What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[The Panda Nut]

This was around 12 years ago at a fairly large roundabout on the outskirts of Newton Abbot, it's fairly faded now but the idea was to direct traffic so that if it was taking say the first or second turning then the vehicle was meant to be on the left of the "red kidney" markings and only on the right of the marking if turning off at the final turn, it sounds fairly good basic practice but due to the three lanes at each entrance the left hand lane obviously was used to turn straight off left immediately and marked with arrows accordingly, the second lane for taking the second turning off the roundabout (straight across in effect) and marked accordingly by arrows and so on, but due to the positioning of the middle lane it would mean almost diving across the path of those in left lane turning left for the vehicle to be inside where the kidney markings were first indicated.
Also that was a "two in to one" lane and due to being busy, traffic from the previous junction tended to filter in with the traffic from where she was coming from presumably as was originally intended by the designers, but altered by the new markings.
She is a very conscientious girl and if the instructor had told her she would have happily complied, but he did not.
As you can see nowadays it is very faded and largely ignored I think.

Sounds like some silly un enforcable local thing and also sounds like it died the death..... rightfully

 

[bugsymike]

I should just say are you taking thr pisss to that one hsbing just lost a kidney. Is this something I have missed.......

Nothing personal intended re kidney and I trust a good recovery is happening .
However in the pi** taking vein I use when talking to a old customer of mine who is on his last legs with cancer and copd, we tease each other in a very un PC way, as laughter being the only medicine as the pain killers are not doing a lot, I would say " lost a kidney, that sounds a bit careless? Followed by I hope you got a good price for it"

 

[vexorg]

Some students can be a real pain, and stories are swapped, but mostly this is about attitudes and behaviours, not criticism of thier driving. Like you, any criticism of their driving means they're not ready for test yet.

And some instructors also also plain wrong, with bad advice or reasoning to the mechanics of how cars work. The whole put the clutch in while slowing and brakes only is nonsence (apparently going through the gears wears out the gearbox!), as it being told off for not pressing the button when putting the handbrake on!!

Learners are allowed on motorways now, but only with qualified instructors, not family members, and only in dual-controlled cars. Needing a qualified instructor makes sense, but I don't understand the need for dual controls.

The motorway rules for learners never made sense, and still doesn't. Motorway driving is about the easiest part of driving by far, yet newly passed drivers are terrified as they've never been on them.

 

[portland_bill]

And some instructors also also plain wrong, with bad advice or reasoning to the mechanics of how cars work. The whole put the clutch in while slowing and brakes only is nonsence (apparently going through the gears wears out the gearbox!), as it being told off for not pressing the button when putting the handbrake on!!

When I started as an instructor, and frequently since, I'm amazed at how little mechanical knowledge many instructors have. For me, proper mechanical sympathy can only come from a basic understanding of how the machine works. Most of my students have been pleased to be taught a little of the basics, with diagrams when necessary.
I have a friend, who was an instructor for around 30 years, who looked at my Doblo wheelchair van with fear, declaring he'd never contemplate driving something that big.
Many years ago, an instructor colleague called me to ask: "The oil light has just come on, how much oil should I add?" Fiat diesel in the Vauxhall Corsa.
My answer, "Doesn't matter, it'll need an engine."

 

[StevenRB45]

Many years ago, an instructor colleague called me to ask: "The oil light has just come on, how much oil should I add?" Fiat diesel in the Vauxhall Corsa.
My answer, "Doesn't matter, it'll need an engine."

To be fair you might be surprised, a girl I used to work with had a 1.4 Corsa I think it was.

One day at work she mentioned the oil light kept coming on. Knowing I was reasonably into my cars she asked me to have a look at it. She said she had topped the oil up that morning...

I pulled the dipstick, it was dry and rusty..so you can imagine just how much it had been running on and for how long. Asked her how much she'd put in this morning, it amounted to less than quarter of a litre.

It got the full litre bottle she'd bought and that just about brought it up to on the dispstick.

God knows what happened to it, I know it went to we buy any car a few months later but was absolutely still running and driving.

