Working on your own vehicle - Advice & Tales of Woe

[UnderOpenSky]

I rather hope it's not the alternator. I suspect it isn't as if it's been on a journey it starts again. I've not done the battery since I had it and winter is coming so if it is something else then it does no harm I guess.

 

[weltweit]

Still UnderAnOpenSky issues like flat tyres don't crop up so often with me. I had a sort of blow out a couple of years ago, on my front right, but that was the last puncture type issue I can remember.

 

[pug]

I rather hope it's not the alternator. I suspect it isn't as if it's been on a journey it starts again. I've not done the battery since I had it and winter is coming so if it is something else then it does no harm I guess.

Sometimes the alternator goes wrong and wrecks the battery, a cheap multimeter and a youtube video will diagnose it if it is and save you from wrecking your new battery.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Sometimes the alternator goes wrong and wrecks the battery, a cheap multimeter and a youtube video will diagnose it if it is and save you from wrecking your new battery.

Yeah. Tbf going crap on cold mornings and after being left a while and not after long journeys does suggest battery.

Still UnderAnOpenSky issues like flat tyres don't crop up so often with me. I had a sort of blow out a couple of years ago, on my front right, but that was the last puncture type issue I can remember.

Luck of the draw I think. Gone years without it happening and this is the second this year.

Guess I generally have more issues as I do quite a few miles in old cars. Paid £1200 for this one in March and done 13,000 in it already.

 

[High Voltage]

AAAaaarrrrgggggggHHHH!!!

Now I remember why I stopped working on cars and putting them in the shop

There is no such thing as a 5 minute job - EVERYTHING ends up being a PITA

The Jag was getting rattly and very long in the tooth with over 200k on the odometer - so whilst it was still running I decided to change

But what to get . . . what to get

I had a limited budget over "around" £8k plus what ever token trade in I'd get for the Jag - so this immediately limits me to two tier down car sales (not main dealer and not one owner from new dealers)

But I had time on my side so could look around - and, rightly or wrongly, the Chrysler 300C ticked most of my buying boxes

And when I found out that the Mk 1's had Mercedes running gear my decision was made - now I just had to find the right one

Which I did after a fair bit of looking around and only £4k so well under budget

There was some money left in the kitty for some upgrades and/or fixes

I'm not even going to regale with on-going saga of installing a new "head unit" as I believe the yoof call car stereos - let's just say that it's still not fitted and working as described after coming up to a month

No

Let's talk about wheels and wheel nuts

Some "design features" on the Chrysler seems to be:-

• Really shitty lacquer on the alloy wheels which, after some time, seems to crack and let the wheels start to corrode
• Non removable "Chrome" wheel nut covers which take the wheel nut size up to 20mm

I found a local'ish alloy wheel refurbisher and booked the car in for the THREE DAY wheel refurbishment - so I needed to take 3 days holiday (I've still got loads to use by Christmas, so not a hardship)

Got up early'ish on day one - drove the 36 miles to Melksham to drop the car off

Then I had to make the decision of what colour did I want (A classy dark anthracite metallic <cool> )

"So, got the locking wheel nut key?"

"What locking wheel nut key?"

"The one we'll need to take the wheels off - numb nuts" - he didn't actually call me that, but you could almost feel like he wanted to

"Don't know, let's look in the boot" - after a goodly rummage in the boot AND FINDING AN EMPTY OPENED CHRYSLER LOCKING WHEEL NUT BLISTER PACK WITH THE KEY REFERENCE NUMBER HANDILY STILL ATTACHED - we decided that the locking wheel nut key was . . . missing

A phone call to the garage I got the car off was met with a "Get them to drill the nuts out and buy a new set . . . we'll pay for them (which was nice) and it's a pretty straight forward job - shouldn't cost more than about £25

The wheel refurbisher was none too impressed with this suggestion

All the while a little grubby man was crouched down by the side of my car with various "tools"

"These ain't locking wheel nuts . . . there's just two different size nuts innit"

Sure enough what we'd all taken as being the locking wheel nut (it was larger . . . like in the empty blister pack) was infact a different size nut

So that was lucky - now all I had to do was catch the train the Castle Cary and a bus from there to home (I'd already bought my day rover card AND ACTIVATED IT ) except I didn't have my wallet on me - I'd had it that morning when I'd bought my e-ticket and my wallet had fallen out of my pocket and was, even now, at home on the sofa, laughing at me

