The "Today I did something to my car" thread

Gary ITR

Limerick man wrote: »

I put a LIDL dehumidifier in my car that Chris gave me, came out of work expecting my windows to be littered in water and no, dry as whistle.

I told ya, don't leave it in the car though, it'll dry out your insides lol

L-M

Gary ITR wrote: »

I told ya, don't leave it in the car though, it'll dry out your insides lol

I'll be leaving it there until it bloody dries! (Or Chris comes for it)

I reckon it's because my back windows slide down ever so slighty, leaving moisture in.

That or the holes in me doors...

EPM

Limerick man wrote: »

I'll be leaving it there until it bloody dries! (Or Chris comes for it)

I reckon it's because my back windows slide down ever so slighty, leaving moisture in.

That or the holes in me doors...

or both

E39MSport

They'll draw atmospheric moisture in through the vents as the air in the car dries up unless you close them. My old sh1theaps do anyway.

It's a worthwhile exercise from time to time. Good for the electrics too.

langdang

Limerick man wrote: »

I put a LIDL dehumidifier in my car that Chris gave me, came out of work expecting my windows to be littered in water and no, dry as whistle.

Electric yoke or the pellet one? The pellet ones can take a lot of water but if you leave them there too long they will smell like something died in there. That's my experience from a maggoty Ford that had given up keeping rain out long ago.

L-M

langdang wrote: »

Electric yoke or the pellet one? The pellet ones can take a lot of water but if you leave them there too long they will smell like something died in there. That's my experience from a maggoty Ford that had given up keeping rain out long ago.

It's a pellet one, I'll remove it in a bit. My car smells anyway, it gets abuse :P

If I poured water in the boot and I'm faily sure the mixture of dust in there it would turn to concrete in an hour :P

sogood

Rich11 wrote: »

Today I serviced my own car for the first time, 1999 opel astra, before work today, oil, oil filter, pollen filter, air filter, drained coolent, front brake pad discs in good nic!, new wipers front and rear, have rear break shoes just wondering how to get the actual drum off, took the screw off.... pulled hammered, hammer and screwdriver but no look.....:mad:

Thanks in advance:)

Make sure you dont have the handbrake on, that will lock up the brake drums. Leave the car in 1st gear and chock the front wheels. Might be that?

Standard Toaster

K&N Typhoon 69-8001TS
Sounds the business

Ardennes1944

Is there a cold air feed? Or is it just placed where air comes through?

Standard Toaster

Just placed where the air comes in, left original air intake to channel the cold air in as you can see in pic.
She's two heat shields, I think it will be fine, cold air feed would be overkill imho

Ardennes1944

Ah i was wondering what it was. Yeah i know but some come with cold air feed attachments

Rich11

Gary ITR wrote: »

Have you tried shouting at it?

I'm having an intermittent problem with my fathers E200, cars belonging to ourselves always get shoved out the door to make way for paying customers so it hasn't really been looked at. When it does start throwing it's tantrum I shout at it until it runs properly

Yep! Tried it:(:(.........................:D

MetzgerMeister

I put a bottle of Lucas octane booster into my tank today. Now to fill it up, disconnect and reconnect the battery to see if it actually works!

Anyone know of a good fuel additive that actual does increase the octane rating?

Owen

Got started on the GTM yesterday, battery from a normal classic Mini won't fit due to the terminal positions, so I'll have to extend the earth/live cable, no big deal. Went to crank it, and the starter made a half hearted effort to swing the engine and stopped. So either the starter's goosed, or the engine's slighly seized inside. Took out the plugs and poured some diesel into each cylinder which I'll leave in there for a day or two to hopefully free up the pistons, and tomorrow I'll take the car out of the garage and get under it to take off the starter and see what condition that's in.

The wiring's a complete mess. There's household wiring lying about the place with spade connectors on them not connected to anything, and the dashboard doesn't light up when the ignition key is turned. I'm thinking when I've more time, I'm going to rewire most of it and put in proper connectors too.

Made a decision on seats, there's worn out Porsche 944 seats in there, and for the price I could buy recovering kits for, I'll buy 2 leather seats secondhand, and hopefully ones with heating elements as it's a convertible and that'd make sense.

And picked out a colour scheme too

Kat1170

einheisserschre wrote: »

I put a bottle of Lucas octane booster into my tank today. Now to fill it up, disconnect and reconnect the battery to see if it actually works!

Anyone know of a good fuel additive that actual does increase the octane rating?

Why do you need to do that ?

Gary ITR

einheisserschre wrote: »

I put a bottle of Lucas octane booster into my tank today. Now to fill it up, disconnect and reconnect the battery to see if it actually works!

Anyone know of a good fuel additive that actual does increase the octane rating?

Not just saying this because I sell it but Millers is the dogs, if we double the instructed amount we can run as much ignition as race fuel will allow in the race car. TestTransmission from here tried it on the dyno and had a fair increase in horsies

damo86

Kat1170 wrote: »

Why do you need to do that ?

To reset the ECU I believe, so it adjusts the different grade of fuel.

johnos1984

Today I put a new bonnet release cable into the MGF. I also done some work on the electric window.

I think checked fluids and found no coolant :eek:

No signs of any leaks so I'm puzzled as to where it went. Engine oil is a nice golden colour.

I'll drain whats left out tomorrow and refill the system and try and start it, which it wont do either

johnos1984

johnos1984 wrote: »

Today I put a new bonnet release cable into the MGF. I also done some work on the electric window.

I think checked fluids and found no coolant :eek:

No signs of any leaks so I'm puzzled as to where it went. Engine oil is a nice golden colour.

I'll drain whats left out tomorrow and refill the system and try and start it, which it wont do either

Inlet manifold gasket might be worth a look at John, I'd try and get it started before draining and refilling the system tbh

TestTransmission

Gary ITR wrote: »

TestTransmission from here tried it on the dyno and had a fair increase in horsies

This is true, must get around to buying a case of it.It's not meant to be good for the cat but sure that's not an issue anymore.

mondeo

johnos1984 wrote: »

Today I put a new bonnet release cable into the MGF. I also done some work on the electric window.

I think checked fluids and found no coolant :eek:

No signs of any leaks so I'm puzzled as to where it went. Engine oil is a nice golden colour.

I'll drain whats left out tomorrow and refill the system and try and start it, which it wont do either

There is a long metal coolant pipe coming from the back of the car up to the front where the radiator is. Have a good look at it if you have not checked it already. It's a known failure point.

johnos1984

RoverJames wrote: »

Inlet manifold gasket might be worth a look at John, I'd try and get it started before draining and refilling the system tbh

Problem is I've tried everything to start it with no success. I reckon it's due to dampness and cold really from standing in the garage

@Mondeo It's been parked up in a garage and hasn't moved since October. No stains anywhere on the floor of the shed so can't see it being a burst pipe. I think RJ is on the ball with the inlet manifold gasket

dgt

Changed my starter



The old one was...


Sticking :rolleyes:

johnos1984

johnos1984 wrote: »

Problem is I've tried everything to start it with no success.............

Did you pull the plugs out

johnos1984

RoverJames wrote: »

Did you pull the plugs out

Went to do it today and could't find my plug wrench

...bummer
On a lighter note that's something for you to check.

johnos1984

RoverJames wrote: »

...bummer
On a lighter note that's something for you to check.

Something similar happened the Maxi so I wasn't really concerned about it until the coolant disappeared. I put in a new battery and then hooked up a booster pack and it fired straight away

eringobragh

Today I:

Fixed my front bonnet not closing properly occasionally - dodgy spring release lever

Ordered some NGK iridum sparkplugs..BKR6EIX

L-M

Forgot to take the dehumidifier out of the car, and now there's a dirty rotten smell of salt in the car

langdang

eringobragh wrote: »

Today I:

Fixed my front bonnet not closing properly occasionally - dodgy spring release lever

Ordered some NGK iridum sparkplugs..BKR6EIX

Bonnet annoyances here too. Had whole MINI modular front end moved yesterday and the bonnet latch is part of that. Can't be way out, everything else went back ok, started lashing before I could move the latch around. Hope that's all that's needed, don't fancy taking the bumper and all the crash protection off again! Small repair to bumper and K&N is drying off in the kitchen. Redundant resonator box from old intake removed.