1998 Nissan Micra 1.3 - Project Heartstring
Discussion
Some minor updates on what has become our most-used car (inevitable, really):
Fossilised fuel filter prized from the engine bay:
Much easier than any other car I've worked on, perhaps apart from a Rover P5B - simply unscrew two clips under the bonnet, wiggle off the rubber hoses and replace. Minimal petrol leakage, fortunately:
The only annoyance I had here are the air-con pipes, which are now redundant but do get in the way of pretty much everything:
The other items was a slight bubble on the roofline, scraped off and treated in a rushed two minute job:
Bilt-Hamber should stave off any more unsightliness developing:
Unfortunately the rear wiper has started to make distress signals in semaphore, rather than a useful wash/wipe motion, and the new filter and oil hasn't stopped the 4-5 drips of oil dispensed after each journey. Harmonic balancer, timing chain cover or something more sinister? We'll see. I don't think there is a K11 micra without an oil leak on the road today.
Fossilised fuel filter prized from the engine bay:
Much easier than any other car I've worked on, perhaps apart from a Rover P5B - simply unscrew two clips under the bonnet, wiggle off the rubber hoses and replace. Minimal petrol leakage, fortunately:
The only annoyance I had here are the air-con pipes, which are now redundant but do get in the way of pretty much everything:
The other items was a slight bubble on the roofline, scraped off and treated in a rushed two minute job:
Bilt-Hamber should stave off any more unsightliness developing:
Unfortunately the rear wiper has started to make distress signals in semaphore, rather than a useful wash/wipe motion, and the new filter and oil hasn't stopped the 4-5 drips of oil dispensed after each journey. Harmonic balancer, timing chain cover or something more sinister? We'll see. I don't think there is a K11 micra without an oil leak on the road today.
It wouldn't be a Bank Holiday without cleaning a car as the sun sets, so I decided to tackle the Micra as a) It has been parked under truly demonic trees recently and 2)It is the smallest.
Having recently moved I now have a solid collection of car cleaning potions and flags, all in one place, but after a good scrub I found this:
I was 63.7% sure this was either a polish or T-cut which I decanted when its original bottle split some years ago. It was still vaguely liquid and smelled...well... like a car cleaning something. Might be for metallic green only.
Anyway, one good coat and elbow grease later, the Micra looks back on form, ready to tackle more nonsense and grime of London:
Having recently moved I now have a solid collection of car cleaning potions and flags, all in one place, but after a good scrub I found this:
I was 63.7% sure this was either a polish or T-cut which I decanted when its original bottle split some years ago. It was still vaguely liquid and smelled...well... like a car cleaning something. Might be for metallic green only.
Anyway, one good coat and elbow grease later, the Micra looks back on form, ready to tackle more nonsense and grime of London:
davepoth said:
Ideal for London too, I'd imagine - you must be finding gaps that motorcycles would think were small.
It is consistently fun to park it as close as possible to our destination. I see the world in single yellow lines:
My girlfriend has some better spots on Harley Street and Soho that she has found - I'll take photos next time.
All K11s were fitted with an oil leak as standard at the first service by Nissan, so I decided with a free hour today to tackle the easiest - rocker gasket renewal.
Cruddy engine bay:
Notice the crosshead screws that invariable dethread themselves - I coated these in penetrating spray for a few nights running, then gently teased them back and forth with a socket extension. Awful design.
Cover off and all is well:
The old gasket looked ok - nissan part, good seal, but it seems the cheese bolts had unwound themselves over the years at the cam end.
Degreaser, wire brush and a pressure wash:
New gasket and plenty of sealant:
Some nice hex bolts to complete the look:
Et voila! A step in the right direction:
After running then engine and also tightening some bolts on the cam cover this side of the leak seems to be fixed. The sump now remains for a more involved session - definitely fresh oil seeping out there.
t but they're actually really good at what they do. I need another one.The Spruce goose said:
nice car.
Surprised you didn't paint he rocker cover red whilst it was off.
I also thought the sealant for the rocker cover should be put on sparingly as excess can drop down into the sump and clog the oil pickup filter.
I may pick out the 'Nissan 16V' in red as I have some VHT left over from painting the Alfa Romeo script on a few engines. This was just a scrub and replace job.Surprised you didn't paint he rocker cover red whilst it was off.
I also thought the sealant for the rocker cover should be put on sparingly as excess can drop down into the sump and clog the oil pickup filter.
Good point on the sealant - I was aiming to be thorough, hopefully nothing untoward will occur.
As it seems the remaining oil leak is the sump, I'll do that when it needs an oil change next year and check the pickup.
In other next, first major component failure:
The original leather fob finally broke. As I wasn't entirely sure of the legality of driving without it, we have been driving the Rover 75 this week.
This weekend we passed this very Nissan garage on the way to my parents, so dropped in to tell them the story. Luckily, as they are still a Nissan dealer, the manager who probably sold it to my grandma gave me a new fob free of charge. Nice chap. No affiliation, just a pleasant experience!
This was fitted in no time (Haynes says 4 spanners and a special Nissan tool), so hopefully it will start next time on the button:
Next time on meaningless updates: replacing those little moulding antennae for that 'new tyre' look.
