My Silver '06

Started by delhusband, May 13, 2017, 11:42

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delhusband

First some History - My first romance, X373 OES - Bought -2003, Sold 2005 (biggest life regret - it was my only car, I couldn't afford a second motor, and I needed something more practical)



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delhusband

#1
Romance No 2 - disaster. Lasted a week, big hole in subframe, car returned to dealer. Got a nice day out and a pic, this one from Fairlie Moor, looking on to isle of Arran

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delhusband

#2
Romance no3 - silver '06, 63k, back in love

 
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delhusband

#3
Top Centre mark added - 50p insulating tape from B&Q, MacDonalds coffee bean (free!)

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delhusband

#4
Next job scheduled for 29th May. Local garage doing MOT advisories. Fitting discs and pads (kindly supplied by seller), and looking at deteriorated bushes on front wishbones (been reading about polybushes with interest)

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shnazzle

#5
Loving that you kept the coffeebean
...neutiquam erro.

Carolyn

#6
Sweet car.  Alternative to re-bushing front a-arm..

 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351007624127? ... EBIDX%3AIT m
Perry Byrnes Memorial Award 2016, 2018.  Love this club. 
https://www.mr2roc.org/forum/index.php?topic=63866.0

Essex2Visuvesi

#7
Quote from: "Carolyn"Sweet car.  Alternative to re-bushing front a-arm..

 m http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/351007624127? ... EBIDX%3AIT m

Or if you're feeling a little flush
 m http://battleversion.com/store/mrs-00-07/ m

delhusband

#8
Thanks Shnazzle, Carolyn & Essex2Visuvesi. Coffebean stays!, Battleversions look delicious, but out of my league right now - need to work some overtime. Need to start saving some pennies, i'd love another mk3 track day
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delhusband

#9
Had a really good drive today. car blitzed with insects. Been driving enthusiastically after sticking some redex in the tank - no known need, wee experiment/curious to see if it made any noticeable difference (not totally sure it did, maybe a teeny bit?). So, washed and polished, and gave the hood a proper clean with some turtle wax cleaner and conditioner i got from the last owner.







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delhusband

#10
Discs and pads fitted on Monday.


Local garage advised front bushes were fine for now, (I've not noticed any knocking/crashing or anything...  s:| :| s:|  )

Created new profile on Torque! Bought the reader for checking a fault code on an older car i had -never used it since, and probably don't use/understand fraction of the functionality - but the live readputs are real pretty!
Also considering attempting an mr2roc theme! (Theres a guide to making theme packs)





If anyone nearby needs a reader feel free to pm me
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delhusband

#11
Ok, interesting day out. Checked engine coolant levels whilst out today. Embarrased to say it was the first time I'd checked, ever.  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  



Topped up to "full" level with this


Spirited drive home, then stopped in at local shops and could smell burning. Parked up and some smoke coming from engine bay, panicked. Got out and saw some loose material sitting in nappy smoking away


Waiting for everything to cool down a bit. Where does that matetial normally sit, is this exhaust heat sheilding? Is it normally in nappy or elsewhere?

Also, just want to ask about how my coolant level now (see below) - looks very high to total novice like me - any/all advice welcome
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delhusband

#12
Ok, so an hour after engine off level just above full. Didn't know how much expansion to expect to see in coolant bottle when warm, and maybe filled when engine wasn't quite cool enough.

 
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wotugonado

#13
The coolant levels hard to read on these, I'd get the turkey baster out and suck some of the excess coolant out of the tank. From what I've read  the tank will expel any excess it self though if you leave it so don't worry to much.
---------------Tte turbo----------------
      Graced the tarmac from 2014-2019

delhusband

#14
Thanks very much for this, reassured, i'll sook some out. Cheers!
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The Other Stu

#15
One thing I've learned about this car is the coolant is absolutely bonkers.
I did exactly as above. Turkey baster, because whenever I checked, it was like yours, overfull.
But now, at times, it's just above min. Other times, it's max.

As long as it sits between the two, and I definitely haven't lost any, I'm happy.
No Longer Here

2 of the left

#16
Over the years - I now know these machines keep you on your toes - Coolant levels are so distracting!! Check the expansion tank before starting the engine. As long as the level is between Max and Min - No probs - Should it be under Min then fill to halfway and drive - If you overfill then your 2 blows out excess to atmosphere!!- Mind you there have been times when I've checked the level and found the level near Min and had no fluid to refill and driven to work and checked again - To find Tank just under Half full!
SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM!!

delhusband

#17
Thanks everyone for feedback. Felt like a right plum for not having checked weeks ago. Going to check regularly (as i should have) from now on
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delhusband

#18
Time to check levels again. Just looking at inside of lid, Is there supposed to be some black insulation at the top left inside of the lid?



Coolant level after 15 hours - Check. As per OM, p235, and as per filling yesterday. Phew.


Had a quick look around. Nappy has a Salvador Dali look about it


Had a wee look around rear. Untrained eye and all, but what i think is the rear anti-roll bar doesn't look particularly nice





Looks like a bracket holding the exhaust tail section has rotted away, but doesn't seem to be much movement when i push on the tailpipe, so not sure it's a big deal, or that the bracket was supporting much

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delhusband

#19
Was going to remove nappy today following smokey scare yesterday, but it rained and I don't have a garage. So, decided to remove malfunctioning head unit. Great vid by AyCarrumba on YouTube on how to remove the trim and head unit, link below
 m https://youtu.be/GAnN7CDIB7o m

Got trim off and unit out


Trim back on until i get another head unit


Also bought some shiny stuff i don't need, from Halfords yesterday. Got a smartphone holder, usb charge socket and some bosch aeroblades (i needed those, wipers were done)


Holder is one of the best I've bought- plenty of adjustment, clamps dont cover buttons, and easy lock/release mech. Only a tenner! I'll need this for 12th Aug run to Holy Isle, use my phone for sat nav.
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delhusband

#20
Last job of day, took nappy off, had a look around. Lots of rust, but no obvious big holes in subframe.


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delhusband

#21
OK, feeling adventurous this evening. Like I said before I'm new to maintenance, so if it sounds Mickey Mouse then apologies but bear with me, it's a journey - my journey (queue Disney music).  
I've read about the potential benefits of cleaning the Mass Air Flow sensor. Reading through threads it looked like something I should be able to manage, if I was careful.  First venture into the Engine bay other than for fluid checks (see earlier in thread, my track record on that isn't great either   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  )

Found MAF, grabbed a crosshead screwdriver, removed screws and disconnected plug



Pulled MAF sensor from housing (carefully). Looking at the amber bulb on the MAF (the Idle Air Temperature sensor?) both front and rear, I got an idea of the kind of coating that can develop on these.  That said, the elements inside the unit didn't look too bad - they looked a little dull maybe, but not black like the IAT sensor




I was in Halfords earlier looking for MAF cleaner - The products they had in store were Halfords Contact Cleaner (some members saying not to use), and this stuff.  This seemed to be more appropriate going by description on the can - the product usage label described spraying into air intake system without filter, with engine running. I never went through with this procedure, but I'll explain why later.


Gave the MAF a good spray from about 30cm away, all over, inside and out.  I forgot to remove the rubber 'O' ring around the MAF   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  , and it got covered.  I rinsed it off. Initially it appeared misshapen, but after drying out it returned to normal shape.  I went up to B&Q to see if I could get a replacement, but they had none the right size - (I had some 32mm x 2.6mm in the shed, just a bit too big, think I need a 32mm x 2mm? It's on my shopping list, don't want to leave the existing one, maybe it'll perish quicker (I'm a worrier).  I let the MAF dry for a good 20-30 minutes.


Feeling a bit bold, I decided to have a go at using the EGR cleaner in the way they described (plus, doing this would give me a chance to find out what an air filter actually looks like in real life - sad, I know, but extremely exciting for me).  Found the clips on the air box cover, and prised them off.  It looks like it would have been easier to access if I'd removed the cross members above, but not knowing whether or not they needed to be tightened to a specific torque setting/not knowing if not having it tightened correctly might be dangerous, I left it and fiddled about (like I said I fret).



Also unclipped the tubing from the top of the coolant bottle away from the top of the filter box lid.





Took off the cover of the air filter box, and took out the filter. I was surprised at how much muck was in the base of the filter housing, and how much muck the filter absorbs!  Going to replace this with a K&N panel filter eventually. I've read about induction kits, and I'd like the extra noise it's said that they make, but I'll leave it for now - they look a bit awkward to fit - one step at a time (soon mate).  One thing I've read though about the likes of the K&N filters is that they're impregnated with oil which can (eventually) foul the MAF - I'd be interested in knowing how long it would take for any significant fouling to happen (do you need to clean MAF more regularly?).  The other thing I read about the likes of the K&N filter is that it's cleanable (unlike normal one use service item) - Question - if its impregnated with oil how do you clean it without removing the oil, which presumably serves some filtering purpose?



Anyway, after looking inside the bottom of the air filter box and seeing all the debris I gave it a clean to remove small leaves and dust inside.  At this point I was thinking about following the guidelines for the EGR cleaner, and reading the guidelines just raised more questions for me - I'm supposed to inject this whilst engine warm and running at 1,500rpm, without filter in, and there's a lot of dirt in there, will debris get sucked into engine? Do I need to have MAF reconnected? If I reconnect MAF and replace filter box, where am I supposed to inject this stuff?  Should I disconnect the engine intake pipe from the top of the Air Box and inject in there? I'll need someone with foot on throttle to keep revs around advised 1,500rpm and my wife doesn't drive, she'll freak if I ask her for help!

So..... I just left it for another day.  I'd love to know what other components are present in the intake that get cleaned with this stuff, and whether doing that is bad for engine? I'm guessing the stuff that's melted off the dirty components just gets burnt in the cylinders?

Next up, do an ECU reset.  I've read that quickest way is to disconnect battery (negative terminal).  Wasn't sure if there was a recommended amount of time to leave disconnected (to allow discharge?) - I gave it 3 minutes.  I'd searched earlier on forum to find out which fuse(s) I could pull instead of performing battery disconnection, sounded as though there may have been more than one fuse involved? had a look in the 3 relay boxes, found a couple labelled ECU(*), got confused and plumped for the battery using a 10mm socket to remove the clamp.


Job done.  Took car for a test drive along the local bypass (the houses along that route must be getting sick of me red lining in 2nd like a teenager, but it makes me feel insanely good. Honestly, not the earth shattering difference for me that I was hoping for, but did seem to pull a bit quicker at 3k-5k? (or maybe that's the redex effect   s:D :D s:D  

Whole job took an hour (because I was bricking it a bit). No doubt this is 10 minute job for pro's. Fun though.
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delhusband

#22
Phase 1 of my long term plan is to rejuvenate suspension, with as much of my own spannering as possible. Looking at the rear stabiliser bar, it doesn't look great.
So I bought myself a torque wrench today.  I won't be needing it for a while - I don't have jack(s) or stands yet! I'm just slowly (and financially discreetly from Mrs delhusband) building up an arsenal.

I found the packaging especially pleasing in that it resembled a light sabre - I'll mod it by fitting a red torch inside  s:D :D s:D  
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delhusband

#23
Stuck on some club decals which arrived today (cheers Stew   s:) :) s:)  )




Not a great job on the front one
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delhusband

#24
Treated the glass and mirrors to some rain repellent

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