Having fixed my motor, and cleaned the engine bay, I checked all my levels, coolant (still good; so glad I fixed that!) oil, etc, checked tyre pressures, and belt tensions.
With everything ship shape, I moved in to cleaning and sprucing up the interior. After a serious vacuuming, it was out with the cleaning stuff. Once again ChrisFix (and others) was invaluable. I used his list of products and steps for cleaning.
Not pristine. But much better than before.
Once you start down this road, however, I can see the danger of obsession lurking. The nicer any one part looks, the more you notice the other less spruce aspects.
A few more jobs are definitely looming: replacing the worn out ‘shift boot’, aka gear stick shroud (?). My knob (chortle) is pristine! And ditto all the engine bay hoses and tubing, along with all their clips.
Greatly improved.
I’m also going to clean all the wheels. Although I doubt I’ll be going as far as ChrisFix and others in trying to get them looking like new. That said… maybe!? But in truth I’d like some nicer wheels anyway. Wire wheels are the dream!
Another little mini project, for as and when I get a new set of tyres, could be to ‘whitewall’ them. I reckon that’d look super-fonky!
Having replaced the cambelt, etc, and got Maisie back on the road, I’ve felt a sudden urge to look after her generally.
The first manifestation of this bizarre compulsion has been to clean the engine bay. I watched a video by the very popular American YouTuber ChrisFix, to glean how to clean, so to speak.
Before…
I wasn’t quite as patient or methodical as he evidently is. And although I was recently given a jet-washer, I was unable to use it, as I couldn’t find a tap close enough to reach the front of house/car.
But I did spend the required time, knuckling down to a good few hours of fairly fastidious cleaning. I cleaned the inner ‘hood’ as our former colonials have it. And the whole engine bay got a once (twice, or thrice?) over.
Part way through the clean up.
My before and after shots aren’t quite as drastic and compelling as ChrisFix’s. But they do show a marked improvement. One notable lacuna being that I didn’t do the cam cover as well as I might.
But in order to do that properly, I need to remove the VVT and spark-plugs. And I decided to leave it at a cursory clean for now, as I might be having it off again (snigger) for a really proper clean, and poss’ even a spray paint.
The final state.
Looking at the pic above, I can see a few things I might want to re-visit. The above-mentioned cam-cover is the most obvious. But the two clamps that hold the radiator in place (and the radiator itself!) would make a notable difference.
Another ‘when funds allow’ job for the engine bay is a complete new set of hoses, pipes and clips. Some of the hoses definitely need replacing. And not only should everything look better, it ought to function better, and add longevity.
Today I decided I’d try once again to sort out our washing machine. I’ve tried several times before, without succeeding. According to the rather scant Hotpoint support, on YouTube, 90% of issues are due to the filter getting blocked.
I’ve attended to this filter several times. It’s occasionally had a little crap in it. And I really mean a very little. But mostly it’s been pretty clean and empty, i.e. free of any serious obstructions. Never enough to have caused the blockage and drainage issues we’ve faced.
Eugh! The area under the machine was horrid.
The most recent and worst of these was when it stopped draining altogether. Meaning that we had to empty the drum using a measuring jug. A faintly unpleasant smell gradually but inexorably turned to a truly rank odour!
Intuition and common sense suggested that as the filter was pretty clean and totally not blocked, then logically the blockage must, surely, be in the drainage hose?
So I took the hose off – much easier said than done! – and stuck a trombone cleaner down it. Alas, the ‘bone unblocker isn’t as long as the hose, so I had to attack it from both ends.
Tipped her on her side, to access the hose.
After this, I rigged the pipe so it was on a constant downwards gradient, and started running hot water through it. After about five or six flushes, the stinking opaque effluence had turned, if not into wine, at least into clear clean water!
After re-assembling the washer, and clipping the hose back in place, I ran a cleaning cycle with some soda crystals added to the drum. It was then that another recurrent fault reared it’s ugly head: the machine never reaches the end of any programme.
Not sure why, exactly, but whatever program we run, the machine always ‘hangs’ on one minute remaining… forever!
Hoses and a tub, outside, in case of overflow!
To finish any program off, requires turning the entire machine off, and restarting it set to a rinse ‘n’ spin (which in turn won’t actually finish!). Bit of a palaver. And a lot of a pain!
But not having to bail out stinking dirty water is a tremendous improvement! Compared to which having to fudge finishing wash and rinse cycles is but a minor issue.
I’m not a slick blogger or YouTuber, and very rarely if ever document these things thoroughly, let alone well! But the few pics here do give an idea of just how dull a job this is.
The black clip in the centre releases the hose.
That said, and despite the as yet unresolved ‘won’t finish’ fault, improving the situation does come with a certain pay off.
It’d be great if we could fix the ‘one minute remaining’ issue. And we do also need a new front door seal, as well. But, little by little, we’re getting somewhere.
