Car D.I.Y.

[cosmicbike]

Well the 240 adventure goes on. After fitting the new clutch etc a short drive showed no issues. A longer run last night revealed a nasty driveline vibration at about 50mph, so head back under today to see what was amiss. Working upside down and tired, I'd managed to fit the giubo 60 degrees out of kilter, so the gearbox output shaft was driving into the thin section of the giubo. Suitably corrected and driven, quiet as a mouse
I've also fitted a pair of front speakers into the holes in the front door cards, so music up front without deafening those in the back.

 

[tyred]

Replacement window winder fitted to the Czech blandmobile.

The motor actually had a totally different electrical connector despite being an identical VAG part number Thankfully it was the cable which had broke in mine and not the motor so I was able to swap motors and save the hassle of trying to wire it. Have to say the door card on the Fabia is a well designed and quality piece of kit - easy to remove and refit compared to some cars I've worked on.

I've discovered that if I have had the engine running and stop it, for some peculiar reason the boot locks itself and won't unlock itself for about an hour after stopping the engine. This without locking or unlocking any of the doors. There is no keyhole on the boot either. No idea why it should do this but it is potentially inconvenient. Must refer to Google as I no have idea where to start with this one.

My Peugeot has also decided to start to leak petrol somewhere so I need to investigate that too. Of course I discovered this after I filled

 

[gbb]

New wipers fitted to the Astra. Bosch (same as the originals, now 5 years old) at £36 at Halfords, more expensive at Eurocarparts, £20 from Amazon ... no brainer even though I hate Amazon.
Lovely and clean action, smooth, and given the reports of fakes from Amazon, they certainly seem genuine.

 

[tyred]

Touched up some flaking underseal on my 205 and tried to reseal the slight blow in one of the exhaust joints but the threads are bad and it won't tighten properly. I'll have to order a new clip.

I will see what the tester has to say about the sills at the end of the month. It might pass but even so I have to accept the inevitable that I need to get the sills replaced. The outer panel is fine, it's the inside edge partially covered by the petrol tank which is the issue. The tank will need to come out and God knows what that is hiding.

I can't complain, it's 25 years old after all and has been driven all year round and driven through farmyards and across fields.

I just hate the thought of having to use my Skoda while I sort out my beloved Peugeot.

 

[Drago]

Forecast looks good. Tomorrow will be doing the front discs and pads on the Brick. 336mm discs are probably the largest ones I've ever had to replace on a car! I've all the time in the world, so while I'm in there it'll get all new fluid and I'll paint the calipers. Paint will be black for visual tidyness with high levels of discretion - red calipers are for boy racers.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

Starting to see an intermittant 'Bulb Failure' lamp in the instrument cluster of my Octavia
I've had a look at the tail-lights, changed a couple that are starting to cloud, but no, it's still lighting up as it pleases

 

[Gunk]

Starting to see an intermittant 'Bulb Failure' lamp in the instrument cluster of my Octavia
I've had a look at the tail-lights, changed a couple that are starting to cloud, but no, it's still lighting up as it pleases

I've got the same problem with my Mk7 Golf, corner lighting fault light intermittently pops up, sometimes a couple a months apart. irritating though.

 

[Richard A Thackeray]

It's due a service soon, so if it's still showing the fault, I'll ask them to 'plug it in' & interrogate the electronics
(or clear it)

 

[fossyant]

Forecast looks good. Tomorrow will be doing the front discs and pads on the Brick. 336mm discs are probably the largest ones I've ever had to replace on a car! I've all the time in the world, so while I'm in there it'll get all new fluid and I'll paint the calipers. Paint will be black for visual tidyness with high levels of discretion - red calipers are for boy racers.

My son has just painted his red. Couldn't do the rears as the locking wheel nut looked damaged, and we couldn't undo the nut. Ordered a new key and wheel nuts for £17 with the same code. Compared to the new key, the old one is very worn, which hasn't happened since my son had the car.

 

[screenman]

Forecast looks good. Tomorrow will be doing the front discs and pads on the Brick. 336mm discs are probably the largest ones I've ever had to replace on a car! I've all the time in the world, so while I'm in there it'll get all new fluid and I'll paint the calipers. Paint will be black for visual tidyness with high levels of discretion - red calipers are for boy racers.

What about blue, just asking for a friend.

 

[Drago]

Blue is for older people who still behave as if they're young boy racers. Even on exotics, like Ferraris or Porkers, coloured calipers loom daft.

On vars with bulb sensors, replace bulbs in pairs. As they age the current they draw increases minutely. The difference between an old bulb on one side, and a new one on the other, can be sufficient to make the car thinkmit has a bulb out.

 

[smokeysmoo]

Not Car D.I.Y. but I've mentioned the Ceed a few times on here so thought I'd post this update.

I started a new job on the 6th July, and at around 4pm the same afternoon the Ceed was written off whilst parked and unattended

The guy managed to write off 6 vehicles, (including his own), and all on a minor road, so gawd knows what speed he was dong. Mine was the second parked vehicle and sustained front and rear damage. Fortunately the first car he hit was occupied, so he was held at the scene, and possiblt even more surprisingly he was in fact insured

I actually drove the car home as the radiator was undamaged and I didn't fancy waiting for recovery, and I was surprised when the insurance told me in the first phone call that it was a write off, I loved my little Ceed

Anyway it was all handled really quickly and I had a cheque within a week, and as I was so happy with the Kia we got another one, all be it a bit of an upgrade over the humble Ceed 1 we had.

 

[raleighnut]

Touched up some flaking underseal on my 205 and tried to reseal the slight blow in one of the exhaust joints but the threads are bad and it won't tighten properly. I'll have to order a new clip.

I will see what the tester has to say about the sills at the end of the month. It might pass but even so I have to accept the inevitable that I need to get the sills replaced. The outer panel is fine, it's the inside edge partially covered by the petrol tank which is the issue. The tank will need to come out and God knows what that is hiding.

I can't complain, it's 25 years old after all and has been driven all year round and driven through farmyards and across fields.

I just hate the thought of having to use my Skoda while I sort out my beloved Peugeot.

Aye I know what you mean, Pamela (an ex) had one and it was a lovely little car, frugal on the juice and lovely handling

 

[Drago]

New discs and pads fitted, calipers painted.

Bloody hard work. The job was easy enough, but it's like working on a lorry - everything weighs three times as much and is done twice as tight.

 

[screenman]

Those wheels look heavy, I miss the days of having studs instead of bolts when refitting a wheel, mind you if you have one the removable aligning stud is useful. I had mine off on the Skoda last week due to it needing a new backing plate.