Your fleet running reports

[Sundayjumper]

obs I wouldn't want it back if it was fucked. But a straight stolen and recovered with no damage/cost, no problem!

Point is, you don't get a choice, and you don't know in advance what will happen when it gets stolen. If it's fucked but repairable without being written off it'll get repaired and given back to you. Possibly with a stolen/recovered flag on its history. I don't fancy that. I'd rather it just disappeared.

Except possibly my 911 as I've had it for so long and it's *my* 911 that would be very hard to replace now. The rest of the cars - meh. Gimme the cash and I'll enjoy going shopping for the replacement.

[Sundayjumper]

The only real solution is a no tag no start or a ghost.

Ghost is still CAN bus based though ? So although it's very clever it's only a matter of time before it gets hacked - as long as criminals can physically tap into the CAN bus wiring it's open to exploitation.

I was thinking yesterday a mechanical breaker in the feed to the starter motor would probably do the trick. Without power to the starter, whatever you do to the rest of the car, it's not starting. Is that what the no tag no start systems do ? They need to be totally independent of the car's own systems.

[Sundayjumper]

And I just realised I missed my 911's 25th birthday !! Registered 26 March 1999. I've had it since Oct 2011.

[Mito Man]

The only real solution is a no tag no start or a ghost.

Ghost is still CAN bus based though ? So although it's very clever it's only a matter of time before it gets hacked - as long as criminals can physically tap into the CAN bus wiring it's open to exploitation.

I was thinking yesterday a mechanical breaker in the feed to the starter motor would probably do the trick. Without power to the starter, whatever you do to the rest of the car, it's not starting. Is that what the no tag no start systems do ? They need to be totally independent of the car's own systems.

Yep, I do this on all the agricultural equipment. You can get a fuse extension with switch. Pick an important fuse which is quite well hidden, hide cut off switch somewhere random.

[GG.]

GTS passed its first MOT in my ownership yesterday. No advisories and even tyres all showing good tread and consistent wear edge to edge...

...which is all nice however I'm pretty confident the startup clatter is getting worse. I took a quick video before a run out on Saturday morning - in real life it is much more prominent than this. It goes away after a short while - I think clearly hydraulic related and expect it is the chain tensioners and they need replacing. I discounted exhaust rattle as the clatter / clacking is consistent and obviously something that is reciprocating.

I've also had sticky tappets on the 997 and they are much more of a ticky ticky tick noise and continue after the engine is up to oil pressure and increase with rev speed (none of which ties in to this sound).

[mik]

@GG. It sounds like it's starting on diesel. Flip the tap so it uses petrol for startup too.

[Sundayjumper]

Some progress with cars over the long weekend.

Friday - the Bentley finally went. I took it for a brief spin in the morning, I'll definitely miss it for the engine and the general ambience, but not the noise from the suspension that I couldn't work out.

Saturday - got back on with the Smart now that I have a deadline to get it ready for its next owner. It's been sat since December due to weather & other priorities, I was part way through rebuilding the rear brakes. The rear brakes are now all reassembled & new hard lines fitted. Bled and test driven.... they're AWFUL. Hopefully just needs more bleeding. It also sounds like the entire underside of the car is about to fall off. It wasn't doing that before. Gah. So I'm hoping it's simply something I didn't reassemble properly in December and have forgotten about.

Switching straight from Bentley to Smart was quite amusing, the comparative size of all the parts.

Sunday - repaired* the propshaft centre bearing on the Cayenne and booked an MOT for Thursday. The front air springs are leaking and the front suspension makes some creaking noises, but I don't think those will fail an MOT. Then I can get it sold.

Monday - a bit of cleaning and a slight adjustment of the front toe on the Range Rover. The steering was slightly off to the left. Now sorted. The joy of relatively new cars - the tie rods WEREN'T seized solid ! I usually need to cut them off and fit new ones. Starting to get the feeling that the suspension is way too soft for my taste. I guess that's the famous trademark awesome ride quality. Maybe switching up to 22" wheels would help, I quite like the "turbine" style:




* opinions may vary

[GG.]

Starting to get the feeling that the suspension is way too soft for my taste. I guess that's the famous trademark awesome ride quality.

Twiddle with the suspension settings and put it in dynamic mode instead of auto (using the little knob that sprouts up when you press it )

[Sundayjumper]

Starting to get the feeling that the suspension is way too soft for my taste. I guess that's the famous trademark awesome ride quality.

Twiddle with the suspension settings and put it in dynamic mode instead of auto (using the little knob that sprouts up when you press it )

It doesn't have the option - must have been added in 2018 ? All SDV8 have dynamic mode with the dampers & the ARBs but it's not manually selectable on the FFRR, the car chooses for you. The RRS *does* have the option though. I've seen several threads from people that upgraded RRS -> FFRR asking where the button is.

Putting the gearbox in "Sport" stiffens it slightly but then it holds onto gears longer than necessary.

First world problems eh ?

IMG_1181.jpeg (36.3 KiB) Viewed 480 times

[GG.]

Starting to get the feeling that the suspension is way too soft for my taste. I guess that's the famous trademark awesome ride quality.

