Aaaargh! The Chrysler will be in hospital for a week. It needs a new tensioner, the old one being broken, as well as the steering pump. Gonna cost a small fortune too. I hope Herself has some bread to share the burden.
The only bit of good news is that I can keep the garage's courtesy Ka for a week too so we won't be stranded. It has the garage's logo all over it which makes it stand out.
It's a zippy little thing though, if somewhat jerky, uncomfortable and noisy by the Chrysler's standards. Almost ferocious acceleration in the lower gears, up to 70 in a trice, doesn't seem to drink fuel either. I put a tenner's worth in but no doubt will need to do it again a couple of times.
I'm getting used to it already but despite its fairly willing character I won't really miss it when it's gone back.
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1 I think. Too rough to be new.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Tue 31 Mar 15 at 19:10
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Like ours then. A fine little motor it has been, nice "big" car feel despite its size, excellent lights as well unlike a lot of small motors, happy zipping along country roads or the A55.....it may well be sold on soon - watch this space.
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Repairing older cars soon ads up regarding cost.Daughter did spend about £400 on work needed doing to the little Fiat.That was service and M.O.T included.
Also eight radiators in her house had to be replaced water leaking.It must have been a bad batch fitted by the previous owners.Money comes in and soon goes out Armel.
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One of the best small cars to drive in recent memory.
I ended up with one as a courtesy car to do a 70 mile motorway journey in a few years ago. Had a horrible sinking feeling when I got the keys. It coped surprisingly well on the motorway, and was an absolute delight across country.
Can be less than a joy to own though. It's easier to list where they don't rot, and maintenance can be horrible due to tight access. My sister's example was beyond economical repair at 10 years old due to rust. Even the sump rotted through.
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I thrashed a mk2 ka around Jersey. Fantastic little beast, loved it to bits. Ford are making cracking smaller cars,
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The Fiesta ST gets rave reviews
....thread drift....last time I went to Jersey was as a nipper with parents. Arrived from Yeadon airport in either a HP Dart Herald, Avro 748 or Viscount. Too long ago to remember. Going again in June for 5 days with chums. Walk the coast path (48 miles) and spend considerable time in the Lamplighter, adjacent to the hovel we are staying in.
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You wouldn't want a smash in one though.
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>> You wouldn't want a smash in one though.
I'm curious to know what cars you would want a smash in, apart from ferret scout cars and other armoured cars (tracked vehicles don't count though, unfair excess of traction).
;o}
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>> Money comes in and soon goes out Armel.
Well tell me about it Dutchman.
One almost envies the American prostitute who said: 'It's a great business. You got it, you sell it... you still got it!'
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Worst thing about them on motorways is other cars-particularly BMW-not getting out of your way.The ordinary Ka was good-the SportKa was fabulous.
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I liked the Ka. It had heart, and was zippy in the gears if a bit breathless in fifth. Obviously very economical too, 40 or 50 mpg without trying. Difficult though to drive gently. I must fancy it because I kept the key when I took it back to the garage, and had to do a rapid trip back there. Silly old fart.
The jalopy, which we now have back, is easy to drive gently and very refined by comparison. Better over the bumps in the drive too.
The work cost a goddam fortune, quite a lot more than 700 quid parts and VAT and a quite reasonable 440-odd in labour. We weren't ripped off. One of the replaced parts had four engine-mounting bolt holes through it, meaning the whole engine had to be dropped anyway at one end to get it out... It's all very tight and convoluted in there.
I am advised to check the coolant level and steering fluid level tomorrow and top up. Part of the eye-watering bill was for two containers of the right steering fluid.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Wed 8 Apr 15 at 20:52
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I forgot to say, the jalopy came back looking its best if you ignored the graunches and gouges, washed and polished on the outside.
Unfortunately though the valeting didn't extend to the interior, so the gravel and mud are still on the floor. Tsk. Suppose I'll have to do something about it myself sooner or later.
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This isn't a really very useful comment now of course, but that seems like quite a lot of money to spend on that car. For a bit less, you could have bought a whole other PT Cruiser and kept yours for parts.
You may well have thought of that and discounted the idea though. Hope the work you've had done fettles it for a good while anyway.
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Wed 8 Apr 15 at 22:49
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I've had the Cruiser back for a couple of days and driven it several times. The weird thing is, I'm still driving it a bit roughly after getting used to that zippy little Ka. Nothing outlandish of course, it would take a good driver, paying close attention, to notice anything even slightly untoward, but I know myself when engine and road speed aren't exactly equivalent when my foot comes off the clutch during gearchanges. It's strangely annoying.
Last edited by: Armel Coussine on Fri 10 Apr 15 at 17:23
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Age thing AC? Not saying it is, but it could be, or so I'm led to believe... I guess you'll know yourself when it's time...wouldn't worry about it yet. Well, not much anyway. Probably nothing eh?
