So much for moderns

[xvivalve]

Having been laid up for nearly 3 years I tried to re-commission my Elise this summer. The fan motor has seized causing it to blow a fuse instead of kicking in leading to an overheat issue. The fan is located beneath the horizontally mounted radiator, and the radiator mounting is a structural support for the front clamshell; yes, to access the fan (or for that matter the rad) the front clamshell has to be removed!!

Strangely, I've not started the job yet!

[Toledo Man]

The mechanic next door is fixing an Audi TT. The battery went flat and it was recharged with the connectors the wrong way round and as a result the car went haywire, has blown a few fuses and has killed the ECU. Unlike my Astra, they're not coded to the ignition key so it should be fairly straightforward to replace.

[Jon Tilson]

I'm really starting to hate this job....

I took off the rear spring and shock so I could get better access with the spline tool. That was a game as the forums imply the shock comes off easilly, but in my case the lower bolt was masked by the spring....so off came the spring relatively easilly. Then the lower shock bolt took a 3 foot lever to shift, so no surprise that the open ended adjustable wouildnt work, even with the hammer trick. Anyway it all came off and then I could get the spline tool in and got the caliper carrier off
with a 4 foot lever and mucho heaving. They must have been some of the tightest bolts I've ever had to undo.....diff pinion on a dolly but with extra atttitude.

So now the disk wont budge despite 20 minutes of hammering. Grrrr...plus gas applied and another go this morning.

So is it wheel bearing and hub off and down to the local press or what?

Jonners

[soe8m]

Toyota Corolla

Now 1,5 years my daily, 43.000km further, new oil and brakeshoes......

Jeroen

[Jon Tilson]

Well the times are a changing...

A net trawl reveals that I needed a BFH, or a bigger hammer....and it duly worked, so the disc is now off and a new on in place.

Also got a result on a 2nd hand caliper for 20 quid....with pipe as well....

The worn has turned....1 wheel down 3 to go.

Jonners.

[dursley92]

I had a sticky rear caliper on my Mitsubishi Galant and finally decided I had to change it. Got a S/H one from a breaker and it was a doddle to change. No special tools and no access issues.
Also changed rear discs and pads on my Subaru Legacy which has a handbrake "drum" inside the disc and that was a doddle as well.
Maybe I was just lucky with my cars but I think I might avoid new VW stuff based on Jonners experiences.

[xvivalve]

...and I've recently learned that Aston Martin parts such as window mechanisms that have motors and memories integral to them are coded to the car to prevent home maintenance and the breaking of cars for parts, thus ensuring that you use new Aston parts and Aston dealers to get your car repaired!!

[Spunkymonkey]

...and I've recently learned that Aston Martin parts such as window mechanisms that have motors and memories integral to them are coded to the car to prevent home maintenance and the breaking of cars for parts, thus ensuring that you use new Aston parts and Aston dealers to get your car repaired!!

Why does a window mechanism need a memory (apart from enabling them to code it to the car)?


Puzzled of Anglesey......

[Jod Clark]

I bought one of these today....http://www.bennetts.com/brake-tools/las ... 496763.php

Lovely!

[xvivalve]

Why does a window mechanism need a memory (apart from enabling them to code it to the car)?


Puzzled of Anglesey......

...because it drops about 3 mm as you open the door and rises again after you've shut the door, also if you lock the car with the windows down they automatically close.

[soe8m]

I'm going to show off now but my dolomite does drop the glass also about 3cm everytime i close the door and this mechanism has a very good memory because it never forgets to do.....

Jeroen

[xvivalve]

The secret here is the word 'mechanism'

With simple 'mechanism' you can get 30 year reliability, and then it can be fixed or cheaply replaced.

Contaminate that mechanism with 'clever' but fragile electronics interconnected with other similar and you get reliability until....wait for it....and then you need the man who understands it to fix it!

Or do you? On my Alfa I had an 'electrical' ozone smell in the cabin one day and the lights stopped working along with some dashboard functions. Checked fuses, all OK, so took it to the dealers. They plugged it in and announced my IOD panel needed replacing, I was lucky, they had one in stock, 10 mins to fit £125 plus VAT. 10 mins later they presented to me a burned out circuit board that fits near to the accelerator pedal (the one that has no simple cable operation, but a potentiometer instead!) and said it was all fixed. Out of interest, I asked, what does the IOD panel do? The response from the 'trained' technician? Haven't a clue mate, the computer just said replace it; we do a lot of them!! My Dolomites don't have IOD panels and the lights and dash function perfectly (the lights are actually better than the Alfa ones!) and they don't randomly cost me £125 every now and again!

When our economies finally collapse, things will return to simplicity.

[Jon Tilson]

I crowed too soon....

The guy gave me the wrong side....

So an extra 1 hour traffic jam at hangar lane and the decent enough apologetic seller swapped it for the right one.

What a saga.....

Getting good at rewinding pistons though.

Jonners

[SprintMWU773V]

I would have thought that sitting in an Alfa smelling of ozone would be a cue to run away. I've seen too many on fire at the side of the road.

[TomSprint]

Hey Jonners,

Count your blessings that you didn't buy a similar aged passat. If you had along with what your doing you'd also be replacing the electric calipers and having to get it recoded/cleared afterwards!! (They need this after a simple pad change if you haven't would them back in via the diagnostic, but at least if the motors still work you wind them back by connecting a battery to the motor connectors. Still throws a fault though......)

Good Luck
Tom