Supernaut's Cars - E36 323i / mk3 Megane / S1 Land Rover

[Supernaut]

I've had this thing 4 years now.

Still drive it like I stole it.

[Supernaut]

Popped along to the Fyvie Castle classic car show today. There was a nice line up of old Land Rovers, oh that's a familiar one on the end.

[Supernaut]

It still looks good from the right angle.

Or here's Tummel Bridge power station without the car in the way.

[Supernaut]

Here are some spots from the auction at Errol on Saturday.

I had a good poke around in both the Scania and the Albion.

The photo doesn't do the scale of the Albion justice. The tops of tyres were level with my chest. The whole thing resembled a building more than a vehicle. For a sense of size, the sidewall on each tyre was 15" tall.

Hey, that's a familiar Citroen AX...

 

Then I saw this in Aberfeldy yesterday.

 

For context I'm on holiday in a lodge on the bank of Loch Tay all week.

This is the view out the living room window.

[loserone]

27 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

Citroen AX...

Ooh, I liked that one.  Did it sell?

[Saabnut]

1 hour ago, loserone said:

Ooh, I liked that one.  Did it sell?

Not for sale! It was my entry ticket to the auction to save me walking from the car park  as it was part of the Tayside Club display. I like to lower the standard! You will note it is marking its territory, fuel leak from the pump which has got worse so I have taken it off the road until it is fixed. The CV joints are also getting rumbly so will have to try and source a pair of those.

Did buy two vehicles though, one at auction which I will be collecting this afternoon and one elsewhere which will be delivered this week if all goes to plan.

[bigfella2]

Drive shafts are ridiculously cheap for an ax if you can't be bothered messing with CV joints.

[Saabnut]

5 hours ago, bigfella2 said:

Drive shafts are ridiculously cheap for an ax if you can't be bothered messing with CV joints.

Do you have a recommended source please?

[bigfella2]

Just seen em on eBay, don't know if there any good. Might get a couple myself at that price.

[Supernaut]

The Pela pump strikes again!

I whipped the fuel hose off the pump in the Passat's engine bay and sucked out the half-tank of diesel that was in it, 6L at a time.

It's now on the warning light, but it still fired up with barely a couple of cranks after having the lines disconnected!

The Megane went from just over a quarter to brimmed. I probably won't need to buy fuel for the Megane until November now.

 

Once my brother brings the v5 out from Aberdeen next time he visits, the Passat can get sent away to be made into bean tins.

 

 

...or do I keep it and rebuild / restore it with a new front subframe, clutch, bigger turbo, silly remap, upgraded brakes, etc. etc. as a fun side project?

Nah.

[Supernaut]

We seem to have traced the oil leak on the Land Rover. 

It appears to be from the bottom of the oil filter housing connector... thingy. There's a gasket between it and the engine block.

New gaskets have been acquired and fitted.

I'll put the oil filter housing itself back on there today. I sanded it down and gave it a coat of rust converter due to it showing some surface rust.

[Supernaut]

Aye, that went well.

I got called in to do some paid work this afternoon, currently eating my lunch at quarter to 4 and having a break.

About mid-morning I fired up the Land Rover to see if I'd fitted the oil filter housing properly, and it jetted an impressive stream of oil across the shed from the gasket at the top! Not the one that was originally leaking.

It turns out the threads in the bit where the oil filter housing attaches are so worn out the bolt just slides right through. Some chucklefuck (my dad) just put nuts on the back in a typical "that'll do" fashion. It seems taking it apart and putting it back together just finished the threads right off, as I had assembled it with the nuts on the back and tightened it right up!

We did order a replacement housing / adapter thing with all the gaskets, and I reckon I'll be putting that on the engine when I have time, as its threads actually do something.

[Supernaut]

Another development today.

The centre brake light has stopped working, though. Just an advisory but I'm still curious about it.

My mechanic even just said "It's nae testable though, don't worry about it!"

[stuboy]

i do love the landie !!

[Supernaut]

The Megane is getting its pre-winter deep clean (it was also just generally a fucking midden).

I've stopped for tea before doing the interior and glass.

I also put the winter wheels on. Yes, they're alloys as I got them off gumtree last winter with a set of Dunlop WinterSport SP whatevers already on them.

Considering they were in the shed for at least 6 months, they all went on with mid-20s psi still in them. Each of them just needed a few seconds of the 12V tyre inflator. Not bad at all.

[bigfella2]

4 hours ago, Supernaut said:

The Megane is getting its pre-winter deep clean (it was also just generally a fucking midden).

I've stopped for tea before doing the interior and glass.

I also put the winter wheels on. Yes, they're alloys as I got them off gumtree last winter with a set of Dunlop WinterSport SP whatevers already on them.

Considering they were in the shed for at least 6 months, they all went on with mid-20s psi still in them. Each of them just needed a few seconds of the 12V tyre inflator. Not bad at all.

I've just bought a similar megane, keep the updates coming.

[Supernaut]

2 hours ago, bigfella2 said:

I've just bought a similar megane, keep the updates coming.

I got mine in April '24 and I like it.

The way it drives reminds me of the Peugeot 306s I used to hoon around in.

Plus the 110hp 1.5dci combined with the 6 speed box means it cruises at 70mph at 2k rpm. It seems to average mid 50s mpg with me driving it like I stole it, and £20 per year road tax is ace. Parts seem cheap and easy to find too.

