Bobberoo’s Ford Fetish Thread (Warning: Contains Peanut)
Discussion
Sorry to hear this Bobberoo99, I hope you have a job to go back to after being furloughed. I've been working through, most of the National Express drivers were furloughed as there has been no NX work, the outer depots have all been closed during the crisis and all services run from Hull and Scarborough, though we are only running about 40% service at the moment. I wasn't furloughed as I was the only tacho driver that knew Goole to Sc u n thorpe run, there have been 2 shifts that have needed tachograph drivers on due to the distance from Hull to Eastoft in Lincolnshire being over 50km.
Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
Edited by Eyersey1234 on Sunday 17th May 17:58
Eyersey1234 said:
Sorry to hear this Bobberoo99, I hope you have a job to go back to after being furloughed. I've been working through, most of the National Express drivers were furloughed as there has been no NX work, the outer depots have all been closed during the crisis and all services run from Hull and Scarborough, though we are only running about 40% service at the moment. I wasn't furloughed as I was the only tacho driver that knew Goole to Sc u n thorpe run, there have been 2 shifts that have needed tachograph drivers on due to the distance from Hull to Eastoft in Lincolnshire being over 50km.
Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
I drive in the private coach sector too Eyersey, all our work was tourists, schools, or pharma. All shut.Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
Edited by Eyersey1234 on Sunday 17th May 17:58
13 new machines delivered at the end of February. All sat there. Doubtful things are looking good.
mercedeslimos said:
Eyersey1234 said:
Sorry to hear this Bobberoo99, I hope you have a job to go back to after being furloughed. I've been working through, most of the National Express drivers were furloughed as there has been no NX work, the outer depots have all been closed during the crisis and all services run from Hull and Scarborough, though we are only running about 40% service at the moment. I wasn't furloughed as I was the only tacho driver that knew Goole to Sc u n thorpe run, there have been 2 shifts that have needed tachograph drivers on due to the distance from Hull to Eastoft in Lincolnshire being over 50km.
Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
I drive in the private coach sector too Eyersey, all our work was tourists, schools, or pharma. All shut.Had to space it out otherwise it triggers the swear filter
Edited by Eyersey1234 on Sunday 17th May 17:58
13 new machines delivered at the end of February. All sat there. Doubtful things are looking good.
Eyersey1234 said:
Yes it doesn't look good, our coach division was loss making for years, it finally started to make a profit again just before the Go Ahead takeover a couple of years ago. It will be at least July before they are back to work, I'm on the National Express rota now after 12 1/2 years on local bus and they are talking about reintroducing a limited service 1st July, but that has been put back twice so we shall see.
Our mainstays are Trafalgar tours, Collette, Kuoni, etc, Ring of Kerry, etc. Very nice Van Hool EX fleet mainly. 90 fleet and nothing moving. We have something similar to NX here, but that's run by Firstbus. Always looking for drivers, but that's a tough gig!Sorry for spamming your thread OP.
mercedeslimos said:
Eyersey1234 said:
Yes it doesn't look good, our coach division was loss making for years, it finally started to make a profit again just before the Go Ahead takeover a couple of years ago. It will be at least July before they are back to work, I'm on the National Express rota now after 12 1/2 years on local bus and they are talking about reintroducing a limited service 1st July, but that has been put back twice so we shall see.
Our mainstays are Trafalgar tours, Collette, Kuoni, etc, Ring of Kerry, etc. Very nice Van Hool EX fleet mainly. 90 fleet and nothing moving. We have something similar to NX here, but that's run by Firstbus. Always looking for drivers, but that's a tough gig!Sorry for spamming your thread OP.
Bobberoo99 said:
Not a problem!!! Please carry on, it's good to hear other people's views and experiences of what's happening!!!
6 weeks off at this point. Called into work last week to get diesel on the fleet account (full tank has lasted 6 weeks instead of only one week...)The coach I parked up 6 weeks ago hasn't moved. The mechanics started back today, always coaches to be PDI'd, and sent on to other operators. They will probably be parked too!
