Bear's bangers: Sedici Candele. Fire seems drastic, so what should I do with it? It really doesn't seem that bad...

[RoverFolkUs]

On 28/03/2025 at 21:07, bigfella2 said:

I would take up ruff geezers offer of fitting the spring, the c3 spring I changed was tapered from top to bottom and the compressors did not fit it well, i.e it was sketchy as fuck. But a stupidly got away with it.

When I had to have a top mount changed I just took the strut to a local garage, there was no way I was attempting that again.

Citroen Peugeot are aware this is a problem and made this, and made this safety perch to stop the spring going into the tyre, am sure some cars were recalled to have em fitted too. Mine didn't have them.

Do you have a link for these please? I tried and failed to get a pair to put on my picasso, I've just slung a set of new tyres on so I'd much rather they didn't get punctured by a spring making a bid for freedom!

[EyesWeldedShut]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Do you have a link for these please? I tried and failed to get a pair to put on my picasso, I've just slung a set of new tyres on so I'd much rather they didn't get punctured by a spring making a bid for freedom!

I think they'll be NLA - we had a discussion on the BerlingoForum on these about 8 years ago when mine popped a tyre due to the spring going - they were mentioned but nobody had (or could find) any.
Part numbers were:

Right hand: 5031A4 
Left hand :   5031A5 

[edit] @RoverFolkUs try PN 5031E8 - that was the suggestion for my Berlingo but I never followed it up. CatCar.info here is saying 5031E7 on a Xsara Picasso DV6TED - that could L and R handed? (Both those part numbers available t buy on t'interweb) 

[Bear]

Ah, Stellantis. 12 year body warranty, ten year spare parts supply, six if it's likely to make the car dangerous or unusuable.

[Bear]

Sheer bloodymindedness:

 

[Bear]

2 hours ago, Cluffy said:

Just reading through this highly enjoyable thread of your car-related activities from the last few years...

How did you replace the stalks on the Boxster cluster?? I need to do one of mine ..!

Kit from eBay for about £30 I think, dash out, undo a couple of screws to separate the back and front, pop new sticks in, attach knobs, reassembly is the reverse. It was very easy - the dash is straightforward to remove. Plus you can enjoy the segments for 911s and how they're hidden on the Boxster (and unpopulated but could be).

[Cluffy]

23 minutes ago, Bear said:

Kit from eBay for about £30 I think, dash out, undo a couple of screws to separate the back and front, pop new sticks in, attach knobs, reassembly is the reverse. It was very easy - the dash is straightforward to remove. Plus you can enjoy the segments for 911s and how they're hidden on the Boxster (and unpopulated but could be).

Thank-you!!

[bigfella2]

3 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Do you have a link for these please? I tried and failed to get a pair to put on my picasso, I've just slung a set of new tyres on so I'd much rather they didn't get punctured by a spring making a bid for freedom!

Was just a random pic that I could find, try googling the part no given below your reply. Good luck. Pic was from this thread.

http://jimbutterworth.co.uk/5springcatcher.htm

[Bear]

Today - finally got DVLA computer to accept me sorning the Sedici, sorned the C3, and it's the Spark's turn to get attention. It's a really nice little car - gf is having way less trouble with it than the Panda or Fiesta she tried - but the sticky brakes are an issue.

Now, I will try cleaning them first, obviously, but...

...a pair of new calipers is £89. Plus some pads and fitting kit, and derusting the carriers, that seems like a very small amount of money to shell out to eliminate the problem of cheap, shitty 14 year old GM brake components for good for a little while.

Need to make sure I get the right ones, though.

What's really fun is that this is a Spark+. It is so basic the only way into the boot is with the key - to fit a handle you need the wiring and solenoid from a higher spec one. And then you get a switch on the dashboard too.

If she likes this car I can see myself trying to find a higher spec one 😂 But her suggestion was that she still likes the look of the Fiat Sedici so if I clean up the interior, fix the clutch, that might end up being the easiest plan - I doubt it'll be hard to sell the Spark whenever that happens.

