Ask a Shiter

[mercrocker]

Maybe Louise has calendar-memory, like me....Mine works in reverse.   Everything between 1960 and 1990 is perfectly lucid, everything since 1.1.90 a complete blur.  Thankfully.

[HH-R]

I can't ever remember Snickers being Marathon and I was born late 80s.

[fairkens]

Think it changed 89/90.

[Andrew353w]

Thanks Andrew,

 

Various articles suggest anything from needing an ATF flush via new torque converter clutch to OMG its fucked new gearbox time lolololol. I've read up on the flush procedure and the best way to do it if to drain out the fluid, top it back up then run it to temperature, drain again, refill, run to temp, drain refill and run to temp one mnore time and then the ATF is about 90% new fluid.

 

Getting the Saab onto ramps is a right shit, as the front is low and has a big overhang so its substantially easier to do on a lift. I'll talk to the indy on monday and see when they can have a look at it. Happy to pay for the work if they reckon it stands a reasonable chance of curing the noise. Fingers crossed it is, its a lovely car and I'd like to keep it that way!

 

Cheers

 

I'd agree with what you've read but I'd not just run the car up to temperature. I'd drive it around for a few hundred miles to give the fluids a chance to really mix. If you don't drive the car before draining the A.T.F. again you could end up draining out a greater proportion of the new stuff you've just put in! As to getting the Saab up on ramps, I have a hydraulic jack & raise the car by putting a wooden plank under the sump. I then slide the ramps under as far as possible & then drive it up s-l-o-w-l-y!

 

Best of luck!

[scaryoldcortina]

[Andrew353w]

Are late, fuel injected Mini Coopers (proper ones, not their elephantine namesake) any worse to work on than carb'd ones? I know the metalwork is much of a muchness, but in terms of resurrecting a dead one, or living with?

Just trying to prepare myself in case!

I've owned 2 of them; a "M" (1995) one & a "W" (2001) one and they're just like working on the carb ones, except that everything is even tighter and a little more awkward to get at and to. I've done head gaskets, clutches (there's a special tool needed-I've one if you want to borrow) water pumps and numerous other bits & pieces and they are pretty basic in most respects. The cooling systems on the later one was different, in that the traditional side radiator was dispensed with & a smaller one mounted at the front, under the alternator, which makes working there VERY tight! The later one had more of a B.M.W. influence in some places but the engine still had a strange mix of metric and imperial fittings. The bodywork on the "M" one was much better than the "W" one; I expect Rover were running out of the £s so skimmed on the rustproofing. The front of mine cost £2,500 to completely rebuilt and it looked better than new when finished!

[The Moog]

R reg Honda civic hatchback. I need a rear caliper as it is sticking on.

 

Are there multiple choices or just one?

[Luckythirteen]

Cheers Andrew. If it happens, I'll need to acquire some imperial fitment tools then!

I doubt I'd be stuck for long, because herself's wider family know a bit about Minis, but knowing me, there would be the temptation to have a go at that one wee job...!

[rainagain]

I think the fuel pump is failing in my OH's Tucson, when the car is low on fuel (low fuel light on, trip computer estimating 50 miles or less left) and you have been driving for longer than say 30 minutes the car starts surging. If you stop for about five-ten minutes it's fine again. Also if the car has the same low fuel level and you try and start it from cold it's fine, however if you go for a short drive and then try to start it again it turns over without firing the first couple of tries of the key. When the fuel tank is more than a quarter full you don't get any problems.

 

Assuming I am right in my fault diagnosis the next obvious step is changing the fuel pump, the fuel pump is an in tank job and looks like the first pic, from ebay I can buy replacements that say they will fit but they look like the second pic. Has anyone replaced a pump like this before? I'm assuming you can split the big white housing open and change the pump inside it?

[Stanky]

I'd agree with what you've read but I'd not just run the car up to temperature. I'd drive it around for a few hundred miles to give the fluids a chance to really mix. If you don't drive the car before draining the A.T.F. again you could end up draining out a greater proportion of the new stuff you've just put in! As to getting the Saab up on ramps, I have a hydraulic jack & raise the car by putting a wooden plank under the sump. I then slide the ramps under as far as possible & then drive it up s-l-o-w-l-y!

 

Best of luck!

 

How do you get it back down again without ripping the front off the car?

 

appreciate the point on the ATF mixing plan though - I shall ask about a price for just a 'quick' drain and refill  as well.

[Coprolalia]

Another from me:

Do we have a dedicated cat piss tarp challenge thread?

I've been looking through old photos and found a winner

[xtriple]

When will there be news on the calenders?  I haven't seen a thread about them in ages, they must be about done and ready for orders to be taken.... it is nearly February!

[trigger]

Where have you been man!

 

http://autoshite.com/index.php?/topic/22769-2016-Calendars.-*ORDER-YOURS-HERE!*

2016 Calendars. *ORDER YOURS HERE!*

[Tamworthbay]

Are late, fuel injected Mini Coopers (proper ones, not their elephantine namesake) any worse to work on than carb'd ones? I know the metalwork is much of a muchness, but in terms of resurrecting a dead one, or living with?

