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Ded_Zebra's P11 Primera
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11-04-2014 10:18pm#1This isn't really going to be a project as such as the amount of work will (hopefully) be fairly low. the aim of this project is to revive this car somewhat so that it is in a roadworthy condition and that it will pass an NCT. The other aim is to make it presentable and so that I won't be embarrassed to be seen in it! The NCT is booked for the 18th of April so this thread probably won't go on too long
*** Note that I'm not a professional and I'm trying to do this to a good standard but on the cheap so please tolerate this:)***
So why did I get the Primera? I hear you ask!
Well I sold my Levin and needed some form of transport. I was planing to get an E36 318 but, unfortunately the seller wouldn't answer his phone :rolleyes: The next thing down the list was the Primera:)
It was a long drive down to Galway but when I got there I was met by the site of the beast! It was by no means clean in terms of the body work but it had all of the little signs that I look for in a well minded car. It had only 2 owners from new, one for 3 years and the second from then until I bought it. Over the years he looked after it well and it was regularly serviced. It also had 2 firestones on the front and 2 Bridgstones on the back, another good indication that it was well looked after. All in it wasn't bad for the €300:)
Here it is as I got it:
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When I got it the rear brakes were metal on metal so the first job was to put in rear pads. I have no pictures of this unfortunately as I needed to get to college! When winding back the calipers it became apparent that the rear passengers side one was sticking :mad:
Since then I've beed really flat out with college work finishing off my final year project. So I've done nothing with the car other than drive it. I've clocked up about 2000 miles since I got the car and am pleased to say that it hasn't missed a beat Over this time I've got to know the car pretty well and it's actually very good to drive! Embarasing to say but thanks to it's multi link suspension it's nearly as direct and good handling as the Levin:o It really is good to drive other than the sticking rear caliper, there isn't a clunk or groan out of the suspension anywhere and is very tight considering the milage on it.
Eventually I had time to start to get it cleaned up a bit. The sills had started to rust and at some point the previous owner had painted over them with underseal. This had started to peal off again:
The materials required:
APC mix to scrub the dirt off:
And then my phone went flat :rolleyes: but they were scrubbed, the doors were masked off along with the top of the sills and I went to town with a paint brush
Haven't got any after pics at the moment but they look goodish now (as well as underseal covering rust can look!)0 -
Next it was time to start to work on the making it look presentable part. I suspect that it was only ever washed with an automated machine and was only ever ran over with a hoover on the inside. The amount of tar on it was unreal :eek::eek:
Tar cleanse doing it's thing :cool:
Then compounding started and promptly ended again after one panel due to college work again:(:(
Swirly
Sh1tty photo here but swirl free side
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The interior was a health hazard :eek: so it was time to get cleaning.
Crusty
Dirt from just the top of the dash :eek::eek:
More crust in the steering wheel stitching
All clean
Dirt from the wheel… I touched that with my hands/shudder
Pressure washing the mats
Sprinkle on some cocane I mean raisins, sorry I mean washing powder.
scrub in
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Leave it for a while for the detergent to do its thing and then pressure wash off
wet vac out the water
The rest of the interior was also hovered, and the rather portions of the seats were cleaned and treated. It now smells nice and fresh inside
:D 0 -
So here it is as of this evening.
This is why the rear electric windows don't work, there is switches on the drivers door for them though
The milage that's on it along with the ABS and EM lights :rolleyes:
It's not perfect but not too bad overall
So what needs to be done for the NCT next week
- front fog light to be mounted securely
- bulb for said for light
- thermostat ordered and fitted
- reversing light bulb
- EML turned off (I think this was caused by running the car with the temp sensor disconnected)
- ABS fault sorted
- Rear caliper cleaned up to get it freed
- A metal thingy that goes behind the disc on the rear left
- Maybe an oil and filter change
I think that that is it 0 -
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Well a bit more work has been done yesterday and today, I felt really sh!tty last night so didn't post up anything then, and now today I have a cold:(
Yesterday I started with the nice easy jobs. First on the list was the fog light.
It was full of dirt and not lighting, it was also only held in with a cable tie.
