Your fleet running reports

[Beany]

Oh, and I've not fixed the window pretensioning because an office colleague has my socket set, and despite him constantly reminding me that he has it in the back of his car, I keep forgetting to get it back off him at the end of a typical office day.

So that'll be a job for next week then...

[Mito Man]

I’ve spent a few hours moving boulders today, managed to get all of the metre sized ones out with the tow bar


Didn’t have enough traction to pull larger ones so had an excuse to use the winch with some very dodgy winching.


My only issue now is I have no way of moving the big boulders to the side, I really need something like a snowplough on the front of my car to help push them into place

[V8Granite]

I’ve spent a few hours moving boulders today, managed to get all of the metre sized ones out with the tow bar


Didn’t have enough traction to pull larger ones so had an excuse to use the winch with some very dodgy winching.


My only issue now is I have no way of moving the big boulders to the side, I really need something like a snowplough on the front of my car to help push them into place

Use a winch blanket before you get nutted by a wire.

Dave!

[integrale_evo]

Did the cambelt on the mito today, it was still on the original. Was overdue on age, but long way off on miles. Bought the proper locking kit because internet wisdom says if you rely on diy timing marks and eyesight your engine will explode into a million pieces.

All well and good, but part of the kit bolts on the back of the camshaft which means a metal cover bracket, various wiring clips and the vacuum pump need removing, as well as all the normal cambelt stuff the other end, plus the undertray to be able to support the engine.

Pretty sure it would have been easy enough the normal way.

Didn't bother doing the waterpump because it's only done 35k and reasoned as I've got the kit I can always change it later if it needs to, or at the next belt change in a few years, now wishing I'd bought one to do while I was there

Made me realise how much easier German cars are to work on. Italians much have very small hands




Changed the plugs too, turns out the plug tool supplied in the boot mounted toolkit of an e36 m3 is the perfect size for a mito multiair.

When I'd finished I started it up without the airbox. It sounds insane! All sorts of proper turbo whooshes, hisses and blade chop. I can't believe how much sound the little plastic airbox drowns out. I know that's what it's designed to do, but still...

[Sundayjumper]

Removed 316i engine, fitted 318ti engine, reassembled car. It took me all day but there was nothing especially tricky in there. Ran out of time to do the new steering rack unfortunately so that will have to wait a few weeks now.

New shifter is very direct. Clutch needs to be fully depressed to change gear nicely, I can’t get away with slurring the changes now. New flywheel makes the gearbox rattly at idle. There are all kinds of very noisy resonances in the cabin now at various engine speeds, it’s actually quite unpleasant. I’m going to wear earplugs tomorrow for the drive to Abingdon - first Autosolo outing for The Compact. It’ll be rubbish; I’m on gravel tyres and haven’t put the ARBs on. I might need sea sickness pills

[John]

I've noticed that if I do a swift getaway from a junction in the Vito I get a noise like something rolling back then hitting a solid object, it's difficult to describe exactly and that's the closest my imagination can come up with. It's also difficult to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from but it does seem to be coming from the front third of the van. I've looked under the van but it's a mass of undertrays so can't see a great deal, both seats are clear underneath as I first thought it was a socket or similar rolling around. I've also checked as much as I can under the bonnet. Very mysterious.

[Simon]

I've noticed that if I do a swift getaway from a junction in the Vito I get a noise like something rolling back then hitting a solid object, it's difficult to describe exactly and that's the closest my imagination can come up with. It's also difficult to pinpoint exactly where it's coming from but it does seem to be coming from the front third of the van. I've looked under the van but it's a mass of undertrays so can't see a great deal, both seats are clear underneath as I first thought it was a socket or similar rolling around. I've also checked as much as I can under the bonnet. Very mysterious.

As I read this my first thought was 'socket', but most likely one that's fallen down inside the engine bay and is sitting on an under-tray.

[Coaster1]

My Ring portable air compressor has died after 8 years. Think I’m going to try this Chinese one next because POWARRRrrrr

[Sundayjumper]

There are all kinds of very noisy resonances in the cabin now at various engine speeds, it’s actually quite unpleasant. I’m going to wear earplugs tomorrow for the drive to Abingdon - first Autosolo outing for The Compact. It’ll be rubbish; I’m on gravel tyres and haven’t put the ARBs on. I might need sea sickness pills

Well, the drive to & from Abingdon was quite unpleasant, the NVH is just horrible right now. The car also didn't feel like it had 40bhp more than last week when it was still a 316i so I think there's something wrong, making the engine run rough and the other mods are just exacerbating it. I'll dig into it.

And as predicted, the car handled appallingly on tarmac Skinny gravel tyres and soft suspension. It was kinda fun being able to feel the weight transfer so much through the turns but it was not quick at all. I ended up 32/42 whereas in the Porsche I would have been easily top ten maybe top five. The chap I normally vie with for class D was third overall today.

I was even given #13 today. But fortunately I put it on upside-down and that negated the bad luck, and nothing disastrous happened.

On the plus side, a particularly nasty speed bump near here where I slow to <5mph in the other cars, in its current spec The Compact has taken it at 40mph without batting an eyelid. Rally spec !

