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91

General Car Chat / Omega and MOT

« on: 16 February 2018, 00:58:14 »

My 217, 500 mile 15 year old Elite passed her MOT today without a single advisory!

To celebrate I showed her a sponge and took a few photos this afternoon 

92

General Discussion Area / Bereavement

« on: 15 February 2018, 03:14:18 »

For those who don't know me, at an early age (maybe ten) I was taken in by, and lived with / was raised by my grandparents, who to all intents and purposes, fulfilled the role of parents up to my early 30s (I'm now Just 34).

My old man was a legend, he was successful in the Army in his younger days, and later became a very skilled engineer working on aircraft for what was then Dowty Rotol. His money always went into giving his family the best life possible, and one thing he always insisted on was maintaining and repairing his own cars, which, is where I think I must get my fascination from.

My grandma, who other than biologically undertook the role of a mother with me, became very unwell when I was about 16. She had numerous strokes, brittle diabetes, severe mobility problems, breathing difficulties, and began to need around the clock care. Being such a faithful rock, my old man (who was in brilliant health) religiously cared for her day in day out, and devoted his life to doing so. He even stopped having a social drink, and went tee total many years ago, because he wanted to be fresh / able to drive, should she require medical attention.

I have always thought he would outlive her by a long way, and envisaged taking him on holidays and giving him a really decent quality towards the later stages of his life.

In a twist of fate, in April 2014, at the age of 81, he was lugging about bags of compost and gravel, maintaining the garden, and suddenly sat down, saying he had pain in his head. He then slipped into "sleep" and an ambulance was called. A few hours later, in hospital, we were told that he'd had a catastrophic bleed on his brain, and had a matter of hours. I was with him, among other relatives, by his bedside as he slipped away, in timing with the sun going down, on the same day.

I was convinced the old lady would follow him, and be lost without him. But in true stubbornness, she bounced back over time, and adapted to living alone, with family and carers coming in to do (everything).

A couple of weeks ago, after stripping that Corsa engine, I flew to the Canaries for a holiday, with a real need to unwind. After my first night there, I had a phone call the next morning. She had died that morning, found slumped over the kitchen worktop in her wheelchair.

I've needed some time to process it all, and it's suddenly hitting me that I've lost my parents. Although she was unwell, she was mentally as sharp as a knife, "with it", in terms of today's society, and spent hours talking to me and guiding me.

I do still have my biological mum, but for reasons I don't want to go into, the relationship by nature consists of me providing the support and advice, not the other way around - and she'll also need more of that from me now they are gone.

To this end, other than my uncle, who is an absolute rock, and his wife and kids, I don't have any family left! 

Life sucks sometimes.

93

General Car Chat / Corsa, Engine Problems

« on: 23 January 2018, 07:34:20 »

Not a help or information request as such (although all opinions welcome) - more of a rambling thread.

Currently parked on my drive is a Vauxhall Corsa, it's a 2007 'D' with the almighty three cylinder 1 litre 12 valve engine. Female owned long term, not ragged or modified, reasonable history of oil changes etc.

I was told "It doesn't start very well, and when it's going, it judders a bit. It also stalls".

Understatement of the year  It will only start at WOT, and then runs on at least only two cylinders, possibly one and a half. It won't idle, and cuts out as soon as it comes to a standstill.

Fault codes stored are: lambda sensor no2 open circuit, lambda 2 heater fault, general misfire, and misfire cylinder 1.

I've not looked at it, other than this (haven't even lifted the bonnet yet) - but will do so today.

My money, in this order, is on

1) Burnt out / damaged valve
2) Ring / piston trouble
3) Coil pack
4) Plug

Doesn't use any oil, and no visible smoke from the rear.

I'll be surprised if no1 is the troublesome cylinder, though, as normally on the three pot lumps, I thought it was usually no3 that suffers.

With aches/pains/rain I won't be doing any more than removing the plugs and doing a visual inspection / compression test today, but place your bets here as to what's wrong 

94

General Discussion Area / Liver function test results

« on: 19 January 2018, 13:00:38 »

For ages I’ve been complaining of pain on the right side of my torso coming and going, in addition to fatigue and stomach problems.

I saw the doctor who sent me for an ultrasound of my liver and abdomen. This came back normal.
He examined me and said he could feel no enlargement.

The symptoms have persisted, and last week I underwent a blood test with full liver function tests in addition.

The results have come back as “normal”, but, a couple of the levels are towards the upper end of said thresholds.

The two I think are of concern are

Serum ALT level 28 u/l (range is 10-35)

alanine transaminase (ALT), an enzyme that is produced and used inside liver cells. If the liver is under stress, levels of ALT present in blood can start to rise.

ALT is an enzyme that is mostly produced by liver cells and therefore it is a good marker of liver disease. When ALT levels rise, it is usually a clear sign that the liver cells are showing signs of damage.

One of the biggest causes of raised ALT levels is fat in the liver, usually caused by drinking too much alcohol too frequently”

gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase - 47 U/L (range is 12-64)

GGT test measures the amount of the enzyme GGT in your blood. Enzymes are molecules that are necessary for chemical reactions in your body. GGT functions in the body as a transport molecule, helping to move other molecules around the body. It plays a significant role in helping the liver metabolize drugs and other toxins.

GGT is concentrated in the liver, but it’s also present in the gallbladder, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys. GGT blood levels are usually high when the liver is damaged.

And finally, bilirubin levels - 16 umol/L (range 0-21)

When the liver is badly damaged by high intake of alcohol, it becomes swollen. This swelling blocks the removal of bilirubin, and bilirubin levels then rise in the blood. A raised bilirubin level indicates serious long term damage to your liver

I don’t consider myself a big drinker but accept I drink more than the couple of units the government say I should per day.

I’d take those results as “normal” for an overweight bloke in his 50s, but for a slim early 30s guy I don’t like them at all, and I’m thinking I will go tee-total, and have a retest in three months.

Maybe there is some sense in the government guidelines after all!

95

General Discussion Area / Cost of food

« on: 11 January 2018, 20:12:14 »

I have read numerous articles recently where people on low budgets have commented online / in the media that because they don't have much money, they have to feed their kids things like frozen pizzas, cheap ready meals, etc etc, because they "can't afford" home cooked food.

I fail to see how it's the case, and have over the last week decided to look at the cost per portion of what I'm buying/making.

Last meal, serves 4 -

Whole chicken, medium £4
2 x leeks £80p
3 carrots £30p
10 potatoes (£1.20)

Total cost £6.30. Fed four, so just over £1.50 per portion for a healthy roast.

Tonight

1 x courgette (half used) so 40p worth
1 x can chopped tomato 30p
1 x can kidney beans 30p
1 x can butter beans 30p
1 x red pepper 33p
1 x onion 25p
Rice, and a few spices, say £1 worth used.

£2.88 in total for the most delicious home made, slow cooked chilli, serves 4 generously, nice wholesome meal for 72p per head, and took no more than 5 minutes to prepare and chuck in the slow cooker.

I can only conclude that it's either laziness, or lack of knowledge / don't want to know / "too hard"

96

Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / LPG parts wanted

« on: 01 January 2018, 03:54:12 »

Front end parts wanted please

Ideally I’m after the traditional stag ECU commonly used on here with loom, changeover switch, pressure and temp sensors etc.

I will probably buy vap and injectors new but if you have any known good ones I’m interested to hear.

Also any polyflex (8mm) to tank and vap connectors most welcome as are any nozzles etc

No pipes wanted, all these will be new.

Cheers

97

General Car Chat / LPG and Omega

« on: 31 December 2017, 02:49:56 »

I am considering, once I fix it, getting rid of my Mondeo while it still has some value. As good as it is, I worry this airbag fault may just be a sign of things to come.

I happened to be pondering this, whilst enjoying driving around in my lovely black Elite, and buying fuel - and noticed LPG near me was only 50p a litre!!

Long story short, in 18 months I should no longer be under a cloud of uncertainty, and my long term work and health position will be clearer. But until then I am considering cam-belting, servicing, and gassing my Omega, to use it as my daily driver for that period.

I will need help with tank fitting and such due to weight (and will plea for that at a later date) - but I'm just wondering what folk favour at the moment in terms of LPG.

Looking online, I see STAG do a new kit, which is smarter and adapts to injector values etc. Is this likely to be good for the Omega? I was a huge fan of the classic Stag 300 kit, so an improved one sounds good.

I know not many would see gassing an Omega as worthwhile at the moment, but My Elite (Ian U's old one) is in great shape despite the mileage, and if I were to use it for at least 18 months, it'd pay for itself in half of that, and enjoy every mile

I'd appreciate any up to date experience anyone has. I'd also be happy to use an older Stag kit, as they are proven on Omegas, and will post in the wanted pages just in case!

98

General Car Chat / MK4 Mondeo Airbag issue

« on: 31 December 2017, 02:36:20 »

I've started another thread, because, although I mentioned it in a previous one, it was more of a "rant" about car washes, and has turned into a humorous thread to this effect, so I'd like to use this one to discuss the fault / diagnosis, if that's ok. Cheeky, I know, being an Omega forum, but there are some clever folk on here

The Car

2010 Mondeo Zetec TDCi 140 Estate, 6 speed. 70k ish from new. Owned by my family for most of it's life.

I've driven the car for a year with no issues at all and thoroughly enjoyed it. The other day I took it to a hand car wash, and, immediately after I drove away, the airbag light was on. I thought maybe they'd rammed the hoover into a connector under the seats and upset the SRS system etc.

I took the car to the local garage on the way home, who pulled out the fault code B0001 - Driver Frontal Stage 1 Deployment Control - Circuit Resistence below threshold.

They told me that "the airbag in the wheel needs changing mate". I didn't believe them, so decided best bet would be diagnose myself.

After reading online, and a trip to Maplin I soldered a switch into my ELM327 reader  to enable me to read the Medium Speed CAN Bus and talk to the RCM (Restraint control module, AKA Airbag ECU) - and got a copy of some software that talks to Fords. So I can now read codes, reset them, and get all manner of live data. It's pretty cool.

Anyhow, I reset the codes, and the above code came back. I then looked at the live data. All of the airbags were reporting a 3ohm resistence (correct) apart from the drivers airbag, which was reporting a resistence of 1ohm. At this point, I thought maybe the garage were correct, and decided to remove the driver airbag to test the resistence myself. As I had the airbag half out of the wheel (but not disconnected) I had to start the engine to move the wheel, and noticed that the fault light had gone out, with the airbag half way out. When I put it back in, the fault came straight back.

Anyhow, I removed the airbag, and after removing the little shorting bar, I got a 3 ohm resistence with my meter, proving the airbag is GOOD and the fault lies elsewhere.

I installed a 3 ohm resistor in it's place, but despite doing so, the live data still showed a 1 ohm resistence. Then interestingly I read the data with nothing connected in place of the driver airbag, and, got the same 1 ohm reading.

To cut a long story short, with either a 3 ohm resistor or the airbag connected, when I press HARD on the clock spring behind the steering wheel (the bit with electronics in, that turns) the fault goes away, and it shows a 3 ohm resistence. Let go, and, back to 1 ohm.

So the issue appears to be the clock spring.

Would folk concur?

Can this be taken apart and the connections checked / soldered, or is it goosed? They are very costly new, and second hand parts of this nature after being beaten off by some Neanderthal breakers yard might not be a great call.

I'm pleased I persevered with it, because the garage would have charged me for a new airbag I didn't need. I really should get some of my confidence back, I'd have never considered going near a garage in the past 

Interestingly not sure how a car wash would have damaged the squib. Unless they sprayed a LOT of fluid around. I guess could just be a co-incidence, that the mondeo electrics reared their head at this stage!

99

General Car Chat / Never again

« on: 22 December 2017, 14:18:58 »

Will I ever use one of these car wash places where about 6 blokes have a production line going

Had the Mondeo done today. Airbag light on straight after. Nothing appears disconnected under seats, can only assume they’ve sprayed their shit into the airbag itself

Local garage read the code. Something like Stage 1 driver frontal deployment control

Reset it, straight back.

Any ideas 

100

Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / ECU, Key, Chip and Receiver for 2.6 / 3.2 needed

« on: 15 December 2017, 16:20:10 »

I can't find the Key for my 3.2 ANYWHERE. And I only have one.

I'm going to quit looking today, as I'm pee'd off with it, and will have another search tomorrow. If that turns up nothing, I'm going to need a new ECU, Key, immobiliser receiver, and full ignition barrel assembly (the one that's held on with the two shear bolts.

If anyone has anything, I'd be grateful - if I can't find the key by the end of tomorrow, I'll buy it off you. Pointless looking for hours and hours for an hours work 

PS - door lock not essential. I have one, with a key that fits it, so if you don't have one - I can get by. I just need to get the thing started and moved before my Christmas visitors arrive!

101

Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / Coil pack wanted 2.0

« on: 13 December 2017, 14:13:54 »

Coil pack for x20xe wanted. It’s actually for a neighbours misfiring vectra

102

General Discussion Area / Caring for your neighbours at Christmas.....

« on: 11 December 2017, 17:04:41 »

Anyone recall, me posting about my neighbour? The one who is getting on a bit, and in the words of hot fuzz "Nothing but a bloody busybody"

It was about three years ago. While I was away for a month, touring Spain -  My Elite, parked on my drive, developed a flat tyre.
Thinking he'd be helpful and prevent the tyre getting more damaged, he decided to Jack it up and take the pressure off it.
Nice in principle, however, it all went wrong when he decided to shove a trolley Jack underneath, without looking at what he was jacking on, and put said jack straight through the frigging floorpan.

I didn't take it any further, as a result of speaking to his son, who is probably ten years older than me, and told me his dad was being looked into for Dementia etc, and just swallowed the loss.

You can imagine how chuffed I was, to wake up this morning, look out of my bedroom window to see what the weather was doing, and see him being such a kind neighbour and clearing the snow away from everyone's cars without them even asking him to.

Yes, nice in principle. Apart from the fact, at the time I looked, the silly old b@stard was clearing all the snow off the side of my beautifully polished black Elite......... with a f*£ing HARD BROOM that he regularly uses to sweep the path. 

The irony is, when the snow hit, I cancelled my appointments for a few days, and decided to leave the cars entirely put, and instead walk to the shops / pub and chill out for a few days. So I didn't even need the car cleared off.

I guess he meant well 

103

Car Parts, bits For Sale & Wanted / Connector + bit of loom wanted

« on: 09 December 2017, 15:57:50 »

I need the connector that goes into the immobilisor ring on the ignition barrel, from a 3.2 or 2.6 only please - with as much loom as possible

104

General Discussion Area / Fed up

« on: 03 December 2017, 18:08:44 »

To the back teeth.

I went back to work in March 2017. Back to traffic. I can’t go into detail but it was too soon and I’m now off again. Hoping to go back to office work as an initial reintroduction in January.

Plan is still a return to traffic but still face many obsticals.

I changed the discs and pads on my Mondeo recently. Didn’t really feel able but stubbbornness took over. I had to take the car off the road and do one corner per day. I then hurt for a week.

To cap it off, on the advice of a senior consultant, I’m now being investigated for a brain injury.

Since my crash I’ve had some forgetfulness, inability to concentrate, personality changes, headaches.  The suggestion is That whilst I don’t recall a head injury, my brain hit the inside of the skull In a head on with a closing speed of 130mph, and may have done damage.

I’m having to see loads of medical experts for legal purposes and I’m literally pig sick of it

I then feel guilty for feeling that way because at least I’m still mobile.

It’s a shit time and I could do with some motivation

105

General Car Chat / Anyone fancy changing my cambelt?

« on: 01 December 2017, 22:05:17 »

Absolutely no urgency, but I wondered if someone could please change my cambelt kit for me on my 2003 V6 Elite, which is now overdue by about 5k miles?

Unfortunately, especially now the cold is here, my back is currently too bad to take it on, with all the bending / engine cranking etc.

I'm happy to travel and pay the going rate, and have all the parts and tools.

This could be an ideal opportunity for someone who doesn't know how to do one, to learn - I'd happily guide you through step by step.

Cheers,
James