Ask a Shiter

[clayts450]

I've just bought an ASTRA OF DREAMZ, YO - and I need to SORN it as soon as possible because broken.

 

How and when do I SORN it? Do I have to wait for the logbook to come back? I R CONFUZD.

 

Blimey, by snail mail according to this..... Looks like you can't do it with the new owner slip off the V5

 

https://www.gov.uk/make-a-sorn

 

If the vehicle isn’t registered in your name you’ll have to tell DVLA it’s off the road by post.

 

This form

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/v890-statutory-off-road-notification-sorn

[philibusmo]

Saab 95 ABS module failure, I believe its fairly common and all the internet wisdom says to send it away to be rebuilt. Not the easiest thing to do from New Zealand.

 

I know that they are programmed to the car, but if I got one from another 2.3 auto then would that negate the need for programming it?

[robinmasters]

Smelly car. What to do?

 

Clearly needs the fabrics cleaning, but what best? Is there a magic spray/shampoo/other jiz that works better than anything else?

[twosmoke300]

Saab 95 ABS module failure, I believe its fairly common and all the internet wisdom says to send it away to be rebuilt. Not the easiest thing to do from New Zealand.

 

I know that they are programmed to the car, but if I got one from another 2.3 auto then would that negate the need for programming it?

I doubt it - it will be the same as the radio etc and coded individually to the car using tech 2

[rainagain]

I doubt it - it will be the same as the radio etc and coded individually to the car using tech 2

Don't they need to be divorced as well?

[richardmorris]

Is this going to be a capacitor/suppressor or a ballast resistor?

[cobblers]

top left? that's a condenser/capacitor

[richardmorris]

Thought so, but parts places have both types of coil listed for the car which got me confused!

[clayts450]

Smelly car. What to do?

 

Clearly needs the fabrics cleaning, but what best? Is there a magic spray/shampoo/other jiz that works better than anything else?

 

Febreze ?

 

http://www.wilko.com/shop-by-housewares-brand/febreze/icat/febreze

[twosmoke300]

Don't they need to be divorced as well?

Yup

[AlabamaShrimp]

Anyone know what this thing is in a mk6 (2005) Fiesta ST?

 

 

It's started making a whirring noise when just the ignition is on and was clicking when the engine was first turned off but of I've checked it again and there's no noise so it might be temperature controlled

 

[Bfg]

.

HELP Please ..  Drive shaft Citroen GS dismantling ???? 

 

The books says "place drift on claw to remove joint" and "drive the UJ from the end of the shaft."

 

soft jaws on vice. . sturdy piece of aluminium angle duly placed..

 

..but it will not budge despite big hammer action.  So I wonder if  "the joint needs to be straight ?" . .

^ as the vice is on the end of the bench (so I don't keep walking into it !) the clearance of adjoining shelf unit had to be relieved*..  But still the UJ will not come off..

 

 

Do I just need a bigger hammer and a more sturdy (steel) drift to get this off its circlip ?   Better to ask the question than to try that and bust it.. only to find out that I needed to do something else. 

 

Thanks. Bfg

[twosmoke300]

Cv joint - hang the driveshaft upside down - let gravity help you - makes a huge difference.

 

Fiesta st- is it the imrc valve - inlet flap motor ?

[Bfg]

^ Nope.. even hanging down, with a steel drift and a lump hammer it still ain't moving.

 

I've cleaned most of the grease out in parts wash to see if I could find the secret but to no avail..

 

I'm struggling here

[steveo3002]

how hard are you hitting ?   i tend to go with shaft in vice one hand on the splined end holding it straight and belt it  one with a club hammer , takes a reasonble slug to move em , more than a tickle but not enough to damage stuff

[twosmoke300]

I use a big copper hammer .

[Bfg]

.

I was using a normal woodworking hammer with a good hard swing around it's long handle (as it's longer than my engineers hammer). Then I tried the lump hammer, about twice the weight of the woodworking hammer,  you can see it here on the bench ...

 

 

I've tried to hammer directly on the cv claws, and I've tried various drifts and 'other means' of getting to hit right next to the spline so as to not tilt the thing, as I'd read on one forum that they have to go down straight.  This was just one of various tries. .

 

I might add that I'm 6'5" and 220lb ..and so although not as powerful as I used to be - I have the stature and a fair amount of power to still strike quite a blow.

 

I turned the vice around so as to leave the end floating in the air rather than being against the side of my bench, but that was a fruitless exercise too. 

 

After 4 hours of trying this and that.. looking in the web and YouTube for clues, I thought laterally.. I'll wedge it off. .

^ with a spanner to span across several of the claws within the UJ joint, and another inbetween a steel shanked (ex-air-force) screwdriver and the vice .. the screwdriver being hammered as a 10:1 wedge with a lump hammer .. by a big and getting ever the more ugly shite head .. it didn't budge.   

 

I then looked at if were possible to make a plastic cone to try and stretch both inner and outer boots enough to go over the other end's three needle roller posts ?  ..perhaps not.

[Kiltox]

How do I go about getting some replica dealer plates for my Rover?

[jonathan_dyane]

Re the GS CV joint; they can be swines. The vice isn't moving on the bench and absorbing the shock is it? Otherwise I suggest using an assistant and two drifts one either side and synchronised bashing. It will succumb eventually.

