Ask a Shiter

[catsinthewelder]

Brake question.

 

For the last few weeks, the brakes on the LDV have been playing up, as in the fronts have been sticking on. I don't think it's a caliper issue, as when they do stick on both sides are equally bad. It seems to happen mainly when I drive at speed (anything above about 50) for any length of time - I can pull away from a standstill with all the brakes perfectly free, get up to speed and then a couple of miles later the fronts start grabbing on (without my having touched the brake pedal) and gradually get worse and worse until the van won't pull fifth gear any more. Once the van's stopped they seem to gradually release themselves (takes several minutes though) and driving slowly (town speeds) they don't seem to play up noticeably.

 

Other thing I'd noticed is that the brake pedal doesn't always return fully on its own - I didn't spot this until I happened to notice the brake lights were staying on. Hooking a foot under the pedal and pulling it back up solves that problem, but even with the pedal all the way up, the binding on at speed thing still happens. I've also noticed there's little or no free travel on the brake pedal.

 

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on?

 

Could a brake pipe at the front be getting very hot and boiling the fluid?

[worldofceri]

howe manmy parascvetals to kil

1. not funny

2. liver failure is even less funny

I quite agree, but it is a genuine stupid question at least.

 

I don't understand.

[M'coli]

Brake question.

 

For the last few weeks, the brakes on the LDV have been playing up, as in the fronts have been sticking on. I don't think it's a caliper issue, as when they do stick on both sides are equally bad. It seems to happen mainly when I drive at speed (anything above about 50) for any length of time - I can pull away from a standstill with all the brakes perfectly free, get up to speed and then a couple of miles later the fronts start grabbing on (without my having touched the brake pedal) and gradually get worse and worse until the van won't pull fifth gear any more. Once the van's stopped they seem to gradually release themselves (takes several minutes though) and driving slowly (town speeds) they don't seem to play up noticeably.

 

Other thing I'd noticed is that the brake pedal doesn't always return fully on its own - I didn't spot this until I happened to notice the brake lights were staying on. Hooking a foot under the pedal and pulling it back up solves that problem, but even with the pedal all the way up, the binding on at speed thing still happens. I've also noticed there's little or no free travel on the brake pedal.

 

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on?

4-pot calipers on the front of these, isn't it, with one set of pistons coming off one circuit of the master cylinder witht reh other circuit doing the remander pots and the rear wheels? I had the same trouble with my last Metro, I had to change the master cylinder to cure it.

[oldford]

Depends if it's a granada scorpio or a bugeye scorpio. Bugeye cars have mondeo-like front suspension.

Maybe it would be easier if you tell us what the problem is?

 

I have an MoT advisory for anti-roll bar bushes, which also cause a slight screeching noise when going through speedbumps, so they'll have to be renewed. Eventhough they'll likely be left to my local mechanics as I can't be arsed to creep below the car and grease random (wrong) bits, the motor factors they use tend to be pathetic in terms of both price and availability, so I'd like to know exactly what parts I need- i.e. whether I can order TCA bushes from evilbay. And also whether the 'anti-roll bar bush kit' (or 'TCA bush kit') refers to one or both of the buggers.

 

It's a mk3 Granada.

 

The track control arm (TCA) connects the engine cross member to the wheel hub. At the cross member end it is bolted and has a bush where the bolt goes through, like this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FRONT-TRACK-C ... 27b32ae458

 

The TCA is attached to the hub with a bolted ball joint.

 

Half way along the TCA the anti roll bar (ARB) is attached, it passes through a hole in TCA and held on with a nut. Either side of the nut are bushes and washers, like this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SIERRA-MK1-2- ... 3a492fcd85

 

You can get uprated kits for this:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-SIERRA-G ... 563babd77b

 

Where the ARB is attached to the body at two points it is clamped over bushes like these:

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-GRANADA- ... 48461e175d

 

With these bushes you need to ensure that hole through them is the same diameter as your ARB, as Ford will often use different diameter ARBs.

 

I recently purchased some 24mm diameter ones for my Sierra, only to find out that my ARB is 28mm. From experience you can't hammer a smaller ARB bush over a larger ARB.

[cort16]

Does anyone else have problems getting ebay images to load? It looks like gumtree uses ebay's image server too so at some points I can see no images on ebay or gumtree, which is seriously curtailing my XXX evening car search fappage. It's never fast but seems to be worse at night. Sometimes I get a redx other times it totally fails to load.

My broadbands not great but more than capable of downloading a 200k image. Autotrader, pistonheads, photobucket, flikr etc are all okay. It's not my anti virus, I'm running IE with no addons so nothings proxying it (there's also no proxy) and it's the same on all devices connected to the router including my iphone my PC that's hard wired into it.

 

I'd put it down to ebay being shit but I don't get the same problems when I'm at work. I'm thinking it may be a router problem but I can't find anything usefull on the web about it.

[outlaw118]

Edited due to idiocy

[michael1703]

Spark is good, Cav, nice and strong. Gonna lob a new coolant temp sender into it tomorrow, and have a wee look at the EGR. Oh, and the owner described a "wee chip out of the metal bit on the top of the engine"

 

This:

 

 

Whacking great hole in the cam cover!

 

Could the misfire be a sticking valve on #1 cylinder caused by a sticky inlet valve caused by ingress of condensation due to fecking great hole in cam cover?

[ashmicro]

Could well have been Sir, good call! However, it's had a new cover, coolant sensor, and the EGR is now reasonably clean. Changed the oil too, and, fingers crossed, it seems much better. I was going to say "it seems great" but it's a 3 pot Corsa

[Cavcraft]

You don't need to go fast in a Corsa. You're obviously a winner in life so there's no need to rush round showing off.

[cobblers]

Years ago I was reading a mates copy of Max Power, someone had written in saying they had put a big exhaust on their 1.0 Corsa, and now it didn't sound like it was running on all 4 cylinders so what should they do

[Rocket88]

Brake question.

 

For the last few weeks, the brakes on the LDV have been playing up, as in the fronts have been sticking on. I don't think it's a caliper issue, as when they do stick on both sides are equally bad. It seems to happen mainly when I drive at speed (anything above about 50) for any length of time - I can pull away from a standstill with all the brakes perfectly free, get up to speed and then a couple of miles later the fronts start grabbing on (without my having touched the brake pedal) and gradually get worse and worse until the van won't pull fifth gear any more. Once the van's stopped they seem to gradually release themselves (takes several minutes though) and driving slowly (town speeds) they don't seem to play up noticeably.

 

Other thing I'd noticed is that the brake pedal doesn't always return fully on its own - I didn't spot this until I happened to notice the brake lights were staying on. Hooking a foot under the pedal and pulling it back up solves that problem, but even with the pedal all the way up, the binding on at speed thing still happens. I've also noticed there's little or no free travel on the brake pedal.

 

Anyone have any ideas as to what might be going on?

 

 

 

Master cylinder, and, less likely, front flexy hoses?

[trigger]

I'm sure this has been answered a 100 times before what what's the crack with this SORN business?, My Alto's tax has been cashed back in by the last owner so it's now showing as untaxed and not declared as SORN, I'm planning on having it back on the road by the 1st Feb and will be taxing it again, do I need to declare it SORN in the mean time or will i get away with a few weeks?.

 

I have tried doing it online now that the new V5's turned up but it says i have to go into the post office to do it.

[Albert Ross]

Are you CERTAIN the V5 has showed up yet? I mean, cough, it COULD be delayed with all the Christmas and OMG SNOKAOS.... It might not actually turn up until let's say, oooh, the 30th, or something like..... hint.

[trigger]

What V5?, I think that's missing in the post, I really must chase the DVLA up about that...

[barefoot]

Cold starting - press the clutch or not?

