CitroJim's AX, C3 Picasso, Cycling and Running Tales

[mickthemaverick]

Good job all round there Jim, plus you've bitten the bullet on painting which can't be bad!!

[Skull]

I see your Filthy and raise you a filthier beast

Skull’s HDi with some filthy beast

[CitroJim]

Good job all round there Jim, plus you've bitten the bullet on painting which can't be bad!!

And I was OK with it for once and rather pleased I can handle a bit of painting again Steph suffered worse from the fumes than I did, poor girl

I see your Filthy and raise you a filthier beast

IMG_4578.jpeg

[CitroJim]

I've had very little time to spend on Bluebell today as much of the day was taken up with officiating at parkrun, patronising our most excellent Methodist Church café and spending time with the family diagnosing their washer/drier. It took out the house main RCD in the middle of Thursday night due to a duff mains RFI suppressor. It's always live and a known fault. One of the Class X suppressor capacitors will have gone short before blowing itself open when the RCD was reset and now with it blown to bits the machine performs faultlessly...

A new suppressor unit - £14 from the bay of E - is on order. Still, against that, I could spend time with my favourite grandchild doing Gruffalo puzzles and reading books - one was all about the adventures of two little characters undergoing potty training... The strapline being 'read this with your toddler and see if they're ready'. Autumn's been dry for ages so the reading of this book was rather academic in her case and for entertainment value alone

She was devastated I was not there to take her to a café! Her parents blame me for creating a café addiction in her... 'Dad, you've created a monster!'

As I've said, a café is my pub and I do spend a lot of time in them feeding my own addictions in the company of either runners., cyclists or both...

So, that left about 90 minutes to play cars... All went well Bumper back on, washer reservoir refitted, pumps reinstalled and tested...

The rear washer now works a treat Shame the front one has now decided to pack up Also a shame the plastic pipe to the rear is so hard it split invisibly where it fits onto the pump outlet port and caused a leak

And to add to the 'fun', Bluebell's alternator is dying Driving her into the garage I could see the warning light on faintly and a voltmeter across her battery only shows 12V with the engine running...

So it looks like I'll be overhauling another alternator soon. Good job I had a bit of practice with our spare one a while back :

[xantia_v6]

And to add to the 'fun', Bluebell's alternator is dying Driving her into the garage I could see the warning light on faintly and a voltmeter across her battery only shows 12V with the engine running...

So it looks like I'll be overhauling another alternator soon. Good job I had a bit of practice with our spare one a while back :

Check the charging voltage at the alternator terminal, just in case something got disturbed during recent works.

[CitroJim]

Check the charging voltage at the alternator terminal, just in case something got disturbed during recent works.

Good thinking Mike, thanks I only did a very quick check yesterday...

[Stickyfinger]

The rear washer now works a treat Shame the front one has now decided to pack up Also a shame the plastic pipe to the rear is so hard it split invisibly where it fits onto the pump outlet port and caused a leak

Simple, do some work on the cooling system, as you know that cures Citroen screen washer problems

[CitroJim]

The rear washer now works a treat Shame the front one has now decided to pack up Also a shame the plastic pipe to the rear is so hard it split invisibly where it fits onto the pump outlet port and caused a leak

Simple, do some work on the cooling system, as you know that cures Citroen screen washer problems

Ha ha yes You might need to explain that one Alasdair!

[MattBLancs]

Good shout on checking at the alternator terminal. We "diagnosed" a dying alternator on my mates Audi A3 many years ago, removed said alternator and took it to a rebuild place. Bloke put it on his tester *** then handed it back to us "nowt wrong with that!"

Loose main earth terminal

Spoiler: show

on a car we'd recently had gearbox off...

*** What is the machine called, Sparkrite? Nope.
That's going to niggle till I remember.

[MattBLancs]

*** What is the machine called, Sparkrite? Nope.
That's going to niggle till I remember.

Nothing at all like Sparkrite! I remembered it was an unusual, strange name. Google and eBay to the rescue!

Spoiler: show

Octopus!

I remember the machine too, looked just like this one.

I've resisted the urge to gain testing capability via a trip over the Pennines to Mirfield!

[CitroJim]

Nothing at all like Sparkrite! I remembered it was an unusual, strange name.

I've always known those machines as 'Growlers' Matt because they really do growl when in use It's a name they have in the same way as a vacuum cleaner is called a 'Hoover'.

No chance to look today as I've spent a lot of the day in the company of a group of equally bonkers friends running nearly 9 miles in thick, deep and slimy mud and across several ploughed fields Truly, a proper hard-core trail run Only about a mile was on paved surfaces, the rest pure mud

Me in full flight across an especially wet and muddy bit...

Official Spider Runners photo

These were my shoes at the end...

And after they received a jet wash

We enjoyed an awesome post-run social in a superb café that opened especially for us and baked some special cakes for the occasion

They even gave me one to take home for Autumn!

It was all truly awesome and magical

[CitroJim]

Good shout on checking at the alternator terminal.

Yes, a very good shout indeed as that's what it is - no volts at the B+ terminal on the alternator from the battery It goes via the starter motor so that'll be where the issue will be...

Access is poor and sight limited so I can't yet see the issue although most likely as I had to work 'blind' to reconnect the starter motor wiring I've left the wiring to the alternator dangling in free space...

On the positive side, I now have fully functioning front and rear washers Leak fixed with a bit of new pipe and the corroded contacts on the front pump cleaned, burnished and protected with silicone grease

Tomorrow I'm out on the bike although the afternoon may give an opportunity for further work... She's nearly there

[Hell Razor5543]

I have just found out the time The Ultimate Cycling Show will be aired, and it is virtually guaranteed that you will NOT be watching it, Jim. It is at 22:00!

[MattBLancs]

... terminal ... alternator ... battery ... starter motor ... wiring .... alternator ....

On the positive side, I now have fully functioning front and rear washers

Somewhat inevitable turn of phrase there Jim!


Good work on the washers working well!

[CitroJim]

I have just found out the time The Ultimate Cycling Show will be aired, and it is virtually guaranteed that you will NOT be watching it, Jim. It is at 22:00!

Not virtually but absolutely rock-solid 100% guaranteed James

... terminal ... alternator ... battery ... starter motor ... wiring .... alternator ....

On the positive side, I now have fully functioning front and rear washers

Somewhat inevitable turn of phrase there Jim!


Good work on the washers working well!

I'm pleased you didn't read it in a negative light Matt!

I'm hoping for some positive news today but first, a bike ride...