What's made you grumpy today?

[StevenRB45]

Thanks Steven. I think it'll just be a case of easing it up gently and watching the wiring loom. If it proves too dodgy getting a workshop to do the plugs won't be that bad if I've done everything else. In fact it's just occurred to me that the lads at our wee Honda indy: https://www.bonningtonmillgarage.com/ might be into obliging me, in which case I might just duck out of doing the plugs. Mind you, if they were done when recommended by age then they'll be the second set and only half way through their life. Trouble is this car has excellent service history for it's earlier life but very little known for the last two or three years.

Yeah, it will all pivot once the thumb clips are undone. Wiring and harness clips are decent quality if memory serves, I used to undo headlamps multiplugs all the time due to some poor choices regards bulbs and they never came to bits.

I said 3...I meant 4 if you look above Mazda logo theres another facing the firewall. Can just see the top of it peeping over on the photo.

Having had a quick scout it seems to suggest leaving clips in place and taking whole airbox for plugs rather than split it.



Although this is a 3 with a similar setup.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Thanks again. Think I'll just take it slow and steady and see how I get on with it. I can see what you mean about getting the air filter element out and I think that's going to be fine, just feeling nervous about the plugs. I always like to check pollen filters on cars that come into the family as soon as I can because I find they often have not been changed. Interestingly this one seems to come in two parts. The first bit gets put in and then pushed up whilst sliding the second part into a groove in the bottom of the first part. and all down in the footwell by the clutch pedal. Sounds like good fun!

 

[portland_bill]

Panda due a service.
Also, recently started taking longer to warm up, so haev a thermostat to put in.
Drained the oil, replaced the plugs. Removed the coil pack and replaced the thermostat, all going smoothly so far.
As the coolant pipe behind the manifold is a known weak spot, and mine is now 17 years old, with some coolant loss for the thermostat, it made sense to replace the pipe. Perhaps I should have left alone.
Pipe fixing screw head is rusty, so had to be careful removing that, but it is out, not broken. Pipe out, and jiggled out from behind the manifold. New one seems the same size/shape, etc., so wriggled behind the manifold, then the trouble starts. It has to push hard into the block behind the water pump. It is resisting. Been fighting for 90 minutes, now the sun has come round, so making it more difficult ot see into the dark hole behind the manifold. My torch has given up, so needs charging. Blood has been spilt. Time to walk away. busy tomorrow, will have another swear at it on Saturday.
(The benefits of having other vehicles to use)

 

[Cheest]

Some of the most expensive and regrettable words used by the home mechanic are,”While I’m in there…”

 

[vexorg]

Touch of grease on the o-ring??

 

[portland_bill]

Touch of grease on the o-ring??

Already got lots of grease on it. It's a bit more than an O-ring, a long seal, with three ribs, and seemingly several mm larger than the hole it fits into. Needs lots of push, in a tight space.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Already got lots of grease on it. It's a bit more than an O-ring, a long seal, with three ribs, and seemingly several mm larger than the hole it fits into. Needs lots of push, in a tight space.

Yup, Becky's put up a real fight too. Had to get really pretty violent with it in the end, but it did go in. Like you, I was worried about the wee retaining bolt maybe snapping - Felicity's did that and it was a real agro job to sort - but Becky, ever the Lady - allowed hers to be unscrewed quite easily.

 

[vexorg]

Sounds like one of those jobs that are very easy in the factory, and the designers never think people might need to change on the car in the future.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The seal is obtained because the "O" ring is "squeezed" into the hole thus gripping on both the pipe and the casting of the back end of the water pump. So I suppose that the tighter it is to get into the hole, the greater it will be squeezed and so the better will be the seal?

Edit. I actually had more problem wiggling. jiggling and twisting it into place around the back of the manifold! I bought one of S4p's Original Birth branded items, and it's now about 4 or 5 years old and still absolutely fine.

 

[vexorg]

If designed properly then there shoud be a chamfer on the hole to help lead the seal part in.
People underestimate the amount of force required on seals, there pressure will be less than 1 bar max which is trivial for an o-ring seal.

 

[portland_bill]

If designed properly then there shoud be a chamfer on the hole to help lead the seal part in.
People underestimate the amount of force required on seals, there pressure will be less than 1 bar max which is trivial for an o-ring seal.

There is a chamfer on the hole, getting it into the hole is not an issue, but gettting it the last 2mm is a real struggle. As Jock says, it needs some force. I'm thinking, tomorrow morning, there'll be a piece of wood used as a lever, more force, no damage. Or more tears.
The cooling system cap is rated at about 1.1 bar I think.
It is a real art wriggling it behind the manifold.
The bolt holding the pipe had a rusty head, but did undo easily once a socket was pushed on. The heatshield fixings had a little fight. The top four, all rusty heads, but yielded easily once a 6-point socket was pushed hard on. My stash has yielded new ones. There are two lower fixings, studs welded to the cat, on long 'ears'. One of those sheared with little force, so I'll need to remove the remains and use a simple nut & bolt. I think the dremel might be of use, that'll take a bit of time.

 

[worcestersource]

The jubilee clip on the Uno’s fuel hose at the fuel tank leaks every now and then and needs a random tighten.

Parts company in Lithuania apparently never got the money I sent so I won’t be getting a new wiper tray to replace the poorly painted one on the car.

I can’t find one out of the four lock rods needed to reinstate the manual locking in the car after the remote locks failed.

But otherwise, it’s a cute little Uno and I love it dearly.

 

[portland_bill]

The jubilee clip on the Uno’s fuel hose at the fuel tank leaks every now and then and needs a random tighten.

Parts company in Lithuania apparently never got the money I sent so I won’t be getting a new wiper tray to replace the poorly painted one on the car.

