Discussion
It's fine.
I'm still not sure how hard the car hit it because as expected the garage have not sent me a pic yet. Clearly the turn around time for sending a pic is over 24 hours. Customer comms seems to be low on their priority list or maybe I'm the wrong customer.
If the car looks royally F'ed then I'd be double checking the house but if it just pushed in a little but I'm not worried about it.
I'm still not sure how hard the car hit it because as expected the garage have not sent me a pic yet. Clearly the turn around time for sending a pic is over 24 hours. Customer comms seems to be low on their priority list or maybe I'm the wrong customer.
If the car looks royally F'ed then I'd be double checking the house but if it just pushed in a little but I'm not worried about it.
Well they could get worse. If I was being picky I would say their communication has been poor. I had to chase them in the morning to find out what was going on with my car. They tried to say that my car had lurched forward into the house so I had to explain that he had used reverse first and then rather than switch off the car he had then used first and flew back up the drive and into the wall of the house. I don't like moaning so I didn't make a massive deal of it. They agreed to sort the bumper which I presume means replace and paint. I have still not seen the damage even though they promised to send me a pic of the front.
Now I am focused on getting the car MOT. If I can gaffer tape the bodywork temporarily to get an MOT then I think it would be good to drive it about a bit first and just check everything works. The car has not been used for over a year and there could be some gremlins lurking from the crash which I dont know about yet. So before I commit to bodywork maybe that's the sensible thing to do and give it a bit of a test period.
I have a feeling their bodywork pricing could be into air cooled historic territory and I wont really have anything to compare it with once they give me their estimate.
I'm not sure how it will work if I decide to take the car elsewhere for bodywork even though they have damaged the front. I guess either they'll repair the front before I take it or they'll reimburse me against the work they have done getting the car to MOT stage. I'd rather get the car painted front and back at the same place so if I do want to take it away as is then surely they'll need to accommodate me somehow.
Now I am focused on getting the car MOT. If I can gaffer tape the bodywork temporarily to get an MOT then I think it would be good to drive it about a bit first and just check everything works. The car has not been used for over a year and there could be some gremlins lurking from the crash which I dont know about yet. So before I commit to bodywork maybe that's the sensible thing to do and give it a bit of a test period.
I have a feeling their bodywork pricing could be into air cooled historic territory and I wont really have anything to compare it with once they give me their estimate.
I'm not sure how it will work if I decide to take the car elsewhere for bodywork even though they have damaged the front. I guess either they'll repair the front before I take it or they'll reimburse me against the work they have done getting the car to MOT stage. I'd rather get the car painted front and back at the same place so if I do want to take it away as is then surely they'll need to accommodate me somehow.
I get attached to cars and hate selling them. I kind of got forced into keeping it because the insurance valuation when they said it would be written off seemed low. I then enquired about buying back the wreckage and it was too good to pass on. So we are where we are. I've not really pressed on as well as I should have as it was a reasonably low priority for me. I've decided that's changed and I want to see it back on the road now. I might still sell it. Never say never.
I just called into the garage to see whats going on with my car. They showed me the car. I had a look at the front and it looks fine. Cant see anything untoward so once they get the new bumper, paint it and fit then the front will be right as rain.
They are still waiting for the correct rigid brake pipe part to come from Porsche. Once this arrives it will be fitted. Then once the front is done they will take it to an MOT centre for an inspection. Then we will know exactly what problems if any are thrown up by an MOT.
They are still waiting for the correct rigid brake pipe part to come from Porsche. Once this arrives it will be fitted. Then once the front is done they will take it to an MOT centre for an inspection. Then we will know exactly what problems if any are thrown up by an MOT.
So I have the car back now with a shiny new front bumper. Forgot to upload some pics so thought I'd add them here. Driven the car 2 or 3 times only. One of my neighbours alerted me to the drops of oil on the road which are apparently coming from the car. If you look at the last pic you can see them. Or on the pic below.
I had a sniff and it definitely has a tangy smell like gearbox fluid. Last time I drove the car I got a warning about limp mode and the car would only give me 1st and reverse. I turned the car off and on again and it got me home. So I think its definitely loosing gearbox fluid. It didn't leak while I had the car stationary for months so it must only happen when the oil gets warm or starts sloshing around. I've not got under the car to have a look round yet. I'm hoping - really hoping - its just a simple seal where the half shaft goes into the box but it could be anything. Even if it is this simple seal then its still a bit of pain taking the drive shaft and half shaft all back off the car to access it. I'll order some gearbox oil today. I believe you can just top up with 75w90 gearbox oil. So I'll probably buy some Motul 300 and then speak to Porsche about seals and see whats available from parts.
I had a sniff and it definitely has a tangy smell like gearbox fluid. Last time I drove the car I got a warning about limp mode and the car would only give me 1st and reverse. I turned the car off and on again and it got me home. So I think its definitely loosing gearbox fluid. It didn't leak while I had the car stationary for months so it must only happen when the oil gets warm or starts sloshing around. I've not got under the car to have a look round yet. I'm hoping - really hoping - its just a simple seal where the half shaft goes into the box but it could be anything. Even if it is this simple seal then its still a bit of pain taking the drive shaft and half shaft all back off the car to access it. I'll order some gearbox oil today. I believe you can just top up with 75w90 gearbox oil. So I'll probably buy some Motul 300 and then speak to Porsche about seals and see whats available from parts.
Fnumber1user said:
Kudos for your patience - did the bodyshop give you costs to complete repairs/are scheduling a trip in now that mechanically she's at least virtually sound.
NoThey said their body shop is booked up for a year doing full on bare shell restos of air cooled cars.
Maybe they just didn't want the work - which is fine. I'd rather they tell me that than half ass it.
So the car is still playing up. It refuses to find gears and therefore cant really be driven. Sometimes it refuses to go into reverse altogether. I have seen it find 1st occasionally but generally it tries to pull off in 2nd with a lurch and stall or even 3rd if it cant find 1st and 2nd.
So today I finally got to read the fault codes using a Durametric which someone kindly lent to me. I had quote a few fault codes at first which I'll paste here. I cleared all these. I'm not sure if some of these were caused by a low battery. I took the battery off to charge it and found one of the clamps just pushed on and not clamped up.
Before
So today I finally got to read the fault codes using a Durametric which someone kindly lent to me. I had quote a few fault codes at first which I'll paste here. I cleared all these. I'm not sure if some of these were caused by a low battery. I took the battery off to charge it and found one of the clamps just pushed on and not clamped up.
Before
When I collected the car with it's new front bumper and MOT it worked fine. Then the gremlins started. It only worked ok for a couple of weeks. The gremlins got progressively worse. I did put some gear fluid into the box because I noticeda leak and thought that made sense. Then decided the gremlins were due to me adding the wrong fluid so I drained it and added a different fluid. Now I believe the complicated hydraulic gubbins is in the other side of the box which I've not meddled with. All the hydraulics for the clutch and changing gears.
I'm wandering now if the gremlins were all due to a loose battery cable giving poor voltage or intermittent voltage. I'll never know. Now I clearly have a pdk fault but not sure if it's in the box or something else. I've seen various errors on the dash before I found the loose battery cable and I had a lot of faults which I've cleared. I'm not sure if clearing the faults has changed anything or they will return. The car doesn't want to go into gears now. That is obvious.
I'm wandering now if the gremlins were all due to a loose battery cable giving poor voltage or intermittent voltage. I'll never know. Now I clearly have a pdk fault but not sure if it's in the box or something else. I've seen various errors on the dash before I found the loose battery cable and I had a lot of faults which I've cleared. I'm not sure if clearing the faults has changed anything or they will return. The car doesn't want to go into gears now. That is obvious.
Turns out it just needed some fluid. Swallowed the whole litre. I took it for a drive and it all works. Ok the gear change is a little jerky but it works. Plugged in the fault code reader and nothing. All clear. I managed about 45 minutes and was just getting near to home when I had a stutter changing gear and the yellow message so I nursed it back. Parked fine so still got 1st and reverse.
Now I guess I need to figure out what to do about the leak. Clearly its clutch side fluid and I'm wandering if perhaps its coming out from the cooler or the pipes going to it.
Now I guess I need to figure out what to do about the leak. Clearly its clutch side fluid and I'm wandering if perhaps its coming out from the cooler or the pipes going to it.
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