Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

punisher5112

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

alanhiggyno1

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

Mine a 08 bmw e60 and it's so easy to service as oil filter is right beside dipstick. Get serviced every 10.000km

traco

punisher5112 wrote: »

Why 5k miles?? That's overkill

Oil is relatively cheap and I'm thinking that this may be my last ICE car as a daily. I'm hoping that in 3-5 years there will be some viable used EV options for me to change to. In that period I will cover 100-200k miles so keeping the oil fresh can't do any harm in getting her to 300+ miles on the clock.


I'll be keeping other ICE stuff to keep me sane for weekends and pleasure.

Kenny Logins

keano25 wrote: »

I have that exact one.

Hit and miss piece of ****e most of the time......

It might be hitting a baffle plate in the sump instead of going into the oil. Put a bend on the end of the pipe.

traco

Got a low battery warning when testing some of the electronic systems on a new to me motor last night. Wanted to get a direct reading from the consumer battery so an hour later I finally reach it. Its a lone way into it! Still more brackets to remove before I can pull it out and disconnect the negative which is also complicated.
Reading 11.85V so awaiting a new high current trickle charger with an AGM mode to see if I can boost it back up a bit. The car won't be driven for a few months while I sort out some things on it but I don't want the electronics going stupid either. Bit of a beast of a thing, 95Ah AGM and seems to be €250 ish or more to replace.

Anyone know much about AGM batteries and how they take charging or recovering? Any tips appreciated.

Tails142

As far as I know when they are new AGM batteries require a higher current to charge them but once they've been run in so to speak they are similar to a lead acid, that is why the car needs to be told the battery has been replaced with an AGM, to set it to charge the battery at a higher current. Hope that makes some sense

traco

Thanks. I have a Ctek MXS 10 on the way which is 10 Amp and has a specific AGM mode. Guess we will find out soon enough.

whizbang

High current trickle charge ...!!

Most batteries will survive at 11.8v, just keep it topped up.

AGM is lead acid, just some extra stuff to stop the acid sloshing around, or settling.

newmember2

traco wrote: »

...On the merc this is the only way to change the gearbox oil. Only thing I do is compare the depth the suction tube goes in the same or more than the dipstick. That should ensure the bottom of the sump

You're wrongly assuming that the dipstick goes to the bottom.

traco

whizbang wrote: »

High current trickle charge ...!!

Most batteries will survive at 11.8v, just keep it topped up.

AGM is lead acid, just some extra stuff to stop the acid sloshing around, or settling.

The software will control the output current as needed. But a handy rule of thumb for charging a battery is 10% of the amp hour rating of the battery. This is a 95 so 9.5 amp would charge it fully from empty in around 10 hours.

I'm not overly confident the battery is good. I've no idea how old it is and haven't pulled it out yet to se if I can find a date. The warning to start the car came after about 20 mins of messing. From what I can gather it's possible that the car can pull about 20Amps when all systems are live. I don't know how long it should run on the consumer battery but I'd expect a few hours maybe and definitely more than 20mins.

traco

newmember? wrote: »

You're wrongly assuming that the dipstick goes to the bottom.

That's a fair comment and up to each to make sure that they are happy with whatever process hence why I said it would go like a "what oil or what tyre" thread.

In my experience it pulls pretty much all the oil as when refilling it takes the correct amount to reach the level on the disptick or the dash. So for me I'm happy it's getting down into the bottom of the sump.

There are 100's of threads on this subject on various forums so I'd suggest people do their own research on their model to make sure the vacuum method works for them.

Actually I should have added that unless you can access the oil filter from the top then it's not worth it. You'll still need to get under the car.

I have one that requires access from underneath so I may try and do a test on that one later in the year. I'll pull the oil from the top of I can?? Then I'll drop the filter and pull the sump plug. Just in. The interest of science and all that. That one take 9l oil oil so there will be two cycles involved.

cletus

Serviced the Avensis today. First time changing a diesel fuel filter, but handy enough, primer button on top.

Had started getting a knock in the rear, so threw two new anti-roll bar bushings in, sorted.

punisher5112

cletus wrote: »

Serviced the Avensis today. First time changing a diesel fuel filter, but handy enough, primer button on top.

Had started getting a knock in the rear, so threw two new anti-roll bar bushings in, sorted.

Lucky as on my Mondeo had to fill a lucazade bottle and fill the new one with diesel, Renault has a pump you squeeze which is handy too.

aFlabbyPanda

So as I posted here I decided to try and refurb my alloys today.

I was trying to get something like this....


This is what I was starting with, Bandit thinks they look a little ruff..


step 1 was cleaning and decontamination, you can clearly see one has already been refurbished before.


sanded and ready for primer, the worse one is on the left


2 coats of primer later and they look much better


but I couldn't get the top coat to spray properly. The can has no rattle no matter how much I shook it and I was getting impatient.


I didn't apply the clear coat and will wet sand these back before getting another can of silver or black to finish them off and then apply the clear coat.

sorry for crappy pic but I was frozen & wet at this stage.


please only approach the car from the drivers side....