You have to remove the front screws for the inner wheel arch liner to remove the wiring and then the bulb. I tested the continuity of the bulb and it was OK so it looked like I had a wiring issue on my hands
Next I turned on the fog lights and checked the voltage at the connector to the bulb. 12V there.
On further inspection there was a lot of corrosion on the contacts in the bulb holder. These were scraped off with a pointy screwdriver and then I put a little smear of copper grease on them. Plugged in the bulb and we had light!!!!
Next the light its self was removed and split. Crusty just like everything else on this car
Cleaned it up.
Put it back together. Here is the reason that it was held in with a cable tie and how the dirt got into it in the first place. This is where the mounting tab used to be.
Bit of duct tape and it's grand. Black tape for extra BHP :pac:
Put back into place with a new cable tie
Now onto the next job on the list. A very simple one which was nice. Replace one of the reversing light bulbs.
After that it was onto the rear brake caliper. I didn't take any pictures of this because I had brake fluid all over my hands and didn't want to get it on my phone!
Anyway, The procedure was:
Step 1: Jack up your car and put it on jack stands (:pac:)
- Remove the caliper
- Make sure there is plenty of fluid in the reservoir
- Put a tub under the caliper and pump pump pump the pedal until the piston falls out.
- Clamp off the flex line to stop all the fluid coming out with a vice grips. Wrap some cardboard around the line first to protect it.
- Clean the piston and caliper (I had to scrape off a couple of scabs of rust on the piston. These were causing the problem)
- Open the bleed nipple and using the wind back tool that DGT lent me push the piston back in (thank you DGT)
- I then worked the caliper in and out a few times to make sure it was free and clean.
- Re-assemble and then bleed the system0 -
Next on the list was the EML and ABS light. I eventually found the plug thanks to the help I got in this thread and my dad
Big thanks to 88Manta on here too
Pesky diag. socket
Jumper cable in, now when the key is turned on the flash codes are displayed
The codes that were retrieved were 13 and 18. The sites below showed me what they meant. 13 is due to the coolant temp. sensor, I triggered this by accident by starting the car with the sensor disconnected. The other code the site said was unknown but I suspect it was due to having the EGR disconnected.
Then I reset the light by connecting the jumper wire twice
Great success!! no EML
Then it was time for the ABS light. Jump 2 different connections on the plug to retrieve those. The codes were 12, 35 and 71. 12 relates to start of diagnostics, 35 This Relates to Left rear wheel speed sensor circuit fault (open) and 71 This Relates to ABS module fault. I wish the code regarding the module was more specific because I really don't want to pay for a new one
I then had a brainwave when I was clearing out the wiper washer jets and filling the washer bottle. There is a connector on the ABS unit right beside the washer bottle that gets splashed with water every time the bottle is filled. I'm hoping that corrosion in this connector is causing the 2 faults. I haven't managed to get it off yet though.
You can just about see the connector down there.
Here are the sites that I got info about the fault codes on and how to read them. The top one might be a useful resource to others as well
http://codes.rennacs.com
http://www.obdtester.com/nissan_ddl
http://www.2carpros.com/questions/infiniti-q45-1997-infiniti-q45-slip-light
When I was cleaning the washer jets out I discovered that the awful intermittent smell in the car was the washer fluid :eek::eek: I drained the bottle and refilled it along with a few caps of Dettol to kill whatever bacteria was living in there!
Then the last thing that I did was dress the plastic trim
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Alanstrainor wrote: »Best of luck with it! It's always a head wreck of a yoke to go through!
Head wrecking is right! I always get so nervous :P:o
Last few things have been done now.
Boot empty
Wheel nuts exposed
Fluids checked
VLC in the glovebox
Zebra installed for good luck :P:pac:
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Back form the NCT and I have mixed news. I passed on some things that I thought that I might fail on and then I failed on a couple of things that I thought were OK.
I was actually 15min late for the test due to every single person on the east of the country deciding they were going to go south for the fine weather :rolleyes:
I think the tester though it was going to be a real crock of sh1te because I told him on the way in that I thought that the fans weren't working and would he please keep an eye on the temperature during the test
He told me that the fans were working perfectly after the test so that's good to know.
