I'll AX this only once... though there is an Echo in here
Discussion
That's a good shout - I did take up that suggestion today, and can rule out the windscreen seal and the nearside doors. No obvious evidence of water ingress when a jug of water was poured over them! It wasn't all plain sailing though....
The front sound deadening can't be removed without taking out the dashboard, pedals and everything else (possibly the bloody windscreen for all I can tell). I'm afraid I don't have the time or energy to be that dedicated at present with an upcoming house move!
So I soaked up as much as I could with towels, jammed material underneath them and have left the dehumidifier in there doing its thing....
It worked nicely on the carpet overnight, which is dry and ready to go back in whenever I find the source of the problem and reassemble:
The sound deadening was absolutely bogging and will go in the bin:
Other work completed today was to take out the sunroof, check the drain holes (both free), remove both seals, wash them, and reinstate with a bit of instant gasket where required:
Part of the problem is the seal around the glass which has perished. It should clamp the glass tightly with a ribbed internal section, but this has widened over the years and no longer grips the glass as it should. I suspect that this is where the water is getting in and possibly dripping onto the carpet, but it still seems a lot...especially as the headlining around it is dry.
Second hand ones on eBay are £40, so I'll see how this gasket fix goes (I suspect I know the answer....)
Investigations into the nearside rear door seal showed a little bit of rust. Oh, a small circular section that is out of keeping with the rest of the B-pillar:
I know what I'm going to find when I investigate, but that's not going to stop me.... It's no good painting over rust.
There was also a small patch on the inside of the door which I wire brushed back and treated:
At least this one didn't go through the metal!
All patches have had a couple of coats of K-rust, but I'm going to need to do something about the small hole in the B-pillar. Probably what I did with the hole in the top of the same B-pillar.
Hopefully get some more done on it this week and the coming weekend, as I don't like having the 'just jump in it' car off the road for too long. Still, at least the dog is going to work with my other half in her van a bit more, so he doesn't need the AX quite so much!
Now the Scimitar is up for sale, that will also be one less project to deal with, so I will have more time to spend on the rest of them.
The front sound deadening can't be removed without taking out the dashboard, pedals and everything else (possibly the bloody windscreen for all I can tell). I'm afraid I don't have the time or energy to be that dedicated at present with an upcoming house move!
So I soaked up as much as I could with towels, jammed material underneath them and have left the dehumidifier in there doing its thing....
It worked nicely on the carpet overnight, which is dry and ready to go back in whenever I find the source of the problem and reassemble:
The sound deadening was absolutely bogging and will go in the bin:
Other work completed today was to take out the sunroof, check the drain holes (both free), remove both seals, wash them, and reinstate with a bit of instant gasket where required:
Part of the problem is the seal around the glass which has perished. It should clamp the glass tightly with a ribbed internal section, but this has widened over the years and no longer grips the glass as it should. I suspect that this is where the water is getting in and possibly dripping onto the carpet, but it still seems a lot...especially as the headlining around it is dry.
Second hand ones on eBay are £40, so I'll see how this gasket fix goes (I suspect I know the answer....)
Investigations into the nearside rear door seal showed a little bit of rust. Oh, a small circular section that is out of keeping with the rest of the B-pillar:
I know what I'm going to find when I investigate, but that's not going to stop me.... It's no good painting over rust.
There was also a small patch on the inside of the door which I wire brushed back and treated:
At least this one didn't go through the metal!
All patches have had a couple of coats of K-rust, but I'm going to need to do something about the small hole in the B-pillar. Probably what I did with the hole in the top of the same B-pillar.
Hopefully get some more done on it this week and the coming weekend, as I don't like having the 'just jump in it' car off the road for too long. Still, at least the dog is going to work with my other half in her van a bit more, so he doesn't need the AX quite so much!
Now the Scimitar is up for sale, that will also be one less project to deal with, so I will have more time to spend on the rest of them.
I have the day off tomorrow to hopefully finish off getting the interior back in. Light rainfall following fettling seems to have resulted in an improvement!
I got some anti rust primer on the door and floor:
Followed up by some ISOPON and Hammerite:
Then after some swearing, lying upside down, loosening the dashboard retaining bolts, some more swearing and some gentle persuasion, I managed to get the heater blower out. Hopefully I can get the resistor out and replace it without breaking the fan housing.
The Scimitar is sold and leaves tomorrow, so fingers crossed for a productive day...
I got some anti rust primer on the door and floor:
Followed up by some ISOPON and Hammerite:
Then after some swearing, lying upside down, loosening the dashboard retaining bolts, some more swearing and some gentle persuasion, I managed to get the heater blower out. Hopefully I can get the resistor out and replace it without breaking the fan housing.
The Scimitar is sold and leaves tomorrow, so fingers crossed for a productive day...
'Merde' is an appropriate word to utter when having wrestled the blower motor out and ever so carefully dismantled the fragile 25 year old plastic, you discover that the arrangement you are looking at clearly has no place in it for the new resistor.
The only option seems to be to buy a new motor, as the resistor in this one seems impossible to find new.
For now however, I've realised that I can live with the binary nature of the blower and put it back in again having carefully reassembled the ancient plastic. If I need to get it out again, I now know the trick and can do it without taking out the interior.
Extensive water testing shows that the sunroof seal is improved and the most likely candidate is the near side front door seal. It seems to get in between the seal and the A pillar and then make its way down to and over the cill. You can buy it by the metre from The Big River Corporation, so there's enough on the way to do both front doors.
Having completed the touch up painting, it was time to put everything back in the interior, I can do the door seal relatively easily when it arrives, and I need the car working again. In with the sound deadening then Dodo Mat which seemed to strike a good balance of cost and quality for the area to be covered:
Looks... shiny.
Really shiny.
Really, really shiny!
Very easy stuff to apply, just a matter of cutting it to size, peeling off the paper, and sticking it on. Having done that, I put the interior back in (which I'd given a good clean) and went out for a night shift.
How good can £30-odd of sound deadening be in comparison to the OE mouldy rag?
Bloody brilliant, that's how good!
There's less engine and road noise, and while it's still apparent that there's a mighty 60hp being extracted the other side of the bulkhead, it's been muted. Success (although that wasn't the original purpose of the exercise).
Actual progress on the original problem next time I hope unless something else gets in the way (like moving house).
The only option seems to be to buy a new motor, as the resistor in this one seems impossible to find new.
For now however, I've realised that I can live with the binary nature of the blower and put it back in again having carefully reassembled the ancient plastic. If I need to get it out again, I now know the trick and can do it without taking out the interior.
Extensive water testing shows that the sunroof seal is improved and the most likely candidate is the near side front door seal. It seems to get in between the seal and the A pillar and then make its way down to and over the cill. You can buy it by the metre from The Big River Corporation, so there's enough on the way to do both front doors.
Having completed the touch up painting, it was time to put everything back in the interior, I can do the door seal relatively easily when it arrives, and I need the car working again. In with the sound deadening then Dodo Mat which seemed to strike a good balance of cost and quality for the area to be covered:
Looks... shiny.
Really shiny.
Really, really shiny!
Very easy stuff to apply, just a matter of cutting it to size, peeling off the paper, and sticking it on. Having done that, I put the interior back in (which I'd given a good clean) and went out for a night shift.
How good can £30-odd of sound deadening be in comparison to the OE mouldy rag?
Bloody brilliant, that's how good!
There's less engine and road noise, and while it's still apparent that there's a mighty 60hp being extracted the other side of the bulkhead, it's been muted. Success (although that wasn't the original purpose of the exercise).
Actual progress on the original problem next time I hope unless something else gets in the way (like moving house).
The AX has been working hard for us over the last couple of months - incredible just how much stuff you can fit in when you're doing a house move on the cheap....
With many, many more loads like that, plus some asbestos tip runs, general tip runs and random trips for decorating equipment, there's been a lot of round town mileage.
We're finally fully in to the new place (which has no garage), and so it's been living either in the back yard or on the street out front. No different to previously, but making me very aware that I hadn't fixed the seal and when driving in the rain, you could see the water running down the trim by the NS door.
Finally last night I found some time :
Confirmation that the old seal was perished was gained when discovering how wet it was around the A pillar, and how much residue it left on my hands! You can tell the new one is effective, as shutting the passenger door is now much more difficult than it was....
Unfortunately our time with the trusty AX is drawing to a close. The lack of external space, more difficult parking arrangements, and the happy fact we're now 10 minutes walk from the centre of town means that we just don't need it any more.
I'll be genuinely sorry to see it go, it's allowed me to re-live my underpowered, understeer happy urban days, and really connected me with driving due to a lack of power steering and crash protection.
The plan is to get a year's MOT on it and then sell it to a friend of ours who is looking for a first car. There may yet be more updates depending on what the tester finds though!
With many, many more loads like that, plus some asbestos tip runs, general tip runs and random trips for decorating equipment, there's been a lot of round town mileage.
We're finally fully in to the new place (which has no garage), and so it's been living either in the back yard or on the street out front. No different to previously, but making me very aware that I hadn't fixed the seal and when driving in the rain, you could see the water running down the trim by the NS door.
Finally last night I found some time :
Confirmation that the old seal was perished was gained when discovering how wet it was around the A pillar, and how much residue it left on my hands! You can tell the new one is effective, as shutting the passenger door is now much more difficult than it was....
Unfortunately our time with the trusty AX is drawing to a close. The lack of external space, more difficult parking arrangements, and the happy fact we're now 10 minutes walk from the centre of town means that we just don't need it any more.
I'll be genuinely sorry to see it go, it's allowed me to re-live my underpowered, understeer happy urban days, and really connected me with driving due to a lack of power steering and crash protection.
The plan is to get a year's MOT on it and then sell it to a friend of ours who is looking for a first car. There may yet be more updates depending on what the tester finds though!
Edited by darkyoung1000 on Tuesday 19th March 18:06
@PenultimateSpiderman thanks very much for the information, it might not help with the sale, but I'm very glad I now know that 
I think the friend I'm selling it so will be glad as well!
Got the MOT done today, it didn't pass, but the list to fix before I sell it on isn't horrendous...
Being a mid - 99 s French hatchback, it was going to be rust or electrics. In this case, it's both! Lucky me!
The repeater I'll take a look at this weekend (I missed that on my quick once over).
The oil and exhaust gas leaks I knew about. The oil leak will involve splitting the engine and gearbox, so that's unlikely to happen...
I'll fix the minor exhaust leak, free off the caliper and add some more corrosion protection to the underside.
I'm also aware I need a washer pump as the rear windscreen no longer gets wet.
After that, it's may be a tearful farewell (until something goes wrong and the offer to help out in fixing it is made).
I think the friend I'm selling it so will be glad as well!
Got the MOT done today, it didn't pass, but the list to fix before I sell it on isn't horrendous...
Being a mid - 99 s French hatchback, it was going to be rust or electrics. In this case, it's both! Lucky me!
The repeater I'll take a look at this weekend (I missed that on my quick once over).
The oil and exhaust gas leaks I knew about. The oil leak will involve splitting the engine and gearbox, so that's unlikely to happen...
I'll fix the minor exhaust leak, free off the caliper and add some more corrosion protection to the underside.
I'm also aware I need a washer pump as the rear windscreen no longer gets wet.
After that, it's may be a tearful farewell (until something goes wrong and the offer to help out in fixing it is made).
Kitchski said:
Sorry to hear it's going, I've enjoyed reading up on this, and you've done some good work with it (apart from the welding on the sill, which was truly atrocious! 
)
I *hate* welding upside down, none of my welds come out well and on rusty thin old Citroen steel I think you'd have to be a welding god or doing it all the time to get a decent weld on. )Technique seems to be not to ever try and seam weld as you blow holes but rather "dot" it.
This was my best effort on the Mazda (almost as bad for rust as old Citroen's) which was after welding up considerable bits of it. Wasn't an MOT fail but only because they hadn't spotted it due to being hidden behind the arch liners.
Also I smear plenty of PU over the welds to prevent any water ingress and (if there is access) spray some chassis wax in on the other side (if you can).
@Fastdruid - welding God I most certainly am not, I used the dotting technique to good effect though! Some good tips there for the future though, thanks.
Before sending the AX to its new owner a few hours ago, I managed to to the following yesterday.:
Following the Book of Lies lived up to its name
The AX is 1994...and after 10 frustrating minutes of carefully trying to not damage the plastic or the wing while heaving backwards on the indicator, I though "sod it," gave it a twist et voilà :
MOT successfully obtained, I gave it an oil and filter change (5w30 fully synthetic) , tightened up the nuts on the exhaust clamps to reduce the leak (a cheap fix), vacuumed the interior then broke out the wire brush.
This and a large part of the underside are now covered in Waxoyl. In also pleased to report that last year's repair shows no signs of rot.
Form follows function.....
I also took the OS front wheel off, cleaned up the caliper and found the hole in the rear washer line where the wheel had rubbed through. I replaced it with a new line...and it still doesnt work.
Were it still with me, I'd investigate further, as it is tough this chapter in my automotive history is at an end for now. Thanks for reading, and if I get to do any more work on it, I'll let you know!
Before sending the AX to its new owner a few hours ago, I managed to to the following yesterday.:
Following the Book of Lies lived up to its name
The AX is 1994...and after 10 frustrating minutes of carefully trying to not damage the plastic or the wing while heaving backwards on the indicator, I though "sod it," gave it a twist et voilà :
MOT successfully obtained, I gave it an oil and filter change (5w30 fully synthetic) , tightened up the nuts on the exhaust clamps to reduce the leak (a cheap fix), vacuumed the interior then broke out the wire brush.
