The Joy of Running an Old Shed

[the cueball]

What is the Shed Collective's view of changing things like diff/transfer case/transmission oil?

There aren't any (known) issues with any of it but I have no idea if/when they've been changed before.

Is that considered in keeping with running a shed? or starting to care too much? lol

Edited by the cueball on Thursday 13th February 12:29

[Eyersey1234]

mholt1995 said:

Thanks to a pesky invisible lamp post, the shed has gotten sheddier!

Lampposts are devil's for hiding and leaping out on you, or was the Mondeo parked and the lamppost drove into you lol?

[S100HP]

the cueball said:

What is the Shed Collective's view of changing things like diff/transfer case/transmission oil?

There aren't any (known) issues with any of it but I have no idea if/when they've been changed before.

Is that considered in keeping with running a shed? or starting to case too much? lol

It depends on what type of shed and how long you plan on keeping it. If its a £400 snotter, that you plan on binning as soon as something goes wrong, nope. If its a nice car that you plan on running a while and happens to be in shed territory (like my XC70) then yes. Just had the gearbox oil replaced.

[p4cks]

mholt1995 said:

Thanks to a pesky invisible lamp post, the shed has gotten sheddier!

On a Ghia too? OMG!

Edited by p4cks on Thursday 13th February 12:48

[mholt1995]

Eyersey1234 said:

Lampposts are devil's for hiding and leaping out on you, or was the Mondeo parked and the lamppost drove into you lol?

It was absolutely the latter, had it not been invisible, I would have of course had the steering locked into the opposite direction to come out of the space next to the lamp post!

In retrospect I'm still not quite sure how it happened! Popped the arch liner back into place this morning and it improved the panel gap.

[LukeyP_]

Pothole said:

Bleeding the coolant system is easy and takes minutes, surely?

I know nowt about turbos

Caliper is an easy fix, too.

Seems like both my rears are sticky so I''m gonna get into them after work tomorrow. Just out of interest I looked on ECP for discs and pads cos I recently did the fronts and there's not loads of meat on the rear pads. They're on offer anyway and they've got the usual discount code which made it £19.39 all in!!! That'll be both ends new discs and pads for about £60. I love sheds!

What car do you have?

I thought it would be easy, but the bottle is the highest point in the system (Octavia) so tried to bleed it and thought I’d made a difference, but coolant light returned this morning so I’ll check it before I leave work tonight and top up as necessary. As it was fine before the timing belt change, I have told the garage they can look at it as it’s clearly an issue.

Not sure about the Caliper, as I ain’t tech minded lol! The turbo, I am hoping is just a sensor.

[Demelitia]

LukeyP_ said:

Mine is slowly annoying me.

1. Since I had timing belt done, coolant light keeps flashing every so often. It seems full of air
2. Turbo used to die at 3k (sticky vanes or faulty N75) - but now dies quite low down in revs
3. Think I have a sticky calliper

Already paid out for 2x new tyres, rear shock and cam belt replacing. Not sure if I carry on now?!

Think I replied to your thread on the home mechanics forum about the coolant issues the other day.
If your turbo is sticking and causing overboost issues, first check your vacuum lines for holes and such. If they’re good,
Find your turbo actuator, the rod on my Passat is accessible from underneath with a long screwdriver. See if it moves freely and without grittiness. If not, the turbo might be full of gunk on the hot side.
Mr. Muscle oven cleaner will clean it out. On mine I remove the egr take off pipe from the exhaust manifold and fed some silicone hose down in to the turbo via that port. Fill it with mr.muscle (spray it slowly, it foams up and eats aluminium, you don’t want it going places it shouldn’t be) and move the actuator rod by hand every so often whilst it’s soaking.
You’ll need to pull the spray nozzle off the mr muscle and maybe increase the diameter of the nipple underneath with some electrical tape.
Wear eye-pro and gloves, it tends to go everywhere if you’re not careful.
I originally left it for 10 minutes the first time out of worry it had expanded too much; it worked but the issue came back on Tuesday night.
Did the procedure again yesterday and left it for about an hour, the car now pulls well enough that I’m pretty sure I only part sorted the problem the first time.

[Alfa GTV]

Daily shed is due its MOT in March, question time - 2005 B6 Audi A4, only within the last month or so I have noticed the airbag warning light does not illuminate, key to position 2 all other lights go on then off, but no airbag light?

Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?

[LukeyP_]

Demelitia said:

Think I replied to your thread on the home mechanics forum about the coolant issues the other day.
If your turbo is sticking and causing overboost issues, first check your vacuum lines for holes and such. If they’re good,
Find your turbo actuator, the rod on my Passat is accessible from underneath with a long screwdriver. See if it moves freely and without grittiness. If not, the turbo might be full of gunk on the hot side.
Mr. Muscle oven cleaner will clean it out. On mine I remove the egr take off pipe from the exhaust manifold and fed some silicone hose down in to the turbo via that port. Fill it with mr.muscle (spray it slowly, it foams up and eats aluminium, you don’t want it going places it shouldn’t be) and move the actuator rod by hand every so often whilst it’s soaking.
You’ll need to pull the spray nozzle off the mr muscle and maybe increase the diameter of the nipple underneath with some electrical tape.
Wear eye-pro and gloves, it tends to go everywhere if you’re not careful.
I originally left it for 10 minutes the first time out of worry it had expanded too much; it worked but the issue came back on Tuesday night.
Did the procedure again yesterday and left it for about an hour, the car now pulls well enough that I’m pretty sure I only part sorted the problem the first time.

You did - thanks for that . I spoke to the garage earlier and they adamant air in the system wouldn’t cause my issue so there must be a leak somewhere apparently?! We will see - I’m dropping it off for them to sort as it wasn’t there before the change.

Thanks for the turbo tips, I thought it could be those but also reading it could be the boost valve as it happens at different rev ranges (worse one is at 2,500 rpm in 5th at the moment).

[V6todayEVmanana]

r4_rick said:

going to be doing about 20k a year in a 10 plate 159 estate diesel, admittedly a bit over shed budget at just over £2k, reading the posts it seems being brave enough not to immediately change the cam belt and water pump is appropriate shed behaviour ? It’s done 92 k and was last done 5 years ago at 80k..........

Cambelt roulette I wonder how much it would really degrade after 18k and 5 years, dad's 1.6 Focus has a 10 year interval, is the rubber really that different???

Wonder if it's really the water pump and pulleys that fail, then again will a part only last 5 years on one car and a similar one 10 years on another.

With my Alfa I updated the factory water pump with a metal impeller, wondering if they weren't plastic from the start that the manufacturers wouldn't had to reduce the interval.

[the cueball]

S100HP said:

It depends on what type of shed and how long you plan on keeping it. If its a £400 snotter, that you plan on binning as soon as something goes wrong, nope. If its a nice car that you plan on running a while and happens to be in shed territory (like my XC70) then yes. Just had the gearbox oil replaced.

It's a keeper for now, really like them (I've had 4 over the years)..

This one has had 13 years of clean MOTs, good service history and apart from the usual dents n scrapes is in good condition.

Well if you ignore the warning lights, window that doesn't work and don't want to listen to music etc..It's in good condition..for a Shed

[anonymous-user]

I have had my current shed Megane DCI for two and a half years and it has been brilliant, the only reason I want to change is because I fancy something quieter, smoother, bigger, more luxurious feeling and with a six speed gearbox.

I keep thinking about an upgrade, and the car that keeps coming to mind is an Audi A4 with the 1.9 130 PD engine. Strangely enough this is the same car the previous owner of my Megane bought instead, and I think for all the same reasons I am considering one.

I like a solid door shut thunk and I hate interior rattles. I want something that feels solid and relaxing to drive, economy is important as is low down torque. Outright speed is not that important as long as it can cruise at 70 to 80MPH with no effort .

After onwing a Shed Honda for a few months, I do not like Japanese cars. They may be fantastically reliable but they just feel cheap and flimsy inside and I hate rust even more than interior rattles.

Budget is twice the usual shed budget, I will happily spend a bit more for a nicer example.

Is there a better shed for the money?

[S100HP]

Joey Deacon said:

I have had my current shed Megane DCI for two and a half years and it has been brilliant, the only reason I want to change is because I fancy something quieter, smoother, bigger, more luxurious feeling and with a six speed gearbox.

I keep thinking about an upgrade, and the car that keeps coming to mind is an Audi A4 with the 1.9 130 PD engine. Strangely enough this is the same car the previous owner of my Megane bought instead, and I think for all the same reasons I am considering one.

