Working on your own vehicle - Advice & Tales of Woe

[blairsh]

I used to be able to do all sorts of stuff, got a dab hand at removing/replacing exhaust manifolds in fiestas back in the day, but now I have a Scirocco and we can't service it ourselves, so after nearly 30 yrs of car ownership my car is going for a service next week
I'm not sure I like everything being 'hidden' away but I do love this car. He looks like this, I have no idea how to post a photo here anymore

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3379/3526528368_f5089bba22_z.jpg (not mine but close, those alloys are a pain in the butt to wash!)

Ebay is usually a good place for cheap bits, but German, Swedish and French can be good too, also buy oil when it's on offer

Pretty car. Petrol?

 

[Ax^]

pad as long as they are front pads are not that hard to replace,

have a slight history of working on my own cars, tyres,brakes, replacing particulate filters, cleaning throttle body and bull shit

but if i'm honest then again,

I tend to get my da involved which is 50/50 here is how to do it or get out of the fucking way and i'll do it meself

 

[geminisnake]

Pretty car. Petrol?

Diesel

 

[blairsh]

Still good looking car

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Don't think I'd buy a petrol car unless my lifestyle changed significantly. Diesel is so much more economical.

 

[Ax^]

depends on your car usage if you do motorway miles diesel is perfect,

not to good as a daily city driver,

saying that i'm the daft twat with a supercharged bmw mini

 

[UnderOpenSky]

depends on your car usage if you do motorway miles diesel is perfect,

not to good as a daily city driver,

saying that i'm the daft twat with a supercharged bmw mini

Yup. Be daft (and a bit selfish) to buy one for city driving, but doing 20k a year plus on the open roads it makes perfect sense. My 2L Mondeo is averaging 45 to 48mpg.

 

[Ax^]

sounds good i'm doing about 21mpg and cracked my radiator yesterday on a daft petrol car

but i know i'm not allowed in a low emission zone

driving a diesel appears like good idea

but they keep changing the rules for emissions in areas of high density

 

[Sprocket.]

One of our vehicles is 18 year old Suzuki 1600 Grand Vitara SWB.
Fab and fun to drive, only does about 25 mpg. I SORNed it about eighteen months ago. It has been stood under the trees on the front garden. I charged the battery up and it fired up no problem. So I am now getting it ready for the MOT. I only use her for fishing, tip runs and moving stuff. But will probably use more for transporting bikes etc, easier than the Qashqai.
It’s only done 68k. I fitted a new cam belt and put a new exhaust on just before I took her off the road.

Needs a damn good clean, covered in green algae, tree sap and bird shit. 4 new tyres and a service, all fluids changed or topped up and bobs yer uncle. I shifted her onto the drive off the garden on Sunday afternoon.

Guess what! Yesterday a DVLA enforcement van pulled into the cul-de-sac and drove slowly past the house as I was cleaning crud off the windows.
Coincidence or curtain twitching, grassing neighbours? At no time did it go onto the road, but there are some proper shitbags on this estate

Anyway I’m looking forward to getting it back on the road, I will update and post pics of progress.

ETA: While it has been parked up I must have had at least twenty blokes knock on the door asking if it’s for sale, all of them being itinerant chaps.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I'm getting the slight judder when I break and the last MOT did have an advisory on the disks, so it's time to do them and the pads. Feels pretty mammoth having never done it before. Just putting together a shopping list before I start. I've got a jack, axel stands and a socket set. Eurocar parts are having one of their endless sales so seems a good a place as any and I can go and collect rather then waiting in.

Guess my first question is this the right rewind tool for my car? (Mk3 Mondeo) Anything else that I should have on the list before I start buying stuff?

 

[DownwardDog]

You need Copaslip (or similar) to slather on the back of the pads. Rubber grease for the piston seals. Opinions vary on this, some people swear by just using brake fluid.

Depending on how crusty your bolts are you might need PB Blaster and/or a blow torch.

 

[Saul Goodman]

You need Copaslip (or similar) to slather on the back of the pads.

This is something people did back in the dark ages, before manufacturers started fitting anti-squeal shims. Unfortunately it's one of those traditions that's been passed down through the generations and is now taken as gospel, when, at best, it's absolutely unnecessary, and at worst, downright dangerous.

 

[gentlegreen]

I put a new clutch in my shared 2CV - in the living room.
The engine is in principle easily-accessed, but of course by the time you need to get at the thing there are plenty of rusted bolts to drill out and no doubt replace with random replacements.
I'm amazed it never shed any body parts in use.

 

[Poi E]

Get someone else to remove dashboards on modern cars. It's fucking horrible

 

[DownwardDog]

Get someone else to remove dashboards on modern cars. It's fucking horrible

I did a 7th gen Golf GTI with my mate recently and it was fucking horrendous. The job itself is bad enough but there is ever present queasy sensation that its going to be on the piss or rattly when it's all back together.

 

[Poi E]

Reassuring to find car manufacturers haven't changed the time honoured practise of burying the sodding heater matrix as much as possible.

 

[dessiato]

I've just bought an OBDII scanner. There's a peculiar problem with my Bertone, the check engine light will come on for a few days then turn off, with no problems detected. My ITV is coming up, with a light on it's an automatic fail/no test. But it's 30€ to get checked and turned off. It's only 50€ for the scanner. Seems a good option since I've had the light turned off 3 times in the past. And all the extra info I'll get will help with maintenance.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I've just bought an OBDII scanner. There's a peculiar problem with my Bertone, the check engine light will come on for a few days then turn off, with no problems detected. My ITV is coming up, with a light on it's an automatic fail/no test. But it's 30€ to get checked and turned off. It's only 50€ for the scanner. Seems a good option since I've had the light turned off 3 times in the past. And all the extra info I'll get will help with maintenance.

I bought one for the BMW. Even with Google I didn't understand most of what it was telling me.

 

[keybored]

pad as long as they are front pads are not that hard to replace,

Yep, having to get a laptop out to change rear pads seems like a step backwards.

 

[Poi E]

I have one of those. When I put one of my cars back together I will see how many codes I've caused.

 

[1927]

I'm getting the slight judder when I break and the last MOT did have an advisory on the disks, so it's time to do them and the pads. Feels pretty mammoth having never done it before. Just putting together a shopping list before I start. I've got a jack, axel stands and a socket set. Eurocar parts are having one of their endless sales so seems a good a place as any and I can go and collect rather then waiting in.

Guess my first question is this the right rewind tool for my car? (Mk3 Mondeo) Anything else that I should have on the list before I start buying stuff?

View attachment 171740 View attachment 171741

I know nothing about car maintenance at all, but I know from experience that Ford have a different rewind tool than any other car (or at least they did) guys from work did my brakes on a Mondeo years ago, got it stripped won and then were fucked as they didn't have the right tool. We only got car put back together as i was friendly with someone who worked in local Ford garage and i had to arrange for a taxi to collect the right tool and drop it to work. So be careful.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I know nothing about car maintenance at all, but I know from experience that Ford have a different rewind tool than any other car (or at least they did) guys now work did my brakes on a Mondeo years ago, got it stripped won and then were fucked as they didn't have the right tool. We only got car put back together as i was friendly with someone who worked in local Ford garage and i had to arrange for a taxi to collect the right tool and drop it to work. So be careful.

Thanks for the heads up. More research clearly required!

 

[Chz]

I've been reduced to fitting wiper blades on my car, I now put it into a garage to change the fucking headlight bulbs ffs

To be fair, you need the hands of a spider monkey and the strength of the missing link to change the bulbs on my car. The £15 that Halfords charged to do it was a bargain, given that it took the guy nearly half an hour!

 

[dessiato]

To be fair, you need the hands of a spider monkey and the strength of the missing link to change the bulbs on my car. The £15 that Halfords charged to do it was a bargain, given that it took the guy nearly half an hour!

What car? Years ago I had both a Rover 600 and an 800. They were near impossible. And replacing a headlight was a full day strip down and reassemble of the front.

 

[weltweit]

What car? Years ago I had both a Rover 600 and an 800. They were near impossible. And replacing a headlight was a full day strip down and reassemble of the front.

I have been told that to change a headlight bulb on a Mini you have to remove a wheel!!
Just what I was told.

 

[8ball]

I changed a wiper blade.

 

[SpookyFrank]

depends on your car usage if you do motorway miles diesel is perfect,

not to good as a daily city driver,

saying that i'm the daft twat with a supercharged bmw mini

Yeah get a diesel I say. It's not like future generations have done anything for you lately is it?

 

[8ball]

Yeah get a diesel I say. It's not like future generations have done anything for you lately is it?

They are a right bunch of entitled twats to be fair.
You didn't get us lot making whiny demands of 16th Century peasants did you?

We just took what was here, rolled our sleeves up, and immediately blamed everything on capitalism.

 

[Ax^]

Yeah get a diesel I say. It's not like future generations have done anything for you lately is it?

that is why i have the supercharged mini

 

[Chz]

What car? Years ago I had both a Rover 600 and an 800. They were near impossible. And replacing a headlight was a full day strip down and reassemble of the front.

It was just a 2005 Micra. Plenty of room under the bonnet with the 1.2L, but the headlamps were still ridiculous. I haven't had to replace one on the Note - its replacement - yet. But it looks easier. Could be a total illusion, given modern cars.

I still remember owning a Pontiac with the Iron Duke engine, which had an internal oil filter mounted right into the bottom of the oilpan. Damned thing had seized up and the guy nearly rocked the car off the lift working back and forth with a breaker bar and an extension bar for more leverage. Fuck doing that myself.