This and a large part of the underside are now covered in Waxoyl. In also pleased to report that last year's repair shows no signs of rot.
Form follows function.....
I also took the OS front wheel off, cleaned up the caliper and found the hole in the rear washer line where the wheel had rubbed through. I replaced it with a new line...and it still doesnt work.
Were it still with me, I'd investigate further, as it is tough this chapter in my automotive history is at an end for now. Thanks for reading, and if I get to do any more work on it, I'll let you know!
@kitchski my apologies for not answering your question 9 months ago... Its safe to say, not really. They're a friend of ours who is learning to drive, but hasn't had the opportunity to use the AX much, which leads me onto this update.
The Corrado needs it's front wheel bearings doing and I'm reluctant to drive it until they've been done. Hence, we've been leant the AX back.
it's done sterling work collecting Christmas Trees, being borrowed by elderly in-laws, and this weekend, a longer journey.
With the Corrado still out of action, we visited friends in Norfolk, here's proof that we made it!
It was not all plain sailing though. 10 miles outside of York, the temperature light came on. The one I knew about, that has cropped up in November, but because the car isn't mine any more, I hadn't don't anything substantial with, only topped up the coolant.
that's exactly what I did on the side of the A64 this time too.
When we got to Norfolk, a farm workshop allowed me to investigate, and revealed nothing obviously amiss. Hence, I cleared the radiator with a compressor, tightened up the jubilee clips I could see, topped up the coolant and replaced the horrible pressed steel factory fit item that I thought was leaking...
Job jobbed.
Until the light came on again around Doncaster. Throttle back, heating on max and it went off again. Good enough for now, but more work required. There's another horrible pressed clip at the back of the block, coolant to be flushed, and I think I might change the oil at the same time to look for contamination.
Not my car anymore, but definitely my problem to fix!
The Corrado needs it's front wheel bearings doing and I'm reluctant to drive it until they've been done. Hence, we've been leant the AX back.
it's done sterling work collecting Christmas Trees, being borrowed by elderly in-laws, and this weekend, a longer journey.
With the Corrado still out of action, we visited friends in Norfolk, here's proof that we made it!
It was not all plain sailing though. 10 miles outside of York, the temperature light came on. The one I knew about, that has cropped up in November, but because the car isn't mine any more, I hadn't don't anything substantial with, only topped up the coolant.
that's exactly what I did on the side of the A64 this time too.
When we got to Norfolk, a farm workshop allowed me to investigate, and revealed nothing obviously amiss. Hence, I cleared the radiator with a compressor, tightened up the jubilee clips I could see, topped up the coolant and replaced the horrible pressed steel factory fit item that I thought was leaking...
Job jobbed.
Until the light came on again around Doncaster. Throttle back, heating on max and it went off again. Good enough for now, but more work required. There's another horrible pressed clip at the back of the block, coolant to be flushed, and I think I might change the oil at the same time to look for contamination.
Not my car anymore, but definitely my problem to fix!
The AX has still been on loan to us (although the owner may be selling it soon) and so I wanted to get the problem fixed...
Since the Norfolk trip, there has been a little bit of investigation, but no conclusive reason as to why the problem of the light coming on was occurring. Unfortunately on a trip back from Leicestershire, it couldn't make it up the hills on the M1 without the warning light illuminating, and this was with the blowers on full, travelling at 50mph in top gear.... Something had to be done, especially as it did this after I'd changed the coolant. Time to get stuck in....
I found a new radiator, as while it wasn't leaking, it seemed like a good idea to do, and a new thermostat, which I had identified as the most likely culprit.
As you can buy a lot of radiators for the AX, I was careful to buy the one that fitted the gap, and had the locating prongs in the correct place.
I also managed to buy one with an extra spout in the expansion tank that takes a different sized radiator cap. Which I didn't have. Merde.
Still, as the old one wasn't leaking, I was able to flush it out and re-use it having (thankfully) carefully removed it.
I removed the old thermostat and tested both in a pan of boiling water. They both worked fine. I replaced the old one anyway on the grounds that I suspect the old one was sticking causing intermittent problems. I hope....
Before reassembly, I had to deal with a few things, as three guesses as to what you find on mid - 90s French hatchbacks....
Some wire brush and hammerite later, it was time to reassemble. Then bleed the system.
The first part of this is easy, the second part isn't. It requires an extra pair of hands, a large plastic bottle to act as a header tank, and somewhere to dry your shoes afterwards.
However, eventually there was an almighty burp from the system, a lot of bubbles, and some quickly warmed hands on the plastic bottle indicating the system had bleed successfully.
Proud of this achievement, I took it for the MOT....
Since the Norfolk trip, there has been a little bit of investigation, but no conclusive reason as to why the problem of the light coming on was occurring. Unfortunately on a trip back from Leicestershire, it couldn't make it up the hills on the M1 without the warning light illuminating, and this was with the blowers on full, travelling at 50mph in top gear.... Something had to be done, especially as it did this after I'd changed the coolant. Time to get stuck in....
I found a new radiator, as while it wasn't leaking, it seemed like a good idea to do, and a new thermostat, which I had identified as the most likely culprit.
As you can buy a lot of radiators for the AX, I was careful to buy the one that fitted the gap, and had the locating prongs in the correct place.
I also managed to buy one with an extra spout in the expansion tank that takes a different sized radiator cap. Which I didn't have. Merde.
Still, as the old one wasn't leaking, I was able to flush it out and re-use it having (thankfully) carefully removed it.
I removed the old thermostat and tested both in a pan of boiling water. They both worked fine. I replaced the old one anyway on the grounds that I suspect the old one was sticking causing intermittent problems. I hope....
Before reassembly, I had to deal with a few things, as three guesses as to what you find on mid - 90s French hatchbacks....
Some wire brush and hammerite later, it was time to reassemble. Then bleed the system.
The first part of this is easy, the second part isn't. It requires an extra pair of hands, a large plastic bottle to act as a header tank, and somewhere to dry your shoes afterwards.
However, eventually there was an almighty burp from the system, a lot of bubbles, and some quickly warmed hands on the plastic bottle indicating the system had bleed successfully.
Proud of this achievement, I took it for the MOT....
Thanks both, I'm not sure I should be spending much time on it really, but I can't help myself. Also, as the owner has been very helpful in letting us have almost unlimited use of it, it seems the least I can do!
Anyway, to the MOT....
Would you Adam and Eve it? A pass?!
Not sure what the owner has planned for it, however, it has a year's ticket (less than optimal brakes, but a year's ticket).
I might just do a couple of things to improve that sheet though....
Anyway, to the MOT....
Would you Adam and Eve it? A pass?!
Not sure what the owner has planned for it, however, it has a year's ticket (less than optimal brakes, but a year's ticket).
I might just do a couple of things to improve that sheet though....
darkyoung1000 said:
As mentioned in my other thread on the Corrado (snip) it's off the road with some issues for at least the next month.
Oh ho ho ho.....casting back to my first post on this thread....and here we are again 3 years later..... The Corrado is going to be investigated over the weekend for its expensive engine issues, and the AX has been lying idle.....so....back in contact with the friend we sold it to, and I should be getting it back this weekend.I’m absolutely not going to dedicate a load of time that I should be spending on the Corrado or the Morris on this AX. Oh no. Definitely not.....
Someone help me, I’m clearly sick.
Collection day! Taxed, insured and with a few months left on its ticket, time to return it to the household!
Arrived to find the bonnet up, the battery on charge and the spare wheel on which was looking a little deflated...
Still, the wheel that should have been on has had the puncture fixed....so I'll just bend the brace trying to undo the nuts....
OK, I'll settle for pumping it up a bit and coming back to it later.
Time to break out the jump charger....
Woohoo. A cracking 8 mile run back home reminding me what a joy this car is to drive!
Seemed like a good idea to tackle those wheel nuts before I forgot and ended up with a flat that I couldn't change. Hellfire they were tight, I only just managed it with the enormous breaker bar!
Yes, I might need to tackle that sticking caliper soon as well, I remember putting those pads on, and it hasn't done that many miles....
Then, having investigated the Corrado, I swapped the two over, and washed it. The Corrado is skulking in the background in shame...
Arrived to find the bonnet up, the battery on charge and the spare wheel on which was looking a little deflated...
Still, the wheel that should have been on has had the puncture fixed....so I'll just bend the brace trying to undo the nuts....
OK, I'll settle for pumping it up a bit and coming back to it later.
Time to break out the jump charger....
Woohoo. A cracking 8 mile run back home reminding me what a joy this car is to drive!
Seemed like a good idea to tackle those wheel nuts before I forgot and ended up with a flat that I couldn't change. Hellfire they were tight, I only just managed it with the enormous breaker bar!
Yes, I might need to tackle that sticking caliper soon as well, I remember putting those pads on, and it hasn't done that many miles....
Then, having investigated the Corrado, I swapped the two over, and washed it. The Corrado is skulking in the background in shame...
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