Technical 2018 fire odd doubts..

[varesecrazy]

Hi all

Well ...after a LONG time .. Ive actually bought a 500

Its a 1242 and was bought because it has Cruise

The questions begin:

The headlights are not great.. on close inspection the innards of the light look a bit 'steamed.up'( silvery mist..) its been stood for 6 months.. does it need drying out - 'airing' ?

I recall all the old threads about the broken airbox stub... was this ever upgraded ?

Im finding the 'lane changer function' of indicators is a bit patchy.. any history of stalk failures? (17 years ago our pandas was changed under warranty)

Generally very happy with the car..

Mpg and topend power are below expectations... but other cars are 75 and 85 hp turbos

Thoughts are most welcome

 

[Goudrons]

I broke the smaller of the two airbox stubs on our boys 2012 69hp Panda. The tiny barb for breather from the under the throttle body.

After a few failed attempts to glue it I ended up just hot glueing the hole closed, found a longer length of pipe and sent it into a small hole I drilled in the intake trumpet, just before the airbox it's self.
The hole was just small enough to grip the pipe in place without crushing it closed.

Seemed to work ok, never gave it another thought really.

One thing that did crop up later, though nothing to do with the broken barb, was the rubber mounts for the airbox started to break down.
First noticed a bit of rubber dust around both mounts before the airbox started to vibrate.
Never really got around to sorting it as he chopped for a Fiesta soon after I noticed it.

 

[mj2k]

Headlights should 'dry out' of their own accord if it's just condensation after a few longish runs with the headlights turned on. If they still look misty after that most likely you'll need to replace them since the reflectors will start to corrode if they're actually leaking, and that'll earn an MOT fail.

However if the mist is on the outside of the lights and not the inside (plastic headlights start to degrade after a while for some reason), give them a quick polish with Brasso wadding and if that fixes the issue, look out for one of those headlight restoration kits to make a slightly more permanent fix next time they mist up.

 

[Baglady1990]

Headlights should 'dry out' of their own accord if it's just condensation after a few longish runs with the headlights turned on. If they still look misty after that most likely you'll need to replace them since the reflectors will start to corrode if they're actually leaking, and that'll earn an MOT fail.

However if the mist is on the outside of the lights and not the inside (plastic headlights start to degrade after a while for some reason), give them a quick polish with Brasso wadding and if that fixes the issue, look out for one of those headlight restoration kits to make a slightly more permanent fix next time they mist up.

I use mother’s mag … it’s metal polish but not so abrasive it will damage the lights .. brought mine up to their sparkling splendour!
One of my DRLs had condensation so I popped the high beams on for 10 mins and popped the rubber cover off the back while they heated up … back on lights off … no more condensation since

 

[Ralf S.]

Misty lights ought to dry out, even if you just park the car facing towards any sunshine. I once used a hair dryer to heat the glass (Cinquecento with a glass lens) just to clear it to see if it came back... but that might not be a good idea with plastic lenses (or would need some care).

If you buff your headlamp lenses to clear "clouding" then you should apply a clear coat afterwards, or you'll be doing it once a year for evermore.

My "X's" lane-change trembler also responds differently now and then.. If the lane markings are clear and the road doesn't have any background "noise" such as road repair banding lines, then changing lane without indicating is a bit more difficult.. as if it's more sure that you're drifting. If there are indistinct lines and/or a poor surface, it doesn't put up so much of a fight.. I presume it just drops into "white" (the symbol colour, on the X at least) mode, if it's unable to ascertain where the lanes are, precisely.

If I indicate too late, then it also trembles the wheel a bit.. but on an ideal road and if I indicate early before moving etc. then you can't feel the lane-change trembler at all.


Ralf S.

 

[varesecrazy]

Written yesterday.. just realised it didnt send ...

Thanks.. headlights look clean.. but the shroud around the bulb looks misty..
Time will tell

Car has just had 2x main dealer services.. so hopefully the airbox isnt broken yet..

In warmer weather I will be dealing with all - weak hose tails- both airbox and thermostat

 

[A3jeroen]

I've seen people clean the inside of the lenses with a piece of microfbre cloth around some copperwire.

gr J

 

[Ralf S.]

I've seen people clean the inside of the lenses with a piece of microfbre cloth around some copperwire.

gr J

I had the spectacular geniose idea of cleaning the inside of my rear light lens once with propyl alcohol.. the idea being that the alcohol would remove the blocthes and stains.. then evaporate without leaving any residual hard water marks.

The propanol cleaned it up okay.. .but it also dissolved the glue holding the various pieces of red/orange reflectors together, so I was left with some (very clean) pieces of plastic but no lens...

Not sure why I didn't just give the lens a hot soapy bath... which would have done the same cleaning job without melting the lens.. but there you go..


Ralf S.

 

[Baglady1990]

I've seen people clean the inside of the lenses with a piece of microfbre cloth around some copperwire.

gr J

I did that with magnets