 

Manuals for all 3 of my cars say feet on floor, turn key to start engine.

RAC cold advice says to depress clutch to ease drag on starter motor.

 

Is the 'drag' of the clutch more or less than the whatever of the clutch release bearing?

 

Facts to help me understand please.

[tooSavvy]

currently the thread for the VloVo [2001 VloVo V70 2.4 - £450].... all ECU connected bits being 'coded' uniquely to the car??

 

SQ >>> just because the manufacturers are CU%TZ... or a 'real' safety/end of life issue....?

 

madness

 

tooSavvy

[Volksy]

When you're turning the engine over without depressing the clutch, the shaft in the gearbox will be turning at the same time, Gearbox oil is very thick, even thicker in cold/freezing weather, so this will increase the amount of effort that the starter has to make and subsequently more battery power will be used.

[Albert Ross]

Re: FOot/Clutch interface on starting. I suggest caution, as this pushes against the crankshaft, and therefore puts wear onto the face of the crank thrust bearing. At the point of turning the key, there is no oil pressure, and the engine is run dry at that moment. Crank wear = £££

[John F]

currently the thread for the VloVo [2001 VloVo V70 2.4 - £450].... all ECU connected bits being 'coded' uniquely to the car??

 

SQ >>> just because the manufacturers are CU%TZ... or a 'real' safety/end of life issue....?

 

madness

 

tooSavvy

 

 

mnip mnip.

 

[cort16]

You can't start my car without having the clutch flat to the floor.

[trigger]

Bob, if what your implying is what MPH thinks it is then don't do it, i had a uncle over dose on painkillers years back after his son got killed in a car accident, he survived the overdose but totally fucked up his body and is nothing more then a dribbling wreck these days with my auntie struggling to care for him.

[morris_ital_lover]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/ ... logcode=kp

 

Stupid Question: Are these shit?

 

Sit Rep: Friend needs car so she can get her dream horsey job, which requires a nasty great 4x4 for pulling horse filled trailers and going to relatively nasty places. The job is in Germany and she steadfastly refuses to listen to my advice about getting a LHD 4x4 when she's out there and she loves the look of this one for some unknown reason.... What's wrong with these, should I tell her 1000 NOs or a cautious yes. (Lack of towbar has already been noted)

 

TBH, I'm pretty clueless on Sssangyongs 'tons as they were only placed in the future shite bin and were primarily obscured by the Rodius.

[John F]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201245491957985/usedcars/postcode/n208jx?logcode=kp

 

Stupid Question: Are these shit?

 

Sit Rep: Friend needs car so she can get her dream horsey job, which requires a nasty great 4x4 for pulling horse filled trailers and going to relatively nasty places. The job is in Germany and she steadfastly refuses to listen to my advice about getting a LHD 4x4 when she's out there and she loves the look of this one for some unknown reason.... What's wrong with these, should I tell her 1000 NOs or a cautious yes. (Lack of towbar has already been noted)

 

TBH, I'm pretty clueless on Sssangyongs 'tons as they were only placed in the future shite bin and were primarily obscured by the Rodius.

 

Ssangyong has only been back on the German market for a couple of years (since late 2010), not sure how established their dealer network is. For what it's worth, I'm often over in Germany & have yet to see one of their cars on the road.

 

Also, she'll have to return to the UK every year for an MoT test... whereas a German-registered Discovery or similar can be tested locally & will only need MoT (TÃœV) every two years

[morris_ital_lover]

I thought as much, I spent about a month over in Germany in 2009/10 and never saw a Ssangyong and 3 months in Basel which is on the German border and never saw a Ssangyong there either so I presumed they hadn't really broken into the European market. I'll pass that on...

 

The problem ATM is that she's determined to load the car up with her rammel an drive over so trying to convince her to get a German reg car is pretty hard.... But I'll press on with it. What are the rules on "foreign" cars staying in Germany... the person in question plans to be there for at least three years before returning which strikes me as being ample time for the local Polizei/DVLA-equivalent to insist that the car is re-regged under the German system and with the local British army base shutting down in 2009 there's no longer the cover story of being a soldiers wife/gf to appease the law.