The K11 continues to be our most-used car, squeezing through traffic and parking in awkward places. Even with the frost it continues to start in 0.5 seconds from a turn of the key, and heating up quicker than any vehicle I've owned.
While I contemplate dropping the sump over the winter, I've sourced some plug & play upgrades. An OEM parcel shelf with the in-built speakers was sourced for a few pounds:
These just required some trim on the O/S to be peeled back to reveal existing wiring, ready to go:
Somewhat harder to track down were the A pillars with in-built tweeters, fitted to some editions such as the SR. Luckily an eBay scrapper had a working set and was willing to post.
These days my partner is unfazed by such distractions while driving:
As with the parcel shelf, existing wiring and plugs were fitted at the factory, so this was easy to connect up. I searched online to ensure I lined the tweeters up correctly and carefully screwed in some self-tappers to hold them tight:
Then the new trims can be clipped back, ensuring no speaker wires are trapped:
Very simple upgrades, but nice to have the original Nissan design. The K11 rewarded me by snapping its bonnet release cable this morning. Oh well.
While I contemplate dropping the sump over the winter, I've sourced some plug & play upgrades. An OEM parcel shelf with the in-built speakers was sourced for a few pounds:
These just required some trim on the O/S to be peeled back to reveal existing wiring, ready to go:
Somewhat harder to track down were the A pillars with in-built tweeters, fitted to some editions such as the SR. Luckily an eBay scrapper had a working set and was willing to post.
These days my partner is unfazed by such distractions while driving:
As with the parcel shelf, existing wiring and plugs were fitted at the factory, so this was easy to connect up. I searched online to ensure I lined the tweeters up correctly and carefully screwed in some self-tappers to hold them tight:
Then the new trims can be clipped back, ensuring no speaker wires are trapped:
Very simple upgrades, but nice to have the original Nissan design. The K11 rewarded me by snapping its bonnet release cable this morning. Oh well.
We've had several P10 Primeras in the family and they all parted company with a plethora of heat shields from the exhaust.
My uncle lost a couple on the road with his first, moved off from a parking space and left several behind with his second and I deliberately cut all mine off because I was sick of driving round with the automotive equivalent of spokey-dokeys under the car...
Nice to see an often overlooked little car being given some TLC :-)
My uncle lost a couple on the road with his first, moved off from a parking space and left several behind with his second and I deliberately cut all mine off because I was sick of driving round with the automotive equivalent of spokey-dokeys under the car...
Nice to see an often overlooked little car being given some TLC :-)
Spinakerr said:
The original leather fob finally broke. As I wasn't entirely sure of the legality of driving without it, we have been driving the Rover 75 this week.
This weekend we passed this very Nissan garage on the way to my parents, so dropped in to tell them the story. Luckily, as they are still a Nissan dealer, the manager who probably sold it to my grandma gave me a new fob free of charge. Nice chap. No affiliation, just a pleasant experience!
Great stuff. Nice for them to see one of their old cars still going strong!This weekend we passed this very Nissan garage on the way to my parents, so dropped in to tell them the story. Luckily, as they are still a Nissan dealer, the manager who probably sold it to my grandma gave me a new fob free of charge. Nice chap. No affiliation, just a pleasant experience!
The K11s cropping up in this forum reminded me to provide a quick update on our own runabout.
As expected, it continues to be the near-perfect tool for tackling London. In this city drivers spend so much money on cars, yet they fail to realise how their low profile-tyred behemoths are unsuited to the narrow, potholed, irregular streets. Oh well.
The size also gives you confidence in tackling any space, especially Single Yellow Unicorns such as this, a stone's throw from Oxford Street:
For maintenance a few items will need to be completed in the summer (gearbox flush, oil sump leak, some rustproofing) but nothing for the MOT hopefully.
Recently the bonnet release stopped working, which was a real pain as it's almost impossible to trip the catch externally. I had to remove the offside grill and work a hook into the latch, then deduce the issue. At the handle, part of the plastic had broken but it still operated after unbolting in. The frayed parts are just the sheath:
The cable hadn't snapped at either end, but there was grit and nonsense in the mechanism preventing full travel:
I unhooked the springs, unbolted the latch (three 12mm bolts) and gave it all a thorough clean:
That seems to have cured it, and I was finally able to top up the screenwash. The Micra soldiers on.
As expected, it continues to be the near-perfect tool for tackling London. In this city drivers spend so much money on cars, yet they fail to realise how their low profile-tyred behemoths are unsuited to the narrow, potholed, irregular streets. Oh well.
The size also gives you confidence in tackling any space, especially Single Yellow Unicorns such as this, a stone's throw from Oxford Street:
For maintenance a few items will need to be completed in the summer (gearbox flush, oil sump leak, some rustproofing) but nothing for the MOT hopefully.
Recently the bonnet release stopped working, which was a real pain as it's almost impossible to trip the catch externally. I had to remove the offside grill and work a hook into the latch, then deduce the issue. At the handle, part of the plastic had broken but it still operated after unbolting in. The frayed parts are just the sheath:
The cable hadn't snapped at either end, but there was grit and nonsense in the mechanism preventing full travel:
I unhooked the springs, unbolted the latch (three 12mm bolts) and gave it all a thorough clean:
That seems to have cured it, and I was finally able to top up the screenwash. The Micra soldiers on.
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