DaveDorson Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 So you may have seen I've had a Zafira with an A16XER engine in for a new heart, as the old one had been run with the coolant light flashing and as a result had broken... Basically the story is it had lost it's coolant. They took it somewhere who bodged the coolant line at the back of the engine back on, this failed and it lost coolant again. It came to be as needing a new engine... I mean it ran, but it chuffed blue smoke from under the bonnet while doing so and sounded like an Impreza with two leads removed. The picture give an idea of just how hot they got it. The head shows the oil that had basically cooked solid.. coils melted, bits of loom melted.. Rather than piss about we just whacked another engine in there. groovylee, pilninggas, Jenson Velcro and 8 others 7 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Funnily enough a kid at our work has just had his 1.6 Zafira cook itself, cars on an ‘07 so it’s effectively scrap as it’s going to be more for another engine fitted than getting another car, once you’ve factored in all the bits along the way you might as well swap like a clutch etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDorson Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 20 minutes ago, sierraman said: Funnily enough a kid at our work has just had his 1.6 Zafira cook itself, cars on an ‘07 so it’s effectively scrap as it’s going to be more for another engine fitted than getting another car, once you’ve factored in all the bits along the way you might as well swap like a clutch etc... I pointed this out to them but they're tied into a crappy finance deal and need to either pay it off or give back a car that drives etc. It was cheaper for them to pay us to do it and provide a "cheap" engine. Ironically it's the third engine it's had, they don't really get servicing and maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sutty2006 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Sounds like they “run it till it dies”. which is a shame really. They’d save a lot of money if they had a service once a year. Banger Kenny, richardmorris, DaveDorson and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jazoli Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. chadders, BorniteIdentity, Cavcraft and 12 others 14 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 39 minutes ago, Jazoli said: People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. This. Another clown at my work was complaining that his MOT was going to cost him £45. ‘How can they charge that much?! It’s only in there an hour!’ He goes. St.Jude, Rusty_Rocket, Tenmil Socket and 1 other 1 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDorson Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Jazoli said: People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. Provided they pay me I don't mind ? Twiggy and Split_Pin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDorson Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 27 minutes ago, sierraman said: This. Another clown at my work was complaining that his MOT was going to cost him £45. ‘How can they charge that much?! It’s only in there an hour!’ He goes. Absolute knob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stanky Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Out of curiosity, how long does it take to do a full engine and ECU swap on one of these? Plus any other melty bits? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cavcraft Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Jazoli said: People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. Amen. It's full of Karens who bought a £250 car 6 months ago and now something has gone wrong, the vendor is an absolute twat, 'i ad my kids in that deaftrapp' etc. Tenmil Socket, dome, big_al_granvia and 8 others 8 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Wouldn't a hospital be a better idea...? martc, 108, dome and 2 others 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 1 hour ago, DaveDorson said: Absolute knob The MOT inspection should be a gift. After all you are doing the garage a huge favour patronising them once a year to spend £45 on what is ultimately probably a loss leader. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveDorson Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 2 hours ago, Stanky said: Out of curiosity, how long does it take to do a full engine and ECU swap on one of these? Plus any other melty bits? Depends on your kit. We've got air and decent cranes here so its been done during evenings and weekends and disassembly has been quick as a result. It's been with us a week or so now but we don't tend to record how long it takes as it's not either of ours day jobs. You'd probably want to set two and a half days aside to do it properly and make sure everything is tickety boo. Stanky and St.Jude 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bren Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 4 hours ago, Jazoli said: People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. Not just cars - its pretty much everything. I swear human evolution has passed it's peak and we are heading for the sea..... Cavcraft, Talbot, Dick Longbridge and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaseracer Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Back to the sea, even... ? Bren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Earrings Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 5 hours ago, Jazoli said: People are stupid, they don't service their cars or replace anything until it fails dramatically, then they moan about it on facebook that they bought a shit car from xyz 18 months ago and its a piece of shit, they also believe the MOT is an annual service, every repair becomes an expensive distress purchase, if you spend any time on FB groups you will see several of these people every day, I don't have a lot of sympathy for any of them to be honest. Could not have said this better. My contempt for these type of people is high and my sympathy none existent. Jazoli 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Did a mark 6 golf tdi Monday. Never seen the fella before couple of years older than me but dressed like a ten year old. "Its making a funny noise when braking, can you sort it im going to London in it tomorrow". 3 calipers (one was mendable) discs and pads all round, all slider pins seized. Had to talk to him when he came back for it. 3 tyres practically down to the cords on the inner edge, one with good tread but wouldn't hold air for more than half an hour. Both headlights with cataracts, abs and traction control warning lights permanently on. Predictably he wasn't arsed and still planned to drive it to the other end of the country and back. Shame there's no police around to pull these dickheads over and impound their cars before they kill decent law abiding citizens but that's ten years of bullshit austerity for you. End of the day if you can't afford to maintain a car properly then a pedestrian you are my son big_al_granvia, Split_Pin, Kiltox and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 I lift both our cars twice a year and take all the wheels off and have a check around and fix any problems , even the tyre place said many people only visited when the tyres went flat !!! , ffs I can even tell when my car has an issue from the wobble in the arse of the seat .. mitsisigma01 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffgeezer Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Yep, I encountered one the other day during test, 2 tyres with the guts hanging out and a snapped spring amongst other bits; as the tyres weren't available there and then, they took the car away as they "needed it". I shall be interested to see how many miles they have put on the awful thing. Matty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 I started to feel a bit silly doing 'maybe' items on the xsara but after reading this I don't feel so bad now! UltraWomble 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 What really REALLY fucks me off about the sort of person who winges and whines that a car is a "piece of shit" because they haven't maintained it is that once they've taken it to a garage and had the rear calipers changed, 5 months later, when the head gasket fails, they then bitch and piss and moan about the garage that did the brakes, blaming them for the HGF. So fucking dense that light bends around them. HarmonicCheeseburger, Matty, Ian_Fearn and 1 other 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Not sure you can teach your way around stupid: I remember many years ago when I used to work night-shifts in 24hr shell fuel stations, a carfull of people limped in one evening in I think it was a Nissan Sunny. His head gasket was clearly utterly borked, and the driver knew it. He was fiddling about under the bonnet for a while seeing it it would run with the expansion cap off, he eventually concluded it was completely fucked, and even though it would just about barely run on 3 cylinders, it blew all it's water out in seconds. One of his female passengers was getting quite aggravated and said "can we just go and you can piss about with the car tomorrow," He replied along the lines of "it's completely buggered, we're not going anywhere. Her reply was "I don't care, I just want to get home", the implication being she expected the car to get them home, irrespective of the fact that the engine was borked. Turns out they had another 30+ miles to go. Not a hope in hell. Girl in question was still pissing and moaning as to why they couldn't just go home half-an-hour later when the recovery lorry arrived. Even the other girl in the car was getting pissed off with her and had told her it was broken down and won't drive about 10 times. St.Jude and Matty 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffgeezer Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 19 hours ago, ruffgeezer said: Yep, I encountered one the other day during test, 2 tyres with the guts hanging out and a snapped spring amongst other bits; as the tyres weren't available there and then, they took the car away as they "needed it". I shall be interested to see how many miles they have put on the awful thing. Well I'll eat my hat, in the end they took it home and brought it back, no extra travelling which is good I suppose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kringle Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 23 hours ago, MikeR said: I lift both our cars twice a year and take all the wheels off and have a check around and fix any problems , even the tyre place said many people only visited when the tyres went flat !!! , ffs I can even tell when my car has an issue from the wobble in the arse of the seat .. You have your own two post lift? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sierraman Posted August 21, 2020 Share Posted August 21, 2020 On 8/20/2020 at 9:27 PM, Matty said: Did a mark 6 golf tdi Monday. Never seen the fella before couple of years older than me but dressed like a ten year old. "Its making a funny noise when braking, can you sort it im going to London in it tomorrow". 3 calipers (one was mendable) discs and pads all round, all slider pins seized. Had to talk to him when he came back for it. 3 tyres practically down to the cords on the inner edge, one with good tread but wouldn't hold air for more than half an hour. Both headlights with cataracts, abs and traction control warning lights permanently on. Predictably he wasn't arsed and still planned to drive it to the other end of the country and back. Shame there's no police around to pull these dickheads over and impound their cars before they kill decent law abiding citizens but that's ten years of bullshit austerity for you. End of the day if you can't afford to maintain a car properly then a pedestrian you are my son Indeed. In an ideal world the coppers would go to town, 3 points for each tyre, impound the bag of shit and push for a crippling fine. I’m quite the school that ignorance is no defence. Matty 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wack Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 On 8/20/2020 at 10:26 PM, ruffgeezer said: Yep, I encountered one the other day during test, 2 tyres with the guts hanging out and a snapped spring amongst other bits; as the tyres weren't available there and then, they took the car away as they "needed it". I shall be interested to see how many miles they have put on the awful thing. Doesn't that go on the fail sheet as dangerous , I thought as soon as you uploaded it it hit the ANPR as a dangerous vehicle on the road if they drove it away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ruffgeezer Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 ANPR? You have been to Lincolnshire, right? There's about police car to cover 4 towns, you'd be mighty unlucky to encounter it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UltraWomble Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 I'm running the disastra till it goes bang.That isn't to say that I don't keep an eye on things like fluids and consumables.I've a new caliper and discs to fit next week as the OS one is binding badly and has blued the disc after a motorway run ( I only discovered it was binding after the motorway run and I went through some water with a big cloud of steam resulting).I've also got some new tyres in throwing on next week.I mean you can run a shitter on a near zero budget and still keep it safe.It's off the road at the moment whilst we have a short jolly at the caravan btw.Sent from my KFDOWI using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 On 8/20/2020 at 11:18 PM, HarmonicCheeseburger said: It does really push a sense that basic mechanical understanding should be part of the damn driving test. it should be , it would remove 70% or more from the roads , but that would hit petrol ( tax ) sales , road fund ( tax) , new car tax , vat on repairs ( tax) ....etc Fumbler and Talbot 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Earrings Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 1 hour ago, Wack said: Doesn't that go on the fail sheet as dangerous , I thought as soon as you uploaded it it hit the ANPR as a dangerous vehicle on the road if they drove it away Not the case. In car only pops up as having no MOT but it's just that, no MOT. There's no context to it. Wack 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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