It'll have to wait though - Spark brakes, finish C3 coil, then Volvo front wheelbearings and I think bushes. I really like this model of XC70, I'd probably like it more with a sunroof and a petrol engine.

[Bear]

Found the issue!

Seriously though, don't buy used cars from mermaids.

It's actually pretty good, just really badly rust-clogged. I wish I still had a needle scaler.

Gonna need some pads 😂

[Bear]

Wrong colour and took ages to arrive, but, a little Insight is always welcome. 1/24 from Hachette collection.

[Bear]

Because the Spark is such a nice Korean Panda substitute, and because I want my gf to enjoy driving and feel safe, I've ordered new pads, discs and calipers.

It's also had the soapy brush in all the lines around the windows and doors - and in the fuel filler door - and it is looking pretty good now! The caliper still drags a bit after my attempt to clean it up, but it'll pull uphill in 2nd from 1000rpm smoothly now, and if you rev it enough it's not slow at all.

The fun thing, I realised why the dashboard is the way it is. Korea, and ASEAN market drivers generally, still tends towards scooters and motorbikes for single-occupant travel. Asian kids probably love their motorbikes.

So why not make the dashboard look like a motorbike one? It makes perfect sense, and I expect is a nice familiar sight for riders who have had to become drivers and didn't want to give up two wheels.

[Bear]

I suppose it's progress.

This seat has literally been built up from cleaned parts and blended.

But why not both sides?

Because...

Unless I can fix the bent driver's seat base this has all been a waste of time, well, sort of - I could find just an SX4 driver's seat, but it'd cost the same again I expect.

So I bolted the frame down as a secure starting point, then realised I'd reached the limit for standing up working on bits of car.

Cushion chucked on just for reference.

I bet the front seats are closely related to Vitara ones, the transverse Vitara shares the SX4 platform.

[Bear]

I thought I had parts for refitting the Volvo propshaft, and a spare CV boot.

What is in that white box?

*halo of light, heavenly chord plays*

Is this a wheelbearing hub I see before me?

Well, that's this afternoon sorted then. Hope it's obvious which it is (I think driver's side front, can never remember if "goes quiet on right turn" is driver's side front because it's unloaded, or passenger side because the loading took out the slack).

Might try and identify which brand it is and order another to match first.

[Bear]

Stupid iPhone picture rotation bollocks aside... bomb disposal at work.

Citroen springs are stupid and tapered

The struts are long.

Proper tools. £300ish. Not £30. But no use for Citroens... or are they?

Very pleased that these did not get stolen with the rest of my nice tools.

Right ya bastard.

Scrunched. Frightening.

Now... how do I put this back on the car again?

Not entirely convinced I got the strut top bearing right, but it needs replacing anyway really. I just have a lot of fear about those springs. Not an easy design to deal with at all.

[Bear]

How. How can I put spring compressors on this and the last coil sort of stretches like a cat refusing to go in a carrier for a vet trip and won't let the strut move.

PSA: PSA are gits.

I will solve this. And it should be possible to compress sufficiently to drop back in without doing the balljoint - I've seen pictures. But FFS, what a ridiculous amount of spring for the space it gets put in.

I'm looking forward to an easy job like Volvo hubs or replacing all the front brake bits on the Spark.

[Bear]

It does want to fight but it is only small

 

[Bear]

Well, I've never needed to use a slide hammer to remove a wheel before.

At least the passenger side brake disc let me have the retaining screw. And it only shed one MX-5 sill worth of rust when hit with a hammer. Those discs were well past any sensible use.

Drives a lot better now and I still haven't finished bleeding the brakes properly because Daewoo/Suzuki/Chevy beasts use yet another kind of cap and it's on an angle so a universal one won't work easily. Time for two-person bleeding 😕

 

That bracket for the brake hose is perfectly placed to block any sensible 19mm socket, driver or torque wrench. Evil.

