Where are you based? I've got the wheels on my Scenic with a ton of Michelin tread but I intend to break the car come November...I'll need something to roll the shell around on..
Currently near Chippenham, Wilts (there's a few of us I think!).
So the existing tyres are right on the limit of legality due to shoulder wear. The left front wheel looks like it's munched one already, so something to keep an eye on. Will probably need tracking done when I've sorted the weird steering noise anyway.
Picked up a set of these for a reasonable price - just need some spigots. Plan for them to be temporary (it was the only ones I could get my hands on within a reasonable distance so far)
On the way to pick them up the brakes start making horrible noises again, so I thought I'd best get on it sharpish. There's a ECP nearby and, whilst they aren't the cheapest, they have parts in stock so I could get the job out of the way. Was roughly £75 for a set of Eicher vented discs and pads.
As previously mentioned, the driver's side had a deep score through the centre of the disc
The passenger side looked a little better...
...however, the inner side was a bit goosed, with uneven pad wear.
Turns out the bottom slider was seized right up, so after a fair bit of wrestling with it I managed to extract the pin.
All clean up and sorted. Did a quick scrub on the caliper/carrier, and used some red UHT spray I have knocking about, just to improve the rusty look a little.
I always find that, with most brake pads, I have to scrub off the paint on the pad in order to get it into the carrier with a tolerance I'm happy with. I've had pads seized up before due to too tight a fit, so I wonder how many others actually do it.
Driver's side was much simpler to sort, with the sliders nice and loose etc.
Job done for now. First time in a long time I've completely retracted the pistons in the calipers and not had the brake fluid reservoir actually go above the max mark!
Plan will be to keep the car on stands for now. Next I plan to strip off the front a bit, have a look at the out-of-shape driver's side wing/bumper bracket, check the P/N on the broken fog light, and inspect the condenser as the A/C appears to be non-functional.
Paul just finished reading your Twingo thread and, if the stars are still aligned, you probably have a few bits I'd be interested in if you broke yours - especially if the tinted glass is straightforward to swap out.
Paul just finished reading your Twingo thread and, if the stars are still aligned, you probably have a few bits I'd be interested in if you broke yours - especially if the tinted glass is straightforward to swap out.
Cool...I'll keep the thread updated. The window tint is just a film but it has been very well done...
Paul just finished reading your Twingo thread and, if the stars are still aligned, you probably have a few bits I'd be interested in if you broke yours - especially if the tinted glass is straightforward to swap out.
Cool...I'll keep the thread updated. The window tint is just a film but it has been very well done...
I expect it would be, and I'm a dab hand at it myself, but probably won't get the time to do it. We'll see how it goes!
First job today was to strip the bumper off to remove the broken fog light unit and also try to sort out the bad fitting/bent wing and bumper.
Wasn't too bad - 2 x 10mm either side (one sheared through rust of course), 1 x torx in the middle, 2 x 10mm below, and a few posi-head screws.
This is the bracket that need a little tweak...
All back together
Next was to look at the strange creaky steering. It was hard to figure out exactly where it was coming from, so I separated the rod ends to rule out top mounts, ball joints etc.
The noise was still there..
So I removed the steering column to rule out any bearings/trim.
But the noise was most definitely from the rack.
As noted earlier both gaiters are split on the steering rack, so I pulled each back a bit and gave them a blast of white lithium grease. This seemed to do the trick.
Before putting the steering wheel back on I thought I'd remove the usual years of finger grease from the stalks. Not the best photo, but you can see the grease on the top bit and on the fog light symbols.
Nice and clean...
Everything back together and steering nice and quiet for now (bar some trim rubbing around the shroud)
Before I put the battery negative back on, I thought I'd investigate the odd pair of 10amp fuses that had been bodged on at some point. My curiosity was raised but cautious.
Turns out they were connected to....
NOTHING! But even more bodge-tastic (and a first for me) was seeing both the negative and the positive wires fused??
Anyway, they are now where they are better suited...
Waiting for some spigot rings, but put the wheels on for now. I hate them, but they'll do for the short term.
Also checked out the engine bay a little - bit of a wrestle to remove the 'bodged on' engine cover.
The filler cap/dipstick seems to have divorced itself. No idea what they are supposed to be like, but I assume not like this...
Also some lovely electrical tape bodging on the intake hose, too!
So some new stuff to add on there. The ABS light has also been on since I had a look at the scored disc a few days ago. I thought I'd clear up by now, especially after having the battery off for a few hours, but no such luck!
I imagine a lot of people do. They're Team Dynamics of some flavour - possible Pro Race 1.2. Not sure.
I generally hate multi-spokes, and I particularly don't see the point in getting multi-spokes to then make them invisible by painting them black. To add, I don't like the concept of then making the whole issue highlighted by a chrome ring around it all
Would happily swap them for a set of standards tbh, and will no doubt sell them at the earliest opportunity.
Yesterday I ordered: - New oil filler/dipstick cap thing - Pair of Febi rack gaitors - Pair of track rod ends
I did have a quick go at undoing the TRE with some butane, but on the OS there's never really enough room to get in there with a spanner to turn anti-clockwise. I'll have another go soon enough and will probably end up cutting the old ones off.
Rear engine/box mount arrived today, so after work I got cracking on that.
Had to break out big bertha to undo the engine side bolt.
Comparison of new vs old. Went with a Febi Bilstein replacement.
Although the old one might look okay, it had a lot of give in the bush on the engine side.
I think this was causing gear change issues under longitudinal load shifts (e.g. hard braking approaching a roundabout).
Fitted the new one quite easily, although it is quite far back in the centre so I had to do it blind (on my back lookup up, spanner in each hand behind my head jobby).
Next up was to circumvent that ingenious french security with my trusty precision flathead.
So there as a wire dangling in the passenger footwell this time, attached to nothing at that end. Turns out it was spliced into the radio wiring...
Answers on a postcard? I think that's the amp output, right?
Removed it, anyway.
Goes to show that even a basically one-owner car that appears to have been maintained by a garage its whole life can have all sorts of horrific wiring bodgery going on. Hoping that is the last of it, though!
Managed to get 10 mins to nip at the seized track rod ends a little, which was enough to loosen the corrosion. These will need to come off so I can replace both rack gaiters which are well and truly mullered (but suspiciously weren't on the last MOT only a few months and thousand miles ago).
TRE BJs were pretty loose anyway, so will benefit from the change.
Also got the new oil cap/dipstick - but alas the thread is different and it doesn't fit
Also fitted my Sony HU in place of the standard item
Used foglight also arrived, so set about replacing it for the broken one I'd removed on the weekend.
Decided to properly 'French' it up before refitting:
Also did the other one to match
I have some new plates on the way, and also should have the steering gaiters here soon. Once they are here I can se about fitting them, then chucking a new pair of TREs on.
The spigot rings are here now but I'm not ready to fit them until I've put the track rod ends back on. The steering wheel is off-centre so I'm hoping to straighten that out while I'm there. It's one that can only fit in one way on the column so it needs to be done via the TREs, which definitely looked like they had been adjusted to make it all off centre.
Once it's all sorted I'll set about getting some wheel alignment done. Both the front and rear NS tyres have outer shoulder wear, the rear being dotted as 2015, so I suspect the NSF has been rotated at some point. The history shows there was a BJ and something else (poss CV joint) changed on that side a year or two ago, and that was the drier side, so I suspect it's been out of track and munching through tyres.
Stole a couple of mins this evening to check the ABS light.
Seems the photo didn't take, but it mentioned a low battery (which was also referenced prior to purchase, as apparently lockdown caused that and a new one was fitted), but also an intermittent fault on the rear right speed sensor. Cleared them for now, we'll see if they reappear.
Also checked for engine fault codes. Found an EGR related one, so I expect that's going to look like a mini pompeii.
I had ordered a bunch of bulbs and a few clearance bits from Euro Car Parts, so I was delighted when a box turned up earlier in the week.
Here are the 'unboxing' photos...
No idea how they make profit. Oh well.
I was donating blood yesterday, which gave me the chance to pop into Wilko for some zip ties (I have avoided going out, as so it was a "while I'm here..."). These were to compliment the steering rack gaiters that had arrived at the start of the week.
I also had the new TREs, but was waiting to do the gaiters before fitting them.
Just about visible in this pic, but they had split completely on both sides:
Obligatory new/old shot...
I hate working with grease at the best of times, but managed to get them on in the end. There wasn't an awful lot of room on the NS, so getting the new and tighter gaitor over the rack end was a more challenging job with the lack of space.
I ideally need new lock nuts, but fitted the old ones for now
Spigot rings had also arrived, which will allow me to fit all four wheels now.
My new plates had also turned up, so I set about removing the old one at the front - to be confronted with more grimey grime.
The new plates will go into plastic surrounds, so I drilled and riveted those in place first.
Fitted - much cleaner. Not fully keen on the UJ (rather than the Euro flag), but I thought it might be useful if she ever decides to visit her birthplace on the continent...
Rear one was an advisory on at least the last MOT, so was definitely in need of changing
Did a temporary fix to the rear wiper, until I get around to replacing the arm (which is broken and doesn't hold the blade very well.
I took the rear right wheel off to inspect the sensor that was showing as a fault code in my last post. Removed the pads and rotated the disc manually to check that the speed sensor was actually reading correctly. All appeared fine and no more fault codes showing yet, but it did seem like the ABS light was still on for some random reason. Might need a few cycles or a bit of a drive to satisfy itself.
Also thought I may as well clean up the caliper and disc hub a little whilst I was at it. Maybe it's just faired well, but the caliper seemed a little clean to be 20 years old.
Sprayed and wheel refitted. Bit of overspray on the disc will be gone a few hundred yards down the road.
Can you believe someone (the garage the prev. owner used) actually charged money for this 'welding' job?
I also had a quick look at the config to see if there was anything interesting to turn on - I did enable the auto-lock when driving off, as that was off. Useful when you have kids.
With the spigot rings available, I could now choose the best wheel/tyre and actually have a spare.
I also fitted some of the new bulbs that (eventually) turned up from Euro Car Parts. Went for Bosch, as they are normally my go to trustable brand.
I'd also noticed that the rear wash hose was split/disconnected - it's my suspicion that this was causing the leaking in the boot.
I had some boost vacuum hose knocking about, so made a little replacement section
Fitted it all up quite nicely
The tailgate then wouldn't close, due to the clasp (for want of a better word) slipping off. Had to strip everything down and adjust it. Don't really understand the design!
All four wheels now fitted. I think I'm going to spray that tacky polished rim black and see if they look any better that way.
I love buying a new to me car, so much tinkering to be had.
Enjoying your improvements.
Did cleaning the egr make a noticeable difference?
Because of the state of it, I hadn't actually driven it much (perhaps 20-40 miles at most). It's somewhat sluggish anyway, and I wouldn't expect much different to be honest.
I did go out this afternoon in it for the first time with the wheels and stuff, and found some new bits;
- The rev counter isn't currently working, which I believe is related to the ABS, STOP, and Handbrake light being on. All others are fine, so it's a bit odd. - Despite trying to eye-ball it until I get the tracking done, the steering wheel is still not central when driving straight (I'll look at that again) - I feel like it bottoms out a bit too eagerly, so I've ordered a new pair of shocks. The ones on there, as maybe you'll all have seen, look like they've come off the titanic. I've also potentially got a pair of rears too - There's still a bit of a rubbing noise from, I think, the OSR brake. I might try and wind it back in - possibly bleed the brake fluid too. - Either the washer reservoir is empty, or the pump isn't actually working. Another thing to look at. - Still a slight crunch now and again into third. The gearing a little vague but not sure if that's standard.
Not 100% sure I'd want to put the kids in it yet, but it's getting there.
A few updates, including a small segue I thought might be interesting.
Car stuff first...
I found the correct home for one of the bits of plastic that was rattling around in the glove box (first post)
I also had to remove the stereo to swap the ignition and live over. The live wire was coming off the pin, so I swapped in a new one and soldered it up.
One of the multi-plugs was slightly loose at the back of the cluster, so refitted and all was well again (no more ABS light, and rev counter working again!). Weird symptoms, mind!
Getting to the cluster involves removing the top half of the dashboard,, but it is literally just two torx screws to do it. I'm a dab hand at it now!
This meant I had the chance to fit the microphone for the bluetooth on the stereo whilst it was off. There's no mic at all on the head unit, so in the rare chance I take an emergency call at least I can speak now...
Also found one of the other jobs it appears someone has bodged before. There are a few references to jobs being done around the right rear light and, low and behold, one of the fixing was missing with the rubbing strip flailing about. If some of these jobs are actually the garage and were paid jobs, I'd have a right mind to point the P/O to this thread, as it looks like he's spent a lot of money with them.
Not perfect, but I had one of the bumper trim clips off the Lexus knocking about, and it seemed to do the trick (if a little tight-fitting)
I had a more patient attempt to eye-ball the tracking, as the OSF wheel was definitely a few minutes out.
I popped out for a trip to B&Q to get some carpet cleaner and look at some plants, which gave me the chance to test some of the further fixes. Those chrome lips will have to go soon!
I don't get a choice on the roof bars - they are lockable and I haven't got the key! Maybe something to practice my lock-picking skills on.
On the way back I noticed the steering was still a little off, the other way this time. Much, much, better though. So maybe third time will be the charm!
As per yesterday's update, the windscreen washers weren't doing anything. I wonder if there was no washer fluid in it, so filled her up and saw this...
The pump also makes a noise but no joy - It's an inner wheel-arch jobby, so I'll save the investigation for when I'm doing the front shocks as I'm unlikely to use it in the meantime.
So, the segue! The interior is a bit grubby, but I managed to pick up a Numatic George for spares/repair for a silly cheap price - the one drawback is that the main feature (fluid spraying) wasn't working.
Multiple tests with the pickup dangling in water showed that the pump made the same noise a pressure-washer does when you haven't got the tap on, which made me suspect that the blockage was in or before the pump, rather than after it. Time to strip her down!
The pickup had a small kink, but otherwise seemed ok. I could spray water through the gauze, so it wasn't that.
It was a bit mucky inside and looked like it'd lived a hard life, perhaps sucking up plaster/brickwork/building mess. Despite the mess and spider corpses, nothing immediately wrong here.
I separated and checked the flow of the feed hose, which also seemed fine. Hose was a little kinked, but used a hairdryer to straight it out a bit
The output hose was also a bit dirty and kinked, so I cleaned and tidied up everything there, refitting everything nice and tight
Separated the pump and found a bit of corrosion inside. Cleaned it up with 1500 grit and gave it a little one over with some WD40
Cleaned some of the muck up whilst I was there, and also spend a good amount of time scrubbing out the rest of the body and tank
End result:
I've ordered some accessories for it, as it was missing the more important/useful tools, and hope to use it to possibly de-filthify 20 years worth of muck!
Also on order are a full set of shock absorbers. I plan on changing all of the front anti-roll bar bushes, but I'm waiting on a price from Renault before I commit to getting them from ECP (including some genuine service parts costs).
Might need to measure the boost pressure at some point, if I can, as it feels a bit like a non-turbo and has quite the turbo whine. I've not driven another to be able to tell if it is pedestrian slow as is (I have, of course, been used to much faster in recent times), but the intercooler sits behind the NSF bumper corner and looks to be in an area where it could easily get punctured/rot over time.
