Daily dci

[Krarl]

Cheap non genuine filters are shite, the lines don't seal on them properly. As soon as I started using Delphi on mine the car was 10x better to start on a morning

Apart from when it was -10 and it hated life😂😂 250,000 will do that to a dCi though

 

[GrahamS]

A bit of graft done this week

One of my mates bought a scrap Kangoo, the fuel system was shot so would only start with easi start, and bodywork rough as feck so was only going to the weigh in yard. Engine/turbo were decent as only done 80k, so stripped loads of bits off before it went, turbo, alternator, egr, engine mounts etc for free which was a bit of a result.

One way trip to the crusher now
View attachment 1431180

Stripped turbo off the blue dci, as i suspected it was about shot, and sounded like a siren on spool up.

Did not realise it was this knackered until removed, not many more miles left pissing oil all over. Replaced with the fresh one off the scrapper Kangoo
View attachment 1431185
View attachment 1431187

View attachment 1431188
Last time i drove it, i kept hearing a deep knock when going over speedbumps. I highly suspected the top engine mount was knackered, so took it off to examine and the problem was fairly obvious as oil damped. Good 2nd hand engine mount fitted off the scrapper KangooView attachment 1431184
So with that all done, took it for a test drive and running a lot better, smoke free and knock gone. It had a resonation when accelerating hard, which i assumed was dead top engine mount, but was still there when replaced so inspected the dogbone mount and gearbox mount.

Dogbone was fitted backwards by some cowboy so the large bush was fouling the gear linkage on acceleration and the bush was torn so replaced with a cheapo dogbone for nowView attachment 1431183
I also bought a pair of aftermarket lower arms and inner tie rods, fitted them and whilst up in the air noticed fresh oil. Looks like turbo oil feed has been off and o ring not replaced.View attachment 1431182
O ring replaced, and leak free. Had to take a brave pill and flog the fitting up a bit to stop it weeping though, not a great design imo!
View attachment 1431181

Took it out for a test run this morning, had to get out early as they are resurfacing the road. It drives great now, tight and no suspension knocks, just needs the toe setting.

Went past the local garage my mate works in early doors, and they were just opening up so perfect time to get the geo set (trade price of course) but the fecking geo lift had broken so no chance until next week.

I mentioned the air con needed a leak check as no gas in it, he boshed it on and it seemed to hold a vacuum ok, so gassed it up. View attachment 1431186
Fired it up when done, and the ac compressor kicked straight in, and the aircon is ice cold, could not believe it. I thought the low speed rad fan had issues, but works fine. So been blasting about today with ice cold aircon in 29deg heat, bodywork is rough, but ice cold ac and drives absolutely sweet.View attachment 1431189
Hopefully get the van panels in very soon now the oily bits are about sorted ! Thanks for reading

Will give a proper reply when I get a chance to read it all but that o ring on the oil feed is on the wrong side of the knobbly bit. I made that mistake before and it was very messy after only a few thousand miles.

That will also be why the previous one was destroyed as it's likely been removed before and been put back in the wrong place.

 

[Brigsy]

Will give a proper reply when I get a chance to read it all but that o ring on the oil feed is on the wrong side of the knobbly bit. I made that mistake before and it was very messy after only a few thousand miles.

That will also be why the previous one was destroyed as it's likely been removed before and been put back in the wrong place.

Good shout, ill whip it off at the weekend and pop another o ring on. I struggled to get the fitting to move down the pipe when i had it off, might have to clean the pipe up a little bit.

 

[Brigsy]

Epic road trip in the orange dci last weekend.

Day 1 Thursday

Started with brimming the tank with posh Vpower diesel in prep for the trip, range of 722 miles.

First stop in Kent for a nice airBnB we had booked right near the eurotunnel. s**t drive down in the rain, but nice place made up for it. Clocked up the big 150k on route

Day 2 Friday

7:50 am tunnel

Steady drive through France and Belgium, weather was great, 9deg and sunny.

1st stop Bitburger museum, €9 euro for the tour which included 5 drinks from memory. Could only sample the alcohol free Bitburger as driving, but still well worth a visit

After the tour was done, continued onto the autobahns, first thing you do on the unrestricted is vmaxx. Just shy of 110mph downhill (103mph) and an Opel work van flashes me out of the way

Check out 1bar of fuel remaining since Middlesbrough fill up.

