Your fleet running reports

[tim]

Same one I had in the Jag. I'm on my 2nd warranty replacement. The first one I had to ride to Norwich and back on my bike to collect from Halfords as I had no other transport available. That was a fun ride with it in the top box! Wheeeeeeeeeeeelie good fun!

[Sundayjumper]

Looks about the same size as wot I've recently got - 315 x 175 x 175? Bet that was a pain in the arse to get into the space for it, they weigh a fucking ton.

Are we having a battery willy-waving thread ? The Cayenne is bigger than that I'm sure, and the old Touareg had two of them - one for the car electronics, the other just for the starter

[Beany]

Oh, no - I was just annoyed as the automatic 'battery finder' tools on sites seem to get the e46 convertible wrong every time - they were all suggesting batteries shorter than what's actually fitted in the car.

After seeing the inconsitencies I just used a fucking measuring tape and ordered one manually, it seemed like the safer choice

[Beany]

Oh, and in a mild update, my tail light was still being a little flaky, but in the rain and dark I found wiggling the connector to the lighting frame helped - so i think it's just some corrosion build up on the connectors.

I'll probably pull that apart and emery paper the contacts later today to fix it properly.

Car still pulling nicely, I wanged half a tank of 95 RON in it when filling up from near empty last night, to see if it feels any different now it has a new battery. i suspect not, honestly but we'll see.

[Sundayjumper]

Do tools count as "fleet" ? Near enough.

One of the other things I like to do, when I tackle a large repair job, is to justify buying myself some new tools on the basis that I've saved far more by doing the work myself. Today - a cordless ratchet. I have a ½" impact wrench already that's superb for wheel bolts but is rather OTT for anything much smaller. Ebay popped up with a 20% discount code yesterday and that made it very attractive.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185625457695

Less 20% = £79.72

Ordered just before 3pm yesterday, arrived here 11:30 this morning (Saturday). Fantastic service from Prime Tools & DPD.

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I’ve also got the head gasket set now. I’ll get started tomorrow I think.

[Sundayjumper]

Oh, and in a mild update, my tail light was still being a little flaky, but in the rain and dark I found wiggling the connector to the lighting frame helped - so i think it's just some corrosion build up on the connectors.

I think the bulb contacts are prone to scorching so it might not be the connector itself, but the fact the whole assembly is moving slightly when you do that. Worth having a thorough look.

Edit - or are they LEDs on yours ? I can't remember.

[Beany]

Pre-facelift, so bulbs for me, not LEDs.

Also because the pre-facelift doesn't look like someone left it in the sun too long and the front lights melted a bit....

[Sundayjumper]

Do we reckon there's any point in wrapping the downpipe on the MINI ? I will be pulling the whole front end apart to do the head, which obviously includes removing the manifold & turbo, so it's minimal extra labour "while I'm there". It's all pretty tightly packed and less heat in the engine bay sounds like a good idea.

[drcarlos]

Do we reckon there's any point in wrapping the downpipe on the MINI ? I will be pulling the whole front end apart to do the head, which obviously includes removing the manifold & turbo, so it's minimal extra labour "while I'm there". It's all pretty tightly packed and less heat in the engine bay sounds like a good idea.

Depends where the cat is, I was specifically warned not to wrap the downpipe in the Subaru as the Cat was in it and it would overheat and melt. Not sure how true it was and I didn't keep it long enough after that anyway.

[V8Granite]

Do tools count as "fleet" ? Near enough.

One of the other things I like to do, when I tackle a large repair job, is to justify buying myself some new tools on the basis that I've saved far more by doing the work myself. Today - a cordless ratchet. I have a ½" impact wrench already that's superb for wheel bolts but is rather OTT for anything much smaller. Ebay popped up with a 20% discount code yesterday and that made it very attractive.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185625457695

Less 20% = £79.72

Ordered just before 3pm yesterday, arrived here 11:30 this morning (Saturday). Fantastic service from Prime Tools & DPD.


B786D5A9-6E7A-4757-BBA3-3AB8CECE6C2C.jpeg


I’ve also got the head gasket set now. I’ll get started tomorrow I think.

Aslong as you crack open the fastening with it and then use the gun they are great. I’ve pretty much got the whole range of tools they do now, used all the time. The only shit one is the dremel as that broke pretty quickly.

Dave!

[V8Granite]

No, it will just be a pain and they don’t like getting wet and then not fully drying.

Dave!

[integrale_evo]

Looks about the same size as wot I've recently got - 315 x 175 x 175? Bet that was a pain in the arse to get into the space for it, they weigh a fucking ton.

Pah, baby battery.

353x175x190 apparently

And no, wasn’t much fun to fit with my twiglet arms, and being pretty much the lowest point of the car while leaning over the drop down tailgate. Mine’s got the sliding boot floor too which you can’t easily remove to be able to climb in and drop it from above

Hopefully won’t have to do it again any time soon

[Beany]

Be interesting to see if any other niggling issues 'go away' - as I say, I seem to have far more low end torque now, strangely, now that it's got actual battery power to make the engine bits do what they're meant to do

[tim]

Did you perhaps angle your vents downwards without realising?

[Beany]

Did you perhaps angle your vents downwards without realising?

Oh god, it make so much sense now!

[Mito Man]

I didn’t notice more power when I changed batteries but it definitely made gear changes better in the 6 series and the electric windows and seats moved with more gusto. Speaking of the devil it’s been at the mechanic for a few weeks to change the coolant pipe in the engine. It isn’t that much work thankfully, just that he ended up with a bunch of broken down cars all together so mines lower priority which also suits me as currently I have no space to store it.
Got a call today thinking it’s ready to collect but he was just letting me know that another one of his customers said he’s interested in making me an offer if I’m willing to sell. No way, I’m balls deep in this money pit and taking it to the grave with me at this rate

[Rich B]

Got my M2 back this morning with a new secondary radiator. I got them to change my brake fluid too whilst it was there because it was on the schedule. I also got him to update the wife's car (he serviced it a few months ago but didn't update the history properly, plus he got rid of the codes from where I replaced the door, which I didn't even realise were there).

Funnily enough, the radiator damage was from the wheel arch side rather than the front - a stone had found it's way through a small louvred bit of the arch liner - I still might install some secondary mesh (or talk about it, plan it then never actually find time to do it).

[Sundayjumper]

Inlet, exhaust & turbot all off. That should give me a pretty clear run to lift the head after lunch. Not planning on having it completed today though. I’ll allow myself a couple of evenings during the week to clean the head & replace the valve stem seals and then bolt it all back together next Saturday.

Judging by the trail of missing, loose & broken fixings, somebody has taken most of this off before. None of the exhaust studs were done up tight enough. There’s a particularly awkward bolt on a bracket underneath the inlet - it was missing. Somebody CBA putting it back in. Several missing bolts on the exhaust heat shield. Ho hum. I’ll replace stuff when I put it back together.

I’m *hoping* this doesn’t mean it’s already had the head gasket done and it’s actually a cracked head

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[DeskJockey]

Sounds like you should launch your own version of M539. Just focused on broken Minis.

[Sundayjumper]

Head. Off.

Surely there’s some requote potential ?