Ask a Shiter

[cort16]

My dad has a 2004 Toyota verso d4 diesel direct injection , which now won’t start . If he gives it a sniff of easy start then it’ll start up and run perfectly . He’s completed journeys of 30 miles miles with no issues once it’s running . Once hot it’ll start okay. It sounds like glow plugs to me any other opinions?

He says it’s got harder to start and now it won’t go at all .

 

He wants to change It in the next few months as they’ve had it for 12 years so doesn’t want to spend much on it.

I guess if they’ve never been changed they’d be a war to

Get out?

[dave21478]

My dad has a 2004 Toyota verso d4 diesel direct injection , which now won’t start . If he gives it a sniff of easy start then it’ll start up and run perfectly . He’s completed journeys of 30 miles miles with no issues once it’s running . Once hot it’ll start okay. It sounds like glow plugs to me any other opinions?

He says it’s got harder to start and now it won’t go at all .

 

He wants to change It in the next few months as they’ve had it for 12 years so doesn’t want to spend much on it.

I guess if they’ve never been changed they’d be a war to

Get out?

 

Direct injection should start without glow plugs at all, albeit with a little more cranking than usual.

 

Completely different engine etc, but the last diesel I had problems with needing easystart from cold but ok hot ultimately needed an injection pump rebuild.

 

Check the obvious/cheap stuff first - no harm having the plugs out and checking them with jump leads and a battery, but perhaps dont get your hopes up.

[dave21478]

How closely related are the nubira and the cavelier?

Not Very.

 

It was the Nexia that used mkII Astra shells with minor cosmetic differences and many parts were interchangeable, but I think the Nubira was only loosely based on the Cavalier platform and not much was swappable between them.

 

 

EDIT - CANCEL ALL THAT. The Nubira was their own build and nowt to do with the cav - it was the old Espero that was on the mkII cav platform.

[cort16]

Direct injection should start without glow plugs at all, albeit with a little more cranking than usual.

 

Completely different engine etc, but the last diesel I had problems with needing easystart from cold but ok hot ultimately needed an injection pump rebuild.

 

Check the obvious/cheap stuff first - no harm having the plugs out and checking them with jump leads and a battery, but perhaps dont get your hopes up.

Thanks. He has had it to a garage who told him they couldn’t find anything obvious and he was going have to start spending ££ to try to fix it hence why he’s living with easy start . It’s a shame as it’ll likely get binned when he gets a new car if it does need a pump. This is the first real problem they’ve had with it.

[Kiltox]

What’s the going rate to have a set of brake pads fitted at a garage?

 

For the van like. Parts are £22 from ECP so they’re not some unobtainium shit

[SiC]

My dad has a 2004 Toyota verso d4 diesel direct injection , which now won’t start . If he gives it a sniff of easy start then it’ll start up and run perfectly . He’s completed journeys of 30 miles miles with no issues once it’s running . Once hot it’ll start okay. It sounds like glow plugs to me any other opinions?

He says it’s got harder to start and now it won’t go at all .

 

He wants to change It in the next few months as they’ve had it for 12 years so doesn’t want to spend much on it.

I guess if they’ve never been changed they’d be a war to

Get out?

A lot of diesels won't fire the injectors if the fuel rail pressure isn't high enough. Easy start gets the engine firing which builds up the revs and the fuel pump is then pumping enough. This can be caused by a number of things. Worn out pumps, leaky injectors, blocked fuel filters, dodgy fuel rail sensors or even weak starters/dodgy earths.

[cort16]

The car runs 100% when going. No black death on the injectors or crap running once it's going. Also no eml.  He recons the injectors are firing as he gets a good diesel cloud out of it when it does fire if he's trying been trying to get it going off the crank then gives it some easy start.

The only thing that's been change recently (9 months ago) was the fuel tank. The lift pump was swapped over from the old one at that point.

 

Chances are we'll never know as he's unlikely to fix it.

[Ghosty]

I have some R8 trim bits that I could do with making use of, but they've been rattle canned gloss black by a previous owner (that also put tint film on the windows).

The paint isn't thick.

What will get it off?

