Grogee's spannering (Maestro , Corsa & Avensis). MAESTRO NEWSFLASH

[High Jetter]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

Chips got. E5 got. 

According to my maths, it's been averaging 33.3mpg which, while shit, is probably about right for an 80s brick with an O-series. 

Love the cluster, nostalgic. Get a night shot sometime?

[grogee]

14 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Love the cluster, nostalgic. Get a night shot sometime?

I will HJ. 

Been scrubbing car with 'Waterless Wash & Wax' this morning ready for the rally. I don't know what's in this stuff but it seems quite effective for getting the last bits of muck off a generally 'clean' car. 

The classic car beards are already arriving for the rally (being early seems to be a Lincolnshire thing) so rather than talk to them about camshafts and number plates I'm hiding inside drinking tea.

#introvert

[grogee]

#villagesunday

[grogee]

About £2000 raised for Dementia Support South Lincs. Participants and families enjoying tea and cake. 

Now back at home watching the footie. Only Maestro fault to report is a dicky speaker which will be down to my ham fisted install. 

[grogee]

CBT: got. 

The word on the street is these Benellis are decent bikes, however I found it pretty uncomfortable and with the usual plodding four stroke. It did seem quite well made and the brakes were really good. Made my hands go numb/pins and needles though. 

However a few reasons why the CBT is annoying. Firstly, the other guy doing same course as me had just a provisional licence and knew nothing of the highway code. He, like me, has left with a licence to wobble a 125cc bike across the country. Feels like a loophole. 

Secondly, I get the emphasis on low speed control but there's hours on that shit and not enough about actually being in traffic and dealing with hazards. Then reviewing what you did right or wrong. 

I'd prefer a quick 'learn to operate' then a theory test, then out on the road, then review the GoPro footage to see how to improve. 

Thirdly, this two year thing is bullshit. For many people the 125 is all they'll ever need but unless they do Big Bike course they'll have to repeat every other year at £160 a pop. 

[Dave_Q]

It's not mega but they have to take account for the fact that a decent % of people will get their new ped etc delivered straight there having never touched, seen or ridden it.

I've been on ones where they take you out a bit sooner if they think everyone is ok on the handling stuff, depends on the instructor.

[Skcat]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

CBT: got. 

The word on the street is these Benellis are decent bikes, however I found it pretty uncomfortable and with the usual plodding four stroke. It did seem quite well made and the brakes were really good. Made my hands go numb/pins and needles though. 

However a few reasons why the CBT is annoying. Firstly, the other guy doing same course as me had just a provisional licence and knew nothing of the highway code. He, like me, has left with a licence to wobble a 125cc bike across the country. Feels like a loophole. 

Secondly, I get the emphasis on low speed control but there's hours on that shit and not enough about actually being in traffic and dealing with hazards. Then reviewing what you did right or wrong. 

I'd prefer a quick 'learn to operate' then a theory test, then out on the road, then review the GoPro footage to see how to improve. 

Thirdly, this two year thing is bullshit. For many people the 125 is all they'll ever need but unless they do Big Bike course they'll have to repeat every other year at £160 a pop. 

It's strange system that encourages everyone too get a CBT and do no further training. A couple years ago I got a CBT then got a full licence. Then I drive around London and see everyone with L plates on scooters riding around with their feet out everywhere.

Rather then redoing a cbt people ought to get a proper licence, however as long as they ride a little bike and never go on the motorway there is no incentive.

The pathway to passing a bike test is extremely dated and annoying in the UK but their is not much intrest in updating it. 

I would 100% advise just going to get a full A1 licence then getting a bike. It means you will never need to deal with the system again and you won't pick up bad habits you need too unlearn! Good luck! 

[grogee]

Bit of an update. 

On the cars front, Maestro has developed weird battery fault that I'm certain is related to the Chinese remote control master switch I installed for security purposes. 

When I can be bothered I'll take bazza out and remove the relay and see if I'm still getting weird faults. 

I also need to get at the wiper motor because the jerky wipers are doing my head in. 

