switch then? Possibly I replaced the same plug on my Puma once 15 years ago and I can't remember what it was.

Ah yes, that is what it is https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-FORD-FIESTA-HIGH-PRESSURE-POWER-STEERING-PIPE-PRESSURE-SWITCH-GREY-/113430765464

[twosmoke300]

Yeh it’s the pas pressure switch . Not that important . It just uses that signal to raise the idle a bit when on full lock . Those Bosch two pin connectors can be temp replaced by two red small Lucar type terminals just make sure that at least one is insulated . 

[steveo3002]

thats a junior timer plug...plenty on ebay , or depin that one and just fit new crimps 

[Floatylight]

47 minutes ago, steveo3002 said:

thats a junior timer plug...plenty on ebay , or depin that one and just fit new crimps 

Brilliant, replacement ordered! Cheers!

[twosmoke300]

There are loads of subtle differences in those plugs on automotive stuff tho . Ridges and grooves in different places to prevent wires being put in the wrong places on cars . 

[dozeydustman]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:47 AM, Floatylight said:

No, Japanese, thank you for your input ?

I used Brasso wadding on the Ignis; they were cloudy and a little discoloured and they’re not perfect but a helluvalot better.

If they are very yellow see if the lens comes off the bowl easily, then coat in peroxide hair bleach, wrap in cling film and leave in the sun for a day. Rinse off thoroughly.

Google “Retrobrite”; it certainly gets the yellow out of opaque plastics

EDIT - Having a rummage through t’interwebs this morning, on some transparent and translucent plastics the yellowing may have run all the way through, and the Retrobrite technique mainly works on the outer surface. There are other chemical techniques available but involve nasty stuff such as sulphamic acid.

Edited September 17, 2020 by dozeydustman
Found more info

[Dirk Diggler]

What car is this filmed from please?

 

[Tenmil Socket]

Any recommendations for decent breakdown cover?

[loserone]

Autoaid

[jonathan_dyane]

This a very stupid question about a very stupid problem. 
 

The battery on my wife’s elderly diesel Saab is expiring. It’s a 019 job so bloody big and more importantly bloody expensive.

This being the case I decided I would ‘recondition it’. For those not familiar with this particular fools errand it entails tipping the acid out of the battery and filling the cells with a bicarbonate soda solution to break up sulphation then tipping the bicarb out and filling the battery with a new electrolyte formed with a Epsom Salts and distilled water solution. You then put the battery on trickle charge for a couple of days then I should imagine allows you to limp on for another couple of months before leaving your wife stranded somewhere and resulting in the mother of all bollockings.

So I’ve done it and so far escaped life changing chemical burns and disfigurment. The problem however is that I now have this bucket full of battery acid/bicarb mix to deal with.

I have so far slowly poured about 2.5kilos of soda crystals into the bucket. It fizzed angrily and threatened to overflow.

I expected I would get to the point where it stopped fizzing as I added the soda crystals but it never did. Do soda crystals fizz when you add them to water anyway?

Any guidance appreciated. My current plan is to buy another 2 kilos of soda crystals, tip them in gradually then leave the bucket at the bottom of the garden for a couple of months then gingerly kick it over.

TLDR just buy a fucking battery when your car won’t start.

[mitsisigma01]

What strength bicarb solution for the cleaning and would the battery acid be strong enough to dissolve cats... asking for a friend or three on this site 🐈🐅

[paulplom]

Spread it around the garden as weed killer. Should keep the cats away as well.

[jonathan_dyane]

I don’t want to dissolve any cats or other creatures! I would have thought it should be pretty weak now I’ve hoyed all the soda crystals in but I’m not going to be sticking a finger in to check.

Thinking back to GCSE Chemistry I could really do with some Litmus paper but I’m fairly sure you can’t get at the local shops.

Reading further around the subject you can make a ph indicator solution out of a red cabbage which probably is the most cost effective solution.

[Jazoli]

1 hour ago, jonathan_dyane said:

I don’t want to dissolve any cats or other creatures! I would have thought it should be pretty weak now I’ve hoyed all the soda crystals in but I’m not going to be sticking a finger in to check.

Thinking back to GCSE Chemistry I could really do with some Litmus paper but I’m fairly sure you can’t get at the local shops.

Reading further around the subject you can make a ph indicator solution out of a red cabbage which probably is the most cost effective solution.

You should be able to pick up PH strips from pet shops (think fish supplies) or hot tub places.

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/searchterm?searchTerm=ph test strip&pageSize=24&resultType=1

[SgtWilson]

Your lack of fizzing is probably due to the low solubility of soda in water. 4 litres (a bucket?) can only dissolve about 1.2kg of sodium carbonate at 25C. Agitate the bucket with a long stick (slowly) and you will probably encounter the soda sitting at the bottom. Eye protection!

[jonathan_dyane]

Postscript.

 I couldn’t get any ph strips but there were red cabbages so I used the cabbage water to test the ph and I ended up needing another bag of soda to get it to the level where it was no longer a biohazard.

The battery? I got it charged up to 12.8 volts so I refitted it and guess what? It’s still fucked. So I did what I should have done in the first place, drove to Halfords and bought a new battery with a trade card. Car now starts better than it ever has in our custodianship.

[paulplom]

20 hours ago, Jazoli said:

You should be able to pick up PH strips from pet shops (think fish supplies) or hot tub places.

https://www.petsathome.com/shop/en/pets/searchterm?searchTerm=ph test strip&pageSize=24&resultType=1

+1 for this. Our hot tub test kits come with it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/nuoshen-Strips-Chlorine-Alkalinity-Testing/dp/B07WYZNVL7/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3NRW6WJE62UVX&dchild=1&keywords=hot+tub+test+strips&qid=1601787889&sprefix=hot+tub+tes%2Caps%2C146&sr=8-4

[Fabergé Greggs]

Okay random one.. I'm working myself into a right frenzy at the moment in considering buying a ULEZ cheating classic. 

I phoned up a well-known marque specialist who had done loads of work on the car to see if I could get some info. They knew the bloke who's selling it but wouldn't tell me anything about the car due to GDPR. 

That's a new one on me. Izzit bullshit/ hiding something or just the way things are now? 

[juular]

Just the way things are, you aren't allowed to pass on personal data to anyone else. Info about the work done on someone else's car does likely fall under personal data under GDPR. 

[mitsisigma01]

There was one of these sitting on a driveway down the road from me the other day, strange as they had no front grass and no rear access.... worth a knock for the FoD lawnmower racing team 🤔

[andy29]

Hello... I hope I'm not messing up the forum here. This is my '99 Focus. 110,000 miles, totally worthless to anyone else. Don't really know if it qualifies as autoshite, but it runs and drives lovely. More just shite now though thanks to rust. More the structure than the wheelarches apparently. MOT due just before Christmas. A longer list of advisories than any other Mk1 I've looked up, even early ones.

Am I crazy or just a bit silly wanting to save it? Won't be cheap though especially with probably wanting a new timing belt alongside the fixes for the MOT. I think it's a really good, nice looking, dependable car otherwise.

Don't mind if I could get things fixed gradually, there's no rush to keep it on the road or get it out of the way, but it'll very likely need welding and a couple of other bits done to get it through the MOT, so if I don't get it all done now, it's stuck on the driveway after December unless the garage can pick it up (and do a quote, and do the work, and bring it back...) on a flatbed I guess. And then if I leave it, who knows how much worse is it going to get even if it's sitting...

If it's going to be the end then maybe it's a good opportunity to practice doing some work myself, because at the moment I am just a dummy who drives the thing and would like to learn to do something useful.

[catsinthewelder]

On the plus side welding structural bits is often easier as it doesen't have to look pretty.  On the downside it does need to be strong and involves either welding upside down dripping molten metal in your ear or removing most of the interior, often both.   I don't know which bits rust on the mk1 but I'm sure @sierraman will be along soon.  Best of luck with it.

[sierraman]

What has it actually failed on? 

The inner rear arch tub to boot floor join writes these off usually bit if you are handy with the Mig you can patch it from the inside. It isn’t usually a test fail though as it’s covered by the carpet stuff that lines the arches. It usually corrodes from inside the boot all the way round to the rear seatbelt/trailing arm mounts which if it’s rotted through is obviously a prescribed area. 

[dozeydustman]

17 hours ago, andy29 said:

Hello... I hope I'm not messing up the forum here. This is my '99 Focus. 110,000 miles, totally worthless to anyone else. Don't really know if it qualifies as autoshite, but it runs and drives lovely. More just shite now though thanks to rust. More the structure than the wheelarches apparently. MOT due just before Christmas. A longer list of advisories than any other Mk1 I've looked up, even early ones.

Am I crazy or just a bit silly wanting to save it? Won't be cheap though especially with probably wanting a new timing belt alongside the fixes for the MOT. I think it's a really good, nice looking, dependable car otherwise.

Don't mind if I could get things fixed gradually, there's no rush to keep it on the road or get it out of the way, but it'll very likely need welding and a couple of other bits done to get it through the MOT, so if I don't get it all done now, it's stuck on the driveway after December unless the garage can pick it up (and do a quote, and do the work, and bring it back...) on a flatbed I guess. And then if I leave it, who knows how much worse is it going to get even if it's sitting...

If it's going to be the end then maybe it's a good opportunity to practice doing some work myself, because at the moment I am just a dummy who drives the thing and would like to learn to do something useful.

If it's otherwise a decent motor and you enjoy driving it then it's worth doing the work or getting it done to get it through its MoT as it certainly looks good in the photo. Don't worry about mileage and mechanical parts as they are relatively cheap; it's garage labour and welding that would add up.

If there is anything you can do yourself to save on garage bills then all the better; they're pretty simple under the bonnet compared to much newer cars so a decent set of tools and the correct parts there should be no reason why you couldn't keep it going learning on the way.

[andy29]

@catsinthewelder @sierraman @dozeydustman Thanks a lot for your replies... really good to have some encouragement.

I’m hoping to get a bit more detail on what the worst rusty parts are soon, I know it was a bit vague. But I think the arches were somehow ok on mine, despite moss wanting to grow on Ford's wheel arch carpet, it’s more just... everything else. But yes I’ll have a look at the boot floor if it does keep going.

I've been told that the blowing exhaust for whatever reason means I'd need a new catalytic converter (don't know if it's because the end joints would be screwed, or if the thing itself has a problem)... and also that it would be advisable to change the (12 years old) timing belt. This is where things are starting to pile up, together with the probable welding, woohoo. But then it looks like finding another Mk 1 without its own set of problems could well cost nearly as much, so...

I did worry about the mileage and how long the engine, transmission and so on might last, so that's good to know. I don’t put many miles on it myself now so I’m sure that helps. As far as I can tell it all feels pretty good. In fact I've always wondered if it had a clutch change at some point, unless they're known for taking 100k miles with ease, I have no idea. I know you still see a lot of them about (Mk 1.5s mainly) so at least most spares should exist I guess.

I'll get more detail about the rust and I'll go from there...