Anyway, the results!
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Alanstrainor wrote: »ABS and CV boot are the main concerns I take it? What's the CV boot like to change?
The ABS is the main concern alright. The codes are for the left rear wheel speed sensor (open circuit) and also, worryingly for the ABS module. Buying one of those would be a fair bit more than the cost of the car
There is a right way and a wrong way to do the boot. Buy a proper boot and split the CV joint to fit it. Or the wrong way is to buy a universal split boot that you cut to size and glue together.
Like one of these:
I'll probably do it the wrong way because it's quicker and easier :P0 -
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toyotaavensis wrote: »could you get an abs module from a scrap yard
Possibly, but the thing is that it might be fooked too
:(
I'm going to have a hunt for one but I'm not convinced that there is actually a problem with it… I think it might be corrosion in the multi connector but I've not been able to get it to come off yet.0 -
Ever since I got the Primera the rear passengers door was noisy to lock/unlock. At first it was a loud humming or buzzing noise but then over the last few days it's evolved to making the exact noise a puppy makes when you stand on its foot (not that I go around standing on small dogs). Clearly something had to be done as it's the little things like that that make a car look like a ball of scrap to someone not in the know.
The first thing to do was take off the door card. To do that the first step is to remove the window winder.
To do that you'll need a piece of fencing wire with a small hook on the end like you can see on the right on the pic below. This is to hook under and pull off the small clip on the winder holding it on which you can see on the left. It might take a few attempts to get it off and also there probably is a proper tool for doing it but I don't have one.
Different manufacturers and models have slightly different ways of holding door cards on. Sometimes there are little screws hidden under plastic caps around the edge but a quick look at my door and there were none. This means that there are only plastic clips around the edge holding it on. Even if there are just clips there is usually some screws/bolts near the door pull to keep it ridged. What I did was pull the clips at the bottom of the door card and then looked up to see where the bolts were. It became apparent that the door pull split to reveal the bolt heads.
Once both of those were undone and all the plastic clips had been popped off the door card was just lifted up off the door to reveal this.
I've seen on some forums before that people recommend to just throw away that piece of plastic but it is needed as it's what keeps the water out of your interior water that gets passed the window seals is kept out by it.
One of the clips stayed in the door rather than pull away with the door card. I just popped it out and stuck it back in the door card.
Undo the rest of the bolts
peel back the plastic sheet carefully and then take out some more bolts that hold the lock mechanism in place.
Taking this sneaky piece of trim off revealed the bolt that holds on the door handle.
Unhooked from the door.
Then the 3 screws on the end of the door.
Next there isn't a lot to see because everything is inside the door. The lock module thingy can't fit out without taking out the window frame so I just wiggled it back as far as possible. Next, mostly by feel, I removed the screws holding the module casing together. I then sprayed it full of white lithium grease. Then I put the whole thing back together.
I'm pleased to report that I now have a nice quiet door lock
I didn't know if it would fix it or not and couldn't see where the grease went but I had nothing to lose so it was worth a shot and everything worked out :cool:0 -
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Looks like a nice bargain for what you paid for it? I like the wrecked old licence plate at the front, adds character!
Holy baby cheeses!!! They let you in here :P
I think it adds character too
Costs so far are:
Car: €290 (got a tenner back for luck :P)
NCT: €55
Oil: €22.73
Oil filter: €10.33
Thermostat: €21.68
ABS sensor: €130
Everything else that went into it was just lying around (WD-40, grease, cleaning stuff etc)
It owes me about €530 so far
Just uploading photos for a pic heavy update at the moment!!0 -
Holy baby cheeses!!! They let you in here :P
I think it adds character too
Costs so far are:
Car: €290 (got a tenner back for luck :P)
NCT: €55
Oil: €22.73
Oil filter: €10.33
Thermostat: €21.68
ABS sensor: €130
Everything else that went into it was just lying around (WD-40, grease, cleaning stuff etc)
It owes me about €530 so far
Just uploading photos for a pic heavy update at the moment!!
