Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

nd

cletus wrote: »

So, today I drove a 4 cylinder car on 3 cylinders. When I got a chance to check it, the bottom of the ignition coil was burnt away, and the sparkplug is in bits in the well

jaysus, was it your corolla?

cletus

nd wrote: »

jaysus, was it your corolla?

Yep, had to drive about 20 miles like that. Biggest issue now will be getting the bits of spark plug out of the well before removing the thread. Really don't want to take the head off

dr.fuzzenstein

cletus wrote: »

Yep, had to drive about 20 miles like that. Biggest issue now will be getting the bits of spark plug out of the well before removing the thread. Really don't want to take the head off

Hope you get it out in one piece. Also, your cat won't have liked this very much.

cletus

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Hope you get it out in one piece. Also, your cat won't have liked this very much.

Yeah, just hoping the distance I drove won't be enough to kill it completely

cletus

cletus wrote: »

Yep, had to drive about 20 miles like that. Biggest issue now will be getting the bits of spark plug out of the well before removing the thread. Really don't want to take the head off

Happened to me on my corolla - one of the Bosch spark plugs I had split in two. Was a loud bang as the top of the plug and lead hit the bonnet. Didn't drive home, I waited for recovery. Managed to unscrew the threaded bottom of the plug by putting a screw driver head onto a ratchet, screwing it into the left over plug, and then unscrewing the whole lot.

Mechanic hadn't seen that happen before, but from comments on here it was suggested that the plugs may have been over torqued.

cletus

dr.fuzzenstein wrote: »

Hope you get it out in one piece. Also, your cat won't have liked this very much.

Yeah, just hoping the distance I drove won't be enough to kill it completely

joujoujou

cletus wrote: »

[...] Biggest issue now will be getting the bits of spark plug out of the well before removing the thread. Really don't want to take the head off

Hoover. If it won't work, then air gun, carefully.

Dónal wrote: »

Happened to me on my corolla - one of the Bosch spark plugs I had split in two. [...]

Just my personal opinion - I'd never go bosch in terms of spark plugs to be honest. Japs recommend denso, me too.

iano.p

Put a new battery in the passat yesterday the misses set in the car for half an hour Friday with the heater on full blast with the engine off. Got new wipers when I was in there. Trying yo make sure we are set for winter

jimgoose

Dónal wrote: »

Happened to me on my corolla - one of the Bosch spark plugs I had split in two...

The top half of a Champion plug disintegrated in an old Mk. I Mondeo I had many years ago, killed one cylinder and had me thinking an engine-mount had failed, or something. It subsequently emerged that the asshole main dealer, where I'd bought the car and who were supposed to be servicing it, had left the original plug Uncle Henry put there. :mad:

nd

Some more rust repair fun that the nct had flagged up.

Before


After


not the most perfect welding ever but imo solid.

Ded_Zebra

See what the NCT man says

poshea69

OSI wrote: »

Finally got around to painting the lip on the GTI. I think it looks much better.

i like it looks well.

nd

Ded_Zebra wrote: »

See what the NCT man says

Yeah I should be bringing it for the retest before the weekend. It'll be interesting to see what happens

pablo128

nd wrote: »

Some more rust repair fun that the nct had flagged up.

Before


After


not the most perfect welding ever but imo solid.

That looks like a fine job.

canhefixit

Instead of havinf to scan through loads of pages i know i came across a few posts on someone who got a new flick key so instead of using the creappy spare one got a fresh new one and got it programmed and all that jazz if anyone knows of it? cheers

Noccy_Mondy

I think snotal goodman is who you're looking for.

canhefixit

canhefixit wrote: »

Instead of havinf to scan through loads of pages i know i came across a few posts on someone who got a new flick key so instead of using the creappy spare one got a fresh new one and got it programmed and all that jazz if anyone knows of it? cheers

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=90496568&postcount=2952

Here was my attempt. Lasted just over a year before it fell apart in my hand one day and most of the insides vanished. In fairness I was chuffed with it at the time but it was a cheap flimsy thing from ebay. No programming needed for my car though. Just salvaged the transponder chip from a snapped key and swapped over. What car have you?

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

I think snotal goodman is who you're looking for.

Did you not do the exact same thing at one point no? Or am I thinking of someone else?

canhefixit

Im looking to do it on the key of a transit connect as i only have the spare key which is a woeful looking thing lol so was looking to jazz it up abit

canhefixit

canhefixit wrote: »

Im looking to do it on the key of a transit connect as i only have the spare key which is a woeful looking thing lol so was looking to jazz it up abit

Have you a fob?

Noccy_Mondy

Snotaul Goodman wrote:

Did you not do the exact same thing at one point no? Or am I thinking of someone else?

Was gonna, might do yet if the process isn't too complex

canhefixit

Snotaul Goodman wrote: »

Have you a fob?

Do you mean a new fob? if so no i havent anythinh just the crappy spare key at the min that i want to jazz up

Noccy_Mondy

canhefixit wrote:

Do you mean a new fob? if so no i havent anythinh just the crappy spare key at the min that i want to jazz up

You can't really get a fob, if all you have is a spare key that only works when you physically put it into the lock. There's no electrics to wire up.

nd

The primera passed anyway

RandomAccess

nd wrote: »

The primera passed anyway

Hmm..

Gets printer fired up!!

Seweryn

So I got excited after getting myself a new baby and got my hands dirty while doing the following works:

- Changed the gearbox oil,
- Changed the engine oil and filter,
- New thermostat twice, after I discovered the first one did not do a good job (so bought a genuine one at the end),
- New set of NGK Iridium spark plugs,
- New fuel filter and air filter ordered (awaiting),
- Cleaned the headlamps and put new Osram bulbs,
- And then checked over and adjusted the valve clearance (as shown on the photo ),
- Put the old Lady through the NCT test and she passed. Happy Days!

More works on the way .

joujoujou

Washed my car this morning. But it's now filthy as it was before.

Had an issue that was bugging me for awhile - car was hesitating a bit when accelerating. I changed the distributor cap last weekend - no difference. But I did the distributor rotor today and it is now sorted.

And just as that's sorted, then I spot I've a flat tyre in the front. Feck.

cletus

cletus wrote: »

So, today I drove a 4 cylinder car on 3 cylinders. When I got a chance to check it, the bottom of the ignition coil was burnt away, and the sparkplug is in bits in the well

So as a bit of a follow up. I hoovered out the bits of ceramic with an attachment for hoovering behind radiators.

When I took out the remains of the spark plug, it turns out the threads in the head are gone.

Dropping to a mechanic on Monday to have a helicoil put in. My diy-fu is weak

JJJJNR

Having some fun with the bangernomics xsara I picked up three weeks ago, its been running a bit rough and smoking a lot since the cold weather came in, so I planned to do a quick service and first changed the fuel filter..bam! took about two hours to figure out how to prime the thing and in the end got the wife to crank it over whilst I primed the hand pump, she fired up after about 10 seconds, (the car not the wife) well happy now.

I might try to attempt the oil tomorrow but it looks like it could be a cluster**** in the making, anyone familiar with these engines, (2003 Citroen Xsara 2.0HDI) it looks like a cylinder type that you screw off with your hand, it looks fairly tight. I also did the air filter but the cabin filter was the incorrect type so ended up hoovering the old one, and its looks ok for the next time. There is also two xenon headlights that I only noticed this evening, never had them in any car so getting them fixed would be cool, anyone know what type of bulbs and are they expensive to replace.

Work done so far

Replaced four tyres
Replaced both handbrake cables
Done the filters

To do

Xenon bulbs
Rear pads and disks
Gearbox oil
Engine oil


I'm still well under my budget with almost everything done, and for what it is, its actually a decent enough drive now with the filters etc done, everything electric works perfectly and is very comfortable.

dr.fuzzenstein

JJJJNR wrote: »

Having some fun with the bangernomics xsara I picked up three weeks ago, its been running a bit rough and smoking a lot since the cold weather came in, so I planned to do a quick service and first changed the fuel filter..bam! took about two hours to figure out how to prime the thing and in the end got the wife to crank it over whilst I primed the hand pump, she fired up after about 10 seconds,