Titanium_Man

I feel ya….. the medication that saved my life in 2015 destroyed my hearing. Despite only being 41, I officially have the hearing of a 100+ y/old. Yes, I have hearing aids but they don’t solve everything 😞

Yeah they do contain real refrigerants. Well spotted 👏 However, as Roottoot has said, the regs are for the safe discharging and removal of said f-gasses by qualified techs (pretty sure it goes on to say when using a third party machine to do so, but had a few beers now!) These kits don’t actually remove the refrigerant that’s in the system, they simply top it up and therefore don’t fall under these regulations and aren’t illegal to use as a result. That’s how they (Halfords and the like) get around it. This exact topic was part of a discussion during the F-gas qualification that I attained last year…..

So, in English, it’s not illegal for a private individual to buy and use a self-regas kit. Do you agree?

@KenONeill I do not believe there is actually a law preventing a private individual re-gassing their own aircon system, hence why you can buy the kit to do so. Please feel free to provide evidence to the contrary.

….. or if your hearing is as bad as mine, spray water with plenty of washing liquid in it around the connectors to see if air is escaping through the joint (the water will bubble if there is, of course) The cheapest fix is to drill some self-tapper screws through the coupling to hold them tight together, but might not be perfect. Aside this fix, they’re easy enough to replace, if not expensive.

I haven’t got any college books to hand to quote, but iirc it’s to do with the McPherson struts and chassis flex at the point of turning; As the car starts to turn, the weight is thrown to the outer wheel which digs in and helps turn-in. I believe the strut brace will reduce the flex by fixing the top of the struts together, thus keeping the car flatter during the turn and therefore reducing the outer wheel diggin in, resulting in the car sliding straighter rather than turning, More than happy for someone to correct me if this is wrong 🤗

Front strut brace …. Yeah it stiffens the front up, but at the expense of increased understeer. Coilovers …. Yes it’s nice to have sporty feeling suspension, but as some will know that simply lowering the ride height isn’t enough as other parts of the geometry are pushed out of spec and can easily ruin a decent set of expensive boots! Not fitted myself, but reports on solid engine mounts have led to a more positive and quicker gear change, but at the expense of much increased cabin vibration. Too much for some who reported that they put the OEM setup back in as it was so bad. Finally, Big-455 4-pot brakes with fancy Porsche wheels. Yes, they can stop you on a 5p piece at 80 and it’s nice to have a posh badge on your wheels, but what happens when you have a blowout on the motorway and your spare wheel won’t fit over those huge callipers….. wait 4 hours for the AA!!

You most certainly did, sir, and could be right! We don’t know what will come up in the practical exams and currently not fit / recovered enough to attempt all jobs. Also, we don’t know when the next slot for the various assessments will be. Due to covid there’s a massive backlog of people waiting for their tests and I just can’t sit around and waiting. There are other reasons behind my decision, which believe me when I say was not easy, to walk away when I’m so close. But without going in to details, too much needed to happen before I sat the exams (not from my side)

Interesting….. maybe that’s why I’m so laid back about everything at the minute

Yes Ken, I’m aware of what each one of the four daily meds I have to take actually do

Thanks mate. 😔 Not ideal, but as you say my health comes first.

On the car front ..... I didn't take my car on a motorway run in the end. Largely as it was far to hot if we were to break down and I don't trust my car at the minute! I have been pottering around town and have now covered about 140 miles in total since I swapped the heads. I've not been able to investigate the blue smoke that is still coming out after I've been sat at traffic lights for a minute or two as physically Ive not been able to, not to mention that all of my tools are at work! Once I've gone and got them I'll be taking off the TIP and intake manifold / airbox etc just to eyeball everything and see what I can see. May even take the turbo off at that point yet..... Still suspecting either seals inside the turbo are shot or the engine shop haven't put in the valve guides and / or stem seals in correctly, but would need to strip everything again to check their work, which I don't fancy at the minute! Not worrying too much about my car at the minute as can't afford to fix whatever is wrong with it anyway(!) and she's driving almost perfectly. So I'll change the oil & filter and just put up with the smoke for the time being until I can get some funds behind me ......

