Your fleet running reports

[Nathan]

Crap OE car parts

INA Aux Tensioner : one would not allow the belt to sit straight, another was rattling

FAI Lower Wishbone : knackered after 8k miles

[V8Granite]

Managed a good run with the ML on its new air springs before I left for work. Much much better, I can now happily use Sport nearly all the time as it’s taken the edge off, expensive job all in but well worth getting the Arnott bags.

Dave!

[16vCento]

So I've been acquiring a few bits here and there.

My dad found his old Xantia HBOL in the loft, helpfully it doesn't cover the Activa, so I'm not sure what use it was to him 

I have a proper Activa Bumper (in green ) that turned up last week

a Hydractive repair kit that I was recommended to buy off ebay as below

a new Exide Battery from Tayna for £35 which I thought was very cheap, and a new wet vac from B&Q so I don't ruin my nice carpet cleaner with all that mould 

Strut tops were replaced recently as one speared the bonnet, will have a look from underneath but they look OK from above

So a list in order of importance:

New Battery.

Interior removal and clean to minimise chance of getting super plague.

Up on a ramp for a proper check over before pouring money into it.

Hydroflush and LHM replacement (need to buy some of each)

If all is OK, full sphere replacement at Westroen or do it myself if I can find some spheres.

Full service and Cambelt, see why it's running cool, poss thermostat stuck or removed as coolant temp sits below 60oC when moving but comes upto 90 when stopped.

Oil Temp is also below what I'd expect, hovering around the bottom of the gauge when on the motorway, but I've only driven it very gently other than a couple of 30-*** squirts to see if I pulled ok (it did  )

New lockset as I don't have a key that locks the drivers door, and I have 3 keys for various locks and to start it 

A new dashboard clock.

Fit non damaged bumper.

Fit manual boost controller.

Drive it, completely with scabby paint and be happy.

Then further down the line:

Prep all damage to body and primer car.

Respray.

Wheel Refurb.

Enjoy.

 

[Alex88]

Cripes, Mito.. that's quite bad! Mine was similar a few years ago. I think it was leaking from the vacuum pump.

Alternator bracket is also a common point for leaks, although these engines can leak from pretty much anywhere, as you probably know.

Sadly my GF's dad passed away after a short battle with cancer. She's absolutely heartbroken. She wanted to make sure that his 197 Mustang V8 did not get sold, so she's inherited it. That's 4 cars in the fleet now, which means we're going to need a house with some actual parking.

The BMW stays surprisingly dependable, which I'm still suspicious about but certainly not complaining. Although there is a little niggle - the roof, when trying to close it, keeps stopping literally an inch or so from the latches above the windscreen.. we get there in the end after a bit of fiddling. Will do some investigating.

[mik]

Condolences to your missus Alex.

(I think you missed a digit from 197 Mustang)

[Alex88]

Cheers Mik. Glad he's no longer suffering. Still in shock, though..

You're quite right, it's an S197. I didn't really get the Mustang thing before but now I've been in it I can definitely see the appeal. They're such stand out cars. It'll now be brought out only for shows, weekend jaunts, etc. Few bits to fix up on it but nothing major

[Jimmy Choo]

Condolences, Alex.

[DeskJockey]

Sorry for your loss, Alex.

[McSwede]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

[nuttinnew]

Cancer can gtf

Condolences, Alex and GF.

[Jobbo]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

[Rich B]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

someone will be along soon to say it was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal.

[mik]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

someone will be along soon to say it was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal.

It was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal (YC).

[Jimmy Choo]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

someone will be along soon to say it was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal.

Stop timing my poos!

[nuttinnew]

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

someone will be along soon to say it was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal.

It was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal (YC).

Three two-hour poos is pushing it.

[JonMad]

eww.

Two new coil packs fitted to the Fabia.
Two old (but not shorted and not broken) coil packs in the boot as spares.
Lidl bargain Ctek charger doing nicely, thanks for that tip off.

[Delphi]

New XC40 arrived yesterday morning. It's everything you'd expect from a modern Volvo - quiet, refined and well built with a lovely interior.
It's a T3 Inscription Pro model so has pretty much all the toys you could ever need and despite only having a 3 cylinder 1.5 engine, gets down the road with a surprising amount of vigour.

The only fly in the ointment is actually not the car's fault, but Volvo's. The car has a driver profile feature that you can customise everything (seat position, climate, sound and phone settings etc). You can bind this to a key, so when you unlock the car with your key and open the door it sets everything up for you. Another feature is what Volvo call the Care Key, which is a key that you can set restrictions (like maximum speed etc) if you want to give the car to a son, daughter or a garage. You can't bind the Care Key to a driver profile. Volvo have supplied one normal key and one Care Key. I spoke to my local dealer and they'll happily supply and code another normal key for £340 + VAT. Apparently, they used to supply 2 normal keys and a Care Key but have recently stopped. I've fired off an e-mail to Volvo Customer Care and hopefully they'll see the utter insanity of having a profile and customisation system that is essentially useless as supplied. Our old 2013 V60 allowed custom seat and mirror settings according to which key unlocked the car, yet a brand new top of the line 2021 car doesn't support this as supplied. Not impressed.

[McSwede]

M140i had a good run out today. Edinburgh - Aberdeen - Birmingham was 557 miles. Great mile muncher, comfy and quiet. Cracking little car.

Imagine how long that would have taken in an EV!

someone will be along soon to say it was only 16 hours and you'd be stopping for three 2 hour poos anyway so it's no big deal.

Ha, true. Service stations are such nice places with delightfully clean toilets where one can while away those spare hours

[Zonda_]

Scirocco passed MOT this morning, hardly surprising as it's barely done 1k since the last one.

[Sundayjumper]

Stop timing my poos!

He’s been weighing them too.