[Sundayjumper]

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[Sundayjumper]

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[McSwede]

I'm in at BMW for the M140i's first service. Apparently my oil filter has fallen apart inside the housing when they have tried to remove it meaning my car needs an oil filter housing that they do not have in stock. Marvelous!

[_andy]

Smart car - Before Christmas one of my mums neighbours backed his van into the Smart car and cracked the front bumper, he left a note and all was good, but it took two and a half months and a trip from London to Bristol to find a replacement, as red body panels seem to be like hens teeth. Now less than a month later some cunt has backed into it again, smashed it to fuck and driven off. I suspect it was a Discovery I was parked behind on Saturday but can't be sure as I've only just seen the damage. If I knew for sure who'd done it they'd be getting the tow bar of the Transit parked in their radiator. Also, last week whilst it was on loan to my mum she managed to back it into someone and put a big hole in the rear bumper, so now the thing looks like a complete mess. There seems to be plenty of panels for blue, grey and silver cars about, so I may just buy a complete set and change the lot.

M135i - Passed it's MoT last week with flying colours, no advisories, but even so the rear tyres feel like they could do with changing. PS4's seem to be a good choice as the MPSS replacement (whatever they are called) only seem to be available in spam sizes. It also needs a good clean.

Transit - I finally got around to using my Argos dual action car polishing thing on the bonnet to remove the outline of a sticker that was on their from its previous life in the service of SSE. Despite me being a total noob at this sort of thing it want quite well and I ended up with a fairly decent looking result. I now feel like I should do the rest of the van. The grey plastic bumpers were also looking very dull so I attacked them with a bottle of boiled linseed oil, it took about 15 minutes to do the whole lot and the difference its made is incredible, it looks like new again. So far it seems to be lasting, but even if it needs to be redone every few months its no problem. I bought some new ply lining for it which I started to fit, but I decided it wasn't very good so I cleaned up the original plastic panels that were fitted when I bought it and put those back in, so another complete waste of money. Final Transit update is that I fitted a set of Transit Connect alloys I bought on eBay, and some new tyres, I was going to go for BF Goodrich AT's, but in the end went for something a bit less terminal and fitted some Yokohama Geolanders, which are still AT, but a bit less aggressive, whilst still looking nice and chunky.

[McSwede]

I'm in at BMW for the M140i's first service. Apparently my oil filter has fallen apart inside the housing when they have tried to remove it meaning my car needs an oil filter housing that they do not have in stock. Marvelous!

No loan cars available due to lots of DPF warranty work so I'm in an Astra SRi Turbo from Enterprise. Woo hoo! TBF it goes quite well and cruises the M/way fine enough so it'll do until 5pm tomorrow.

[integrale_evo]

Surely they can just take the housing off and clean it out?

More likely some muppet has destroyed the threads and it won't seal, but they're not admitting it

[McSwede]

Surely they can just take the housing off and clean it out?

More likely some muppet has destroyed the threads and it won't seal, but they're not admitting it

The sound of a nail being firmly struck on the head!

[NotoriousREV]

Did the cambelt on the mito today, it was still on the original. Was overdue on age, but long way off on miles. Bought the proper locking kit because internet wisdom says if you rely on diy timing marks and eyesight your engine will explode into a million pieces.

All well and good, but part of the kit bolts on the back of the camshaft which means a metal cover bracket, various wiring clips and the vacuum pump need removing, as well as all the normal cambelt stuff the other end, plus the undertray to be able to support the engine.

Pretty sure it would have been easy enough the normal way.

Didn't bother doing the waterpump because it's only done 35k and reasoned as I've got the kit I can always change it later if it needs to, or at the next belt change in a few years, now wishing I'd bought one to do while I was there

Made me realise how much easier German cars are to work on. Italians much have very small hands




Changed the plugs too, turns out the plug tool supplied in the boot mounted toolkit of an e36 m3 is the perfect size for a mito multiair.

When I'd finished I started it up without the airbox. It sounds insane! All sorts of proper turbo whooshes, hisses and blade chop. I can't believe how much sound the little plastic airbox drowns out. I know that's what it's designed to do, but still...

I wish I'd known you were doing this, I could've lent you my tool, or even sold it to you cheap given I no longer have an Alfa Multiair.

[McSwede]

Surely they can just take the housing off and clean it out?

More likely some muppet has destroyed the threads and it won't seal, but they're not admitting it

The sound of a nail being firmly struck on the head!

Forgot to add that they reckoned it to be a 5hr job to replace the oil filter housing.

[NotoriousREV]

Surely they can just take the housing off and clean it out?

More likely some muppet has destroyed the threads and it won't seal, but they're not admitting it

The sound of a nail being firmly struck on the head!

Forgot to add that they reckoned it to be a 5hr job to replace the oil filter housing.

I hope they’re paying? Either they broke it, or they supplied shitty parts.

[McSwede]

The sound of a nail being firmly struck on the head!

Forgot to add that they reckoned it to be a 5hr job to replace the oil filter housing.

I hope they’re paying? Either they broke it, or they supplied shitty parts.

Indeed they are. I have also requested that the inconvenience caused to me is reflected in the service bill. They'll probably round it down to the nearest £