Another quick 72 mile round trip

Finally, fate was smiling on me - at the wheel refurb place was another chap booking in some wheels, and he came from Shepton and would he give me a lift back home'ish - he did, sound chap

On the way home I get a call from the wheel refurb place telling me that the chrome covers were, basically fucked and it would probably make sense to get a new set of wheel nuts (Black, naturally) and get Amazon to deliver them direct to them and they'd use them. Which made sense

Wednesday afternoon order for a Friday delivery with me to pick the car up on Saturday - sweet

Except "They missed their delivery spot" and wouldn't be delivered until Saturday (tight, but do'able) or Monday. And I knew what day they were going to be delivered on - no point in hoping for anything else really

Picked the car up with the old, skanky wheel nuts on (and two where damaged beyond reuse) - of course, it was pissing down with rain so my nice new shiny wheels immediately got covered in filth

The wheel nuts did turn up at home the following week - which (finally) get me to the "Working on your car" bit of the tale - Sunday morning I get up bright and early and decide that "Today's the day I'm going to . . . change some wheel nuts . . . shoot for the fucking stars why don't you HV"

Except

The wheel brace is a 20mm across flats wheel brace and it's what can only be described as a drift on, snug fit

And the new wheel nuts are an as advertised 19mm across flats size - so the wheel brace would round off the new nuts nicely

Shepton has a very very limited choice of . . . well, anything really . . . but we do have a ScrewFix and they do stock a rather nice 17 / 19mm Teng Tools wheel brace

Or rather they don't stock it - it's a next fucking day delivery jobbie

Sigh!

No new wheel nuts to be fitted today

Let's have YET ANOTHER GO at fitting the stereo

FML

 

[A380]

AAAaaarrrrgggggggHHHH!!!

Now I remember why I stopped working on cars and putting them in the shop

There is no such thing as a 5 minute job - EVERYTHING ends up being a PITA

The Jag was getting rattly and very long in the tooth with over 200k on the odometer - so whilst it was still running I decided to change

But what to get . . . what to get

I had a limited budget over "around" £8k plus what ever token trade in I'd get for the Jag - so this immediately limits me to two tier down car sales (not main dealer and not one owner from new dealers)

But I had time on my side so could look around - and, rightly or wrongly, the Chrysler 300C ticked most of my buying boxes

And when I found out that the Mk 1's had Mercedes running gear my decision was made - now I just had to find the right one

Which I did after a fair bit of looking around and only £4k so well under budget

There was some money left in the kitty for some upgrades and/or fixes

I'm not even going to regale with on-going saga of installing a new "head unit" as I believe the yoof call car stereos - let's just say that it's still not fitted and working as described after coming up to a month

No

Let's talk about wheels and wheel nuts

Some "design features" on the Chrysler seems to be:-

• Really shitty lacquer on the alloy wheels which, after some time, seems to crack and let the wheels start to corrode
• Non removable "Chrome" wheel nut covers which take the wheel nut size up to 20mm

I found a local'ish alloy wheel refurbisher and booked the car in for the THREE DAY wheel refurbishment - so I needed to take 3 days holiday (I've still got loads to use by Christmas, so not a hardship)

Got up early'ish on day one - drove the 36 miles to Melksham to drop the car off

Then I had to make the decision of what colour did I want (A classy dark anthracite metallic <cool> )

"So, got the locking wheel nut key?"

"What locking wheel nut key?"

"The one we'll need to take the wheels off - numb nuts" - he didn't actually call me that, but you could almost feel like he wanted to

"Don't know, let's look in the boot" - after a goodly rummage in the boot AND FINDING AN EMPTY OPENED CHRYSLER LOCKING WHEEL NUT BLISTER PACK WITH THE KEY REFERENCE NUMBER HANDILY STILL ATTACHED - we decided that the locking wheel nut key was . . . missing

A phone call to the garage I got the car off was met with a "Get them to drill the nuts out and buy a new set . . . we'll pay for them (which was nice) and it's a pretty straight forward job - shouldn't cost more than about £25

The wheel refurbisher was none too impressed with this suggestion

All the while a little grubby man was crouched down by the side of my car with various "tools"

"These ain't locking wheel nuts . . . there's just two different size nuts innit"

Sure enough what we'd all taken as being the locking wheel nut (it was larger . . . like in the empty blister pack) was infact a different size nut

So that was lucky - now all I had to do was catch the train the Castle Cary and a bus from there to home (I'd already bought my day rover card AND ACTIVATED IT ) except I didn't have my wallet on me - I'd had it that morning when I'd bought my e-ticket and my wallet had fallen out of my pocket and was, even now, at home on the sofa, laughing at me

Another quick 72 mile round trip

Finally, fate was smiling on me - at the wheel refurb place was another chap booking in some wheels, and he came from Shepton and would he give me a lift back home'ish - he did, sound chap

On the way home I get a call from the wheel refurb place telling me that the chrome covers were, basically fucked and it would probably make sense to get a new set of wheel nuts (Black, naturally) and get Amazon to deliver them direct to them and they'd use them. Which made sense

Wednesday afternoon order for a Friday delivery with me to pick the car up on Saturday - sweet

Except "They missed their delivery spot" and wouldn't be delivered until Saturday (tight, but do'able) or Monday. And I knew what day they were going to be delivered on - no point in hoping for anything else really

Picked the car up with the old, skanky wheel nuts on (and two where damaged beyond reuse) - of course, it was pissing down with rain so my nice new shiny wheels immediately got covered in filth

The wheel nuts did turn up at home the following week - which (finally) get me to the "Working on your car" bit of the tale - Sunday morning I get up bright and early and decide that "Today's the day I'm going to . . . change some wheel nuts . . . shoot for the fucking stars why don't you HV"

Except

The wheel brace is a 20mm across flats wheel brace and it's what can only be described as a drift on, snug fit

And the new wheel nuts are an as advertised 19mm across flats size - so the wheel brace would round off the new nuts nicely

Shepton has a very very limited choice of . . . well, anything really . . . but we do have a ScrewFix and they do stock a rather nice 17 / 19mm Teng Tools wheel brace

Or rather they don't stock it - it's a next fucking day delivery jobbie

Sigh!

No new wheel nuts to be fitted today

Let's have YET ANOTHER GO at fitting the stereo

FML

Could only be bettered if you were having to use a wander-light to try to change the wheel nuts in a drizzly dusk.

 

[Chz]

Really shitty lacquer on the alloy wheels which, after some time, seems to crack and let the wheels start to corrode

TBF, I think this was an issue for all cars of a certain age. Environmental legislation had banned the previous protective lacquer, and it took a few years for the replacement to get its formulation right. Most cars "of a certain age" will have some alloy wheel corrosion.

 

[High Voltage]

Well, the "have another go at fitting the stereo" lasted all of 20 minutes

Long story short - to fit an aftermarket dual din head unit to a non-European dual head unit type car isn't as straightforward as it should be

It's close . . . but as I'm finding more and more with this car - NOTHING is as easy as it should be

In this case, the OEM head unit is slightly smaller than standard dual din head units are - resulting in the need to cut some of the behind the dash frame away - all was pretty easy, right up till I dropped one piece of cut off plastic - this is now "somewhere" - at least it's not rattling . . . yet

Then it should just be a simple question of connecting the after market head unit to the after market wiring loom "thing" then to the adaptor connector that then connects to the car's wiring loom. I mean, come on, I'm not a complete dummy - how hard can that be

PRETTY FUCKING HARD that's how

The left / right pan was fine

But the front/rear fade was arse backwards (ie front was back and back . . . so, literally back to front <sigh>) and the sound was heavily biased towards the front set of speakers with some but not much sound coming from the rear speakers

But I got the DAB radio working and I got the AM FM radio aerial connected up (of course, it needed YET ANOTHER ADAPTOR) as the Chrysler aerial wasn't a standard ISO(?) connector

I then entered a fortnight of telephone calls to the purveyor of the head unit - a tremendously helpful chap - and when he couldn't help any more, the tech line for the people who make the connecting doo-dahs - and that's where I am at the moment

Fitting and refitting the OEM and the aftermarket head units - just to prove to laddy on the tech line that I'm not a complete twat - they've got til next weekend to fix the problem - then I'll want a replacement head unit and if all fails I'll want my money back

<sigh> it would have been so much easier to take the car to Halfords (which I did btw, but they didn't get as far as I've got regarding getting sound out of an amplified system)

