Cars of Crackers

[Heidel_Kakao]

@CrackersI also sometimes hate cars but I hate walking more so it could be worse. Do you still have the Triumph although it's not really great biking weather currently ☹️

[Crackers]

3 hours ago, Heidel_Kakao said:

Do you still have the Triumph

I do but even that doesn't seem to be charging, and also has a starting issue. 

My fleet is crippled. 

[Crackers]

Friendly local garage reports that someone has fitted the wrong type of seal to the fuel rail connector, and in doing so has also mashed the connector itself beyond repair.

NLA part obviously. The hunt begins. 

(this is to get it running again before they can look into the coolant loss...) 

[Schaefft]

Just seen this now. Do you think the fuel rail had to come off while the timing belt was done? I doubt it had to but if it was then that would be the only time it would have been disconnected. If not then that seal has been in there for a very long time and you were the very unlucky one to find out😬

And hold on, it lost coolant at the same time? Or did you just happen to discover both at the same time?

[Imhotep]

Coolant loss in these is usually the plastic thermostat housing. If it is that, an upgraded metal part exists. 

[Fabergé Greggs]

3 hours ago, Crackers said:

Friendly local garage reports that someone has fitted the wrong type of seal to the fuel rail connector, and in doing so has also mashed the connector itself beyond repair. 

On the plus side, this explains the disappointing economy 

[Schaefft]

1 hour ago, Imhotep said:

Coolant loss in these is usually the plastic thermostat housing. If it is that, an upgraded metal part exists. 

I've replaced that preemptively with what DMGRS sells as a reenforced variant, plus everything else that's underneath the intake manifold. It'll most likely be the radiator, an expansion bottle if it's pressurized in these or maybe one of the radiator hoses, all of which I'd assume are original.

[mercedade]

On 13/12/2025 at 22:01, Split_Pin said:

Kv6s are not really renowned for 'the inevitable', you might be OK there.

Rover 800 owners are firing up their typewriters already

[Crackers]

Oh yeah, I forgot to write this down.

Unhappy Anniversary to the most stupid circumstances surrounding a vehicle I've ever experienced.

On 31/12/2024 at 18:56, Crackers said:

Well I've got to give it to AutoAid - although the breakdown was less than a mile from home, you still don't know what you'll get. 

After the Van Men couldn't get it going, a flatbed arrived within 45 mins and had me away. Dumped it back home for now and will get it recovered to a garage when they're open again. 

After last December's adventure* with the Saab, this seems to be making itself a yearly tradition 🙄

Remember this?

Yep, 12 months on from the day it broke down, it's still not fixed. I've lost count of the unanswered called and voicemails I've left. I'll be paying a visit soon. 

Unfortunately I've recently learned that these XFs tend to suffer electrical braindeath if they sit with a flat battery for prolonged periods, so there's a good chance it's now not even worth repairing as it's another £1k+ to get the ECU sorted out if it's crapped out. 

If that's the case, then it'll have to most likely go to a breakers. If I could break it myself, the interior, wheels, drivetrain and various other bits are worth a small fortune, but I only have 1 parking space and can't keep a 2nd car here, let along a dead one. 

That then sets me up for a circa £6.5k loss on this car (bearing in mind that's more than I paid for it...) which is quite a painful pill to swallow when I'm scrounging together every penny to buy a house at present.

The saga with this car has been a weight on my shoulders for the entire year and I really want it to be over. A nice car, but the shittiest purchase I've ever made.  

[Crackers]

Oh also, the ZT is still off the road, awaiting a new fuel rail... I've paid for it but no idea when it'll come. 

BMW needs a service and some other work which is nagging at my mind.

Automotive stress levels are high. 

[SiC]

On 10/01/2025 at 22:06, SiC said:

Again similar as our A4. Literally was good to go apart from that.

However a working engine is very important for a car to be useful and this is an extremely major expensive fault. That glitter would have gone somewhere and next inline is the rail & injectors with zero filteration in-between.