Sort of getting the feeling that us drivers will be off until the end of the summer at the earliest. Got plenty of fixing cars done etc over the last few weeks, but the 200 quid a week shortfall over wages isn't much fun despite the reduced outgoings.
At the moment I'm quite fortunate that we've been able to adapt our outgoings to the reduced income, we were all told to take the week leading up to Easter off as holiday, I already had the week after booked off so ended up having two weeks off, I've been off since the beginning of May and so far I've decorated our bedroom, the hall/stairs/landing and I'm decorating the front room this week, it's sort of good to be catching up with all the stuff I'd put off because I was working so much overtime. However, as I said, like a lot of other people I'm concerned that when things start to ease and businesses no longer have furlough to pay people I may not have a job.
mercedeslimos said:
Eyersey1234 said:
Yes it doesn't look good, our coach division was loss making for years, it finally started to make a profit again just before the Go Ahead takeover a couple of years ago. It will be at least July before they are back to work, I'm on the National Express rota now after 12 1/2 years on local bus and they are talking about reintroducing a limited service 1st July, but that has been put back twice so we shall see.
Our mainstays are Trafalgar tours, Collette, Kuoni, etc, Ring of Kerry, etc. Very nice Van Hool EX fleet mainly. 90 fleet and nothing moving. We have something similar to NX here, but that's run by Firstbus. Always looking for drivers, but that's a tough gig!Sorry for spamming your thread OP.
Bobberoo99 said:
At the moment I'm quite fortunate that we've been able to adapt our outgoings to the reduced income, we were all told to take the week leading up to Easter off as holiday, I already had the week after booked off so ended up having two weeks off, I've been off since the beginning of May and so far I've decorated our bedroom, the hall/stairs/landing and I'm decorating the front room this week, it's sort of good to be catching up with all the stuff I'd put off because I was working so much overtime. However, as I said, like a lot of other people I'm concerned that when things start to ease and businesses no longer have furlough to pay people I may not have a job.
I am sort of feeling the same thing. Getting so much done at home, the yard/garden/house has never looked so good. I have far too many cars to finish too, slowly working my way through them as I've shed loads of parts bought over the years unfitted. I hope my job stays, I enjoy it and I'd take a small pay cut but there's a threshold where it just won't work beyond.Eyersey1234 said:
Our coach side doesn't do continental work any more, the bulk of the work now is rail replacement, school runs, private hires and day trips and excursions within the UK, mostly Plaxton and Caetano bodied Volvos.
Very similar so, we are a Van Hool dealer so everything after 2011 is Van Hool apart from minibuses etc. We used to do lots of cruise work etc, and rail replacement is busy but a chore. But something different every day!A bit of an update, got fed up with the base unit for the Pure DAB Highway falling off the dashboard randomly so decided I'd make a little bracket for it to attach to, firstly I needed a bit of aluminium, my neighbour came to the rescue with a bit of aluminium angle.
Sadly it was not quite long enough on the angle, and so I thought "that's ok, I'll just cut the back off of the angle and make it into a piece of flat plate and bend to suit!!"
Only one teensy weensy problem in that I don't have a vice!!!
Correction, I didn't have a vice!!!
Everyone knows that spending £35.85 on a vice and bolting it down to the top of your racking in the shed, just to bend a single piece of aluminium for a bracket makes perfect sense!!!
And so after cutting, filing, bending and, checking, bending a bit more and checking, bending a bit more and checking, straightening a bit and checking, bending it some more and checking, straightening the bit I'd just bent and bending it in a different place and checking, swearing, bending it a bit more and checking..................
It finally fitted how I wanted it to!!!!
Sprayed it in some black paint and trial fitted just to check that a covering of black paint hasn't affected the fit!!
And gently, carefully, and with great accuracy and skill, ok, ok I slapped it on and just kept pushing and pulling it until it looked ok!!!!
Seems much more solidly mounted, let's see how long it stays there this time!!!
Sadly it was not quite long enough on the angle, and so I thought "that's ok, I'll just cut the back off of the angle and make it into a piece of flat plate and bend to suit!!"
Only one teensy weensy problem in that I don't have a vice!!!
Correction, I didn't have a vice!!!
Everyone knows that spending £35.85 on a vice and bolting it down to the top of your racking in the shed, just to bend a single piece of aluminium for a bracket makes perfect sense!!!
And so after cutting, filing, bending and, checking, bending a bit more and checking, bending a bit more and checking, straightening a bit and checking, bending it some more and checking, straightening the bit I'd just bent and bending it in a different place and checking, swearing, bending it a bit more and checking..................
It finally fitted how I wanted it to!!!!
Sprayed it in some black paint and trial fitted just to check that a covering of black paint hasn't affected the fit!!
And gently, carefully, and with great accuracy and skill, ok, ok I slapped it on and just kept pushing and pulling it until it looked ok!!!!
Seems much more solidly mounted, let's see how long it stays there this time!!!
Part1
And so a nupdate, the two old Focuseses are still going strong, however the knocking coming from the front suspension of the new(old) Focus can't simply be ignored any longer, despite turning the stereo up i can actually feel it through both the steering and the floor now!!!
Also there have been a number of incidents, including one particularly unpleasant confrontation, while driving so I've taken the decision to install a dashcam in the new(old) Focus!!
So I decided that seeing as I have a week off I'll do it all this week........or not, maybe I can get some of it done between the showers.........or not!!!!
Still it did stop raining around lunchtime so I got on with fitting the dashcam, if you have a mk2 Focus and are thinking of doing it, it's pretty easy, I chose to hard wire mine in so it only comes on with the ignition, "start by jacking your car up!!" (MCM) no, don't do that, start by removing the passenger footwell under dash protective carpet, remove the two retaining clips that hold the ECU/fuse bord/ mother board/ wire covered thingy and drop it into the footwell,
To save you all from trying to figure out which fuse use if you look at the first row of fuses there's a red 10amp fuse which is switched, so live only when the ignition is on,
The hardwire kit comes with a fuse piggyback insert, so remove that 10amp fuse, replace with the wired piggyback and insert the fuse into the piggyback, run the wire so it's clear of any fuses or relays,
Next remove the passenger kick panel and plastic sill cap exposing the two earth points on the sill top, now I'm not advocating what I did but it works, tape the earth with the two black wires down onto the sill top, loosen the earth bolt enough so you can insert the earth cable from the hardwire kit and tighten it down again, remove the tape, no need for it now, run the earth cable along the sill and into the footwell,now you need to remove the A pillar cover,
I used a stiff piece of wire fed down beside the dash, taped the power wire to it and pulled it up through the side of the dash, up the A pillar and tucked it under the front of the headlining at the top of the windscreen, this pops out by the rearview mirror and is tucked behind the cover over the headlight sensor, now is a good time to test it all by plugging the power cable into the piggyback wire, plugging in the dashcam and turning on the ignition, the dashcam should automatically turn on!!
Now cable tie the excess wire up, tuck it up behind the dash and replace all the trim, position the dashcam so it's not in your line of sight, and jobs a goodun!!!!
And so a nupdate, the two old Focuseses are still going strong, however the knocking coming from the front suspension of the new(old) Focus can't simply be ignored any longer, despite turning the stereo up i can actually feel it through both the steering and the floor now!!!
Also there have been a number of incidents, including one particularly unpleasant confrontation, while driving so I've taken the decision to install a dashcam in the new(old) Focus!!
So I decided that seeing as I have a week off I'll do it all this week........or not, maybe I can get some of it done between the showers.........or not!!!!
