Crank, no start....

Tell us your ongoing tales and experiences with your French car here. Post pictures of your car here as well.
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myglaren
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by myglaren »

Excellent work and recount.
I particularly liked Cardboard Aided Design (one of my favourite tools. Also the following :-
Bobbins wrote:stereognosis
Another one for Neil there!
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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myglaren wrote: 28 Apr 2024, 20:09 ...... Also the following :-
Bobbins wrote:stereognosis
Another one for Neil there!
Also known as - 'aving a grope. :lol:
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myglaren
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Re: Crank, no start....

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"Tactile examination" surely!
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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That very much depends on the clientele :lol:
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Only a small update - I'd fitted the second hand Lithuanian air conditioning condenser the other week but only managed to get it into a garage this week to get the aircon system vac'd, tested, and filled. I'm very happy (actually, relieved !) to say the aircon all works as it should now :)

Obviously, over the last two days it's been absolutely necessary for me to take it out for a couple of test drives to make sure the aircon still works :-D
Up on the Downs  - own work
Up on the Downs - own work
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Excellent!
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MattBLancs
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by MattBLancs »

Just my silly mind but "Lithuanian air con condenser" sounds like a cracking euphemism (along lines of "Irish tumble dryer" https://www.ofah.net/blog/irish-fools-and-horses/ ) I wonder what it'd be the substitute term for? :)
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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It sounds more like some codewords from spies meeting for the first time.

First spy - "Do you have a Lithuanian air conditioning condenser ?"

Second spy - "No I don't use them. I hear the geese are flying low this winter"

First spy - "It's good to see you Oleg, our country is pleased to welcome you "
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ekjdm14
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Re: Crank, no start....

Unread post by ekjdm14 »

Lithuania seems to be quite a productive country for new/used/reconditioned parts, not sure if it's just French cars or if they do a bit of everything. Also, with reference to "Fabricobbling" & "CAD", were they borrowed from AvE, WWW or Matt? Some of my favourite youtube channels there :D

To my mind, a Lithuanian AC condenser would seem to be a synonym for "broken window" or perhaps "bypassed heater core" :?
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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I've had a few new and used car things via Lithuania over the last few months and they've all been spot on and delivered in a timely manner and - much more importantly - cheaper than what I can get here :-D Rumour has it than there's a thriving industry in 'recycling' stolen cars over there...... but the same can be said for any country 8-[ The lot that I got my condenser from were happy to show pictures of the car it came from along with its chassis number so I'm not unduly bothered about it's provenance :)

As for fabricobbling - no idea where that came from but I've used it for years. I think Project Binky might be responsible for CAD - rather alarmingly, that's been ongoing for about a decade now. Where does the time go ? :(

WWW ?? Wes ? I wish I had his patience and knowledge. And his workshop :lol:
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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A minor update - just returned from a week long 1700 mile round trip with 'Helga' down to Germany and France, and I'm happy to report that she performed almost faultlessly. Just one minor, tiny, near inconsequential issue - the roof mechanism threw a fault.... and I knew exactly how to fix it very quickly. It was just the fuse for one of the control boxes that controls the mechanism - the fuse just needed a clean as it had oxidised. I like fixes like that :-D I shall work out MPG in due course, but I was surprised how 'economic' the dashboard display showed it running when 'cruising' at 80-90mph :) I think she's covered more ground in the last week than she's managed in the preceding 10 years :lol:
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Magic :D
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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More progress to report :)

I'd noticed the water pump had a slight amount of play in it - no leaks, no unpleasant noises, just a bit of up and down movement on the shaft, so I thought it wise to replace it at leisure rather than replace it in desperation. I used an INA Schaeffler one as it didn't seem wise to go cheap.
Not too bad a job actually. The drain down point at the bottom of the radiator was easy to get at and the bung undid without any problems, all the nuts and bolts holding the water pump on just undid like they were only put on yesterday, and the internal waterways were spotless with zero signs of corrosion and muck. It all seems too easy - I'm not used to this sort of thing happening :lol:
There's a water pump under there somewhere - own work
There's a water pump under there somewhere - own work
Another job was replacing the power steering fluid and fluid filter. You can remove one of the power steering pipes and pump all the fluid out and replace it...... but the more enlightened bodger home mechanic sucks all the old fluid out of the reservoir and drops in some new, then runs the car for a minute whilst doing a bit of steering, then sucks out the fluid and repeats the process until you've gone through about 2 or so litres of PS fluid. No leaks, no mess, no fuss. Perhaps I should have dribbled some PS fluid all over the place just 'for old time's sake' as it all seemed to go remarkably well 8-[
Power steering reservoir with new fluid, and new water pump behind - own work
Power steering reservoir with new fluid, and new water pump behind - own work
Now for a more grubby job that surely must throw up some issues. I wanted to fit a new replacement steering damper to see if it improved the steering along with the new PS fluid. I put the car up on some shallow ramps to see what I could curse at find. Oh !..... I can get to each nut and bolt of the steering damper from each side of the car without fully having to get under the car and without removing any under body gubbins..... and each nut and bolt undid easily and nothing was seized.... and the old damper easily came out.... and the new one easily went in. Clearly I'm operating in an alternate universe. Car things never go this easily [-X
Old steering damper, not too bad condition.. New damper box. - own work
Old steering damper, not too bad condition.. New damper box. - own work
So now for the bit where it all goes wrong and messy. Replacing the hydraulic fluid that runs the roof mechanism and roll over bar.
Hydraulic pump for the roof - own work
Hydraulic pump for the roof - own work
As the hydraulic fluid that runs the roof mechanism has never been replaced (to my knowledge), I thought it best to do so as the old stuff was 27 years old :roll: The pump is located in the boot, under the spare tyre, under a plastic cover, and the last person to look at it was probably Dieter oder Hans when they fitted it in the factory :wink: You get a choice of two pipes to remove from the pump - one supplies the high pressure feed line, and one is the return line. I want the low pressure return line so I can feed it into a bottle and collect it before it goes to the reservoir. Eeny meeny miny moe.
Well would you look at that ! I only got the right one :-D Numerous cycles of roof up - roof down whilst keeping the reservoir topped up and I purged 2 litres of fresh hydraulic fluid through the system and barely spilled a drop. I've heard of other people removing the wrong pipe.... you can imagine the carnage :shock: #-o

Whilst rummaging around in the boot I decided to replace the spare tyre - it was the original Pirrelli as fitted at the factory and it'd never touched the road, in fact the wheel still had the manufacturer sticker on it. The tyre - though still pumped up and round, was rather sticky on one side and I daren't risk it. I believe in some countries you're not allowed unmatched tyres across the same axle and as it has nearly new Continental's all 'round I decided to fit a (barely) used one as a spare. I don't plan on rotating the tyres to make use of the spare one as the wheel is in mint condition, so the spare really is for 'get you home' purposes only.

I'd call that little bout of fettling a success. 8-) Other jobs to do at some point - replace the brake fluid with Mercedes' own Dot4+ spec stuff, and track down an oil leak from the back of the engine. I'm hoping it's not a head gasket issue - it'd be unlikely due to the low mileage and the fact the car has been properly maintained over the years. The pile of bills and receipts that came with it showed it as having main dealer servicing every year even when it'd only covered a thousand or so miles each year :shock: . It'll be a job for the endoscope to go exploring the nether regions of the back of the engine to see what's up.


Oh - and an update on MPG for her. Somehwere around 29 MPG on the Germany trip. Not too bad :-D
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CitroJim
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Re: Crank, no start....

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Awesome :D
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bobins
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Re: Crank, no start....

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I had a bit of fun with another Mercedes SL today - I decided to completely strip the paint off of one and repaint it with a rattle can to see how it would look :-D

Here it is before I removed the paint...
R129 SL in original colours - own work
R129 SL in original colours - own work
Paint removal in progress - slap it all over then place it in a bag to do its job.
Paint stripper doing its thing - own work
Paint stripper doing its thing - own work
All the components after the body had been sprayed.
Exploded R129 - own work
Exploded R129 - own work
Finished article. Not bad for a first attempt although I knocked a bit of paint off on the reassembly. It's been painted the same colour as mine - Smaragdschwarz, or GreenBlack, or even GreenOpal ! It's a pity it's a left hand drive, but it's the nearest I could get without spending more than a tenner :lol:
Finished side - own work
Finished side - own work
Finished front - own work
Finished front - own work
Finished top - own work
Finished top - own work