All I fucking want is a hands-free phone system . . . which will no doubt be made illegal to use in about a fortnight of me finally getting a solution that works

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Well, the "have another go at fitting the stereo" lasted all of 20 minutes

Long story short - to fit an aftermarket dual din head unit to a non-European dual head unit type car isn't as straightforward as it should be

It's close . . . but as I'm finding more and more with this car - NOTHING is as easy as it should be

In this case, the OEM head unit is slightly smaller than standard dual din head units are - resulting in the need to cut some of the behind the dash frame away - all was pretty easy, right up till I dropped one piece of cut off plastic - this is now "somewhere" - at least it's not rattling . . . yet

Then it should just be a simple question of connecting the after market head unit to the after market wiring loom "thing" then to the adaptor connector that then connects to the car's wiring loom. I mean, come on, I'm not a complete dummy - how hard can that be

PRETTY FUCKING HARD that's how

The left / right pan was fine

But the front/rear fade was arse backwards (ie front was back and back . . . so, literally back to front <sigh>) and the sound was heavily biased towards the front set of speakers with some but not much sound coming from the rear speakers

But I got the DAB radio working and I got the AM FM radio aerial connected up (of course, it needed YET ANOTHER ADAPTOR) as the Chrysler aerial wasn't a standard ISO(?) connector

I then entered a fortnight of telephone calls to the purveyor of the head unit - a tremendously helpful chap - and when he couldn't help any more, the tech line for the people who make the connecting doo-dahs - and that's where I am at the moment

Fitting and refitting the OEM and the aftermarket head units - just to prove to laddy on the tech line that I'm not a complete twat - they've got til next weekend to fix the problem - then I'll want a replacement head unit and if all fails I'll want my money back

<sigh> it would have been so much easier to take the car to Halfords (which I did btw, but they didn't get as far as I've got regarding getting sound out of an amplified system)

All I fucking want is a hands-free phone system . . . which will no doubt be made illegal to use in about a fortnight of me finally getting a solution that works

At this point I'd probably give up and pay someone who really knows what they are doing. I know of a place in Manchester, but I guess that's probably no use to you?

 

[not-bono-ever]

Air con was fucked last week . Kwikfit went to charge it and told me the compressor was likely broken and it would be a big job to rip it all out and replace it. Obviously didn’t charge me as they have a guarantee of no bill if they can’t fix it ( I am not stupid) . A bit of pissing about under the bonnet,£10 later and a new relay fixed the problem - was burned out. Success !

 

[existentialist]

Air con was fucked last week . Kwikfit went to charge it and told me the compressor was likely broken and it would be a big job to rip it all out and replace it. Obviously didn’t charge me as they have a guarantee of no bill if they can’t fix it ( I am not stupid) . A bit of pissing about under the bonnet,£10 later and a new relay fixed the problem - was burned out. Success !

I had replaced the rear shocks on my girlfriend's Cortina just long enough ago that they'd got a nice patina of road grime on them when she took it in to Kwikfit to have a tyre done. Twats tried to tell her the rear shocks needed doing, did the whole bouncing the car up and down and "look! Your shocks are gone" bullshit. She (wisely) though it might be worth checking with me, and demurred, in the face of some heavy pressure about how dangerous a car with knackered shock absorbers was.

I took it in the next day. The manager was covered in embarrassment when I told him that these supposedly "faulty" shocks were actually Kone aftermarket jobs fitted a fortnight ago BY ME, and were they in the business of exploiting all their female customers in this way, or was she just unlucky? Apparently Trading Standards had had quite a lot of similar complaints about them, but they still do it (this was 30 years ago!)

 

[High Voltage]

At this point I'd probably give up and pay someone who really knows what they are doing. I know of a place in Manchester, but I guess that's probably no use to you?