[twosmoke300]

Yeh the two drift method works and I would loose the soft jaws. You won't damage the shaft with the vise .

[Timewaster]

How do I go about getting some replica dealer plates for my Rover?

DMB. As recommended by multiple users on here.

[Kiltox]

DMB. As recommended by multiple users on here.

Looks like they don't offer the dealer I need so I'll need to do some research (I have a tax disc holder but the plates are not original) and contact them

[Timewaster]

DMB do tend to do mostly Ford stuff. What Rover dealer is it?

 

Maybe someone on here has a car fitted with the plates you want to replicate?

 

Otherwise it I s google image search, or trawl the area local to the dealer with your camera!

[Kiltox]

Stour Valley Rover

 

I think I've found a photo of a plate by Googling them so that's a start

[gm]

Directional tyres - obviously the tread pattern is designed to disperse water when raining and wouldn't do its job very well if rotating the wrong way but - would it make a sod of difference to performance in the dry if running backwards ?

 

My track tyres are directional and the nearside ones are more worn than the offside - would it be asking for trouble to bung them on the opposite sides next time ?

[Bfg]

.

^  I really have no real answer, but.. I wonder if the rotation is also related to the tyre's construction, especially in performance orientated tyres ? 

 

I am thinking of a sanding belt which is constructed to run a certain direction, and if fitted back to front then the laminated construction of the layers unpeels !     And then again of truck tyres which have unwrapped their treads seconds before blowing out (..as a motorcyclist I once got nanoseconds close to feeling the impact of such a blow-out first hand !)

 

Not intending to be demeaning to anyone here or on any other website, but I would strongly recommend your asking the tyre manufacture's technical nerds - rather than seeking opinions. 

 

One further point is regarding regarding track events - any decent scrutineer should be stop you from participating if the tyres are not fitted correctly.  And you may risk loosing your license or it being suspended (if racing) insomuch as your preparation of the vehicle (..and therefore your risk taking) may be deemed 'an unnecessary risk to others'. 

 

Whether you can swap tyres front and back, so their rotation remains correct, is another simple matter to ask of the tyre manufacturer.

 

Hope that's helpful  ..rather than ..well you know !

 

Bfg.

[gm]

Probably safer to swap them round on the wheels then - don't want to risk a blowout for the sake of a few quid at the tyre fitters

 

I wonder if 'slicks' have a direction of rotation ? I'll have a look at one of the fancy cars next time I'm up at Knockhill

[Wack]

How does longer stints of driving effect you lot? Doing over 100 miles in a day is very atypical for me but I've done 13 hours over 600 miles this weekend and I feel pretty unaffected by it so far this evening. Saturday was a bit hellish with pouring rain all day and heavy traffic* but today was about as good as you could hope for. Maybe 600 miles over two days is small fries compared to some of you, but I'm curious.

 

*I was going south so it was people rubber necking at the scene of the poor biker that got run over by a truck on the M6 North.

I used to drive 80,000 miles a year in a transit van , long distance wasn't a problem say warrington to Norwich and back in a day as long as I didn't stop for more that 20-30 minutes every few hours , my dad lived in the Midlands so I'd stop and see him for a couple of hours and that was it , knackered didn't want to get back in , on more that one occasion a quick stop turned into an overnight stay

[Bfg]

.

Further to..   Drive shaft Citroen GS dismantling ???? 

 

Firstly a BIG Thank you to each who have offered advice..  

 

After the best part of a bank holiday afternoon trying.. I couldn't get it to shift..  And I risk miss-hitting the UJ joint claws if I were to loose my cool.  As these driveshafts are unique to this unpopular model of car, made for just three years some 40+ years ago, I'm pulling out before I do irretrievable damage...

 

Today, haven spoken to Tony Slade, the gentleman proprietor of Ipswich's older-Citroen independent La Garagiste, who tells me that there seem to be two different types of clips used in the GS / Ami super driveshaft's splined CV joint..  one type is reasonable rounded and when so hammered - pushes down and so allows the CV joint to be dismantled, whereas the other is a squarer sectioned sprung circlip ..which will simply not come off.

 

Hearing of my endeavours to remove said cv joint ..he suspects I have the latter.  However he has a special tool, which by description sounds as if developed from something in gynecology, that he hopes will stretch open the rubber gaiter / boot sufficiently to get it over the tri-axe bearing posts.   We are scheduled to try that tomorrow. 

 

If it doesn't work then I have three further options..

1.) stretch open the existing gaiters, chemically clean and smear them (externally) over with a coat of silicon.  As they are only just cracking and with minor hole in one of them, then this may add a number of years more to their useful working life.

2.) cut the (new) gaiters lengthways ..half way along their length (the narrow end) to fit them, and then use super-glue or something similar to bond the cut back together again.  As it's usually the large diameter end that crack and fail - then as long as everything is very clean.. such bonding should work.

3.) buy aftermarket generic split type gaiters and use those instead, perhaps fitted over the existing gaiter at the tri-axe end, as that has extra blocks moulded into its shape, so will act like an adapter.   

 

p.s. more on the subject of my Shitroen Ami's driveshafts < here >

 

Again a big thanks you for your suggestions.

 

Bfg.

[Guest Hooli]

Always good to find a reason for failure.