Next stop Adenau, check into the hotel, then to the PistenKlaus for fillet steak on the stone

Then Strudel

Then Bitburger

Sign the PK ceiling (#Jongard) after my last trip resulting in a free lap of the Nordschliefe in the Bongard car

 

[Brigsy]

Walked some of the Steak off

Walk back to the Pistenklaus for more Bitburgers as it was getting a bit chilly

Day 3 (Sat), wake up fresh "Bit(burger) in the evening, Fit in the morning" nice weather 8deg. Reverse rally was on so watched that, spotted a R5gte

Nurburgring castle

Quick blast over to the ticket booth, 9 mins until track closure, so paid my €30 euros and ran back to the car.

Garland Gforce meter working well

PK again on the evening (epic) More Bit

 

[Brigsy]

Day 4 Sunday, wake up to a fresh Adenau, first dusting of snow overnight, and hard frost -3deg at 9am. -3 cold start no bother at all.

Quick stop at the complex on the way back, Suns out but its mega cold, and track is closed due to ice.

Weather picks up through France to around 12deg mid day, suns out, make good progress, and wait to be loaded onto the euro. Return home approx 10pm.

Quick fluid check on Monday and all levels still on max. Pagid pads giving all the brake dust off

1350 miles, 64.3mpg, 2 tanks of diesel £120 ish. Epic craic with great friends.

151k on the clock on return & pretty f**king epic for an £80 car.

 

[Brigsy]

Well deserved clean for both dci's. Roll on the next road trip !! Thanks for reading

 

[Krarl]

Mint!!

Think I'll have to get a ring trip booked for the Meg next year. Nowt better than cruising for miles without having to fill up when everyone else you're convoying with has to fill up 3 times before you've even got out of the country 😂

 

[Brigsy]

Last time we went in the meg, it worked out cheaper going on the overnight ferry from Newcastle as need 4-5 tanks of fuel to go via eurotunnel lol.

 

[Martin_172]

great write up, looked good, I need to get myself over there at some point over the next few years!

 

[Djw Dave]

great write up, looked good, I need to get myself over there at some point over the next few years!

I'm the same, really need to do it!

 

[Martin_172]

I'm the same, really need to do it!

CS old timers trip?! When Mick finishes a van? We can bring our hydrogen fuel cell cars or what ever we have then?

 

[Brigsy]

Its a great place to go for a petrolhead, get a trip booked up for next year. Hell of a drive to Dover or Kent from Scotland, go via newcastle overnight ferry to Amsterdam, its class on a weekend in the nightclub on the ferry

 

[Brigsy]

Xmas update

Blue dci had a mega oil leak just before xmas. Had a quick look a few weeks ago and there was oil all over the cambelt side of sump, all over the rear of the engine. The oil fumes in the cabin with heater on were not the best, and it was pissing oil all over my nice block paved drive

Ordered a load of genuine Renault seals and limped it through to xmas as 2 weeks off work to do it steady away.

When i first bought the car i checked the cambelt and noted it had been changed for a dayco belt, but i was sure the cambelt had snapped prior to this/head had been off as seen a load of bodges, and the engine was quite noisy.

Had a shuffle about with the cars to get the clio in, mates ed30 golf parked up at ours whilst building work going on.

Both megs outside for a change

Clio in and jacked up

Wound the engine round to tdc pin/stop by hand, tried to pin cam pulley up and it would not go in. I had a feeling the timing was not knacker on as the engine was noisy on idle and sounded like a tractor when cold, it looked to be half a tooth out on the cam.

I noticed the cam pulley was the later style adjustable type, so had been replaced in the past confirming the cambelt has probably snapped and broke the keyway in the old pulley.

Removed cambelt and associated bits, and pinned cam pulley up. I was expecting the pulley to be mega tight, stuck my big ratchet on it to find it was finger tight i cant believe it did not come off and cause absolute carnage.

Stripped down, and cam seal was leaking/split, rocker cover pissing oil out, crank seal leaking, oil pump cover leaking, original water pump with noisy bearings. Pretty f**king grim all round.

Had a good clean up, then fitted new cam seal & new water pump.

Oil pump gasket renewed. This was fairly hard to remove as dowelled into the block, and ideally sump needed to come off but managed to gently prize it off, and used some good quality sealant on the lower edge when refitting where it meets the sump gasket as per @GrahamS recommendation.

