Car D.I.Y.

[gbb]

We had an oil drain vessel. It would elongate so you could get close and then when it was full, it required connection to an air hose and then through this facility, you could empty it into the waste oil storage tank...
Muggins, at his first attempt, followed the procedure to the letter but there was some sort of air lock towards the last say... gallon(?) and a black volcano erupted upwards all over the service bay. All over the ceiling and the resultant black 'rain' on me.
I was there a while cleaning up but to his credit, the foreman said 'happens to the best of us'.

In engineering teams, such an event would bring so much p1ss taking, oh, everyone would love that
I can see it now, all stood, arms folded, watching laughing...'you dont wanna do it like that'

 

[raleighnut]

We had an oil drain vessel. It would elongate so you could get close and then when it was full, it required connection to an air hose and then through this facility, you could empty it into the waste oil storage tank...
Muggins, at his first attempt, followed the procedure to the letter but there was some sort of air lock towards the last say... gallon(?) and a black volcano erupted upwards all over the service bay. All over the ceiling and the resultant black 'rain' on me.
I was there a while cleaning up but to his credit, the foreman said 'happens to the best of us'.

We had a similar system at the garage I worked at after I got sacked (for not 'babysitting' for the works manager) the job fell to Simon who was lazy.................The waste oil tank was above the tea room/kitchen/ loo and he'd failed to check how full it was so it overflowed, for the next 2 years it was dripping through the ceiling.

 

[Pinno718]

Galvafroid... my usual goto but so expensive. Any of you guys used POR-15, Buzzweld C102 or Isopon Zinc 102?
Cheers.

 

[Fastpedaller]

I did a bit of DIY today, but first, a little background story.....
My Wife's Ka+ had gone around to 117k miles in 10 years, so I decided to get the local garage to do a cam belt and water pump change. The belt had some visible cracks, so it was IMHO due the change. TBC I didn't know the cracks were there until after the replacement - it's not simple to just remove the cam belt cover to check it. My Daughter has the same model and age of car, although only done 77k, but as the replacement is a mileage/age whichever comes first, it also seemed prudent to get her car done as well. The original belt they removed looked like new, which was a bit of a surprise, being the same age. My Fiesta- based kit car hasn't had its cam belt replaced (17 years use, but low miles), so I thought it was worth a look, so here comes the DIY....... I removed the cam belt cover, for which the access was a bit tight, and having removed the spark plugs I turned the engine over with a spanner on the crank pulley bolt. It all looked good, no cracks or frays, so I put the cover back and may tackle it after the upcoming kit car show at Malvern. So from the 'small sample results' it would appear mileage is the major factor, and age decay may be minor. As an aside, the tensioner from Daughter's car seemed just like new and I did a very rough calculation which suggested it had done 400 million revolutions!

 

[Pinno718]

I did a bit of DIY today, but first, a little background story.....
My Wife's Ka+ had gone around to 117k miles in 10 years, so I decided to get the local garage to do a cam belt and water pump change. The belt had some visible cracks, so it was IMHO due the change. TBC I didn't know the cracks were there until after the replacement - it's not simple to just remove the cam belt cover to check it. My Daughter has the same model and age of car, although only done 77k, but as the replacement is a mileage/age whichever comes first, it also seemed prudent to get her car done as well. The original belt they removed looked like new, which was a bit of a surprise, being the same age. My Fiesta- based kit car hasn't had its cam belt replaced (17 years use, but low miles), so I thought it was worth a look, so here comes the DIY....... I removed the cam belt cover, for which the access was a bit tight, and having removed the spark plugs I turned the engine over with a spanner on the crank pulley bolt. It all looked good, no cracks or frays, so I put the cover back and may tackle it after the upcoming kit car show at Malvern. So from the 'small sample results' it would appear mileage is the major factor, and age decay may be minor. As an aside, the tensioner from Daughter's car seemed just like new and I did a very rough calculation which suggested it had done 400 million revolutions!

The belt 'rubber' just gets more brittle with age. My Porker is every 5 years or 45,000 miles.
What's the kit car? Pics please.

 

[Fastpedaller]

The belt 'rubber' just gets more brittle with age. My Porker is every 5 years or 45,000 miles.
What's the kit car? Pics please.

It's a Quantum saloon, and was the last one from the moulds.... I call it "last chance saloon"
here it is with the GRP folding caravan I made for it.

 

[Pinno718]

It's a Quantum saloon, and was the last one from the moulds.... I call it "last chance saloon"
here it is with the GRP folding caravan I made for it.

I'm more impressed with the caravan TBH.

 

[fossyant]

Galvafroid... my usual goto but so expensive. Any of you guys used POR-15, Buzzweld C102 or Isopon Zinc 102?
Cheers.

I assume you mean a rust preventer ?

I use Buzzweld's chassis guard based on lanolyn. The clear one so you aren't hiding anything so you can keep a check. Any surface corrosion gets a coat of aquasteel first to treat the rust. MrsF's 14 year old Qashqai's suspension and subframe looks great. I avoid anything coloured (black) as you are just hiding any issues.

I've pre treated my van's suspension and chassis when I bought it at 3 years old.

Very easy to top it up.

 

[Pinno718]

I assume you mean a rust preventer ?

I use Buzzweld's chassis guard based on lanolyn. The clear one so you aren't hiding anything so you can keep a check. Any surface corrosion gets a coat of aquasteel first to treat the rust. MrsF's 14 year old Qashqai's suspension and subframe looks great. I avoid anything coloured (black) as you are just hiding any issues.

I've pre treated my van's suspension and chassis when I bought it at 3 years old.

Very easy to top it up.

Bare metal and post welding. I usually use Fer 123 rust converter, then the Galvafroid, then underseal then the Lanoguard/Buzweld*.

*Well it will be when I run out of the Lanoguard.

 

[Bristolian]

How's this for an unexpected bit of diagnostics? About 5 weeks ago the rear air suspension of my E220 Merc slowly deflated during a trip to the local recycling centre. It deflated to the point that I couldn't get a jack underneath to get enough room to access the compressor or valve block, which are mounted just in front of the rear bumper. Anyway, after a bit of jiggling I was able to raise the back of the car and access everything - don't ask how; H&S would have a field day

Using my limited knowledge of the suspension based on how I diagnosed a broken compressor last time I decided the fault was electrical as there was no energising voltage going to the relay that controls the compressor but, if I physically closed the relay contact the compressor ran normally. Having got the compressor running but the suspension not inflating I started looking at the valve block and lo-and-behold there was no energising voltage there either. Using an old battery from my wife's mobility scooter I was able to energise the valve block and then close the relay contacts and hey ho! up she rises and, more to the point stays up. I removed my jury rigged electrics to the valve block and went for a short test drive - the suspension is working and at the same height as before I drove it. Wonder what it'll look like tomorrow?

Next morning the suspension is still up and hasn't dropped (I had measured the height from the wheel centre to the wheel arch). For the next couple of days I drove the car normally, checking the height each morning, and was starting to feel a bit smug - my bad We had planned to visit a local NT house and gardens so I loaded wifey's scooter into the boot (all 90kg of it) and off we went ... and came back with no issues. By the time we got home it was bit dark so I decided to leave the scooter in the boot overnight - pride and smugness comes before a fall because next morning the suspension was right down again

I removed the scooter before using my tried and proven jury rigged electrics to reinflate the air bags again. Time to call my tame mechanic even though he's on holiday on the other side of the world. After a grovelling apology for disturbing him I explained the situation and asked for some advice. He suggested I speak to another mechanic who was making use of his garage whilst he was away. So yesterday I duly took the car to the garage to see if the mechanic (Paul by name) could help and was rather surprised by what he found. Having plugged in the diagnostic machine he scanned the whole car for error messages. Mutterings along the line of "flippin' 'eck" and "how many" were hear coming from inside the car before he asked what else wasn't working properly. Everything's fine, says I. Power steering? All good. Gearbox? No problems. Okay, let me see if I can clear some of these.

Minutes later he says "that's cleared most of the error codes but I'm still getting a communications error. Are the lights okay?". "Ah, the ILS is on the blink", says I, "the high beam won't come on when in the AUTO mode (but work if the lights are in manual) and the lights don't turn with the steering wheel. We replaced the passenger side headlamp about 18 months ago and it was working but I don't really know when it stopped". He asks "did George code the new light in?" followed by "and have you been abroad since the new light was put in?". "Not sure about the coding but maybe not as they were working fine when we did the job and yes, I went to Holland last June". "That's yer problem then" he says "the communications errors started in late June 2025. I suspect when you set the car for driving on the right the computer realised that the left hand light wasn't the one it was expecting to talk to." By this time I'm a little confused as to how that relates to the suspension and why, if there is a link, it has taken almost a year to make itself known.

So, the diagnosis - you knew we'd get here eventually, didn't you? Is that the computer finally realised that it doesn't have a valid suspension height calibration and commanded the system to loose air which it did until it couldn't lose any more at which point it stopped. Why did it remain inflated for several days before dropping again? Purely bad luck. The system likely decided to check itself again and gave up once it had fully deflated. Disconnect the electrical plug from the valve block and it can't do it again. The remedy is to input the codes from the new headlight into the computer and then recalibrate the height sensors but that is a job for George when he is back next week.

 

[fossyant]

Wow, that's a bit bonkers that @Bristolian

Not DIY, but the Van's a/c started to not to blow cold air out last week, during the hot spell, the a/c pipes were warm. So it's booked in at the Main Dealer on Friday as it's under warranty should there be a fault with a component. The re-gas and ac service is £135, which is the going rate for the newer 'gas' in more modern cars. Colleagues car has also stopped too, so she's set a reminder to get hers booked in.

There is gas in the system as I pressed the valve quickly to check.

Dealer has just phoned to confirm booking and I'll get a complimentary health check and a wash and vac included. I said I'll probably not need a vac as it's spotless inside (had a good vac after a recent camping trip). It's not dirty 'outside' either, but I'll let them do it, saves me a job.

 

[Profpointy]

We had an oil drain vessel. It would elongate so you could get close and then when it was full, it required connection to an air hose and then through this facility, you could empty it into the waste oil storage tank...
Muggins, at his first attempt, followed the procedure to the letter but there was some sort of air lock towards the last say... gallon(?) and a black volcano erupted upwards all over the service bay. All over the ceiling and the resultant black 'rain' on me.
I was there a while cleaning up but to his credit, the foreman said 'happens to the best of us'.

I've done similar investigating a blocked drain pipe at our flats. Rather unwisely I did my initial recce whilst still in my suit from the office. After fiddling about I seperated the push fit plastic pipe and 10m head of water blasted out along with the dead leaves which was the root cause ! Luckily it was merely the roof drainage not the khazi pipe, so I was merely wet. I was just having a look for planning what we needed to do, but problem solved so was a good result despite
getting soaked.