THE GUBBERMINT ALWAYS KNOWS BEST

[The Moog]

Bloody is! I remember wind deflectors and painted tyres

 

 

That's pictured with the glass back in the plastic holders. The best I could do with limited tools was to jimmy the runner straight-ish, and super-glue the glass into the plastic. Any suggestions if that fails?

 

Had this problem before and used metal putty stuff to hold it in. Worked a treat. Make sure the gunk is cleaned off and stick some in and then push the glass in.

 

Regards to Micra unless I can get the biting point higher I think that my missus might not drive it again. Mightily easy to stall currently.

[garethj]

Last night I spent a nice few hours at a friend’s house because his 1949 Tatra T600 wouldn’t start.

 

I checked the points which had closed up a bit, checked for a spark on all 4 plugs (one was weak but others ok) and checked for fuel getting into the carbs by slightly loosening the banjo bolt holding the fuel pipe. Crank the engine a few times and fuel sprayed everywhere, so that’s ok. Do the same for the other carb and same again, only not so close to my eye this time because I knew to stand further back.

 

Took the air filters off and sprayed easy start down there, still wouldn’t quite catch. This is amazing, because easy start will almost make a car go even if there’s no spark plugs in it.

 

For that reason I discounted the jets which saved me taking the carbs apart and dropping vital, impossible to source parts on the floor or inside the fan shrouding.

 

Distributor cap off again, and as I moved the rotor arm against the spring advance it came back nicely. Moved it the other way and it moved about 30 degrees, and didn’t come back. My diagnosis: that’s fucked, that is.

 

Just to check I loosened the distributor clamp, got the owner to turn the key and I twisted the distributor around a bit, the engine caught and fired straight away. I’ve never taken the bowels of a distributor apart before but I think there’s the drive gear and shaft going up, then a plate with the advance mechanism. On top is another plate with the shaft to the rotor arm and the two plates should be linked by springs or something. Hopefully it’s just the thing that links it that’s come off, in fact I’m such a cock-eyed optimist I’ve got visions of finding a circlip in the base of the distributor, popping it back on and the car settling down to a steady idle.

 

The car is due for an MoT later this month so it needs to drive for that, then it’s due at the Czech embassy in London in June and also at the Salon Privé later in the summer. Something like £150 a ticket so toffs only, but this car was car of the show at the NEC classic car show in November so it’s a bit special.

 

No pressure then

[Rusty Pelican]

BOLLOCKS

Just realised the MOT ran out on my Commer early last month , lucky ive got away with it as ive been using it almost daily

Cue mad checkover , begging a local garage to get the thing in and a few prayers

[meggersdog]

This coming Monday I will be the proud owner of a Fiat Tempra diesel estate.It's taxed and tested until July has a sticking starter but always starts in the end . I've not driven it yet although the chap who owns it uses it everyday.It's an M.reg so '94/5 don't know the mileage but it has had a fair amount of work in the last year to make it reliable.When it comes in I was thinking of punting it on.Does £275.00 seem fair ?

[dollywobbler]

Seems fair to me, though that rather depends on what it actually looks like I guess. Look forward to some pics as they're far from common these days!

[skattrd]

I knew a couple of tyres on the Alfa were a bit worn but another is starting to crack, so looks like I could do with a set of 4, not the two I was planning on

I thought the wheels were 15's when I got the car, but I've checked and they're actually 16's, bugger, expensive tyres then ... time to hit ebay to find some cheap 15's to run on.

[Gompo]

My 1999 Honda has started smelling of petrol while running.

 

Not had a great look, but I cant see any petrol leaking onto the floor or anything, but I think my fuel line is slightly encased in a plastic tunnel anyway. If there isnt leak, would my best bet be the O2 sensor and over fueling..? I've not been able to deduce whether it's using more fuel than normal.

 

One thing I had noticed, after my last couple of outings was that after turning the ignition off there was a humming sound from the rear, not exactly like a fuel pump but could have been that or something related?