Refitted with new crank seal

As far as i am aware, the Renault seals are ptfe based, and reading up about ptfe prior, said leave them 4 hours before turning the engine. Im not sure if that was 100% necessary to do that, but time was cracking on so decided to whip the rocker cover off and fit the new gasket. I used a genuine Renault gasket this time as the last after market gasket i used leaked, however i did not know that the workshop manual tells you to seal both ends of the gasket and tighten the bolts down in a sequence. Followed the workshop manual this time, added a little more sealant as belt and braces.

Left it all overnight to cure.

 

[Brigsy]

After seeing the cam pulley was the later vernier type, i looked at the crank pulley to find out it was the original floating pulley. I had moved the vernier, and was not sure how it would compare position wise compared to the original fixed cam pulley.

I could have timed it up ok and adjusted the vernier cam pulley so the fuel pump was knacker lined up before torquing the floating crank pulley and it would have ran fine but had an idea.

I still have the later euro 5? 61 reg dci block fitted to the Kangoo compact, so robbed the keyed crank sprocket and later 6pk aux pulley to suit.

Offered it all up and the keyed sprocket fitted the crank great, the outer grooves in the 6pk aux pulley matched the outer grooves on the original so fitted it all up (big thanks to @HMS Derv Destroyer for all the advice)

Torqued cam pulley to spec, later keyed crank sprocket fitted

New gates belt and tensioner fitted, cam pulley adjusted and pinned up, turned engine by hand & repinned/adjusted cambelt tensioner and all was good so put it back together. Reused aux tensioner as only 3k old with new aux belt.

Fired up and runs great now, sounds a fair bit quieter on idle.

 

[Brigsy]

Next job i had to do was change the turbo oil feed o ring, as last time i changed it i put it in the wrong place which caused it to leak.

Incorrectly fitted o ring damaged.

The o ring needs fitting furthur down the shaft as @GrahamS advised. I could not get the fitting to move down the pipe, so had to resort to nipping it in the vise and giving the pipe a belt with the deadblow hammer as last resort which worked ok.

Correctly fitted oring

Ive been monitoring the pipe and it seems to be dry now, however i think the pipe is slightly damaged after overtightening previously, so will monitor it and see how it goes.

Changed oil and filter for fresh shell helix 5/40 whilst up in the air to finish off.

Test run earlier and it seems to be running great, quieter engine, no oil pissing all over so fingers crossed its finally fairly leak free.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Brigsy]

Updates

Blue clio is running great after cambelt and new oil seals, no oil smell or leaks, done 800 miles or so and no issues to report.

Serviced the rear brakes as were a bit squeaky but was due to build up of brake dust. 20 mins to remove both and clean out, and good to go.

Give both dcis a good wash as were both pitted.

Orange dci had a minor water leak when raining heavy from the doorcard/speaker area. The original butyl tape was not the best after changing doorcards. As no tape in stock used gutter sealant, which is nigh on identical and has worked a treat.

Thanks for reading !

 

[Brigsy]

Blue dci is flying along. I have been doing a bit of b road driving for the last couple of weeks, compared to mostly motorway.

Noticed the handling was sketchy and just felt like it was going to go sideways any speed above 40mph. I suspected the rear shocks were shot, so changed them for a good used set of monroe rear shocks that came off a breaker 172 a few years ago and have been sat in the lockup.

Handling instantly transformed, old shocks were totally shot and no damping left. Only took ten mins to change them so nice easy job.

Give both dci's a clean up as not been washed in weeks. Too cold to do a full wash, so a quick jet off, BH snowfoam and rinse, ten mins job done.

Forgot to take any after pics typically. 70 miles on b roads today and the blue dci has more muck on it than before its wash so glad i only spent ten mins on it

 

[Brigsy]

Small update

Checked the tyres on the blue dci as handling was pure understeer, and noticed the Linglong gallopalong shite tyre that was on the passenger side was just above the wear bar.

Drivers side still had 6mm or so, but another no brand so stuck a new pair of Michelin energy savers on, cheap enough at £117 the pair. Massive improvement over the old tyres.

Will stick a pair on the rear in the next couple of months.

 

[Brigsy]

Corona update day 5

Converted the blue dci to van spec. Paint match looks great from down the street and slipped with the knife resulting in claret running all over. Ran out of tigerseal so only got one side done, one of those days when you regret starting something but nevermind good job the bodywork is s**t and dont care too much !

