Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

Alanstrainor

I feel like a right tool. I put the Nissan Note through the NCT, had a fresh set of tyres, all lights working etc etc. Should be good. And then it failed, the headlight lamps were clouded and diffusing the light. Completely my mistake, I should've known as I had polished them up the year previous. Grand, polished them up and they came up well. Went for round two the next day and paid the retest fee. Fail. Front right headlamp bulb loose. FUUCCKKKK.

Took a look today, and the clip to hold the bulb isn't working as it should. Looked up some guides online and pictures and the clip just isn't holding it securely. It is a lot better than it was, seems similar to the side the passed. But now I'm not 100% sure of myself, damn retest fee to check it.

MetzgerMeister

That will hardly require a ramp to check it Alan?

rex-x

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

That will hardly require a ramp to check it Alan?

They need to redo headlight test, 28 quid unfortunately

Toyotafanboi

rex-x wrote: »

They need to redo headlight test, 28 quid unfortunately

I'd be getting a headlight alignment before I go too, to prevent a third visit.

pablo128

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I'd be getting a headlight alignment before I go too, to prevent a third visit.

Drive it up to a wall and make sure it's the same or lower than the other side.

Toyotafanboi

pablo128 wrote: »

Drive it up to a wall and make sure it's the same or lower than the other side.

I'd try to get it done in a workshop somewhere. Particularly when dealing with a combination of a loose bulb/ bulb holder scenario combined with a clouded lens like this, i'd be a lot happier if I knew a garage had focused them, confirmed the pattern is ok and not vibrating etc.

Doing them DIY against a wall is fine, but it's obviously not too accurate, last thing you want is a 3rd NCT fail on a fupping headlight :pac:

Interslice

MetzgerMeister wrote: »

You might throw those pics in the detailing thread. Great work

Id be ran out of the place! Washed the car today with one bucket and 2 euro worth of the pound shops finest 2 in 1 shampoo/wax . Mostly wanted to scrub out the moss and algae.

Toothbrush and fairy liquid
Microfibre and fairy liquid
Fresh microfibre and 2 in 1.













A bit better. The black plastic turned grey all around the car lets it down. Might do something about that next. You cant see in those pics with the car still wet but its fiarly bad.


Beading:pac:

Toyotafanboi

Those are the best cleans IMO, a tools and products doesn't have to be expensive to be good.

pablo128

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I'd try to get it done in a workshop somewhere. Particularly when dealing with a combination of a loose bulb/ bulb holder scenario combined with a clouded lens like this, i'd be a lot happier if I knew a garage had focused them, confirmed the pattern is ok and not vibrating etc.

Doing them DIY against a wall is fine, but it's obviously not too accurate, last thing you want is a 3rd NCT fail on a fupping headlight :pac:

Fcuk it, it worked for me on herselfs Yaris. One headlight too high, and well faded. Your man said it was borderline on the fading. Couple of other bits failed as well, but that's what I did with the headlight.

They won't fail if the beam is a little too low.

Alanstrainor

pablo128 wrote: »

Fcuk it, it worked for me on herselfs Yaris. One headlight too high, and well faded. Your man said it was borderline on the fading. Couple of other bits failed as well, but that's what I did with the headlight.

They won't fail if the beam is a little too low.

I've measured many a set of lights against a wall with great success. I guess my problem is now that the headlight bulb holder is not 100%. It feels secure, but not as secure as I'd have expected. It seems similar to the passing side, but I'd feel sick for it to fail for the same reason as before at another 28 down for the test.

Cass

Loaned my Vectra to a family member that was stuck, and when it came back to me it had a coolant leak (among a plethora of other smaller niggly issues it didn't have when i gave it)..

Long story short the rad got burst in the lower left corner (driver side as you look at it). Funny how simple jobs turn into nightmares. Between plastic clips breaking, screws not coming out, etc. it went from a 45 minutes job into a 3 hour job. So ordered a new rad, some coolant and a new thermostat (nothing wrong with the old one, but i was removing most of the hoses so why not).



