Your fleet running reports

[John]

Weirdly, I noticed that the centre passenger side air vent blows slightly colder than all the other vents, wtf?

I had similar on my Volvo t5 when the gas was low, a regas cured it.

[jamcg]

It’ll be closest to the diverter box, so a more linear path from the condenser and less chance to take on any environmental heat

[Matty]

Had the day off work yesterday....looking forward to fitting the plugs on the 4C and going for a test run and the torque wrench decided it needed calibrating and refused to measure didn't want to risk finger-guessing seeing as I'm trying to prove if the previous plugs are faulty.

Also dropped a spare wheel in the boot of the Up; won't fit over the front brakes but rather jig things around than get stuck at the roadside. Returning back to my 17's so need to sell the BBS wheels....but not willing to brave the nobheads on eBay/Facebook so hopefully forums will rescue me.

[Swervin_Mervin]

It’ll be closest to the diverter box, so a more linear path from the condenser and less chance to take on any environmental heat

Ahh, got you. Ta.

[Sundayjumper]

Clubman is booked for an ac regas on Monday. The system is completely empty, I’m *hoping* it’s simply down to not having been refilled after the engine was replaced. The ac has certainly never worked during the time I’ve had it.

Halfords will come out and do it on-site for £59, barely more than buying a can of gas myself, and will have the proper kit to drain the system and pressure test it before filling. Seems a good deal.

Vantage update - the rear light is finally away for repair, over a year after I noticed the problem The MOT ran out ages ago and it needs this to get a new one.

[John]

-30mm lowering springs fitted to the mx5. Big improvement in the looks department and less comedy body roll in the corners, the ride doesn't seem to have been affected either. Now I just need to decide which exhaust to fit although most seem to be on back order.

[drcarlos]

First TVR glitch this week, although not due to a TVR part...

Yeah, yeah, whatever ! It reminds me of the time I met a particularly awful Alfa fanboi who insisted, INSISTED, that their shonky reputation was totally not their fault, and was completely due them using unreliable German electronics

I don't think TVR ever fitted the callipers I have to any model, they fitted smaller ones and then moved to their own stuff, what I have is a well trodden upgrade path. So I'll not blame them, I think I did notice a perished bellow on the piston so I think it will be the issue.

[drcarlos]

Clubman is booked for an ac regas on Monday. The system is completely empty, I’m *hoping* it’s simply down to not having been refilled after the engine was replaced. The ac has certainly never worked during the time I’ve had it.

The garage where we bought the Berlingo hoped this, it needs a new condenser and compressor in the end, hope your's is just gas.

[Delphi]

928 booked in for a full glass out respray October 17th.

On the journey to and from the body shop engine temps were right at the top of the normal running temp range (granted, it was a fearsomely hot day). About 3 miles from home it seemed to develop a mis-fire. Not much power and juddering under load. Not had time to investigate but I was pleased that the hot starting issue seems to be fixed. Had a quick look under the bonnet last night and it appears one of the cooling fans has been clipping the bottom hose as it goes from the bottom of the rad and up into the block. The fan blades are showing some slight signs of damage and the hose is chafed, although not too badly. It'll still need replacing though. It looks like the radiator mounts have failed as there's a lot of forward and backward movement in the rad/oil cooler, hence the fans being able to move back and catch the hose. The list of jobs seems to be getting bigger not smaller.

Edit: - number 3 plug lead on the RHS distributor had popped off. That was an easy fix!

[nuttinnew]

Clubman is booked for an ac regas on Monday. The system is completely empty, I’m *hoping* it’s simply down to not having been refilled after the engine was replaced. The ac has certainly never worked during the time I’ve had it.

The garage where we bought the Berlingo hoped this, it needs a new condenser and compressor in the end, hope your's is just gas.

A2 derv is in for a condenser (at least) atm - a bit frustrating when the petrol's one is fine even after the deer impact - but it was half expected when bought. I guess you didn't pay over the odds for your MINI so spending some scheckels isn't a biggie.

[Mito Man]

Condensers are just flirting with luck, they can happily last 200,000 miles or you just get a stone hit them at the right angle and they’re dead even when new.

[240PP]

The condenser on my Dad’s Tiguan was hit by a stone at a few hundred miles old. £500 for a new one!

[Sundayjumper]

I guess you didn't pay over the odds for your MINI so spending some scheckels isn't a biggie.

It was £2k, but it's done 200k miles, but it's in way better condition than you'd expect. Cosmetically, at least, before anyone mentions the dodgy ac

It's got receipts for a load of spend in the past, including clutch & DMF, and the "new" 65k mile engine that went in just before I bought it got a new timing belt while it was out, so I reckon it was a decent deal overall.

[Jimexpl]

Condensers are just flirting with luck, they can happily last 200,000 miles or you just get a stone hit them at the right angle and they’re dead even when new.

I'm about to take one with me to Spain this afternoon for the X5....

Access to them varies massively also. On the XFR it was six hours removing various crap from the front of the car. At least in the X5 it's only a few bolts then it comes out from the top.
Pattern condenser £180 (£620 rom BMW). Unfortunately one of the pipes had also corroded - £275 for 12" of formed pipe with flared ends, only availble from BMW...

[Sundayjumper]

Scimitar update - my Dad keeps doing this - buys parts for or has work done to what is technically my car, and only tells me afterwards. This time it’s rear shocks, because the existing ones had some overspray on them from when it was restored many years ago. There’s receipts for them and although it was quite a while ago they’ve only done a couple of thousand miles. Same as the fronts that he replaced last year.

99D47826-7CE3-4349-A713-8F9BA903E49A.jpeg (139.59 KiB) Viewed 548 times

But OTOH - he's not far off eighty years old now so if it gives him a reason to get up and about and potter around in the garage for a few hours to get away from my mum for a bit, it's all good

FWIW the springs came from dfaulknersprings.com and my Dad says they were brilliant to deal with, extremely helpful, would recommend them for anything that's not available off the shelf.

[John]

Knob pic



Made from recycled skateboards.

[Beany]

Went out to do the rear spring and tackle the brakes on the car.

The one bolt - the sick absorber retaining bolt - that I need to undo to get the spring out? Rounded.

Don't have a 17mm hex to hammer onto it either.

Fuck this noise it's going to a mechanic. They'll probably do a better job of the brakes too, it's too hot today and I've lost patience.

[Sundayjumper]

New neighbours moved in over the road on Friday, I've not met them yet but they have an E53 & a F30 so I'm hoping they're my kind of people

Slight progress retrofitting cruise control to the Clubman, new stalk assembly fitted, several hours trying to get an old laptop set up to run the coding software but eventually established I have the wrong OBD cable MINIs need a DCAN cable. I have ordered one.

[240PP]

Knob pic



Made from recycled skateboards.

I’ve got some coasters made out of the same. Is it from the Dedwood Designs guy on Instagram?

[John]

I’ve got some coasters made out of the same. Is it from the Dedwood Designs guy on Instagram?

Built by Basil made mine, there do seem to be quite a few people doing a similar thing.