What have you done to your car today?

Drove around the block to fill it up, and, my gawd did it need a clean. Do a quick bucket wash and rinse once over. The soapsuds came off it black. I can now see out of the windows.

Also the trusty old Michelin 15-20 year old 12V tyre pump died.. the plastic. around the screws failed so .. new tyre pump time. Looked at a number but in the end bit the bullet and paid for another Michelin pump - this time the larger capacity '4x4' pump with pressure set stop, deflation valve and a screw on rather than the horrid push fit connectors.
Works a treat after being a little concerned it can pull 180W (15A) through the 12V socket. Much faster and I think it pumps quite a bit more volume than the old pump. I have a pump and charger in my wheel well all the time as they've saved me a few times.
 
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Frozennova said:
It's amazing how relatively cheap and simple stuff like this has gotten in the last 5-10 years. It's looks just as good a quality as any aftermarket cast manifold I've seen from the pictures without the cost of having to commit to 10s of thousands in casting.

If you don't mind me asking, what was the cost to have it printed at JLC?
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Was about £540 in total once shipping and duties were added on. I’d been planning on building a tubular one based around a CNC’d merge collector but by the time I’d have bought the collector, head flange and other bends/tubing etc I’d have been most of the way to the cost of this and by the time I’d have made it, it wouldn’t have been as nice flowing (this one is perfectly sized to the head ports and has a smooth constant transition to the turbo flange) etc. If the durability is there it’s a no brainer for this sort of stuff going forward.
 
Aquaplaned and slid all over the place. It’s days like today I seriously miss the Quattro and fat tyres. There were very very few times I’d lose traction off the line, regardless of the weather. Next car has to be AWD again I think.
 
Serviced last night, just a small one this year. Although well-timed as the Quantum oil from TPS has just gone on offer for £16.50-ish plus vat for 5L, bargain. Also changed the brake fluid, properly flushed it all through and done and ABS bleed via diag.

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Then in for MOT today, straight pass as usual :cool: Not doing bad for a 2012 motor.

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Mitsubishi Outlander, had front pads and discs (Pagid) fitted as low.
Also got them to check tracking as ran it up and embankment and both trackrod ends very, very worn so replaced. Assume they tracked it after to make sure it was good.
Now feels like a different car.
It was less than £330 for all that including labour, so it wasn't worth getting my hands dirty.
 
andy_mk3 said:
Serviced last night, just a small one this year. Although well-timed as the Quantum oil from TPS has just gone on offer for £16.50-ish plus vat for 5L, bargain. Also changed the brake fluid, properly flushed it all through and done and ABS bleed via diag.



Then in for MOT today, straight pass as usual :cool: Not doing bad for a 2012 motor.
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That's really low mileage for a 2012, especially for a 3.0l TDI Estate.
 
IC3 said:
That's really low mileage for a 2012, especially for a 3.0l TDI Estate.
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It sure is. I bought it in 2019 on 44k, aimed to replace my old A3. Then covid happened and I never sold the A3, now I use the A3 for my work commute as it's 50 miles a day and better on fuel haha.

I love the A6 though, amazing family car. Tons of spec on it too, air suspension, adaptive cruise with stop&go, all the stuff in the tech pack so high end MMI, keyless entry, memory seats, auto dimming door mirrors, heads up display, side assist, front & rear parking sensors & cameras, adaptive xenons with high beam assist (arguably better than the LED headlights on this car too), various other bits and pieces too. It's not got everything I wanted, but finding one with all the spec you want is very difficult.

It's certainly holding up well for it's age in terms of looks and styling imho. I plan to keep it for a long time.

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I've a soft spot for those wagons, especially the RS6, my only gripe is that tablet on the dash, looks like it was put on afterwards as it looks so out of place.
 
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IC3 said:
I've a soft spot for those wagons, especially the RS6, my only gripe is that tablet on the dash, looks like it was put on afterwards as it looks so out of place.
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I'd love an RS6, can't afford one of those sadly! My mate has the S6 which is the same 4.0 V8 Turbo as the RS6, it's quite heavily tuned now, like 800-900BHP, it's an absolute rocket.

I don't mind the screen at all, it folds away which is nice. That is an aftermarket android screen with carplay too, but looks nice and factory.
 
Havent cleaned mine in 3 weeks, probably best I do it today. Always disheartening spending the time doing it, just for it to tip it down with rain the very next day, or worse that evening.
 
Replaced the drivers side 'door blend motor' on the Mustang's HVAC, it's the motor that blends from hot->cold..

For a few months I realised that the drivers side wasn't getting that hot, nor that cold, the passenger side was fine, volcano hot or icy cold.. With a cheap £30 OBD cable and the free version of ForScan (lol at the name!) Sure enough, two error codes for the door blend motor/sensor (all one unit), and the internets is awash with people having that issue.. Poor for a 5 year old car, but its a ford, built in the USA!

A new part was £70 from Ford, and luckily no panels to remove, they are accessible from the footwell, except it's like me in my 20's, on my back, arched over the door sill with my head by the pedals.. 5 mins to change, most of that is simply aligning the two flap mechanisms with the motor, but once done, two screws and it's as good as new.. Error codes cleared and blending fine..

Someone on facebook pointed out that RockAuto ship to the UK quite quickly and the same part is £17! cheap as chips, I'll definitely try rock auto next time.
 
What have I done? These days I mostly pay someone to do the work for me.

1) A deer totaled 2023 Nissan Fronter Pro-4x in Montana, along with our travel trailer. (I did put High Clearance Control Arms and camber adjustment bolts on this myself, but the deer didn't care about those lol.)
2) Bought a new Truck: 2022 RAM 1500 V8 Laramie with air suspension (15k miles), and new travel trailer: 2026 Rockwood Mini Lite 2519S, and can't take it anywhere due to issues with the Truck lol.

Electronic Stability Control light kept coming on, a week after I bought it.

First Service : Replaced vacuum hose and some sensor.
Second Service: Since first didn't fix, new vacuum pump, and something else.
Third Service (And still waiting for truck back, urgh): Replaced Master brake cylinder and brake booster, they said it didn't fix, so are diagnosing further.

Currently driving around in a Jeep Compass loaner that I can't stand. In total time, it's been about 4 maybe 5 weeks in the shop between those visits.


EDIT: As an aside, I have a 1991 (I think) MR2 SW21 that I want to convert to be a manual V6. It's in seriously bad shape. Bodywork is an absolute mess. Currently cleaning out the horrendous garage, and hoping we can get it in there to drop the fuel tank, and put in a new pump, just so we can get the thing movable to start. (Currently only running on carb cleaner).
 
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Replaced a faulty Ride height sensor on the XK ready for MOT on Wednesday. Oddly the replacement was a Pattern Part and so was the duff one. It still has the original Jag on on the other side.
 
Wheels refurbed on the RX-7 as the gunmetal from the previous owner was a bit dark for my taste. Will ceramic coat the wheels while they're off then need to figure out a plan for the centre caps.
 
Took the Countryman to my local tyre fitter to investigate a slow puncture.

Found an punctured shoulder that's not able to be repaired. Sadly only budget tyres in stock, and a matching Michelin would be on backorder until November after he rang around, so settled on a Hankook which should be here this afternoon/tomorrow morning.

(In before the mismatched tyres = instant death comments)
 
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