Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

breadbin

vintagevrs wrote: »

New oil and filter this afternoon. 3700 odd miles since last change.

My 4 year old son gave me a hand which was great, might let him at it himself the next time.

Good on you. Start him young. My dad was always terrified of doing anything with the car. I had to learn myself and only recently too:)

breadbin

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

Quick change of drop links this afternoon while the weather was half decent, there was some clunking from the front end and seems to be sorted now. Next up are the front Thrust and Control arms along with rear drop links.

I decided to do my shocks last year and boy did I learn a thing or 2. It took me literally the whole day whereas now I'd have it done in an hour. One of the things that had me stumped was getting the drop links off. I wasn't lifting the car up in the middle so the force on the drop link I was trying to take off was savage. I had to cut it off. And they need an Allen key to get them off too which rounded so easily.

Another thing was getting the nut off the top of the shock. Once I had it out of the car I couldn't get a right grip on the shock to get that nut off. I think I'd be changing the springs too the next time.

Hal1

I don't bother with anything other than a grinder to remove old stubborn parts like that.

Dartz

New Oil Filter
New fill of 15W45
New Air Filter
New Cabin filter to get rid of the smell of arse and farts.

Engine's healthy at 150k.

Went to investigate a vibration from the front of the car and found the threads had somehow broken on one of the bolts holding in a caliper pin. There's enough thread left to hold it in..... barely. But it's not safely driveably.

Got rained on to **** too. But somehow feel pretty happy about it. The car seems happier too, starting with a little more pep.

Even if it was only driven far enough to swap cars on the drive.

vintagevrs

A suspect fuel pump let me down a few months ago. A bit of poking at it then and all was well but figured it was on it's way out. Ordered one just recently and typically the old one gave in today the day before the old one due to arrive. Another poke and prod got me home. Took out the old one in prep of fitting new one tomorrow morning. Straightforward job by the looks of it.


New hubs and bearings arrive tomorrow too but not sure when I'll get those fitted as need to buy a socket I don't have to get the old ones off.

After that, she'll be finished....... Wishful thinking

passatman86

Changed the diesel filter in my avensis
After watching an irish fella on youtube tutorial I felt confident, turned out to be a ten minute job. Got a garage to do oil and filter simply cause going to a garage only €30 to fit them I get a stamp in the service book.

SeaFields

Just finished oil and oil filter, air filter change in my 2.2ctdi accord. Less than an hour together with unparalleled satisfaction!

Top Dog

Bye bye Donegal - hello Deutschland :cool:



New Grille badge fitted



Out with the old (water-trapping) crystal indicators ...



In with the new clear lenses



Also gave it a good vacuuming and stole the battery from the other one as I think its in better condition.

fancy pigeon

An unusual job for me on Saturday: rebuild a master cylinder. Can't remember the last time I saw someone rebuild one!


Someone want to guess the car by the master cylinder?

The diagnosis was simple: every so often the pedal would go to the floor. The pedal was also quite vague; it would begin to bite high up despite the pads and discs being worn. It would eventually seep all the way to the floor.

What causes this? Poor maintenance of the braking system (see fluid above) causes the rubber to deteriorate over time

The kit consisted of the 3 main seals with some extra O rings. The kit was also 10 x cheaper than a rebuilt unit


There really isn't a lot in them


The whole lot rebuilt and ready to go


Fitted the next day, brake + clutch system thoroughly bled out.

The pedal now coincides with the wear of the front pads, doesn't feel vague and doesn't creep. Pulls up dead straight and reliably (even with the car hopping off the limiter in 3rd)

The same car also got new spark plugs (old ones had over double the gap of the new ones) replacement airbox, replacement wiper arms and a new backbox. Also fixed a slow puncture (bead was allowing air to escape)

It's now a lot more civilized to drive. A very happy GF

job seeker

Is it from a Yaris?

fancy pigeon

Man knows his master cylinders!

vintagevrs

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Man knows his master cylinders!

Or your lady!:pac:

landmarkjohn

rizzee wrote: »

The e90 is in for a diagnostic in the morning.

And the last week or so engine/ gearbox/ exhaust is rattling like crazy especially when idle The car on ramp warning light is up as well s the clock (time) being reset and the warning for rear fog and rear parking bulb on. I hope I can get the car back to normal soon and it's nothing major

Any ideas what I am in for?

Re rattling noise on E90, I have heard, more than once, an annoying vibration / rattling sound that comes right into the cabin caused by something very simple.

There is a rubber spacer/mount on the bottom of the airbox that can become dislodged on removal and if you don't know it should be there and assemble without it will cause a vibration noise, very noticeable at idle. If it is not there on inspection look down in under tray and you might be lucky.

vintagevrs

Got one of my front bearings/hub done this morning. Needed a 36mm socket that my local mech kindly lent me.

Take wheel off and take dust cap off axle nut. Put wheel back on and car on floor again. Crack open the axle nut with car on floor. Remove wheel again and then take brake caliper and disk off. Then for the hub, I was able to just take it off by hand. Few people online had similar experience so I didn't bother buying the jaw puller. Hopefully the other side is the same. Haven't had a drive yet and will do other side this evening all being well. The old ones were fecked.

Also freshened up the dust cover whilst in there as these can only come off when the hub is off.

passatman86

Today got my avensis tested early = 26 months nct

Foxhole Norman

My HVAC blower crapped out on me Wednesday which is not ideal in this weather, no demist ability, no hot or cold air at all. Once I checked the fuses I came to the conclusion that it was the Final Stage Unit(Heater Blower Resistor) as these are a common failure on the E39. My brothers Factors luckily had one in Dublin so he was able to get one to me today, being an original Hella(Behr) unit.

Replacement was handy enough, on the driver side remove the upper carpet piece from the dash, secured with one screw and slides out. Remove the cover above the pedals, 4/5 philips and 2 torx screws. Once these are gone you should be able to see it, after removing the snap fit connector you can hold down a bit of plastic that locks it in place and simply slide it out, no bolts holding it in.



Old and looked original unit:



New fresh one:



Once all was plugged in and secured I tested it out, blowers working perfectly and sweet sweet 32 degree heat was back again :cool:

Voodoomelon

Been a while since I posted here. New brake discs and pads on the 740, went OEM as nothing stops better. Only bad point is the brake dust is serious.

I never fully appreciated the size of this brake setup, the discs are 348mm and the calipers are humongous! ATE is the OEM manufacturer, only a 20" wheel can make brakes look small.



The discs are zinc coated so no need to clean them off, even though I only realised afterwards.

CianRyan

Did you go to town on the callipers? They look mint!

Voodoomelon

I actually didn't touch them, there's a few grubby pictures there after handling them but it cleaned off. I sprayed them with high temp silver paint about 18 months ago, they held up well. I'm light on brakes all the same, this is the first brake job i've done on this car in 4 years.

Discs didn't even need to be done but I had a shimmy on braking, I guessed it was the discs and turned out I was right.

MetzgerMeister

Same discs and calipers on my old 335

CianRyan

I'm genuinely amazed at how little brake dust you generate in such a gargantuan vehicle!

Voodoomelon

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Same discs and calipers on my old 335

I've REALOEM bookmarked, had a quick look, seems they were used on E60s, E63s and E65s. Surprises me that the same caliper was used on a 525i as a 760Li, but there you go!

MetzgerMeister

Economies of scale probably.

Foxhole Norman

Went and did an absolute ball ache of a job yesterday, replacing my Blower Motor. The final stage resistor worked for 3 days before stopping again so I replaced the motor to see if that was the issue and after all the work, no luck and it's louder than the OEM one so I may swap it back once I sort the issue :pac:

Took me about 4/5 hours but it's very easily doable in less once you know what you're doing. I had to remove the Pillar Covers, Gauge Cluster, Glovebox, Headunit, Passenger Airbag, Passenger and Driver side carpet pieces, both panels under the glovebox and steering column, Lower Dash then you can start to unbolt the Upper Dash. The biggest pain in the ass was removing the center vent as this has a rod going through it which controls output and you need to slide this out without breaking the rod. Once that was off you can get to the motor cover/motor itself.

General disassembly, you can see the center vents.



What I thought was a duff motor, but apparently not!



New Nissens motor:


Back together but still with no constant air flow


Going to try a buddies FSU from his E39, see if that sorts it, if so I'll just have to stump for a Genuine FSU even though the replacement I had gotten was a Hella/Behr.

wotzgoingon

I hate that doing a tonne of work and then it does not fix the problem. Hopefully you get it sorted soon and easily. I'd say it's a right pain having no heat to clean the windscreen at this time of year.

Foxhole Norman

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I hate that doing a tonne of work and then it does not fix the problem. Hopefully you get it sorted soon and easily. I'd say it's a right pain having no heat to clean the windscreen at this time of year.

Yeah it's very annoying! I do have some heat alright, the natural amount that seeps into the cabin depending on speed and *sometimes* the blower is working but usually only after I drive the car for half an hour or so, stop and then an hour or two later get back in and it's working again, kind of :pac:

All I can say is fair play. That kind of job would have me curled up in a ball crying in a corner. That wiring loom! :eek:

wotzgoingon

No pictures but today I installed a new shock and bushing after they failed in the NCT all that's left now is the exhaust. I didn't have time to see how bad the leak is or where it is but afaik it is near the front. Hopefully it's not or near the flexi piece as they are awkward to repair.

joujoujou

Last week's job in 2 stages.

Stage one - alloy wheel refurbishment. Actually wasn't me. My job was to bring them down to the guy, pay and collect. Before and after pics:

joujoujou

Stage two - summers out, winters in. Very good timing, I'd say.

Filthy car with summer tyres:



Summer vs. Winter comparison:





Filthy car with winter tyres: