Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

blade1

GvidoR wrote: »

Red brake pads. :eek:

Thats the mixture of blood sweat and tears i have put into the car!:pac:

corkgsxr

Van got new Goodyear fronts. New brembo hc discs and brembo slightly gripper than std brembo pads.

shietpilot

Cleaned the driver's seat today in the Focus. The seat looked dirtier than the rest due to me driving it with my "fix-the-car-wear" clothes :pac:

Alanstrainor

So yesterday I decided to tackle my rear abs sensor issue. On paper this job is easy, jack up car, pop in a jack stand, remove wheel, unscrew sensor and then reverse that process again. However, my car is 15 years old and these sensors have most likely never been moved or changed in that time; which means simple things to remove are actually welded in place. My first battle was removing the allen bolt which took about 45 minutes, I was just delighted I didn't wreck it in the process! Then actually removing the sensor turned into a way bigger deal than it should have. It's a plastic sensor which just slots into the wheel hub. And it just would not move, not matter how hard I tried. I ended up grandually smashing the thing and drilling it out to get it. It took me hours. Then to add insult to injury the new part I order was the wrong type. My car changed in 2001 at some point and got newer sensors/traction control units, but mine uses the old one.

But, it wasn't bad in the end, got most of the hard work done. Just have to wait for the proper part and I should be able to fit it in no time when I have it.

joujoujou

Alanstrainor wrote: »

[...] I should be able to fit it in no time when I have it.

Better don't say it loud.

Black_Knight

joujoujou wrote: »

Better don't say it loud.

Saying that aloud hurt my brain.

shietpilot

Removed the spare wheel and put it in the right way. Previous owner obviously put it in upside down and when it was sticking out too much decided to jump on in and push it deep.

I had to let the air out to pull it out...

GvidoR

shietpilot wrote: »

Removed the spare wheel and put it in the right way. Previous owner obviously put it in upside down and when it was sticking out too much decided to jump on in and push it deep.

I had to let the air out to pull it out...

You only took it out now? How long have you had the Focus?

shietpilot

GvidoR wrote: »

You only took it out now? How long have you had the Focus?

I've had it since August. I never even looked at the spare wheel until I decided to put all my spare bulbs and other stuff under the spare wheel so it's not being flung around the boot :pac:

crasy dash

Didn't do it today,but on the topic of spare wheels etc.

Was doing some a small job on the car one day decided to remove the negative on the battery just in case anything went wrong.

Took out the spare wheel disconnected battery put the wheel on the ground beside the car phone rang off I goes having a chat on mobile,see the auld lad and he says to me your boot was open I shut it for you.

Did the job nice handy goes to open boot oh no never realised on my a4 there is no latch on the boot feck me anyway.


Learned a lot that day I did haha

shietpilot

crasy dash wrote: »

Didn't do it today,but on the topic of spare wheels etc.

Was doing some a small job on the car one day decided to remove the negative on the battery just in case anything went wrong.

Took out the spare wheel disconnected battery put the wheel on the ground beside the car phone rang off I goes having a chat on mobile,see the auld lad and he says to me your boot was open I shut it for you.

Did the job nice handy goes to open boot oh no never realised on my a4 there is no latch on the boot feck me anyway.


Learned a lot that day I did haha

How did you open it in the end? I was fixing a Megane boo a while back and I couldn't reopen it when the lock/unlock mechanism was reassembled badly. I ended up going through the back seats and there was a little notch I could slide with a screwdriver that opened it up.

keano25

Changed the rear brake pads on an ix35 today, very simple job in fairness.

crasy dash

shietpilot wrote: »

How did you open it in the end? I was fixing a Megane boo a while back and I couldn't reopen it when the lock/unlock mechanism was reassembled badly. I ended up going through the back seats and there was a little notch I could slide with a screwdriver that opened it up.

Only way i figured out was to get a second battery and put it on to the positive and negative terminals in the engine bay not sure if it was the right way

Just a split second to unlock the lock while the father opened the boot

fancy pigeon

Draglink changed. There was play on the inner joint hence the whole link was bought, was chewing my new tyres at the front and the car would get wandery wagon in the corners. Easy job, takes 30 mins with faffing about. Inspected the idler arm and was happy the bush was still servicable, greased it up and cover back on.

Just track it afterwards

Edit: bollox pic is too big.... Meh I'll put it in after!

Special Circumstances

Beefed up my (cross) member.
Kartboy diff outrigger bushings stiffen up the cross member a bit. We'll see how it goes. Handy job actually.

Realised there was at least 2 litres of water sloshing around in 2 hidden compartments under boot floor surface. No idea how that got in, or why there isn't a drain or even a grommet to drain them.

Question.... my rear ARB has wandered away to one side. Normal, no big deal? Or something I should fix?

GvidoR

Just some small things today.
Also topped up the windscreen washer bottle with some concentrated stuff.

Supergurrier

Foxhole Norman

Changed my oil filter housing today, €6 part, quite the bit of labour, saved myself about €200/300 doing it myself I'd say! If doing this job yourself make sure you disconnect your battery, I took both Positive and Negative connections off just in case.

Fan and shroud off first and then relieve pressure on the A/C and Aux belt and take them off, I should've replaced my aux belt here but forgot to pick one up!



Next the Power Steering reservoir bolted off the housing and swung away, room to remove the alternator now. The alternator slowed me down a bit due to the washers at the back holding it too tight to the bracket but a few gentle taps had it released. 2 Bolts holding it on, remove the connection at the back and remove the cover for the positive connection, remove this connection.

Once the Alternator is out of the way you should be able to clearly see the 6 bolts holding the housing to the block and 1 to the side of the housing. Remove these bolts and the VANOS feed line behind it. Housing should lift away.

New gasket in place:



Where the housing sits in, you can see to the right where oil was pooling and dripping down from the gasket:



Retrace your steps and it's sorted:

blackbox

Washed it yesterday and gave the engine bay a bit of a clean up.



.

Greyfoot

Foxhole Norman wrote: »

Changed my oil filter housing today, €6 part...

`Twas cheap.

They ALL leak from there, good diy.

Toyotafanboi

Drop links into a Yaris... was battling daylight to get them in, so no photos of the process, but here's a before and after of the links themselves.

Dead easy to fit, as soon as you turn the nus, they just snap!

shietpilot

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Drop links into a Yaris... was battling daylight to get them in, so no photos of the process, but here's a before and after of the links themselves.

Dead easy to fit, as soon as you turn the nus, they just snap!

Those Yaris drop links last no time at all but at least they're really cheap.

I heard the poly bush drop links for the Yaris are meant to be really good and lasts a lot longer.

Foxhole Norman

Greyfoot wrote: »

`Twas cheap.

They ALL leak from there, good diy.

Ah E39 ownership #LeaksRUs

MetzgerMeister

E92 ownership - turbos/coils/injectors R' Us!

Noccy_Mondy

Finally got the drivers wing mirror cover on today. Very difficult to get right. First off I couldn't source a proper colour. I got a red one for 15 euro off a breakers. Looked in the shed and had primer, lacquer and a colour coded can from Halfords from before. Happy days, I hadn't to buy any paint! Took that off, sanded it lightly to give the primer something to stick to, primer on, second coat of paint on, and I dropped it in the shed, bits of timber, and dirt stuck to it. Alongside that part of it crackled and "stood up". Had to sand it all back, sand off all the crackling, sanded it with fine silicone carbide paper to blend in the rough edges to get that smooth shape. Finally got the last coat on, and it looked perfect. When I put the lacquer on though, it has a greeny tinge to it, but it's not that noticable. Happy with the results, despite the fact it was a cnut of a job. Sprayed quite a bit before, but this gave enough problems. Cost 15 beans, a lot less then the 80 Ford wanted for a painted one! After pics aren't great as the light was fading, but they give the idea. Dropped it a 2nd time after all was done and it left a little line, but it's going to get destroyed in briar marks regarless!

Foxhole Norman

Speaking of leaks :pac:



There'll be another DIY coming tomorrow I'd say :pac:

GvidoR

Turned out great at the end, Noccy. Must have been frustrating painting the same thing over and over again though.

Noccy_Mondy

GvidoR wrote:

Turned out great at the end, Noccy. Must have been frustrating painting the same thing over and over again though.

Yeah, I'd say there's too much paint on it if anything, but we'll see if that causes a problem with time.

GvidoR

New Brembo discs
New Mintex pads



Out with the old...


...in with the new


Comparison / cleaning new discs.


Old pads had plenty of meat on them but for some reason were not evenly worn, as you may see in this picture. Also something strange has happened in the corner.

joujoujou

Catalytic converter replaced. 200 euro gone.