What have you done to your car today?

Westyfield2 said:
Ouch. Not used a specialist? When doing the full suspension refresh on mine they had to cut loads of the old stuff off as it was all seized.
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Parts ordered from Renault, Garage claims to be a Renault specialist, but spanner monkey didn't check they had the right bits before taking a cutter to the tie rod.

I've no issue with them removing it by cutting it in half, it was seized and is going in the bin anyway. But they should have checked they had the right parts before they went past the point of no return. Renault should have also sent the right parts out.

Still in the Golf, parts were due today so will chase for an update later on.
 
Will said:
No messing around there :D

My work, slightly less complex....double din stereo fit. Did a test fit with it a couple of weeks ago, but I needed to buy some posilock connectors to finish it, as theres not an 'off the shelf' wiring harness adaptor that does the trick. I also used some felt tape in certain places to ensure there are no rattles.


Happy with this install - the facia is a very good fit indeed, and the install keeps the Bose 'active' amps and steering wheel buttons so it integrates nicely. This head has also also got a small 'face off' panel for added security, unusual for most double din units.
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Mind me asking what stereo that is?
 
Tried to diagnose a strange noise that's cropped up the last week or so (not sure when as I rarely start my car in the mornings so it's usually warm in the afternoons when I do).


Any ideas? That diesel like engine noise, it is gone by the time the oil temp reaches a quarter on the needle, so a couple of minutes idling.

Oil service was done not too long ago, still 14k until next inspection. Checked with climate off as well so it's nothing to do with that.

There is no difference in how it drives and no other differences anywhere else to be noticed, just that rattly noise on a cold start for a few minutes!
 
Just ordered all the parts to replace my rocker cover gasket and Vanos seals on the 330. The gasket has been showing signs of a very slow leak for a little while, and the car is feeling low on torque below 3krpm and idling slighly rough when cold, so thought I'd do both jobs at the same time.

It's come to £90 for all the parts so pretty cheap to do, and is one of the common issues ticked off the list when I come to put it up for sale in a couple of weeks.
 
ECP were much cheaper for the Tensioner for me, but the idler was miles cheaper at GSF annoyingly :p

May be worth changing the belt while you're there if it's not been done in a while.
 
scratch said:
Just ordered all the parts to replace my rocker cover gasket and Vanos seals on the 330. The gasket has been showing signs of a very slow leak for a little while, and the car is feeling low on torque below 3krpm and idling slighly rough when cold, so thought I'd do both jobs at the same time.

It's come to £90 for all the parts so pretty cheap to do, and is one of the common issues ticked off the list when I come to put it up for sale in a couple of weeks.
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Which VANOS seals did you go for Scratch? I'm yet to do mine despite having the parts laying around for a while, I've got a noticeable surge in power about 3k RPM so it's on my list to do.
 
Atari said:
ECP were much cheaper for the Tensioner for me, but the idler was miles cheaper at GSF annoyingly :p

May be worth changing the belt while you're there if it's not been done in a while.
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Aye I was thinking this too, will add the belt to the basket and I'm wondering if I should replace the timing chain tensioner as well as that's not been done yet. That will give me some peace at least.
 
I got my seals from i6 as well, they were perfect.

Order ALL the vanos bolts (you get some with the i6 kit for the pistons if you order that) including the two inverted torx (can't remember what the proper name is) that hold the pistons / seals to the head.

I'd say you want at least 2 or 3 spare studs/nuts for the head too.

Oh yeah, don't break the ccv oil feed section of the valve cover like I did by putting a screwdriver in there....got very very lucky in that it's broken just before the seal!
 
Atari said:
Dunno if it helps but I got my seal kit (uprated Teflon material) from i6Automotive. Need to find the time to get it changed but hopefully some point in the next few weeks before it gets properly cold :D
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That's where mine are coming from as well. All the other rocker cover stuff is genuine BMW.

Also managed to lose the retaining clip from the MAF's electrical connector earlier on..it pinged off and I saw it bounce down under the air filter housing! Removed the air box completely and had a good old root around down there but there was no sign of it. They don't sell the clip on it's own so I had to order the electrical plug itself from BMW at a grand old price of £1.25 :)
 
Its not bad at all but things like the valve cover take a bit of force to get off whereas the actual vanos needs a gently gently approach.

Up to you, if you read up on it I'm sure you'd get on fine - labour wouldn't be too horrific either, maybe 3 hours for someone far less idiotic than me ( I was maybe 5 all in including actually doing the seals which took me a while)
 
Sorted steering wheel controls for stereo and also got the on-board computer working at the same time. Now I can change the volume and also change the time on the dash, both which I couldn't do before :D.

Also, replaced both windscreen washer nozzles so they actually spray windscreen wash on the window, instead of over the car and onto the car behind.
 
Belt, tensioner and idler pulley already dispatched. May well be here tomorrow. Indy are going to charge £50 for an hour's labour to do the fitting

I can do the timing chain tensioner myself as it's the old style one and on various places they recommend changing that to the new style at 80k miles but I don't think this will need changing any time soon. Oil services on time and well maintained otherwise.
 
rodenal said:
Its not bad at all but things like the valve cover take a bit of force to get off whereas the actual vanos needs a gently gently approach.

Up to you, if you read up on it I'm sure you'd get on fine - labour wouldn't be too horrific either, maybe 3 hours for someone far less idiotic than me ( I was maybe 5 all in including actually doing the seals which took me a while)
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For how cheap the labor would be due to being relatively quick, would rather have that piece of mind that someone who knew what they were doing had done it all, although would feel very very satisfied if I managed it myself...


Have a few good indy's around so will ask them for quotes and go from there :)
 
Voxination said:
For how cheap the labor would be due to being relatively quick, would rather have that piece of mind that someone who knew what they were doing had done it all, although would feel very very satisfied if I managed it myself...


Have a few good indy's around so will ask them for quotes and go from there :)
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Mine quoted me 4hrs at £70/hour, so I decided to take it on myself. Like you say..that sense of achievement should be worth it all (assuming it doesn't all go mammarys northwards!)

There is a full walk through with pics here, which although seems long-winded makes the process very easy to follow: http://www.beisansystems.com/procedures/vanos_procedure.htm

There's nothing in there which should scare you :)
 
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