I can’t find one out of the four lock rods needed to reinstate the manual locking in the car after the remote locks failed.

But otherwise, it’s a cute little Uno and I love it dearly.

Fuel hoses, and other small diameter hoses do not work well with 'Jubilee' (worm drive) clips, and work far better with the band tightened with a screw, like these: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/t...petrol-pipe-clips-12-14mm-fixg234-727262.html
The smaller worm drive clips can tend to release a little, or not clamp evenly,
This could be a sign of the hose deteriorating, so needs to be checked. If replacing, ensure it is ethanol resistant hose. Some outlets still have stock of older hose, so be careful.

Sorry, can't help with the other issues, apart from sympathy.

 

[portland_bill]

Early start, before the sun gets up, out to fight the Panda coolant pipe. Stepped outside, was immediately hit by rain. It can wait.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

There is a chamfer on the hole, getting it into the hole is not an issue, but gettting it the last 2mm is a real struggle. As Jock says, it needs some force. I'm thinking, tomorrow morning, there'll be a piece of wood used as a lever, more force, no damage. Or more tears.
The cooling system cap is rated at about 1.1 bar I think.
It is a real art wriggling it behind the manifold.
The bolt holding the pipe had a rusty head, but did undo easily once a socket was pushed on. The heatshield fixings had a little fight. The top four, all rusty heads, but yielded easily once a 6-point socket was pushed hard on. My stash has yielded new ones. There are two lower fixings, studs welded to the cat, on long 'ears'. One of those sheared with little force, so I'll need to remove the remains and use a simple nut & bolt. I think the dremel might be of use, that'll take a bit of time.

Exactly my experience PB. Old Felicity's pipe was much simpler as it didn't have the heater return pipe on it. Becky's was a contortionist's nightmare (why am I suddenly typing in bold? didn't even know my computer could do this! hope I can make it go back to normal by switching it off and back on again, which is my usual default when I don't know what I've done) Anyway, Becky's was a matter of removing the heat shield - same experience as you, I was expecting the manifold bolts to shear, but they didn't, however one of the bottom one's did and had to be repaired exactly as you are intending to do. Surprisingly, because Felicity's had sheared, the bolt holding the pipe to the block came out cleanly but was tight to get moving initially. It was then a case of extracting it a little at a time, turning it this way and that as I progressed. I remember thinking to myself as i was doing it that I should be remembering how I'd done it so I could reverse the procedure when installing the new one. Of course I forgot and had a bit of a struggle getting it threaded in behind the manifold. As far as getting it into the back of the pump, after lubing it with some vaseline, I just remember getting really "violent" with it. I remember thinking I'd got it fully home but then found the bolt hole in the new pipe bracket wasn't lining up with the threaded hole in the front of the block. At first I thought the bracket was either not welded on very accurately or maybe slightly bent. However closer examination made me realize I'd just not yet shoved it far enough into the casting! Once fully home the hole lined up perfectly.

Edit: Lovely warm sunny day with us just now. Got my "car doing" clothes in the washing machine just now - Mrs J won't touch them - and hoping I can get them hung out to dry before the rain comes - scheduled for mid afternoon if the weather man is to be believed. Doing brakes gets you really mucky doesn't it.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Great, turned it off and back on and now I'm back with "normal" letters! How the hell can I use this device to read fault codes, graph sensor outputs, activate stuff like injectors, lights etc, but haven't got a clue how I turned on bold text. I'm definitely living beyond my time these days!

 

[worcestersource]

Fuel hoses, and other small diameter hoses do not work well with 'Jubilee' (worm drive) clips, and work far better with the band tightened with a screw, like these: https://www.halfords.com/motoring/t...petrol-pipe-clips-12-14mm-fixg234-727262.html
The smaller worm drive clips can tend to release a little, or not clamp evenly,
This could be a sign of the hose deteriorating, so needs to be checked. If replacing, ensure it is ethanol resistant hose. Some outlets still have stock of older hose, so be careful.

Sorry, can't help with the other issues, apart from sympathy.

Cheers. It’s at the union between filler neck pipe and tank. I’d bought a new plastic insert from Italy and intend to see what’s what properly once I’ve run the tank down to empty.

I’ve noticed the cap end wiggles as well and don’t remember my Uno of 30 years ago (!) doing this, so suspect as I’m putting the petrol pump in or removing/tightening the cap, I’m disturbing things at the tank end. Or the jubilee clip’s cutting into the plastic.

I’ll find out what’s what soon enough.

As for the drip tray, I intend to remove it from the car and see if I can remove the paint. Worse case scenario is I have to rough it up and spray it matt black.

I’ll get there with this car. It’s nearly perfect!

 

[portland_bill]

New coolant pipe for Panda won't fit. At last got it fully seated, to find mounting bracket nowhere near the screwhle in the block, and the bracket at abut a 15 degree angle. Pipe obviously made wrong, as no evidence of damage. I await S4P's comment.

 

[Cheest]

New coolant pipe for Panda won't fit. At last got it fully seated, to find mounting bracket nowhere near the screwhle in the block, and the bracket at abut a 15 degree angle. Pipe obviously made wrong, as no evidence of damage. I await S4P's comment.

Ohh, I hate that. I had a replacement lower radiator hose for the Jeep that had the correct part number imprinted but was about an inch and a half too short. Even the guys at the auto parts store were going "WTF". They ordered another one for later that day and it was correct but I lost half a day on getting the job done.

 

[porta]

Ohh, I hate that. I had a replacement lower radiator hose for the Jeep that had the correct part number imprinted but was about an inch and a half too short. Even the guys at the auto parts store were going "WTF". They ordered another one for later that day and it was correct but I lost half a day on getting the job done.

Same here, ordered a bottom hose for my Cherokee XJ, got a top hose for a Jaguar XJ