I've just ordered a replacement high level brake light as it was an MOT advisory. Only one LED still works. Admittedly it's the one closest to the plug. I wonder if they're wired in series and a bit of soldering would bring them back... 

[bigfella2]

1 hour ago, Supernaut said:

I've just ordered a replacement high level brake light as it was an MOT advisory. Only one LED still works. Admittedly it's the one closest to the plug. I wonder if they're wired in series and a bit of soldering would bring them back... 

Mines a 1.6 petrol as I don't do many miles. It will be insured and ready to go at the beginning of Nov.

They must be prone to the brake light failing, mine had the remnants of the old one in the glove box. 

The stereo is horrendous in it though, I've fitted some uprated speakers which as helped, going to fit some tweeters in the dash, the wiring is there but no tweeters, even on the dynamique. Tight sods at Renault.

[artdjones]

13 hours ago, bigfella2 said:

Tight sods at Renault.

On these Meganes they put the money where it needed to be, on good quality components, and an almost rust free body.

14 hours ago, Supernaut said:

I got mine in April '24 and I like it.

The way it drives reminds me of the Peugeot 306s I used to hoon around in.

Plus the 110hp 1.5dci combined with the 6 speed box means it cruises at 70mph at 2k rpm. It seems to average mid 50s mpg with me driving it like I stole it, and £20 per year road tax is ace. Parts seem cheap and easy to find too.

I've just ordered a replacement high level brake light as it was an MOT advisory. Only one LED still works. Admittedly it's the one closest to the plug. I wonder if they're wired in series and a bit of soldering would bring them back... 

They used a similar, but more expensive item on the estate and the Scenic. But they can be fixed by soldering in a new led strip, which costs pennies on the net.

It is testable in Ireland, so I was a bit annoyed when checking my Scenic the night before it's recent test, to find that it wasn't working. I knew a friend had just repaired his, so phoned him. He had several strips still, so I nipped over and he soldered a new one in on the spot. Next day, a clean two year pass.

[Supernaut]

I can't solder for shit, though.

I ordered a barried black tinted one because it was the same price as any other option. 

[vtec-e]

The brain cells are awake today 😄 , I remember this coming up recently 

https://www.renaultforums.co.uk/threads/megane-3-cc-high-level-brake-light-repair.618454/?post_id=4464038&nested_view=1&sortby=oldest#post-4464038

My Clio is also in good condition with regards to keeping rust at bay, despite having the interior flooded for many months and a couple of little knocks!

[Supernaut]

Hmm.

Oval holes in the gasket that goes on circular parts. Nae ideal!

Searching the part number in several places shows a mixture of results with either oval or circular holes along with claims that they fit every Land Rover from the 1950s to the 1990s...

A nice stock of correct gaskets with circular holes has been ordered, plus an entire oil filter housing assembly that was on offer for £cheap, and should have better condition threads in it.

[Tayne]

Why though?

 

 

[Supernaut]

The replacement third brake light for the Megane arrived yesterday.

It doesn't work.

Bollocks.

I put the original back in, which had one LED working before. It's totally dead now too.

Double bollocks.

 

I remember reading something somewhere about how it's not just a case of the car sending 12v to it. Because French it's something like the BCM not detecting exactly the voltage or resistance it wants to see so it goes NON.

The temptation to just patch a 12V feed from one of the other brake lights is high.

 

 

 

It just reminds me of when @dome had one of these, bought new glow plugs and tested them by hooking them up to 12V and they went pop. It turned out they operated at something stupid like 7V for some reason. Which of course involved various control modules stepping down the voltage etc

 

 

Update: here's the thread I saw before https://www.renaultforums.co.uk/threads/megane-mk3-high-level-brake-light-issue-solved.605472/

I guess it's time to get the multimeter out!

[dome]

@Supernaut thanks* for reminding me of that🫣

[Supernaut]

So it seems more like the shitty aftermarket brake light I bought for the Megane was DOA. Surprise, surprise. Also, the pins in it seem to be too short to contact the plug on the car. 

Genuine high level brake light units, even second hand, are £stupid.

So what's to stop me from gutting the original housing and wiring one of these in? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/317234110068

Hmm.

[Supernaut]

Oh, also.

This thing now has a new oil filter housing, gaskets, bolts, oil, and oil filter itself.

It's leaking a lot less oil.

 

It's never zero, but it's very very little now, and from a different place.

It has some Millers 20W50 classic car oil in it, and it holds a healthy 50psi of pressure when cold.

[captain_70s]

This SIII at Rustival was absolutely pouring 20w50 from pretty much everywhere and the underside was coated and dripping.

You can just about see the splashes on the rear mudflaps...

[Supernaut]

1 minute ago, captain_70s said:

This SIII at Rustival was absolutely pouring 20w50 from pretty much everywhere and the underside was coated and dripping.

You can just about see the splashes on the rear mudflaps...

Hey, they at least put a token catch tray underneath!

We suspect the remaining very small oil drip is actually just accumulated old oil on the gearbox crossmember.

[artdjones]

25 minutes ago, Supernaut said:

So what's to stop me from gutting the original housing and wiring one of these in? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/317234110068

Hmm.

Nothing, but it didn't work on my Scenic until the negative was run to a new earth on the car body. It might be worth trying a new earth on the cheap light, unless you already sent it back.