Peugeot 205 XR

[Cascade360]

Booked in for the MOT Thursday

Need to try and get the dicky indicator sorted by then ...

[Cascade360]

MOT in the morning ... got the indicator sorted by swapping in a second hand bulb unit. However, it refused to start and I about burned the starter motor out trying. It is on charge and let's hope it is just the battery being a bit low, though it was turning over fine just not firing ...

[Cascade360]

So it was not happy this morning, did not want to start, but a bit of easy start eventually got it going. Drove to the MOT centre okay, though the idle is still a bit lumpy - albeit it never really got a chance to properly warm up. The garage is used to old cars so asked them to take it for a quick spin pre-MOT and let me know their views on how it's driving and why it might not have been keen to start. It has always started on the button before, possibly just it's cold and its been sitting for a few weeks without moving.

Will report back on MOT ...

[Cascade360]

Not actually spoke to the garage yet but did a quick check on the website ...



Not even an advisory! Shocked!

[Cascade360]

It drove lovely on the trip home from the garage, no idea why it was in such a huff this morning haha. It started no problem as well.

[Cascade360]

HustleRussell said:

You’re going to need to tell me where this garage is

It is a small garage local to me that did the bit of work on the 205 a few months ago, odd thing is the cert shows it was a different garage a few miles away that actually did the test. Not sure how the first garage makes any money doing this?!

[Cascade360]

Had him out about recently, driving well.

Here he is looking rather small next to more modern machinery

Do need to try and sort out the couple of bits of paint blending

[Cascade360]

ReverendCounter said:

Not being picky, just pointing out that the usual parked position of the rear windscreen wiper is normally horizontal at the bottom of the screen, pointing to the right.

Maybe your motor/mechanism has been adjusted in the past. If you do decide to anything with this, beware the plastic cap on the wiper mount bolt, they break easily these days. Plus if you just decide to mount the wiper in the 'right' position, it will swipe down onto the boot plastics and probably break itself/something.

That is possibly my fault hahaha. I had it off when I was fiddling about with the boot lock and must have put it on the wrong way. Though all I would have done is taken the arm off not fiddled with the motor. It is on my to do list to try and get the replacement boot lock working as well. I seem to have some sort of motor mechanism for the boot lock despite not having central locking. Perhaps I haven't reinstalled it the right way. Ideas on a postcard pls.

Edited by Cascade360 on Wednesday 27th October 17:33

[Cascade360]

Treated it to an oil change today.

Looks like ECP sent me the wrong filter last year...



Might be placebo effect but think it is running better than ever on fresh oil!

[Cascade360]

shalmaneser said:

Well this thread is excellent value for money. I especially enjoyed the op dropping the boot in the cylinder! Excellent attitude though and for sure a good learning experience!

Takes me back to my 205gti days going and engine swap in the street outside my student house...

Excited to see what happens. Where abouts are you op? Looks like you're in London if you get really stuck I'd be happy to help out if you're not too far away, I'm fairly familiar with the old 10mm spanner.

Thanks! Certainly a learning experience. I am now reasonably confident the screw incident has not caused any lasting damage and now wonder what to do with it. One thought is to move it on and try something else; otherwise could do some further improvements, e.g. a suspension overhaul.

I tried to improve some of the bodywork repairs this morning. Better than they were but still not that great. Oh well. Intend to give it a polish at some point - got a never used rotary polisher in the shed...

I'm in the London suburbs - SE9

[Cascade360]

Out and about again today, fifty miles of mixed driving -motorway, traffic jam, fast a roads, small b roads. Driving excellently, no problems at all - which is good news.

I also tried to sort the bodywork out, and it is looking better, at least from six feet.

The blending above the driver door is really good, but above the fuel filler cap is still pretty crap, with straight lines top and bottom and a fairly scratched finish. Not sure i cba trying again...

Thinking of moving it on so I can get something that is ULEZ compliant (and possibly scratch my V8 itch) - we live right on the edge of the expanded zone, which means for many local journeys I cannot use it (or the TVR). It would be nice to have a third car I can use for all local journeys, and also for the commute if the 75 is broken. But, it is a charming little thing and I do like driving it, and it is now driving well - so not sure.

[Cascade360]

To conclude on this thread ... it is gone! Raffled it off on another online car forum, with an entirely honest description. So, a fun little thing to own for a bit, learned a lot; and onto the next one!