I removed the torx screws from the wheel arch (2 on each side) then pull the side of bumper directly out towards you. Do this on both sides. Lift the bonnet and carefully remove the two retaining pins on either side of the bumper (circled in red).



Next was under the car, there are four plastic retaining plugs. Top tip, DO NOT pry them out by prying the clips. Place a driver or other flat blade between the underside of the bumper and the frame of the car and prise the bumper "lip" down. It pulls the plugs down without destroying them. I only copped this after breaking number two of four (marked with red arrows in last picture). Once they are out the bumper simply pulls straight out from the car without much effort. Disconnect the wiring loom for fog lights and move the bumper out of the way.



At this point you want to disconnect the wiring loom into the back of the fan housing. You then start to disconnect all hoses to the rad, remove the cap of the header tank, and curse a lot as the spring clips keep twisting. Plus some are hard to get to.

There are four (4) torx head screws at the top of the rad/intercooler/fan housing (circled in blue). They hold all three units together. However the entire unit (all three) are only held in place by rubber mounts at the bottom, and spring mounts at the top (yellow arrows). There are no screws or bolt holding them in place simply a lot of pressure from the top springs against the bottom rubbers.



Here is where you may need help, which i didn't have so it was fun.

You prise the rad up and out of the rubber mounts at the bottom. Takes a decent amount of force but as it was the old rad i was not overly concerned with any damage. The new one going in, was fun as i had to be careful. Once you have the bottom freed you need to have the intercooler and condenser supported with cable ties, bungee cords or something because you're going to remove the two screws which hold the intercooler/condenser unit to the rad/fan. Once the intercooler/condenser is supported and removed you simply drop down the rad and fan housing unit.

Remove the remaining two torx screws from the top of the rad and take the fan housing off. Fit it to the new rad, and simply reverse the process to install.



Once its all back together and all hoses and clips are firmly connected i did a flush and top up with the recommended Vectra coolant (used concentrate and mixed it).

Thermostat was easy. Two torx head bolts, disconnect the wiring loom and small hose. Remove the housing for the thermostat, remove the thermostat itself by pushing ans twisting then remove. Replace with new Thermostat, new gasket, quick clean and reinstall.

Alanstrainor

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I'd try to get it done in a workshop somewhere. Particularly when dealing with a combination of a loose bulb/ bulb holder scenario combined with a clouded lens like this, i'd be a lot happier if I knew a garage had focused them, confirmed the pattern is ok and not vibrating etc.

Doing them DIY against a wall is fine, but it's obviously not too accurate, last thing you want is a 3rd NCT fail on a fupping headlight :pac:

I like to live dangerously. Had to mess with the holder again and botch a fix but it's secure now. NCT passed this evening. Was quite nervous in the waiting room this time! Woohoo!

newmember2

Cass wrote: »

...

I think you might be using those chocks on the wrong side of the wheel...

wotzgoingon

I'd say he has them on both sides of the wheel, well I hope so anyway.

Cass

wotzgoingon wrote: »

I'd say he has them on both sides of the wheel, well I hope so anyway.

Correct and right. On the driver side i have it at the rear of the wheel.

Plus while the picture makes it look like the car would tend to roll backwards my car wash bay is sloped so where the front wheels rest on the ramps makes the car want to go forward.

Hence the chocks on both sides of the rear wheels.

Cass

While i had the bumper off i took the time to sand, prime, paint and clear coat the bumper. It had hundreds of tiny stone chips that could be seen standing at the car, but once the bumper was off they became really obvious.

While my mouth was warm i decided the headlights and fog light were beyond cleaning. Or least anymore. I had sanded, and refurbished the headlights twice before but they were showing their age and looked dull.

The fog lights were also sand blasted from 15 years of driving on the roads and as they were glass i thought a new set would be better than any repair job (plus it leaves me with "spare" headlights and fogs if i need them).

Got it all put back together this morning once the fogs arrived. Happy enough with how it turned out. I'm not great at spraying but the colour match is pretty good (doesn't take into account aging of the existing paint) and lights while not looking great in the daytime are a marked improvement in both clarity and for freshening up the face of the car.


