What have you done to your car today?

Tempted, it is a solid shell, but I think its just been there so long its time for a full on change over.

Needs a new head, it does run at the moment though, or was a few years ago until we got oil in the water. Head is warped
 
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I'm no mechanic but circumstances dictate that I have to have a go. Daughters car had a very noisy exhaust. Rear engined Renault Twingo and a bit of a PITA to get to it, especially when you have no ramp. Had to take the bumper off. Biggest challenge was getting the clamp to do up. Ended up ditching the supplied bolt and subbing in a shorter one. Hopefully it holds!!
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Took a lot longer than anticipated as had a couple of difficult fender liner screws to remove and my t20 has a habit of chewing them up. Quite chuffed with myself and likely saved a couple of hundred quid as a bonus.
 
Did the other door seal, another 38 bloody clips.

Also changed the first of the two brake hoses, it was dated February 2000 and wasn't collapsed, so my chasing of the brake weirdness will continue!
I discovered that the wishbone on the same side has rusted through and started to fracture, it was caked in about a centimetre of grease and gunk, I usually leave it because its "free rust protection", but I felt the need to clean this off.
I haven't even looked at the other side yet but I can only assume it won't be far behind.
So I will be changing both of them. I seriously considered bodging it with sandwich plates, but I think I'm past stage of my life. :p

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Car would not start yesterday morning, turns out the battery cells had degraded in the space of a week, suspect faulty battery. It's a Bosch S5 110, replaced by ECP in April this year, was bought in April 2020, so under 5 years warranty, the replacement was a reconditioned one so perhaps this too was defective.

Plugged it into the CTEK and that flagged up an error:

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ECP connected their testing handheld which reported poor health so after some paperwork they replaced it with another S5, this one still had the caps on each terminal so seems to be unused. Let's see how long this lasts. Warranty runs out in a few months so will just buy a Varta or something and avoid Bosch unless 3rd time lucky...
 
So frustrating how batteries can last well beyond their expected lifespan, or crap out on you before their time!

I helped neighbour jump start her car yesterday as I bumped into her on the doorstep. 11.6V so not too low, but she reckons it's 8 years old. It's had a good run, fair play it's struggling in December weather. Time for a replacement. Meanwhile @mrk is on his third in 4 years
 
It may also be car related, the E46 keeps a number of modules alive long after the car is locked, although most things power down after 20 mins of no activity. The cig lighter socket stays alive for example, the OBD port stays alive, obviously the alarm system. I think the cold weather has not helped, or as ECP guy said, maybe I just got unlucky with a bad batch.

I also recall having battery faffery on my previous E46s as well.
 
No as I drive the car at least once a week anyway. It's only if it's not being driven for a few weeks where I will plug it in and let it condition the battery. CTEK recommends using the recon mode at least once a year anyway so I've been following the guideline.
 
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mrk said:
Warranty runs out in a few months so will just buy a Varta or something and avoid Bosch unless 3rd time lucky...
Click to expand...

Depending on model they may basically be the same battery just a different label, though I've had good results with Varta Silver personally.
 
I believe Bosch and Varta are the same batteries with different branding on them.
Personally I only buy Yuasa if its a car I intend on keeping, they always seem to last the longest.
 
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Akagi said:
I believe Bosch and Varta are the same batteries with different branding on them.
Personally I only buy Yuasa if its a car I intend on keeping, they always seem to last the longest.
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Yeah, I've had good results personally with Varta Silver and Yuasa so far, some other brands/models not so much.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I helped neighbour jump start her car yesterday as I bumped into her on the doorstep. 11.6V so not too low, but she reckons it's 8 years old. It's had a good run, fair play it's struggling in December weather. Time for a replacement.
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Well, this morning she knocked again and I lent her my spare battery and jump leads to put in the boot for a shopping trip.

She just brought them back with a Christmas treat!

 
@dlockers MOT on the Navara today and some work on it:

Monitor and repair if necessary (advisories):
  • Vehicle structure is corroded but structural rigidity is not significantly reduced front to rear. (6.1.1 (c) (i))
  • Front Sub-frame corroded but not seriously weakened (5.3.3 (b) (i))
  • Offside Front Brake pipe corroded, covered in grease or other material (1.1.11 (c))
Click to expand...

Sadly think I'm going to have to buy a newer one as there isn't anywhere reasonably local who can do a proper job on the chassis and I don't have the time or energy with the facilities I do have to do a proper longer term job on the chassis myself, but not much else available in the UK has as nice an engine/transmission as this one has so I've been kind of holding on to it.
 
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