Over all it was pretty easy and with more time I think the finish would have been better, I started it too late in the day. As I mentioned I'm tempted to use black instead as the silver isn't really the shade I wanted.

This is it

Your images aren't showing for me, anyone else?

aFlabbyPanda

This is it wrote: »

Your images aren't showing for me, anyone else?

should be fixed now

This is it

How long did it take for the two wheels? I'm mad to sort mine out but I'm reluctant to fork out and think a DIY is the way I'll go, though I'll wait until we've better weather

jmreire

traco wrote: »

This is going to open a can of worms, bit like what oil or what tyres.

I find it great, just make sure the oil is hot, open the fill cap on the engine so air can get it, few pumps and away it goes. I've used it on Mercedes and Skoda and it extracts the amount that matches the spec in the manual and to fill back up has always taken the spec amount.

Some say it doesn't remove it all, others say its does and have pulled the sump drain to find nothing coming out. Others like to pull the plug to get out any particles in the sump but I figure that they should be in the oil filter anyway.

The way i see it, these make the change so easy and clean that you can pull the oil more often and even if there is some oil oil left it will get diluted and over a few frequent changes be irrelevant.

That was a change at 190k miles, new oil and filter. I will change oil again at 195k miles and at 200k miles it will go in for timing belt, water pump, oil and filter and I'll carry on with alternating oil and filter change every 5k miles.

On the merc this is the only way to change the gearbox oil. Only thing I do is compare the depth the suction tube goes in the same or more than the dipstick. That should ensure the bottom of the sump. I also vacuum out the filter location before putting in the new one.

So I'm happy with it and wouldn't be without now. Makes the job a very clean and easy one if your filter is accessible from the top.

Is the Merc Auto or Manual?

aFlabbyPanda

This is it wrote: »

How long did it take for the two wheels? I'm mad to sort mine out but I'm reluctant to fork out and think a DIY is the way I'll go, though I'll wait until we've better weather

about 3 to 4 hours once the wheels we off the car. once off I gave them a good wash, used whites spirits to remove tar, scrubbed off all rush etc using wire wool/scotch pads, washed again, used oven cleaner to remove all grease etc, another wash, dry them, sand, wash again, dry and them started on primer.

next time I'll get some axle stands and remove all four so I can work them in a line to be more efficient. start on the first with primer etc allow to dry while prepping the other 3 and then work my way back.

I think if you started around 10 you'd have them all back on the car looking very well by 6.

traco

jmreire wrote: »

Is the Merc Auto or Manual?

Both auto boxes are the 722.6 5 Speeds (2002 and 2007 cars). Mrs tracos daily has the 722.9 7 speed (2007) but I don't mess around much with that one

TrailerBob

Flushed out the power steering fluid on the cruiser... Had a few groans on full lock, and feedback through the steering wheel wasn't as consistent lately. Easy job, and it's like new again. I reckon the ATF was in it from new...

colm_mcm

One weird omission on the Octavia was a reversing camera.
The genuine Skoda kit is around €400

Or €26 from the Big Rock Candy Mountain



First job is to enable the camera using coding, it was the first job I’ve done with OBDeleven that wasn’t child’s play.

Next up, remove the glovebox lid, and pull out the media drive, on the back there’s a large quadlock connector with various plugs in it, the blue one is the one that would usually take the reverse camera signal and ground


Feck paying for removal keys .



2 pins then need to be added, to avoid faffing around, I just bought a repair cable from VW (feckin €16) and cut it in two. Pretty straightforward.




Then I soldered a composite video cable to the two cables and ran it under the door sills, through the boot, through the conduits and into the boot door.

colm_mcm

Next thing is to get power for the camera, this comes from the rear wiper wiring

Swap out the boot switch for the one with the camera in.




And connect up the video feed


Boom

Harcrid

I did the same with my BMW a few months ago. It can be a bit of a faff running the video cable to the head unit but well worth it in the end.

vintagevrs

Harcrid wrote: »

I did the same with my BMW a few months ago. It can be a bit of a faff running the video cable to the head unit but well worth it in the end.

Where did you but your camera?

Harcrid

Cheap chinese one. I was connecting it to an Android head unit which is a cheaper option than connecting to stock head unit.

colm_mcm

In the meantime, my chinesium camera started overheating and cutting out! Replaced it with a universal one.

Dartz

Air filter, oil filter, four new sparkplugs and a change of oil.

It still goes.



Needs a new passenger doorhandle because scumbags but it can wait until the virus is gone away.

cletus

Dartz wrote: »

Air filter, oil filter, four new sparkplugs and a change of oil.

It still goes.



Needs a new passenger doorhandle because scumbags but it can wait until the virus is gone away.

I see the hinge gave way on your Halfords box too

Why the wheel off, is it for access?

CianRyan

cletus wrote: »

I see the hinge gave way on your Halfords box too

Why the wheel off, is it for access?

Through the wheel arch with a universal joint is the easiest way to access the spark plugs. :eek: