Help me get her back on the road :)

lol , service brake, I wondered what you were on about but when he said corners I thought calipers! :doh:

I'm under the impression (confirmed by a brief google searches) that a 'Service Brake' is the primary braking system, i.e. drums or discs. Whereas the handbrake/emergency brake/etc is classed as the 'Parking Brake'. Please someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Hence why it was specified as a particular side (offside) and 'causing the vehicle to swerve'. I doubt they'd use that terminology for the handbrake.

James.

JimboSmith said:

I'm under the impression (confirmed by a brief google searches) that a 'Service Brake' is the primary braking system, i.e. drums or discs. Whereas the handbrake/emergency brake/etc is classed as the 'Parking Brake'. Please someone correct me if i'm wrong.

Hence why it was specified as a particular side (offside) and 'causing the vehicle to swerve'. I doubt they'd use that terminology for the handbrake.

James.

Click to expand...

Yes it would appear the service brake is indeed the footbrake. A day you don't gain new info is a wasted day. As i said new idiom. New eras new meanings.

A small update with some further questions for y'all lovely people.

Firstly, haven't gotten around to looking at the brakes yet; this weekend hopefully.

I believe my battery to be faulty but trying to diagnose whether or not it could actually be the alternator or a battery drain issue.

- Upon leaving the car for about a week the battery went from starting the car to reading approx. 0 Volts, the interior light wasn't even dim.

- I popped on a battery charger, got it back up to <12V. Car starts, struggles cranking for a while though when closer to 12 as I've repeated this step a few times.

- On leaving the battery for a couple of days it starts to loose voltage to a level of about 11.7-8.

- When running (idling) the battery reads 13.9V, with all of the lights on it reads 12.7V.

As mentioned I believe the battery to be dying, would these symptoms suggest any other issue? Further test suggestions welcome, I own a charger and a multi-meter. In addition the battery light is on but dim when idling and fully on with electrical load from the lights or when revved.

Next up, white smoke. Well it failed the on excessive CO. I replaced the spark plugs and HT leads as part of a general engine service, as it had one obviously different HT lead in the mix to start with. The distributor looked used but OK. Anywho, until now I hadn't really considered what was happening in terms of exhaust.

- On start up and cold there is no abnormal smoke.

- When the engine/exhaust starts to warm the white smoke starts to come and hasn't ceased yet (idling for 10 minutes or so). The exhaust starts dripping from pretty much all joints too at this point. The smoke feels like and smells (or doesn't) of water, putting a hand over the tailpipe leaves water droplets on my skin.

- The coolant level is OK and when the engine reaches operating temperature it doesn't increase any more (again just idling for 10-15 minutes).

I'm sure (and hoping) that it's just condensation in the exhaust from sitting in the cold for a while, which is now burning itself off but the worst case is that it's burning coolant. Would the exhaust smell very obviously like coolant, as I think that it just smells like plain old exhaust however I don't consider myself an expert on the smelling front

Thanks for looking,

James.

Either your battery or alternator or both are stuffed, if the alternator charge light is staying on it could be the alternator or bad connections as the light is operated by the BECM. You should see 14.5 volts or therabouts at the battery after running for a while. Check also all the battery connections and earths to the chassis.

battery is fooked.

the setting for the AFM is in haynes and can be done with a multimeter easily on the outside two pins.

It does sound like the battery is on the way out.

A new one is not expensive, I have used Alpha in the past. 072, 4 years warranty, next day delivery, £65.

Use this price as a benchmark.

Likewise an alternator is cheap if you need one.

Check the oil to see if there is any water in there. If there is a white gungy mess round the filler you may have a head gasket problem.

Use some flush and refill. Don't use expensive oil from Halfrauds, Comma or similar from a motor factors is what most garages use.

Just change regularly.

IMHO trying to repair a duff caliper is usually a waste of time and money.

Just stick a new one on. They are not a fortune.

Check prices from Paddock and Craddocks.

Avoid *hitparts wherever possible and DO NOT use them for any safety related parts like brakes.

If it went through the last MOT OK you shouldn't need to break it.

They are great cars, on my 4th now, and the more we keep on the road the better.

Many were scrapped over the last few years due to running costs, you see relatively few around now as daily drivers as opposed to modded off roaders.

If you plan on keeping it and doing serious mileage then consider gassing it.

Bit less power but so much cheaper to run!

Even replacement engines and auto boxes are cheap to buy. There are some very good breakers around for any bits you need.

Best of luck.

red dwarf rules! the show I mean. I wish they would make some more!!!!

^Cheers reddwarf, it's always good to read some positive thinking after a days work on the car in the cold

There is no visible mayonnaise and the operating temperature has never fluctuated past the point 'just below middle' on the gauge.

I'll get the battery changed first job when she's back on the road, she's fine with starting when not left for longer than a couple of days and i'll only be needing to drive to the MOT station 5 miles down the road.

Today I started by running her up and down the drive, with a good amount of strong acceleration and braking. After a while the smoke died down and went, which is nice So fingers crossed it was just moisture that had collected in the exhaust over time and was burning off. In terms of braking there doesn't seem to actually be any issues to note, I carried out some 35ish - 0 emergency stops and there wasn't any swerving that I could recognise and the ABS works fine. I haven't driven her on public roads before the MOT so I have no comparison of what it has been like. I'm hoping that the brakes may have freed themselves up a bit, I may just put it through the MOT again and see. Before driving today I did pump all of the tyres up to the correct pressure, one corner was at 9.5psi, whilst the other side at 25psi, so I dare say that this could have contributed to the difference in braking balance.

After this I went about changing the oil and filter, followed by a change of water/anti-freeze. The oil was nice and black, so I hope the change will contribute to bringing the CO down a bit. I decided to use 15W40 as I believe that's what she was running before without issue or major leaks and it's what the handbook recommends.

I also need to change the air filter but aside from that I think that I may just send her off to get the bit of welding done to the area around the rear seatbelt mount and an MOT and see what happens.

I appreciate the input everyone, it really does help!

James.

I had 2 siezed pistons in the n/s/f caliper on my classic not long back,cheap and easy to overhaul though.Buy 4 new pistons and a seal kit and away to go however DON'T buy the Britpart seal kit as the metal seal retainers don't fit the caliper.

let us know how it went