I like a solid door shut thunk and I hate interior rattles. I want something that feels solid and relaxing to drive, economy is important as is low down torque. Outright speed is not that important as long as it can cruise at 70 to 80MPH with no effort .

After onwing a Shed Honda for a few months, I do not like Japanese cars. They may be fantastically reliable but they just feel cheap and flimsy inside and I hate rust even more than interior rattles.

Budget is twice the usual shed budget, I will happily spend a bit more for a nicer example.

Is there a better shed for the money?

Yes, a V70/S60. Get a 2006 onwards one and you'll have a 6 speed box.

[Scootersp]

Alfa GTV said:

Daily shed is due its MOT in March, question time - 2005 B6 Audi A4, only within the last month or so I have noticed the airbag warning light does not illuminate, key to position 2 all other lights go on then off, but no airbag light?

Will it pass an MOT with no airbag light illuminating?

I don't think so anymore....

[Superchickenn]

I thought I'd share this one as one of many sheds I own..

I picked this up last April as an mot fail for £200.. Had a rear axle rusted through which is a common fault..

Only just got round to fixing it last weekend..

Anyways shes had 2 owners from new
Genuine 80188 miles
Full history with 2 oil changes every year of its life

And now with a fresh 12 months mot





|https://thumbsnap.com/YbfsEAvf[/url]





Cost me the grand total of 12 to fix for new bushes.. I had the axle off another car I broke and was in profit so owed me nothing [url]

[carinaman]

Superchickenn said:

Cost me the grand total of 12 to fix for new bushes.. I had the axle off another car I broke and was in profit so owed me nothing.

Excellent.

Edited by carinaman on Thursday 13th February 15:43

[STIfree]

Citroen C2 shed still won't start. Remaining ports of call are, coilpacks, spark plugs and crank sensor. But the weathers crap today so that'll have to wait.


But shed adventures in the Mondeo over the North Yorkshire Moores were a success. Finally some snow for my winter tyres, now I feel it was worth the purchase















Also, I put on a personalised registration that I've had in the draw for a few years. It'll force me to stick with the car for a while instead of chopping it in for the next shiny shed I spot on FB marketplace.

Mot next week, should be okay. Gave it a check over recently and replaced a couple things so its tip top.

Totalled up how much the car has cost me so far -

£870 purchase
£205 on replacement parts
£35 on MOT next week

Just over £1100 and everything is sorted, happy to run until the next MOT for sure. Might even treat it to an oil and filter change.

[Digby]

Pothole said:

LukeyP_ said:

Mine is slowly annoying me.

1. Since I had timing belt done, coolant light keeps flashing every so often. It seems full of air
2. Turbo used to die at 3k (sticky vanes or faulty N75) - but now dies quite low down in revs
3. Think I have a sticky calliper

Already paid out for 2x new tyres, rear shock and cam belt replacing. Not sure if I carry on now?!

Bleeding the coolant system is easy and takes minutes, surely?

I know nowt about turbos

Caliper is an easy fix, too.

Seems like both my rears are sticky so I''m gonna get into them after work tomorrow. Just out of interest I looked on ECP for discs and pads cos I recently did the fronts and there's not loads of meat on the rear pads. They're on offer anyway and they've got the usual discount code which made it £19.39 all in!!! That'll be both ends new discs and pads for about £60. I love sheds!

Worth checking flexi hoses before potential calliper replacements / refurbs, too. They always look ok from the outside, but if degraded inside, they too can make callipers stick or at least stick and release over and over quite often.

Cheaper option, too so worth bearing in mind. There's nothing more annoying than replacing a calliper only to find it also sticks due to a fkexi hose worth a tenner.

The annoying part of course is that you could change a flexi and still find out it is the calliper!

You can get an idea though with a few simple tests.

[Digby]

Digby said:

Worth checking flexi hoses before potential calliper replacements / refurbs, too. They always look ok from the outside, but if degraded inside, they too can make callipers stick or at least stick and release over and over quite often.

Cheaper option, too so worth bearing in mind. There's nothing more annoying than replacing a calliper only to find it also sticks due to a flexi hose worth a tenner.

The annoying part of course is that you could change a flexi and still find out it is the calliper!

You can get an idea though with a few simple tests.

[v15ben]

I recognise some of those roads, Kurt.
Good fun in a shed when you don't care about potholes or hitting the odd suicidal grouse!