poorly_felicia

nah, i had the car tilted quite a bit and got the new one in quick as

when i changed the nearside one on our old felly i found that you dont need to disconnect everything and remove the hub. I found that if i simply popped off the steering track rod end (by undoing the balljoint nut on it and tapping it free) i had enought "turn" in the whole suspension to get enough clearance to remove the shaft. You will most likely need a breaker bar for the hub nut, and its a 30mm nut. They are done up very tight. I had to jump with my whole weight on mine to crack it loose, with the wheel on the ground and a trolley jack positioned to balance the large 30mm socket to keep it straight and not rounding the nut. a soft mallet or hammer+wood will tap the old shaft free from the gearbox nice and easy. when fitting the new shaft to the gearbox end, use soft mallet or hammer+wood to "click" it into place. i lost about 0.5l of oil. hope this helps

strange, all the places down here dont apart from 1, but i never use that company as they are more expensive than everyone else...

i was never treating them as a service item, just saying that its sods law that he doesnt buy them and then it turns out they are needed. if they are unopened, they can be returned for a refund!! i never thought mine were knackered (looked dry through wheel bolt holes) but when i took the drum apart one was most definately foobared and it cost me a day

i would definately get some new rear brake cylinders for your peace of mind. When i did the rear brakes on our old felly i didnt purchase any as i saw no signs of leaks at all, until i opened up the rear drum (it was a real mess!). Its worth it for the piece of mind, and saving yourself a day or two if you dont buy them and then discover that you do need them :p You will be able to get front pads, rear shoes and rear cylinders from pretty much any motor factors, and dont discount going to a skoda dealership as the are not much more expensive, and i always found genuine skoda brakes to be of excellent quality. Last lot i got off them was all ferodo premium stuff and have lasted well over 40000 miles, and plenty left to go on the rears!

i did this on a mated diesel felly, i used a cut up coke can for the gasket still working to this day

SUPERCHARGER! add togther with rat look would be an awesome sleeper

indeed, sorry i thought it does have a oil component though? well, it wsa the right idea

could this be a bad earth somewhere ? (im im reading it right)

mechanical things to ckeck - the easy way 1 - pop off oil filler cap and check for mayo. Also, put your finger right inside and rub around the inner surface, lots of sellers are cunning and will wipe away mayo, but ive never met anyone who wipes away from the indise rim 2 - if you can, run the engine from cold and make sure temp guage get about half way up and stays there. Any more or less and themostat likely gone 3 - when cold, take coolant tank cap off and check the coolant - should be no mayo / oil blobs / sludge. Colour should be green, blue or a sorta vivid barbie pink 4 - car in neutral on flat, pull up handbrake a modest amount (3 clicks) and try and push / pull the car - should not move 5 - with engine off, pump the brake pedal. it should,after a few strokes, get really hard not very far down 6 - using a torch, look underneath all 4 wheels for signs of brake fluid leaks. Even if wiped, because it oil based it will usually stain and look wet 7 - while your underneath, feel the CV boots and look with the torch for tears 8 - still underneath, run your hand along the radiator bottom support bar - any wetness here and its leaking 9 - in a flat safe area, drive slowly turning on full lock, each direction. Listen for clinks, clicks or bangs 10 - car in neutral, handbrake off. shake all 4 wheels vigorously at 6+12 o'clock and 3+9 o'clock positions. you should feel no play, clunks or wobbles 11- using your torch, look at all 4 suspenstion turrets to check condition of shoks (leaking) and spring cups (badly rusty) 12 - listen to the engine at idle. If its a 1.3, expect it to be quite noisy and rather rattly (its the design) . It should idle at a constant speed. There should not be any bangs or knocks coming from the engine. Blip the throttle for 3 second bursts and have someone look for excessive blue / black smoke from exhaust. 13 - check steering wheel fro free play (quite common on these) - look at the front wheel at the same time - the wheel should move with no free play in you turning the steering wheel 14 - wibbling the exhaust pipe (when its cold) it should feel nice and solid (solid rubbery feeling) and not clonk around 15 - lastly, check all the tyres. If a seller ever has a problem with a potential buyer having a damn good poke around a car then they most likely have something to hide! Hope this helps, gav

or the top mount bearing? might also be a engine/box mount?

cool, thanks! how much tolerance is there you think (im bound to spin the tie rod a little when i undo the locknut) before its re-tracking time again? would 1/2 turn each side difference make no real significant difference or is it tighter than that?

