PaulS

So sorry to hear of the great failure after the great promise of the great heap of the Lagreat.... But despite your costs suffered now, you will be better off long term by not suffering days of work and not having to buy a shed load of bits to limp on a rusty wreck for another year or two.... I guess there will soon be another competition to guess your new project?

Perhaps a good car for Stu to fix & sell on?

Hope the source of the leak lasts until the meet.... I suggest you dip a measure (ice lolly stick will do) into the power steering fluid tank now, then draw a line at the level, then repeat daily to see if there is any fluid loss. For good measure I would do the same with the brake fluid.... The fluid on the floor is coming from somewhere and you need to know what to fill up before it runs out....

How about another Oddesy

Another Shuttle?

What a bummer. Even if you had them clearly on cctv and physically caught hold of them with 4 of your mates, the police would likely do nothing as someone would say they were all fine upstanding citizens who were totally innocent and just walking by....

Found the relay pod to the right of the main fuse box in the engine compartment (much better than behind the glove box!!!) - however I am unsure now which is the correct relay to pull as maybe the pictured layout is mirror imaged & the heated seat relay is at the bottom rather than the top. I tried but failed to pull out one of the relays - I could certainly try harder with pliers or similar but wondered if there is a trick I need to learn before they come out easily?

Sorry to see Dave's Coupe bite the dust but dismantling it will no doubt help keep a few more of them going.... Stu - any chance that you could salvage the heated seat relay for me please? - Assuming it has one.... I am told it is on the bulkhead behind the glove box. Seems it is not an easy thing to buy new .... I can pick it up at the forthcoming Coupes & Coffee meet if that suits you. Thanks in anticipation....

off to Llandudno tomorrow - I will no doubt enjoy the coupe and especiially the newly functioning aircon...

Doubt if you would get enough piston exposed with the pads in. However if you found some material (thick cardboard would do at a pinch, wood better) as thin as the pad's metal backing plate, that should do it.

I had a similar problem, In my case it was rust on the piston itself. I pushed out the piston 3/4 of the way through the seal (try not to push the piston all the way out of the seal though you can possibly push it all the way out of the housing whilst keeping the rearmost part of the piston in the seal {it is a real problem to get the piston back in the seal so be warned!!!]). If you do somehow get the piston out of the seal, good luck getting the seal to go back over the piston. That is sheer trial & error. Do not use anything sharp else you will split the seal.... Using 3000 wet & dry I sanded off the rust on the outer 2/3rds of the piston (generally it is just rust on the piston itself causing the sticking problem). A generous dose of rubber grease on the sanded piston is advised after the event. In my case that worked fine and I am happily re-using the caliper without any obvious issue.

Lots of work to do then... But keep at it, a little at a time, and you will get there. Rust is the biggest issue that needs to be done in dry weather ideally. But gearbox and brakes may well have to come first - else the car may not make it to winter.... Stereo and lights can be done over winter if necessary. At least by working so much, you should be able to afford the bits you need. Much better than jobs building up and no means to pay for the required repairs or bits....

Well done. Yes a leak somewhere I think, albeit slow. 8C is definitely cool enough for me in a car...much cooler and the inside of the windows might start icing up....

Finally got around to repairing my rear offside wheel arch over the last few days of decent dry weather. Still needs proper painting on the wing (yes some rot had wandered up there as discovered when I cut out the rust with my dremmel), but until my friend's facilities are available, my basic rattle can spray will suffice.... The arch looks and feels solid and is now the correct profile without signs of rust / rot....

Now it is cooler, you might not need AC as much.... but still good to have it working properly....

Sent you a pm...

Are you sure you are simply not loosing cooling from air passing over the AC rad whilst sat still? As I understand it, whilst on recirculating mode you are only recycling the existing cool air which heats up before being sucked back in again but that recycled air itself does not get cooled without forward motion...

Yep, weird!!!!...Coupe is a lot at nearly 300,,,is that unlimited miles? Technically unlimited but with a target mileage of %k (did only 2k last year!) But it is a Manchester postcode. That said why is my coupe dearer than my Merc E350 which is newer, worth more, and still in Manchester? Who knows - certianly not Sage - I asked them!

Coupe insurance renewal came today - £298.87. Last year it was £283 so up £15. Strangely my Merc E350 is only £268.92, down from £333.86 so down by £55! Weird but pleasing... Both with Saga and fixed for 3 years if I want it....

Guess it all dpends on what your goal is. There is a school of thought that says big wheels and rubber band tyres look great and perform well on race circuits whereas small wheels and tractor tyres look silly but give a more comfortable ride on our potholed roads. On my Merc E350, I have nice 17" wheels with skinnier sidewalls for summer use (Bridgestone Potenza), but plain 16" and higher sidewalls (Michelin Alpin) for winter use. I prefer the ride comfort improvements on the 16" winter wheels and find the 17" wheels seem to transmit every road imperfection. Run flat tyres are even worse for road surface imperfection transmission into the cabin. A word of warning - Insurance! Should you not be using standard spec wheels & tyres, your insurance could refuse a payout in the event of an accident unless you tell them beforehand... Boring I know, but that's life . Insurance seem to want to find any excuse to not pay up or reduce your payout....

And me please - though is OK now, it will go shortly so it will be handy to have a spare to hand....

If you run out of jobs and have time on your hands, please let me know and I will pass on some of mine.... front wheel bearing and track rod end on my C240 are high on the list... then the wheel arch lip on my coupe... just for 2 upcoming jobs. Spent most of today working out what was wrong with and then how to fix my old Karcher pressure washer that had dropped from 120 bar to 10 bar over winter.... The internal pressure gasket around the pump valves was found to be blown (shaped rubber O ring - naturally not available so had to make my own [3 attempts]) and the pressure bypass valve & bore corroded up (valve now freed up, bore honed), valve now sliding freely again and the re-assembled beast back to 120bar....

I reckon that those who never have trouble doing these supposedly simple jobs never actually do the job themselves.... or they are experts!

It might be worth checking the brake disc dirt shields are still in one piece (they go rusty) and are straight [ a slighly wobbly disc - like with a loose sheel bearing - might allow the disc to hit the shield on occasion] - that causes and irregular metallic rubbing noise that stays until the gap between the 2 opens again... At least this is an easy check even if it reveals that the shiellds are sound and straight.

such price hikes were bound to happen - putting in these chargers everywhere costs money (which needs to be recouped) even if the cable / electricity supply is good.... Just wait until the roads have to be dug up to lay new high capacity electricity cables from the new substations fed from the new power stations.... I wonder how many people will falter at the cost of running these "efficient" / green cars and start buying from old car auctions....