[myglaren]

My 1999 Honda has started smelling of petrol while running.

 

Not had a great look, but I cant see any petrol leaking onto the floor or anything, but I think my fuel line is slightly encased in a plastic tunnel anyway. If there isnt leak, would my best bet be the O2 sensor and over fueling..? I've not been able to deduce whether it's using more fuel than normal.

 

One thing I had noticed, after my last couple of outings was that after turning the ignition off there was a humming sound from the rear, not exactly like a fuel pump but could have been that or something related?

 

My daughter had to have all her brake lines replaced for the MOT.

When they took the plastic 'tunnel' off the brake lines and fuel lines resembled giant hairy orange caterpillars.

Brake and fuel lines replaced with copper.

I collected the car, drove out of the workshop and the brakes failed rather impressively.

The new copper pipes had a seam that gave way under pressure.

All replaced the following day and the day after that the car was very thirsty & smelled of petrol.

The joints between the copper and rubber fuel lines wouldn't seal.

They had three more goes at it before replacing the (new) fuel lines again.

Her car is about the same age as yours (W) so something similar could be going on under the plastic tunnel.

 

 

The C5 has been going better recently and no "Antipollution Fault" popping up on every journey, long or short. but coming home from Teesside last weekend the undertray decided to part company with the rest of the car.

Jumped out and removed it completely (a swift tug did the trick) and now the Antipolution fault has returned

 

My son has taken it to Scotland today as his 306 DT isn't back from it's MOT work yet.

 

Filled it up for him last night at the Shell station (£90 ) and there was a gang of lads with a brand new S-Max loaded up for camping in the adjacent aisle, seemed to be there rather a long time, noticed a pool of fuel under the car and they seemed to be having problems with the pump.

 

It seems that not only had they filled up with diesel instead of the manufacturer recommended fuel and spilled it all over in the process, they had managed to get the fuel delivery nozzle stuck in the fuel filler and were completely unable to extract it.

[Cavcraft]

Seven mile walk in pissing rain with a very unimpressed and slow walking dog just completed. We were walking up to the garage where my son works to collect his 'new' car, a quite tidy Peugeot 106 which seems to drive very well and is a nice little car.

Fair play to my lad he paid for it out of his (rubbish) wages and he's chuffed to bits with it. Now we've just got get an insurance quote which doesn't match our 'phone number.

[HillmanImp]

Replaced the crankshaft oil seal on the DAF, mended the broken pipe in the oil cooler, put it all back together (rather optimistically putting on the front of the car too) and then noticed a small oil seal on the floor.

 

Decided to try starting the car anyhow but oil came pissing out of a bolt where the oil cooler joins the engine. I guess thats where that oil seal goes.

 

Its raining now and I am a big fucking Jessie and don't like getting wet so will be driving the Saab to Chumbawamba castle tomorrow with Volksy.

[Gompo]

My 1999 Honda has started smelling of petrol while running.

 

Not had a great look, but I cant see any petrol leaking onto the floor or anything, but I think my fuel line is slightly encased in a plastic tunnel anyway. If there isnt leak, would my best bet be the O2 sensor and over fueling..? I've not been able to deduce whether it's using more fuel than normal.

 

One thing I had noticed, after my last couple of outings was that after turning the ignition off there was a humming sound from the rear, not exactly like a fuel pump but could have been that or something related?

 

My daughter had to have all her brake lines replaced for the MOT.

When they took the plastic 'tunnel' off the brake lines and fuel lines resembled giant hairy orange caterpillars.

Brake and fuel lines replaced with copper.

I collected the car, drove out of the workshop and the brakes failed rather impressively.

The new copper pipes had a seam that gave way under pressure.

All replaced the following day and the day after that the car was very thirsty & smelled of petrol.

The joints between the copper and rubber fuel lines wouldn't seal.

They had three more goes at it before replacing the (new) fuel lines again.

Her car is about the same age as yours (W) so something similar could be going on under the plastic tunnel.