 

More generally, I'm no 4x4 expert.... certainly not of the comfortable variety seeing as I've only played around with a FUBARed Series 3 LR, what's hot and what's not?

[John F]

I thought as much, I spent about a month over in Germany in 2009/10 and never saw a Ssangyong and 3 months in Basel which is on the German border and never saw a Ssangyong there either so I presumed they hadn't really broken into the European market. I'll pass that on...

 

The problem ATM is that she's determined to load the car up with her rammel an drive over so trying to convince her to get a German reg car is pretty hard.... But I'll press on with it. What are the rules on "foreign" cars staying in Germany... the person in question plans to be there for at least three years before returning which strikes me as being ample time for the local Polizei/DVLA-equivalent to insist that the car is re-regged under the German system and with the local British army base shutting down in 2009 there's no longer the cover story of being a soldiers wife/gf to appease the law.

 

More generally, I'm no 4x4 expert.... certainly not of the comfortable variety seeing as I've only played around with a FUBARed Series 3 LR, what's hot and what's not?

 

IIRC a UK licence is valid for one year in Germany (as a resident), after which she'll need to apply for a German licence. There'll be plenty of info about that on the Net. UK-registered vehicles are OK over there as long as they're insured (either appropriately via a UK insurance company or e.g. ADAC will insure foreign-registered vehicles) and tested (trip back to the UK for an MoT). That being said, back in the 1990s I was able to insure a UK-registered LT28 minibus through ADAC without it even having a current MoT – not sure what the story is now though.

 

I'm no expert about 4x4s either, but newer Land Rovers (Range Rover P38 model onwards, Disco TD5, Disco 2 / 3, etc.) seem to be rammed to the gills with electronic components that can & do fail. I've not bothered with anything newer than a Disco 300 TDi myself, which are durable enough if you get a good one. If she goes for one of those, check for rot in the rear arches / boot floor, front inner wings, sills, and make sure the HG isn't blowing at the back of the engine (which is where they tend to go if they do go). A crunch going into 2nd gear is not unusual with the R380 gearbox fitted to the 300 TDi, caused by worn synchromesh.

 

As an alternative, Mercedes G-Wagen seem to have have a good reputation... perhaps someone else in here can help you with some info about them?

[skattrd]

Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

[Bobthebeard]

Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Lidle sell some great screenwash, good down to -60 undiluted. Is great stuff and around £4 for five litres. Just filled up my daily with it. So far so good and its -3.

Heard some good reports on it on here so must be fine!

[morris_ital_lover]

Thanks John, I'll pass on the stuff about the TuV and the license... Some sense has made its way through to her and she's no longer looking at the Ssangyong, after a brief diversion through a very silly VW Toerag and some very sensible Mitsubishis she's now settled on the idea of an Outlander. Not as bad as some of the suggestions and I'll try and steer her towards something even more sensible seeing as there doesn't seem to be a single one under £10,000 that isn't shagged and there's comparable Hyundai's in good nick going for half the price.

The advice on cars seems to go through one ear and mostly come out through the other with the odd bit making sense so there's not all that much I can do except point out the bleeding obvious....

[ashmicro]

Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Vodka.

[skattrd]

Screenwash - The stuff in the boring is crap and freezes, but its nearly full. Is there anything I can put in it to lower the freezing point of it - some super concentrated stuff or something?

Worst case I suppose I could use a big turkey baster type thing to empty it and then fill it with decent stuff.

 

Vodka.

 

Oddly I was toying with alcohol as when I was a chef I remember making vodka flavoured ice cream that wouldn't set properly.

Unfortunately I only have Absolut in the house, which is too good for screenwash

 

Lidl's is probably a better bet for the recommended screenwash.