At this point I have given up

I've found a local car audio fitter he's off the opinion that the unit is faulty. A new one is being sent out even as we speak

So this coming Saturday should see the audio sorted and new wheel nuts on shiny new centre caps as well

Then all I need to fix is the new set of tyre pressure monitoring sensors

Which don't. Monitor the tyre pressure that is

 

[High Voltage]

That was interesting

I turned up at the audio fitter's place this Saturday as agreed with the new, replacement, still in the shipping packaging, head unit

We took out the OEM head unit (see how I'm already using "car" phrases), connected up the aftermarket head unit

Bingo - outcomes music, static hiss from the AM/FM radio (the aerial wasn't connected up so 'twas to be expected)

Then the moment of truth, a simple pairing of iPhone to head unit (I've done this numerous times before) - download of the phone book to the head unit and a quick "Phone Home"

THE FUCKING THING ONLY WENT AND WORKED - CUNT

So it wasn't me all along

It WAS the head unit

I'm NOT a complete TWAT when it comes to connecting connector blocks that can only be connected one way

Hoorah!!

Now just got to wait for the rain to cease and I'll be out there connecting things back together, putting trim panels on and re-fitting the central panel of my dashboard so I can have heating and demisting and all the "good stuff" that you miss when the weather turns cold

Then all I've got to do is the wheel nuts and get the TPMS (Tyre Pressure Monitoring Sensors) reading and registering correctly

Oh! and get the tracking RE-DONE as the steering wheel was slightly on the cock (down to the left) when going straight - annoying and I wanted it sorted

Which the tyre company did - sorta - by putting it almost exactly the opposite (slightly on the cock down to the right) so that's got to be redone

 

[Poi E]

Motherfucking rattle behind the dash again. Had the whole interior out last summer dash and all and fixed all rattles. So I thought. Think I need to give up all old cars as this rattle chasing is a pathological disorder developed from driving old tin.

 

[High Voltage]

Well, 3 out of 4 isn't too bad . . . I 'spose

As in, I was able to change out the old, crummy wheel nuts on 3 of the 4 wheels, the one remaining wheel HAD THE LARGE "LOCKING" WHEEL NUTS PUT BACK ON - remember, the ones that the wheel brace didn't fit because they were larger than the other 16 wheel nuts (5 nuts per wheel)

And my NEW Teng Tools 18 - 19mm wheel brace definitely won't fit

So that'll be a trip to a helpful tyre fitter who'll, hopefully, whip off the 4 remaining nuts and I'll pop the new ones on

But when they're done - they don't look too bad - I did start to upload a picture but as we live "out in the sticks" even a 3 mile drive from the local hand car wash place and they look like I've driven over a ploughed field

And the head unit is all fitted and working properly

AND I'VE GOT HEATING BACK

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Well beyond what I can try myself.

So I think the alternator has gone. Battery light came on at the start of the weekend and last night it just wouldn't start I changed the battery myself six weeks ago. I couldn't even jump start it off the OHs Transit.

I've had to cancel work today which is shit as I need the money. It's going to be stressful finding somewhere that can look at it asap and I've got a second worry. It's putting out a fair bit of black smoke, way beyond what you'd expect of an old diesel. Plan was to book it in for next week anyway when I had a few days I wasn't taking work. MOT due at the end of the month. So don't know if I'm going to spend a fair bit on this with possibility of another large repair bill. Which would make me question if it's worth keeping the car.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

New cheap motor. Avensis Estate 2.2 180 56 plate. It's been dealer serviced to 100k and its on 120k. So need to work out what needs doing and what I can do myself and what needs doing. Has just had MOT so hopefully nothing is to unsafe.

First job will hopefully be easy. The wing mirror glass is cracked. Those stick on replacements seem a cheap and easy way of doing it. Any downsides that's I've not thought off.

Stereo look to be most complicated change I'll have done though. Needs the heater controls and other trim removing!

 

[UnderOpenSky]

So I'm probably being a little paranoid, but after the Mondeo didn't even last me a year, I kind of need to do everything in my power to make sure the Avensis does a bit better. Paid to have the oil and all the filters changed as it looked like I just wasn't going to get the time. Run some Redex through it and do the odd tank of V Power.

Anyway the bit that makes me worried is the injectors went on the Mondy and I saw a small amount of grey smoke coming out the Avensis. Do any of the products you can run through the car to clean the injectors work?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

So I never did the brakes on the Mondeo, but I think all 4 discs and pads need doing on the Avensis and that's way more then I can afford right now at a garage. Ordered the discs and pads, some cleaner and a wire brush from Euro Car parts.

Now totally confused on grease. So I shouldn't be using Copaslip? Is there a single product I can use instead. That Moly stuff? Or do I need another as well.

