Mungkie's Activa Blog

[Northern_Mike]

I guess I might as well say it but for this month only while I'm skint I would be prepared to sell the Activa for £500 all new spheres, 12months MOT. It also has 3/4 of a tank of petrol in it which is why I have added £50 to what I paid for it. Its in Witney, Oxfordshire and can be seen at any time.

Already? Oh dear. Such a shame. If only I had the cash. How's the sunroof?

[Mungkie]

I'm not sure if I'm serious about selling it, but I do like the look for Dom's one. I think it has aircon and its in the same blue as my old HDi which I think is the best colour. also Dom's one is low'ish mileage.

I think most likely I should have my money nightmare sorted either at the end of the month or early next month. I remembered that I have a few old 420g jaguars which I might break for parts of scrap, I also have three old Standard Vanguards/Ensigns that I would think should scrap for weight of a £300. Anyone know what prices cars are getting as scrap at the moment?

Also the sun roof is closed properly, but it only tilts at the moment, I think as someone suggested the best thing to do would be to replace the whole thing, but in reality I don't like sunroofs so I think I'll just live with it.

[Northern_Mike]

I'm not sure if I'm serious about selling it, but I do like the look for Dom's one. I think it has aircon and its in the same blue as my old HDi which I think is the best colour. also Dom's one is low'ish mileage.

I think most likely I should have my money nightmare sorted either at the end of the month or early next month. I remembered that I have a few old 420g jaguars which I might break for parts of scrap, I also have three old Standard Vanguards/Ensigns that I would think should scrap for weight of a £300. Anyone know what prices cars are getting as scrap at the moment?

Also the sun roof is closed properly, but it only tilts at the moment, I think as someone suggested the best thing to do would be to replace the whole thing, but in reality I don't like sunroofs so I think I'll just live with it.

If you are serious about selling it, let me know. I despise sunroofs, so that is not an issue.

My brother got £160 for a 1995 N-Plate Mondeo which he scrapped recently.

[Mungkie]

Right here we go.

I am now a father and so have had no time for the Activa in a huge amount of time

It has been taxed, MOTed and insured for ages and only been driven on short runs every week to make sure nothing packs up. My susicions of the heater matrix leaking when I bought the car are a certainly and it makes it pretty much undrivable in the cold weather or with my previously pregnant wife or now new born son in the car

The good news is that I have a dry place to work on the car now and I hope I should be able to find some time to work on it (YAY!)

Anyone know of a good source for a heater matrix?
Anyone any idea how long it might take to do?
Anyone have a link to a good method for doing it?

Next favour it pointed at DeanXM:-

Sometime last year you mentioned that you might donate the pipe/hose from the back of the airbox if I collected it, sadly that plan also slipped by the wayside. Is there any chance I could pay you for the pipe and the postage to me? It seems like its going to be a long time until I get down to the isle of Wight again and I think that I will be needing all my time for wife/son/Activa/work ... and if I am lucky I might even get some sleep one day


I hope this time I get somewhere with this car as I do love it but as with all Activas there are problems.......

The other day I was a little annoyed at the money I've 'wasted' on it, but in truth if I had a modern car I could be paying almost as much as I've spent on it on a few monthly payments.

Everyone please wish me luck and strength to get this thing together and into a mechanically sound state.

[CitroJim]

Congrats on becoming a dad Mungkie

Heater matrix... Not such a bad job really. It's been pretty well discussed on here over the years and there's only really two showstoppers - that's getting the scuttle panel off the windscreen and the matrix elbow connector on the bulkhead...

It's long and it'll take a good weekend if you've not done one before. Even those of us who are veterans still take hours and hours over the job.

Basically, it's dash out, split the heater box and swap the matrix... Best really to make a start and have the forum on hand and we'll answer your questions as they arise...

As for the source of a matrix, it might be worth having a natter with Chris570 as he's just got a decent one for his...

Whatever, only get a named, genuine one such as as a Nissins or Valeo. Chris bought a no-name pattern and it lasted all of three months..

[Mungkie]

Ok so far It seems GSF have them for £39 which I can live with.
I'm looking for the threads about heater matrix changes.

I've just seen the quick reply to my post above, thanks for the info. I might be able to start it this weekend but that depends on many things.

I guess I'll wait for Chris to let me know of his source as doing it again in 3 months sounds very depressing.

[CitroJim]

One of us whose done the job a few times really ought to write it up properly... There's bits of useful information spread all over the forum...

[Mungkie]

One Nissins heater matrix ordered for delivery tomorrow morning.

I already have a 5litre can of Red antifreezer, any other essentials for doing the job that you can think of?

[CitroJim]

Excellent

I already have a 5litre can of Red antifreezer, any other essentials for doing the job that you can think of?

Has it got red antifreeze in at the moment? I ask as red may not be compatible if it's presently got blue in there. Red could be an OAT type whereas blue will be ethylene glycol. They don't mix...

Check that it's compatible... Your red may just be a long-life version of ethylene glycol in which it'll be OK

The only other thing you need is a tube of automotive grade silicone sealant to bond the windscreen scuttle panel back to the windscreen when the job is complete...

[myglaren]

One Nissins heater matrix ordered for delivery tomorrow morning.

I already have a 5litre can of Red antifreezer, any other essentials for doing the job that you can think of?

Not essential as such but include a bottle of Forte Stop Leak.
Valeo will not honour warranties if this is not added to the cooling system with a new matrix.

It's like Chicken soup (if it doesn't do any god it won't do any harm)

[bxzx16v]

Great news Mungkie on the new arrIval and good luck with the activa project .

Mark

[Deanxm]

Congrats on the arrival of the little fella, well done to you both!
You can have the air intake for postage as its not 100%, i certainly wouldnt want to go bending it about too much but if your gentle it will do the job for a couple of years, no holes or splits in it yet anyway, send me a PM with your address and i will see if i can find it and get it sent to you, will have to remember to get something else posted too which ive been meaning to do for months.

D

[Mungkie]

Right I might have done a very bad thing ... all this talk of massive jobs and I got a little scared of doing the heater matrix so I thought I'd try a leak fixing fluid. So far so good! no steam from heater at the moment. I managed to do a little childish country road driving as I was warming the engine up. WOW yet again I now remember why I have the Activa, what an amazing drive, especially if you use 3rd gear alot. I didn't even do more than 60 in it but the smile on my face was huge, the way it corners it INCREDIBLE. So smooth and tight and responsive but not harsh.

I guess I'll be keeping the beauty/(crumbling mess)

I MUST buy new tyres though .......

and now that I have used the leak stop stuff I must keep an eye on the temps .....just to be on the safe side

[CitroJim]

WOW yet again I now remember why I have the Activa

I know Addictive isn't it

I get the same feeling every time I drive mine...

What leak stopper did you use? If it was Forte Stop Leak then OK but anything else is just a little suspect...

[Mungkie]

Right I've just put the Silver HDi through an MOT, all it needed was a break light and an ABS sensor, you have to love 'em

I've just failed the MOT on the Red Activa, all it needs is the handbreak looking at as its gone all limp, I'm hoping thats nothing of any consequence.

And to add to my problems I've bought another Activa in Silver, 79k the engine sounds amazing, but it failed the MOT before I got it and its on the Isle of Wight. The price was only £150 and it has two good tyres at least. I was planning on using it for spares but I think its far too good for that so now I have a bit of a difficult task of sorting out a car on the Isle of Wight 130 miles away. Combine that with the fact I'm already taxing and insuring 2 cars it really is all starting to look a little crazy it spend this much to drive shabby french '90s cars around.

I used airport parking where you drop the car off at the airport and they bring it back to you when you return yesterday, The driver commented on how well the silver HDi drives for such a high mileage car, its the simple things that put a smile on your face