Topic: Car & mechanics advice thread

[Son of Spion]

Yes, I'd leave it in and drive to the tyre garage. As WAP said, it should be an easy fix for them if it has gone right through.

[rob1966]

If there's no bubbles I'd pull it out, if it leaks, stick it back in.

[anfieldpurch]

So after buying an alternator and then a battery, the car broke down again last week. Got towed to a different garage, they diagnosed the issue was with the clocks.. sent to a specialist, returned and no issues even just starting or errors and cost much less than the alternator… they think this was the issue all along

[Riquende]

Yes, I'd leave it in and drive to the tyre garage. As WAP said, it should be an easy fix for them if it has gone right through.

Turned out there was no fix needed, it was just a roofing felt nail and it was aboout 6mm into the tyre.

Still, I got the place to fit the brakes I bought the other month in readiness for the warmer months, went from some rusty old things to some sporty-looking OTT Brembos



Now the locking wheel nut looks awful!

[Barneylfc∗]

Now the locking wheel nut looks awful!

Fits in with how dirty the rest of the wheel is to be fair 

[Son of Spion]

Turned out there was no fix needed, it was just a roofing felt nail and it was aboout 6mm into the tyre.

Still, I got the place to fit the brakes I bought the other month in readiness for the warmer months, went from some rusty old things to some sporty-looking OTT Brembos


Now the locking wheel nut looks awful!

Ah, that's good news. You never know with a nail, do you. Could be four inches, or could be a tack. Glad you got lucky.

Nice brakes. 

On my last car I used to paint the faces of my nuts (ooh err) with silver paint, using a cotton bud to apply. They'd look pretty good. On my current car I use wheelnut covers I got from the internet. Some sets have locknut covers in them.

[rob1966]

Ah, that's good news. You never know with a nail, do you. Could be four inches, or could be a tack. Glad you got lucky.

Nice brakes. 

On my last car I used to paint the faces of my nuts (ooh err) with silver paint, using a cotton bud to apply. They'd look pretty good. On my current car I use wheelnut covers I got from the internet. Some sets have locknut covers in them.

Heard women have that problem.

[Son of Spion]

Heard women have that problem.

I did wonder who'd head that cross into the net. 😃

[Juan Kerr]

Did you ever get you're sills done Rob?

[rob1966]

Did you ever get you're sills done Rob?

Got a repair done on the nearside outers to get it through its MOT, need to get the outers fully done in summer, MOT place reckons they'll go. Thinks the inners will be OK

[Juan Kerr]

Got a repair done on the nearside outers to get it through its MOT, need to get the outers fully done in summer, MOT place reckons they'll go. Thinks the inners will be OK

At least it didnt sting you too much this time then.

[rob1966]

At least it didnt sting you too much this time then.

No, but clipping at cone at 70 on the motorway and destroying a tyre has made up for it

[stewil007]

Got a problem with the electric handbrake on my wife's 2014 C4 Grand Picasso.  Says there is a handbrake fault but nothing coming up when connected to the OBDII and i'm loathe to start taking the back wheels off to check it out.  As Murtaugh said....i'm getting too old for this sh!t.

Going to have to bite the bullet and take it down to the garage!!

[sattapaartridge]

Market is crazy. I bought my 16 plate Leon FR last Feb for £13k, if I had bought it 2 years before I could've had it for about £10-11k when it was 2 years newer. Cheapest on Autotrader now for the same reg, mileage (around 35k) and automatic gearbox is around £14k. Absolutely crazy.

It doesnt look like its improving either, I've started looking at the 428i gran coupe, and its still massive on price. With ULEZ hitting my area soon, petrol cars are all the rage. I wonder what its like outside of london, with older diesels cos we cant buy diesels older than 2019? I dunno .

Sucks that my front wheel had a flat tyre, cost me £110 for a hankook one. And now I got a police fine for running a red light along the A40. ffs. the car luck is just shit at the moment.

[F-T-9]

It doesnt look like its improving either, I've started looking at the 428i gran coupe, and its still massive on price. With ULEZ hitting my area soon, petrol cars are all the rage. I wonder what its like outside of london, with older diesels cos we cant buy diesels older than 2019? I dunno .

Sucks that my front wheel had a flat tyre, cost me £110 for a hankook one. And now I got a police fine for running a red light along the A40. ffs. the car luck is just shit at the moment.

Yeah I'm in London too so had to get rid of my run around diesel Yaris at the end of last year, got more than I thought I would for it tbf. Managed to get a Corsa Design 66 plate petrol with decent mileage (45k) to replace it for £4k (a CAT N, but there was only damage to the passenger side rear door).

I believe you'll be good with any diesel car from 2015 onwards, should be alright within the ULEZ zone so I wouldn't rule out getting a diesel if it works out better on price. You can use the TFL website to find out whether a car will incur a ULEZ charge or not, takes 2 minutes so worth looking into it.

[Riquende]

Anyone know what the knocking sound might be emanating from behind my 2013 Mini's dash? Ever since I got the car back on the road I hear it when starting the car with the engine cold, after about 10-15 seconds, and then usually once more a short while later (less than a minute). Doesn't seem to happen after that, or when starting the car after the engine has warmed up.

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/v/RlFqB2Ict08" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">https://www.youtube.com/v/RlFqB2Ict08</a>

I am still getting warning about increased battery discharge when it happens so I'm hoping it's something electrical that's having an issue working rather than a mechanical fault...

[John C]

Anyone know what the knocking sound might be emanating from behind my dash?

Have you googled it based on the model of the car mate?

[Riquende]

Have you googled it based on the model of the car mate?

Yep, but given the age of the car there are years of posts and threads all over the internet, and most of the supplied videos are no longer online to compare. I've popped the same question on some Mini specific communities too, just casting the net as wide as possible for answers.

[John C]

It won't be anything serious, it will probably be an aircon actuator but the cost could be heavy depending on strip down labour time and and cost of the replacement unit.
Where are you based?
Have you got a decent, reliable back-street garage close by?

[reddebs]

Any idea how much it'll set me back to replace glow plugs on a qashqai please folks?

[rob1966]

Any idea how much it'll set me back to replace glow plugs on a qashqai please folks?

Would have said about £150 to £200 for that. £80 for parts if they supply them and a couple of hours labour.

Get the plugs yourself from GSF, there's one on Anglesey and I'll bet the garage will get them from them anyway

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/za036874?auto_apply_coupon=MAD65&gclid=CjwKCAiAmJGgBhAZEiwA1JZolr4Dh6o7BfIFZ8XIOMszS1Abd5O7TBfwRE1ZLGuAnFnPgpdkRgZgGhoCMV8QAvD_BwE

[reddebs]

Would have said about £150 to £200 for that. £80 for parts if they supply them and a couple of hours labour.

Get the plugs yourself from GSF, there's one on Anglesey and I'll bet the garage will get them from them anyway

https://www.gsfcarparts.com/za036874?auto_apply_coupon=MAD65&gclid=CjwKCAiAmJGgBhAZEiwA1JZolr4Dh6o7BfIFZ8XIOMszS1Abd5O7TBfwRE1ZLGuAnFnPgpdkRgZgGhoCMV8QAvD_BwE

My normal garage on the island don't want to do it and my old mechanic back in Yorkshire has said it can be a pig of a job if they don't come off easily. 

If they break whilst they're taking them off it's a full engine strip down, a week off the road and huge costs so doesn't want to give me a price 😡 yet there's YouTube videos showing you how to do it yourself 🤷

[F-T-9]

Anyone know what this noise on my Corsa could be from? Not sure how to describe it, sounds like an electrical grinding noise. Video is not mine but it's the same exact noise.

Sorry not sure how to embed, but the noise is quite clear at about 15 seconds in.

https://youtu.be/imFTOVSnMbI

[rob1966]

My normal garage on the island don't want to do it and my old mechanic back in Yorkshire has said it can be a pig of a job if they don't come off easily. 

If they break whilst they're taking them off it's a full engine strip down, a week off the road and huge costs so doesn't want to give me a price 😡 yet there's YouTube videos showing you how to do it yourself 🤷

That's the thing with jobs like that, a lot of garages want the easy work and don't want to risk anything that may take ages/be awkward. Changing glow plugs should be a pretty straight forward job, but can be awkward If they deffo need changing, it might be worth speaking to a Nissan dealer, the nearest to you is in Chester and get a price from them.

[reddebs]

That's the thing with jobs like that, a lot of garages want the easy work and don't want to risk anything that may take ages/be awkward. Changing glow plugs should be a pretty straight forward job, but can be awkward If they deffo need changing, it might be worth speaking to a Nissan dealer, the nearest to you is in Chester and get a price from them.

Good thinking Rob and yeah they defo need sorting according to diagnostics.

[rob1966]

Good thinking Rob and yeah they defo need sorting according to diagnostics.

Is the car struggling to start or is it just that you are getting a light? I hardly ever let my glow plugs warm up, I just start the car and it fires up. If its starting OK, there's no rush to get it done, so you can wait until its convenient.

[reddebs]

Is the car struggling to start or is it just that you are getting a light? I hardly ever let my glow plugs warm up, I just start the car and it fires up. If its starting OK, there's no rush to get it done, so you can wait until its convenient.

Engine management light's been on since just before Xmas but it's starting and running fine.  The only thing I've noticed is the mileage has plummeted from high 50mpg to just over 45mpg and even on a long run it's not improving.

[rob1966]

Engine management light's been on since just before Xmas but it's starting and running fine.  The only thing I've noticed is the mileage has plummeted from high 50mpg to just over 45mpg and even on a long run it's not improving.

That's nothing to do with the glow plugs, its something else. The only job glow plugs have is to warm the cylinder to help initial ignition, once the car has started a diesel engine runs all on its own and runs until the fuel is shut off.

I only know the basics of diesels, but I know a dirty injector or a clogged air filter will do that. So, first off, do an Italian tune up. Go get a bottle of injector cleaner, STP, Redex or Wynns, add to the tank and take it for a blast down the A55, batter it through the gears and then hold it in a gear that keeps the revs up around 3000 rpm and give it a couple of miles, Hopefully that will clear all the shite out and the management light will go out and the MPG return. If not, I'd get it booked in for a good service.

[reddebs]

That's nothing to do with the glow plugs, its something else. The only job glow plugs have is to warm the cylinder to help initial ignition, once the car has started a diesel engine runs all on its own and runs until the fuel is shut off.

I only know the basics of diesels, but I know a dirty injector or a clogged air filter will do that. So, first off, do an Italian tune up. Go get a bottle of injector cleaner, STP, Redex or Wynns, add to the tank and take it for a blast down the A55, batter it through the gears and then hold it in a gear that keeps the revs up around 3000 rpm and give it a couple of miles, Hopefully that will clear all the shite out and the management light will go out and the MPG return. If not, I'd get it booked in for a good service.

The glow plugs fault came up on the diagnostics when it had a full service last week so I'm assuming the filters should be new.  It's had new injectors last summer and I've done the dpf clean when I travelled to Yorkshire on Thursday.

[reddebs]

I've found a local mechanic to do the glow plugs. 

He's quoted £110 which is a tad better than the £277 my old mechanic quoted me 😯

He can't fit it in till after Easter so just gotta hope it'll keep going till then 😁

[sattapaartridge]

Looks like car prices have dropped slightly. a 2017 80k BMW 530e is now £16k, where previously it was around £17,500. Could be the interest rate being so high at the moment though.

[Riquende]

Having finally brought my Mini Roadster out of a 'year of hell' of warning lights, a stuck bonnet, broken springs, bulging tyres, worn brakes, etc etc... I'd had a good month with it back on the road. Then yesterday - the active spoiler wouldn't deploy. Worse, it's considered a safety feature of the car (stability at speed with the added downforce), and so burped a continuous alarm at me on the way home, which kicked back in immedately upon starting the car hours later.

Looking online regarding failed spoiler motors, my best best was to try to source one from a breakers' yard - BMW only supply complete spoiler assemblies that would cost well over £1000 and arrive primed and needing spraying. The fixed spoiler was a cheaper (and more attractive) option but was long out of production and I could only find it at a US reseller for £600 plus whatever to ship it. Or, I could just try to code the car to not give me the alarm and risk the spoiler not deploying when on the motorway.

Turned out I just needed a new fuse.

[sattapaartridge]

Phew. Close call.

[mikeb58]

Clutch gone and my old 2005 Honda Jazz, it's done about 88k and recently lots of short trips. I was in 2 minds whether to chuck more money at it (about £480) or just get rid.

But I spent quite a bit of getting the brakes sorted recently and other bits and pieces have been repaired, so I decided to get it repaired. Wise decision or a case of 'good money after bad'?

[paulrazor]

time will tell

depends on savings, i have had this issue as well and people telling me in a show room
"its an easy decision"

Yes easy for you on 60k a year in your swivel chair with your company car

if it starts giving bother all the time, bin it

[mikeb58]

I only ever buy old second hand cars these days, just something small and reliable. The Jazz was a bargain, one owner, done only 62k with quite a bit of service history for £600 3 years ago.

I'm on a really limited budget so I just pay cash from private sellers, it's taking a chance that way but rather that than facing Monthly repayments for something I can't afford.

[paulrazor]

I have been in that boat, just see how it goes the next while

You have paid for brakes work, brakes should be a straight forward thing

if it was the engine or gearbox or something major i would say bin

[Barneylfc∗]

I'd the same dilemma a couple of months back. £900 for replacement clutch and flywheel on my car that's worth about a max of £2k.
I just went with it as it would've meant paying 5 times as much for a half decent replacement car.

[rob1966]

Clutch gone and my old 2005 Honda Jazz, it's done about 88k and recently lots of short trips. I was in 2 minds whether to chuck more money at it (about £480) or just get rid.

But I spent quite a bit of getting the brakes sorted recently and other bits and pieces have been repaired, so I decided to get it repaired. Wise decision or a case of 'good money after bad'?

If you know the car is reliable, it's worth doing. You could buy another car and end up throwing money at it. It's why we kept the wife's Astra, it's solid and reliable and we know it'll start and go. I've been using it while pissing about with mine and the saga of the lost locking wheel nut..........

A specialist has mentioned £2k to get mine welded properly. It's mad but worth it, as another one would cost me £5k and could be as unreliable as anything.

[CaseRed]

I have a 2017 Insignia and have recently replaced 2 tyres as well as one of the Tyre Pressure sensors. Doing that seems to have thrown all of them out and the dashboard lights up like its Christmas! Any idea how to reset the sensors or is it a trip to the garage? Thanks for any help.