Suspension sinks on Sundays! C5 X7 that works hard + 206 GTi HDi (and 406 Coupe and 306 HDi). - MattBLancs

[MattBLancs]

Gosh those new brakes feel wooden today!

Pedal feels fine (bled some fresh brake fluid through - that's gone ok)
But the "rate at which the car slows" definitely isn't what I'm used to!

Plenty of trips this week so should soon bed in

[CitroJim]

Gosh those new brakes feel wooden today!

They may just need time to be in Matt... I once had some that would just not effectively bed in and I had to swap them for a different make. Can't recall now what make they were...

[MattBLancs]

Yes, hoping so. They've 84 miles on them so far, but motorway miles. Could do with a good twisting fast A-road, get them working!

[MattBLancs]

Brakes starting to improve, I think.

A pair of ball joints from GSF arrived on Thursday, so as the sun was out I set to and got the driver's side swapped (other side isn't showing signs of wear / play so will stay as is for now)

Thankfully the correct dimensions this time around!

That's more like it!

All the fixings came off without a fight

Job done

Also arrived in the post was 10 new M8x1.25 bleed nipples, so swapped over the driver's side caliper nipple whilst accessible

Shiny Nipples

9mm hex, I like this 1/4" drive Tommy bar for applying torque without bending forces.
Bit of PTFE that'd help potentially vacuum bleeding if needed.

Installed

Next, something I'd had in my Watched Items for about 6 months, recently reduced by a few quid (£39.90 delivered) a bit of bling, or more importantly hopefully good protection to the rear bumper top surface.

Before

Then:

After

Boot shut view:

It's very conspicuous, not sure if I like it, but Function over Form

[mickthemaverick]

Good work on the ball joint Matt, not sure I like the bumper protector either but function is important, maybe spray it body colour?

[MattBLancs]

not sure I like the bumper protector either but function is important, maybe spray it body colour?

Wondered about that but it's stainless which doesn't take paint well and I thought if full of shiny scratches it'd look terrible in short order!

I'm going to see if it "blends into the background" given time

[MattBLancs]

Good example of why it's worth checking over tools and equipment every so often:

I spy bare copper!

This battery charger wasn't far off either a BANG or giving me a jolt!


No strain relief and a casing design that encourages you to wrap the leads around the casing for storage (and hence usually bend them in the same direction each time) fatigue failure of the outer and then inner insulation.
The output leads were not as bad but similarly poorly protected from the same failure mode.

[Huskyxantia]

Good find regarding your charger the boot lip bumper protector is a great idea too

[myglaren]

I was taken to the top of the page and thought it seemed familiar.
One thing that caught my eye though was the LED lighting for the numberplate.
Do check that the illumination is adequate and the plate easily read as there is new legislation this month regarding just that, with fines of up to £1,000 for infractions.
I have noticed lately many very poorly lit ones, including those on police vehicles.
A neighbour has two Mondeos (his 'n hers) both very defective.
Of course I had to go and check mine, relieved to find that it is one of the better ones. MOT due in a month.

[MattBLancs]

Yes good point. I might swap back to bulbs (as suspect it is the THUMP of the boot closing that's killed these off)

The LEDs are pretty good, not silly bright. They were a definite improvement when put in - but this was more to do with the lenses being near opaque with muck!

Blue 308 filled up this morning at an exposure £1.549 / litre:
518 miles covered,
£65.55, 154.9 ppl = 42.32 litres
= 9.31 gallons

55.6 mpg

[MattBLancs]

Blue 308 SW:

327 miles covered today (and a similar number last Sunday morning) tell you more when I get chance, but knackered, am off to bed!

[MattBLancs]

Grey 308 SW filled up:

605 miles covered,
£105.65, diesel at 186.9 ppl (Ouch!) = 56.53 litres
= 12.45 gallons.

48.6 mpg.

It does a fair few short (school) runs and a few longer but busy traffic motorway runs (commute) over each tank full so that's not too bad.

[Huskyxantia]

198.9 where i am, seriously considering hanging my key's up

[MattBLancs]

198.9 where i am, seriously considering hanging my key's up

Yes, you could do that - or could do what I did (just before the Easter bank hols) =

Spoiler: show

about 700 miles in four days!

Spoiler: show

short break, down to Devon. Little static caravan holiday Sunday to Thursday

[MattBLancs]

The Petrol Prices app is on my phone now, quite surprising how much price variation there is - a good ten pence per litre difference between stations in a four mile radius.