Today is apparently an official heatwave. And, dang-nab it, it sho’ is hot!
Today’s office, #1.
Having just recently got my beloved car back on the road, after a cam-belt failure (which I repaired myself!), just being able to drive to work – last week I taught the same day’s workload using public transport and a taxi to get around – is bliss.
And, I’m realising that my life really isn’t too bad at all. There are things that need tweaking. Most obviously a greater income, and a concomitant lessening of expenditure!
But by and large my actual work is both a doddle, and usually really quite pleasant. The kids I teach are all quite charming. And whilst the range of ability is wide, and weighted towards the lower/lesser end (today is a two primary schools day), they’re all both pleasant and enthusiastic.
The large and rather unwieldy plastic under-tray ought to be fixed at about nine points. One old and two new bolts secured the flat frontal portion nicely enough. But at the rear, one old bolt had to suffice. The other (passenger side) bolt had broken off, and remained in her hole. So I had to zip-tie that off!
Three bolts hold the front (at left).
Both sides of yon under-tray go up into the wheel arches. But the two holes on either side don’t seem to correspond with any locating holes in the body. So they’ve been left – see picture directly below – as is.
Under-tray wheel arches not secured.
So now all that really remains is the major coolant leak, which urgently needs addressing. I’d bought a few bits at BOFIracing, inc a new thermostat gasket, and rubber doodads for the soft-top latches. I installed the latter there and then, before a surprise visit to mum and Malcolm, who live nearby.
As it happened they’d already passed me, earlier in the day. So my surprise wasn’t quite as complete as planned. But still, it was nice to visit them with the ol’ jalopy back on the road! Albeit still suffering from the coolant leak.
Thermostat housing, front, before cleaning.
As can be seen, from the above photo, the old (new!) gasket needed removing. And the two faces of the thermostat housing needed to be thoroughly cleaned and flattened.
The gasket originally in the car seemed to be made of something metal like, and brittle. And was in pieces. Whereas both of the new gaskets appeared to be made of card, or some similar compacted fibrous material.
Thermostat rear, all cleaned up.
I got conflicting advice about adding RTV, belt and braces style, to this gasket. I’d done so on the previous newly installed one, and that failed. So this time I just left it at the gasket, and torqued up my nuts – ouch! – to the appropriate degree.
New gasket on, and back together.
And so far so good! She’s holding. No major coolant issues since I did this.
Whilst at BOFI, I enquired re a complete engine bay hose set. And they have them in, at roughly £100. That’s something I’ll do as soon as funds allow. There is another lesser coolant leak, coming from the very old and worn out main radiator hose (the radiator end clip of which is busted!).
I’ve taken her out for several runs since things have been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. Having my wheels back is sheer bliss!
Today I decided to have the trigger wheel off, in case that was what was making the engine wheeze, stutter, stammer and stall.
I wondered if I’d put it on the wrong way round; was the concave or convex part pointing forward? And was it aligned as it should be tooth position wise?
Taking it off required yet another dis-assemble/re-assemble routine. I think I’ve done it all five times now, since starting these repairs! I suppose I’m getting better at it, as a result.
I’m also getting to know my car better. Decided to name her Maisie!
I’m not really watching it, but in the background we have the TV on, and Hungary are humiliating England with a 4-0 pasting.
One job that remains to be done is re-installing the plastic engine under-tray. It was barely attached before. And came off pretty easily. In trying to re-attach it, I realised it should have been quite differently installed.
I was unable to do it at all, for want of the right tool; some of the plastic ‘splash guards’ I need to remove are attached with doodads that I can’t get to. I need an L-shaped Philips head tool to get into the very confined space in the wheel arches. So I’ve ordered a set from Amazon. Should be here tomorrow. In the meantime, I’d best just drive gently and carefully!
At this point I’m starting to lose count of how many times I’ve taken stuff apart and put it all back together. But I guess it’s all good, in a way? As with repetition comes better facility.
I’m posting this in its proper timeline sequence, but retrospectively. And as a result I’m a bit sketchy on detail. But I think at this point I had the engine back to life, running. But it wasn’t sounding strong or healthy.
Behind the harmonic damper, lies the four-toothed trigger wheel.
I.e. the timing was still out somehow. My intuition told me that it was probably the trigger wheel. which can be seen behind the harmonic damper in the above image. Just two of the teeth are visible in this shot.
In removing all of this stuff initially – trigger wheel, damper/pulleys, and central crankshaft wheel – I’d needed to use mucho persuasion! This lead to the trigger wheel getting somewhat deformed, by the time I’d banged/prised it orff…
I used numerous hammers, mainly large heavy soft-headed types, and some vice compression action, to flatten the bugger! And then I re-installed it, making sure it was properly aligned: concave face forward, convex rearward, locator pin in hole, and engine TDC, resulting in the top tooth (of just four!) being just past 12 o’clock.
Checking timing alignment hasn’t shifted out of whack.
With the trigger wheel replaced and hopefully now in its proper position, I had to once again set up the timing. By now I’m getting quite good at this. That said, it’s always hard work!
Ditto…
I didn’t super document any of this, given I’d done it all before. Instead I photographed the bits that were specific to the days’s work
Pictured below was a bit of lower engine detail I’d missed before. The plastic clip and metal doodad I’m holding should be affixed to part of the three-part front engine cover, which protects the cam-belt and pulleys. but two thirds of that isn’t back on, due to it being k-nackered!
A sundry fixing item, to be removed.
Once this fixture was removed I cable-tied the lead out of harms way. All of this business required, once again, the drainage and removal of the radiator and various pipes and hoses.
A rather pricey Mazda plastic radiator plug.
Having lived with a bodged radiator plug fix up till now, the arrival of a new genuine Mazda radiator plug was most welcome. There they are, directly below, and facing the same way. The old one is completely jiggered!
Old and busted vs the ‘new hotness’!
With the trigger wheel properly installed, and the new radiator plug allowing a coolant refill, I took her around the block, and then parked her up in her accustomed spot. And all was well! (Aside from the persistent coolant leak!)
Finally she’s off the drive and back on’t road!
By close of play today the engine was running much more smoothly. And where before she’d struggled as you increased revs, she was now sounding consistently healthy across the whole range. Result!
Spark-plugs reminder photo.Working in dazzling sunshine.Note that banjo bolt (rear of VVT) leaketh not!Later in’t day, torch now required.Happy grease monkey; engine starts!
And lo, it came to pass, that ye olde engine was fix-ed! Hence the happy mien, and Churchillian two finger salute above. The image below is just a reminder of an earlier – and at this point gratifyingly absent – OBD fault diagnosis.
Adopts Inspector Clouseau voice ‘Yes, I know that, you fool!’
But at this point I still have a major coolant leak.
Whilst I suspect nobody cares about this opinion, and probably rightly so, here goes… I’ve always disliked opera. In fact I’ve pretty much always hated it.
It has always evoked the spirit of the gentry playing at being shepherds like the overprivileged tits they are. The mannered vibrato heavy self-satisfaction that opera singers favour is, after little girls screaming (I’m surprised no military has weaponised that awful sound), and death metal screaming/grunting, possibly my least favourite type of sound the human voice can make!
Over the years a few pieces have snuck through chinks in my anti-opera armour. But today I think I might’ve found a doorway into appreciating this appallingly overblown art-form. At least sonically. The answer/trick? Turn it way, way, way down!
We’re out in the garden, it’s beautifully sunny, birds are chirruping, and all is well with life. We brought a DAB radio my mum recently gave us – thanks, ma! – out with us. And I put BBC Radio 3 on.
Bass singer Matthew Rose is presenting Inside Music, and I’m really digging his choices. Even though they are quite often a bit off my usual musical map.
Oh dear, the humourless idiot machines are winning!
It’s kind of shocking when one learns that films like Idiocracy turn out not to be mere satire, but Über-Nostrodamian prophecies, or even just simple documentaries.
As Iain Overton says, in his book, The Price Of Freedom, and others do elsewhere (for example Sam Harris, in The End of Faith), the responses to perceived threats are sometimes more damaging – usually by dint of curtailing the freedoms of the more docile many in order to supposedly more fully control the errant few – than the threats that supposedly prompt them into existence.
So I can’t make a particular joke, quoting Count Arthur Strong, in a FB group dedicated to him, because a human will do the bidding of a robot that doesn’t understand or can’t differentiate between my innocent humour – and let’s not forget it’s a quote, so it’s not even me saying the allegedly egregious thing – and a genuine incitement to violence.
This is of course utterly ridiculous. Those intent on acting out violence will both do so, and find ways to express themselves, regardless of what anybody else does. And such folk are, thankfully, are a very small minority.
Meanwhile, a much larger and more benign majority have their freedoms curtailed, in a very real way, and to no real benefit. The idea that maybe one day we’ll be the slaves of robots is grotesquely outdoated. We already are!
And, in a tip of the reality had to the apparently ludicrous fantasies of The Matrix series of films – whose overall adolescence of aesthetics rather undercuts the more sinister and prescient ideas about what constitutes reality, and our relationships with technology – we, the soft machines, are already becoming the willing collaborators and enforcers of this joyless, soulless, brainless automaton culture.
My reply to the citing of ‘evidence’ re a former ‘offender’.
It doesn’t bode well for the future of the species!
Little did I expect it to be a flippant and lighthearted response to a Count Arthur themed post, in a Count Arthur based group, that would bring this home so forcefully!
Adopting the CA voice, ‘Well, I mean… is it any wonder we tire of this ceaseless handholding? And you robots, you have to meet us at least halfway. Honestly, you couldn’t make this stuff up!’
