Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Alanstrainor · 10-01-2020 05:18PM

Picked up my cheap halfords Castrol oil at lunch, I had reserved it last week when the price was still low. The plan is to do an oil change ahead of schedule on the Lexus is250, about 6 months since the last one. The logic being that the first oil change I did showed ancient oil, so I'm going to replace the oil and filter after 6 months as a means of flushing it. The car has been running absolutely fine since I got it so I don't expect too much change.

NCT coming up on Tues as well. Fingers crossed.

Truckermal · 10-01-2020 06:43PM

Great cars Alan my GS used to walk through the test every year without spending anything.

Alanstrainor · 10-01-2020 07:10PM

Truckermal wrote: »

Great cars Alan my GS used to walk through the test every year without spending anything.

Already looking at the GS on donedeal... they're growing on me!

Titzon Toast · 10-01-2020 09:34PM

Very happy at how these have turned out. I can't wait to see what they look like on the car.

Truckermal · 10-01-2020 10:06PM

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Already looking at the GS on donedeal... they're growing on me!

They are dirt cheap I'd avoid the 450h unless you want hardship!

Alanstrainor · 11-01-2020 05:26PM

Titzon Toast wrote: »

Very happy at how these have turned out. I can't wait to see what they look like on the car.

Really impressive finish there! Well done!

MrCostington · 30-01-2020 09:22AM

The rear window demister on my W123 was not working, when I pushed the switch the light came on but then off when I released it. A google search suggested it may be the "relay" which is actually a small control box with a timer circuit and an actual relay. It's located behind the instrument cluster. That is very easily removed, just remove the kick panel, 5 screws, reach up and push it out, just held in with a rubber band/gasket. Unplug a few cables and undo the oil pressure line. Finding the box was another matter, pictures online were from a LHD car so it was not beside the other relay as shown, but hiding behind heater trunking!

I did a bench test and could confirm the 'relay' was faulty, Testing the components found the relay itself had a open circuit coil. And the capacitor was starting to lead. So I replaced these parts. Pics show location and before and after.

Tails142 · 30-01-2020 01:18PM

They don't make em like they used to, great to see a fix like that working

cletus · 02-02-2020 08:12AM

MrCostington wrote: »

I did a bench test and could confirm the 'relay' was faulty, Testing the components found the relay itself had a open circuit coil. And the capacitor was starting to lead. So I replaced these parts. Pics show location and before and after.

Out of curiosity, what's the procedure for testing the cap?

MrCostington · 02-02-2020 10:41AM

I didn’t test the cap, I could see it was starting to leak so replaced it anyway as a precaution. I did check the diodes and resisters though. And got 3 transistors in case I needed them. But you can do a rough test with a multimeter:

https://www.ifixit.com/Wiki/Troubleshhoting_logic_board_components
To test the capacitor with a multimeter, set the meter to read in the high ohms range, somewhere above 10k and 1m ohms. Touch the meter leads to the corresponding leads on the capacitor, red to positive and black to negative. The meter should start at zero and then moving slowly toward infinity.

I'd unsolder one end before doing that to ensure the rest of the circuit does not affect the test.

MrCostington · 03-02-2020 02:55PM

Another electrical job, after I did the heater relay, which was behind the instrument cluster, the fuel and temp gauges were flickering, Out came the instruments again and I took the fuel/temp/vacuum/oil module apart and found one of the PCB tracks burned out, it looked like it was that way a long time and I assume I disturbed it with the other work. I soldered a wire to replace a section of track, and gave everything a good clean with contact cleaner. Needles rock steady again.

cletus · 06-02-2020 12:02PM

Today I checked to see which bearing in my Avensis needed replacing, discovered it was drivers side front, looked at the procedure, and in the absence of a press, decided to drop it around to the local mechanic rather than go at it in my driveway

fancy pigeon · 07-02-2020 06:17PM

cletus wrote: »

Today I checked to see which bearing in my Avensis needed replacing, discovered it was drivers side front, looked at the procedure, and in the absence of a press, decided to drop it around to the local mechanic rather than go at it in my driveway

When I done mine they came out with a massive bang. I thought I was shot

120k belt service + 76 degree thermostat replacement on the Z. I actually done this on St Stephens day...

Naturally, some parts were in need of being fired in the bin
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Or cleaning
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And others are due to be replaced eventually
VQLwNvE.jpg?1

It's not very nice to do the belt; quite tedious in places with limited access and screws which are inaccessible (removing the A/C pump and bracket to get at one screw for example)
rryDRY4.jpg?1

No way to lock the cams either, ended up using cable ties when in position. Then, to make the situation even more fun, the tension slack screw smashed off with no warning

With a series of tyre levers the belt was tensioned and the car put back in time for a long trip that evening. Hasn't missed a beat since

A lot of work to do with it yet, whenever I get the time to do it!

wotzgoingon · 07-02-2020 08:02PM

Looks handy enough once all the cover, water pump etc.. is out of the way. I mean plenty of room once all the stuff is out of the way but taking all the stuff off and putting them back on is the hard part.

joujoujou · 08-02-2020 10:32AM

2 days ago Ms jou reported she cannot open the boot. Opened manually thanks to an emergency lever thingy, took button off to start troubleshooting. With a little help of a multimeter found that microswitch itself had continuity while pressed, despite that there's no continuity at the end of the cables. Tiny little PCB, so I had to use magnifying glass to find this:

Quick soldering, sprayed some lacquer over it to protect from moisture...

Re-assemled, refitted, works! Problem solved, missus happy.

colm_mcm · 08-02-2020 06:30PM

Isn’t there an 8 year warranty on those ASXs?

Fair play for sorting yourself obvs

joujoujou · 08-02-2020 06:34PM

8 years indeed, but there is "or" as well (or 150 000 km, whichever comes first), hence DIY repair.

colm_mcm · 08-02-2020 06:49PM

Aha.

aFlabbyPanda · 08-02-2020 10:51PM

Started doing some bits to my v50, took the chrome badges off the tailgate, broke the wiper arm (not planned), and used plasti dip to paint the front grill (I really don't like chrome).

It came out pretty well but need to wait for the storm to pass before refitting and painting.

tWKYKn5LxbgXgnxFnUBYXbQ5aLkmfSRbYtuSm0w81UU9au7Sk-5fr4cXM7vBsmCHsnuSNtfbbGwM2KtPL77vUjpB37LavBpioTAyPk5g6uclamDTQ7RqdURbykS7kN3Dmd2JnEKmjdn9B01YF9eyryyeb7FXNqnexDatKSn_9UVVfj7a2-SC-2rQa-hQhsd-JVp2KHVoul_b9HyltniaCFkvMXOtwqZnMmAa7iC9UAcTPKKMA_1DazLC0f2p7pO4jA_bHPEx3d02h8r-biN5trt08gYhOw7vdFRJYR97FFUFQRGebYeGDtXkoo4csgnhaSZbf7Gd3ePjypr0il1dPD89lD0-AosKL3GG9HHGiSX9dmMmOCWH-rrnhg1Pudc2Jy5UuQ2Vm2M4XG8vhU6xOxL2GioYAOJxpgqXITptR0Y-muNXSue5EEgPMhCu-RKaQbyb92H8qx-CSm1HVYOdKzxvKC71mt654eNwXA4leWOPZLW3BjmKdZLV42OTAmqj1DGPzYX0YXgAxGV_O6It09LfzZjDwzZ3bfffYO2RWPlfuYFpxWFRWLssfGEtEWvI0E7p7TttJrbWEASQWOyS9cP8AFvrUz0zy4iq68Jz--5n0x7tQLVBUPeoXda8Nz0KnBmkhRxneRq4s5ydYVgJPgnvBBYCbSErVzmwHJTarhALoPm4F8wHl7E=w657-h867-no

traco · 18-02-2020 06:53PM

Quick oil and filter change.

alanhiggyno1 · 18-02-2020 10:25PM

traco wrote: »

Quick oil and filter change.

are those oil extractor pumps good?do they remove alot of the oil

Interslice · 19-02-2020 12:22AM

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

are those oil extractor pumps good?do they remove alot of the oil

Careful now

wotzgoingon · 19-02-2020 12:51AM

Just seen this. No good to anybody here but still said I will post it.

Own Tommy Chongs Tesla. Only a small fraction going to a charity seems a bit of a rip off to be honest. Why would you want to own it if all proceeds went to charity I would agree with people wanting to buy it.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184174093701?fbclid=IwAR1tgv7bAZGlJ9jkrIv3OrakCJIN0rPwTXH06Tqb4kn1lwR962HGjEvQbn0

wotzgoingon · 19-02-2020 09:40PM

I just realized. I posted that above post in wrong thread.

keano25 · 19-02-2020 11:53PM

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

are those oil extractor pumps good?do they remove alot of the oil

I have that exact one.

Hit and miss piece of ****e most of the time......

traco · 20-02-2020 01:27PM

alanhiggyno1 wrote: »

are those oil extractor pumps good?do they remove alot of the oil

This is going to open a can of worms, bit like what oil or what tyres.

I find it great, just make sure the oil is hot, open the fill cap on the engine so air can get it, few pumps and away it goes. I've used it on Mercedes and Skoda and it extracts the amount that matches the spec in the manual and to fill back up has always taken the spec amount.

Some say it doesn't remove it all, others say its does and have pulled the sump drain to find nothing coming out. Others like to pull the plug to get out any particles in the sump but I figure that they should be in the oil filter anyway.

The way i see it, these make the change so easy and clean that you can pull the oil more often and even if there is some oil oil left it will get diluted and over a few frequent changes be irrelevant.

That was a change at 190k miles, new oil and filter. I will change oil again at 195k miles and at 200k miles it will go in for timing belt, water pump, oil and filter and I'll carry on with alternating oil and filter change every 5k miles.

On the merc this is the only way to change the gearbox oil. Only thing I do is compare the depth the suction tube goes in the same or more than the dipstick. That should ensure the bottom of the sump. I also vacuum out the filter location before putting in the new one.

So I'm happy with it and wouldn't be without now. Makes the job a very clean and easy one if your filter is accessible from the top.

punisher5112 · 20-02-2020 01:57PM

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

alanhiggyno1 · 20-02-2020 02:28PM

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

Mine a 08 bmw e60 and it's so easy to service as oil filter is right beside dipstick. Get serviced every 10.000km

traco · 20-02-2020 03:19PM

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

Oil is relatively cheap and I'm thinking that this may be my last ICE car as a daily. I'm hoping that in 3-5 years there will be some viable used EV options for me to change to. In that period I will cover 100-200k miles so keeping the oil fresh can't do any harm in getting her to 300+ miles on the clock.

I'll be keeping other ICE stuff to keep me sane for weekends and pleasure.

Kenny Logins · 20-02-2020 04:53PM

keano25 wrote: »

I have that exact one.

Hit and miss piece of ****e most of the time......

It might be hitting a baffle plate in the sump instead of going into the oil. Put a bend on the end of the pipe.

Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

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