Car maintenance tales
Discussion
I’m sure that we’ve all had a tinker with our prized possessions over the years...
So have you done something that was ‘not quite to the book’.
Also, there must be a lot of tales that you have been told or read about...that wasn’t in any manual.
My personal one;
My first car was an Escort Mk2, & the passenger side seatbelt was not locking, so being a brave youngster, I decided to replace it.
I was quite chuffed at my technical abilities, a quick yank to test it, but I felt as though it needed a proper testing.
So I persuaded / forced my dear Mother to come for a little ride.
I cruised at a steady thirty on a nice clear road, before performing an emergency stop, resulting in a stern look from my Mum & being asked why I had done that.
I explained that it needed testing properly, luckily it worked, but she did enquire what if it hadn’t.
It was a very quite trundle back home.
Later, & still peeved, she told my Dad about it, he tutted, shook his head & then laughed... She was not amused.
PS: No harm in trying is there....at least have a go.
So have you done something that was ‘not quite to the book’.
Also, there must be a lot of tales that you have been told or read about...that wasn’t in any manual.
My personal one;
My first car was an Escort Mk2, & the passenger side seatbelt was not locking, so being a brave youngster, I decided to replace it.
I was quite chuffed at my technical abilities, a quick yank to test it, but I felt as though it needed a proper testing.
So I persuaded / forced my dear Mother to come for a little ride.
I cruised at a steady thirty on a nice clear road, before performing an emergency stop, resulting in a stern look from my Mum & being asked why I had done that.
I explained that it needed testing properly, luckily it worked, but she did enquire what if it hadn’t.
It was a very quite trundle back home.
Later, & still peeved, she told my Dad about it, he tutted, shook his head & then laughed... She was not amused.
PS: No harm in trying is there....at least have a go.
Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 6th July 18:20
I remember changing the clutch on an old V8 rover P5?
In order to get some of the bolts out, you undid the bonnet for better access.
Once I had the new clutch in, I was so delighted I did the test drive without bolting the bonnet back on and it blew off as I went down the road.
I also forgot to put the oil filler cap back on once after changing the oil and went for a drive, boy did that make a mess under the bonnet!
I'm getting better at remembering things now though, I use a pen a paper and write big notes not to forget to tighten things up.
In order to get some of the bolts out, you undid the bonnet for better access.
Once I had the new clutch in, I was so delighted I did the test drive without bolting the bonnet back on and it blew off as I went down the road.
I also forgot to put the oil filler cap back on once after changing the oil and went for a drive, boy did that make a mess under the bonnet!
I'm getting better at remembering things now though, I use a pen a paper and write big notes not to forget to tighten things up.
Olivergt said:
I remember changing the clutch on an old V8 rover P5?
In order to get some of the bolts out, you undid the bonnet for better access.
Once I had the new clutch in, I was so delighted I did the test drive without bolting the bonnet back on and it blew off as I went down the road.
I also forgot to put the oil filler cap back on once after changing the oil and went for a drive, boy did that make a mess under the bonnet!
I'm getting better at remembering things now though, I use a pen a paper and write big notes not to forget to tighten things up.
Only recently my Dad checked his oil & forgot to replace the filler cap, It was a few miles down the road when the smoke / smell started.In order to get some of the bolts out, you undid the bonnet for better access.
Once I had the new clutch in, I was so delighted I did the test drive without bolting the bonnet back on and it blew off as I went down the road.
I also forgot to put the oil filler cap back on once after changing the oil and went for a drive, boy did that make a mess under the bonnet!
I'm getting better at remembering things now though, I use a pen a paper and write big notes not to forget to tighten things up.
A WD40 Can is the exact size to plug the hole.
( Luckily, the cap had vibrated onto the ground outside his house)
Clutch; Again, poor old Dad... refitted everything, but had one bit left over.
( Air got pretty blue)
Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 6th July 16:28
Skyedriver said:
Early 1970's - MG Midget a 1966 model. As was the norm, the sills rotted out along the flat lower edge. No money for new sills at the time so two pieces of wood a wire through the jacking hole and a lot of bodge........
The old tin oil cans were the best...apparently.Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 6th July 17:50
Had a frontal collision in a Viva HC.
I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
LuS1fer said:
Had a frontal collision in a Viva HC.
I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
My boss had a brand new SD1, but it had to have a new gearbox.I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
After a few days with the local dealer, he enquired about his car.
“Yes the gearbox has been replaced, we are just waiting for the paint to dry on the door”.
Apparently, the car had ‘slipped’ whilst on the ramp & the door had hit the post.
LuS1fer said:
Had a frontal collision in a Viva HC.
I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
My boss had a brand new SD1, but it had to have a new gearbox.I replaced the dented bonnet with a brand new one but before I had replaced and adjusted it fully, I closed the bonnet so it was just on the safety catch and test drove it.
Sadly the safety catch didn't hold and the bonnet flew up, bending both rear corners 90 degrees.
Furious.
After a few days with the local dealer, he enquired about his car.
“Yes the gearbox has been replaced, we are just waiting for the paint to dry on the door”.
Apparently, the car had ‘slipped’ whilst on the ramp & the door had hit the post.
Edited by Milkyway on Wednesday 6th July 17:08
Was trying to get the engine out of an old Morris 1300 to use for spares on a Midget. Got to the point where there was only one hose keeping me from getting it out so I decided to take my trusty junior hacksaw to it. Had completely forgotten about the hydrolastic suspension until it shot out under the pressure of the weight of the car and hit me square in the face. Cue a few panicked moments as I try to get it out of my eyes and work out what it is made of - I decided it didn't justify a trip to A&E.
Was quite tricky explaining the very wet patch on the garage ceiling to my parents not to mention the fact that the body was now sitting virtually on the ground.
Was quite tricky explaining the very wet patch on the garage ceiling to my parents not to mention the fact that the body was now sitting virtually on the ground.
Olivergt said:
I also forgot to put the oil filler cap back on once after changing the oil and went for a drive, boy did that make a mess under the bonnet!
I did this recently too following an oil change on the family SUV.....knew exactly what I had done once the smell started entering the cabin a few minutes down the dual carriage way. Luckily the cap was still on a 'ledge' under the bonnet and we'd only lost 500ml or so.....(which took a good while to clean).Back in the mid 90s, my other half was driving a mk2 Astra and she'd been complaining that the heater wasn't getting warm. I drove the car, and sure enough it wasn't warming up properly. I went to the local autoparts shop and picked up a thermostat, which I duly never got around to fitting for a few more weeks. We then had a spell of cold weather, and the nagging went up a notch, so one Saturday I went out to pop this thermostat in, expecting a 10 minute job, tops. We lived in a flat, so I'm working outside in 3°C and biting wind.
It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
Then discovered the thermostat housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. And there's no way I'm getting the old one off, and this one in with the cambelt in situ. I give it a go out of desperation, but it's not happening. So the cambelt's coming off. Great.
On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much swearing and cussing to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the flat, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
In terms of a simple(ish)job turning into an odyssey, I'd experienced nothing else like that until a mk1 Focus clutch in 2016.. That's still too painful to talk about.
It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
Then discovered the thermostat housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. And there's no way I'm getting the old one off, and this one in with the cambelt in situ. I give it a go out of desperation, but it's not happening. So the cambelt's coming off. Great.
On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much swearing and cussing to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the flat, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
In terms of a simple(ish)job turning into an odyssey, I'd experienced nothing else like that until a mk1 Focus clutch in 2016.. That's still too painful to talk about.
Edited by Limpet on Wednesday 6th July 17:22
Taught myself how to work on cars after getting fed up spending silly money at garages.
The first car I worked on was my E39 528i replaced front the wishbones and suspension mountings. All back together and took it for wheel alignment I told the guy it’s making some odd grinding noise.
The mechanic came back and told me none of the new ball joints are in the socket (I torqued them up before they seated) and all of the wheel nuts are loose and causing the grinding noise. He did them all up for me!
The first car I worked on was my E39 528i replaced front the wishbones and suspension mountings. All back together and took it for wheel alignment I told the guy it’s making some odd grinding noise.
The mechanic came back and told me none of the new ball joints are in the socket (I torqued them up before they seated) and all of the wheel nuts are loose and causing the grinding noise. He did them all up for me!
