DIY Car Maintenance with function over finesse!!

[Gibbo2286]

But is Wales ready for the car?

[mickthemaverick]

I should think so Gibbo, but not so sure about the crew!!

[CitroJim]

Incidentally as a final final summary of the lower arm replacement, I replaced my temporary pinch bolt with the real thing this morning so I can now declare the MOT advisories totally dealt with as well as the full service so the car is ready for Wales!!

Excellent

[mickthemaverick]

I popped out to the garage this morning to get SWMBO's car out for routine inspections and I noticed this:

The new top hose for the MX3

Aah thought I, that needs putting where it belongs. You may remember I replaced a hose clip on the MX3 a couple of weeks ago but the last time I used the car there was still some steam seeping out from the radiator end of the top hose, so I ordered the new one to replace this one:

The existing hose in place

Five minutes of blissfully simple screwdriving later and the job was done:

The new hose in place

Of course once I had the original on the bench I felt a forensic investigation was required but it didn't take long to spot this:

The pinprick hole circled

So that pinprick hole had been the cause of the steam and now I'm pleased to say having run it up to temperature there is no steam evident. However when I switched off I'm sure I heard a slight hissing for a couple of seconds but by the time I got my ear to the place I thought it came from it had stopped. Hmm... watch his space......

[mickthemaverick]

Got up this morning and thought 'Sun' and empty garage, SWMBO out on Mondays, time to make a better job of the emergency bumper repair that I did last year! So I removed the parking sensor and ran into the first issue. The connector plug fell apart in my hands so a bit of reworking required:

MTMO

The obvious thing to do is to cut the plug off clean and splice in a section, so I found and prepped a decent link:

MTMO

This end is ready to go back on the car when I've finished the painting but I could finish the end to the sensor:

MTMO

Having got that ready I did the body prep and initial filling and now I am waiting for the stopper primer to dry ready for the top coat, hence I came indoors to post this:

MTMO

Once painted it won't be concourse finish but lets be fair it is a 20 year old daily driver!!

[mickthemaverick]

Over the last few weeks I have noticed a slight hiccup in the Subaru tickover which is dependant on the load on the engine. If I stopped in traffic and applied the handbrake but left the car in Drive the tick-over was very smooth but down to 500rpm and very occasionally a slight misfire. If I turned on the aircon it got worse but then eased off if I put it in neutral but still there. Turning off the aircon while in neutral and it disappeared completely. So to sum up when loaded at idle it misfired occasionally.

A little research suggested that this problem was almost certainly down to carbon build up on the throttle butterfly rim thereby blocking the correct flow of air for idle speed. The cure simply being to remove and clean the throttle body. Thus I decided to take a run up to Cambridge to collect a new gasket before stripping it down. My trip came across a couple of interesting things which I have posted in the Double Pillar Boxes thread and the Garages thread.

On my return I opened the bonnet, removed the air box and place a mirror against the bulkhead to view the throttle body:

The throttle butterfly as it was.

I didn't want to clean it in situ as debris may have gone into the manifold so it was a simple disconnect two electrical connectors and two cooling hoses, clamped off first, withdraw the 4 x 10mm bolts and lift it out on to the bench.

This is how it looked:

The airbox side/input to the throttle body

The manifold side/output of the throttle body

I set to with my carb cleaner and an old tooth brush until I reached this condition:

The airbox side/input to the throttle body

The manifold side/output of the throttle body

Then it was a simple matter of reversing the process with the new gasket installed to complete the manual work. However the job was not finished as any work done to the air input system on this engine requires a re calibration of the idle speed as there is no actual way of adjusting it. That involved a procedure of reprogramming the ECU for idle which I completed and now it is running perfectly with no missing when loaded at idle. Job Done!!

[CitroJim]

Excellent work Mick

[mickthemaverick]

With only a month to go before the Hamburg Hop I decided to start checking the car's systems today. I removed each wheel in turn, inspected all the pads which are all fine and cleaned all the caliper pins and pad springs before reassembling with a light smear of copper grease as necessary. Only one pin out of the 8 was a tad stiff but all are now fine. Plenty of meat on all pads and all discs as smooth as new. No photos because everyone knows what a caliper looks like

Feeling pleased with the brakes, which together with my recent work on the lower arms now mean the running gear is as good as it can be, I checked all fluids and topped up as necessary but that only involved an egg cup of oil, a small cup of coolant and maybe a pint of washer fluid.

Inspected all the tyres 6mm+ all round and wiper blades both good. The oil is pretty golden with just a tinge of darkening and the coolant is as bright blue as it was when I put it in last summer.

The last job was to check all the lights which all work well but I think I'll give the headlight lenses another polish next week. That will just leave me to hoover the boot before packing and check the tyre pressures on the day before I go. The reason they are linked is that my tyre compressor lives in the boot crate which carries all my spares so I'll dig it out when hoovering the boot.

[mickthemaverick]

A little secondary job. I keep a large oil tray on the garage floor to collect A/C condensate when SWMBO puts her car away. The idea is to stop the carpet getting damp but it has failed:

The damp patch normally under the tray

So I had an idea today and I have drilled vent holes in all four sidewalls of the tray in the hope that the resulting ventilation will keep the carpet healthy!!:

Obviously the holes only go through the edge.

A better angle to see what I have done

So fingers crossed and we'll see what it looks like after a week!!

[Rp0thejester]

I'm probably asking in the wrong place because I would like finesse. Has anyone got a 'How to remove surface rust'? She's starting to bubble in places and want to keep on top of it before it gets worse

[mickthemaverick]

Rub it down to smooth metal with 120 grade wet and dry then finish with 240/400. Then paint with a Kurust type product to eradicate any remaining and finally prime, flat and paint. That's the short version If you are lucky Alasdair might put up the full blown version

[Rp0thejester]

I'm sure Alasdair will put a 'How to' up or I'll get an address for him from Jim and park outside his house till he does But great start from yourself Mick thx

[MattBLancs]

Echo what Mick has put down,

Depending on big the de-rusting job is, I can thoroughly recommend a "powerfile"

I bought a Silver line branded one, new, off eBay for about £35 and a bunch of various belts for less than £10. It's not as noisy as the angle grinder and does a fantastic job at de-rusting / "linishing" less beautiful welds too

[mickthemaverick]

Yes a useful tool Matt. I alternate between the file and a dremel with a cone stone to get into the nooks and crannys. The angle grinder definitely too harsh for surface rust issues!

[Rp0thejester]

To rough? Okay, no 9inch angle grinder then. Would a skirting board sander work, the ones with a flat base that vibrate a lot?