To be fair this is also the person whose washers weren't working so I gave them a bottle of mineral water I had on my person on the basis it's better than nowt expecting her to empty it into the washer bottle...chucked it over the window..didn't then wipe. Absolute waste of time..

 

[bugsymike]

Some you just can't help.
Some years ago the step son of a customer borrowed mothers car to do a trip and was told to top up the oil before trip and before return on the long journey, as ran well but used a drop of oil.
Car was delivered to me by transporter with hole in block where conrod had appeared, I drained the sump prior to the exchange Ford engine going in, the oil I collected looked clean and exactly corresponded with the empty tin in the boot, I suspect when engine blew up and knowing he would be in trouble he then bought some oil and poured it in!
The cost of the oil he put in to late, exactly corresponded to 1/100 of the £2500 bill he caused!
At the time the Ford Fiesta 1.25 was still fairly new so few recon engines about and with hole on block no exchange, however Ford would take it back as their policy at the time was to supply new engines as "exchange" to prevent reconditioning.
I try to tell my children to check their levels regularly with the advise that even if a car is old and uses oil or water it will keep running, it is only when it is empty that the damage occurs.
Obviously any losses should be reported back to me for attention.

 

[vexorg]

Many years ago, an instructor colleague called me to ask: "The oil light has just come on, how much oil should I add?" Fiat diesel in the Vauxhall Corsa.
My answer, "Doesn't matter, it'll need an engine."

Strangely I had the same question from a friend many years ago. Though this was the same friend who was confused that he was told the car was losing water, because the only time uses water was when the windscreen washers were on....

There are those that get lucky with the oil light, my dad had it on in an old granada years ago, topped it up more often after that and the car lasted another 3 years, he sold it on still running fine.

 

[porta]

Strangely I had the same question from a friend many years ago. Though this was the same friend who was confused that he was told the car was losing water, because the only time uses water was when the windscreen washers were on....

There are those that get lucky with the oil light, my dad had it on in an old granada years ago, topped it up more often after that and the car lasted another 3 years, he sold it on still running fine.

That’s Land Rover territory…
‘excuse me, my car seems to be losing oil’
‘It’s standard sir and it helps the longevity of the ungalvanised chassis’

 

[bugsymike]

My long dead accountant's Lexus Saurer 400 grey import had error message in Japanese across the speedo and got a foreign student to translate it, "washer bottle empty"

 

[portland_bill]

It always bothers me when I see someone at a petrol station, fills fuel, then lifts bonnet and pours in oil. No dipstick check. (Long before electronic level systems)
My guess is they put oil in when the light comes on. Don't know the difference between presure and quantity.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The 6mm pins will be too fat, and will be the wrong spacing.

The adjustable adaptor is available separately, Laser 5956.

Laser Tools 5956 Adjustable Brake Rewind Adaptor 3/8"D

Laser Tools 5956 Two pin adjustable wind back adaptor with 3/8" square drive.

www.lasertools.co.uk

With a quick search, best price seems to be here. https://www.thetoolacademy.com/laser-5956-brake-rewind-adaptor-38d---adjustable-2763-p.asp
There's a little allen screw in the centre, well hidden. You rotate teh two parts to adjust the pins, then lock it with the screw. Very clever, hence its cost.

Exactly a week ago - Fri 21st - I got stuck into this years service tasks on the Ibiza (Twinkle). Made a post earlier on in this thread about it. I wasn't hurrying, didn't start particularly early and finished up once the front end was done. I was intending to tackle the rear next day but the weather wasn't cooperating. Then, with grandchildren on holiday, we had "stuff" to do, so today has been the first day when the weather and other commitments have allowed me time to finish the service.

If you read the first account then you'll know that, although I managed to get a bit more life out of the front brakes, I wasn't holding any great expectations regarding the rears. In my experience if the fronts are a bit less than perfect then, where discs are fitted to the rear, as in this case, you can expect corrosion to be much worse on the rears. So I was expecting to be needing rotors and pads for the rear. I was also thinking I might need to buy a new windback tool after reading PB's comments above. However I've learned from past experience that it's always best to take a good look before "firing the parts cannon" - as Rainman Ray would say.