I can happily say I can start to look forward in life rather than just treading water I had my first full body work-over by the heart institute last week and was officially handed over to my GP as they are very happy with where I am in my recovery. Yay!! Very happy, of course, but I am to remain on the beta blockers, blood pressure & statins medication for the foreseeable future. Despite my cholesterol level being tested and shown to be in the "good" range, apparently my arteries are "furry" and want me on statins as a preventative measure apparently?! Already suffering with aching legs as a result of the statins 🥴 I have the home INR testing machine, which we tried to calibrate today but turns out I was given the wrong electronic testing strips for my machine! New ones are due in any moment and will calibrate it tomorrow morning. This will stop me needing to go to the GP to check my levels (almost on a weekly basis at the minute). Perfect timing as the last part of my recovery involves a week in Tenerife kindly paid for by our parents as a much needed break away together. 🥰 Next up; get a job! Just this week I finally let my employer and college know that I am to medically retire from being a mechanic. Not great timing as I was literally waiting for the End Point Assessments to get the level 3 Light Vehicle Technician qualification prior to me being admitted to hospital. I'm sure there will be those reading this thinking that I should just do the exams anyway so I have the piece of paper. Well, I've had weeks to debate this very thing. Obviously I've talked long and hard about it with Zee, but in the end I have to just walk away from it. I just can't take the risk of infection, taking a heavy knock or getting cuts that involve trips to A&E 'cos I can't stop the bleeding (which could very well become a regular feature due to the Warfarin). After speaking with the account manager from college I've got myself an informal chat penciled in once I get back from my holiday Seems like there is potentially a role coming up with them that I would apparently be perfect for..... obviously I'm not assuming anything, so I have also applied for another job this morning and will apply for more next week whist I'm sat at the pool bar with my glass of coke! I'm very laid back about getting a job if I'm honest... maybe a bit too much for Zee's liking 😛

I have. Usually on cars that have winter tyres on during summer as the high temperatures destroys the rubber.

Another from this year’s Glastonbury I’d like to photoshop out the two three people closest to the camera as I reckon it would make for a much cleaner picture, but never used it before. Might have a bash anyway.

sorry guys, been getting busier as I get better ☺️ Things have been going ok. It’s taking longer for the pain to subside this time, but then again they did take out two heart valves! Still hurts to sneeze, but now a 2/10 rather than a 9/10 kinda pain. Had an echocardiogram down at the heart institute a few weeks ago, which went well. I do have my first, proper face-2-face appointment with my consultant on the 5th July, which will also be a full-body checkup. Getting to grips with the eating restrictions due to the Warfarin was initially a PITA but got to grips with it now. I have the mobile INR check machine and just need to get it calibrated by the warfarin clinic and then I can stop needing a GP appointment every 10 days or so. As it’s now been over 6 weeks since the op I can now drive again, wahoo!! As it turns out, the first day I was allowed to drive was the day I needed to pick up the camper van for Glastonbury from Devon. My boss on site wouldn’t let me work but did insist that I came along anyway and continued my recovery with my festival family 🥰 Drove Zee’s car to Devon, van home to Bristol, load up and down to Glastonbury all in a weekend. No adverse reactions It was a hard week for me as although I didn’t work at all (except a bit of help in the office) I did get my step count up and over 10k a day, which is well beyond anything I had walked up to that point. Understandably, I was knackered come the evening so was in bed by 11/12 most evenings with very limited drinking (I normally take around 120 cans of cider for the week, but only took 40 this year) I’m now also allowed to lift up to 10kg and can start to swim, so gonna pull out the months free gym membership I’ve got sat waiting and get building up some strength and cardiovascular fitness. On the car front, she started first time, albeit a bit lazy. Understandable given she’s been stoop up for nearly 8 weeks so might whip the battery off and give it a good charge. Minimum smoke on start up, which was a nice black puff. No hint of blue. Yay! Time will tell when I drive her maybe later today or tomorrow. Gotta drop the camper back to Devon tomorrow and will get Zee to follow me down in my car, which is a nice ~195 mile motorway trip and will do it the world of good, so may not take the battery off on second thoughts! Edit: too many words without pictures IMO!

She did start it but didn’t take it for a drive…. 2 weeks this Friday marks 6 weeks since the op and I’ll then be allowed to lift stuff again ….. and I’ll be able drive her again! Started first time but not exactly on the button. Still a bit of blue smoke after a blip of the throttle, but I’ve only clocked about 70 miles since I put the different head on and have been told to be patient and it will go away. Starting to get paranoid something else is up ….. Also, turns out that when Zee disconnected the battery she neglected to check that the car was actually locked before walking away! Thankfully, the little scaly that realised my car was wide open didn’t find anything worth nicking and didn’t cause any damage to anything. All caught on our doorbell camera, for what it was worth.

That looks to me like a 2-hole gasket. Trying to find a pic of the gasket I removed and the one I installed to be sure ……

I would say it looks like Google translate is being used, @Pete_Ex-Wino

If the op has one also I’d be checking the underside of the screws holding it in place as it’s not unheard of mechanics leaning on the box and the screws cut through the wiring running underneath. Thai bunch of wires feed the wires to the expansion tank sensor, at least it does on my asz engine.

I’m not clued up on this engine, so excuse what may be me barking up the wrong tree…. But does this car have a vacuum box sat just above the drivers strut in the engine bay, just above the expansion tank?? (Like the below, top left of the pic)

Get under the car and you will see several black, rubber bungs running down the car. I would take a few of these off and see if there’s water trapped in there. Had what you’re describing on an older TT… removed a couple bungs and waited for the water to stop, eventually.

So the BLT injectors flow slightly more given the 520 vs 530??!