Car D.I.Y.

[fossyant]

Son acquired a 'rough' 60 plate Aygo Blue to tidy up and sell on for a not in-significant profit. He's just had MOT and it's failed on emissions, poor handbrake, and a rusty sill. The emissions can be sorted by cat cleaner and a good run - the car hasn't been driven for a long time. The handbrake needs attention, and the hole can be fixed - my son is quite handy with welding too. But there is a long list of advisories for crustyness underneath. I've had a look (given my limited mobility) and it needs a good clean and undercoat/underseal to touch up but not 'hide' the crust. It's not been looked after and is from Scotland. In comparison to our similar age one, it's dog rough. Ours did need undercoating on arrival though. It's MOT'ed at Halfords so they don't overlook anything.

He's also bought a Leon FR 64 plate from a friend - usual case of car's been tuned then blew up. He's got it for £1,500 and at worse needs a new engine, but should make a tidy profit on it. That's currently parked on a side street ! I'm hoping he get's it to the garage where he is working and fixes it there !

All I've done is give my alloys a good scrub on the van. Still need to get rid of some built up deposits on the inside of the rims, but it's going each time I clean it - don't want to get aggressive with wheel cleaner as these are diamond cut, so I'm using a diluted solution - it's Jenny Chem non-acidic wheel cleaner, but some of the reviews say it can stain diamond cut alloys - never had that issue as both our cars are lacquered over the 'bare' alloy.

 

[Adam4868]

Took my partner and her Art exhibition up to Manchester on Monday....The Berlingo needs a new clutch !
Said she'd never noticed ....never noticed the diesel light on low either 🤣

 

[Drago]

Daughter #3's Nissan Puke has blown up. I think the turbo might have let go and the engine hs had a munch on it.

 

[fossyant]

Daughter #3's Nissan Puke has blown up. I think the turbo might have let go and the engine hs had a munch on it.

Oh dear - blown turbos usually deposit bits into the engine if unlucky.

 

[Drago]

Yeah, it doesn't sound good.

 

[CXRAndy]

Replacing discs is a bit bigger job than merely the pads to be fair, and apart from already jacking up the car and taking a wheel off, there's not much time saved by combining

It is. However if the rotors are showing any sign of rib wear, then it's prudent to do them at the same time. All you're doing is wearing down the new pads super quick to match the worn surface. Plus more importantly the braking will be quite poor on the rear until the pads have bedded in

It's a good opportunity to have a good clean up of hub mating surface, check for any other points of wear or corrosion

 

[Profpointy]

It is. However if the rotors are showing any sign of rib wear, then it's prudent to do them at the same time. All you're doing is wearing down the new pads super quick to match the worn surface. Plus more importantly the braking will be quite poor on the rear until the pads have bedded in

It's a good opportunity to have a good clean up of hub mating surface, check for any other points of wear or corrosion

I agree that you should replace discs if they look shot, or if you have the capability are measured to be a bit thin, or with too much run out. That said, not sure I've ever had to replace discs, apart from cracked ones on my old motorbike - they brakes tended to partly seize and then rub and overheat

By the way what is meant by "rib wear" ?

 

[gbb]

It is. However if the rotors are showing any sign of rib wear, then it's prudent to do them at the same time. All you're doing is wearing down the new pads super quick to match the worn surface. Plus more importantly the braking will be quite poor on the rear until the pads have bedded in

It's a good opportunity to have a good clean up of hub mating surface, check for any other points of wear or corrosion

Quite right. I'm kinda gutted because I was a tad lax in homework. I'd looked at the discs while assessing the pads...and meh, they looked OK. What I didn't do was look on the inboard side...not terrible but worse than I realised, not terrible but really should have replaced them. Shan't make that mistake again.

 

[Gunk]

The emissions can be sorted by cat cleaner and a good run

Didn‘t work on our old 2009 Mini, and the replacement aftermarket cat which failed was only 2 years old. Ended up having to fit a complete genuine BMW Mini cat, it cost almost as much as the car was worth.

 

[CXRAndy]

By the way what is meant by "rib wear" ?

This, the surface has lots of uneven ribs across the disc surface

 

[Profpointy]

This, the surface has lots of uneven ribs across the disc surface

View attachment 764260

Ribs as in radial?

I'd not be that bothered about circular grooves, well, within reason at any rate

Would radial grooves suggest vibration caused by play in the bearings or similar?

 

[tyred]

Quite right. I'm kinda gutted because I was a tad lax in homework. I'd looked at the discs while assessing the pads...and meh, they looked OK. What I didn't do was look on the inboard side...not terrible but worse than I realised, not terrible but really should have replaced them. Shan't make that mistake again.

I did this on my car recently too. I regret not replacing the disks as they weren't terrible, but worse than I thought. I should have checked more, but one I started work, I just continued. It now bugs me but it will do for now.

 

[CXRAndy]

I did this on my car recently too. I regret not replacing the disks as they weren't terrible, but worse than I thought. I should have checked more, but one I started work, I just continued. It now bugs me but it will do for now.

Bite the bullet and get the rotors and a new set of pads. You should then have 30-50k of trouble free braking

 

[MrGrumpy]

Middle son currently has his Mitsubishi Trojan in my garage with failed clutch . Refused to put it to a garage to get fixed . But here we are day 5 , toiling to get this heavy transmission back in place . It’s the reason I suggested doing so ! Any tips for aligning ? He did buy a transmission lift on wheels which it would be impossible to do without . I’ve not done a clutch since I was 18 ! Which is long long time ago !

Well….. this didn’t last long ! Clutch got done everything back in and car ran for a couple of weeks but it was rough as ! Son then admits that it wasn’t running that great before the clutch went ! Anyways found out it was dosing coolant somewhere ….. also big plumes of white smoke at times as well…. You can join the dots ! It got punted and he is now the proud owner of Ford Ranger !
Well only had it a week and decided that the dodgy oil pump that come from the factory needed to be swapped out for a geared one !
So that was this weekends job ….. still unable to test it as we have now discovered the original Ford fitted battery being 9yrs old now is a bit errr knackered and flat !

 

[fossyant]

Son did the jobs (welding etc) on the Aygo (the one he's selling), but it's failed on emissions, so he's ordered a cat and lambda sensors. His BMW clutch is now done, but the car is refusing to start - scanned with a garage ODBC machine and no comms with the ECU. I have suggested if his battery is below par (the car hasn't run for 4-6 weeks) it can cause all sorts of issues.