 

 

Thanks for the heads-up, I may have to try and get under it myself and have a gander before taking it to a garage.

[The Moog]

Micra clutch cable adjusted. Now 10000000% better and gf is prepared to drive it. Woo hoo. Means I can roll in the saab again.... just need to sort that boost out..

[Tayne]

.

[Lord Sterling]

Had a new gearbox fitted to the Micra. at £400 fitted didnt think it was too bad. Clutch apparently had gone into the gearbox and wrecked it. New clutch feels seriously weird with no pressure for the first 1/3rd of travel. Hoping it will ease off otherwise will take it back in next week.

 

This is about the same as what happend to my Micra when a new clutch was fitted, its never felt right since. I've had it backl to the garage to look at, it seems there was no gear oil adn had to be topped up It still didnt feel right so I ajusted the cable time and time again but nothing seems to work, it doesnt have that free fluidy feel when pressing it, it feels tight and restrained but thats the only way I can get a proper biting point, too loose and the biting point is almost on the floor.

 

Something also humms/grinds now and again when clutch is pressed but out of gear, I've been told that the gearbox bearings might need changing so will have a look into that. Its a shame as its such a clean car.

[Albert Ross]

I knew a couple of tyres on the Alfa were a bit worn but another is starting to crack, so looks like I could do with a set of 4, not the two I was planning on

I thought the wheels were 15's when I got the car, but I've checked and they're actually 16's, bugger, expensive tyres then ... time to hit ebay to find some cheap 15's to run on.

What size tyres are you after? I have a few 16s kicking about.

[mattblack]

The Sceptre was finally back on four wheels today...

 

 

 

Started great after a bit of churning over, I gave the interior a clean to get rid of the grinding dust, dusted it down and cleaned the glass and moved it over to the other side of the garage. Then it was back up in the air with the front and off with O/S hub so I can change the disc.

 

Will soon be MOT-worthy. Watch this space!

[skattrd]

I knew a couple of tyres on the Alfa were a bit worn but another is starting to crack, so looks like I could do with a set of 4, not the two I was planning on

I thought the wheels were 15's when I got the car, but I've checked and they're actually 16's, bugger, expensive tyres then ... time to hit ebay to find some cheap 15's to run on.

What size tyres are you after? I have a few 16s kicking about.

 

Cheers, they're 205/45/16 ... not the commonest size I know.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Hey its a really nice old thing that Humper Sceptic. Looks very straight.

[Lord Sterling]

Nice looking Sceptre there Matt. I also noticed the arse end of a Rover 200, got any pics of it? I like the earlier versions with the Orangy lights.

[r.welfare]

For a change I have had pretty much a full day of working on shite, with a success rate of only 33%.

 

First up was my wife's friend appearing at 10 this morning in her '99 Volvo V40, muttering something about it failing the MOT and that I had been 'co-opted' to look at it. Got the fail sheet, headlamp not working was first up, easy to fix by the simple expedient of wiggling the electrical connection. Next fail point was a 'fractured nearside front coil spring', got it up in the air with the wheel off and, sure enough, the bottom two coils were AWOL. So a s/hand complete strut was ordered up which should be landing Chez Welfare sometime in the next few days.

 

Unfortunately the last two failure points referred to the handbrake ('n/s parking brake recording little/no effect' and 'parking brake efficiency below requirements') and a good hour or so poking around seemed to indicate that the n/s cable is certainly stretched and it's more than likely it's been caused by a seized mechanism on the caliper, a common fault on this model if the internet is to be believed.

 

Anyhoo, I tried to adjust out some of the slack and was rewarded with shearing off the adjuster nut, so the shopping list increased to new n/s and central handbrake cable, plus a 'put option' on a n/s rear caliper. And a dead-ish (un-MOT'd but taxed) forest-slime-green V40 taking up residence on my bloody driveway for at least the next 7 days. MORAL: do not get involved with repairing the cars belonging to friends of the wife.

