Supernaut's Cars - 323i / Megane

[loserone]

1 minute ago, The Moog said:

Been there and done that.  I managed to sell a Xantia to Vulgalour with loose wheel bolts that he found a few miles down the road! 

I did this too 😣

[Supernaut]

Yeah...

I don't think I even really put much effort into them even with the brace on the shortest setting...

I shall take it for a quick spin (metaphorically) later and check again.

 

I am very much aware I'm using Mazda wheels on a Renault but the tapered wheel bolts fit the profile properly and there's a good inch, at least, of thread coming out the back of the wheel face.

[Supernaut]

Drove it a few miles around some local roads. It's fine, they haven't loosened even the slightest.

 

So I then replaced a bulb in the heater controls, which was surprisingly easy.

 

Feeling buoyed by my success I researched how to replace the instrument cluster bulbs in an SLK (one of them doesn't work).

My reaction upon reading the instructions;

Nah. It's just the upper end of the speedo and the lower end of the tacho. Don't really need those lit up.

[Supernaut]

Thread title update to reflect the current state of the fleet.

I've also immediately invested a significant majority of the sale price of the SLK into premium bonds.

 

Better than roffle tickets on here? We'll see.

Seriously, the only roffle I've won on here was in 2018 when @Tayne bought a ticket on my behalf for an E36 320i auto.

[reb]

The first £30 of premium bonds I bought came eligible for the draw on the 1st. Not only did I not win £1m, I didn't win anything. Must be a scam.

[Supernaut]

A front wing fitted to a Land Rover.

What a PITA. Basically involved removing the front wheel then contorting inside the wing in order to fit and tighten all the bolts.

Still got the other one to do, at some point!

[Supernaut]

That was an eventful morning.

4 pallets of plasterboard turned up at the building site at the other end of the farm. Unannounced and several months early.

We had to store it somewhere undercover and we only have one shed with both enough space and a big enough door for a telehandler to fit through.

So the Land Rover is effectively entombed for now.

 

I even towed one of the pallets on the flatbed trailer behind the Kia Sorento. If it wasn't overloaded it was at least maxed out! That was a very sketchy mile or so round the perimeter of next door and back up our track...

[artdjones]

On 31/10/2024 at 13:22, Supernaut said:

Yeah...

I don't think I even really put much effort into them even with the brace on the shortest setting...

I shall take it for a quick spin (metaphorically) later and check again.

 

I am very much aware I'm using Mazda wheels on a Renault but the tapered wheel bolts fit the profile properly and there's a good inch, at least, of thread coming out the back of the wheel face.

The centre spigot is what takes the car's weight , the bolts just clamp the wheel. So having a too large centre bore puts a lot of sideways force on the bolts.

Having said that, there's someone near me that's had a Megane 3 estate almost since they came out, and it's had Honda wheels on for about 10 years. 

[Supernaut]

I'm a dirty crim!

I got a NIP through the post yesterday. That's 3 points for me, then. First time ever in 19 years of driving.

 

It was when I was delivering the SLK to Saabnut on Sunday morning. I had been stuck behind a dawdler doing 40mph for several miles. On a long clear straight that's ideal for overtakes, I overtook.

Then while I was mid-overtake I noticed a square thing silhouetted by the low sun hiding in the verge.

 

70mph on a 60mph road. Can't argue with that but also damn it.

I'd bet my whole savings account that the two billion year old fossil in the Honda Jazz just continued into the next village still at 40mph...

[Dave_Q]

70 in a 60 should be a speed awareness course, unless it's different in Scotland?

Worth doing if only for the comedy/facepalm value of understanding how few of your fellow drivers understand signs or speed limits.

[Dave_Q]

On 05/11/2024 at 20:52, artdjones said:

The centre spigot is what takes the car's weight , the bolts just clamp the wheel. So having a too large centre bore puts a lot of sideways force on the bolts.

Having said that, there's someone near me that's had a Megane 3 estate almost since they came out, and it's had Honda wheels on for about 10 years. 

This isn't true, the wheel is held on by friction between the wheel and hub and the clamp force of the bolts. The spigot helps align it but does nothing once it's on. 

There will always be some clearance between the spigot and wheel otherwise you wouldn't be able to assemble it. So the spigot can only help support the wheel at one point around the revolution. If this was the only support and the bolts weren't able to stop it moving, there would be movement between the joint faces which would lead to bolts either unwinding or snapping through fatigue.

[Supernaut]

12 minutes ago, Dave_Q said:

70 in a 60 should be a speed awareness course, unless it's different in Scotland?

Worth doing if only for the comedy/facepalm value of understanding how few of your fellow drivers understand signs or speed limits.

Police Scotland don't offer speed awareness courses.

Full stop. End of discussion. Do not pass Go.

 

 

Also the wheels on the Megane are a very close fit. Mazda centre bore is 67mm while the Renault centre bore is 66.something mm.

Since I have actually tightened them they've been absolutely fine with my idiotic driving.

[Dave_Q]

Commiserations then. I finally got a 3-pointer this year after doing the speed awareness course 3 times, down here they will let you do the course once every 3 years but this time it had only been 2 years since the last course.

[Dave_Q]

I guess coming to England to do your speeding isn't very convenient

[reb]

1 minute ago, Supernaut said:

Police Scotland don't offer speed awareness courses.

I didn't know that. That'll be why nobody in fife seems to be aware of their speed.

[AnnoyingPentium]

1 minute ago, reb said:

I didn't know that. That'll be why nobody in fife seems to be aware of their speed.

Where in Fife?

[reb]

Just now, AnnoyingPentium said:

Where in Fife?

West of the East Neuk but east of West Fife

[Split_Pin]

Unlucky on the speeding. My insurance company tried to say I had an SP30 to con another £132 out of me. That was even after me proving I had a clean licence by providing a DVLA check code to them. Thankfully the rep spied their arse when I asked their complaints department to listen to the call and hear from themselves what a fraudulent liar their colleague was.

But I am now extra careful with my speed as I have all 4 car insurance policies with the same company (First Central, you get what you pay for!) and 4x £132approx  would be a huge boot in the baws for me 😅

As Dave said I brought my speeding to England (lucky them), 50 in 40mph roadworks on the A66 where I was the slowest car on the road. Must have been a big Xmas bonus for the local authority that year! I did a speed awareness course in Carlisle, it was actually very interesting.

[Supernaut]

The Megane seems to be struggling to hold temperature again. Whenever I stop at a junction or do, say 25mph in 3rd gear through a town, the silly digital temp gauge drops down a segment.

It comes back again under load.

For reference, the temp gauge in this has a small segment that lights up, followed by a big one twice the size that fills the gauge in to halfway round. For the past couple of weeks it's been doing this flickering between the two segments. It's starting to get more frequent, so the 'stat will be getting lazy.

 

That £20 thermostat I fitted in April has lasted well*. However, the company I bought it from apparently gives a 5 year warranty. So I've contacted them on the off-chance I could get a replacement.

 

 

 

Oh yes. I've been in touch with the polis about my speeding offense on the 3rd of November. They're planning to post out my reference number on Monday (the 25th), so that I can actually pay the fine. Nothing like bureaucratic efficiency*!

[artdjones]

On 22/11/2024 at 15:49, Supernaut said:

The Megane seems to be struggling to hold temperature again. Whenever I stop at a junction or do, say 25mph in 3rd gear through a town, the silly digital temp gauge drops down a segment.

It comes back again under load.

For reference, the temp gauge in this has a small segment that lights up, followed by a big one twice the size that fills the gauge in to halfway round. For the past couple of weeks it's been doing this flickering between the two segments. It's starting to get more frequent, so the 'stat will be getting lazy.

 

That £20 thermostat I fitted in April has lasted well*. However, the company I bought it from apparently gives a 5 year warranty. So I've contacted them on the off-chance I could get a replacement.

 

 

 

Oh yes. I've been in touch with the polis about my speeding offense on the 3rd of November. They're planning to post out my reference number on Monday (the 25th), so that I can actually pay the fine. Nothing like bureaucratic efficiency*!

If you look around online there's 83° stats and 89° stats. I found the 83° can take ages to warm up in cold weather. I changed for an 89 - no more problems. Which helped winter mpg, as I think the fuel system parameters change when the gauge goes up to 3 bars.

Incidentally, the thermostat can be bought without the housing, and is easy to change over.

[Supernaut]

18 hours ago, artdjones said:

If you look around online there's 83° stats and 89° stats. I found the 83° can take ages to warm up in cold weather. I changed for an 89 - no more problems. Which helped winter mpg, as I think the fuel system parameters change when the gauge goes up to 3 bars.

Incidentally, the thermostat can be bought without the housing, and is easy to change over.

Yeah, I think I have a basic 83c one.

 

I put a 75c stat in the BMW just because I was nervous about its cooling system. Still gets up to temperature fine, just a tiny bit slower. It's tucked away for the winter now.

 

I agree that a tiny diesel probably benefits from a higher temperature stat, though. I'll see what I can find. It's probably a better solution than shoving some cardboard in front of the radiator...

[Supernaut]

Just finished fitting an 89c stat to the Megane. Let's see how it behaves.