;-))
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The jalopy is running very well after its expensive fettling job thanks Humph you old cockchafer you...
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It wasn't the car's age I was alluding to...
;-)
Last edited by: Runfer D'Hills on Fri 10 Apr 15 at 17:52
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I was thinking of this thread whizzing back from the forestry earlier, nice quiet A4080, an easy 70 on the bends. Fine little motor. Decision being made to sell this weekend, pending a visit to a dog crate maker for the MINI.
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Someone will love it RP. It'd be a bit yellow for me but someone else will see that as an attraction. Certainly makes a small car more visible I suppose. I used to like driving ours.
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It does sound as if the Cruiser wasn't really designed for a long and maintainable life - hints of DP's comments about the 156; possibly a factor to consider before agreeing to major fettling on an old car, even one that's 'worth more than that to me'.
I have one such too, of course. I drove it to work this morning, for the first time in a while. Old D5 engines have a tendency to engage a kind of mini-limp mode, which limits ultimate revs but will still achieve and maintain motorway speed. Trouble is that the first I get to know of it when it does is a message on the panel, usually when I've asked it to accelerate. A stop and switch off will clear it, and it won't return on the same trip, but it's a nuisance.
Especially so this morning. I followed out of town the kind of Polo-bound mimser who brakes hard at speed limit signs to 5mph below the new limit, yet picks up moderate speed in between without ever giving the confidence that they'll drive properly now. The straight section was clear, and the Polo would have been an easy overtake for the LEC, or even for the Volvo in its younger days, but I just wasn't confident today that it would see the manoeuvre through.
So I held back, muttering. The problem, I understand, is slightly sticky swivels on the turbo vanes. Regular exercise - floor it in fourth at 40 and hold on till 60 is the trick - is enough to keep them mobile, but Mrs Beest doesn't understand any of that, never mind do it. A new turbo would be a four-digit bill - and I gather might not do as well as the original because of disruption to oil channels and the like.
This is really what's pushing me to move on from the S60. It would probably benefit from me driving it every day, but there's a can't-be-a***d factor with a car that needs nursing when I'm feeling busy and important. It seems fine for Mrs Beest's local pootlings, but then she'll take it to Southampton and come back complaining that "It did that engine thing again," and I can either explain that you need to wait for the temperature gauge to...then the rev counter to show...then accelerate hard till...then relax...and, well you get the glassy-eyed picture.
Pity, because apart from that nagging mistrust, I enjoyed driving it this morning. But I'm thinking a lot about Golfs at the moment.
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One of the girls at our office has a Golf GTi lookalike but it's a diesel ( if you see what I mean? ) can't remember why but I borrowed it for an afternoon one day recently. Nice car, very nice in fact but it did feel small. It probably isn't all that small but by comparison to what I ( and you ) normally drive it is. DSG too, she's had bother with that. Quite a noisy engine as well I seemed to think.
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Have you tried bypassing the pad on the front of the air box ?
Get an L juntion piece of plastic for a windscreen wiper pipe and connect to the two rubber pipes which are connected to the pad. These cars are very tempremental about the vacuum in those pipes and that pad is usually No.1 suspect. The other pipe I found which split on mine went over the starter motor. I can't remember exactly where from or to (I got the garage to swap it off), it had a big split in it.
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I didn't know there was a pad to bypass - but that's because I haven't looked. May do so if it stays sunny over the weekend.
On the way home tonight I noticed a chirrup from somewhere - front, I think - that was related to road speed, not engine speed. Hoping that's a bit of surface corrosion on a brake disc; can't be doing with wheel bearings. It seemed to cease when I hit the brakes but returned when I released the pedal; took a slightly different route tonight so it didn't get my usual rapid deceleration on the sliproad off the A404, so perhaps I'll take it out this weekend for some gratuitous emergency stops.
Golf GTD, Humph? Neighbour has one; looks nice. Seems to be attracting some VW special offer money too, so might be the smart money alternative to a GTI - or an R. Will look into it.
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>> It does sound as if the Cruiser wasn't really designed for a long and maintainable life - hints of DP's comments about the 156; possibly a factor to consider before agreeing to major fettling on an old car, even one that's 'worth more than that to me'.
It's perfectly maintainable, although it isn't exactly 'designed', more 'styled' on the platform of various available units and components which can be found in other cars.
Look: cars are expensive, they cost money, the manufacturers don't always help either because profit rules, awright?
A car that was designed to be maintainable might cost a bit less to maintain. But a small arm and leg feel just as bad as a big arm and leg when it comes to it.
The jalopy isn't worth throwing away just yet. The moment I can afford the right sort of snorting monster, it's gone to someone who needs it. Until then, it's a nice motor.
Damn thing is overcooling. Not another goddam thermostat? Fraid so.
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Courtesy Ka - R.P.