no i got big manly hands thank-you-very-much in all seriousness, it was a pain getting the socket to stay on the rear bolts, even with the UJ, and i was sorta half in the bay with one leg in the air. was a proper comedy look i reckon the only diffucilt bit now is getting the steering wheel 100% straigh, its ever so slightly cocked to the right, butmoving the wheel one spline is too much. and yes, i did properly centre / align the rack and i got it tracked at the same place i entrust my MR2 with, and it drives straight and proper, its just a little wonkey. hmmmmm - any ideas? by the way i changed the whole lot - recon rack, new rod ends and rod end locknuts IDEA : can i correct the wheel by adjusting each rod end by say 1/4 turn and see? as its cocked to the right i think drivers side come in 1/4 and passenger out by 1/4 would that work?

Tom, i cannot believe that you of all people do not own a 1/2 inch drive UJ for sockets etc! i didnt have to drop anythhing with the UJ - was still a pain in the rear though (had to bend all funny)

well, swap is done. what a stupid place to put the rear clamp botls though thank god for my dads 1/2" UJ ! (i dont have one lol and i could not figure out a way of removing the rear bolts without one lol)

i did ask them, but they want the cheaper alternative i would have enjoyed the challenge though

friends felly is in need of a new steering rack - there is play in the inner rack (pinion gear worn i think). the tie rods are also relatively knackered. The pinion adjuster is maxed out and there is still play. (its not power steering btw) Went down to local factors, can get a "as new" AMK recon rack for £35, or who-knows-what at skoda dealership. anyone have experience with recon racks? AMK ? also - was recommended by someone that no matter what i get it would be well worthwhile really packing grease into it as they are usually pretty stingy at the factory / recon place. thoughts?

thats quite a bargain. my trolley jack handle tube is still cheaper lol i had a similar breaker bar years ago, snapped it in half trying to unde the front hub nut on our old felly.

heat....lots, and lots of heat. be careful, you got some flammable stuff under there, and only heat one item at a time! have you got a trolley jack? if you do the tube handle things make great ratchet extension bars for that extra brute force - saved me many a headache (mine fits all 1/4 inch ratchets and some of my 1/2 in jobbies, when used with good quality 6 sided sockets makes those tight nuts a doddle:))

yea, probably does but i seem to remember when one of mine went it did make a droning noice that didnt really change with road speed

dont know about anyone else, but sounds like classic wheel bearing failure, most likely one of the rears. when mine went ages ago they sounded the same, pitch not changing with wheel speed. more a low rumbleness more than anything else

are you sure its water in the drivers footwell? (is this a right hand drive car?) most reported leaks in the drivers area are usually one of the following: 1) headlight level adjuster leaking its fluid. it probably doesnt work anyway, they usually dont 2) gearbox oil being forced up through speedo cable (due to blocked breather on gbox)and then ultimately dripping down getting veerythign really gross 3) dreaded bulkhead, but that usually affects more the passanger side as for your speedo, if whoever changed the clutch didnt disconnect the cable from the box the little gear is probably somewhere inside your gearbox now slowly being ground up dont worry too much its only plastic, but if its not visible on the end of the cable i would do a gearbox oil change just to be sure

i can assure you however it tastes nowhere near as good as hellmanns i dont think its something you want with a salad, no matter how hungry you are hahahahahaa the oil filler on my MR2 does actually have a breather pipe attached to the side, and its not quite straight down to the cams but rather offset by n inch or so with like a little "shelf" under the cap. deffo no mayo (or even a smear of salad creme) even after the smallest cold journey. but then i know for a fact that the engine is in pristine condition :p (its a MK2 n/a with a 3sge for anyone interested in red, i might add ) but, back on topic, new thrermostat+housing+temp sensor ordered, will be fitting soon and will let you all know in due course. As a side note, would another oil change be recommended when i do the stat' since whats in there, although new, might be corrupted in some way?

lol bit late in there! we have already deduced its thermostat (its stuck open) and yeah, it doesnt really get to go on decent long journeys. its weird that i dont get any mayo in my MR2 though that has only been doing ickle journeys of late.....

I think ken might have hit the nail on the head about the engine not getting up to temp... its been on the list of "things to do" since i think the thermostat is stuck open and the temp guage dont go up very far. got one ordered today but tbh i didnt see the connection :giggle: lets hope its just that! i did forget to mention that it still drivers just fine