Limpet said:
Back in the mid 90s, my other half was driving a mk2 Astra and she'd been complaining that the heater wasn't getting warm. I drove the car, and sure enough it wasn't warming up properly. I went to the local autoparts shop and picked up a thermostat, which I duly never got around to fitting for a few more weeks. We then had a spell of cold weather, and the nagging went up a notch, so one Saturday I went out to pop this thermostat in, expecting a 10 minute job, tops. We lived in a flat, so I'm working outside in 3°C and biting wind.
It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
The housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. So the cambelt has to come off. On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the house, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
Apart from the theft that is literally 75% of everything I do on my cars. Drives me crackers. It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
The housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. So the cambelt has to come off. On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the house, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
Limpet said:
Back in the mid 90s, my other half was driving a mk2 Astra and she'd been complaining that the heater wasn't getting warm. I drove the car, and sure enough it wasn't warming up properly. I went to the local autoparts shop and picked up a thermostat, which I duly never got around to fitting for a few more weeks. We then had a spell of cold weather, and the nagging went up a notch, so one Saturday I went out to pop this thermostat in, expecting a 10 minute job, tops. We lived in a flat, so I'm working outside in 3°C and biting wind.
It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
Then discovered the thermostat housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. And there's no way I'm getting the old one off, and this one in with the cambelt in situ. I give it a go out of desperation, but it's not happening. So the cambelt's coming off. Great.
On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the house, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
That is an epic tale of motoring misfortune. No wonder it still rankles. It was the old carb fed 8v 1.6 engine with acres of room around it, and the thermostat housing was easily visible and accessible right up front and to the left hand end of the engine. Popped the radiator hose off easily enough, drained the coolant into a bowl, and set about the three small (8mm) bolts that hold the cover on the thermostat housing. First two came out. Third snapped like a carrot, leaving the threaded part flush in the housing.
Swore a bit.
I briefly contemplated drilling it out until I realistically assessed my chances of accomplishing that without mullering the threads and then having to go down some Godforsaken bodge like a nut and bolt, so I decided to jump in my car and shoot down to the breakers just a couple of miles down the road. Chap sold me a secondhand thermostat housing, complete with cover and three good bolts for £15. Perfect. Back to the Astra and set about fitting it.
Then discovered the thermostat housing wraps around the left hand end of the cylinder head, behind the cambelt. And there's no way I'm getting the old one off, and this one in with the cambelt in situ. I give it a go out of desperation, but it's not happening. So the cambelt's coming off. Great.
On these engines, the coolant pump is used as the cambelt tensioner. Time the engine up (good old fashioned marked pulleys), bottom pulley off, loosen the water pump bolts, and manage with much to get the water pump to move enough to release the belt tension. Slip the belt off the cam pulley, extract thermostat housing, launch it angrily down the garden, fit "new" thermostat housing tighten the bolts, refit the cambelt. Install new thermostat and fit cover, carefully tightening the 3 bolts.
Start engine. Water pump now leaking. Swore a lot more.
Stop engine. Bottom pulley off, belt off again, water pump out. Clean mating faces. Find a random big old o-ring in the shed that I stretch into position to replace the old perished one. Smear of silicone sealant for good measure. Refit, retension belt, refit pulley, refit alternator belt. Start engine. Perfect. Bleed cooling system, take the car up the road, temp up to normal range, toasty warm heater. Perfect.
5 hours have now elapsed, I can't feel my fingers any more, and I'm in a foul mood. Put the tools away, go inside, sulk for a bit. Mrs goes out for a bit, comes home and is over the moon that she has a toasty heater and it's all sorted now.
That evening (and I swear I am not making this up), the car is stolen from outside the house, and written off. I'm not still bitter about the thought of those little turds ragging that car about with a toasty warm heater all these years later. At all.
Edited by Limpet on Wednesday 6th July 17:20
More oil related woe. Forgot to replace sump plug on my Mum's old Volvo 360 when changing oil. Refilled. 5 litres of Duckhams finest all over freshly tarmacced drive.
Horrible to clean up and the stain was still visible 10yrs later when she moved house. Lesson learned, never done that again.
Had a Vectra and was about to go on holiday the next day. Cruise control button stopped working so bought a new one and went to pop it in. The new one was apparently dodgy and managed to blow the CIM, fuse box, alarm, ECU, key and a heap of other electronics. Spent all day fighting trying to get the replacement modules to work from a local scrapper, not knowing it was CANBUS rubbish and needed coding to the car. Fell asleep at the wheel on the way to the holiday (overnight drive) and was startled awake by my friend whose car we had then borrowed (4 adults and holiday bits in a Ford Ka..). Got back, sent to a local Vauxhall specialist who relieved me of about a grand in modules, programming and whatever else. All for a cruise control button that I might have had to press 4/5 times to have it work.
VW LT , 5 cylinder.
Rearmost cylinder threw a rod out of the block.
Remove sump, remove what was left of the con rod and wedge the piston halfway up the cylinder to avoid valves colliding. Cut a piece of rubber into the width of the big end bearing around the crank and hold in place with a jubilee clip.
Plug off number 5 injector.
Patch hole in the block with p40 fibreglass.
Start engine, ( slightly uneven running)....drive to auction..
Rearmost cylinder threw a rod out of the block.
Remove sump, remove what was left of the con rod and wedge the piston halfway up the cylinder to avoid valves colliding. Cut a piece of rubber into the width of the big end bearing around the crank and hold in place with a jubilee clip.
Plug off number 5 injector.
Patch hole in the block with p40 fibreglass.
Start engine, ( slightly uneven running)....drive to auction..
I took my first car, a Vauxhall Chevette green laning and a couple days later the oil light started to light under braking and around corners. I was a trainee mechanic at the time so had access to tools and equipment so, parked up at the garage door jack and axel stands to find a cobbled plumbers fitting acting as a sump plug, the problem being it was 3" long and had caught on something, not completely ripping the cobbled sump plug out but tweaking it just enough to create a leak. Anyway the sump came off, a 17mm nut was welded to the inside of the sump so that a 17mm bolt could close it and be oil tight and the problem was fixed, my first DIY car maintenance.
Had a squeak squeak squeak on the Mustang V8 pulleys so bought new pulleys and bought a new belt for thoroughness.
Getting the new belt and one of the pulleys on was a giant PITA as the supercharger had to be unbolted and suspended on wires, while the new belt was blind-threaded behind various bolts once the new pulley was duly affixed. Finally got 10 feet of beltback around 11 pulleys and it seemed to be quieter and I thought hallelujah.
Within a few weeks, a terrible sqeualing, hissing and I had to go back in. I noticed the new belt was a different design and had come off the bottom pulley. Refitted it, tried it and it came straight off again. Grrr.
I decided to go through the hell of refitting the old belt because it worked before, right? Refitted it. Belt came off. Aaargh!
Suddenly realised the harmonic balancer on the end of the crank was not aligning with the pulleys - the outer part had sheared off the rubber isolater and moved forward about 3/4" so the pulleys no longer aligned, hence the belt coming off.
Ordered a new harmonic balancer and bolt from the US but it takes 7 days.
Time to save time.
Tried to loosen the bolt on the old HB.
I have a complete set of wall-drive sockets, bar the 18mm as I'd lost it and so was a standard socket.
Yes, that was the socket I needed and sure enough, it started to round the bolt so I stopped and ordered a good wall drive socket and a long breaker bar.
Several days later, they arrived and still it wouldn't shift. My trusted garage didn't want to know...
Many You Tube videos later, I finally devised a means to get the socket on the bolt with the breaker bar braced against the floor. A flick of the starter (fuel fuse removed) loosened the bolt. Yes!!! Plain sailing from now on....
Pulley wouldn't move. Ordered a puller but because the outer part had moved forward, it was now like gyneacology in a tunnel, all by touch.
Cheap sh*t puller would not grab the arms of the pulley. Two would, third arm always slipped.
Spent several days persisting, getting angry and having to walk away.
It was then my birthday but this had to be done - son's prom coming up!
I was going to buy a new puller but used a Dremel and ground the arms of the old one and had one final go. It finally moved! Within the half hour, it slid off. Yes!!!
Went to fit the new one but it has a keyway slot and so with a few dobs of anti-seize applied, I had to conjure an image in my mind of where the slot was and imagine the new one on as the visuals were somewhat limited. Thankfully, it went on after ten minutes of fiddling and I almost cried with relief.
Bolted it up. Lovely. Victory was mine! Take that b*tch!
Needless to say, the old belt is still on there because there is no way I am wrestling ten feet of belt and a supercharger for a third time.
Despite the frustrations and [profanity, I'm glad I was forced to do it because now I know even if I never have to do it again.
My son made his prom and was eternally grateful.
Getting the new belt and one of the pulleys on was a giant PITA as the supercharger had to be unbolted and suspended on wires, while the new belt was blind-threaded behind various bolts once the new pulley was duly affixed. Finally got 10 feet of beltback around 11 pulleys and it seemed to be quieter and I thought hallelujah.
Within a few weeks, a terrible sqeualing, hissing and I had to go back in. I noticed the new belt was a different design and had come off the bottom pulley. Refitted it, tried it and it came straight off again. Grrr.
I decided to go through the hell of refitting the old belt because it worked before, right? Refitted it. Belt came off. Aaargh!
Suddenly realised the harmonic balancer on the end of the crank was not aligning with the pulleys - the outer part had sheared off the rubber isolater and moved forward about 3/4" so the pulleys no longer aligned, hence the belt coming off.
Ordered a new harmonic balancer and bolt from the US but it takes 7 days.
Time to save time.
Tried to loosen the bolt on the old HB.
I have a complete set of wall-drive sockets, bar the 18mm as I'd lost it and so was a standard socket.
Yes, that was the socket I needed and sure enough, it started to round the bolt so I stopped and ordered a good wall drive socket and a long breaker bar.
Several days later, they arrived and still it wouldn't shift. My trusted garage didn't want to know...
Many You Tube videos later, I finally devised a means to get the socket on the bolt with the breaker bar braced against the floor. A flick of the starter (fuel fuse removed) loosened the bolt. Yes!!! Plain sailing from now on....
Pulley wouldn't move. Ordered a puller but because the outer part had moved forward, it was now like gyneacology in a tunnel, all by touch.
Cheap sh*t puller would not grab the arms of the pulley. Two would, third arm always slipped.
Spent several days persisting, getting angry and having to walk away.
It was then my birthday but this had to be done - son's prom coming up!
I was going to buy a new puller but used a Dremel and ground the arms of the old one and had one final go. It finally moved! Within the half hour, it slid off. Yes!!!
Went to fit the new one but it has a keyway slot and so with a few dobs of anti-seize applied, I had to conjure an image in my mind of where the slot was and imagine the new one on as the visuals were somewhat limited. Thankfully, it went on after ten minutes of fiddling and I almost cried with relief.
Bolted it up. Lovely. Victory was mine! Take that b*tch!
Needless to say, the old belt is still on there because there is no way I am wrestling ten feet of belt and a supercharger for a third time.
Despite the frustrations and [profanity, I'm glad I was forced to do it because now I know even if I never have to do it again.
My son made his prom and was eternally grateful.
Changing a headlamp bulb on my old X-Type Jag. Nearside, so the battery, battery box, clamp etc had to come off, then I had to develop doll hands to fit the bulb.
Refitted everything, walked to the driver's side to turn the headlamps on, saw their reflection in front of the car. Splendid. Lightweight aluminium bonnet, just reached over the top of the door and pushed it down.
Battery box still open, which stopped the bonnet. Sorted that out and drove to Tesco.
Came out to a puddle of nice pink coolant below the car. The battery box had snapped the thermostat housing clean off and it pissed the coolant everywhere.
It was the 2.2 Ford unit, so as it happens, the Ford dealership in South Shields is near Tesco. Walked along. Parts desk very helpful but didn't have one in stock.
Ended up changing it on the side of the road later that week between night shifts.
Refitted everything, walked to the driver's side to turn the headlamps on, saw their reflection in front of the car. Splendid. Lightweight aluminium bonnet, just reached over the top of the door and pushed it down.
Battery box still open, which stopped the bonnet. Sorted that out and drove to Tesco.
Came out to a puddle of nice pink coolant below the car. The battery box had snapped the thermostat housing clean off and it pissed the coolant everywhere.
It was the 2.2 Ford unit, so as it happens, the Ford dealership in South Shields is near Tesco. Walked along. Parts desk very helpful but didn't have one in stock.
Ended up changing it on the side of the road later that week between night shifts.
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