I'm hoping all this makes way more sense after I've got the wheel off, but right now I'm struggling a little. YouTube is great in some ways, but not as a way to scan a lot of information quickly and read round a subject!

 

[weltweit]

You can run your fingernail across the disks and get an idea how uneven / worn they are and as to whether they need replacing or not. Pads will normally wear to the shape of the disk but after a while the disks will be too worn. However disks should last for a few replacement cycles of pads before needing replacement.

As to grease, a wee little copaslip on the back of the pads (a little) I believe might stop squealing, but none on the front of the pads and none on the disks either.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

You can run your fingernail across the disks and get an idea how uneven / worn they are and as to whether they need replacing or not. Pads will normally wear to the shape of the disk but after a while the disks will be too worn. However disks should last for a few replacement cycles of pads before needing replacement.

As to grease, a wee little copaslip on the back of the pads (a little) I believe might stop squealing, but none on the front of the pads and none on the disks either.

I'm pretty sure they all need doing. Was MOT'd when I got it and had an advisory on the discs and it's not breaking so nicely now. So do the lot.

Trying to read/watch as much as I can. Best YouTube video I've seen had him working on something as knacked as I expect mine to be down there and he uses plenty of copaslip. However I've read plenty and even on this thread it's been suggested that copaslip isn't something we should be using anymore. So I'm wondering what I should be using instead?

 

[mauvais]

I've also heard that you shouldn't use it any more but I don't know why.

 

[weltweit]

It is some time since I worked on brakes myself but I recall one of the issues being that you will have to push the pistons back into the calipers a bit to give enough space to get the new (wider) pads in place so they will then fit around the disks.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I've also heard that you shouldn't use it any more but I don't know why.

I've read loads of reasons. I don't know enough to sumerise properly, but I think the short answer is there is better stuff available.

Im wondering if I can buy a single product or if I need a few for different things.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

It is some time since I worked on brakes myself but I recall one of the issues being that you will have to push the pistons back into the calipers a bit to give enough space to get the new (wider) pads in place so they will then fit around the disks.

A kind urb sent me a brake rewind tool

 

[weltweit]

A kind urb sent me a brake rewind tool

I didn't know such a tool existed I think I just used to use a tyre lever !!

 

[Saul Goodman]

Now totally confused on grease. So I shouldn't be using Copaslip? Is there a single product I can use instead.

Yes... Nothing. Don't put copper grease anywhere near brakes. They don't need it. The only time they ever 'needed' it was when people knew no better. They don't need an alternative. Look at a new car with new brakes. They don't have grease applied. They have anti squeal shims. If your brakes are squealing, there's something else badly wrong. Something copper grease won't fix, and anyone telling you to use it should have their tools or their tongue confiscated. The only things brake pads need is clean surfaces, so make sure you clean the oil from your new discs (with alcohol or similar), and clean any rust from mating surfaces.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Yes... Nothing. Don't put copper grease anywhere near brakes. They don't need it. The only time they ever 'needed' it was when people knew no better. They don't need an alternative. Look at a new car with new brakes. They don't have grease applied. They have anti squeal shims. If your brakes are squealing, there's something else badly wrong. Something copper grease won't fix, and anyone telling you to use it should have their tools or their tongue confiscated. The only things brake pads need is clean surfaces, so make sure you clean the oil from your new discs (with alcohol or similar), and clean any rust from mating surfaces.

Thanks. Things I've been watching/reading show the use of grease to make removing the parts next time you do it a bit easier.

Ordered some brake cleaner with the kit and going to get a wire brush.

 

[UnderOpenSky]

Some daft questions. I'm doing some googling to be prepared. The point you put the jack on is called the lifting point. What's the point the axel stands go on called?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

So I managed to change the front break discs and the car still stops. At least it's not killed me yet. Not done the rears yet, but at least it feels right when it's breaking. Frustratingly I got a full set of discs and pads, but looks like the pads must have been done to pass the MOT when I bought it. I definitely should have got a better trolley jack rather then trusting the Aldi central isle. It seems to struggle with the job, not helped by the fact that axel stands are meaty as, so it could really do with going a few inches higher. Not actually been under the car when supported yet. Suspect that will be terrifying.

Think I'm going to try cleaning out the EGR valve next, watched a few YouTube videos and it doesn't look that difficult...