Old lights




New lights





New Lights on (not great in the day)




How the headlights look at night (installed them last night, the fogs this morning)

MetzgerMeister

#EvenOpelwanttobeBMW :pac:

Alanstrainor

I had a check engine light crop up recently, lean codes bank 1 and 2. Loads of possible root causes, checked the obvious ones and found nothing. Forums suggested that 1 particular O ring fails on the DISA unit (intake manifold adjusting valve). Now I was a bit afraid to remove this, as some reported that on removal the whole part fell to bits so I decided to order the repair kit first so I had some chance to repair before removing. I removed it at lunch which was nice and easy really and found it to be in good condition. But the O ring had seen better days so I replaced that. Now I suspect it will be a while before I know for sure whether I've made any bit of difference, but the car did start up and idle smoother than before, but I'm also 87% certain that's my brain playing tricks on me. I'll know soon enough I reckon.

vintagevrs

So I bought 4 pins and two clips today....for £60. Feck me

Alanstrainor

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I had a check engine light crop up recently, lean codes bank 1 and 2. Loads of possible root causes, checked the obvious ones and found nothing. Forums suggested that 1 particular O ring fails on the DISA unit (intake manifold adjusting valve). Now I was a bit afraid to remove this, as some reported that on removal the whole part fell to bits so I decided to order the repair kit first so I had some chance to repair before removing. I removed it at lunch which was nice and easy really and found it to be in good condition. But the O ring had seen better days so I replaced that. Now I suspect it will be a while before I know for sure whether I've made any bit of difference, but the car did start up and idle smoother than before, but I'm also 87% certain that's my brain playing tricks on me. I'll know soon enough I reckon.

The light is back on. Feck it anyway. I'm even considering doing the rocker cover, it's not in great shape but it's a pig of a job.

scannerd

I love those BMW engines but they are vacuum leak hell when they get older, would suggest smoke test, or just keep changing gaskets seals one by one.

Alanstrainor

scannerd wrote: »

I love those BMW engines but they are vacuum leak hell when they get older, would suggest smoke test, or just keep changing gaskets seals one by one.

Yeah I think you're right, a smoke test is probably the best course of action here. Throwing parts at it isn't exactly smart. There's a few DIY smoke tests that people do, I must see what the story is. I have a cigar lying around somewhere I could put to use...

Kenny Logins

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Yeah I think you're right, a smoke test is probably the best course of action here. Throwing parts at it isn't exactly smart. There's a few DIY smoke tests that people do, I must see what the story is. I have a cigar lying around somewhere I could put to use...

I use a vape pen by blowing through the "intake" end. Works really well.

Dr_Colossus

Cass wrote: »

Nice tidy ramps, could do with a set of those. Where did you source and ball park price. Nice work on the radiator replacement.

Cass

They are 35+ years old. Melco CR/2 if i remember correctly. They can be bought new for about £70 and i've seen second hand sets go for as little as £20.

vintagevrs

New pins on my brakes fitted today. Occasionally I'd hear the pad on the disk when driving so maybe this will help it release back better.who knows...

tossy

Coded road sign recognition in the R, a small thing but a cool feature all the same

joujoujou

tossy wrote: »

[...] road sign recognition [...]

I just wonder how long yet until car will grass on you to authorities regarding speed and other things.

tossy

joujoujou wrote: »

I just wonder how long yet until car will grass on you to authorities regarding speed and other things.

We're definitely heading down that road alright, fun will soon be illegal and taboo.

jmreire

joujoujou wrote: »

I just wonder how long yet until car will grass on you to authorities regarding speed and other things.

It wont have to grass on you.. because it will prevent you from breaking the law.... it will recognize speed limit's white line's, proximity to other vehicles, objects etc. Until it will reach the stage that all cars will be driver less , and these are in existence even now. In 20 year's time, will be very few driver car's on the road, but maybe only special " Driver " parks, where people can drive for recreation or as a sport :cool::cool::cool: