Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Similar to the other poster but I managed to throw on a show for the neighbours. Have a video but it won't upload

Toyotafanboi

The Civic doesn't even look like there's anything really wrong with it!

Dartz

Serviced at 155k

More oil. More Filters. Just keeping it running.

MAF screws broke their plastic threads. Now held on and sealed by foil tape. Suspension is OK. The oil seep at the front of the engine is becoming a weep.

Aiming for the 160.

It'll probably go to parts then.

MetzgerMeister

Dartz wrote: »

MAF screws broke their plastic threads.

Typical of the RX8. Had the same happen on mine.

joujoujou

Self-dimming mirror installed, with a little help from my friends.

Got one off avensis, sadly not compatible with corolla windscreen. My first idea was to make a sort of adapter to put new mirror onto the old retainer on a windscreen, but decided to ring my colleague working in a "replace a windscreen" place - he said he'd pull out an old retainer and glue up a new one for a tenner.

Required wiring done last friday, so now just plug and play. No photos this time - sorry.

colm_mcm

Is there much to wiring one in?

joujoujou

Not really. Just ground wire and +12V ignition.

eringobragh

joujoujou wrote: »

Self-dimming mirror installed, with a little help from my friends.

Got one off avensis, sadly not compatible with corolla windscreen. My first idea was to make a sort of adapter to put new mirror onto the old retainer on a windscreen, but decided to ring my colleague working in a "replace a windscreen" place - he said he'd pull out an old retainer and glue up a new one for a tenner.

Required wiring done last friday, so now just plug and play. No photos this time - sorry.

Done the same on the MR2 with an LS400 mirror - well worth it as was getting constantly blinded by jeeps and vans

mondeoman2

joujoujou wrote: »

Not really. Just ground wire and +12V ignition.

There is also a Reverse light feed aswell.
It's so the mirror does not dim while you are reversing.
These mirrors are a great addition and very easy to install.

joujoujou

mondeoman2 wrote: »

There is also a Reverse light feed aswell.
It's so the mirror does not dim while you are reversing.
[...]

Got that on my previous 'rolla, but the mirror was from BMW. Apart from reverse dim cancelling got a red nose reindeer blinking LED as a bonus.

[post]93362182[/post]

That particular one I just installed had only 2 wires to play with and on/off button, no reverse yoke.

Now, few more details - got +12V from cigarette lighter fuse using "add a circuit" thingy with it's own fuse (widely available online) and ground from one of the bolts keeping many various items in their place behind a glovebox.

Alanstrainor

I changed a bulb. The e46 is relatively easy, although the mount can be a bit fiddly!

fancy pigeon

2 tyres fitted on the Avensis. According to the manufacturer they are C rated fuel and wet grip plus 68db. Now I know that may be all horsesh*t but will be interesting to see over the curse of the tyres how they perform.

I can say that they are quiet in the car and grips well in the wet but it's early days, only 1500km put up so far. Time will tell

Not going to divulge the brand yet but it's something I've not had before

blackbox

I fitted a towbar to the Lexus RX. Took me the best part of a day. Instructions said it was a 2 hour job!

Electrics still to be done.

punisher5112

fancy pigeon wrote: »

2 tyres fitted on the Avensis. According to the manufacturer they are C rated fuel and wet grip plus 68db. Now I know that may be all horsesh*t but will be interesting to see over the curse of the tyres how they perform.

I can say that they are quiet in the car and grips well in the wet but it's early days, only 1500km put up so far. Time will tell

Not going to divulge the brand yet but it's something I've not had before

Land sails, ditch finders, goodslide something along those???

Should have everyone guess till got right.

MetzgerMeister

Driftslide? :pac:

lafors

So my 645ci decided to give up on the way home just after the new year.
It went full christmas tree lost power then power steering then autobox. Luckily the back road I was on had a hard shoulder. Knew it was likely the alternator. Had previously replaced the voltage regulator on it but this was different, no electrical gremlins to warn me just full christmas tree.
Called the tow truck, while waiting I had 3 other BMWs pull up asking did I need help, sound lads. One even recommended a place to fix the alternator, same thing had happened to his E60.


So eventually got a chance to remove the alternator. Having done it before for replacing the voltage regulator it was quite a bit easier and quicker.


