What have you done to your car today?

bigmike20vt said:
whilst washing my car i let my 9 year old hold the pressure washer whilst I went inside for a new bucket of hot water.

big mistake.

Shared album from Mike

Tap to view!
photos.app.goo.gl photos.app.goo.gl
Click to expand...

Must have been a poorly repainted part, or paint already cracked for that to have happened though, surely?

Thats the only time I've ever managed to take paint off with a pressure washer.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mjt
Put the other side suspension on and lowered it down to see the new front height, much better, it sits at what I'd call a "normal" height now.

Now I just have to replace a brake pipe and a brake hose, and a nut, and a dust boot... And the front is done.

0tuawR3.jpeg


I did make a small error which caused hilarity when I initially lowered it down though... Put one trunnion on backwards, resulting in interesting fitment. :p

G9vTN6o.gif
 
I fitted a dash cam to the Cupra. Although despite what it says online, it would seem the 12v accessory socket is perm live, so will have to find another feed which is switched.
 
FBi7 said:
I learnt recently that some 12V accessory sockets are designed to stay live for X minutes after the ignition is switched off. Might be worth checking to see if the socket is still live after 10 minutes or so.
Click to expand...
Cheers for the heads up. I’ve been reading that this evening. I’ll have a test tomorrow, weather permitting!
 
Yaayuh! said:
Turned down another “I’ll come down and take a look tomorrow mate, I’ve got the cash in hand” sort of “buyer” for the car.

Mate. I’m not taking £6k in notes.
Click to expand...
I do enjoy the "SEND ME YOUR ADDRESS BRO CAN COME IN HALF AN HOUR, WILL PAY CASH (50% of what you're asking for if you're lucky)" buyers.
 
Monday I put the car on charge, totally forgetting about the recent bonnet issue, until I had a slight panick when removing the charger as I remembered, closed from about 12 inches like the manual says, first time.
Still getting it checked out mind.

In the Mrs car, took the child seats out,hoovered and cleaned under, always a grim job.
 
FBi7 said:
I learnt recently that some 12V accessory sockets are designed to stay live for X minutes after the ignition is switched off. Might be worth checking to see if the socket is still live after 10 minutes or so.
Click to expand...

Yeah all my vehicles have 2x 12V sockets at the front, one of which is perma live the other (usually the one inside the central storage) either goes off with the ignition or turns off 90 or 180 seconds after ignition off.
 
Put a wheel lock on the steering wheel that had in the garage from a while back.

Found some old but new in pack osram leds also, put them in the boot lights but they did not work. Maybe too old?
 
f666 said:
Found some old but new in pack osram leds also, put them in the boot lights but they did not work. Maybe too old?
Click to expand...

Is that replacing non-LED? even some of the basic interior lighting on cars if originally using non-LED bulbs don't always work with LEDs.

LEDs generally have an extensive shelf life so age shouldn't be an issue unless really really old.
 
Last edited:
Rroff said:
Is that replacing non-LED? even some of the basic interior lighting on cars if originally using non-LED bulbs don't always work with LEDs.

LEDs generally have an extensive shelf life so age shouldn't be an issue unless really really old.
Click to expand...
Indeed, will try them elsewhere to see! The osram site says they are compatible...
 
Last edited:
Wife reported that our 2017 F60 Countryman is throwing a Cruise Control failure message almost daily, which I believe is likely to be the Slip Ring.

Anyone have access to a BMW/Mini parts database (RealOEM only goes up to about 2019)?

Just wondering if anyone can confirm that 4216268 is a newer replacement part number that supercedes any of the more common 6992509/9320136/9305954?

Thanks


Edit:
Ordered one anyway :)
 
Last edited:
Went to do the fluids on the cars the other day and noticed that the Clio's coolant was almost totally gone. A quick look online suggested that the water outlet housing gasket on the 0.9 TCE engines likes to perish and fail, leaking coolant all over the gearbox housing and areas around there. So I had a look with a torch and yep...coolant everywhere. Looked to be the same common issue. New water outlet housing is about £50. Gasket is about £10. I took a chance on just the gasket and set out to repair it.

First I removed the airbox and associated ducting and then the battery tray so I had better access.

v6kygGEh.jpg


Then I was able to remove a fair few pipes/hoses, sensors and vac lines etc. Then after removing the 6 bolts holding it in place - which was not too bad but a couple of tricky ones - I got it out and inspected. The old red gasket was indeed pretty much flush with the housing and not really doing much. The new black gasket I fitted sat proud of the housing and looks as though it would seal well.

nUO4Qgth.jpg


Cleaned the corrosion off and got the surface all prepped then refiitted everything. I checked how tight the existing bolts were torqued to by way of trial and error with my torque wrench and worked them out to be about 20Nm, which matches similar housings online. I couldn't find an actual spec for this in either my Haynes, or specifically for the Renault 0.9 TCE engines so went with this. Feels about right.

fe3tbxTh.jpg


Lost about 2 litres of coolant maybe, which I caught in various jars out of my neighbours recycling box. :)

mRqlEq7h.jpg



Filled it all back up and used the 3 x bleed screws to bleed it. One to the left of the radiator, one by the water outlet housing and one higher up at the back of the engine bay connected to a hose.

Day 1 and it still lost a bit of coolant which I kind of guessed might happen as it fills out any remaining air gaps.
Day 2 it lost a tiny bit.
Day 3 and I think it's holding strong so will currently assume it is fixed unless it keeps going down again.

No damage appears to have been done to the head gasket and no evidence of mayo in the filler cap as I caught it just before it got really low. Apparently this happens more commonly in the winter where the gasket shrinks back in the cold.
 
Last edited:
Yaayuh! said:
Basically 90% of what I’ve had.
I hate selling.
Click to expand...

I want all car sales to be like my last one.

The Alto Works sold to the first person to message me, didn't haggle, paid me a deposit sight unseen, I went and picked him up, and he drove it away, but not before paying me extra for all the spares and mods I was planning on selling separately.

I found out later that he was drunk while working at sea on a ship when he said he wanted it and sent a deposit... And the next morning he awoke to see that he'd agreed to buy a car, but decided to see it through. :p
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom