General after some advice- brava sx

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General after some advice- brava sx

jen 79

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hi, basically i've owned a p reg brava sx for a couple of yrs but it recently failed it's mot. a few fixable things but mainly for corrosion underneath which sounds as tho alot of weilding would be needed so i've taken it off the road and bought a new one! same year but a brava s, the main difference is that the excelerator pedal seems to need quite a bit more pressure before anything happens. is this just the difference in model, just because it's a different car or does something need adjusting? also totally unsure of the best thing to do with the sx i've taken off the road, does anyone have any suggestions?? my car is everything to me, i have kids 2 and work but i'm now skint so i can't afford for anything to go wrong with this one!! :confused:
 
failing for corrosion means welding is needed, but that does not mean it will be expensive. usually its a £20-30 job to get the welding done.

if both have the same engine then there is something wrong with the new one. it could simply be that the accelerator cable needs adjusting.

which engine are we talking about?
 
both 1.4 and when i say weilding i mean front to back both sides- rotten! pretty much a giant skateboard i think! excelerator cable is the least of my worries with the new one, the gear box went today! garage said a part inside has broken, you can hear it (from a mile away) been on the net all night, looks like it's the dealers responsability to sort it seein as i've only had it a few days. i'm phoning him in the morn so soon find out. any advice?
 
any advice?
What bad luck! The first thing we need to do is determine if it is the gearbox or clutch. it sounds as though the clutch is the problem because the noise only happens when you press the clutch. that sounds exactly like thrust bearing noise to me. the thrust bearing is part of the clutch, so a clutch replacement should cure it.

for your car, a clutch replacement costs £100 for labour and £50 for parts at my local garage.

can you still select gears and drive? does the noise only happen when you press the clutch pedal? if the answers are yes then it definately isnt the gearbox.

if you bought the car from a trader then you do have some protection. i would contact the trader today (right now!) and explain what has happened. if they are unwilling to help then you can take legal action through the county court (small claims). citizens advice bureau can help you with this process. explain to the trader that you will take legal action to recover the costs of the repair if they are not willing to come to some kind of arrangement. personally i think the trader should fix it because they will know people in the trade who can do it cheaply.
 
Belive it or not i've only just found someone who'l work on the car that didn't quote me a fortune! anyway he had a look and said that it does sound like the thrust bearing but he said that he'd try just bleeding the clutch first. so he done that today, which has made that noise much quiter, you can only just hear it and thats only when i put the clutch in just before i'm about to stop. the only thing is i'm still not happy about it, he said it might just be a case of a noisey thrust bearing and nothing to worry about but i'm sure thats not right, surley it's only gonna be a matter of time before it happens again. is it something that should be fixed properly or do i just wait for something to go wrong??
 
Hi Jen,
The release bearing on my Brava went from audible to failed in about 10 days. It's a bit of a lottery, but as you first mentioned the noise about a month ago, it'll either go on working for ages yet.... or not. If it gets to the point where you think 'that doesn't sound at all healthy' it isn't and will fail shortly after. If you can live with the threat of it dumping you at some point you can probably get away with it for a bit longer.
 
cheers, thats what i thought too. the only thing is i haven't been driving the car in the mean time, while i've been waiting for someone to have a go at it good old mum has lent me her car, which i've fallen in love with!! i think i'm gonna wizz round some local garages this arvo an see what the general opinion is. it just seems crazy he didn't change the clutch anyway cos i've got an identical model sittin outside thats written off but i had a new clutch fitted last year. surely i should just have it put in the new car to save doin it in the end anyway?
 
also before i go to the garage today can someone confirm it's the clutch yeh not the gear box i'm talkin about? jus so i don't look like a total air head in there an they decide to take advantage of the situation! should i suggest fitting the clutch from my old car or is that gonna double the labour? or should i get them to fit a new one? :confused:
 
It sounds like classic release bearing noise - you mentioned back a few posts that you hear the noise "only when i put the clutch in just before i'm about to stop".
It'll be cheaper to fit a new clutch assembly than strip the old car for its bits.
Did you cure the heavy throttle?
 
ok ta i'll go in saying that i've been told it's more than likely the thrust bearing and go from there-x. the exceleration still feels like you have to apply quite alot of pressure to get the revs up but i've only done a fivers worth of fuel since i got the car and cos i've only driven 3 different cars in my life i don't have much to compare it too and now i'm used to my mums car which is an astra estate deisel so anythins gonna feel weird. did you have somethin in mind then that could cause that? do you think it could be somethin to do with the clutch issues?
 
and the noise is like a ticking sound that gets slower when the car does. like as if somethins caught in the wheel yeh. does that def sound like the thrust bearing?
 
do you think it could be somethin to do with the clutch issues?
No, in my experience it's probably a gunged up or frayed cable, a very outside possibility that I had once, the cable not sitting correctly in the slot of the throttle arm.
If your ticking noise is there only when you put your foot on the clutch and it goes faster or slower with the engine speed it sounds like a release bearing problem.
 
well got 2 quotes, one was near £300 so went along to mr clutch just down the road from me and they said £207 inc vat. not great 2 weeks before xmas but just want to drive my car! they said to take it in tomorrow so they can see exactly whats up an go from there. did have a bit of a run in with them last year but don't think the fella recognised me- lol. i still dunno why this other guy didn't just change the clutch for the one in my other car, it would've been cash in his back pocket but he did phone me this eve to ask what i was doin with the old car cos he'd take it off my hands to banger race, guess he'd need in clutch in it to do that so that maybe why he didn't jump at the chance to strip it, maybe he was hoping to fix it up an have it on the road for himself, he'd be in for a shock if that was the case. i'll let you know anyway what they say 2mrw, cheers for ur help earlier ;)
 
right, bit of a twist! guy at mr clutch drove it, said that it's not the thrust bearing it's the gear box differentials. said cos you can hear the noise when your feet aren't pressin any of the pedals, jus free rollin. it does get louder with the clutch in but thats not the only time you hear it. anyway he quoted me £545 so i'm jus gonna give the odd job man another call an ask him to do the job that needs doin an not panzy around with brake fluid. take the gear box out my other car an put it in, basically what i asked for in the first place! lol...how many hours work is that by the way? 2 gear boxes out 1 back in?
 
That sounds like a full-on day's work to me, depending on how well organised he is. You could get him to put the 'new' clutch assembly from the old car in at the same time if you don't want to invest in a new one. It would be false economy to change the gearbox without changing the clutch....
 
right, bit of a twist! guy at mr clutch drove it, said that it's not the thrust bearing it's the gear box differentials. said cos you can hear the noise when your feet aren't pressin any of the pedals, jus free rollin. it does get louder with the clutch in but thats not the only time you hear it. anyway he quoted me £545 so i'm jus gonna give the odd job man another call an ask him to do the job that needs doin an not panzy around with brake fluid. take the gear box out my other car an put it in, basically what i asked for in the first place! lol...how many hours work is that by the way? 2 gear boxes out 1 back in?


mr clutch have a reputation for ripping people off i would walk away surely if you can recreate the noise when stationary it wont be gearbox related atall and that box is not prone to failure also pressing in the clutch would make no diference to load on the diff

it sounds very much like a release bearing to me

if so it's false economy not to change the hole clutch

also if you find the gearbox is fine theres no reasone taking the clutch out the other car there for imobilising it unless you were to refit your faulty one meaning your paying for 2 jobs complete way too much

if i were you i would have the opther car welded and put throu an mot tidy it up and sell on it's worth allot more with a full ticket then scrap value



i heard once mr clutch charging for 17 litres of gear oil when your average gearbox holds little more than 2 :bang:
 
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