Biggest off-put for me on having mine fix was the fact that you're replacing it with another CP4. Unless you're going brand new (mega expensive) or a fully trustworthy rebuilt pump (hard to know nowadays) then this can happen again. Maybe in a hundred thousand miles, maybe a few hundred miles.

If there is any swarf left in the system then it can be game over again with all that money you've put in gone into the bin.

 

Be careful to non fall into the sunk cost fallacy. These types of cars you need to be really brutal when you decide to twist or stick. £2k-4k repair costs with maybe £500 scrap would buy a lot of replacement car.

I'm just requoting this as even if you do go down the repair route, it's really fraught with expense.

Honestly putting it bluntly the best option for it is to scrap it, erase it from the mind and try to move on. 

[Crackers]

24 minutes ago, SiC said:

I'm just requoting this as even if you do go down the repair route, it's really fraught with expense.

Honestly putting it bluntly the best option for it is to scrap it, erase it from the mind and try to move on. 

Yes, I entirely recall your comments from back then, but I don't fully agree. 

Currently, I don't even know the extent of the damage. I'm not writing the car off until the scale of the problem is understood, because the garage hasn't even given me a firm diagnosis as yet, only "well, I don't think it's dropped an injector, but I haven't got to the HPFP yet" - and that was in, what, April?? 

I'm brutally aware that sending it for breaking might be the better option *should the diagnosis be as bad as suspected*, but that's only when I have a concrete answer on what actually killed it in the first place. 

[Andyrew]

Sucks i know but Sadly I think he's right, £6.5k is a massive kick in the nads but time to walk away, before throwing anymore money or mental energy on the fire.

After that length of time something as simple as The battery will be shot and I'd guess that's £150+ straight out the window.

Sounds like the garage don't want the headache which is understandable too. 

 

[JakeT]

Fuck me. I didn’t see this a year ago. I don’t want to be a harbinger of doom, but sitting for a year probably hasn’t done a lot good for anything else either. You could be needing to fit brakes front and rear, a set of tyres, timing belt (and the shit annoying rear one) and whatever else has died while it’s been sat.

 

I’d also get it gone, service the BMW and roll around in it. At least it doesn’t have a HPFP to go boom. Hopefully the coolant and fuel loss on the MG are an easy sort, too.

[Split_Pin]

In my painful experience, if a garage leaves your car untouched in the corner for a protracted period, they are never going to even look at it. A lot of places just want to do brake pads and tyres on 2 year old Astras.

Did you order the fuel rail from Tom Force?If so he's 100% trustworthy and probably just closed up for the holidays. Ill bet you'll have it by the end of the week.

[Crackers]

Ugh. Cars. 

[SiC]

Overheated and/or no coolant again?

[Crackers]

50 minutes ago, SiC said:

Overheated and/or no coolant again?

The latter, I can't work out where it's going, unless it spat so much the first time that I've not got all the air out yet (hardly been driven since the incident, the fuel rail only arrived a week ago). 

 

Doesn't overheat and the heater is red hot so that seems OK, but when revved it pushes a lot of water out the expansion tank with the cap off. 

I'm going away for the week so I'll see what's left in it when I come back. 

Cars. Don't. 

[Schaefft]

Man this really sucks. It can't go anywhere in such quantities without visibly steaming. How many miles have you done since you got the car back? My bet is either a radiator that has started leaking or one of the original hoses. Anything under the intake is brand new and the water pump was changed with the timing belt.

[Crackers]

Right, earlier I topped it up, ran it for a bit, took it for a 20 minute drive, seemed okay. 

Just gone out to it again now it's cooled down, and it's drained the header tank again. 

I guess the day when it's absolutely pissing down is not the day to diagnose a water leak. It can sulk until the ground dries out. 

[Crackers]

How nice does this look after a wash and clay bar? 

Mechanically though... It's looking shit. It's gone through 2 litres of water in an hour. 

That can't be anything other than HGF, surely. I'll try and diagnose once I'm back from my work trip, and if it's true, then I'm utterly done with cars. 

Every vehicle I've bought since selling the Saab has stitched me up. I don't know what to do. 😐

[SiC]

6 minutes ago, Crackers said:

How nice does this look after a wash and clay bar? 

Mechanically though... It's looking shit. It's gone through 2 litres of water in an hour. 

That can't be anything other than HGF, surely. I'll try and diagnose once I'm back from my work trip, and if it's true, then I'm utterly done with cars. 

Every vehicle I've bought since selling the Saab has stitched me up. I don't know what to do. 😐

I thought the 330i has been pretty reliable, albeit doesn't tickle you?

Alternative is to go on something finance and let the dealer deal with the problems if they arise.

Or get something simple and humdrum. Like a naturally aspirated Honda or Toyota. But you'll almost certainly find it even more boring than your 330i. 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Crackers said:

How nice does this look after a wash and clay bar? 

Mechanically though... It's looking shit. It's gone through 2 litres of water in an hour. 

That can't be anything other than HGF, surely. I'll try and diagnose once I'm back from my work trip, and if it's true, then I'm utterly done with cars. 

Every vehicle I've bought since selling the Saab has stitched me up. I don't know what to do. 😐

Is the Golf yours?

[Andyrew]

Time for something basic and boring, focus/mondeo/Astra etc.

Something that doesn't need a specialist to fix it. 

Mundanity in something is the best thing ever when you have to think hard about when it last actually broke.

[Fumbler]

2 hours ago, Crackers said:

How nice does this look after a wash and clay bar? 

Mechanically though... It's looking shit. It's gone through 2 litres of water in an hour. 

That can't be anything other than HGF, surely. I'll try and diagnose once I'm back from my work trip, and if it's true, then I'm utterly done with cars. 

Every vehicle I've bought since selling the Saab has stitched me up. I don't know what to do. 😐

Commiserations, seriously. I'm in the same boat unfortunately. Both my vehicles are currently immobile, one with a ruined engine and I'm currently elbows deep in the other because it won't stay fixed. 

As much as I hate to say it, I think you need to buy something soul destroyingly boring and pootle about in it for a while. Come to think of it, I should probably do that too!

[Split_Pin]

A few things to try. I know its had stuff done but it is possible for parts to be faulty/mistakes made.

1) Water pump. What temperature is it running at? Have you put the car in diagnostic mode? That will tell you exactly what temperature its running at. Air could be getting drawn in via a nick in a seal (I accidentally put a fold in the gasket once when fitting a WP, causing a big leak!) Google will tell you the procedure as its a while since I've done it on mine.

2) Sniff test. Have you done one. This will rule out exhaust gases causing the coolant to push out. Tenner from Amazon if you didn't know.

I'm definitely for putting it to one side and forgetting about it for a bit. You'll get bored with a 'normalish' car, that's what stops me doing that.  If you're nearby Ron Saab Leeds, he has a few very bargainous 93s for sale, in good condition and with a bit of come back too.

[EyesWeldedShut]

Bad run of luck there - how about this? 
On the XF - I'd agree with the 'fuckit, bridge it' suggestion - just done that with one here. Took a £££ hit (not as big as yours) but, as my old mum used to say, no point flinging good money after bad?

 

[Crackers]

5 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

1) Water pump. What temperature is it running at? Have you put the car in diagnostic mode? That will tell you exactly what temperature its running at. Air could be getting drawn in via a nick in a seal (I accidentally put a fold in the gasket once when fitting a WP, causing a big leak!) Google will tell you the procedure as its a while since I've done it on mine.

2) Sniff test. Have you done one. This will rule out exhaust gases causing the coolant to push out. Tenner from Amazon if you didn't know.

Both of these to check when I get back from Das Germany. Just ordered a sniff test kit so hopefully that will be conclusive. Hoping for some dry weather so I can attempt to spot any water leaks too. 🤞

[Imhotep]

How does the ZT otherwise run, coolant loss aside? Does it drive as if it has 190bhp? 
 

It could be HGF but while it’s not unknown in a KV6, equally it isn’t the most common fault. 

[JMotor]

TL:DR - Coolant caps can be shit.

Had a similar problem with 1.8 K powered ZT. I replaced the seals in it, but the car was sold before I knew if it had worked.

Might not be the actual fault. But it's cheap and easy to do.