Its that time again!!

Well, wish me luck!!

Hippo is going in for the yearly MOT next week. Also having a total belt change as the engine has got to that mileage again. Was going to do it myself but its a bugger of a job so I've got the Independent to do it for me. Gonna cost i know but its worth it in my view.

Will let you know the outcome.

Dave

My MOT is due soon and now my horn has decided it doesn't want to work any more.

Oh dear

Darmain said:

Was going to do it myself but its a bugger of a job so I've got the Independent to do it for me. Gonna cost i know but its worth it in my view.

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I have this debate every time the car needs a service, I always way up the cost versus can't be arsed factor, don't mind oil / filter changes, but time at weekends becomes even more precious as time goes on and the kids get older.

my local independent are pretty reasonable, and I don't mind giving them the business if it gives me a Saturday or Sunday morning back.

Good luck with the MOT.

howardo said:

My MOT is due soon and now my horn has decided it doesn't want to work any more.

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was one advertised in LRO for £30, advertised as being louder than your average horn. think the website was nippynorman or similar

Darmain said:

Well, wish me luck!!

Hippo is going in for the yearly MOT next week. Also having a total belt change as the engine has got to that mileage again. Was going to do it myself but its a bugger of a job so I've got the Independent to do it for me. Gonna cost i know but its worth it in my view.

Will let you know the outcome.

Dave

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Here it's propshafts and VCUs back on until next spring. Good luck with MOT. Dag..

howardo said:

My MOT is due soon and now my horn has decided it doesn't want to work any more.

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Freelander ownership can be so stressful, I hope your partner is understanding. :hug: Perhaps you should think about counselling.

Chaser said:

Freelander ownership can be so stressful, I hope your partner is understanding. :hug: Perhaps you should think about counselling.

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Its the timing of it. The horn is the first major problem I've had, what with it being an L-series

Thanks people. Already discovered one side light 'blub' was popped. All sorted now. Wait and see next Thursday. Will get a Landy of some description to trundle about in. Usually a TD4 so I won't be completely Hippoless.

Good luck. Who are you going to use?

Its booked in with Joyce's in Trowbridge.

Had a worry this morning. Got in the car to go to work. Was driving through our estate when there was a loud buzzing sound from the dashboard and all the power went off. The engine also cut out and I ground to a halt. Switch off then started up again and he fired up again. Then when I get into the centre of town it did it again only this time the power came on again before the engine actually stopped so it fired up by itself. Strongly suspect the ignition switch is on its way out.

You're not that far from Bristol if you ever need a good independent... Steve Hill in Brislington has a good rep.

Cheers

Blippie

Well it went in today. And I ain't got it back.

:Cry: Hippo's not well !! :Cry:

First job was to replace the timing belts and apparently there is a problem with the tensioner / idler pulley bearings and they've now got to be replaced. Waiting on parts delivery tomorrow. I look at it this way, if they bearings had siezed and trashed the timing belt.... Good find and worth the expense.

Trouble is they haven't got to the MOT bit yet...!!

Meanwhile I've got another L series, three door to play with. About the same milage and one thing is very noticable. My Hippos got a lot more go in it. Reacon it must be that TUNIT box plugged into the ECU.

How good are Joyce's mate?

I ain't got no complaints. Some say they are expensive, but there again when is owning a car anything but? I look at it this way. Every time I've had a problem, Joyces have sorted it. He knows his stuff and I get on with him all right. I'm happy to put business his way so to help keep him going as a useful resource when all else fails. Also, he's a useful source of spares.

Good news. I got Hippo back.

Bad news. Along with the timing belts and the idler / tensoners that had to be replaced (Got the old ones, bearings feel like they're full of sand) there was additional work to get it through the MOT. The front, off side ball joint was shot, which was very annoying as I have replaced this one once before. Now suspect that buying these cheap parts is not a good idea in the long run. If memory serves the Landy part was 110 quid, where as I got this copy for 60 quid. Well that idea didn't work then. In addition they noticed a bleed off pipe had split on the injectors so replaced that. Okay, not part of the MOT but serious enough to warrant action.

Now I have to get the bill, which I ain't looking forward to.

On a positive note I had a look at the engine of the borrowed Freebee and confirmed it to be an L series. As it was W reg it could have been either. Mileage wise, mine has done 150 miles more, its that close at 104K. Now I drove to the garage and very soon was driving my Hippo again. What a difference!! It is so much quicker. The noticable thing was that the borrowed car had to be driven with a foot on the floor approach, where as mine is rarely to be driven like that. I like it

The joys of Freelanders eh
Dare ah say it......?


Only jokin' before ye start

The joys of cars in general I think, to be fair.

Maybe slightly stupidly I have no idea of the bill, not for the want of trying. Having said that, the only thing I didn't know anything about was the timing belt pullies. I knew sommat was up 'down below' as it kept knocking but I couldn't put me finger on what it was.

I am slightly annoyed that when I phoned up this afternoon I discover that the work is all done, including the work I didn't know about. So thats 100 odd quid of bits plus fitting I'm gonna face, on top of the timing belt work and the MOT.

On the plus side, he did the tracking as well and it was obviously out as it drives so much better. As usual, it gets a full wash and wax as part of the service (doesn't appear on the bill).

The bill is what it is and its the cost of car ownership. I'm happy my Hippo is fit for another years service.

glad it's all sorted. I usually find that the discomfort of a higher than expected bill goes within a day or two, but the comfort of having the vehicle sorted again lasts much longer than this. (well till it goes wrong again).

As for the idlers etc being replaced, there really wasn't a choice, and the garage couldn't have really put it back together with the shot ones. This comes back to what was said when you booked the car in. If it was a very specific "change the timing belt" then the garage should really have rung. If it was a more "can you change the timing belt and have a look at why it's making a noise" then that's a bit harder to contest.

depends on how the bill comes out as to whether it's a mickey take or not.

However, I would have expected a call out of courtesy from the garage before the work was carried out.

Glad it's all sorted though.