 

[Brigsy]

Update

Gearbox was getting a little bit noisy on the blue dci. Changed gearbox oil, when draining it out it did not look the best, totally black and a bit of a gold tinge in the top, not good! Changed for fresh NFJ and its much quieter and better shift, it doesn't really get a hard life so hopefully get a few more miles out of the box.

Still only one van panel in as my tube of tigerseal has not turned up yet. Plenty of time to get it in though before Boris next update!

 

[Brigsy]

Update,

Tigerseal finally arrived on Tuesday so cracked on and managed to get the other panel in. Painful job removing the glass, but easier this time as stanley knifed the sealant from the inside then used stainless wire to cut it out. Painted the inside of the panels black to make it darker in the back and harder for people to look in, just need to get the rear window tinted once lockdown is over.

Give it a quick wash and a coat of collinite 476s and it looks half decent from a distance, the original paint is faded badly so not the best match

In other news i dug out an old Momo corse steering wheel i was given a while back in poor condition.

The leather was very worn and rough. I flatted the leather off to smooth it out with 1500 wet & dry sandpaper. You can buy the dye kits for leather off ebay, i could not be arsed spending the money as unsure if i will use it. Dug out the 89p cherry blossom black shoe leather dye and give it several coats, letting it soak in.

Came up well, and even with my sandpaper hands the finish does not wear off as the leather is saturated with dye. I even test sanded a bit with 1500 wet & dry and it barely came off.

I have a clio boss so might chuck it in the orange dci for laugh.

Thanks for reading !

 

[Daz.]

Properly great thread this, always worth a read!

 

[Brigsy]

Properly great thread this, always worth a read!

Cheers mate. I still love these little dcis for the mega cheap daily, Tax reminder came a few days ago, £30 a year love it.

Going to get the cruise control wired up next as per @GrahamS diagrams. Plenty of time in this lockdown to get it done.

 

[Brigsy]

Done some rust removing and jacking point straightening on the orange dci today.

Pains me to do as its all caused by incorrect jacking up on the sill. Done a quick fix when i first got it, its lasted ok and still solid but done a better job this time.

Unbolted wing and it revealed hidden rust that was not visible from removing the arch liner. First step was wire wheel on a drill to clean up the metal, hydrate 80, buzzweld molten zinc primer then buzzweld reinforced chassis black paint. The buzzweld seems to be good stuff will see how long it lasts, the zinc 500ml tub was 3 times heavier than the 1ltr chassis paint, so must have plenty of zinc in it.

No before pics as i was covered in shite as usual see how long this lasts, as only slowing down the inevitable rust!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Martin_172]

Love the van, keep your eyes on the scrappy for the rear floor and bulkhead they finish it off nicely! I've got the full length parcel shelf too which makes it a lot quieter to drive, although doubt it will be quite as refined now with 180hp lol

 

[Brigsy]

Love the van, keep your eyes on the scrappy for the rear floor and bulkhead they finish it off nicely! I've got the full length parcel shelf too which makes it a lot quieter to drive, although doubt it will be quite as refined now with 180hp lol

Cheers mate. Ive been keeping my eye out for all the van trims and small internal bulkhead, if you see any link me up

182 lump will be great in yours, 40mpg on a run and decent power. If i was doing less miles i would have used a cheap 172 for my conversion.

 

[Tez.]

Great minds mate . Had mine jacked up today cleaning the arches out . Fitted new spark plugs but unfortunately the coil stick broke up in my hand like a crusty cob . (Only £35 for a new set )

came to the rear and the one tyre has delaminated on the inside which was a lucky spot

 

[Brigsy]

Finished off the orange dci today.

Started off with bolting wings back on and refitting arch liners. Whilst up in the air i took the opportunity to renew the brake fluid. Ive never bled the front calipers and only done the rears due to replacement brake lines on the rear beam a few years ago.

Brakes have always been pretty good, however after the lap of the Nurburgring last year the fluid must have got a bit hot and the pedal was solid but had a bit of travel. Discs and pads are good and properly adjusted rear shoes, so knew it was time to renew the fluid. The front bleed nipples were solid with rust as hand not been touched for years, and i feared they would snap when undoing, however i have learnt new technique to get them out.

Wire brushed the bleed nipples with the drill to remove some of the corrosion, loads of plusgas and tried to give them a little nip up with a spanner, just rounded off as expected. Hex socket would not fit without hammering on so dug out the vice grips. Tapped the caliper around the bleed nipple and on the end to shock/crack the rust whilst trying to turn gently and the bleed nipple cracked off, could not believe it. Worked for both sides, replaced bleed nipples with good used and coated in anti seize.

Flushed brake fluid through on all corners for fresh Ate typ200, the old stuff was awful as expected. Brake pedal excellent again, hardly any travel and solid.

Took the opportunity to clean all the arches out whilst wheels were off. Looks in good nick for age and used in all weathers, might add some more protection soon.

Also cleaned the wheels inside and out. They had some mega fallout on after the Nurburgring trip so hit them with Korrosol and agitated, cleaned inside and removed the old stickers off old wheel weights with a toffee wheel on the drill.

Still come up clean, i prepped and powdercoated them myself in my mates old work whilst the boss was off several years ago, finish is not perfect but still happy with them. Give them a good coat of collinite 476s inside and out.

Back in its wheels, still like the look of it for a non sport. Rideheight a bit on the piss as the garden is all over the place.

Finished off by giving them all a snowfoam and rinse. Feel like i have really got on top of the cars with all this downtime. Start on the blue megane and gtt this week as they have not moved for ages!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Brigsy]

Great minds mate . Had mine jacked up today cleaning the arches out . Fitted new spark plugs but unfortunately the coil stick broke up in my hand like a crusty cob . (Only £35 for a new set )

came to the rear and the one tyre has delaminated on the inside which was a lucky spot

Good spot on the tyre. I done exactly the same as you today all wheels off. Worth doing once a year to see whats what

 

[Tez.]

Good spot on the tyre. I done exactly the same as you today all wheels off. Worth doing once a year to see whats what

yeah it’s been parked up since I bought my mark 5 golf last year but I carnt part with it . It ain’t worth anything anyway .

it’s a 1.2 16v and I’ve owned it since new.Its done 91k and she’s in ok shape with a Renault sport interior . I might get a multi car policy in a few months and lower it again and use it now and then

not much corrosion in the arches . The front drivers side was weirdly the worst with a brake line starting to rust and where the bulkhead meets the arch .

the rear arches where impressive for 16 years next week! cleaned all the dirt off the inside arch lip and they were like new ! Unlike my mark 1 at 16 years old lol

 

[Martin_172]

Your threads always make me feel better when I feel bad about buying another car and having too many 😂

 

[Brigsy]

Your threads always make me feel better when I feel bad about buying another car and having too many 😂

It all kind of got out of hand but its been a great way to kill time in this pandemic

Reserve light came on yesterday. Roughly 7 weeks to the gallon. Not put any fuel in since last time i was at work!

Needs lows but need it to be useable for daily

 

[Martin_172]

looks awesome, it would really suit a nice drop and a set of silver pro race 1.2 or something similar too!!!

 

[Brigsy]

Agreed would look awesome on a decent set of wheels and a set of eibach sportlines. So tempted

 

[Brigsy]

Update

Bought a rear seat delete carpet off ebay £35. Turned up today and fits well, quite impressed.

Work gear back in ready for when i eventually go back.

Just the rear window to tint now, thinking light smoke to stop people glaring in when on site.

Thanks for reading!

 

[Martin_172]

Update

Bought a rear seat delete carpet off ebay £35. Turned up today and fits well, quite impressed.View attachment 1470345
Work gear back in ready for when i eventually go back. View attachment 1470346
Just the rear window to tint now, thinking light smoke to stop people glaring in when on site.

Thanks for reading!

I like that and looks like it would fit my van nicely too!

 

[Brigsy]

I like that and looks like it would fit my van nicely too!

Decent quality for the money. You can get the plush carpet option but a bit more expensive, not needed in this

 

[Brigsy]

Give the seats a wet vac the other day as they were pretty discusting, done carpets and doorcards too. Came up quite nice, seats look blue again instead of brown

Taking ages to dry out as expected

 

[Brigsy]

Small update

Had the rear window tinted dark smoke to keep eyes off my gear when i eventually go back to work. Looks dark in the pic bit looks oem ish tint when up close and can see out of the back ok.

Finally had to put some diesel in too after god knows how many weeks