Today I did something to my car (volume 2)

wotzgoingon

Strange to see you around these parts. :pac:

Foxhole Norman

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Strange to see you around these parts. :pac:

Yeah I haven't been on Boards for a long time, or any forums really!

spiggotpaddy

Could've got another few thou
If it wasn't for the vibrations.

traco

Not very taxing or skilled in the end. However it did take 8 months of searching and several cheeky offers on ebay. Eventually sourced out of Germany and it's in excellent condition. Needs a proper clean and I will see if I can do something on the back so the emblems don't come off. The heat build up in these is intense so most of the already scarce covers have lost the critical parts already. I didn't approach MB for a price as some of the forums have mentioned silly numbers for them.

Having ideas now about doing something custom on the old on???

vintagevrs

What's it like when you go to the autofactors for some service stuff.....

"Yeah can I get some 10w40, an air filter and some spark plugs?"

"No worries, 4 yeah?"

"No......12"

Few eyebrows raise in the shop

traco

vintagevrs wrote: »

What's it like when you go to the autofactors for some service stuff.....

"Yeah can I get some 10w40, an air filter and some spark plugs?"

"No worries, 4 yeah?"

"No......12"

Few eyebrows raise in the shop

Its worse - its 24

vintagevrs

traco wrote: »

Its worse - its 24

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Woah, didn't know that.

Interslice

Not a bad looking cover as they go but seems a shame to cover up a v12. Maybe its a bit untidy with wires and hoses beneath?

traco

Interslice wrote: »

Not a bad looking cover as they go but seems a shame to cover up a v12. Maybe its a bit untidy with wires and hoses beneath?

Its not untidy per se but not a lot to see. You can jump back to this page in this thread for a few more pics if curious.


https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056991213&page=612

islanderre

Tipping along at tidying up the S2K.
Took the rear bumper off today and not looking too shabby for a 20 year old car.
Will clean up the 'Bump Bar' and paint it before refitting.

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wotzgoingon

Jesus that is a lot of hidden rust but at least you caught it at the correct time.

islanderre

wotzgoingon wrote: »

Jesus that is a lot of hidden rust but at least you caught it at the correct time.

Yep... was expecting it as that area is right in the firing line of the rear tyre spray.... also; the fog light which is in the centre of the bumper @ the bottom was loose.
This issue with the fog light is a known issue with the S2K so wasn't surprised. The fixing bracket literally corrodes away.
I'll tip away at it over the weeks and get there in time!!!!

traco

Replaced the top door trim where some previous owner had managed to bend it back in around on itslef?? Drove me mad every time I looked at it but I'm odd that way.

Got a LWB door from a breaker up North for 70 quid. Much cheaper option and would also mean I coudl figure out the job without further dmage to the car and have spare seals on other bits if needed.

Handy enough job really. Pull seal, drill out old rivets, remove trim. Repeat on car and install the new old one on the car. Propably took 2 or 3 hours taking my time.

So item number 738 on the luxobarge to do list has now been ticked off.








I also powered up the raer phone handset so wonder how it works now?? Suppose I should read the manual as I am sure knowing merc this has its own network or something daft.

colm_mcm

Mmm.... stuff.



Clip Clip screw screw


Thunk


Boom

traco

Not today but over the last three weeks:

Gearbox service, new oil, filter and pilot bushing- handy enough. Shame I had to spend hours repairing stripped threads from some previous idiot. Five of the six bolt holes were stripped hence sealeant everywhwere!! I can understand one, maybe two but stripping 5 of 6 takes a special kind of genius.



Sorted rear climate blowing cold throug teh central vents with a new duo valve - one of two on thos car.


New gaskets on the thermsotat housing when I had the coolant dropped. The vacuum fill system or air lift as its also called is a great little tool to have. This is a cheap €25 jpb from ebay but works really well.

Alanstrainor

Well , for those who didn't see my post on the Motors Chat before Christmas, my Lexus had a bit of a moment. More specifically the alternator died.

Getting the parts was an interesting experience in and of itself. Ordered from Autodoc.co.uk thinking that I would get it quickly as it's UK based and used parcel motel to have it delivered to Antrim. Buttttt, autodoc is not a UK company but a German one... oh ****.

So this is around the time that the mayhem in Dover/Kent had begun because of Brexit. Here I was after ordering from Germany and my alternator and belt was stuck on a Truck somewhere in Europe.

To add to the mayhem I soon got an email from parcel motel saying that they were going to be ceasing operations on the 28th. :eek:

Despite all of the above, the part somehow arrived before Christmas. A miracle.

So today I went about starting the job. I started late and knew that I was only going to get the first steps done. After an hour or less, I had the belt off and 2/3 of the bolts removed. Unfortunately the final bolt is buried/obstructed by the cylinder head, all the DIY guides simply say 'DON'T DROP THE BOLT', so tomorrow that's the plan.

The battery is sitting in the garage fully charged, so no real issues there. Fingers crossed I manage to get it done tomorrow.

traco

You did well - I was nearly 3 weeks waiting for a part from them that was in stock. They use teh cheapest of the cheap ecconomy rate ecommerce shipping options. Parts are good but I wouldn't use them again for anything urgent.

Good luck tomorrow - at least the weatehr looks better if still cold.

Alanstrainor

traco wrote: »

You did well - I was nearly 3 weeks waiting for a part from them that was in stock. They use teh cheapest of the cheap ecconomy rate ecommerce shipping options. Parts are good but I wouldn't use them again for anything urgent.

Good luck tomorrow - at least the weatehr looks better if still cold.

Put on my thermal top and layered up and went at it. It did take much longer than many of the guides suggest, but this is something I expected, and didn't have any plans so all good.

I mentioned I had 2/3 bolts removed... this makes things seem better than they were, the last was hidden under the manifold almost completely hidden. There are a good few guides online, with different tactics to get to it. Some went as far as removing the entire ECU :eek:. Luckily I decided that was a terrible idea and found that at the right angle you could actually see this bolt from the side. Just.

With a lot of fiddling, I got it off, even managed to not drop the damned bolt. I did get stuck at the easier bits, removing the plastic connector for the alternator was painful. But in the end I got it all out, a lot of twisting and cursing to squeeze the thing out and up.

So here I am, new alternator in, all bolts secured. Tomorrow is the finisher, connectors and small bolts here and there. And of course the aux belt, nothing too bad. Should be done in reasonable time. Fingers crossed it fires up.

Toyotafanboi

Nothing better than when it goes half ways right!

Alanstrainor

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Nothing better than when it goes half ways right!

I might put that on my headstone!

traco

Alanstrainor wrote: »

It did take much longer than many of the guides suggest, but this is something I expected, and didn't have any plans so all good.

I've given up listening to guides and what people say on forums at this statge. If the OEM book time is quoted I double that and add a few hours for coffee, biccys, swearing and googling whats gone wrong. Then at least i only run a few hours over that time frame.

Tea drinker

traco wrote: »

I've given up listening to guides and what people say on forums at this statge. If the OEM book time is quoted I double that and add a few hours for coffee, biccys, swearing and googling whats gone wrong. Then at least i only run a few hours over that time frame.

Yeah the "a lad online says it takes 2 hours" is not something I go by.
I find if you done it a few times before maybe you might get close to that time if you put everything back filthy. Cleaning stuff (be it cosmetic or carbon) takes ages.

Top Dog

So, exactly a week since it arrived on our driveway, I've now carried out my very first mod to my early Christmas present - led park light bulbs to enhance the eyelashes and also tie the front end together well all bulbs a similar light colour. :D

The bulbs were actually ordered about 4 weeks ago for my other car, but between Christmas and Brexit chaos they only arrived today. :rolleyes: still, all that really matters is that they arrived, they also fit the Skoda, and they're canbus error free so no coding or dash warning.

