Car D.I.Y.
- Thread starter Drago
- Start date
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anothersam
SMIDSMe
- Location
- Far East Sussex
If only. Our car is basically a large white good to me. Alas I have no expertise in either department, opting instead to employ the services of professionals such as the plumber who offers a near full moon whenever he bends over to attend to the washing machine, and the crack team of slave labour* that washes our vehicle every great once in a while (*this might not be a joke).
I am charged with filling it when petrol when thirsty, the tyres with air when nearing critical deflation, the wiper fluid reservoir with whatever that blue stuff is,
Also used in slushy machines?
and hacking off the effluent from passing birds with the ice scraper, which let me tell you, really doesn’t work as well as it should. As a callow youth I even killed a Toyota Tercel by managing to be innocent of the knowledge that oil should be fed to horseless carriages from time to time…
Fortunately, being a roadie, I’m quite a bit better at looking after our small stable of bicycles. But that wasn’t your question. All I can offer is this sad picture, from a dozen years ago, of our last car being taken away by a collector when it had ended its life of service to us. Note it was a “left hooker”, as our mechanic at the time used to call it: shipped from the States, where people drive on the sensible side of the road.
Why is the steering wheel over here? Is this a clown car?
HMS_Dave
Grand Old Lady
Nothing exciting on mine this year. I have a squeaky clutch pedal when depressed. Diagnosed it to a dry ball joint in the linkage but i cant find my lithium grease. Service is due oh and i have a leaky water pipe i noticed recently at the bottom of the expansion tank. Its all special clips otherwise it would have likely been a case of nipping up the jubilee clip!
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Before my stepmum bequeathed me the XC90 my Dad took it to the dealers and told them he wants a full service, cambelt, pump and pulleys, and an M.O.T, and he finger wagged them and told them he wanted a clean ticket with no advisories. Bless him, I ended up with a 140,000 mile car that drives like new. I may actually drive it somewhere tomorrow.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
I had to drive it home myself! 
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Chauffeurs day off?I had to drive it home myself!
gbb
Legendary Member
- Location
- Peterborough
I could easily imagine a £1000 plus bill for that lot
...and maybe then some.
- Location
- Egham
Well it's not really stopped on Grace, the '93 Volvo 240. She's still keeping me amused with funny running intermittently. Works done this week
1. All drive belts changed
2. New timing belt
3. New engine coolant temperature sensor (which may have been the cause for the rough running, but wasn't
)
4. New brake/clutch fluid (With the new man tool, Gunson Eezibleed, very good)
5. New water pump
Still due, oil change (can't get filter off, can't find filter removing tool, buried somewhere behind the Capri no doubt). Gearbox oil change, the drain plug I have freed off, the fill plug I have rounded off and is awaiting me to weld either a big nut onto, or a spanner, to enable the correct level of violence to be applied. Praise Volvo for gluing the fill plugs into the post'92 gearboxes as the fluid was good for life (it isn't..).
Awaiting warmer weather, suspension arm and bushes, tailgate wiring.
I also have new wings for the Capri, so some welding to do there too.
It's all far more fun than decorating, but apparently I have some of that to do as well
1. All drive belts changed
2. New timing belt
3. New engine coolant temperature sensor (which may have been the cause for the rough running, but wasn't
)4. New brake/clutch fluid (With the new man tool, Gunson Eezibleed, very good)
5. New water pump
Still due, oil change (can't get filter off, can't find filter removing tool, buried somewhere behind the Capri no doubt). Gearbox oil change, the drain plug I have freed off, the fill plug I have rounded off and is awaiting me to weld either a big nut onto, or a spanner, to enable the correct level of violence to be applied. Praise Volvo for gluing the fill plugs into the post'92 gearboxes as the fluid was good for life (it isn't..).
Awaiting warmer weather, suspension arm and bushes, tailgate wiring.
I also have new wings for the Capri, so some welding to do there too.
It's all far more fun than decorating, but apparently I have some of that to do as well
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Alas, not at all sensible. Most folk are right handed, so you lance and sword arm is on the side of you facing away from your enemies. If Saddam were clever he'd have invaded Kuwait on the left side of the road, leaving all the coalition (apart from the British) unable to counter this dastardly move.
smokeysmoo
Legendary Member
- Location
- Bolton, not very far from Nob End
I flashed the wheels of the C'eed over with some black spray yesterday. It was a faff as the wheel trims are held on by the wheel nuts, so I had to jack each wheel, (don't possess a trolley jack!), remove the nuts, take the wheel trim off and replace the nuts.
Clean the steel wheel, mask off the chrome wheel nuts. flash over the wheel, unmask the nuts, jack every wheel, remove the nuts, replace the wheel trim and replace the nuts again.
Sounds proper nuts now I've typed it out, but when I bought the paint ages ago I hadn't realised the trims where held in place by the wheel nuts, and since I found out it's one of those jobs I've put off and put off, but funnily enough I now find I've got time to do such things, also I'm bored enough to bother, and as they say the devil is in the detail
Clean the steel wheel, mask off the chrome wheel nuts. flash over the wheel, unmask the nuts, jack every wheel, remove the nuts, replace the wheel trim and replace the nuts again.
Sounds proper nuts now I've typed it out, but when I bought the paint ages ago I hadn't realised the trims where held in place by the wheel nuts, and since I found out it's one of those jobs I've put off and put off, but funnily enough I now find I've got time to do such things, also I'm bored enough to bother, and as they say the devil is in the detail
Last edited:
Bazzer
Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
- Location
- On the edge of reality
Which reminds me I need to remove some patchy surface rust and repaint in silver the disc brake rotors on Mrs B's Tiguan. The car is going nowhere at the moment, so now would be a good opportunity.I flashed the wheels of the C'eed over with some black spray yesterday. It was a faff as the wheel trims are held on by the wheel nuts, so I had to jack each wheel, (don't possess a trolley jack!), remove the nuts, take the wheel trim off and replace the nuts.
Clean the steel wheel, mask off the chrome wheel nuts. flash over the wheel, unmask the nuts, jack every wheel, remove the nuts, replace the wheel trim and replace the nuts again.
Sounds proper nuts now I've typed it out, but when I bought the paint ages ago I hadn't realised the trims where held in place by the wheel nuts, and since I found out it's one of those jobs I've out off and put off, but funnily enough I now find I've got time to do such things, also I'm bored enough to bother, and as they say the devil is in the detail
Anal I know, but seeing it behind the alloy wheels visually irritates me when I have to use the car.
D
Deleted member 26715
Guest
Jobs done on the Beetle in the last couple of weeks, rocker covers off & new gaskets fitted, engine oil drained, oil filter cleaned & returned, new oil filled up. Was going to change the brake pipes but on proper inspection they had been under sealed so don't need doing. But noticed a leak from the trans-axle to driveshaft, new boot ordered & fitted, went to top the gearbox oil up only to find the container that said it was gear oil didn't have gear oil in, you can tell just by the smell. Whilst out on my ride yesterday I called in a motorspares & picked a litre up, today topped the gearbox up it was down about 1/2 litre.
Today was the horn, it was on a on/off switch in the dashboard not on the steering wheel, effectively works for regulation purposes but not if needed in an emergency. Traced the wiring that somebody had butchered, they changed the polarity around so it was positive through switch to horn to earth, this was on all new wiring just thrown into the car, there was also a relay that was there that was not doing anything, but had picked up the old wiring. Removed the steering wheel to find the wire coming up the column not connected to anything but with 12V on it so it could easily have been arcing out as we went around corners lol. Picked up the old wiring again, rewired it through the horn, then took apart the horn push in the steering wheel, modified it so it worked again, put a connector behind the horn push so the steering wheel can still be taken off, switch ignition on press horn, parp, parp parp all works as intended.
Went to start to move it, nothing, narda, no starter motor, so that looks like tomorrows job to see what I have disturbed fixing the lat few, I've either disturbed a wire in the fusebox or possibly the drive boot I put on is quite close to the starter motor so maybe I've caught something there. At least I won;t have to attach a computer to tell me what I need to replace.
Today was the horn, it was on a on/off switch in the dashboard not on the steering wheel, effectively works for regulation purposes but not if needed in an emergency. Traced the wiring that somebody had butchered, they changed the polarity around so it was positive through switch to horn to earth, this was on all new wiring just thrown into the car, there was also a relay that was there that was not doing anything, but had picked up the old wiring. Removed the steering wheel to find the wire coming up the column not connected to anything but with 12V on it so it could easily have been arcing out as we went around corners lol. Picked up the old wiring again, rewired it through the horn, then took apart the horn push in the steering wheel, modified it so it worked again, put a connector behind the horn push so the steering wheel can still be taken off, switch ignition on press horn, parp, parp parp all works as intended.
Went to start to move it, nothing, narda, no starter motor, so that looks like tomorrows job to see what I have disturbed fixing the lat few, I've either disturbed a wire in the fusebox or possibly the drive boot I put on is quite close to the starter motor so maybe I've caught something there. At least I won;t have to attach a computer to tell me what I need to replace.
- Location
- Egham
If you paint them red or yellow it will make the car faster. That's what the local Corsa boys have told me
Bazzer
Setting the controls for the heart of the sun.
- Location
- On the edge of reality
It wouldn't go either with the rest of the car, (dark olive), or the wheels. And even Mrs B would notice.If you paint them red or yellow it will make the car faster. That's what the local Corsa boys have told me
As it happens it turned out quite fortuitous for three reasons.
Firstly, I deliberately seconded child 2 to help. Partly to give her something to do as college has closed, but also to give her the opportunity to practice (supervised) what to do if she had to change a wheel on her own car. - Albeit the wheels are way heavier than on her own car, as she also has a VW, the jack, jacking point indicators, etc., are common.
Secondly, I discovered the tool to remove the plastic wheel nut covers had disappeared
. It had been there before the tyres were replaced around Christmas and given Mrs B only drives the car and sometimes fills it up, I can only surmise someone at the tyre fitters light fingered lifted it, or CBA to put it back. But, better to discover this on my drive with access to a tool which would do the job, rather than a cold, dark, wet night on the hard shoulder of a motorway.Thirdly, as child 2 visually checked the second tyre whilst it was off the car, she found a clout nail buried in the tread. So a quick lesson in the use of a space saver tyre for her and a trip to Kwik Fit for me tomorrow.