Still it did stop raining around lunchtime so I got on with fitting the dashcam, if you have a mk2 Focus and are thinking of doing it, it's pretty easy, I chose to hard wire mine in so it only comes on with the ignition, "start by jacking your car up!!" (MCM
) no, don't do that, start by removing the passenger footwell under dash protective carpet, remove the two retaining clips that hold the ECU/fuse bord/ mother board/ wire covered thingy and drop it into the footwell,To save you all from trying to figure out which fuse use if you look at the first row of fuses there's a red 10amp fuse which is switched, so live only when the ignition is on,
The hardwire kit comes with a fuse piggyback insert, so remove that 10amp fuse, replace with the wired piggyback and insert the fuse into the piggyback, run the wire so it's clear of any fuses or relays,
Next remove the passenger kick panel and plastic sill cap exposing the two earth points on the sill top, now I'm not advocating what I did but it works, tape the earth with the two black wires down onto the sill top, loosen the earth bolt enough so you can insert the earth cable from the hardwire kit and tighten it down again, remove the tape, no need for it now, run the earth cable along the sill and into the footwell,now you need to remove the A pillar cover,
I used a stiff piece of wire fed down beside the dash, taped the power wire to it and pulled it up through the side of the dash, up the A pillar and tucked it under the front of the headlining at the top of the windscreen, this pops out by the rearview mirror and is tucked behind the cover over the headlight sensor, now is a good time to test it all by plugging the power cable into the piggyback wire, plugging in the dashcam and turning on the ignition, the dashcam should automatically turn on!!
Now cable tie the excess wire up, tuck it up behind the dash and replace all the trim, position the dashcam so it's not in your line of sight, and jobs a goodun!!!!Edited by Bobberoo99 on Monday 17th August 19:45
Part2 (Because Scrump noticed I'd got it wrong)
Next I decided to replace the air and fuel filters, I'd already ordered 2 filter service kits from a company I've used several times, they do an air filter, fuel filter and oil filter, a sump plug gasket and fuel filter gasket, all Fram and £26.98 a set delivered, sadly due to me being a useless arse I neglected to notice that Ford in their infinite wisdom changed the air filter from a rectangular drop in to a cylindrical press in type, so the air filter will have to wait until I get the right one!!!
Still I did manage to change the fuel filter, which involves removing the plastic cover from the top of the engine, exposing the cam cover and at the right hand end as you look at the engine the metal plate which protects the fuel filter housing, remove the plate by undoing 2 10mm head bolts and moving to the side, next you need to unplug the electrical connector front left, the fuel line in (right hand top)
which requires the two white plastic tabs pushed in and then the line just pulled off, I find it best to plug the fuel lines with a small rubber bung, it just ensures that the fuel doesn't drain back and cause an air lock, lastly remove the line out, this clip requires the outer white plastic part to be pushed to the left and the centre piece to be pulled to the right and then the line can be pulled off.
I also plug this one to be on the safe side, the filter housing can now be pulled up out of its retainer, unscrew the ring holding the top onto the main body, fuel will begin to leak out so ensure you're wearing gloves and have somewhere to catch the fuel, personally I don't reuse the fuel from the filter housing, if the filter is anything to go by it's not particularly clean!!!
Considering the car has a comprehensive service history I'd question whether that's been changed in a while, I'd even question whether it's ever been changed as it was a genuine Ford one!!!
For comparison this is the filter going back in.
And so on to the important bit, there are two seals on the filter assembly, the first is a small one which is on the top part of the housing, it's on a small lug which pushes into the top of the filter, make sure it's still there , then there's one which sits on top of the filter and lower housing, it's this one that comes with the filter, insert the filter into the lower part of the housing, making sure you've cleaned it out and emptied all the old fuel out, stand the filter on a solid surface and fill the filter and housing with fresh fuel, I always tap it several times to ensure there's no trapped air, fill it until it starts to overflow continuously tapping it, lay the seal on top centering it, make sure the screw ring is in place over the outside of the housing top and screw the two pieces together, it doesn't have to be too tight at this point as you'll want to be able to adjust the top to a suitable location for the fuel lines to be reattached, drop the housing back in to its retaining bracket, turn the housing top so that the ports for the fuel lines are facing forward and tighten the outer ring, remove the plugs from the fuel lines, push them back onto the correct points on the housing top, reattach the electrical connector and loosen the air bleed nipple on the housing top at the rear, prime by turning the ignition on until the lights come on on the dash but do not start the car yet, prime the filter three times then tighten the bleed nipple, replace the protective plate and start the car, job, jobbed!!!
Next I decided to replace the air and fuel filters, I'd already ordered 2 filter service kits from a company I've used several times, they do an air filter, fuel filter and oil filter, a sump plug gasket and fuel filter gasket, all Fram and £26.98 a set delivered, sadly due to me being a useless arse I neglected to notice that Ford in their infinite wisdom changed the air filter from a rectangular drop in to a cylindrical press in type, so the air filter will have to wait until I get the right one!!!
Still I did manage to change the fuel filter, which involves removing the plastic cover from the top of the engine, exposing the cam cover and at the right hand end as you look at the engine the metal plate which protects the fuel filter housing, remove the plate by undoing 2 10mm head bolts and moving to the side, next you need to unplug the electrical connector front left, the fuel line in (right hand top)
which requires the two white plastic tabs pushed in and then the line just pulled off, I find it best to plug the fuel lines with a small rubber bung, it just ensures that the fuel doesn't drain back and cause an air lock, lastly remove the line out, this clip requires the outer white plastic part to be pushed to the left and the centre piece to be pulled to the right and then the line can be pulled off.
I also plug this one to be on the safe side, the filter housing can now be pulled up out of its retainer, unscrew the ring holding the top onto the main body, fuel will begin to leak out so ensure you're wearing gloves and have somewhere to catch the fuel, personally I don't reuse the fuel from the filter housing, if the filter is anything to go by it's not particularly clean!!!
Considering the car has a comprehensive service history I'd question whether that's been changed in a while, I'd even question whether it's ever been changed as it was a genuine Ford one!!!
For comparison this is the filter going back in.
And so on to the important bit, there are two seals on the filter assembly, the first is a small one which is on the top part of the housing, it's on a small lug which pushes into the top of the filter, make sure it's still there , then there's one which sits on top of the filter and lower housing, it's this one that comes with the filter, insert the filter into the lower part of the housing, making sure you've cleaned it out and emptied all the old fuel out, stand the filter on a solid surface and fill the filter and housing with fresh fuel, I always tap it several times to ensure there's no trapped air, fill it until it starts to overflow continuously tapping it, lay the seal on top centering it, make sure the screw ring is in place over the outside of the housing top and screw the two pieces together, it doesn't have to be too tight at this point as you'll want to be able to adjust the top to a suitable location for the fuel lines to be reattached, drop the housing back in to its retaining bracket, turn the housing top so that the ports for the fuel lines are facing forward and tighten the outer ring, remove the plugs from the fuel lines, push them back onto the correct points on the housing top, reattach the electrical connector and loosen the air bleed nipple on the housing top at the rear, prime by turning the ignition on until the lights come on on the dash but do not start the car yet, prime the filter three times then tighten the bleed nipple, replace the protective plate and start the car, job, jobbed!!!
Edited by Bobberoo99 on Monday 17th August 22:45
And so to part3.....
Front lower control arms and drop links, i was on a roll what with the wrong air filter and the oil for the services not turning up!!
I went for middle of the road cost wise for the parts, £70.45 for all four parts with a 2yr guarantee.
You can pay half as much or more than twice as much, but the supplier from ebay had good feedback and with the guarantee i'm happy enough.
So then, "jack up your car" yep that's now the right thing to do, car jacked up, on axel stand and wheel off in under a minute, why, oh why, oh why have i waited so long to but an impact wrench?!?!?
Tools you'll need are 15mm & 17mm ratchet spanner, 20mm spanner, 5mm allen key, 15mm & 18mm sockets and ratchet, a nammer, cleaner and rags, sweary vocabulary, patience and thread locker,
So wheel off it's time to undo "stuff", i started by removing the nut from the ball joint, 20mm spanner, and seperating the ball joint from the taper, nammer, then remove the two rear bolts from the rear bush mount of the control arm, 15mm socket, and finally the long bolt through the front bush, 18mm socket, then wrestle the control arm out, clean up the mounting points and taper for the ball joint in the upright, and now the fun begins............no, no it doesn't!!!