So how did it go? Well, considering she's now about half way through her 7th year of life, it went very well. Istrted on the O/S and of course I've had the wheels and calipers off before but, because I've never had the discs off, the caliper carrier securing bolts have never been touched. I was expecting the worst. Our good friend, Mr Haynes, describes the bolts as "Multi-point socket head" I was wondering if this meant they are Spline, Torx or even those strange XZN things I came across on the old Cordoba. Had to buy a set for that and have only used them the once! I've also seen video of a Leon rear carrier being removed where the bolts looked like Torx or similar, so I was pleasantly surprised to find they were just M10 Allen Bolts: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404401088078?hash=item5e282ee64e:gOkAAOSwNyBkv5bt&amdata=enc:AQAIAAAA8Chq4vEYsXNn4AGWkATLpaMqa9DwI8K2U/apV6Q/t0b5fBXy3LlOO8zob6JJGAuFcQMNfMOqaURMpvE9F1rD4yCFBEy5j1tDCDVg2WjmvSkiQM7BZqmgwFFFW0eY1eXkny/BxBoc9h21xHZlpiHmBkqcEYKEdwuKKF6hj1zRBo+gAqN1lkcMYGI/Qr+Jma9PO8CJ8xoYPhjNmahfF3FawcXDAF2iqb7A2xMHo/CmMjnx9qIV73e8IvRCYVBfHWO1eMjIQCO9f6z/YUkdvnZJoB3kJ0TWS6pn4UAlLo425bO25EhJOd5LU3Iajz4NRtqjSQ==|tkp:BFBMmNP817Ni So take an 8mm Allen bit. However there is plenty of room to just use a normal hex head so why the Allen head? They looked quite crusty so I was expecting a fight but, with the help of my power bar, they actually came out pretty well. The disc is held by a wee torx chamfered screw which I gave a few wee taps to before undoing and it surrendered without a fight too. The disc then almost fell off on it's own.

The disc was far better than I was expecting, better than the fronts in fact. The front face was excellent:

and only needed the lightest of skims to take the outer lip off. The rear was a little rougher but still very usable:

Once the outer lip was ground off it was ready for service again. The discs are 9mm thick when new and recommended to be replaced at 7mm. These measured 8mm. so all good. For the less experienced amongst us, those radial lines on the disc are made by the pad when left overnight with the hand brake on. A good run down the road and they'll largely disappear. They have no effect on the braking performance. Of course if one or more are actual cracks that's a different matter all together and will need the disc to be renewed.

So now everything is cleaned up - wire brush, light use of file, clean up the hub and apply ceramic grease as appropriate - and, just as I'm starting to reassemble, the chap from the flats opposite appears in my peripheral vision. "I see you're working on your brakes?" he astutely observes. "I was just wondering if you could advise me?" I could have done without the interruption, but things are going very well and I'm well ahead of schedule, so, a couple of minutes later we are squatting down by the N/S/F wheel of his, 72 plate, humoungus shiny black Mercedes.

"It shudders when braking from higher speeds, like when slowing down on the motorway. Don't feel anything around town". "Surely this will still be under warranty I ask?" "Well yes", is the reply, "but they want to charge me for diagnosing the problem" - I think he said £130? - "which will only be refundable if the fault is covered by the warranty" They then went on to say that "consumables, like pads and discs aren't covered" Really?! So he would like me to diagnose this for him and then what? I'm not going to engage in an argument with the Mercedes garage and I don't fancy doing the job myself on an almost new, very expensive, car. I've got dial gauges, micrometers, etc and would be technically interested in looking at this but I now too old and wise to get mixed up in what could turn out to be a highly "political" situation. Have you seen the brakes on one of these? A six "pot" caliper and disc that's almost the diameter of one of the wheels on the Panda! Maybe I should frighten myself by looking up some prices. Anyway, I've pointed him at an alignment specialist over in Sighthill, with a Hunter Bench so "seriously good" at this sort of stuff, who'll sort him out properly and he seems very happy with that.

So, it's back to the Ibiza and where was I? Ah yes, disc reinstalled and carrier bolted up with a wee dash of Loctite on the bolts. Pads? more than reusable at 7mm thick, so just a quick wire brush and rub on the deglazing plate I mentioned last week. A small amount of ceramic grease on the carrier and pads and the caliper goes back on and, with another wee splash of Loctite on the bolts, the caliper itself is back on and the handbrake cable reconnected.

Now for the other side. Let's get that wee chamfered screw out first. A wee tap with a flat ended punch to break it's hold and it pops out as nice as you like. Turning round to put the screw in my parts tub (used ice cream tub) I hear a clonk behind me and turning back to the car I see the disc has almost fallen off!

I wonder? If I just lift it up and wiggle it about a bit? And YES! The disc comes off without having to remove the carrier! So I took the carrier off on the other side for no good reason! Ah well, you live and learn. But that's rather good isn't it? means you can change discs on both front and rear hubs on this car without doing any more than removing the calipers themselves. Wonder what the "book" time is for a pad and rotor change?

All went just as well on this side and, because I didn't have to mess about with the carrier, it was quicker too. All back together and looking good!

Of course, because I didn't need to fit new pads there was no need to wind back the caliper pistons. However I had been wondering, after reading PB's post about windback tools, whether my old generic wind back tool would work on these calipers:

So, while I had one of the calipers off I had a look at the piston face:

Well, that looks like it might work using the side of the adaptor with the two further apart pins? Let's try lining it up:

I recon this is going to work, so settle ti fully home on the piston:

And YES! Luvly Jubbly, it fits a treat! Hurrah, now I won't need to buy a new tool next year when I will do disc and pads - most likely, if I still have the car.
So, the brake work has gone much better than expected. Think I'll check the transmission oil level and have a wee crawl around under the front of the car looking for oil and fluid leaks, suspension bushes and anything else I happen to pick up on. This is one of the few times when my ramps come into their own because my wee runoff slopes down towards the road. If I put the front wheels up on the ramps I can get the car level for checking the transmission oil and have lots of room to safely crawl about underneath:
Spirit level on the sill and drive up the ramps until the bubble is centered. Handbrake on and chocks behind the back wheels so she can't roll back and then I can check the trans oil level. Slightly tricky because the level plug - a tapered plug like our Gearbox level plugs on the FIATS - is tucked up the back of the power unit on the final drive casing above the steering rack and a bit of subframe. Not too bad with a 1/2 inch ratchet and extension and 17mm hex adaptor but would be very awkward with just a spanner. Great, level is spot on! The boy's at Croyde got that right too! Now I'll just drive the car up to the top of the ramps, to give me maximum wriggle room, and get intimate with Twinkle's nether regions! Apart from the exhaust starting to look it's age, back box especially, there's little of any consequence and that O/S driveshaft, tripod type, inner joint is still only showing slight backlash. Think I'll let it go on for a while yet or until it gets noisy.

Now I don't need to buy a new wind back tool, I wonder if I can be allowed a battery analyser?

 

[PuntoHowTo]

@Pugglt Auld Jock
It is hard to explain why your posts make me smile, I am sure many others on the forum feel the same. You could post about literally anything that's been going on in your day and it is just honest and wholesome, which I like to thank you for.

Please keep it up.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

@Pugglt Auld Jock
It is hard to explain why your posts make me smile, I am sure many others on the forum feel the same. You could post about literally anything that's been going on in your day and it is just honest and wholesome, which I like to thank you for.

Please keep it up.

Why thank you kind sir, he said coyly. I suppose the mechanical/technical stuff is just because it interests me and it's what I like reading about in other people's posts - and some of you make very interesting reading. Dangerous for me to mention names in case I miss someone out but I'm sure you know who I mean because we all seem to turn up "liking" the same posts - The rest of it is probably a bit like diarrhea - it just dribbles out!

 

[portland_bill]

- The rest of it is probably a bit like diarrhea - it just dribbles out!

What a lovely picture you paint. Gave me a laugh to start the day, especaily having just finished helping my partner to the toilet, without drama.

 

[StevenRB45]

So now everything is cleaned up - wire brush, light use of file, clean up the hub and apply ceramic grease as appropriate - and, just as I'm starting to reassemble, the chap from the flats opposite appears in my peripheral vision. "I see you're working on your brakes?" he astutely observes. "I was just wondering if you could advise me?" I could have done without the interruption, but things are going very well and I'm well ahead of schedule, so, a couple of minutes later we are squatting down by the N/S/F wheel of his, 72 plate, humoungus shiny black Mercedes.

View attachment 427462

"It shudders when braking from higher speeds, like when slowing down on the motorway. Don't feel anything around town". "Surely this will still be under warranty I ask?" "Well yes", is the reply, "but they want to charge me for diagnosing the problem" - I think he said £130? - "which will only be refundable if the fault is covered by the warranty" They then went on to say that "consumables, like pads and discs aren't covered" Really?! So he would like me to diagnose this for him and then what? I'm not going to engage in an argument with the Mercedes garage and I don't fancy doing the job myself on an almost new, very expensive, car. I've got dial gauges, micrometers, etc and would be technically interested in looking at this but I now too old and wise to get mixed up in what could turn out to be a highly "political" situation. Have you seen the brakes on one of these? A six "pot" caliper and disc that's almost the diameter of one of the wheels on the Panda! Maybe I should frighten myself by looking up some prices. Anyway, I've pointed him at an alignment specialist over in Sighthill, with a Hunter Bench so "seriously good" at this sort of stuff, who'll sort him out properly and he seems very happy with that.

Unfortunately for this gentleman even if you diagnosed or someone else did and came back with the likely warped discs.

The come back would be "cool thanks for saving us the job, those are not covered under warranty, new discs will cost X."

I've only managed to get them "under warranty" in the past due to having MOT test cover but unless it can be proved the component was faulty at point of manufacture/fitting in which case the car would have done it day 1 he's on the hook for it.

 

[bugsymike]

What a lovely picture you paint. Gave me a laugh to start the day, especaily having just finished helping my partner to the toilet, without drama.

Having just read that, I went to the next piece by Jock "So now everything is cleaned up - wire brush, light use of file", the mind boggles.

 

[irc]

Just doing a quick checkover of the 1.2 that I lent to the son while he was between cars. It actually came from a friend of his, as a non runner but underneath the grime and spilled fast food it was actually pretty good, so I spent a weekend cleaning it, replaced the failed coils, and changed the cam belt and water pump (which was totally goosed!).
He's been using it for a few weeks, so I figured it probably needed a quick checkover.
Apart from the split wiper blade which he had mentioned, the only problem I found was total lack of water coming out of the windscreen washers.
Probably empty?
Er... no. Full. And rear washer worked.
Front made noise, but no water.
Checked usual suspects (pipe to scuttle, blocked nozzles, etc.). All OK.
Took off the y-piece and TOTALLY blocked with crystallised washer fluid.
No idea what previous owner had been using, but it sets like concrete. Soaking, prodding, swearing- all had no effect.
Grabbed a spare y-piece and all was fine again.
Thinking about it, that could be why the old wiper blades were stiff and brittle too.

still, apart from that little bit of weirdness, the little 1.2 is so basic and simple it's been a pleasure to work on.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Ooops! just noticed there's a wee asterisk along side the torque figures in the Haynes manual for Twink, opposite the settings for both the caliper carrier retaining bolts and guide pin bolts. Look down to the bottom of the page and you see - * Use new bolts.

The tightening procedure for the carrier bolts is - stage 1 tighten to 90 Nm. Stage 2 Angle tighten a further 90 degrees. I have to say that they looked in excellent condition with no signs of tread stretching, wasting or other signs of damage. I'll risk your condemnation and disdain - shock horror - by admitting I didn't torque them, simply gave them a dash of blue Loctite and snugged them up "nice n' tite". Mind you I must have done thousands of these in my lifetime so have a good feel for it. However, had I been checking the book for the torque setting I'd have seen the advice! So almost certainly these are stretch bolts and I'll be ordering new ones today. In my defence I'd say though that they tightened as you'd expect with no thread binding or feeling of stretch and I'm confident they'll be Ok for the two or three days the new bolts will take to arrive. In fact our next journey out in Twink will be next week to take the grandchildren swimming so she may not move a wheel until then as we use Becky around the town.

The tightening procedure for the guide pin bolts is just stated as 35Nm (no angle given). - stretch bolts usually have an angle tightening component - I've never routinely replaced guide pin bolts and I'm not going to with these ones. I'm wondering if it's just a "scaredy cat" knee jerk on the behalf of the manufacturer? Maybe it's just that the new ones include thread locker? Here's a couple of new ones for another vehicle which I didn't use on that job:



I find VAG are good at telling you to replace stuff that's not strictly needed, for instance Twink's sump plug, which they replaced at every service during her warranty period:



I bought a new one first time I changed her oil but when I removed the old one I couldn't see why they were replacing them. Typically I'd reuse a sump plug but renew it's crush washer. Close examination reveals the washer on this one is solid steel and non crush, can't be removed over the threads either so maybe they replace them in case there's damage to this washer? Anyway, I stuck the old one back in and have been using it ever since without any problem and no signs of even a small leak. That's the new one on the left in the picture. The other two are, if I remember correctly, from the 1.9PD Fabia my older boy used to run - same plug and both look in good usable condition. One thing I did find out was there are two versions of this plug, identical in all respects except one is only half the length of the other. I bought that new one from the main agent but they gave me the shorter one and then tried to say the short one would do. I stuck to my guns and insisted on the longer one whereupon I was told it was on back order and I'd have to wait for it - so that's why they tried to flog me the short one I guess? - got a long one from ebay within a day and a half. Has to be a danger of stripping the thread in the alloy sump using the short plug torqued to the recommended 30 Nm I'd have thought? Wonder how many are wrecked by using the wrong plug?

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Having just read that, I went to the next piece by Jock "So now everything is cleaned up - wire brush, light use of file", the mind boggles.

Ouch!

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

JApart from the split wiper blade which he had mentioned, the only problem I found was total lack of water coming out of the windscreen washers.
Probably empty?
Er... no. Full. And rear washer worked.
Front made noise, but no water.
Checked usual suspects (pipe to scuttle, blocked nozzles, etc.). All OK.
Took off the y-piece and TOTALLY blocked with crystallised washer fluid.
No idea what previous owner had been using, but it sets like concrete. Soaking, prodding, swearing- all had no effect.
Grabbed a spare y-piece and all was fine again.
Thinking about it, that could be why the old wiper blades were stiff and brittle too.

still, apart from that little bit of weirdness, the little 1.2 is so basic and simple it's been a pleasure to work on.

Don't know if it's true but many years ago I read that dish wash liquid is bulked up with salt? The same article went on to say it was one, of several, reasons why you should never put it in your screen washer reservoir as it gets into the bodywork seams and greatly accelerates rusting? I've also read that genuine screen wash contains additives to protect and lubricate the pump, wiper blades etc. All my children got the "only use proper screen wash fluid" lecture.

Organic gloopy gunge build up in washer bottles used to be quite a big problem which would block up the fine mesh filter on the intake to the pump, especially where the owner didn't use the washers very often. For this reason we would stick the mains hose right down into the reservoir and let it run full blast for a couple of minutes at every service before refilling it with fresh fluid. To this day I do this on all our cars and only my boy's Astra has ever suffered a blockage within recent memory. Used to be easy to take a reservoir out for cleaning but some of them now a days are a real pig to do. I can see Twink's from under the front but no idea how you'd get it out! The filler disappears down the inner wing to the "front" of the engine.