project 2002 Laguna II - The Freebie Family Heirloom - No news is good news

[SiC]

Soldering irons are in storage and I can't do it as work as it's likely lead solder given the age. We're completely lead free process at work and that must not be contaminated. 

I'm going to leave it as a sacrifice to the car gods, otherwise fixing it may cause the wheels to fall off or something. 

[beko1987]

Thats a sensible plan. I was lucky in that although I fixed that so I could see it in the dark many other things were still broken

[SiC]

Took a look at this yesterday. Many report that the connectors under the battery box can become corroded and cause the throttle body issue.

Took the covers off the battery


Then the battery out


These weird bolt things were a pain to remove. Far too large for any normal screwdriver. I just bashed them around with a wood chisel.


Here is the prize! I assume when they mean connectors under the battery box, they mean the engine ECU connectors


The connectors and pins themselves look in good nick.




Also checked the throttle body connector and that was in good condition too. No flipping idea what caused it. The fault was from a complete throttle body fault on both resistive tracks. Maybe the throttle body is at fault? I don't believe these engines had an issue with them, only the connectors getting corroded.

I did notice that this loom wire was rubbing against the body.



Pulling off the insulation tape and having a closer look seemed to show it was still intact. I wrapped more tape around and used a bit of scrap Dolomite soundproofing material to provide a softer edge.


So I don't know what caused it. I wonder if there is a chaffed section on the engine loom somewhere.

Bit concerning really. Especially as the fault is to rev the engine to 2k and the gearbox to go into 3rd gear (limp home mode). Wouldn't be a pleasant experience it suddenly doing it at motorway speeds or especially if sat in traffic.

Also the intake air temperature sensor is broken. I'm not sure if I caught it or it was already on its way out and it fell to pieces when I was tugging the loom as I was inspecting it for any obvious damage. I took the sensor out entirely and there was broken plastic around the area. Currently the sensor has tigerseal around it to hold it in place. A new sensor is on order.

Upon restarting the car, it really struggled to start. When it did, it was extremely lumpy - almost misfiring. Also a ticking type noise. As the engine warmed up a bit, it's cleared up and seems to run fine.

I think it may have been some of the plastic from the Intake Air Temperature sensor being ingested by the engine? When I removed the sensor, I thought I got all the bits of plastic out of the hole but I wonder maybe some didn't. Only plausible explanation for the rough running. Oops!

I did try restarting it when it was stone cold and it starts happily now. So I don't think there is any ill effects. The plastic was quite brittle and pretty soft, so I can't imagine it'd have done much damage. Valve train has a lot of strength to it, so likely easily squashed it or spat out pretty quick. I could get a bore scope camera down there to take a look if I get time.

However it is currently hesitant on accelerating and the revs drop a fair bit and dims the lights before accelerating. Not sure if it always has done that or a new thing.

This car maybe on borrowed time if it continues to misbehave. Especially if it dares do it's throttle body fault when I need it to actually work. The next few weeks aren't time for a car to be fucking around with me as I have an incredibly busy time with work and the like ahead.

[SiC]

4 months on of boring driving since the last update and nothing much to report. Mostly behaved itself and started everytime, despite long periods between runs at the moment.

I have noticed it does heavy gear changes when setting off after a hot restart. My suspicion is that the "sealed-for-life" ATF probably needs changing as it's going too thin when heat soaked. Also would be why I got more grief from it when I was in Bristol City as much more sitting at lights + queues. As far as I'm aware the ATF is original fill. It may have to wait till winter as once the Boxster is fixed, this will go away and my other toys will come back out to play.

As per news threads, it did get damaged by someone squeezing out of their car in a car park. I know it has plenty of scuffs but this peed me off.



Today I found my cheap DA polisher and got to work turd polishing. Still noticeable but looks a lot better. Sorry for the shit blurry picture, you'll just have to imagine. CBA to take another because no one is probably reading this thread. Bluryness makes it look better though.


Doesn't look too back 10 foot away.


Terribly boring to drive but it starts everytime and easy + comfortable to runaround in. Scuffs ensure others yield and not have to worry too much in car parks. Velour seats are comfy enough, steering light and the suspension on this is pretty compliant. Perfect boring winter beater really.

[SiC]

So in 26 days the MOT will expire. That means I've owned this pretty much a year!

I think it's done about 74.4k miles at the moment. Which means I've done about 1k in a year in this.

Insurance is up for renewal. Last year £316. This year, now we've moved into a village, it's £190 with zero excess.

However it's also £167.75 to tax for 6 months. So £358 before doing any miles. That is £2.80 a mile it's cost me.

Hmm.

I don't want to get rid of it because sentimental reasons. However it's a comfy wafty car and I now live somewhere that have fun roads. If we go long distances, we take the Audi A4. Short journeys my wife takes the A4 because she doesn't like the Laguna. Only short journeys I do in it are to the train station and the tip.

Speaking of which, it came out the other day and proved its use.


But then the A4 could have done that. Just happened the Laguna number plate could be used that day because COVID.

After all that rambling, I guess what I'm going to say is that I think I may sell this.

Cambelt + aux belt has been done last year and I can put a 12 months MOT on necessary!

Any takers or interest? Thought not...

[purplebargeken]

Ill give you £100 mate, these French cars are worthless mate, electrics mate, the French cheese smell that never goes away mate.