welland99

Looking at Edwin's photos at the top of this thread, he had the same problem as me: not much thread engagement. I feel that as long as the nut is tight and there's a pin through it, that will be fine. What do you think? It is quite likely that the thread stripped for me because I overtightened it in a vain attempt to pull more thread through. I will be more careful next time.

When I bought the wishbone about a month ago from ecp, the price with discount was £32. This seemed a good deal at the time, but I also bought just a ball joint for £8, in case the old wishbone was worth keeping - in the end it wasn't. (I can return this) Wishbone was q drive 615602190, comes with castle nut Ball joint was starline 617600019, comes with nylon nut When I realised the problem with not enough threads coming through the hole, i tried the starline ball joint and this was identical. Looking on ecp now, at current discount the wishbone is down from £12 to £8! So, i could just get another wishbone for £8, but it may well be the same fit - not far enough through the hole.

It did come with a new castle nut, but no split pin. Yes, as i wrote earlier, the new nut stripped the thread. This damaged the thread on the new nut too, but using the old nut on the cleaned up stripped thread didn't seem too bad.

I chose option 1, and after a few more months of creaking, the noise stopped. ☺

Here it is assembled. Not much thread engagement, but enough? But still can't fit the split pin? I tried drilling through the spindle closer to the end so I could fit the split pin. With patience, my first hole, 1.5mm, went through. Then, while enlarging to 2mm, the drill broke, leaving part of the bit stuck in the hole I'd drilled. 😭 Now I'm thinking of two ideas: 1) use a nylon nut instead - but thread engagement is still an issue? 2) remove the castle nut and try to punch the broken drill out from behind. Then try drilling again (with a new bit). I can see my Sunday afternoon disappearing.......

As you can see, the spindle off the ball joint does not protrude far enough through the hole for the nut to pass the hole for the split pin. I dismantled the joint to check that all was clean; ie no dirt preventing the taper from seating correctly. Is this common? What is the remedy? Been reading up the Mot specs and it looks like an mot failure when the split pin is missing.

The hard bit went well - taking it apart....., but the easy bit went badly. The new ball joint didn't pull through the taper as far as the old one, not far enough to get a split pin through. And then it pulled the thread. 😢. Anyway, I've cleaned up the thread and used the old nut, and think it's tight enough. Anyone happen to know the torque for tightening the ball joint?

I've managed to remove my upper wishbone this morning. Hope the new one goes in Ok this afternoon.

Hi Stu, when you say "bushings", aside from anti roll bar bushes, are there any bushes that can actually be replaced (easily) without changing the component to which they are attached?

Is it not possible to leave the shock absorber attached at the bottom, as in this video: ?

I need to replace the front upper left wishbone on my CG4 and have been weighing it up recently. Confused about why so much dismantling has been done here, as it looks possible to remove only the upper wishbone. Am I missing something?

My CG4 has always* been an excellent starter in all weathers, until recently. In the last 2 weeks, there have been several instances of difficult starting from cold and slightly rough running while cold. (* except if it was stopped very soon after starting - the next attempt might be difficult). Normal behaviour is that the car fires immediately after turning the key. Regular as clockwork, no problem at all. In fact, it's so reliable, that I probably release the key before it fires and then it just fires as the key is released! 😁 Anyway, the recent experiences are as follows. After releasing the key in the morning, the engine doesn't fire, or only just catches. I've had to turn the key for the second time several times - or hold the key over for a little longer - to get it to start. Sometimes on this second attempt the engine starts normally, and on a couple of times it has spluttered and refused to run properly for 5 - 10 seconds - think it may have flooded. One additional characteristic to note: the crossroads in my village is about a quarter of a mile from my house. I normally crawl to the give way line in 2nd gear, then pull away if the road is clear. A couple of times, it has spluttered as I pulled away in 2nd gear. Aside from what I have described, it is running fine. Even cold starts after work have been without problem, though the car is parked indoors at work. My instinct is to think about the ignition. I have not inspected the plugs or the inside of the dizzy cap for years, so will do so at the weekend. I have even ordered a set of new plugs as contingency! 😮 There's no visible damage on the HT leads, and I have given them a liberal spray with water dispersant last night - though I won't be using the car again until tomorrow. Is there anything else that might cause this behaviour? Thinking about the spluttering at low revs when cold - could it be a temperature sensor or MAF sensor issue that's causing the mixture to be wrong?

I didn't know about that. It's the first bad report I've heard of with triple QX. I've been using it in my CG4 for years without any problem. Which cars did you use it in?

Hi Pete, What are the steps involved with the headlight restoration kit? The lenses on my Lexus are rather yellowing, so I'm planning to tackle them with something in the near future.

But we all know which car we'd rather be in! But that's an apples and pears comparison. The RS is a highly tuned sportster, whereas the coupe is a highly refined cruiser (with great performance). That's just got me thinking...... I've seen the YouTube videos of the chap in US who added a turbo to his CG4, but I've not seen much evidence of tuning the CG2.

When I said that the rear tyre looked smaller, I really meant that it looked a lower profile. I can't believe that the front and rear tyres are an identical size - that must be the optical illusion of the century!

What wheels and tyres do you have on the front of your coupe? If I'm not mistaken, the front tyres look larger than those on the rear.

Well, well, well. I popped my headlamp washer button out this evening and found that it does have a bulb after all. It has never worked in my 15 years of ownership and I genuinely thought it was not illuminated. I thought my coupe could not surprise me any more...... So, I've now fitted a new bulb from stock. It is a bit dim, but it's just about bright enough. Just WOW. 😃

Which bulbs did you order? Can you post a link, please? Do you hear the headlamp washer motor hum when you press the button? Stu, what brightness are the maplin ones you fitted? Are they bright enough?

Your washer switch looks like mine. Is that a pioneer stereo? It looks similar to mine - see my photo higher up.

Intriguing, Stu! Can you post a pic of your switch in the daylight without illumination, please?

Pete, your wood-look is nice. Did you stick it onto your original black trim? Your headlamp washer button looks the same as mine, and mine is not illuminated. Is yours illuminated? Pic of mine is below:

Hmm. I'll recheck. It looks like a black button with white paint to depict its purpose. This finish is different to all the other buttons which do have bulb illumination.

I've had mine apart a few times and i agree that it takes thought to get the spring installed correctly. Is the following correct? When the window is up, the spring has light tension. As the window goes down, the tension increases. So when the window is going up, the spring helps the motor. Can you post any pics of your damaged bits? In your photo, the pivot with the slot has some green paint on it. What is this like on the other side? On mine, that is the part that has worn out. Do you have any idea if your US supplier actually made the regulators, or is just a reseller?

You have an illuminated headlight washer button? Mine is not illuminated, and I'm pretty sure it is not designed to be illuminated.