Twiddle with the suspension settings and put it in dynamic mode instead of auto (using the little knob that sprouts up when you press it )

It doesn't have the option - must have been added in 2018 ? All SDV8 have dynamic mode with the dampers & the ARBs but it's not manually selectable on the FFRR, the car chooses for you. The RRS *does* have the option though. I've seen several threads from people that upgraded RRS -> FFRR asking where the button is.

Putting the gearbox in "Sport" stiffens it slightly but then it holds onto gears longer than necessary.

First world problems eh ?


IMG_1181.jpeg

Ah that's a shame - yes must be for the facelift. Mine has a twisty road symbol which reduces the roll quite a bit. You would have thought something that could probably be added in software though. I wonder if there is an update for it.

[Sundayjumper]

Ah - I wasn't complaining about the roll, that works OK, although you can tell the tyres really don't like it But that's fine, I don't plan on driving it like that.

I meant the general softness, it floats up & down a bit on undulating roads and seems to pitch back & forth a lot, especially under braking. Basically a bit under-damped for my taste. Sport mode helps. In an ideal world I'd be able to select the "sport" damper setting independently.

[V8Granite]

That sounds like the secondary ride then so bigger wheels won’t affect that really.

You may need to get used to the height of it a bit more as it exaggerated any movement as you’re at the end of the pivot so to speak.

Dave!

[GG.]

Ah - I wasn't complaining about the roll, that works OK, although you can tell the tyres really don't like it But that's fine, I don't plan on driving it like that.

I meant the general softness, it floats up & down a bit on undulating roads and seems to pitch back & forth a lot, especially under braking. Basically a bit under-damped for my taste. Sport mode helps. In an ideal world I'd be able to select the "sport" damper setting independently.

The Dynamic mode firms the ride up generally so would help with the rest of what you describe. I think Dave is correct though - I don't expect tyre side will made a difference. You'll just get floaty + fidgety-ness / crashing from the reduced tyrewall I reckon.

[Sundayjumper]

Oh. You’re right though Dave! it’s a tall vehicle, noticeably taller than the Cayenne.

In other news, I was wrong. This is a vanishingly rare event so it’s come as a bit of a shock tbh. The A-B-C pillars *are* leather ! It’s just that Land Rover have somehow managed to make them indistinguishable from plastic. I decided to remove the drivers a-pillar trim to have a closer look, to check the manufacture date matches the rest of the car, and as soon as I pulled the door seal away I could see the edge of the leather.

IMG_1173.jpeg (43.08 KiB) Viewed 407 times

So that solves that, I guess. Some of the other cars here are also leather but are obviously so. They feel nice. Soft. Slightly padded. These are glued straight onto the moulding underneath and have no “give” to them.

The D-pillars are plastic but that’s in the boot so I don’t mind.

[Sundayjumper]

Cayenne failed its MOT yesterday, for parking brake efficiency. I never use it so I’d not noticed. Today I pulled them apart and there was only half a piece of friction material across all four shoes Three were completely bare. No sign of where they’d gone either.

New shoes fitted today but the MOT place can’t do a retest until next week unfortunately.

(can’t add photos - forum glitch today ?)

[JonMad]

My Fabia left hand indicator still isn't working. My local garage are 90% sure it's the bcm.
The hazards work fine, as do the right hand indicators and the main beam controls on the stalk.

Here are some videos from when I got back home from the garage and had a play around. The indicators started intermittently working. It almost looks like they come to life when the main beam flasher is activated but I don't think that's 100% consistent, though it does do that each time in the video below.

Stalk or bcm, or something else?

Dull videos....

[tim]

I put a new set of Brembo discs and pads on the Mondeo this evening. Super easy job, and imagine my surprise and delight at finding the previous mechanic had left the carrier bolts nicely copperslipped, so aside from a bit of grunt to get the 200nm of torque off them, was a doddle.

£150 in parts and an hour of my time. Lovely old job. Not sure what's more delicious to see, new tyres or new brakes.

[Jobbo]

My Fabia left hand indicator still isn't working. My local garage are 90% sure it's the bcm.
The hazards work fine, as do the right hand indicators and the main beam controls on the stalk.

Here are some videos from when I got back home from the garage and had a play around. The indicators started intermittently working. It almost looks like they come to life when the main beam flasher is activated but I don't think that's 100% consistent, though it does do that each time in the video below.

Stalk or bcm, or something else?

Dull videos....

I’ve not watched your videos to see if this is answered, but what happens when you put the hazards on? If it works then but not when indicating that probably doesn’t narrow it down beyond stalk or BCM but I bet trying a replacement stalk is easier.

[jamcg]

I’d say stalk is at fault, especially with it working after a jiggle to main flash. Worth a check that it’s not a frayed wire or loose connection- it’ll be either a jack plug or a series of spade connectors, which can loosen up with time- could even be as simple as a rusted connector in there

[nuttinnew]

The stalk is the cheap & easy bit to try (if I was even vaguely organized I'd know where the one I've got from when I fitted cruise is The kits are cheap enough you could fit cruise so if it isn't the stalk it's still had a positive outcome, easier & lazier toing and froing targas). A squirt of cleaner might even do the trick. Bcm'll need coding so it's a bit more agg. than just plugging and trying.