Yeah, it's only a tiny mod, but gotta start somewhere :pac:

Before


After


All together :cool:

Alanstrainor

The LED side lamps look brilliant, really takes them to the next level.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

Put on my thermal top and layered up and went at it. It did take much longer than many of the guides suggest, but this is something I expected, and didn't have any plans so all good.

I mentioned I had 2/3 bolts removed... this makes things seem better than they were, the last was hidden under the manifold almost completely hidden. There are a good few guides online, with different tactics to get to it. Some went as far as removing the entire ECU :eek:. Luckily I decided that was a terrible idea and found that at the right angle you could actually see this bolt from the side. Just.

With a lot of fiddling, I got it off, even managed to not drop the damned bolt. I did get stuck at the easier bits, removing the plastic connector for the alternator was painful. But in the end I got it all out, a lot of twisting and cursing to squeeze the thing out and up.

So here I am, new alternator in, all bolts secured. Tomorrow is the finisher, connectors and small bolts here and there. And of course the aux belt, nothing too bad. Should be done in reasonable time. Fingers crossed it fires up.

Near the end of this now. Car is running, allowed the engine to get fully up to temp, checked that everything seemed normal enough and went for a few short drives around the estate.

But, the battery light is still on. I have a battery/alternator tester and that says the battery and alternator are good. And given the car was running for an hour or so that points to things being more or less good too. All electronics also working (much better than before, just goes to show there were small signs that things were not right, slightly slow wiper blades for example!)

So here's the sequence of events. I fired it up yesterday and it was lumpy as hell, battery light on still and struggling to stay running. Thought the alternator must still be the fault given the battery light displayed. Gave up yesterday and had another go this morning (in the freezing sub zero weather!). Started the car just to see what happened, and let it idle for much longer, still not terribly happy. Revving made it idle worse and nearly stall.

What the hell!

Then I remembered I had a cheapy lidl battery/alternator tester and connected it up. Alternator charging. So that was a pretty good feeling. Left the car idling for 30 minutes or more, it often dipping below 400 revs. Did a bit of googling and it's a common problem. ECU doesn't like being disconnected from the battery for long, needs to re-learn how to idle correctly. Solution is to drive it, so I did. And it went well, it quickly started to idle normally and drive all normal.

I restarted the car a few times after driving a few kms but the battery light remains. Need to read the codes now. But things are looking decent I think.

Toyotafanboi

I would test the battery. I would say between the initial breakdown, being left flat for a number a number of days, particularly over this cold snap that now your battery is bolloxed.

wonski

Any chance this is some sort of error stored in the ecu that has to be cleared?

I remember the BMW stop start equipped cars had batteries to be coded in etc.

Could be something similar, but should work correctly anyway.

All cars ecus adjust parameters to run the engine, so don't think it should drop the revs or anything like that. Do the opposite really - keep the engine running no matter what unless it is not possible and/or display error on the dash.

Last time I had problem with alternator, it was the Merc, pretty much everything was disabled to keep the engine running. All non essential electrics were switched off immediately.

Alanstrainor

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

I would test the battery. I would say between the initial breakdown, being left flat for a number a number of days, particularly over this cold snap that now your battery is bolloxed.

Yep seems likely, although it did charge to 13.6v or so last night, which would suggest it's pretty good.

After having some time to think, I'm going to check the plug to the alternator. This is the plug for the ECU, not the positive terminal. Very fiddly to get off/on so I think it's likely that it's not on right. That could explain why the car runs fine but the light is on.

But sure, I really don't know at this stage! I'll buy a battery if things still aren't right after some more troubleshooting.

Thanks lads, much appreciated! Thank fook for having 0 need for a car at the minute!

wonski

I wish you all happy 2021, hope it will kick 2020 in the ass and send it where it belongs

After doing over 1k km over Christmas the unwanted message 'low oil pressure' started showing up when navigating the roundabouts and sharp turns.
Normally it is a death sentence for Alfas, but a little top up got that sorted. For now.

Top Dog

Sold it :eek: well, sold one of them

vintagevrs

Would love to know the story behind the reg. Did someone spend money to put a 325i reg on a 318?