Grogee's spannering (Maestro , Corsa & Avensis). THIS CORROSION, BABY

[EyesWeldedShut]

17 hours ago, grogee said:

but next time will be twice as quick as I know where everything is now. 

Which assuredly guarantees that you will never, ever have to repeat that job. Ever.
Ask me how I know  

p.s. what tool for stretchy belts in confined space? I have two to do on Pug and the thing I had got sent back

[grogee]

33 minutes ago, EyesWeldedShut said:

p.s. what tool for stretchy belts in confined space? I have two to do on Pug and the thing I had got sent back

I've not done a stretchy belt thus far, but I've seen plastic things you put on a pulley and then turn engine and belt rides up it. @RoverFolkUs and @twosmoke300 might know more. 

[twosmoke300]

If it’s a single belt set up then you don’t need the tool . Just wind it on like you would a push bike chain when you were a kid 

[RoverFolkUs]

3 hours ago, grogee said:

I've not done a stretchy belt thus far, but I've seen plastic things you put on a pulley and then turn engine and belt rides up it. @RoverFolkUs and @twosmoke300 might know more. 

The plastic things are junk - single pulleys wind them on like twosmoke said, use a cable tie to hold it in place if needed. 

Double pulleys can be a bit of a pain. To get it on the inner part then I just wind the engine backwards. You *shouldn't* do this, but to date I've never had a problem. I put this down to pointing my tongue in a certain position while doing it 😅

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

The plastic things are junk - single pulleys wind them on like twosmoke said, use a cable tie to hold it in place if needed. 

Double pulleys can be a bit of a pain. To get it on the inner part then I just wind the engine backwards. You *shouldn't* do this, but to date I've never had a problem. I put this down to pointing my tongue in a certain position while doing it 😅

Thanks (and to @twosmoke300) - this is a 2013 PUMA engine without a/c so there's two single belts (one each for p/s pump and alternator) on the crank pulley, or there was, I think, last time I looked.
Never had any joy with the 'tools' so the bike chain idea sounds good.
Never* turned and engine backwards either

[twosmoke300]

Most engines I don’t care about turning them backwards but the petrol Ford motors have a purely spring loaded cam belt tensioner which gives me the ick about rotating backwards 

[RoverFolkUs]

9 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

Most engines I don’t care about turning them backwards but the petrol Ford motors have a purely spring loaded cam belt tensioner which gives me the ick about rotating backwards 

You just need to grow a pair 😃

[twosmoke300]

23 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

You just need to grow a pair 😃

Undoubtedly true . 
Pretty risk averse really 

[RoverFolkUs]

On 11/01/2024 at 11:42, grogee said:

 

@RoverFolkUs @twosmoke300 have you come across a stuck actuator before? If so how should I free it?

- Needs a new turbo m8

- WD40, wiggling, push pull swear

- Other

Of course it's at the back of the engine bay in a not very convenient position

Oops, missed this. 

Trouble with this sort of thing, from a commercial standpoint it's much easier to say "might need a new one m8, quote as follows. £telephonenumbers" Rather than suggesting possible fixes and then £1-200 later explaining that it's not helped. 

If it's seized then it's obviously not right. You could try freeing it off, I don't have any other tricks up my sleeve than what has already been suggested, Mr muscle or WD40. 

But I've never tried getting too involved in that sort of thing. When I've tried it in the past, it's only come back a short while later having seized up again or completely fallen apart from the enthusiastic wiggling. Or it just hasn't worked at all and needs replacing anyway, and hence ends up being a waste of time. 

If you took the turbo off and found a rebuild kit for it, you could probably do that. I'm always inclined to prescribe a replacement due to commercial viability, however you have the advantage of sacrificing your own time to save a chunk of cash if you wish to.

I do keep some of these kits on the shelf: 

But I've never used one in anger to be able to comment on whether it helps. I bought them thinking that they will be worth a try some day...

Someone might be able to say if they've used that kit, in which case I'd be interested to hear if it cleaned anything off or proved to be a waste of time and money. 

[twosmoke300]

I’ve had success with the Power Maxxed turbo cleaning 5 piece kit .

Still a bit of a fuck about .

Its not the lever pivot that seizes but the vanes inside so don’t go silly trying to put more force through the lever to free it off as it will prob break something 

[grogee]

30 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Oops, missed this. 

Trouble with this sort of thing, from a commercial standpoint it's much easier to say "might need a new one m8, quote as follows. £telephonenumbers" Rather than suggesting possible fixes and then £1-200 later explaining that it's not helped. 

If it's seized then it's obviously not right. You could try freeing it off, I don't have any other tricks up my sleeve than what has already been suggested, Mr muscle or WD40. 

But I've never tried getting too involved in that sort of thing. When I've tried it in the past, it's only come back a short while later having seized up again or completely fallen apart from the enthusiastic wiggling. Or it just hasn't worked at all and needs replacing anyway, and hence ends up being a waste of time. 

If you took the turbo off and found a rebuild kit for it, you could probably do that. I'm always inclined to prescribe a replacement due to commercial viability, however you have the advantage of sacrificing your own time to save a chunk of cash if you wish to.

I do keep some of these kits on the shelf: 

But I've never used one in anger to be able to comment on whether it helps. I bought them thinking that they will be worth a try some day...

Someone might be able to say if they've used that kit, in which case I'd be interested to hear if it cleaned anything off or proved to be a waste of time and money. 

Interesting. Thanks for the info, I do appreciate it. 

You're right, I am in a different position to the trade in that I can afford to faff about and I don't consider my time to be a valuable resource! I've also got the luxury of alternative wheels if I do manage to cock something up catastrophically. 

I'm also happy/interested in 'experimenting' whereas you guys need proven, first-time fixes to keep customers happy and stop customers coming back. 

Therefore I think I'll give this Revive snake oil a try. It's £36 but I'm offsetting that with the time, skinned knuckles and new gasket (£17) needed for my Mr Muscle method. That's before any broken bolts and studs trying to separate the turbo from the exhaust. 

I must admit that I'm sceptical just because I'm imagining there being big lumps of carbon blocking up the VGT blades, and I don't see how something that's passed through the combustion process will have enough 'oomph' to shift the caked grot. Hopefully I'm wrong! 

@twosmoke300 thanks for the tip, I'll report back once I've tried Revive and if that doesn't work I'll try PowerMaxed kit. 

[grogee]

Weather is still "good" (dry) so I shuffled under the Avensis to get rid of the rust I'd seen at the back of the sills. 

It's actually not as bad as it looks. There's a lot of 'meat' in that area so although it looked like the rust was taking a hold it's actually very sound. 

Did battle with the angry wire wheel, being careful to avoid delicate wires and pipes. I've done a splash of rust juice but no paint yet, that can wait for tomorrow. Got some cheapo red oxide from the cheap shop in town. 

I'm beginning to be won over by Lanoguard hype & marketing although actual purchasing will have to wait until #notfuckingJanuary. I think it could be good to dose the underside of the Maestro. 

[grogee]

I managed to apply one coat of red oxide primer and one of generic gloss black to the affected areas. I should have really gone and bought some more from our local Cheap Shop but I just couldn't be arsed! It's better than it was and nobody can see my shit brushwork. 

In my defence it is bloody perishing out there. Anyway all back together and buttoned up ready for action. 

The 'Revive' snake oil has arrived. My hope is that it will free up the VGT vanes without the need for any disassembly. You squirt it in the intake following a strict procedure of revs/pauses/amounts and then go for an Italian... after which it should be 'completely cured'. We'll see. 

[grogee]

Snake oil experiment: As recommended* by @RoverFolkUs, I have followed the instructions for the Revive turbo diesel turbo cleaner carbon remover snake oil.

I am sceptical of course, how can something so benign be effective at clearing out crap from the VGT vanes? It's even non-toxic apparently, and looks suspiciously like piss. Weirdly I'd have more faith if it was a super-dangerous formulation supplied with breathing apparatus. For reference, Mr Muscle spray oven cleaner is extremely caustic.

But remember this is going through the combustion cycle, so presumably going into the cylinders, being compressed at ~16:1, ignited and then exhausted into the manifold and turbo where it 'works its magic'. Hard to know then whether it stays in its current formulation or somehow reacts during the combustion to create a 'cleaning gas' of some sort.

It has a fairly contrived application procedure, I'm not sure if this is because they want you to think there's some magic 'science' going on or if there genuinely is a reason for the different rev durations/spray application. It does say start applying to the engine stone cold.

@Cluffy was at the controls on the loud pedal while I squirted the bottle.

Then after this sequence is complete (including a 4-minute 'stopped engine' period) you leave the car to idle and 'wait for the smoke to clear'. There was a lot of clag.

This leads me to believe the stuff does something, although I'm not sure what. And of course some of that smoke may well be steam from the Revive potion itself.

After this, I buttoned up the air intake trunking and went for the prescribed Italian. I swear, this isn't in my blood. I generally pootle about at minimum revs and sometimes minimum speed. But the instructions call for 'use all the revs'  during a 20 minute drive so that's exactly what I did.

Could be imagining it but it did feel like it was GLF. At the top end this is a powerful engine. But alas no evidence that it's improved torque low down, at least not yet.

Tomorrow I'll have another go with the actuator arm and see if it's moving freely now (it'll be smoking hot now and I don't fancy burned sausage fingers).

[grogee]

And the results are in: Revive snake oil is a FAIL. Turbo actuator still stuck fast. 

I had a more exploratory look at things today and discovered the cat heat shield was held on by one bolt so someone's been here before trying to 'fix' it. Actually it helped me because I was able to shift it out of the way to try and lever the actuator with various tools, none of which were successful. 

So looks like plan B will be separate the cat from the turbo and go in for the Mr Muscle treatment through a straw. I had a quick go at shifting the turbo nuts and I got one to crack with a 3/4" ratchet so it might be doable. Of course there's one of the three nuts that's behind everything, not visible and a bit inaccessible but I might invest in a new 12mm deep hex socket for that one. 

It wouldn't be 'fixing' if I didn't break something, this time the vac solenoid. It had a delicate air filter jobbie that snapped off pretty readily. Luckily it was marked 'ATM' so I've wrapped a bit of cloth round the intake and secured* with a cable tie. 

[Sunny Jim]

I'm losing count but hopefully that's more steps forwards than back. Hope you get there without too much more embuggerance.

[twosmoke300]

3/4 ratchet ? Shit got real 

[RoverFolkUs]

20 minutes ago, twosmoke300 said:

3/4 ratchet ? Shit got real 

Dig out the 110v inverter 🤣🤣

[grogee]

2 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

3/4 ratchet ? Shit got real 

Blonde moment. 1/2", stand down. 

What are those sockets called that grip the flats? Metrinch maybe? 

[grogee]

10 minutes ago, grogee said:

Blonde moment. 1/2", stand down. 

What are those sockets called that grip the flats? Metrinch maybe? 

XI-on. Found a set for £27, albeit 3/8". Trouble is I don't think I can get the 1/2" extension to go behind the turbo housing 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/175087965310?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=711-127632-2357-0&ssspo=0RbtY2feRfS&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=2Z40wC2iSsq&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

[Noel Tidybeard]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Blonde moment. 1/2", stand down. 

What are those sockets called that grip the flats? Metrinch maybe? 

six sided

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, grogee said:

Blonde moment. 1/2", stand down. 

What are those sockets called that grip the flats? Metrinch maybe? 

Ah, diddy stuff! 🤣

[grogee]

Operation Upgrade Audio:

The Avensis has a superficially quite-nice head unit with nav, probably quite a desirable option when new. However it has the following downsides:

- Road data from 2008 (I think). You'd imagine this wouldn't matter much but it's surprising how much it's changed in 15 years

- It doesn't accept postcodes (I think)

- Most annoyingly, there is no aux-in or Bluetooth so I can't listen to CHOONS. Instead I'm currently making do with Van Driver AM radio (TalkSport). This makes me feel grubby. 

To address this mild inconvenience I'll be pulling apart most of the interior trim to install:

- A Sony double din head unit with DAB and blue teeth. This uses Android/Google maps for navigation, and is therefore always up to date

- Wiring for a dash cam 

- DAB antenna 

- Speaker upgrade for front doors

- Possibly a little amp to drive the front speakers if I can get it to fit

Interestingly* the 12v to 5v power supply usually interferes with DAB reception so I'll route the cables up different A-pillars. 

@philibusmo of this parish has supplied me with a cage, steering wheel adapter and various other bits I'll need to complete this. 

Normally I'd install an amp/sub for maximum MEGABASS but it's rare I get the opportunity to turn things up these days, plus I don't want to hurt my crap hearing any more than I need to. I may run a signal cable to the boot and do something later though. 

It must have hurt Toyota's sales in the market, not having phone connectivity back in 2008 - I'm pretty sure most rep cars were supplied with something back then. I expect it was addressed with the (2009?) facelift. 

[Joey spud]

The tilt mechanism and then the display died on my one about a year ago so I found and very loosely fitted my faithful Alpine unit in the hole.

Then for Xmas I was gifted a £22.99 Chinese double din thing again it's just wedged in the hole but for the money it's actually quite good.

[grogee]

2 hours ago, Joey spud said:

The tilt mechanism and then the display died on my one about a year ago so I found and very loosely fitted my faithful Alpine unit in the hole.

 

Never mind that. Please tell me how to execute POOL BALL GEARKNOB

[MrBiscuits]

That looks suspiciously like the nav in my old Lexus - also 2008. I thought at first mine didn't do postcodes. It did, but only if you included the space between first & last bits of the code.

[grogee]

17 minutes ago, MrBiscuits said:

That looks suspiciously like the nav in my old Lexus - also 2008. I thought at first mine didn't do postcodes. It did, but only if you included the space between first & last bits of the code.

Yes I think I've read it might do postcodes but to be honest it's a bit of a paperweight without up-to-date maps. That said, the 'tilt' function is quite snazzy. 

Even if that were sorted, the aux-in isn't trivial (and possibly not doable with plug-in solutions, so I've read) and that doesn't necessarily solve the hands free problem, so an aftermarket Sony feels like a good idea. 

I've kind of resisted going to a touchscreen head unit so far but I can see the benefits and Android Auto seems like a good piece of software, so maybe it's time I stepped into the 2010s for a change. 

[Joey spud]

46 minutes ago, grogee said:

Never mind that. Please tell me how to execute POOL BALL GEARKNOB

My original knob cover was getting a bit flakey. It just unscrews and is a 12x1.25 thread.

I got this one off eBay that was pre drilled I'm fairly sure it was from Jakebullet's shop. 

[grogee]

This weekend has been surprisingly quiet, I don't know how I've got away without doing piss boring jobs like painting or DIY. But somehow I did. 

It's actually pretty mild round these parts today, so no hardship to jack up the front of the Maestro for some precautionary brake work. 

As mentioned earlier in the thread I have suspicions that the front brakes are binding a little. So I bought the Bigg Red kit a few weeks ago. 

Did driver's side first because that's how it ended up on the drive. I'm amazed that apart from the crappy clip that retains the 'low brake pad warning' cable, it all behaved itself remarkably well. 

I cracked off all the hose joints before undoing the caliper. The body bracket feels a bit fragile so I didn't want to lean hard on it, luckily I didn't have to, the union turned OK with moderate force. 

Then I stripped and cleaned the caliper. To be honest there's nothing wrong this side, the dust boot was intact and the piston was moving fine. But I cleaned it up and replaced the rubbers & piston anyway. Bit fiddly getting the dust boot to seat but got there in the end. 

Regarding that broken clip - it sits under the bleed nipple so I've got to fashion some sort of bracket so I can cable tie the connector to the caliper. I'm assuming that part is NLA because... Maestro. 

[grogee]

Not much spannering today but I did get to my tracking appointment at our local tyre shysters (Southam Tyres). 

I booked an online-only front wheel alignment for £30, but I should have been smarter and booked all four wheels which I think was £60.

Anyway I trotted off to my appointment, and once the car is up in the air the bloke comes out and says the rears need doing as well - "£45". I tried to argue it's £30 online (for each end - I'd already paid for the fronts) but no dice. 

To be honest unless he's tweaking the equipment to get a duff result, and THEN going under the car and making very convincing spannery movements, I think it's genuine. The Avensis has an adjustable rear track rod thing that looks a bit like a steering arm with a TRE on the end of it, so there is adjustment there and it's not via those stupid eccentric bolts that seize up. 

It does drive better after so it definitely wanted doing. I'm mainly protecting my 'investment' because the car came with four nearly new Goodyears, and I don't think I've had such good tyres on a car since my brand new Focus.