[Rod/b]

Fire

[DSdriver]

Why do bulbs go black, I've heard various theories (too high amperage or bad earth) but no definitive answers and google is not my friend on this question.

[DSdriver]

I have some R8 trim bits that I could do with making use of, but they've been rattle canned gloss black by a previous owner (that also put tint film on the windows).

The paint isn't thick.

What will get it off?

Solvall spotter works on oil based paints

[twosmoke300]

Ref poor starting toyota , does it have a plastic filter housing ? Changed a few of these for air ingress on d4d Hilux's . 

[Slowsilver]

Why do bulbs go black, I've heard various theories (too high amperage or bad earth) but no definitive answers and google is not my friend on this question.

 

I'm no expert (on anything at all) but I think the metal gradually evaporates off the filament when it gets hot and, since the bulb is sealed and it has nowhere else to go, it then condenses as an opaque black film onto the inside of the glass envelope, which is cooler.

I am fairly sure (but don't quote me) that all filament bulbs will do this eventually but if this is the case the most likely things to speed it up are high design current, high supply voltage causing higher current than it was designed for, or presumably higher ambient temperatures.

Not a problem with LED bulbs as no filament to evaporate and much less heat.

Don't know the actual percentages offhand but lots of the energy consumed by a filament bulb is wasted as heat instead of light, particularly halogen ones. Grab hold of one when it's on if you don't believe me. On second thoughts don't, you'll burn yourself. This is why LEDs are so much more efficient in terms of light output for watts input.

[AMC Rebel]

I have a theory that bulbs get blackened by vibration too - just a theory.  The front parking light bulbs on my Disco never last long (well they do now as they are LED) - since the other bulbs are unaffected I have put this down to them being a physically small bulb subject to a lot of vibration.  My motorbike rear bulbs seemed to suffer the same way. 

[chodweaver]

In my experience, that hasn't borne out - by far the worst car I've ever had for blowing bulbs was a new BX. The ride in it was of course excellent, but it went through headlamp and tail and brakelight bulbs with depressing frequency. I'm thinking shit electrics is much more likely to be the culprit.

[chodweaver]

I'm no expert (on anything at all) but I think the metal gradually evaporates off the filament when it gets hot and, since the bulb is sealed and it has nowhere else to go, it then condenses as an opaque black film onto the inside of the glass envelope, which is cooler.

I am fairly sure (but don't quote me) that all filament bulbs will do this eventually but if this is the case the most likely things to speed it up are high design current, high supply voltage causing higher current than it was designed for, or presumably higher ambient temperatures.

Not a problem with LED bulbs as no filament to evaporate and much less heat.

Don't know the actual percentages offhand but lots of the energy consumed by a filament bulb is wasted as heat instead of light, particularly halogen ones. Grab hold of one when it's on if you don't believe me. On second thoughts don't, you'll burn yourself. This is why LEDs are so much more efficient in terms of light output for watts input.

 

That's what I've been told - and some bulbs redeposit the filament so effectively that they build a mirror finish on the inside of the glass. This probably does not help get rid of heat either.

[Slowsilver]

I have a theory that bulbs get blackened by vibration too - just a theory.  The front parking light bulbs on my Disco never last long (well they do now as they are LED) - since the other bulbs are unaffected I have put this down to them being a physically small bulb subject to a lot of vibration.  My motorbike rear bulbs seemed to suffer the same way. 

 

Don't see how vibration would cause blackening but can certainly lead to premature failure.

The filaments are very fragile, particularly when hot, and hitting a bump when the lamp is not securely mounted will cause it to oscillate and eventually break. As you have noticed, motorcycle bulbs seem to fare particularly badly, especially the rears as they are generally mounted on a floppy back mudguard and bounce about all over the place.

Once again a problem that does not affect LEDs as the chip is securely bonded into the holder.

[Slowsilver]

In my experience, that hasn't borne out - by far the worst car I've ever had for blowing bulbs was a new BX. The ride in it was of course excellent, but it went through headlamp and tail and brakelight bulbs with depressing frequency. I'm thinking shit electrics is much more likely to be the culprit.

