Tales of a C3, a Goddess and some BMW's.

[myglaren]

What they said ^

[DickieG]

Time for an update in particular with my daughters C3, after changing the thermostat housing it still misbehaved especially when cold, I then discovered that oil was getting into the coolant so time for a head gasket replacement. This must be the third time I've replaced the head gasket on a TU engine for this reason causing me to think that they are rather fragile in that area. Anyway a days labour later with new gasket fitted together with a blitz on engine sensors replacing the coil pack, knock sensor and crankshaft position sensor, fingers crossed appears to have sorted it as six weeks down the line no further symptoms have raised their head.

The Goddess (DS) was on wedding duty last Saturday and went down a treat.

Due to the pain that it is commuting into London, last summer I bought a Honda Silverwing 600cc scoot which much to my surprise I've been enjoying the pleasures of riding, during the depth of winter I found the need to fit heated grips then last week I replaced the belt on the CVT transmission which was a rather simple task TBH. One other job I did at the same time was to replace the 'rollers' on the variator, in English standard rollers are perfectly round but by altering the weight of them (from 28g to 26g) together with a roller shaped similarly to a lobe on a camshaft you alter the gearing significantly whereby when you accelerate the engine revs faster to get it in the premium zone for torque so quicker acceleration but when driving at constant speed the revs are lowered for more comfortable/economical cruising, pretty much a win win.

[Hell Razor5543]

Something that you might want to consider for the cold weather are heated gloves and socks. I have bought battery operated gloves (D size battery, IIRC) for my brother and his girlfriend (they live on a narrowboat, and handling her in very cold weather is not great on the hands), and they were well received.

[CitroJim]

Good to see an update Richard

As you may see, I now run a TU engined car - it's called the ET3 engine but it's just a 16v TU - and that too has the normal head gasket oil leak! Yes, they are weak in that area, always have been and always will..

Only one problem with your bike - it has an engine !!!

I'm thinking of investing in a proper set of heated gloves for cycling next winter but looking at the weather forecast I'll be needing them this week!

James, I've discovered a set of cycling-specific heated gloves. Not cheap but they address the issues of gloves and cycling properly...

[DickieG]

The C3 is still behaving itself so I'm now prepared to declare a victory over the erratic starting issue.

Dawn's X3 had another issue with one of the rear lights. As her car is fitted with (optional) xenon headlights the rear sidelights are LED's, however a common problem with them is a dry solder joint on each unit, so what is now the third of out the four light units decided to give up the ghost and require a quick dab with a soldering iron to get the solder flowing and restore light. Ironically these light units are made in France by Valeo who look like they are trying to steal Lucas crown of being the prince of darkness.

The Goddess sailed though the MOT today, but the day didn't go entirely without issue because it rained on way to the test, first time in the rain in nine years, mind you it was only a quick shower but still a bit a shock to the 45 year old girl.

My collection of BMW's will soon increase by one, namely a C650GT is on the way as an upgrade to the Honda Silverwing, a very tempting deal on a year old bike with only 505 miles was too good to miss. I had been temped to go for a "C Evolution" which is the electric version of the BMW scoot, however they are very expensive (£13.5k new) and only have a given range of 60 miles which bearing in mind that very few electric vehicles ever manage to achieve the stated range even when new might make it all a bit of a gamble as my commute is 41 miles without detour so taking into consideration battery deterioration in addition to the cost of replacing them quickly made that thought disappear and buy the dino-fuel version.

[CitroJim]

The Goddess sailed though the MOT today, but the day didn't go entirely without issue because it rained on way to the test, first time in the rain in nine years, mind you it was only a quick shower but still a bit a shock to the 45 year old girl.

Excellent news Richard

That rain must have been a shock for the old lady though!

[Stickyfinger]

Best check tomorrow that she has not shrunk in the wet !

Passing an MoT is always a good day for an old timer, a bit like a doctors check-up for me

[CitroJim]

Best check tomorrow that she has not shrunk in the wet !

And turned into a GS