What have you done to your car today?

[adam cool dude]

Got her back yesterday with six new shiny spark plugs. Old ones were very dirty and the garage couldn't replicate the misfire. Went home happy as larry (apart from a very large hole in my pocket) but misfire reappeared after 25 minutes. Going back this morning and when they can they will try new coils. Very disappointing. I have asked them to replace the injector (£300) while they're in there. I can't be having this car broken as it's my only vehicle.

Generally if your spark plugs are fouled putting fresh ones in will get it going but will not solve the issue that caused it in the first place. Also the way they are fouled can help a real mechanic to diagnose the problem. Throwing parts at it doesn't give me faith in that indy tbh. This is basic 101 mechanics.

 

[Armageus]

Ordered some new number plates for the Mini from platesforcars

Arranged for Front Brake Pads to be fitted to the Kuga (£80.50 which didn't seem to bad)

Thankfully nothing needed for the Fiesta today (Just had a new CV Boot and a gearbox leak fixed), and hopefully not my problem going forward, as have passed that on to my step-son.

 

[GeX]

The wing mirror on the Civic has been bugging me for a long time in that it doesn't fold all the way in;



It's an easy fix, replacing the 'Shut Off Device' in the mirror. I gather than when the motor reachs the end stop, it casues the current draw to spike which trips a resettable polyfuse and that cuts the power to the motor. That fuse fails, causing it to trip on lower current and the device cuts the power when the motor is just doing normal motor things - meaning the mirror doesn't fold in.

The mirror glass pops off easily enough,



and you can then access the clips for taking the mirror cap off.



The Shut Off Device is little box at the bottom that has yellow/white and pink/blue wires going into it. If you zoom in you can see the polyfuse poking out the potting and see that it's cracked.



No dodgy 3rd party bits here!

Put it all back together and..



Onto the Mini. I'd replaced the puddle lights and footwell lights with LEDs. Just using the OE fittings and 501 LEDs. They work well and are brigther than the old bulbs.

I then found some LED modules that replace the whole OE fitting and have a lot more SMD LEDs on it. They might be too bright though. I fitted them to drivers side and took some photos.







Not the best photos as I locked the camera's exposure to what it had metered for the OE fittings. I'll run it like this for a bit and then probably swap the others in.
I do still need to do the other interior lights to LEDs though.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Rear plate fell off on the way home…

Sticky pads that came with it must’ve given way when sitting in the sun today.

I’ll order another plate but can anybody recommend some decent sticky pads?

 

[ShiWarrior]

in the home i use no more nails ones (non permeant)

 

[Armageus]

Rear plate fell off on the way home…

Sticky pads that came with it must’ve given way when sitting in the sun today.

I’ll order another plate but can anybody recommend some decent sticky pads?

I plan on using gorilla mounting tape or 3m vhb discs, but that's because I bought both recently for a different application.

3m dual lock is what most here will recommend.

 

[Akagi]

Rear plate fell off on the way home…

Sticky pads that came with it must’ve given way when sitting in the sun today.

I’ll order another plate but can anybody recommend some decent sticky pads?

3M

 

[pastymuncher]

Yesterday was nice here so I got the car up on the ramps and replaced the rear and middle exhaust heatshields that were badly damaged in the last lot of snow we had. I also fitted a engine bay undertray as ours was missing when I bought the car.

It was glorious here today so I washed and polished the car.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Cheers, gone for some 3M VHB strips.

 

[dlockers]

Cheers, gone for some 3M VHB strips.

Make sure they're genuine as there are tonnes of fakes about.

 

[Janesy B]

Definitely some suspension and rust proofing due soon, but important things first. More noise.

 

[Akagi]

For whatever reason, people don't seem able to do automotive wiring in Japan.

My aftermarket horns were wired with the original cables going to a relay along with a new fused power source from the battery, and then cables going from that relay back across to the horns, with all manner of random lengths of cable, crimps and cable ties.

The original horns are grounded on the mounting bolt, and have a momentary 12V feed when the horn is pressed. I tested this and it all metred out fine...

So I ripped out the entire mess...

Made these...

Connected the original wires to one spade connector, and used these wires to connect the other to the mounting bolts for ground...

And it works perfectly. Not only that, but the battery drain issue I had is completely fixed now as well... Figures...

 

[Akagi]

It felt pretty good to remove all that rubbish.

 

[LizardKing]

It felt pretty good to remove all that rubbish.

I can imagine! the horn wiring on my GTO was not much different, constant live feed to the aftermarket module that then fed the horns, i tried figuring out what wires did what, but they were either constant live or did nothing not tallying up with the original wiring diagram for the kit, so out it all came and i just hooked up a normal horn to the factory wiring that was thankfully left intact by whoever installed the lot, just used to spur off from. Not sure if it was the reason for a parasitic draw yet as well but i wouldn't be surprised.

Gotta say, that pictured area looks really clean and in great condition!

 

[Akagi]

I can imagine! the horn wiring on my GTO was not much different, constant live feed to the aftermarket module that then fed the horns, i tried figuring out what wires did what, but they were either constant live or did nothing not tallying up with the original wiring diagram for the kit, so out it all came and i just hooked up a normal horn to the factory wiring that was thankfully left intact by whoever installed the lot, just used to spur off from. Not sure if it was the reason for a parasitic draw yet as well but i wouldn't be surprised.

Gotta say, that pictured area looks really clean and in great condition!

Weird!

Ha, thanks. The whole car is in much the same condition as that, including underneath.

There is one scratch on a rear quarter that I need to do something about, and the headlights need a buff, but otherwise it is in scarily good condition for its age.

A few pics: https://imgur.com/a/H3NDAPt

 

[teenwolf]

Neighbour across the way having pvc windows sprayed. Ended up all over my car and on front of the house.

He denied it paint was still wet and he was covered in the same colour lol.

He finally admitted it, got the jet wash on it all and came off.

He is back there today He knocked on can you move your car don't want it happening again.

Watching him now it's quite windy and spray paint blowing everywhere.

 

[jpaul]

Definitely some suspension and rust proofing due soon, but important things first. More noise.

you trust the bedding of your driveway tiles completely ? with axle stands alone (it's compacted sand on stones with a bit of cement mix)
I can always imagine a tile subsiding and the car collapsing on me so I leave the jack there and have spare wheel under one sides sills.

 

[Armageus]

Thankfully nothing needed for the Fiesta today (Just had a new CV Boot and a gearbox leak fixed), and hopefully not my problem going forward, as have passed that on to my step-son.

Spoke too soon - just had to go and jump start him, as the battery looks to have finally expired (had "failed" the garage's health check in October last year )

New Bosch one ordered for £66 and will be fitted later (versus the ~£190 the stealer wanted to charge for a Genuine Ford one ).

 

[Rroff]

Tried to refinish the steering wheel on my truck as the leather has suffered a bit at the common touch points with too many times wiped down and not properly dried with COVID measures (not by me) but I think I'll end up replacing it - definitely not going to get a cover for it.

 

[adam cool dude]

Neighbour across the way having pvc windows sprayed. Ended up all over my car and on front of the house.

He denied it paint was still wet and he was covered in the same colour lol.

He finally admitted it, got the jet wash on it all and came off.

He is back there today He knocked on can you move your car don't want it happening again.

Watching him now it's quite windy and spray paint blowing everywhere.

Let me guess he is having it sprayed grey? Seems all the rage but got to keep up with the neighbours!