 

Indeed. If a particular vehicle, especially something as softly sprung as a CItroen, repeatedly blows many of its bulbs it is more likely to be a dodgy alternator regulator putting out too many volts when the engine is running. I once had this problem (can't remember what type of car it was) and when I checked the charging circuit with a meter the alternator output rose steadily with the engine RPM up to about 16 volts.

[Guest Hooli]

Indeed. If a particular vehicle, especially something as softly sprung as a CItroen, repeatedly blows many of its bulbs it is more likely to be a dodgy alternator regulator putting out too many volts when the engine is running. I once had this problem (can't remember what type of car it was) and when I checked the charging circuit with a meter the alternator output rose steadily with the engine RPM up to about 16 volts.

 

Or just a crap reg/rec giving a 'dirty' voltage rather than a steady 12v (we all know it's not 12v but you know what I mean).

[wuvvum]

205 brakes again.  The 205 failed its MOT again this morning - among other things, the OSR brake still isn't up to scratch (it's not even close - 26kg braking force on the footbrake and 41 on the handbrake).  It's still got the old shoes in there, which have been bathing in brake fluid for Lord knows how long and are therefore not going to be giving 100%, but I cleaned them up and rubbed them down with sandpaper and I would have expected them to do a bit better than that,  The drum is also clean inside and bone dry now.

 

I'm going to get some new shoes fitted anyway, but to avoid going back and forth to the MOT station half a dozen times like I did with the C4, is there anything else which could be causing it?  I did think there might be air trapped in the system but I've bled the OSR brake and the NSR was working fine on the test.  Garage suggested adjustment might be needed as there's a lot of travel on both brake pedal and handbrake lever - the latter is fair enough and I'm going to adjust the travel tomorrow, but surely any adjustment required on the service brake should be taken care of by the automatic adjusters?  I have to confess I'm not entirely sure I've worked out how the adjusters work on this (they are this type:

 

), but I assume they must work somehow, and nothing appeared to be seized when I was playing around with the adjuster while cleaning up the shoes.  Would it be worth trying to wind it out a bit by hand, or would that be a complete waste of time?

[Dave_Q]

I have some R8 trim bits that I could do with making use of, but they've been rattle canned gloss black by a previous owner (that also put tint film on the windows).

The paint isn't thick.

What will get it off?

Just use thinners, here's a before and after from something recent, this took 5min with thinners and a scotch pad.

 

 

[Ghosty]

Fair enough, I'll test on an inconspicuous area first. Don't want it to discolour.

[panhard65]

205 brakes again.  The 205 failed its MOT again this morning - among other things, the OSR brake still isn't up to scratch (it's not even close - 26kg braking force on the footbrake and 41 on the handbrake).  It's still got the old shoes in there, which have been bathing in brake fluid for Lord knows how long and are therefore not going to be giving 100%, but I cleaned them up and rubbed them down with sandpaper and I would have expected them to do a bit better than that,  The drum is also clean inside and bone dry now.

 

I'm going to get some new shoes fitted anyway, but to avoid going back and forth to the MOT station half a dozen times like I did with the C4, is there anything else which could be causing it?  I did think there might be air trapped in the system but I've bled the OSR brake and the NSR was working fine on the test.  Garage suggested adjustment might be needed as there's a lot of travel on both brake pedal and handbrake lever - the latter is fair enough and I'm going to adjust the travel tomorrow, but surely any adjustment required on the service brake should be taken care of by the automatic adjusters?  I have to confess I'm not entirely sure I've worked out how the adjusters work on this (they are this type:

 

), but I assume they must work somehow, and nothing appeared to be seized when I was playing around with the adjuster while cleaning up the shoes.  Would it be worth trying to wind it out a bit by hand, or would that be a complete waste of time?

First up the brake shoes need throwing they will never be any good once soaked in brake fluid. Dry everything out and then when the new shoes are on manually adjust them up so they are close to where they should be. Auto adjusters are fine but they won't work if theye are miles out to begin with. If in any doubt get a professional to look at it to make sure everything is right. With that type of adjuster you can get shoes that don't have a domed clip on the roll pin that holds the adjuster lever which can cause problems.

[dave21478]

205 brakes again.  The 205 failed its MOT again this morning - among other things, the OSR brake still isn't up to scratch (it's not even close - 26kg braking force on the footbrake and 41 on the handbrake).  It's still got the old shoes in there, which have been bathing in brake fluid for Lord knows how long and are therefore not going to be giving 100%, but I cleaned them up and rubbed them down with sandpaper and I would have expected them to do a bit better than that,  The drum is also clean inside and bone dry now.

 

I'm going to get some new shoes fitted anyway, but to avoid going back and forth to the MOT station half a dozen times like I did with the C4, is there anything else which could be causing it?  I did think there might be air trapped in the system but I've bled the OSR brake and the NSR was working fine on the test.  Garage suggested adjustment might be needed as there's a lot of travel on both brake pedal and handbrake lever - the latter is fair enough and I'm going to adjust the travel tomorrow, but surely any adjustment required on the service brake should be taken care of by the automatic adjusters?  I have to confess I'm not entirely sure I've worked out how the adjusters work on this (they are this type:

 

), but I assume they must work somehow, and nothing appeared to be seized when I was playing around with the adjuster while cleaning up the shoes.  Would it be worth trying to wind it out a bit by hand, or would that be a complete waste of time?

 

Those auto-adjusters can wear out too.....as the shoes move the lower part in that pic wipes in an up-down movement and the lip catches on the toothed wheel, turning it a fraction. I have had a few cars where the toothed wheel is either full of crud so the lip cant grip on it to turn it or the teeth have worn down too much.....a little patience and a small file will sort them out. Its also possible for the lip to have worn out or bent, in which case a slight bend inwards is usually enough for it to start gripping again.

Also check that the toothed wheel and its threaded rod are clean and free to turn easily.

 

Generally I will refit the shoes with the handbrake cable slackened and the auto adjusters wound right in, and wind it out by hand until its a tight fit to get the drum on. Once drum is on and turns freely and hub nut tight you need to pump the brakes several times pretty hard for the adjuster to take up any remaining slack. Its just about possible to hear them clicking as they work if the engine is off. Once they are working well on the footbrake I then adjust the handbrake cable.

[Guest Hooli]

I'm a cheapskate. I'd do the same as Dave numbers, as there is no point adjusting the handbrake until the drum is working correctly.

 

But I'd fit one contaminated shoe to the other side of the car, that'll even up braking force across the axle....

[DVee8]

Autoglym Intensive tar remover,has anyone used it,is it any good or is there a better product?

 

I have lots of stubborn little tar spots that won't move.

[oldcars]

I saw a Starcraft camper at a show at the weekend and now want one. I think they will be out of my budget but has anyone owned one, driven one or used one?

[oldcars]

Autoglym Intensive tar remover,has anyone used it,is it any good or is there a better product?

 

I have lots of stubborn little tar spots that won't move.

It's ok. I find Autosmart Tardis is much better, but the AG will work just takes longer and more wiping to get the tar off.

[Mally]

I saw a Starcraft camper at a show at the weekend and now want one. I think they will be out of my budget but has anyone owned one, driven one or used one?

Not me, but I looked into them when they were new.

Have been in the saloon version which drove like a Cortina, but imagine the Starcraft will roll a bit.

Basically front half of Cortina bolted to box section chassis with 4 independent units at the rear.

Pain to build due in part to crude instructions. "Cut car in half with hammer and chisel whilst your wife props the other side with a length of 3x2 timber". The fibreglass body looked fine to me.

Some were well built others not. Still would though if you can find the right one.

 

EDIT

Just realised obviously only 2 rear indespension units. Cortina rear axle is used as one axle.

IIRC there were 2 Starcraft built using Sierra base.

One was used by a disabled bloke who went round the shows collecting beer and coke cans for charity.

[oldcars]

Not me, but I looked into them when they were new.

Have been in the saloon version which drove like a Cortina, but imagine the Starcraft will roll a bit.

Basically front half of Cortina bolted to box section chassis with 4 independent units at the rear.

Pain to build due in part to crude instructions. "Cut car in half with hammer and chisel whilst your wife props the other side with a length of 3x2 timber". The fibreglass body looked fine to me.

Some were well built others not. Still would though if you can find the right one.

I did'nt know they were a home build thing, as it was not on a Q plate the one i saw.