 

Moving on to the Avensis I had some new rear pads to put in. It was a tight job getting the caliper off and then an even tighter job getting it back on again once I realised that I was missing the means to retract the caliper piston; the G-clamp in my hand rendered useless as it was a 'twist n' push' job. Unhelpfully the Haynes lied on this front. MORAL: Modern Haynes manuals are rubbish.

 

Finally, to the Accord: new front pads which were a doddle (love those push-in caliper pistons) and done in under 30 minutes. MORAL: Hondas are GR99981 to work on.

 

So now I'm sitting in front of eBay and Autotrader on my second glass of McAllan, trying to find a 7-seater under a grand (HA BLOODY HA!) for some friends who are emigrating and need something to cart their 4 kids around in before they decamp to Oz while they sell their Y-plate Golf GT TDI and 55-plate 330d Touring. Guess who will get roped in to help sell those? Ugh.

 

This whisky is LUSH though.

[The Moog]

Took Saab out today and it cut out but luckily in a good place. Pulled over and had a tinker. Checked it all and looks like the coil is giving up when it gets hot. Checked the spark when I got it back and it was yellow so going to pick up a new coil tomorrow and see if that cures it.

[Negative Creep]

Will hopefully have an MOT by tomorrow, then I can put it up for sale

[barefoot]

Just got back from camping trip in the Bay Window Van

 

200 miles there - not a problem

Awning up, off to pub, 4 pints later

Awning blown down

Awning back up, a couple of bottles of wine later off to bed

Awning blown down

Awning back up, front & rear flaps open, like a wind tunnel back to bed.

Next morning, investigate fault, plastic clamp appears to have lost all its strength

Swapped a couple of corners around for a stronger looking one, off to pub

4 pints later

Fucking Awning blown down again

taken down completely & replaced with windbreak

 

Anyway, tested new leisure battery by playing with the i-pod lots

playing DVD films after dark with lights on

& not starting the engine all week

 

Came to go home and you've guessed it

 

Fired up first time and ran home 200 miles faultlessly

[garethj]

So now I'm sitting in front of eBay and Autotrader on my second glass of McAllan, trying to find a 7-seater under a grand (HA BLOODY HA!) for some friends who are emigrating and need something to cart their 4 kids around in before they decamp to Oz while they sell their Y-plate Golf GT TDI and 55-plate 330d Touring.

You need a nice Volvo 740 with 7 seat option, you do. You'd get 2 for a grand, or mine for £500

[The Moog]

Bumhats.. coil didn't solve the problem. Will try fitting new Ignition Amplifier to see if that makes it better.

[Negative Creep]

MOT welding all done. Turned out it was a bit more involved than the garage first though but they stuck with their original quote even though it would have cost nearly £100 more than first planned (which would have pushed it dangerously close to write-off territory)

 

Now just need someone to buy it..........

[r.welfare]

You need a nice Volvo 740 with 7 seat option, you do. You'd get 2 for a grand, or mine for £500

 

Put Volvos in 940 and 850 flavour with the 7-seat option on a shortlist. Plus a 406 Family (what a little tinker I am). Probably a far better option than the 'spares or repair' shagged-out Espaces and Sharalhambralaxys out there - having said that three of the children are 16, 15 and 14, and the fourth is 18 months, so I'm not sure a conventional estate with a bench in t'boot will be what they're after.

 

I did also spot a couple of Mitsubishi Space Wagons from the turn of the century and a Toyota Picnic, which were my 'cars of the week'. so we'll see.

[Pillock]

Pew-jo 505 Estate? 7 seater my arse, you get 8 in them!

[r.welfare]

No doubt Mikey can provide video evidence of that.

 

A 505 is a GR8 idea, difficult to find these days though. An early Espace would probably be perfick, as I suspect they're looking for something to double as a van while they take all their detritus they're not shipping to Oz to the tip/charity shop.

[wuvvum]

Welf, how about this beauty?