What have you done to your car today?

Notice the windscreen spray wasn’t working, but the rear one works and the head washer works, hoping it’s not the pump. I noticed this windscreen spray valve developed a crack and the back is missing. Luckily it require pressure for the spray to work otherwise there would be fluids all over the engine bay.

Replace it with a £5 part off eBay and it works again!

It’s my first DIY fix on my car, saving myself garage cost, feel weirdly proud of myself lol

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mrk said:
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Heater control valve, typically referred to as the aux water pump which is bs because there is no pump inside whatsoever, just 2 solenoids opening or closing passthrough for coolant activated by a 12v trigger.

The gasket inside perishes over time causing them to stick open or closed and not actuate causing an aux water "pump" error code to register. I'll probably find the gaskets online and then refurbish the original and sell it as a genuine refurb for a lot more :D
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I had that fail on my L322 a few months back - it was a BMW part as well!
 
Conscript said:
+1
@andy_mk3 come do mine pls, kthx.
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I did the other side one today, well, got as far as blasting it and in primer. It's so time consuming, takes hours! The old paint was pretty thick and just took forever to blast off. In future I think I'll just send them off to be acid dipped or something :D Still got the rears to do as well yet! Although for now I may just assess their condition and perhaps do them over winter if they're still serviceable. So in answer to your question, no :D :D
 
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geekman said:
I had that fail on my L322 a few months back - it was a BMW part as well!
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My research has led me to find that basically all cars with climate control will have this part fail after x number of years. It's such a simple thing but the gaskets simply perish as hot coolant passes through the needle(s). I found the repair kit which contains new brass needles and gaskets for £13-£17 so will get the kit off ebay at some point, repair my original and sell it refurbished for £100 or so :p

The 3 things on an older car that cause random funky heating/cooling behaviour that will need replacing at least once during ownership if used often and kept for several years:

1: Final stage resistor (hedgehog)
2: AC compressor (at the same time change the Coolant Temp Sensor + Expansion Valve + Receiver drier)
3: Heater control valve
 
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Changed the gasket on my daughters corsa, we bought it for her to learn to drive in.

Had to drop the headliner, remove grab handles, borrow an angled ratchet to remove the bolt...

Think hardest part was refitting the trim around the seat belts.


Matt
 
mrk said:
My research has led me to find that basically all cars with climate control will have this part fail after x number of years. It's such a simple thing but the gaskets simply perish as hot coolant passes through the needle(s). I found the repair kit which contains new brass needles and gaskets for £13-£17 so will get the kit off ebay at some point, repair my original and sell it refurbished for £100 or so :p

The 3 things on an older car that cause random funky heating/cooling behaviour that will need replacing at least once during ownership if used often and kept for several years:

1: Final stage resistor (hedgehog)
2: AC compressor (at the same time change the Coolant Temp Sensor + Expansion Valve + Receiver drier)
3: Heater control valve
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Yep, I had the hedgehog fail on a number of cars in the past, good thing is they're not that expensive and relatively easy to replace. I've only ever had one AC compressor fail which was on my Lincoln, although it failed in quite a spectacular way and required an expansion valve and receiver drier as you mentioned.
 
geekman said:
relatively easy to replace
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Man you've never replaced one on an E46/E39 then! They are absolutely horrendous, and I've got a very flexible spine! :eek: It's an easy job in principle, but the angle of attack is so perverted you have to wonder if those Germans did it for laughs lol.
 
geekman said:
Yep, I had the hedgehog fail on a number of cars in the past, good thing is they're not that expensive and relatively easy to replace. I've only ever had one AC compressor fail which was on my Lincoln, although it failed in quite a spectacular way and required an expansion valve and receiver drier as you mentioned.
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bmw hedghog change was ok - just have to pad the passenger door sill with old pillows so you could lie across it on your back and look upwards at firewall
currently my control valve doesn't always work for passenger side - I think this failed partly due to lack of regular use (similar to need to run A/C regularly)
I'm reluctant to change it myself since after previous radiator/water pump change I think I failed to bleed system effectively that contributed to subsequent head gasket issue.
 
jpaul said:
bmw hedghog change was ok - just have to pad the passenger door sill with old pillows so you could lie across it on your back and look upwards at firewall
currently my control valve doesn't always work for passenger side - I think this failed partly due to lack of regular use (similar to need to run A/C regularly)
I'm reluctant to change it myself since after previous radiator/water pump change I think I failed to bleed system effectively that contributed to subsequent head gasket issue.
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Problem is the hedgehog isn't on the passenger side on this era of vehicle, it's on the driver side so you have less room to work with, especially if you've got a bit more flab! I'm slim and even I found it a rather big faff-fest :D
 
Spoke too soon - air con on Mini no longer cold following a regas a few weeks ago.
Suspect it's got a tiny leak somewhere (probably condenser as that's common on these) but will have to get it into an air con specialist to diagnose.


Also removed the black box from the Fiesta after the step son fell out with my wife, moved out and cancelled his insurance
 
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Yoinked the spare wheel out from under the Navara - looks like 2013 date tyre so either original or transposed from elsewhere - OEMs for this model were the Cross Contact.

RPlWTKG.jpg

I usually just keep a spare in the back as the mechanism for releasing the one underneath would be a nightmare to do at the side of the road especially if in the dark so not bothered about it before.

In 2 minds whether to try and restore the alloy and replace the rubber or just ditch it.
 
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Rroff said:
Yoinked the spare wheel out from under the Navara - looks like 2013 date tyre so either original or transposed from elsewhere - OEMs for this model were the Cross Contact.

RPlWTKG.jpg

I usually just keep a spare in the back as the mechanism for releasing the one underneath would be a nightmare to do at the side of the road especially if in the dark so not bothered about it before.

In 2 minds whether to try and restore the alloy and replace the rubber or just ditch it.
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I'd just clean it and stick it up for sale as is.
 
Acme said:
I'd just clean it and stick it up for sale as is.
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I gave it a quick rinse over and it isn't as bad as I thought under the grime, but not good either - gonna have to get the pressure washer out and see how it comes up as to whether I can be bothered to restore the alloy myself.
 
Dropped the car to off my mechanic tonight for it's MOT tomorrow. And it's yearly oil change.

I'm hoping to get 50K out of the spark plugs
(on 25k) and another year from the air filter (total 4).
 
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