Meanwhile - the soon-to-be ex-Mrs Grogee's Corsa has shat its radiator... "Oh I meant to tell you, I was driving along and I got a red light showing a temperature gauge, is that important?" 

👀

To be scrupulously fair to her, the car doesn't have a temperature gauge. 

I simply couldn't be arsed crawling about trying to find the leak so subcontracted that to our tame mechanic Shaun, who soon found the leak at the top part of the rad. 

The complicating factor may be the necessity to degas the AC system, to move condenser, to get enough room to remove the rad. 

Quote to repair was £290, probably reasonable but I can get a decent brand rad plus coolant for under £100 so I think I'll do it myself to win some 'divorce points'. 

Big shout out to @Cluffy for giving me a lift to and from the garage today in a Range Rover. 

Later on I'll be unloading the Honda NS125R wot I bought from @castros_bro, thankfully it fitted neatly in the Avensis boot with seats folded. Although it is partially dismantled. Mark is a trusted shiter, scholar and gent, would buy another bucket of motorbike from him 14/10.

Mrs Grogee is going to be ecstatic* about that sitting on the patio while I nail it together. 

[loserone]

Is it the Corsa or the Mrs who is for the block?

[grogee]

3 minutes ago, loserone said:

Is it the Corsa or the Mrs who is for the block?

The Mrs! The Vauxhall was the last straw. AVAS etc. 

[grogee]

Operation Radiator. 

This is standard stuff for An Small Car, there is a lot of plastic and wiring to release but the bumper and the lights were pretty easy. 

Getting the radiator out was a bit of a logic puzzle but fortunately did not require an air con degas m9. 

Getting all those fiddly bits back on in the right order and right place may be a challenge, I just know that I'm going to forget to fit something and have to pull it apart again. 

Anyway rad was £80ish for Denso which appears to be OEM. £12ish for some red antifreeze concentrate. 

If you knew what you were doing and are not a buffoon like me, it's probably two hours work. 

That should keep Mrs (soon to be ex-mrs) Grogee quiet for a while, hopefully until we're in separate houses. Then she might start to appreciate the value of a live-in mechanic...

[grogee]

I'm embarking on a favour for my stepdad, some mot work on his 16-plate Focus. It's now done about 110k and has been pretty reliable. 

He's not really a cars person but understands he needs to service it, although he generally just waits for the rain to wash it for him so it's pretty grubby. 

Saying that he's mechanically sympathetic so the car feels tight apart from a few issues:

1) Bearing noise at 50+. I hope it's a wheel bearing but it could be diff bearing(s) I suppose. 

2) ABS light on. This is new. I'm not sure if this gen Focus uses the bearing as part of the ABS setup - @RoverFolkUsand @twosmoke300 do you know?

I'm going to leave the bearing(s) to a garage because I know my (supposedly 2 tonne) press isn't really man enough. It just about did the Maestro bearings but then I tried to do a BMW bush and I think I've borked it. 

I can at least read the ABS codes and isolate what is causing the fault. 

Anyway my jobs are to change the lower arms, front discs and pads plus a service. It's a 1.5 dizzle which I'm hoping doesn't need anything special to change/bleed the fuel filter. 

I've bought the correct Mannol oil as well as Delphi lower arms, Brembo pads etc - all very reasonable if you shop around and avoid the usual factor scumbags. 

New nearside lower arm is partially on but rain stopped play here - FFS it's July!!! 

[RoverFolkUs]

55 minutes ago, grogee said:

1) Bearing noise at 50+. I hope it's a wheel bearing but it could be diff bearing(s) I suppose. 

2) ABS light on. This is new. I'm not sure if this gen Focus uses the bearing as part of the ABS setup - @RoverFolkUsand @twosmoke300 do you know?

Yes ABS reluctor is part of the wheel bearing on the MK3, they've actually done it that way since the MK1

MK3 is only a Gen 1 bearing like the MK1, slightly easier in the sense you don't need the special gen 2 bearing tool they decided to use for the MK2..

Rear wheel bearings are complete with ABS reluctor and sensor. They just bolt on, no press required. Although they are prone to getting seized into the axle so a beefy slide hammer is useful for those

Bearing noise - do you know the trick of holding onto the coil spring while spinning the wheel? Mainly helps on the fronts, you'll feel any roughness in the spring.

Not quite so effective on the rears unless it's really bad. You'll usually hear a bad rear bearing just by spinning the wheel anyway 

[grogee]

Thanks RFU. No I didn't know the 'holding the coil spring' trick but I do now! Thank you. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that there's bearing noise and (after at least six months of turning the radio up) now an ABS fault. I'll see what the code sniffer says, but 8 years/110k is more than acceptable bearing life in my book. 

[RoverFolkUs]

18 minutes ago, grogee said:

Thanks RFU. No I didn't know the 'holding the coil spring' trick but I do now! Thank you. 

I don't think it's a coincidence that there's bearing noise and (after at least six months of turning the radio up) now an ABS fault. I'll see what the code sniffer says, but 8 years/110k is more than acceptable bearing life in my book. 

No worries, it works particularly best on basic MacPherson strut setups, anything where the shock is fixed directly to the knuckle, either by bolts or pinch bolts. Something like a multi link Audi with the strut attached to an arm via bushes then it doesn't work quite so well. Definitely will work on a Focus though!

I would agree, it commonly brings up an ABS light when there is quite a bit of evident free play in the bearing. Although sometimes so much "rusty shit" (technical term..!) will be produced within the knackered bearing assembly, the pickup ring starts to get damaged. Although, equally likely it's a coincidence, I would say. 

If you've got a fault code for invalid signal from speed sensor (not to be confused with the likely invalid data received from ABS that may be stored in the engine ECU) then it's likely a bearing issue. If it's coming up with a speed sensor circuit fault then it's more likely sensor or wiring than bearing/reluctor however sometimes fault codes don't accurately describe the actual fault, and may be there to mislead you. Just for fun!

[grogee]

Anyone come across this before?

Coolant cap broke/stuck in coolant degas bottle...

I've tried levering it out but decided to just screw the top bit back on for now, topped up through the little spigot on the side which I think the factory uses for vac filling.

[Popsicle]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Anyone come across this before?

Coolant cap broke/stuck in coolant degas bottle...

I've tried levering it out but decided to just screw the top bit back on for now, topped up through the little spigot on the side which I think the factory uses for vac filling.

This happened on my old Zafira, managed to pry the spring bit out the expansion tank with a couple of big flat head screwdrivers each side, IIRC £15 at the local Vauxhall dealer for a new one. This was a Friday morning, wrote the car off Friday teatime 😒.

[grogee]

@RoverFolkUs in case you're interested, this is the ABS fault code. I've not investigated any further because I can't move the car until parts arrive. (I think the steering sensor code is spurious). 

[grogee]

18 hours ago, Popsicle said:

This happened on my old Zafira, managed to pry the spring bit out the expansion tank with a couple of big flat head screwdrivers each side, IIRC £15 at the local Vauxhall dealer for a new one. This was a Friday morning, wrote the car off Friday teatime 😒.

Yes but top marks for a very symmetrical shunt. 🙃

I take it everyone was OK? 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

@RoverFolkUs in case you're interested, this is the ABS fault code. I've not investigated any further because I can't move the car until parts arrive. (I think the steering sensor code is spurious). 

Hmm, I'd clear and retry. Then check live data for the signal on that corner while jacked up and spinning the wheel

21 hours ago, grogee said:

Anyone come across this before?

Coolant cap broke/stuck in coolant degas bottle...

I've tried levering it out but decided to just screw the top bit back on for now, topped up through the little spigot on the side which I think the factory uses for vac filling.

Yes, very often. A ball ache, just replace the expansion tank. £20 and job done, usually end up breaking the tank trying to fish it out 

[Popsicle]

10 hours ago, grogee said:

Yes but top marks for a very symmetrical shunt. 🙃

I take it everyone was OK? 

Cheers, the other side still had both wheels attached so it wasn't as symmetrical as my OCD would have liked! The front wheel complete with suspension leg, hub and driveshaft  was stuck in the central reservation crash barrier, the fire brigade couldn't get it out, the tyre was a week old Goodyear.

It was still there two weeks later (M1 near J11), then a few weeks after I got a nice letter from Highways England with a bill for £7k for the barrier repair!

Bust wrist and an overall battering and bruising, but to be honest looking back it could have been much worse. The other driver seemed fine and just kept shouting 'praise the lord its a miracle', I had to walk away as I felt like chinning the cunt and kept thinking of Basil Fawlty and O'Reilly the builder.

[grogee]

More focus on the Focus.

It's starting to show its age a bit underneath. Body is fine but the subframe will be the thing that finishes it (engine and gearbox are lovely). There's also a body brace underneath the front seat area that's pretty crusty but it's a bolt on part so easy to replace. 

The lower arms were a bit of a pain in the arse because you've got to slide the rear brackety part underneath the anti roll bar mounts, and of course there's next to no hand access. 

With hindsight if I was doing it again I would do both sides at the same time - I didn't do this, trying to keep a driveway space open for Mrs Grogee. 

But with both ARB mounts undone, there is no torsion in the bar pressing it down and preventing the bracket from sliding in. 

Unfortunately I didn't do this, making the job twice as hard as necessary. 

Also the whole thing was very 'start stop' having bought the wrong bits, then waiting for the right bits to arrive. It's all done except putting new disc and pads on the nearside. 

Anyway to kill time in the interim I got this Maestro floor panel a bit less rusty. I've now run out of rust juice so I think I'm going to make my own using the Project Farm recipe. I'll also be needing to remortgage to buy some more of that posh zinc anode stuff. 

[Cluffy]

On 18/07/2024 at 21:49, grogee said:

Anyway to kill time in the interim I got this Maestro floor panel a bit less rusty. I've now run out of rust juice so I think I'm going to make my own using the Project Farm recipe. I'll also be needing to remortgage to buy some more of that posh zinc anode stuff. 

 

I've got some rust stuff you can have if you need it...

[grogee]

Toyota went in for MoT today and it had the temerity to FAIL. Ungrateful bastard! I even washed and hoovered it on Saturday. 

Luckily it's not a biggie. Offside front lower BJ and there's a kindly Irish gent who has a YouTube vid showing how to change it. 

Bit surprised because the front lower arms were fairly new on the car when I bought it, but maybe they are chinesium. 

No bother really, a new Blue Print one is only £14 so a couple of hours swearing should have it back in shape. 

[grogee]

Washed and hoovered the Maestro after Shitefest. It wasn't too bad really, it managed to escape any serious mud and I was mainly just clearing off squashed bugs. 

I've also fixed the juddery wipers. I managed to buy a NOS wiper motor for £not mental thanks to a fellow shiter tipping me off - see further up the thread. 

Interestingly, the motor arrived with its mounting holes untapped. Luckily it's an aluminium casting so 10 minutes with an M6 tap fixed that. 

I had a bit of a brain fart when trying to align the mechanism so the wipers parked properly but I soon sussed it out. 

I also removed my remote battery relay. I should have known that being made of Chinesium would result in early failure. What ended up happening was that the remote receiver wouldn't respond to the key fob (yes I tried new batteries) and I couldn't switch the power back on, even though actual battery voltage was good. 

Now I've got a good old fashioned screw terminal that I can use to isolate the battery when required. 

The next job will be to find someone who can weld and paint my (red) replacement tailgate, the existing one is a right 2 and 8. Every time I close the tailgate there's a shower of brown flakes! 

[grogee]

Toyota ball joint changed. 

I sort of wish I hadn't watched that Irish bloke's YT video now. He advised pulling the driveshaft out of the hub for better access to the bottom ball joint castle nut. 

That requires a deep 12-point 30mm socket, which I don't possess. Of course, I have a shallow one... No good.

Went to Leamington to buy the socket... Nowhere had it: Halfords, Toolstation, Screwfix, GSF. So ordered it off amazon. 

Anyway I decided to persevere. It's possible to fiddle the split pin out of the ball joint, then undo the nut with an open ended spanner plus cheater bar. 

There isn't room to get a ring spanner over the nut, and unfortunately my ball joint splitter wouldn't fit in. 

I resorted to the 'pickle fork' method where you bash the wedge shaped thing between the BJ and the hub. No going back though, because it tears the rubber boot up. 

With that done I was able to remove the BJ and slip the new one on. 

I wish I'd paid attention to the alignment of the split pin hole... It ended up being parallel to the driveshaft so it was a fiddle getting the pin to go through then bend it back. 

I also removed the caliper and sliders and gave them a good clean up and regrease because I felt the sliders were a bit stiff. 

All back together now. I'll pop down to see MoT man tomorrow and see if he'll do me a ticket if I leave it with him for the day. 

To celebrate I installed our secret society visual funny handshake:

 

[grogee]

MoT got. That's good because I've got a long distance trip to/from Devon this weekend. 

My backup plan in case of getting a tug from plod was to keep the old ball joint, the receipt for the new one and the fail sheet. My theory was if I could prove it's been done they might go easy on me. 

Unfortunately the air con has taken a nose dive. It's definitely still working as there's a noticeable difference between 'on' and 'off' but it doesn't have the oomph it used to have a few weeks ago.

I connected my AC gas gauges and stuff and the low pressure side seemed a bit low at 25psi. I wasted a half full can of R134a substitute and screwed on a new one in case a new can would force more gas in, but I couldn't get it above 25psi.

I think eventually I'll get a new AC clutch (£50) and fit it to the original Denso compressor then get it 'ungassed' and refit the original. But that'll be another £110 by the time I've paid for a regas. 

[grogee]

Drove to Plymouth and back this weekend. 

I cannot convey just how much it pisses me off not having air con. To the point where as soon as I got back today I jacked it up so I could do some electrical tests on the AC system. 

Accessing the AC clutch feed involves peeling off the complicated under tray which is multi layered and sandwiched, all in all a bit of a ballache. 

Anyway with AC switched on I saw 13.8v on the connector. With it switched off it was around 12v. Bit weird as I was expecting 0v but maybe this is residual and not a true 'on' signal. 

Anyway I connected up my air con octopus to high and low ports and unlike last time I managed to squeeze some gas in. 

So looks like I have a leak, which is annoying with a new condenser AND compressor. Grr. 

When I can be arsed I'll take it back to garage for a leak test. 

[grogee]

Been doing some motorbike tinkering. 

It started with the ignition barrel and escalated from there. 

The bike came with no keys so I had to remove the barrel in preparation to fit a new one that is supplied with a key. 

As part of this I wanted to fit new oil & dust seals to the front forks. So that involves dismantling the front forks down to the crown bits, then that revealed a sub-optimal head stock bearing (is that the right term? It's 'headset' in pushbike world). 

A new bearing set was £10 or so. Worth doing really as it'll be an MoT item. Fitting it involved some choice bashing with various punches and drifts etc, and getting the old bottom inner race off the stock was a battle. 

All buttoned up now awaiting the refit of upper crown and fork legs. 

My next task is some pre-flight checks on the Maestro, which I'll be driving to Lincs on Monday. It's a toss-up between that or the Avensis, and while the Toyota has been doing sterling service recently, I should really get some summer miles onto the Miracle Maestro. 

The forecast has sort of decided it. Next few days is going to be warm but not stifling, so the Maestro's lack of AC shouldn't be unbearable. 

[grogee]

More light tinkering today. Firstly I had a little systems check on the Maestro, as Master Grogee and I are heading up to Lincolnshire tomorrow. Fluid levels, tyre pressures, that sort of thing. 

In the process I broke one of those rubber bonnet bung things which I've temporarily substituted with a bolt and some foam padding. 

After Master Grogee and I finally caught up with the Spa race, I turned my attention to the motorbike. 

It's now back together at the front end, fork, crown and handlebar back together with a fully functional ignition key and lock barrel. 

I've discovered the original brake caliper is a bit seized but there is another in the bucket of spares, so I'll need to do some bleeding. 

No motorbike pics I'm afraid so you'll have to make do with my cat plant.