Xac's adventures with Cassy (and friends + wife)

CitroJim · Post by **CitroJim** » 14 Sep 2009, 20:09

Excellent

Let's hope as that'll be one less job to do!

red_dwarfers · Post by **red_dwarfers** » 14 Sep 2009, 20:22

Your leak got me terrible worried upon waking on Sunday morning as just by pure coincedence I was parked in exactly the same space as you must have on Saturday

It wasn't until Dave pointed out the leak along with the excess mud you cleaned from your rear offside wheel that I felt better

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 16 Sep 2009, 23:00

tee-hee sorry about that Kev

Danielle and I went out for a meal this evening with my folks as it's dad's 62nd birthday.
He was driving a horrible looking Vauxhall Insignia thing that by the looks of it Danielle would be ok sitting in the back, but the rest of us would have painfully cricked necks. How dad fits in the front is also beyond me, he's not small!
For a "large" car it looks quite small inside.
Anyway, it's only a rental, you see he normally drives a 04 Picasso (which amazingly he says is more comfortable than the insignia so god knows how bad that is!), or at least up until yesterday he did.
While waiting at a pedestrian crossing for a little old man to cross, a young lady slammed into the back of him (and insisted on finishing her fag before getting out).
Dad's about 30 stone and the impact dislodged his seat, and has bent the chasis.
So he's not had much luck, what with being knocked off his motorbike a couple of years ago breaking his pelvis and shoulder.
Now he's got whiplash.

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 17 Sep 2009, 08:08

Damn,
Shame it wasnt the vauxhall that was written off!

XantiaMan · Post by **XantiaMan** » 17 Sep 2009, 08:45

From how i read the post it appears the Vauxhall is a courtesy/rental car as the Citroen got written off?

davetherave · Post by **davetherave** » 17 Sep 2009, 08:57

Whoops, dont post early in the morning!

KP · Post by KP » 17 Sep 2009, 09:29

Well is the chasis is twisted it will most likely be a write off unless your lucky and a jig can pull it out but wouldn't like to be the person trying to pull it out.

I'd start looking around at the value of said cars in very good nick and service history so you have a case already for the insurance co of theirs when it gets written off...

Also the insignia can be rejected as a not like for like car as picasso being an mpv should be replaced by an equivilant mpv

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 25 Sep 2009, 15:12

Dad's had it confirmed, the Picasso is a write off so it's replacement car time for him.
I'm trying to plant the seed in his mind that taking Jenny off my hands would do both of us a favour, especially as he can use the excess money from the insurance claim to take mum on holiday.

Anyway, today I'm over at Danielle's so I connected Jenny's battery up and to my surprise she started first time. I had suspected that her battery was on it's way out.
So good news there.
The ABS warning light took a little while to go out, not sure if there's an issue there or not, with the LX in the way I can't take her up the road to see if it comes back.
Jenny's issues are:
1. Airbag light on.
2. Steering wheel buttons not working.
3. Gear stick coming off in your hand especially in 4th.
4. Rear wiper arm needs replacing.

So first off I set to work on the gear stick, wrapped some duck tape around the shaft and tried to refit the knob.
Catastrophy! The lower part of the knob split!
So pulled it off and nabbed the one from the LX, a perfect tight fit without any need for tape, and put the broken one on the LX so it's still useable.
On to the airbag and radio controls.
Now Jenny's had her steering wheel replaced with a leather one, which on the MK1's is marginally better than the MK2 leather one, but I'm still not keen on it, preferring the chunkier compressed foam one after it's had a halfrauds' leather cover to make it chunkier.
I popped off the airbag, the bolts were not tight, and it wasn't connected. That explained the airbag light being on.
I also found the reason for the buttons not working, rather than the normal large black connector on the PCB, there was a small one:

Anyone seen one before?
So again, I nabbed the buttons and correct PCB from the LX.
That showed a difference between the two steering wheels.
Jenny's looks like this:

While the LX's looks like this:

Are they both MK1's?
Is there a difference between hatchback and estate steering wheels?

All put back together and the airbag light is out and the buttons work.
I think I'll be doing a scrap yard visit next week, need to get a MK1 hatchback wiper arm, and a silver MK2 bumper set.

CitroJim · Post by **CitroJim** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:22

That'll be perfect Xac, if your dad has Jenny

better than a Picasso - more comfy, that's for sure!

Never seen radio controls like that. Very odd.

How's Cassy's pump?

Have a look in my blog about doing a heater matrix the week after next and something you may find find helpful in resolving Juliet's exhaust issues...

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 25 Sep 2009, 22:40

Still a little bit damp but nowhere near as bad as it was before, so probably does still need changing.
I've got to explain to dad how him taking Jenny would be doing me a huge favour, Danielle's lease runs out end of October so Jenny has to find a home by then.
The LX will need to go by then too.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 30 Sep 2009, 20:54

Got to Jim's just before 10 this morning and set to work.
The windscreen had been replaced before (by a numpty who'd knocked out the lower screen rests into the scuttle), and thankfully they'd used sealant with the consitancy of chewing gum, but black, which came away just using my fingertips!
Working with normal seats was much easier

MK2's are not as easy to work on as MK1's.
There is no need to unplug the glove box switch or light as there is an easy to remove connector that both feed from.
The passenger airbag lead is cable tied in place and needs to be snipped out.
The lack of grab bar makes moving the dashboard out not quite as easy, and the wiring loom across the dash is in a massive plastic conduit which goes directly over the heater matrix.
You need to release it from around the steering column, remove the U bar that goes over the steering column (rotate it anti-clockwise to feed it out), release the fuse box nuts to free it from the steering column, and free the bonnet release leaver. A cable tie or two may also need to be snipped.
Once done, the loom can be pulled out of the way enough to get to the heater matrix connectors and to release the heater box.
The matrix box was more like a dank medieval dungeon, with a pool of murky water in the bottom.
The passenger footwell was soaked so out came the seat and the carpet.
We finished the job in about 8 hours, with an hour for lunch, so not bad at all.
Of I trotted, got some petrol, and headed home.
The screen started steaming up but I presumed this was residual water steaming off, but it wasn't.
Jim popped over to drop my coat and keys off, and took a look.
I'm going to have to take the dash off again tomorrow and find out what's gone wrong

CitroJim · Post by **CitroJim** » 30 Sep 2009, 22:04

Xac, I'm so sorry it did not work out quite as planned

We tried an experiment to separate the matrix at the matrix joint itself rather than the bulkhead elbow connector which can be difficult and risky, especially in an Activa where access is poor.

It can be done but it looks like it's too risky to do. I'm still not quite sure what went wrong but looking at the old matrices in my garage tonight and the angled pipework I reckon the positioning of the O rings are critical and I'm also concerned that the angled pipe is a bit fragile, especially when it's old. Also, it could be this pipe that's cracked and leaking because again, the leak was at the joint and not the matrix itself. It could also be that the dimensions are different between batches, just sufficient to make a poor seal.

It was an experiment worth trying but I must hereby state the that the risks of a leak are far too high. It's still better to replace the matrix and it's pipework wholesale and not try to mix and match old an new to save disconnecting the elbow. We live and learn

I'm so sorry you were the ginuea pig on this occasion Xac. I would have felt happier if it was on my car that it happened rather than yours

I'm not risking trying to re-use your matrix again so I'll buy you another new one and help you fit it ASAP. I'll have words with work tomorrow about a day off next early next week.

We did learn today that the MK2 is not such an easy car due to the U channel carrying a massive wiring loom across the top of the heater box making access far more difficult than in the MK1.

Xac, again, sorry for all of this

Post by **xantia_v6** » 30 Sep 2009, 22:43

Xac wrote:
Are they both MK1's?
Is there a difference between hatchback and estate steering wheels?
.

The top steering wheel picture is from a car with only a drivers airbag, where the airbag ECU is mounted in the steering wheel. There should be a discrete airbag warning LED on one of the steering wheel switch assemblies.
The lower picture is a steering wheel from a car with passenger airbag, where the airbag ECU is in the console.

If you have a spare mk1 leather steering wheel, I am interested.

Sorry to hear about the matrix.

Xaccers · Post by **Xaccers** » 30 Sep 2009, 22:55

xantia_v6 wrote: The top steering wheel picture is from a car with only a drivers airbag, where the airbag ECU is mounted in the steering wheel. There should be a discrete airbag warning LED on one of the steering wheel switch assemblies.
The lower picture is a steering wheel from a car with passenger airbag, where the airbag ECU is in the console.

If you have a spare mk1 leather steering wheel, I am interested.

Sorry to hear about the matrix.

That's interesting, weren't the leather wheels only fitted to Exclusives, and they had passenger airbags too didn't they?
Thing is, Cassy has the same wheel interior as the lower picture, yet she only has one airbag.
When I have the LX picked up for scrap, I'll swipe the wheel off it for you.
It's sans airbag (though I think I have a spare) and radio controls, but just swap over your current ones.

Sid_the_Squid · Post by **Sid_the_Squid** » 01 Oct 2009, 10:10

Sorry to hear the matrix operation was not a success Xac

Wishing your better fortune on the next attempt, if its a weekend job PM me I'll gladly help if I can.