Push the new control arm into place and insert the ball joint into the taper, now is the time to apply thread locker to the bolts, and insert one of the rear bolts, manipulate it about a bit, swear at it, hit it, swear at it some more, remove the bolt and control arm and question it's parentage, replace the arm and hit/wrestle/swear at it until you can finally get one of the bolts in, and then take a breather, now you can try to get the other rear bush bolt in, good luck, swearing helps, as does jiggling the arm around until you can finally get the other bolt to start!!!
Now insert the long bolt through the front bush, more swearing and manipulating, and tighten up the three bolts, replace the nut on the ball joint thread and tighten that, it may be necessary to jack the ball joing up to stop the ball joint from spinning.
And finally the drop links, make sure you use a ratchet spanner and get it onto the nut before pushing the 5mm allen key into the socket in the center of the bolt!!
remove the upper and lower nut from the drop link, remove the link and replace by doing the reverse of above!!
The old control arm was pretty shot and this would explain the knocking!!
So just the servicing left to do on them both, if there's any interest I'll do the same for that as well!!!
Front lower control arms and drop links, i was on a roll what with the wrong air filter and the oil for the services not turning up!!
I went for middle of the road cost wise for the parts, £70.45 for all four parts with a 2yr guarantee.
You can pay half as much or more than twice as much, but the supplier from ebay had good feedback and with the guarantee i'm happy enough.
So then, "jack up your car" yep that's now the right thing to do, car jacked up, on axel stand and wheel off in under a minute, why, oh why, oh why have i waited so long to but an impact wrench?!?!?
Tools you'll need are 15mm & 17mm ratchet spanner, 20mm spanner, 5mm allen key, 15mm & 18mm sockets and ratchet, a nammer, cleaner and rags, sweary vocabulary, patience and thread locker,
So wheel off it's time to undo "stuff", i started by removing the nut from the ball joint, 20mm spanner, and seperating the ball joint from the taper, nammer, then remove the two rear bolts from the rear bush mount of the control arm, 15mm socket, and finally the long bolt through the front bush, 18mm socket, then wrestle the control arm out, clean up the mounting points and taper for the ball joint in the upright, and now the fun begins............no, no it doesn't!!!
Push the new control arm into place and insert the ball joint into the taper, now is the time to apply thread locker to the bolts, and insert one of the rear bolts, manipulate it about a bit, swear at it, hit it, swear at it some more, remove the bolt and control arm and question it's parentage, replace the arm and hit/wrestle/swear at it until you can finally get one of the bolts in, and then take a breather, now you can try to get the other rear bush bolt in, good luck, swearing helps, as does jiggling the arm around until you can finally get the other bolt to start!!!
Now insert the long bolt through the front bush, more swearing and manipulating, and tighten up the three bolts, replace the nut on the ball joint thread and tighten that, it may be necessary to jack the ball joing up to stop the ball joint from spinning.
And finally the drop links, make sure you use a ratchet spanner and get it onto the nut before pushing the 5mm allen key into the socket in the center of the bolt!!
remove the upper and lower nut from the drop link, remove the link and replace by doing the reverse of above!!
The old control arm was pretty shot and this would explain the knocking!!
So just the servicing left to do on them both, if there's any interest I'll do the same for that as well!!!
Edited by Bobberoo99 on Monday 17th August 22:25
Does the focus have a pump in the tank?
If so that's cheating the mondeo doesn't have one and is a pig to bleed!
See how you get on with the cheap arms, balljoints lasted about 12 months for me which was disappointing but not unexpected.
In hindsight I would have bought ones with bolt on ball joints over the riveted ones as that's what failed on mine.
If so that's cheating the mondeo doesn't have one and is a pig to bleed!
See how you get on with the cheap arms, balljoints lasted about 12 months for me which was disappointing but not unexpected.
In hindsight I would have bought ones with bolt on ball joints over the riveted ones as that's what failed on mine.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff