Saxo VTS ... A bad f**king start

[Byard]

I saw a saxo up for sale on eBay around 6 months ago for £1,700 which was already a good price (not sure if its a good deal now as i'm not up to date on current prices) as it had only done 55k on a 52 plate with FSH. I put an offer in not expecting it to be accepted for £1,500.

I check 10 minutes later and its been accepted and I can't really back out so I went to pick it up from Shorpe ... heres the photos from the advert










Looked quite chavvy in its current state so the first thing I did was order some standard rear lights and fit them.

I then ordered a full 4-2-1 manifold and decat to compliment the Magex that came with the car.

Followed by a nice set of standard VTS alloys ... but before I got round to fitting them I had a problem...


I was driving on my 120 daily commute on a really busy main road to tideswell and came to a corner around 35mph and ... my wheel came flying off and i just went sliding down the road on 3 wheels & 1 brake disk ... really shook me up as there was a HGV coming towards me and I didn't have any steering control + there are big trees either side of the road.

I assumed someoen had tried to steal the alloys but couldn't quite get them off so just left it. I don't mind stealing my wheels so much but trying to kill me is another matter!

That was around 5 months ago and iv'e been wanting to get it back on the road so for the past few weekends iv'e been fixing it.

I had a MOT test booked for 7:30am this morning so I took it there and got a nice big red sheet of paper ...


[QUOTE]Reason(s) for refusal to issue Certificate

Nearside Front Headlamp aim too high (1.8)

Nearside Front Headlamp insecure (1.7.2)

Nearside Rear Passengers seat insecure (6.2.3)

Offside Rear Passengers seat insecure (6.2.3)

Centre Rear Passengers seat insecure (6.2.3)

Offside Front Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (8.2.3)

Nearside Front Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (8.2.3)

Offside Front Front constant velocity joint gaiter insecurely mounted to its housing (2.5.C.1a)

Centre Front Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content after 2nd fast idle excessive (7.3.D.2b)

Centre Front Exhaust emissions Lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits (7.3.D.2b)

Advisory Notice issued

Nearside Rear Brake pad(s) wearing thin (3.5.1f)

Offside Rear Brake pad(s) wearing thin (3.5.1f)

O/s and n/s rear discs hevily corroded
[/QUOTE]




Most of them are easy fixes & as the the seats 'insecure', they have been removed and are just thrown in the back of the car ... but I guess he had to put it down to cover himself. Exhaust will be the hardest to correct as I have to re-fit the CAT which is a ballache as I don't have a pit or car lift.

Thanks for looking, will update with more pictures soon.

Edited by Byard on Monday 24th January 14:21

Edited by Byard on Monday 24th January 15:50

[sicasey]

I feel for you mate. I had a wheel come off my 106 GTi in 2000 coming along the snake pass of all places into Glossop! It scared the st out of me, I still have no idea how I managed to control it and I'm thankful it happened on pretty much the only corner without a huge drop into a valley.

My first thoughts were that someone had tried to steal the wheels.

In reality, like your saxo I had "upgraded" the wheels. It turns out I had been supplied wheel bolts that were ever soo slightly to short.

Lesson learnt there I can tell you

[Uwe Seeler]

Oh the joys of buying off a public auction site something that looks to cheap to be true and not getting an AA inspection.

Good luck with fixing it up though

[CampDavid]

Bolt in the seats properly (takes about 5 minutes)

bolt the lights on properly (again, 5 minutes)

then it's only emissions, which sounds a lot like the cat. That said, the open air filter could be an issue?

[Byard]

CampDavid said:

Bolt in the seats properly (takes about 5 minutes)

bolt the lights on properly (again, 5 minutes)

then it's only emissions, which sounds a lot like the cat. That said, the open air filter could be an issue?

I took the Max Power style induction kit off and forgot to put it back on, simple 5 minute job along with most of the others like you say.

[Davie_GLA]

You ran it with no air filter?

[Byard]

Yes

[Rollcage]

No filter usually leans off the mixture, so it's more likely to be cat related, especially if it hasn't got one!

[sicasey]

Rollcage said:

No filter usually leans off the mixture, so it's more likely to be cat related, especially if it hasn't got one!

My 106 GTi would have failed its MOT if the de-cat pipe had of been left in place.

[soad]

Unlucky, very unlucky.

I'm sure you'll sort it out though, and shoudn't cost a fortune to put things right

[DannyVTS]

Unlucky bud, losing one of those Oz titans was a good thing tbh though onwards and upwards !

ETA: oops they aren't titans, what are they ?

Edited by DannyVTS on Monday 24th January 18:51

[Byard]

DannyVTS said:

Unlucky bud, losing one of those Oz titans was a good thing tbh though onwards and upwards !

ETA: oops they aren't titans, what are they ?

Edited by DannyVTS on Monday 24th January 18:51

Good question, some kind of halfruads brand I beleive, think they are discontined now, not sure of the name sorry.

[ikonic]

Ermm..... out of interest what was the cause of the wheel falling off? Had someone really tried to steal the wheels?

Probably the one thing I'm most paranoid about! I always double check the wheel nuts whenever I have a service/tyre change etc....

Edited by ikonic on Monday 24th January 19:54

[Byard]

ikonic said:

Ermm..... out of interest what was the cause of the wheel falling off? Had someone really tried to steal the wheels?

Probably the one thing I'm most paranoid about! I always double check the wheel nuts whenever I have a service/tyre change etc....

Edited by ikonic on Monday 24th January 19:54

I assume someone had yes, can't think what else it could be, unless they just wasn't tightened enough and worked themselves loose after ~ 300 miles

[CampDavid]

It could well be that the wheels were a different offset and the bolts were too short

[Byard]

Thats what I first thought but upon inspection there were some ~3 inch spacers fitted with extra super long wheel nuts. When they came out they stripped all the threads in the hub

Edited by Byard on Tuesday 25th January 09:32

[DannyVTS]

Good old halfords

Spacers that big will hav more than likely shagged the wheel bearings too

[sicasey]

See above for wheel coming off my 106 GTi. Not a happy day.

[DannyVTS]

sicasey said:

See above for wheel coming off my 106 GTi. Not a happy day.

Bad times mate , what wheels were they

[DannyVTS]

sicasey said:

See above for wheel coming off my 106 GTi. Not a happy day.

Bad times mate , what wheels were they