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Topics - Viral_Jim

Pages: [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ... 10
1
General Car Chat / Costs of running a car
« on: 24 March 2024, 22:44:20 »
In the course of writing the ad for the Zafira, I discovered that I've spent just shy of £875 in maintenance costs (ex. MOT fees) over the past three years and 31,000. I can't make my mind up if that sounds like a lot or not, in the grand scheme of things.  :-\

Considering I've worked the car hard over that time, with lots of travel 6 or 7 up, lots of miles towing a trailer etc I suppose its not too bad.

Anyone else know what they've spent, or am I the only one who's this sad  :-\

2
General Car Chat / Zafira B 1.6 top end noise.
« on: 04 March 2024, 18:36:00 »
I am doing my level best to try and get rid of the zafira, but the damn thing just won't be gotten rid of. It's latest ploy is a top end noise. The car is also as flat as a witches tit.

It started about two weeks ago, approximately one week and 250 miles after I did the timing belt, water pump and tensioners. It has started out life as a diesely thrum but has graduated rapidly to a nasty sounding rattle that definitely signals a significant issue.

When it was a thrum I was thinking hydraulic lifters, by with the nasty rattle I'm thinking it's one or both of the cam dephasers disintegrating. My theory is that the new tensioner and belt has better tension than the 14yr old 103k ones that came off and it's put more stress on the cams.

To answer the obvious, I checked the timing twice, then checked it again, but my first port of call is a strip down to look it over one more time.

Sny advice greatly appreciated as always!

3
General Discussion Area / Time for a new mower?
« on: 09 October 2023, 09:17:12 »
As we had some sun this weekend I tried to get one last cut of the grass in. Hadn't gone more than about 5 yards before the mower slowed, stopped and gave off some blue smoke, and a nice burning smell.

Stripped it apart, found the top part was full of dried dead grass. What a sh!tty design! Anyway, cleaned the commutator and the brushes up, hoovered out all the cr@p and put the motor back together.

Then this happened....  ;D


https://imgur.com/gallery/TZTbvov

So, probably a new mower then.  ;D question is, do I go with a new 240v one, or spend a bit more and get a compatible 18v one from Makita and not bother faffing with the cables every time I want to use it....

In truth I probably won't do anything for a bit, as it's not going to be required for a few months now.

4
General Car Chat / Zafira Tourer engine choices
« on: 15 August 2023, 09:46:50 »
Morning all,

I'm starting to think about changing the Zafira for a similar bus that's a bit newer. Zafira Tourer is an obvious candidate and a quick look about suggests three engine options. There's a N/A 1.8 which looks like a continuation of the 1.6/1.8 units in my current car, 2.0 diesel and a 1.4T petrol, neither of which I know anything about. Obviously the 2.0 will deliver better economy, but at the cost of reliability?

I'm drawn instinctively to the 1.8 as its very much the devil I know, but how are the other two options, does anyone have any experience? Also, how are the auto boxes on these? I don't have any objection to either two or three pedals, but I'd prefer to avoid an unreliable option if possible.

Thanks as always  :y

5
Time has come for my dad to part with his Omega, which was previously owned by me. He doesn't do any kind of online foruming so asked me to post the advert. The car is priced very keenly to try and save it from becoming bean tins; doubtless worth more to someone in bits but it would be nice to see it stay in service.

MOT History for the vehicle can be seen here.

Advert
Omega 2.2 CDX Estate, Automatic, 2003, Metallic Grey
Family owned from 2014 and laid-up since May '22.  Now 99,130 miles, MOT expired April '23

Bodywork is in reasonable condition for the age of the vehicle with the exception of a scuff and peeling paint on the front bumper, a scratch on the NSF and NSR doors and a rust patch (approx 4” x 2”) below the rear wiper.

Bad bits
- The sunroof is inoperative – fuse removed when it developed a mind of its own for opening.
- Folding front passenger seat does not recline.
- Rear seat squab is damaged and the centre seat belt is temperamental (previously removed for MOT purposes then refitted).
- Ideally it would benefit from a new bottom hose or re-piping.

Good bits
Service/Maintenance History - car has been well looked after mechanically

Apr. '22 –    99,094 Wiper blades (x3), bottom hose repaired
Nov. '21 –   99,090 Radiator, pressure cap, thermostat and gearbox oil changed
Apr. '21 –    98,695 Rear discs and pads, rear brake pipes, change brake fluid and anti-freeze and new exhaust
Mar. '21 –    98,632 Oil and filter, Timing belt and tensioner, air filter and spark plugs
Dec. '20 – 98,270 Front discs and pads and 2 x rear tyres
Aug. '19 – 94,483 Oil and filter, air filter, cabin filter and wiper blades, 94,209 2 x front tyres
Aug. '18 –   88,250 New alternator
Jun. '18 –    87,089 Oil and filter, spark plugs and Tow bar fitted
Jan. '18 –    2 x rear tyres
May'17 –    New exhaust
Apr. '17 –    77,380 Oil and filter, air filter, cabin filter and fuel filter.
Apr. '16 –    68,150 Oil and filter and spark plugs
Dec. '15 – 64,000 Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, Crankshaft position sensor and Front discs and pads
Apr. '14 –    52,000 Gearbox oil changed


£150 will save it from the scrap man.

Pics to follow

6
General Car Chat / Automatic Transmission Fluid - Which brand?
« on: 01 August 2023, 16:01:46 »
I know the forum loves a good white goods/winter tyres thread, but all my appliances are working and its currently sunny outside, so....

Auto gearbox fluid  :D

The gearchange on SWMBO's 9 speed Evoque is getting noticeably less smooth and at nearly 80,000 miles a fluid change is more than due so I thought I'd have at it -  how hard can it be?

Apparently very when it comes to selecting what oil to use. Most people online take the 'only ZF branded oil will do' line. But having dug a little bit, the ZF stuff seems to be re-branded Shell Spirax S5 X and most of the big brands (Comma, Morris Mannol etc) have an equivalent spec. The price difference between these can be pretty stark (£35/l for ZF, vs £55/5l for Comma for example). When it comes to engine oil, I have tended to buy anything that's the correct spec and made by a reputable manufacturer, and never gone wrong so far. Does this approach hold when it comes to ATF, or are transmissions more sensitive to fluid brand? Its hard to strip out what's internet hyperbole these days.

7
General Car Chat / Z16XER oil leak
« on: 15 July 2023, 20:57:29 »
One of the advisories on today's MOT was for a not serious oil leak down the back of the block. Apparently it wasn't dripping but the block is wet so it's definitely current.

Before I go flailing about, torch in hand, are there any likely suspects I should be checking out first?

 I've all but ruled out the rocker cover gasket, I wasn't in working gear  but I had a quick look and the very top of the block looks dry, plus the gaskets were replaced only 2yrs /18,000 miles ago.

Any suggestions welcome  :y

8
General Car Chat / Zafira B airbag light
« on: 14 June 2023, 18:19:21 »
Evening all.

Setting off this morning I had an intermittent airbag light that could be gotten rid of for a time by restarting the car. I'm also without the Chrysler atm so it's my only car.  ::)  ::)

By the time I got back it was on and wouldn't go away by restarting. Currently it comes on with the key in position 2, goes out when the key goes to position 3 and stays off for maybe 1-2s after the engine catches but then comes back on.

MOT is in the next couple of weeks so any pointers would be greatly appreciated before I either spend some money on a diagnostic kit that will read the SRS system, or open up the dash binacle and change the warning light to take a power feed from a different light (CEL maybe)  >:D.

9
General Discussion Area / Stripped bolt into plastic - fix?
« on: 09 June 2023, 12:20:23 »
The handle on our pressure washer is held in place with two bolts which, I now know are threaded straight into part of the plastic chassis of the washer.

I picked it up yesterday and was left holding only the handle as the bolts have stripped the plastic from the inside of their threaded holes.  ::)

I was going to araldite them back in but thought I would consult the collective "intelligence" of the OOF for a potentially better solution. I've seen that two part steel stuff at the motorfactors (no idea what its called), but any advice is welcome.

Thanks all  :y

10
General Car Chat / Zafira B rear door lock
« on: 18 March 2023, 13:44:17 »
Afternoon all,

The Zafira's (2009 1.6 petrol, if it matters) latest little foible is that the N/S/R door doesn't want to lock. When you push the central locking button there is a slight click from inside the door, but it doesn't lock. Then if you try the handle it triggers the central locking to open all the other doors.

Given there's power getting to the door, I'm assuming this is a similar situation to the omega door locks where they go 'lazy' and just need to be replaced. But I thought I would check with those who have more zafira experience.

11
General Discussion Area / Anyone know anything about compressors?
« on: 19 February 2023, 16:32:47 »
Two years ago I was given a compressor as a birthday present by my dad. Thanks to my idiot ex wife it spent a period stored upside down and a load of oil has escaped from somewhere inside it  >:(.

I know very little about these bits of kit but I assume that's bad. I've bought some compressor oil but my question is, is there any kind of priming procedure I need to go through? I don't want to just top it up, switch it on and find I've ducked it before I even start!

12
General Car Chat / Evoque 2.2 sd4 DPF error
« on: 08 January 2023, 20:05:46 »
Evening all,

Question for those with soot chucker knowledge. Was driving back from North Yorkshire today at a steady 75, 160 miles into a 175mile journey the Evoque when it threw a Restricted Performance error. While nursing it home, it also threw up a gearbox error and the autobox locked itself in neutral. Did a restart and the gearbox error cleared, but restricted performance persisted. However, once the codes were read and cleared, the car behaved like nothing had ever happened  ::)

I borrowed a friend's iCarsoft and read the codes. Got a P244A - Differential DPF pressure too low and a soot concentration (inferred) of 7.74g/m3. Engine oil level is at the full mark but not over full. Usage pattern is genuinely mixed, a number of short journeys, but always one run of >50 miles every 2 weeks or so. Also, I recently replaced both 12v batteries, so I doubt there's any issue with voltage drop throwing random errors.

My primary suspect is the DPF differential pressure sensor, but I'd be keen to hear if I'm missing something obvious!

13
General Car Chat / Zafira B rear trailing arm bushes - how difficult?
« on: 07 November 2022, 21:11:21 »
As per the title, the big bushes with the oddly shaped lobe on them (oo err  ::)). Are they hard to change and are any special tools required to wind the new ones in?

I watched a YT video of a guy doing a set, but he made such an ar$e of it I couldn't work out if it was difficult or not  ;D.

No doubt Dangerous Dave has done a few hundred, likewise that DTM bloke has probably done a few, so I thought I'd ask those what know...

14
General Car Chat / Am I the only one
« on: 01 November 2022, 11:12:29 »
Who had no idea these existed..?

Linky Link

I like these a lot, and with an AWD V8, the probably Bob along quite nicely too  :y

15
General Car Chat / New tyres for the Disco
« on: 24 October 2022, 09:11:52 »
Following two non-repairable punctures in as many months, I am looking at getting a new pair of boots for the Disco. To do this I need to shuffle the wheels around to get like-for-like tyres on each axle (both punctures are driver’s side, front and rear). What’s on it are some sort of all weather thing that are close to £300 each. :o I really don't need this capability, so I won't be bothering with those! Good mid-range tyres are a little over half that, budgets, well under half.

This raises two questions. Firstly, if I shuffle the tyres will I have to get the car hooked up to a spotty yoof’s laptop to get the TPMS reshuffled, or does it know which sensor is where on the car without being told? Secondly, will running different tread levels front to back have any negative effects on the drivetrain? I’ve heard about some 4x4 being ‘sensitive’ to differing tread depths on tyres and I was previously planning on rotating the tyres and replacing all four at once when worn.

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