Hey everyone,
Put my Seicento in for its MOT yesterday and it failed on seven things, I have sorted five of these but its the last two I need to tackle next and need some advice.
Firstly, it was the offside headlight aimed too low and unable to adjust. I have taken the unit off and have found that the motor works but the white bit its very fragile and has broken off; so is there any easy place to get these? Also the shiny bit inside of the unit moves (not sure about the proper names) around a lot whereas it doesnt on the other side so is there a way it should be secured!

Secondly the nearside shock absorber has a serious leak, so I was wonderng if there is an easy way to replace or repair the shock absorber without having to take it to a garage?

Any help would be greatly recieved!
Thanks
Owen

back or front if its rear then just jack the car up to release the tension and unbolt the damper: front then the whole strut comes off then spring off then place spring on new damper and refit all the bits

ok first things first you need to replace the shock absorber and unless your handy with a spanner and have a set of spring compressores i would advise getting the garage to do then and get the pair done(if its front do both front, if its rear do both rear)

as for the headlight mine on my cinq had done the same and its a small fingured cup thing in the light which is a pain in the a**e to get at i would recommend going to a local breakers and finding a good one mate

yeah its the front shock absorber, oh im trying to keep costs down you see! but i was assuming that I'd have to take it to the garage urgh! lol

and I will have a trip to the breakers tomorrow I guess!

Thanks!

You will, of course, be replacing both front dampers.

Cheers

D

rallycinq said:

You will, of course, be replacing both front dampers.

Cheers

D

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Of course I will be

id just get a headlight from the scrappers or buy a new unit save all messing about then when its back in for its re-test tell them to re-align it

About the headlight: the thing that you broke I presume is what we call in my language "the sun(ny) white part". I assume there is only a few bits of this "sun" that broke off. There is a temporary fix for it using silicone gasket: you smash some inside, then stick the stick-ball part in, make sure it goes into the white part and let the silicone harden. It should make the stick-ball part not to fall out of the sun part. I know it sounds veeeery dodgy and veeeery temporary, but for me it actually works for 2 years now for one of the lights.

Edit: of course it is much simpler and permanent to get a replacement head light at scrapies as mentioned.

easiest way to fix it is cut a hole above the adjuster with a tank cutter then wire the ball into the remains of the cup.

holds it solid and makes it all work as it should.

two new Bilsteins will set you back £70 from Eurocarparts. You will love what it does to your car though. I replaced 4 shot shocks with bilsteins and it's turned it from a dangerous piece of crap to a go-cart.

To keep it cheap, take the old struts off (easy peasy) then take them to a garage with your new struts and they can swap the springs over, should cost much.

A decent pair of spring compressors will set you back about £30 and then changing the springs over will be easy peasy too.

The £30 type spring compressors work fine, but you have to be very careful with them otherwise you risk losing significant parts of your brain . Proper jobs are £100+ so a bit OTT.

Nah, just point the top of the strut away from you when taking the nut off, just in case.

Cheers

D

aye, also headlights in a scrappy are usually between 15-25 pound. so just go grab one. no fuss and it will be fine for years.

Funnily enough I had an mot yesterday and the car failed on a nearside headlight aiming too low, garage said they would put it right for £10 I said yes and its an mot win.

clock34 said:

aye, also headlights in a scrappy are usually between 15-25 pound. so just go grab one. no fuss and it will be fine for years.

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unless thats a dud as well see if you can try before you buy

rallycinq said:

Nah, just point the top of the strut away from you when taking the nut off, just in case.

Cheers

D

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i tried this once, hmmmmm never did find the nut but the cup on the top went 100yds down the street, hmmmmmmm i wonder where the nut went, oh yeah and i hit myself in the chest with the spanner, halfords tools are very hard and can i say it knocked the wind right out of me lol

I DONT RECOMMEND UNLESS YOU ARE INSANE OR FEEL NO PAIN

why not just undo the main nut that holds the strut together with the nut threaded on a big whack it with rubber mallet (bolt on to protect thread) and then jack up the car to remove the weight on the spring, as you jack up the car the pressure is slowly released

with that done just remove the two bolts holding it to the hub and put hte new one in reverse put it together

Ash