[EyesWeldedShut]

7 minutes ago, Bear said:

Time for two-person bleeding 😕

That's now called 'rumpy-pumpy' in our house Child Bride has fully mastered the correct technique, angles and pressures.
To be honest, it's easier than either the MitiVac or EasiBleed -  I just need to time it so that our orbits sync for a few minutes.

[Bear]

I think using a really long pipe with a bend in to fill and bleed after clamping the hoses when changing has limited the amount of air to deal with.::

...because it drives SO much better and stops just fine already. What a difference. £163 total for discs, pads and calipers on Amazon and the car feels transformed to drive. It'll pull up a hill in 5th no problem and potter around sharp slow bends jn town in 2nd almost to walking pace smoothly.

GF seemed very impressed with how it drives now, and I noticed is doing block changes so I think the manual gearbox skills are returning. Spark is getting some fitted luxury mats as a reward (also to stop the universal rubber ones sliding underfoot):

Aero wipers and a good glass polish have also helped brighten things up somewhat!

[Bear]

So, finishing things off, but now i need the Fiat and the Citroen to go away so I can just focus on work and this:

Girlfriend is happy with the Spark. I quite like it, though I can't work out what on earth they were thinking with the rear 3/4 design.

It's like someone had the clever idea to 'hide' the door handle then realised there was an acre of featureless metal and just went 'shove a crease here' then walked off before checking if it related to or intersected any other part of the design.

And this is done and if we hadn't got the Spark (and thus needed the insurance) would be back to nipping around Derbyshire dodging potholes.

[Bear]

One of the nice things about basic cars is that they are easy to improve:

Neat cutout

Less neat

Seriously, there's no flap lever cutout so why...

Is there a gap for clutch foot rest leaving a wedge of uncovered carpet?

Back ones are a particularly nice fit

Test drive revealed +10 to refinement and +5 to precise control. Kerb appeal went up +75 but from -infinity-1 it has a way to go to beat this:

Which is just looking nice after a wash

Fun fact: the Spark+ is actually lighter than the aitomatic Insight.

[Bear]

C3 gone. Covered the Spark less £200 and what I spent on brakes, and that brake spend is covered by the saving in VED...

So who gets attention?

Of course it's not the bloody Fiat.

Looking quite shiny.

So this was not in keeping. It is every bit as horrid to change as I thought.

But now the radio has the second USB port connected for a stick with music on always available - in the glovebox - and the iPhone CarPlay wire is not dangling out of the glovebox but is just a neat USB socket tucked into the gearshift console. I put the phone in the pocket on the bulkhead so this is much tidier.

[Bear]

So what do I do with this:

As you can see, it does move. I connected the battery, chucked a cushion on the seat frame, and it just started and drove out of the place it's been dumped in for a month, no problems.

This sounds healthy and did not leak anything while it was sat.

But beneath here lies the question - how, or even should I bother, to change the clutch.

Yet - it drove okay for the first part of the test drive. It seems like the slip, while definitely an indication of wear, got worse when it was used - and when driven after not being used, it feels fine if you're not trying to push it to slip.

In the history it says new pipes and calipers.

I wonder if they got air in the clutch pipe...

Not that it matters when I still have to deal with this.

It was a huge amount of effort to get the cleaned covers onto the not-damaged rear frame just for one seat - is it really worth it when no-one wants the car anyway?

Yet it only has 98,000 miles and two long-term owners before the one I got it from who had it a month, and me, who has merely parked it.

New remote module (though the driver's door actuator needs cleaning up and lubricating, it's scratchy by key and doesn't work on remote).

New key shell because that's how I got the remote.

Headlights clean up with Turtlewax ceramic one.

Airing it out a bit.

Somewhere there has to be a breaker who doesn't start the day by trashing the interiors of their cars, surely?