Stupid questions from a first time mechanic

Svack

Svack

Svack

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Joined
14 Feb 2011
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324
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Worthing
It's reached that time of the year where my 05 Peugeot 307 is up for its MOT in a couple of weeks!

I gave the car a quick check over and found a few of issues, I have decided to give it a go sorting these myself rather than rack up a large bill at the garage!

There seems a lot of wear to the front discs and pads, I was hoping to do these myself since they look fairly straight forward to change, however, I have never really done much maintenance on a car before beyond swapping out filters, bulbs, spark plugs and oil! Is it a particularly hard task or a pretty straight forward one? I do appear to have the correct tool for winding back the piston it seems, no idea where it came from!

The windscreen washer has also stopped working mysteriously, I can hear the pump running but the washer fluid only dribbles out the end, seems to be a loss of pressure somewhere! I assume its either a leaking reservoir or pump, however, the reservoir (and I assume pump) appears to be pretty well buried with only the filler cap accessible under the bonnet! Any idea on how I would get to it? I am working on the assumption this will be a pretty straight forward task once I find the damn thing!

Finally, the indicator stalk appears to be playing up, instead of auto cancelling when turning it seems to flip to the opposite direction, while I don't think this will cause an MOT failure, its potentially hazardous! A quick Google seems to point towards taking the steering wheel off and removing the airbag to get to the stalk to fix it! While the instructions seem simple, I am slightly concerned about disconnecting the airbag! Should I get someone with more experience to do this one?

Sorry for the slightly drawn out and rambling post! MOT is up on the 11th of November so I have a couple of weeks to get all this done.
 
Pads and discs are easy to do, give yourself a weekend morning for the work if new to it all and have a look at some youtube vids to get an idea of what you need to do.

Washer fluid - tried clearing the nozzles with a pin? there might be bits'o'crud stuck in it. Ensure that its not clogged, then work your way back, piece by piece until you find the issue.

I'd suggest leaving the indicator stalk to a professional in you need to move the airbag.

Good luck! :)
 
Not sure your front brakes will need the winding tool, that is generally for rear brakes.

The front pistons just push back in, water pump pliers are ideal for this. Or just remove the outer pad and lever against the disc to push the piston back in. If your replacing the discs then it won't matter if you mark them.

Remember to remove the reservoir cap before pushing them back in.
 
The airbag might have a capacitor or secondary power source, also static can cause them to deploy, be careful, be very careful, as they have explosives.
 
lemonade said:
The airbag might have a capacitor or secondary power source, also static can cause them to deploy, be careful, be very careful, as they have explosives.
Click to expand...

I'm beginning to wish people had told me these things before I replaced my steering wheel. :p
 
Check EricTheCarGuy on YouTube. He's a bit rough around the edges, but very informative. Has loads of videos on brakes.

Scotty Kilmer is another good one. More of a backyard approach.

Both of them use techniques that are cheap and offer alternative methods of doing things.
 
bledd. said:
Check EricTheCarGuy on YouTube. He's a bit rough around the edges, but very informative. Has loads of videos on brakes.

Scotty Kilmer is another good one. More of a backyard approach.

Both of them use techniques that are cheap and offer alternative methods of doing things.
Click to expand...

^ He's fantastic
 
Front brakes wont need a wind back tool, just lever between old disc and old pad and they will go back in, if you have more than one piston in the caliper you will need to keep the first piston retracted with a screw driver while you push in the second.
If the discs don't come off after you've undone the little retaining screws (you may need an impact screw driver to get them out and don't worry if you completely muller them, they are not essential during refitment) a big smack on the back with a hammer will get the discs off.

The windscreen washers sound blocked if you can hear the pump running.
Pull off the pipe on the back of the jets and operate the pump again, if you have good flow there, it's the jets that are blocked. Blow the crap out backwards with the pipe disconnected.

Airbags, not that much trickier, just got to have your safety head on.
disconnect battery, apply brake pedal for a couple of seconds.
DO NOT SIT IN THE DRIVING SEAT WHILE YOU DISCONNECT IT.
Do not touch the pins in the plug once you have disconnected it.
Place it in a safe place out of the way of your working area while you work on the car.
 
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