Just trying to prepare myself in case!

yup, due to zero space under the bonnet. Also the MPs ones rust Like nothing else. I have a 2000 shell that is far worse than any 80s mini I have seen and it's typical unfortunately. Especially around the windscreen/scuttle.

[D Spares & Tyres]

I had a 1993 K reg one in 2001

 

It was on its second pair of sills already and had holes and filler all over it

 

One of the worst cars I've ever had

[garbaldy]

/\ you best be carefull or you will bring the forum into meltdown again,

 

write this out 100 times for penance,   I must not slate any British cars ever

[Urko]

Will I get in trouble for being in my 50s and never having owned (or even driven) a mini of any kind, ever?  I have been a passenger in several.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Ah but I also had a 1979 Clubman and that was OK.

 

A bit rusty in places as to be expected but nowhere near as badly assembled as that K reg heap of crap

[steve_earwig]

I had a re-registered ex-RAF 850, about 1980 vintage, Q96 LPP, 'twas a hoot. The speedometer used to get to 12 o'clock then fall down and bounce against the endstop.

[LC Torana]

Will I get in trouble for being in my 50s and never having owned (or even driven) a mini of any kind, ever?  I have been a passenger in several.

 

Never been within touching distance of a Mini, ever in my life.

[xtriple]

I love and hate Minis in equal measures.

 

They are brilliant fun to drive and bloody awful to own! Everything on them is such a bastard to get at and the rust... My wifes (I have posted pics of it before? 1340, sports pack arches, 7x13 Minilites, prismatic metalflake over white paint very smart interior with Subaru WRX seats etc..) one was fast, handled, stopped and sounded bloody fantastic.

 

It also went wrong, a lot. She loved it, I hated it and I built the bloody thing. To be fair, it was in a pretty high state of tune (overkill as usual) so the fuel consumption was dire and it was nothing like as easy to drive as if I'd just stuck a standard 1275 in it.

[Angrydicky]

If your windscreen wipers no longer self park, is it an MoT failure? This is the Maestro by the way.

[Urko]

I had a re-registered ex-RAF 850, about 1980 vintage, Q96 LPP, 'twas a hoot. The speedometer used to get to 12 o'clock then fall down and bounce against the endstop.

I used to know a Canadian bloke who claimed to have set fire to the speedo in his. He said he fitted a weber sidedraft carb to it, but there was no room for an air cleaner. One day he was trying to start it, and it spat back through the carb and scorched the speedo to death. Probably bollocks.

[Louise2cv]

So no memories of pre-school are starting primary one?

Perhaps family holidays when you were four or five, distinctive cars your parents got rid of before you were six?

 

My earliest memory is a bathroom refit that was done when I was three years old.

 

Might be a good idea to make some sort of memory box for the kids just in case they have your recall...

Nope, rubbish memory. I was upset the other day my sister sent a photo of a lady and it was only because of the green Audi 80 I realised it must have been my nan

 

I can remember my mom telling us she had cancer and me and my sister being taken out of storytime to make her a card, which was in year 2 so aged 6, which again is 89/90 and I think I remember my sister crying when my grandad died, which was a little bit earlier, but probably still just that one memory from when I was 5ish.

 

Defo nothing earlier than 5 or 6. I'm always amazed that people remember stuff earlier than that!

 

My family are rubbish at photos, nobody liked being in them, hence that photo my sister sent being the first I've seen of my nan in decades maybe?

 

Luckily digital cameras and phone cameras have changed that story for my kids! Although my mom still isn't mad keen on being papped!!!

 

Anyway. Maybe it isn't a snickers after all, but its def one of the first!!!

[Louise2cv]

Never been within touching distance of a Mini, ever in my life.

Same here

 

Except maybe I have and I just don't remember :/

[Noel Tidybeard]

Can you turn off that BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP. BEEP-BEEP. thing off on Sony headunits when the ignition is turned off?

 

One day I'm going to rip the thing out of the dash and run it over repeatedly.

maybe yes, maybe no, depends on model/age

[scaryoldcortina]

If your windscreen wipers no longer self park, is it an MoT failure? This is the Maestro by the way.

 

No. The only requirements for wipers are

 

- Must have a switch within reach of the driver

- Must operate continuously when on

- Must clear the screen

[Angrydicky]

Cheers SOC! They're fine apart from that they've stopped self parking. I'd like to fix it, but the motor appears to be buried deep behind the dashboard

[Sigmund Fraud]

To be fair, it was in a pretty high state of tune (overkill as usual) so the fuel consumption was dire and it was nothing like as easy to drive as if I'd just stuck a standard Honda D-Series in it.

 

EFA !

[FakeConcern]

If your windscreen wipers no longer self park, is it an MoT failure? This is the Maestro by the way.

If the wiper motor is similar to Mini/Metro/Marina then the switch wears a track in a ramp moulded into the gear wheel. I used to fix them by filling it with Isopon.