Might get a chancy €600 for it with a fresh NCT and all polished up when you're ready to move it on? Nothing beats bangernomics eh? I like knowing that if my car spontaneously combusts I can go out and get another one...sorta!0 -
Here's the exciting stuff that I got!!
Some presents for the Primera.
And something for me!!!
Yesterday I started to do the work on the car. First things first, an oil change.
There first thing that I do and I encourage others to do it too is to make sure you can get the fill cap off before opening the drain. This is true for everything, engines, gearboxes, diffs whatever. It's much better to have the old oil in than to have none
Oil cap off
Now drain the oil
Next take the filter off. Unfortunately for me the person to fit the filter was clearly entirely made of asshole and incompetence. Took me and my dad 1.5 hours to get it off it was so tight :mad::mad::mad: It was me that got it in the end though so slagging avoided :P
Compare to new and old to make sure it's the same
Next fit the new filter, pop the sump plug in, and fill er up!!! I'm sure you all know how to do that.
Next thing to do was the thermostat. It's located down the back of the engine, just above the oil filter. 3 bolts hold it on and the housing will need a tap with a soft hammer to free it from the engine. The coolant will be collected in the bucket you put under the car. Pull out the thermostat. Then clean the old gasket off both surfaces.
the housing needed further cleaning so I whipped it off. Using a flat surface (a man made boards are good for this like the bit of kitchen counter used) and a bit of sand paper. Put some light oil on the 800 grit and then keeping the surface of the housing flat rub it in every direction over the sand paper until the surface is nice enough.
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Cleaned up surface
This thermostat didn't come with a new gasket so I'll have to make one.
Get some gasket paper and trace around it.
Cut it out along with the hole for the water and then using a hole cutter of the right size make the bolt holes.
Bit of gasket goo
When refitting, don't forget to put in the new thermostat. I nearly did :P
I'm reusing my old coolant because i'm a cheap bastard :pac: Filtering it through a rag to get the bits out
Next for the ABS sensor. Jack up the offending corner, in this case the rear left. Remove the wheel and put it on an axle stand.
Disconnect the old sensor.
Now remove the 4 bolts holding it in.
Fúck!
Double FÚCK!!!!
Compare the old and new
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Behind the sensor metal bit, is a bit of a water trap on the suspension are so
That should stop it from rusting
Now because I'm so lazy I decided I could get away with a bit of clue over drilling out and tapping the holes where the bolts broke. All the important bolts were still ok so I'm happy with it.
Now for the moment of truth…………
No warning lights for the first time in my ownership:D:D:cool::cool:
After that the fog light needed more securing so I took it out. I took it out and drilled a hole.
Now a nice bit of fencing wire to run through the hole in the light and a preexisting one in the bumper. That should be secure enough now I think
On a side note, the same ****er who put the oil filter on put the wheel on :rolleyes: The wheel brace for the car got broker. In the end this is the setup that opened them. That's a 4 foot bar that my dad stood on (he's fatter than me). 0 -
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Might get a chancy €600 for it with a fresh NCT and all polished up when you're ready to move it on? Nothing beats bangernomics eh? I like knowing that if my car spontaneously combusts I can go out and get another one...sorta!
It's nearly too good to sell! I've grown to like it and it's actually a good car. Far far too slow though I was driving the Optima today and it felt like a rocket ship
IMO it would be worth €600 all day with a new NCT as it is/was really well looked after car with the guy before me owning it for 11 years. I'm not sure that the average person will see past the mileage though:rolleyes: 0 -
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It's nearly too good to sell! I've grown to like it and it's actually a good car. Far far too slow though I was driving the Optima today and it felt like a rocket ship
IMO it would be worth €600 all day with a new NCT as it is/was really well looked after car with the guy before me owning it for 11 years. I'm not sure that the average person will see past the mileage though:rolleyes:
The mileage really is impressive but not a huge surprise though, them primera's were decent enough cars. My Alfa is on 172k miles which is impressive for something Italian...!:D
As a reliable workhorse it might be best to hold onto incase your next purchase lets you down and you need something from A-B. If it's only worth a few hundred maybe advertise it around €6-700 and if nobody is interested, just hold onto it?0
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