With the alternator removed I could see the problem straight away, the infamous alternator bracket seal was leaking. Basically there is a 3euro seal in behind the alternator bracket and it turns solid eventually and oil pisses out everywhere and on top of the alternator. It's a big enough job to fix.
I dropped the alternator off to Blanch Auto Electric and the lads there were able to fix it, great lads there btw I'd highly recommend them.

No point in refitting the alternator until I fixed the seal. Luckily I had just taken delivery of my new EV Going from a 4.4L V8 to an EV is a big jump

While in there I found the oil pressure sensor was leaking again (on the drivers side) again it sprays oil all over the place and makes a mess. Cheap and easy to replace I had already done it when I got the car a number of years ago.


So to remove the bracket I needed to disconnect the power steering pump. First to drain the fluid. Thankfully the crap oil suction tool which doesn't work for 8.5L of oil worked well for the steering fluid. No battery in the car so used the battery on the skoda


Pump off and moved out of the way without having to drain so didn't need to do the above.


Can see the bracket now and the oil dripping out from it.


So for easy viewing here is the bracket in green, the pump in blue, and the poxy engine mount in red.
YES the engine mount has to be removed to remove that bracket, like WTF were they thinking.




There are 4 torx bolts to remove from the mount, it takes a serious amount of different extensions and angled pieces to get them off. The back two need the wheel arch removed to access.



I could shoot whomever came up with that wheel arch cover, it is a NIGHTMARE to get out!

Now I had access to the back the engine needs to be raised, I tried everywhere to rent an engine hoist and couldn't get one anywhere so I went for the cowboy engineering of making up a solid wooden t-piece to fit through the crossmembers underneath (a jack cant fit through them) then I made a wooden puck to go on top of the jack, bolted it all together for strength and slightly raise the engine from underneath.

lafors

Now to remove the back engine mount torx bolts. Needed a bit of help from a jack bar to get the torque.



Engine Mount removed, nice and shiny behind it


Bracket eventually out and here's the seal, ba$tard!


The old seal was as solid as a rock. I couldn't get it out with a pick it was that hard so I had to get it started with my dremel making sure not to damage the bracket.


So put it all back together, only one picture as I was freezing doing it
Last one, ready for the belt and fans to go back in.


Finished it up, changed the oil filter, refilled the fluids and put the battery back in.
Started up first time
Let her warm up a bit then took it around the block. Needs a good warm up afer the snow.

I'd say it's probably the most difficult job I've had to do on it so far. Wouldn't have been able to do it without my bargain alerts halford advanced large socket set!

Vroom vroom the V8 lives again!

vintagevrs

Impressive work

Toyotafanboi

Why does that bracket even need to have a seal? Why can't whatever is on the other side of it just be solid? Was the same gasket the best thing to put back in? Would a chemical gasket have been better maybe?

This is the kind of thing that would put me off owning something like this, one miserable little oil seal (that you had already replaced!) managed to take the whole car down out of the blue.

Nice work though. You're some man for one man doing that on your driveway!

lafors

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Why does that bracket even need to have a seal? Why can't whatever is on the other side of it just be solid? Was the same gasket the best thing to put back in? Would a chemical gasket have been better maybe?

This is the kind of thing that would put me off owning something like this, one miserable little oil seal (that you had already replaced!) managed to take the whole car down out of the blue.

Nice work though. You're some man for one man doing that on your driveway!

The seal that I had already done was the oil pressure sensor one on the driver side. The alternator bracket one was on the passenger side that was the nightmare to replace.

They had intended on putting an oil cooler on it when they built the engine but for some reason they didn't and then closed it with rubber seal and two screw's for the oil lines. They did put the cooler into the 650i, it has the same seal but looks like it has the oil cooler coming off that bracket.

I'd rather do it myself than pay a garage to do it, they'd be looking for a decent chunk to do it too. Even with the right tools it takes a big chunk of time.

fancy pigeon

punisher5112 wrote: »

Land sails, ditch finders, goodslide something along those???

Should have everyone guess till got right.

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

Driftslide? :pac:

Something along those but I'm going to be cruel this time and not divulge until I have to replace them...

selectamatic

fancy pigeon wrote: »

Something along those but I'm going to be cruel this time and not divulge until I have to replace them...

Should really be a heavily modded thread where people could throw up anecdotes relating to decent experiences with various budget brands.

There's definitely some great value and decent performance to be had out there but it's a minefield.

It's a shame such a thread would be riddled with trolls and lads sh1ten on about how all budgets are the same though.

honda boi

Been getting a dirty smell in the cabin for awhile now.
Was smelly like exhaust Fumes. Would be very noticeable especially on a cold start.
Smoke would come from the engine bay as well and go away after a couple seconds to a minute.
Checked the exhaust and there wasn't a lot air/pressure coming out the exhaust so there's defo a leak or block somewhere.
Disconnected a joint on the exhaust ,started it and there was still not a lot of pressure at it so moving up I found the flexipipe had broken and was leaking a lot .
Got a flexipipe from a Citroen 1.6hdi.
Cut and welded the pipe to fit mine a 1.6tdci. Stuck her back up.
Need to get abit of exhaust paste as the gasket isn't great on the joint I disconnected .
Will try later and see if the smoke and smell is gone .
If not its time to look at the cat.

traco

Didn’t really do anything but got prepared for doing stuff. Assembled and tested my new scissors lift. Good job. Great access for front and rear. Tight in the middle but not an issue for me as it’s mid engined. Should make jobs a lot handier. No room underneath really so will need some 2 x 12 to run each side to get the stands on but no big deal. Stores away nice and tidy. Rear hub is 1.37m high so pleased with that and it’s fairly stable.

martyc5674

traco wrote: »

Didn’t really do anything but got prepared for doing stuff. Assembled and tested my new scissors lift. Good job. Create access for front and rear. Tight in the middle but bit an issue for me as it’s mid engined. Should make jobs a lot handier. No room really so will need some 2 x 12 to run each side to get the stands on but no big deal. Stores away nice and tidy. Rear hub is 1.37m high so pleased with that and it’s fairly stable.

Nice looking yoke!... what’s it powered by?

DanielGibbons

traco wrote: »

Didn’t really do anything but got prepared for doing stuff. Assembled and tested my new scissors lift. Good job. Create access for front and rear. Tight in the middle but bit an issue for me as it’s mid engined. Should make jobs a lot handier. No room really so will need some 2 x 12 to run each side to get the stands on but no big deal. Stores away nice and tidy. Rear hub is 1.37m high so pleased with that and it’s fairly stable.

I like that. Would you mind sharing the price? PM if you wish.

traco

martyc5674 wrote: »

Nice looking yoke!... what’s it powered by?

Single phase 230V electric pump, has 24V controls e-stop etc. Its a china job but aren't most of them. Quality is decent and will suit my needs. Has mechanical locking at various positions so not sitting on the hydraulics when raised. You can see the controller and pump on the right in the last pic

Went with this design as it didn't have cross members at the front and rear so has heavier sides and center section which might restrict front engine RWD stuff somewhat around gearbox / drive shaft. For the FWD daily and the Boxster its spot on.

Its heavy - 400kg +/- so don't expect to be running around with it. got it from link below:
http://www.sjrgarageequipment.co.uk/scissor-car-lifts/

Have a few jobs to do for the season so in the next week or two she will get started and roasted. Then its onto the lift for a few weeks starting with oil and filter, some exhaust and brake work and depending on time a few preventative jobs.

Its going to be so nice to be able to leave it on the lift and go up and down as access from top and bottom is needed. I've a pain in the proverbials the last two years using jack stands and lying on the floor with sod all clearance.

Wise Old Elf

Small job, the spring on my gear stick snapped, so it wouldn't go back to centre automatically. Made me have to think about the move up to 3rd from 2nd.

Small little spring. Centre console comes off easily, lift off the gaitor once the knob is off. Getting things back together is a bit fiddly but all ok again.

Back together image with broken spring in foreground. The new spring is just above and left, hint of blue on the top

Sam Quentin

I just wiggled and jiggled the connector to crash sensor side impact Airbag..
OBD Fault 01222 GI80..
(passenger side)
The connector is located under the passenger seat on the floor, covered with a square carpet cut-out. Just pump the seat up to top height and push seat forward, you'll see it running parallel to the right of the door side seat rail.. Flick the carpet up and you'll see the connector.
Then delete with OBDII reader or VCDS.
::2011 MKII Skoda Octavia. Probably same for most VAG cars of that generation!?

Voodoomelon

lafors wrote: »

I'd rather do it myself than pay a garage to do it, they'd be looking for a decent chunk to do it too. Even with the right tools it takes a big chunk of time.

I'd disagree with you there, i'm very glad to have paid a garage to do mine whilst the coolant pipe in the V was being done! Fair play, no way was I arsed doing that job without a lift.