Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Titzon Toast · 18-05-2022 09:40PM

She looks spotless, fair play. They're fairly rare these days, unfortunately.

Best of luck with it.

wandererz · 18-05-2022 10:39PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119083112#Comment_119083112

Thanks.

81,000 km / 50,000 miles.

Probably the lowest milage one in Ireland. Certainly for its age.

Heated seats, tiptronic, flappy paddle gears.

Drives like a dream.

I only use Liqui Moly oil and Ceratec engine lubricant. So hopefully it keeps going.

Only problems have been regular headlamp bulb changes. The left side blew yesterday simply because I looked at it! Other than that, broken engine mount, broken spring and seized Caliper.

One previous owner who lived in D4 and traded it in at Audi Ballsbridge at 8,000km.

Rear seats looked like they had never been sat in.

v240gltse · 19-05-2022 10:11AM

@wandererz. well done on keeping a nice looking Saab going.

fancy pigeon · 23-05-2022 12:23PM

It's been flat out...

Last week was Mrs Pigeons 520d. It sprang an irritating leak and with the temp going bananas at times I got a new stat (and housing) along with this sh*tty coolant pipe (€25 from BMW)

It's a manifold off job to remove said pipe

https://imgur.com/R4NDYbl

The pipe had split internally and wouldn't be copped from the outside. Manifold was easy to remove. Cleaning it out wasn't

https://imgur.com/5pd1FzW

https://imgur.com/XKy8qJF

As some of you may know I used to set fire to the manifolds to clean them properly. Couldn't do that so well here!

New coolant and all back together, the car is much quieter and easier on weasels

Moving to Saturday, decided to start at the back of the E34 and work my way to the front, planning for the jacking points. Had to have a rethink when I scrubbed the boot!

https://imgur.com/Npk4fe2

During this it pissed rain on me, so decided to have a look at a friends Passat that was wouldn't start. I'd been at it before, testing the fuel pump, checking lines etc (drove in after a return line sh*t itself and never started again). I then decided to try the cheap solution; fuel filter. Could have kicked myself, the old filter may as well have been made of lead. Fired right up

https://imgur.com/m97YIAn

Cleared any codes it had and after a short drive the remaining faults went away (power steering etc)

Have more planned over the next few weeks, focusing on the E34 mainly as it has an upcoming event next year. Have a clutch change planned for the Volvo too, complete with solid flywheel and D5 gearbox (if you ask nicely I'll tell you what clutch I've bought to get this all to work!) and I may exchange the turbo for my own homebrew setup if I have the time...

Titzon Toast · 25-05-2022 05:18PM

It's been absolute Bedlhem in my pal's workshop, I've been helping out there for nearly two weeks now trying to squeeze my yoke in.

Tomorrow morning it's going into the paint booth and I'm hoping to bring it back down to my own place on Saturday morning.

It looks like it's gonna end up being both doors, both rear quarters and the rear bumper getting sprayed now.

https://i.imgur.com/MiWezLl.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/jROS8KU.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/7GAs135.jpeg

Titzon Toast · 26-05-2022 05:02PM

Finally sprayed. Back to my place in the morning and straight back up onto axle stands so I can scrub all the crap off the bottom of it.

The Lude life...

https://i.imgur.com/lXibPhq.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/IEhKb0D.jpeg

wandererz · 26-05-2022 08:04PM

Some engine bay detailing.

Before

After

PsychoPete · 26-05-2022 08:21PM

Cleaning an engine bay is always so satisfying

Titzon Toast · 27-05-2022 05:18PM

Finally got the car back to my spot this afternoon. I spent ages scrubbing the rear to get all crap off that had built up while it was in the panel beaters.

I've a few new holes to drill tomorrow to get the side skirts back on and then I'm heading off for a long overdue spin, hopefully.

https://i.imgur.com/ixs3icQ.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/Pdzd1lI.jpeg

https://i.imgur.com/nBJNITf.jpeg

wotzgoingon · 27-05-2022 05:38PM

That will be some spin. I'd say you will be grinning from ear to ear after being down for so long and the sun will be shining too.

Titzon Toast · 27-05-2022 06:02PM

Fingers crossed anyway. I have to go easy on it for a few hundred miles to let the clutch and the belts break in properly.

Titzon Toast · 28-05-2022 11:29AM

https://i.imgur.com/12zO6Mp.jpg

It's home, I'm heading off for a good spin.

passatman86 · 28-05-2022 02:52PM

Well done @Titzon Toast looks class

zg3409 · 31-05-2022 08:10PM

VAG with error code and check engine light for differential pressure. Reset error, drive around 300km up and down M1 waiting for light to come again and it did. While driving I was monitoring DPF with phone app VAG DPF and ODB dongle. The phone app was showing no differential pressure change, and a second phone app, ODB 11 app also said no change. Car was low mileage so I presumed DPF was ok

Watched loads of YouTube videos and read forums. Visually inspected the hoses and checked the part numbers.

I decided to order an aftermarket sensor from local motor factors who got it same day. Went to fit it and electrical connector was different. Who knew an 04L906051 is different connector than 04L906051G. Panicked as old sensor was off, rang VW and paid 100 versus 60 for sensor but it fitted and was in stock straight away. Performed relearning reset to say sensor was replaced and 400km later light has not come back on.

Fault fixed, I hope. When I asked dealer do they often go wrong, he hesitated and said well we do sell them...

fancy pigeon · 07-06-2022 11:13AM

Clutch change over the weekend! Wasn't much fun

Not many photos to depict the pain in the arse job that is the Volvo P2 clutch change. Thank goodness this wasn't AWD

It's actually very straightforward in terms of what you have to do, just everything is awkward

The main issue is the subframe needs to be out. The engine sits exclusively on the subframe. There isn't much room on top to hang a bar/pole to hold the engine...

But I got there, a few hours later

https://imgur.com/2rgjaDt

Now just to further annoy me, I had planned on using this very exquisite clutch. However, I'd got sent the wrong one! Just too much lateral play, I had visions of the splines being ripped to shreds while the car shook itself to death trying to take off. It's meant for an Evo 10 I think, which isn't what I bought

https://imgur.com/pSOPZh1

Pity. It was going to take some power through it....

Shoved in the solid flywheel and clutch (850R clutch for my 21 spline box). The box itself is very easy to remove, using 2 different sizes of bolt which are obvious. No alignment tool and it shot straight in, one take. New borg and beck concentric slave too (primed before it went in)

https://imgur.com/UNYZgpr

In the process of reassembling one of the subframe collars went missing... So I got hold of one from a Santa Fe, pressed it to match the Volvo collar and reamed the centre out with a file. This cost me another hour!

https://imgur.com/9KK6F9k

The subframe didn't want to line up with the car. The engine didn't want to line up with the subframe. The engine on subframe didn't want to line up with the mounts. The rack didn't want to twist the right way. The clips holding the various hoses are inaccessible. The brackets to be bolted down are very hard to access. The driveshaft snap ring didn't want to let the shaft seat in properly. Everything was just miserable!

Still, I got it done, the next day (7am Sunday start). Changed the balljoionts while I was at it too as one was floppy. Had visions of shoving in another silencer, that went out the window very fast with the time gobbled up already! Just one mishap to sort, copped a strange collar near the pedals, turns out the steering column bearing popped out leaving the steering very notchy (see here) which I'll sort some evening (just need to pull it off completely and reseat the bearing)

The clutch and magic goop I put in the gearbox have completely transformed the way the car drives mind you, for the better! Clutch is so nice now and the gears so slick. Apart from bedding the clutch in and enjoying the car, I have to keep the next plans under the radar for the moment!

https://imgur.com/qLNtfe5

Titzon Toast · 07-06-2022 01:07PM

You have an outside ramp???

fancy pigeon · 07-06-2022 02:08PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169361#Comment_119169361

Many years now. It's been a game changer

Titzon Toast · 07-06-2022 04:07PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119169873#Comment_119169873

I'd say so. I'd love that.

Slideways · 08-06-2022 07:27AM

I see a few comments about bedding in a clutch. If you use a new pressure plate and your fly wheel doesn’t look like a vinyl record there should be no reason to bed one in.

Once it releases fully and doesn’t slip it’s a done deal

Tazzimus · 08-06-2022 12:41PM

Not so much today as yesterday. New engine mounts for the festy, old ones had a good amount of movement in them.

The amount that has to come out to get at the gearbox one is a pain, I also took the opportunity to adjust the gear linkage while everything was out of the way, which seems to have sorted the car randomly popping out of second shifting down after I fitted a short shifter.

Took it for a spin yesterday and felt solid all round.

fancy pigeon · 10-06-2022 02:10PM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119172551#Comment_119172551

You could, but for my own sanity I'd rather err on the side of caution, especially with this one as I do not want to do this again in a hurry. Been at this too long to know when to tread carefully to avoid doing an awkward job all over again when its avoidable; in certain aspects I'm set in my ways. I've another clutch to do this weekend and a tractor in a few weeks and I'll be taking my precautions as always during testing. No skin off my back if people want to skip the bedding phase or take shortcuts

Speaking of said Volvo, the steering issue where it would tighten after 90 degrees of rotation has been fixed during the week. Exactly as I described, the bearing wasn't sitting flush allowing additional lateral movement

https://imgur.com/tmxwmY4

This is how it should look like normally

https://imgur.com/QfJcqNa

Clean, re-grease, re-seat, re-install. Problem solved. Very simple and often overlooked when troubleshooting this issue. Installed new droplinks too

fancy pigeon · 13-06-2022 09:53AM

Wasn't joking about the clutch change... Done in a shade over 3 hours. My mothers 2007 Fiat Panda

https://imgur.com/7eoMwSh

2014 i30: general tidy up, rear pads changed. May or may not have had to resurface the disc in the process

2012 Passat: rear spring replacement. Failed NCT for a broken spring. Big shout out to KilianManning for sorting me with a set of springs

2003 Santa Fe: help isolate a brake fluid leak (wonkey copper washer at one of the calipers)

Note: None of the aforementioned vehicles are mine, just happened to take up the Saturday on me!

Titzon Toast · 19-06-2022 10:46PM

I grouped together most of the pictures of my rebuild from start to finish over a good few years.

It was a completely stock one owner car with a fsh when I bought it. I had to leave it on my driveway for a year before I got a storage space for it, and that added to it's first ten plus years on the Atlantic coast didn't do it any favours. Rust had set in.

It's been a long road to get to this point but from here on in it should be fun stuff only after so many years and Euro's of hard work!

https://imgur.com/gallery/u937mw6

https://imgur.com/gallery/inGMna6

https://imgur.com/gallery/v85HVHa

fancy pigeon · 20-06-2022 03:17PM

2007 Panda: Timing belt. Was cracked and the water pump squeaking, done in about an hour

Misfire on coil bank a, stopped short of ripping out the loom to find the errant wire at fault (plenty of troubleshooting beforehand) replacement sourced today

2012 520d: engine fan replacement. 10 minutes start to finish. Genuinely, it's that easy

Water pump, not so much. And to add insult to injury, after getting to the water pump I have one for the older N47, so it doesn't fit!

I'm not looking forward to doing this one again...

fancy pigeon · 25-07-2022 09:17AM

I've been doing a lot more in the background, but this time my own stuff for a change!

In between changing cab mounts as you may see in the background, I swapped my headlights as they were fuzzy and in typical E34 fashion the full beam cover was seized in situ (since I got the car and goodness knows how long they were stuck beforehand!)

https://imgur.com/K9Z3qtc

It's an easy, but fiddly process to remove the lamps. The set of lamps I've had for at least 15 years... Are different, naturally. From a 94 TU if anyone is wondering

https://imgur.com/opdaDPr

But it's all back together and working well. Just need a new switch inside and that's spot on. I hope

I changed the parking shoes on the S60 but have no pics of it. The retaining springs are miserable to remove and Volvo in their infinite wisdom decided not to have the shoes adjustable so have a solid bar instead of an adjuster. But it's done now and ready for the test in that area anyway

Annual service for the S60 too, with the company director supervising the operation. He's not impressed with the bullsh*t cone filter I put in as a stop gap but knows I have something else in mind...

https://imgur.com/t861HSH

Takes 5.5 litres, or 5.8 quarts if you speak fluent freedom and bald eagle. At least he is more enthusiastic than last year... Which is in the same spot somehow!

https://imgur.com/Wlbt5uC

fancy pigeon · 02-08-2022 09:24AM

Serviced the work van (NV200) Straight forward apart from the fuel filter, which isn't the worst once you know how to remove the element (stick a bolt up it's arse and hammer the f*cker off your work bench or vice). The fuel filter had done 30k km and was jet black...!

During servicing the van I got into an altercation with said van (involving it's oil filter and the bonnet) and rendered myself out of action for some of the heavier jobs I'd planned, however no rest for the wicked. The show must go on, so I decided to troubleshoot the weird elec issues on my E34 (thankfully only 2 for now)

Lights (dips) rarely working
Speedo pixel backlight staying on

After reading up on both, both issues are due to soldering cracking over time. We'll start with the speedo. Due to the 3 spoke wheel I can remove this easily without any adjustment (of which there's no adjustment) or removing of the wheel. The very first time I removed this (a long time ago I must add) I noticed the 2 screw mounting points were broke along with one of the retaining tabs for the plugs missing. Not suspicious at all!

https://imgur.com/MpYrtJM

Pull it apart. Looks like some muppet was here before, as 3 of the 4 white plug covers are missing

https://imgur.com/BBA1mt7

Split the board from the cover. You need to remove the plug inserts from the outside along with 6 screws

https://imgur.com/ocr8lz7

Due to time constraints I couldn't inspect the board or tear the pixel display apart where I wanted to, but gave the board a damn good scrub with contact cleaner. You might be able to see above just how much corrosion is on the board. Interestingly most of the components on the speedo board are from about mid 1987, guessing this board is from an E32 if that's the case (the speedo itself is 1989 in most places)

https://imgur.com/1Fyupkb

Wallop it back into the car, the speedo is much clearer and not faded or flickering! But the original problem of the pixel display illuminated at all times still persists. I'll come back to it another day as it's a parasitic drain on the battery

Moving onto the lights. The E34 uses an LKM (or light control module if you want in english)

Pulled it out, opened it up and was pleasantly surprised at how simple the setup is with basic components, similar to the speedo

https://imgur.com/C2S88n3

Most of the trouble is with the relays (you can see them on the left near the connector block) and after looking at it through a magnifying glass I could indeed see cracks. Out with the soldering iron

https://imgur.com/zy7CcdG

Result?

https://imgur.com/ajWDjPQ

One less thing to worry about. I hope the next update for this thing is a bit more interesting as I have accumulated parts for it over the years that are finally getting the opportunity to be fitted and it needs a bit of welding in the boot (surprisingly not the jacking points, as a lot of these were it's weak point) along with it's timing belt, and general service (have to check tappet clearances too)

Then after tyres (ugh...) and an exhaust (I am in my f*ck making up one of my "specials" for this as I have enough welding to keep me busy for months, off to souhans it goes) it may have a chance at the NCT. Once it passes (rather if it passes, I'm being optimistic it doesn't produce a telephone book of advisories and defects) we'll freshen up the bodywork (well, mostly my father as he's the bodywork specialist of the 2 of us, I really need to learn more from him on this). Then I can finally rewire the radio, tidy up the interior a bit and see about getting it fully road legal. Too long in the making!

Plates will get the bin in due time, only seems like yesterday I bought these in 2007...

fancy pigeon · 24-08-2022 10:53AM

Time for some horsh*t welding!

2 patches welded into the car last night. Only pics of one as the other was underneath and pitch black when I finished up

Not much rust on the E34, few specs here and there. Have to inspect the jacking points properly at some stage (when the Land Cruiser has been finished; my fathers new daily, it's currently on the lift)

This is my first time welding the actual body of a BMW, and not its diff... Cut out the rot

https://imgur.com/8vmjcUg

Shape a piece to fit close to snug

https://imgur.com/ffrD52j

Make a f*ck of it because you're half asleep!

https://imgur.com/UuJumLW

It's not the worst, but the patch was very difficult to weld as the steel had gone flimsy and would burn in an instant, hence it looks sh*te in places before I got the hang of it; it will get tidied up the next time. The other part near the fuel tank was much easier as the steel was thicker and in better shape for most part

It's coming back to life though. Next task will be to sort the physical locks and tumblers as these have been a problem since I got the car. If anyone can point me in the direction of which module may be causing my info display backlight to stay on permanently, that would be greatly appreciated

Not sure if I'll be back to this later in the week, or Saturday at latest. I do need something to smoke about in though, the S60 is on lend this past 2 months (I miss it quite a lot) and the Z has all but stopped due to parts going walking and forgetting how to get home 🙄

The NV200 is back breaking

fancy pigeon · 29-08-2022 08:49AM

More weekend fun!

2012 Passat: touch up as many marks as possible, with a touch up pen. Tedious

1997 Landcruiser: Remove a rear shock. Original. From underneath. With no access through the cab Go on, try it yourself...

S60: Finally got to sort the exhaust, well the back half of it anyway. I had a large Simons 3 inch oval silencer in situ (the car has a full 3 inch setup front to back, some of which I've made myself), which never really fitted right (a rushed job just to shut the car up!) so I bought another Simons silencer, but a fairly long one this time. All fitted back with alterations to mounting points/angles on the exhaust (this exhaust was intended for a V70 so has been made fit) and alterations to the exhaust itself leave the boo pipe sitting just right out the back, compared to what it was. This isn't for show at all, but a necessity. When I have more time I'll make up a more subtle tip

It's made the car both louder and quieter at the same time!

https://imgur.com/LbtQ9Xs

passatman86 · 04-09-2022 12:18AM

Great posts @fancy pigeon. Your updates are always a good read

Titzon Toast · 25-09-2022 08:09PM

Not today, but today I got it "finished" to go back on the road on the 1st of next month.

I spent the last few weeks stripping the interior and some of the body panels to Waxoyl the whole car.

I also scrubbed and steam cleaned the whole interior.

After that I machine polished the exterior twice and put about 5 coats of ceramic coating onto it.

I'm gonna tax it on the first of next month and have some fun before that b#####d Putin causes a nuclear armageddon!

Does anyone know if C&C is on in Dundalk on the first Sunday of next month?

https://imgur.com/gallery/yP9PAha

Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Comments