320touring's Elgrand.. tyred and Hired (not really, just on loan) 15/05/23

[320touring]

12 minutes ago, gm said:

£1.40/litro isn't so bad, the best I've seen round here is £1.45

I'll fill the boot up on the Clio before I head down to yours🤣

[320touring]

I asked on the ElGrand owners club (yep, it's a thing!) About the fuse and got the following info back:

Hi the washer fuse is on the wipers if I remember right so if wipers work the pump should more likely to be a problem with the pump may be they are all gummed up

This means that

 If the wipers work, then the fuse feeding the motors is ok.

Next thing to do would be to check for 12v at the pump wiring when the switch is activated.

Then pull the pumps and see if they can be cleaned and coaxed back into life or replaced.

Fallback position being put another tank under the bonnet with a pump in it and connect it to the screenwash pipework and wiring .

 

As for the washer bottle? It sits here

[Jim Bell]

That's a great place to put it like. Ease of access level 0/100

[320touring]

7 minutes ago, Jim Bell said:

That's a great place to put it like. Ease of access level 0/100

Apparently the arch liner should come out so you can get in...

[320touring]

Moving away from washer motor misery,

 

Does anyone want to play "guess the MPG"?

What do we think this tank will yield?

 

76L tank (though I'll hopefully fill it before it runs out)

3.3 V6 170bhp attached to a 4 speed auto driving rear wheels

Weighs 1.9tonnes empty

Driving styles (expected activities)

Motorway at 60mph - 65%

A/B roads 15%

Town roads 15%

Tip runs loaded 5%

 

Place bets now! 

Book will close Sunday 5th Feb at 10pm.

Will aim to have a refill done by Sunday 12th Feb if I have done enough miles

[Forty45]

23mpg

[Lanciaman]

19.7 mpg

[aldo135]

24.5 mpg. Watching with interest Neil, I like these 🙂

[Jim Bell]

27.6 mpg

[Back_For_More]

21.4mpg...... Traffic jams not withstanding 

[DVee8]

18.6 mpg

[Popsicle]

19.9 mpg

[hairnet]

less than 25 more than 20

 

[barefoot]

I reckon it'll manage just the right side of 20 - so that's 20.1 mpg from the barefoot judge.

[320touring]

43 minutes ago, barefoot said:

I reckon it'll manage just the right side of 20 - so that's 20.1 mpg from the barefoot judge.

I do honestly think it won't fare better than a type 2. The one thing in its favour is the 170bhp..

[320touring]

4 hours ago, aldo135 said:

24.5 mpg. Watching with interest Neil, I like these 🙂

Don't worry, I'll make sure it's cleaned before you collect it🤣

[Dave_Q]

28.7mpg. On the high side but I reckon you can do it with a bit of effort.

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

Put a 9v battery on the dashboard with a few wires going inside the dashboard, slap a green plate on it and a sticker "optimistic hybrid".

[HillmanImp]

My 3.5 e51 did 17mpg on the motorway with 3 of us, our camping equipment, bikes and my driving. 

Genuinely would've been cheaper to stay in a fancy hotel than go away that evening. 

Whatever it is, I know its bad. 

[320touring]

1 minute ago, HillmanImp said:

My 3.5 e51 did 17mpg on the motorway with 3 of us, our camping equipment, bikes and my driving. 

Genuinely would've been cheaper to stay in a fancy hotel than go away that evening. 

Whatever it is, I know its bad. 

Sounds promising 🤣

[Stanky]

4 minutes ago, HillmanImp said:

My 3.5 e51 did 17mpg on the motorway with 3 of us, our camping equipment, bikes and my driving. 

Genuinely would've been cheaper to stay in a fancy hotel than go away that evening. 

Whatever it is, I know its bad. 

Benchmark: Set.

based on this insider knowledge, 16.6 MPG from me.

And genuine apologies if I am anywhere remotely close to being right!

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

Look at it like a test run for owning a V12 Jag.

[320touring]

Over at the unit today for a bit more fettling..

First up, in classic "Fiddling whilst Rome burns" fashion, the wiper arms.

Since @Supernaut did his on the Rexton, I've been thinking how scabby these ones were ..

 

not for me the brave game of removing the arms - instead it was time to deploy carpet tiles ! Also I couldn't get the wipers to unclip easily, so they just got painted🤣

Before

Sanded and Vactanned

Primered

PENTIT

[320touring]

At the back end of the van, I decided to do a bit more tidying of the bootlid.

Some of it was pretty rough:

 

Others just seemed to be that classic 'exploding rust in the middle of a panel"

a fair whack of Vactan on most of it and a skim* of filler on others..

I then sanded it down and prepped for primer. @GingerNuttz should not be worried for his job!

I'll be sanding it back down for a final prep once I get paint ordered for it. I just need to decode the paint codes and get some ordered.

 

[320touring]

Now onto the main event!

From the Engineers at Nissan...

"Gynecology through a letter box"

Take one washer bottle, one inner wing and a dose of masochism...

Cover over with an outer wing and place a splash guard and wheel in the way.

There you go - working blind with sharp plastics and metal around.

They made it even more fun* by making the electrical connectors be at the top, and also be on a sufficiently short wire to thwart any attempt to get the pump into daylight so you can see what to do.

After a selection of efforts from @Supernaut , @jaypee and myself we had the pumps out to test.

The rear pump was moribund, but the front one came to life with the direct application of 12v.

@Supernaut applied some electrical contact cleaner to the plug for the front pump..

 

The result?

https://youtu.be/FjoHjkbKYOI

[stuboy]

On 2/4/2023 at 3:38 PM, 320touring said:

I do honestly think it won't fare better than a type 2. The one thing in its favour is the 170bhp..

what was the mpg?

[320touring]

6 minutes ago, stuboy said:

what was the mpg?

Still doing the tank - hopefully get a figure by Saturday like I said

[jaypee]

2 hours ago, 320touring said:

Still doing the tank - hopefully get a figure by Saturday like I said

EXCITEMENT BUILDS

[High Jetter]

Can my Mrs get one too?

[320touring]

25 minutes ago, jaypee said:

EXCITEMENT BUILDS

Hot off the press..

 

304 km in..