[cowboyhat]

Counterpoint; I've had surprisingly good experience with a Kwik Fit near me, and consequently used them several times. (Only for tyres and tracking etc).

Past experience elsewhere had been ropey. Aren't they all just franchises? Experience may vary...

[shark]

Fortunately my 10 year old BMW 5 series just ‘squeaked’ through its MOT despite a faulty rear left shock absorber which is a good job as the part only seems to be available on order through BMW in Germany and has a 5 week delivery time and is £556! Fortunately fitting is straightforward and inexpensive.

The complication is that my car has Variable Damper Control (VDC) which was an optional extra so is more expensive. It also means that it is scarce secondhand and I can’t find any available on the internet and Quarry Motors breakers yard can’t either but are looking out.

Seen that a reconditioned one can be bought from Germany for £291 + £25 delivery but presumably there will be duty on that and unsure whether to buy that.

Any thoughts? (Part number is 37126796985)

[Paul B]

Is there any chance you can get anything back on your unit (either from Quarry if they've got the skills to refurb it, or your ebay link)?


EDIT: I think your link might be for an overhaul of your unit?

[shark]

Should have read the translation - well spotted.

Done a quick google and there is an outfit in Sheffield that says they do it so I’ve emailed them   

[Paul B]

Are they linked to Newhall (over the road)? I used Newhall after having a bad experience with Quarry Motors.

[shark]

No idea.

I’ve used Quarry Motors for nearly 20 years without issue

[Paul B]

I’ve used Quarry Motors for nearly 20 years without issue

It was a warranty issue on a used electrical part. I can't remember if it was the ballast or starter pack for the Xenons (which I'm assuming were an extra for that era) but neither were particularly cheap for the E46. Quoted as 6M, failed after 3M +1 day and they rowed back to 3M warranty.

[Fultonius]

Our old T4 Bus has been giving us some shit recently......

This is a copy of the email I just sent to a garage to enquire about fixing the van...

 It's a 1998 2.5TDI that has done 254k miles, we got it at around 140k (km). It’s LHD, imported.  The previous owner had it re-mapped and the EGR is disabled (but not removed / blanked – just the vacuum hoses are disconnected and capped). I’m not sure if the map accounts for the EGR not being in use in the airflow...

The van has always run well and pulled hard right up to 95mph on the autobahn.

Recently we’ve noticed a lack of boost and here follows the saga...

I plugged in VCDS and the first thing I noticed was low air flow vs expected. 550 max vs 850 expected.

Removed and cleaned the MAF carefully with isopropyl alcohol.
No Change (note, also later in the story a garage in Slovenia test fitted a spare MAF which made no difference)

I then spotted the atmospheric pressure sensor was showing a weird reading. (600mbar). We have the version that measures the pressure in the ECU. I asked an ECU repair company if they could repair, they said no. This is a long side story, but the relevant bits are:

- Our ECU has physically had it’s chips de-soldered and new “flashable” chips soldered in place.
- In the end they DID repair the old ECU, by swapping out the broken baro sensor chip.
- Pressure sensor now reads the expected 996-1000mbar.
 
Unfortunately this didn’t fix our problem.

We’ve just been out in Europe for a few weeks and the van was running badly, struggling to get up to motorway speed and slow up hills. However, things took a major turn for the worse driving from Italy to Slovenia, where we could barely get to 65mph downhill and the fuel economy was insane, like 25mpg instead of 40.

At this point we had no choice but to leave it in a local VW garage to see if they could sort anything. As mentioned, they temp swapped out the MAF which made no difference. The noticed fuel pressure was low, so swapped out the fuel filter (it may have got clogged after sitting in -15c for 3 days without running, the really bad running happened just after this and I remember in the past living in the Alps, summer diesel and cold temps could be disastrous for fuel filters. They also:

- Noticed the Inlet Manifold Pressure wasn’t reading, so they traced that back to a bust tube in the ECU which they fixed.

After this, the van was running a bit better, MPG back to 35ish and able to sit at motorway speeds, but still down on power.

Now that I’m back, I’ve been out with the VCDS again and doing some checks:

- EGR is not clogged
- Inlet manifold is pretty manky with build up, but no worse than 5 years ago when I last looked inside, so I don’t think it’s air-restriction.
- Wastegate Actuator tube from N75 was split, which I’ve replaced.
- Ran tests on VCDS to force the N75, but the actuator didn’t move.
- Tested the actuator using spare vacuum hose from EGR, doesn’t move
- So I think the wastegate actuator may have failed
- Tested wastegate by hand pushing the arm against the spring, no change in engine note and no change in manifold pressure.
- N75 Solenoid is 30ohm
 - When running the actuator tests (VCDS Block 11) there doesn’t seem to be any change on the supply pins to the N75:
    -N75 Plug: Brn/Blue: 5.75v to Earth,
    -Blk/Yel: 14.3V to Earth
Not changing despite being in Group 11 N75 test mode

Well fuck me didn't I just fix it!

Rather than going climbing, on my birthday I just had a burning need to rule out a few more things, so after a bit more googling, some people with similar symptoms had said they had a "blocked cat". We've got a full stainless system, with apparently a "high flow" cat. I went down, removed (angle grinder may have been used...) the 3 bolts and pulled the section of exhaust with the cat away from the down pipe, started it up and it seemed like I was getting more airflow on the VCDS, but I really needed a drive to confirm.

Rush hour! Driving around town giving it full beans with no exhaust pulled a few funny looks, but WOHOOOO  it's boosting again!  So much so that it popped off one of the intercooler pipes mid acceleration giving a worrying "pop", luckily it's not the first time that's happened....

Oh, and I realised I'd not tested the wastegate actuator properly, it needs pressure to work, not vacuum... 

Anyway, bit of a YYFY in the end as it's nice not to plough any MORE money into it for now...

[cheque]

My other half has a 63-plate Suzuki Alto. It’s done about 45k miles, gets serviced every year, has always run fine.

Last June she started a job that’s 100% home working. She hates driving and despite my encouragement to use the thing so it doesn’t develop the problems cars that never get driven get she barely drove it over the winter and in February it wouldn’t start. I couldn’t jump start it either so we assumed the battery was dead.

An AA bloke was called out and he replaced the battery. That fixed it.

Unfortunately she only got a chance to drive it once before breaking her leg. After the dust had settled from that I got myself insured on it so I could keep the car running while she’s got her Ilizarov frame on.

It wouldn’t start again and I again had no success jump starting it. Got a gadget to charge the battery off the mains and charged it up that way. It still won’t bloody start.

Anyone have any idea why? It surely isn’t a complicated reason.

[teestub]

Be worth checking the battery terminals if it’s still not starting on a charged battery. We had a similar issue where a car had been sat for a while and the terminal had developed a load of crap on the inside so it wasn’t connecting properly.

[tommytwotone]

What Stubbz said - had exactly the same problem with my Saab over Easter holiday when it sat idle when me and the missus both got COVID for a week.

If the battery's been changed then you know that's good - it'll just be getting drained off through cold / inactivity / various low-power things it'll be doing in the background like the alarm etc.

When you put the jump leads on give em a really good scrape around so you are sure you've got metal to metal contact. If you connect the positives first, when you connect the negative you should get a spark. That'll prove you've done it right.

Also sometimes, if the dead car is REALLY dead, you might need to leave it connected for a few minutes before trying to turn it over. Giving the working car a rev while you do it can't hurt.

[SamT]

And make sure your jump leads are really good quality chunky ones.  I was amazed at the difference it made when my crappy bootlace ones wouldn't jump my car.  Borrowed chunky ones from a neighbour and it started first time.

[Paul B]

How long has the fuel been in there? Is it trying to turn over?

[cheque]

Quite a while! She last filled it up on the 21st December.

[Steve R]

could do with more info...As Paul asked, is starter motor turning engine over or totally dead?

[cheque]

Yeah it’s turning. It sounds just like when you normally start a car except the engine doesn’t start.

[Steve R]

ok, can probably rule out battery, starter motor, connections, alternator, etc then.  When did car last run?  Presumably not firing at all?  Difficulty starting is probably just a symptom of it been sat a while.  One easy thing to try - make sure battery is fully charged (good thing you've already got a charger!), make sure everything is off (lights, heater, radio, etc., turn ignition on to last notch before starter motor engage and wait a few secs (wait till any noises stop, fuel priming, etc.), switch ignition back to off position, repeat previous step but this time after waiting the few secs turn ignition all the way and engage starter motor.  Hopefully it fires/starts...

[sxrxg]

If it was last filled up in December then assuming E10 fuel (most unleaded now) then you might have condensation in the fuel tank. It might be trying to pull this into the engine which is why it can't ignite and start. Maybe try starting it again whilst booting the loud pedal to see if you can pull some fuel through into the engine instead of water/diluted fuel.

[nic mullin]

…turn ignition on to last notch before starter motor engage and wait a few secs (wait till any noises stop, fuel priming, etc…

It’s be worth checking that you can actually hear the fuel pump priming as it’s a quick and easy check - do as described above and listen for a buzz that lasts a second or two then stops, (usually coming from under the back seat on the same side as the filler cap). If you can’t hear it, the issue is the fuel pump or its relay/fuse/power supply.

Hope you get it started.

[Nigel]

You are getting some excellent advice here Cheque! An engine will run if the following are all present and correct:

Fuel, air, spark, and compression.

You can forget about air and compression for now as leaving a car standing won't affect these.

As everyone else has said most likely is spark. If battery is fairly new (it is) and engine turns over then the most likely scenario is battery is OK but just not at full pelt. In the absence of checking battery voltage with a multimeter, then either follow SteveR's charge and start beta, or jump start from a working car. If car starts then drive for half an hour at least and all will be well. If you don't do the drive it will happen again. If room in tank top up with fresh fuel at end of drive, see next para...

Next most likely is a fuel issue. As has been suggested, petrol does "go off" over time. Its a common problem for motorbikes which are often laid up over winter and then won't start in spring until the fuel is refreshed. As sxrsg says its probably just condensation in system so repeated starting attempts will hopefully sort it.

If car doesn't start after some multiple good goes at it with a jump / fully charged battery and pumping throttle then check back in. More likely than not this should work...

[Paul B]

If only it was a motorbike that gives me a fuel issue rather than a 4 stroke Hyundai lawnmower that I perpetually forget to drain. When did I get this old?

[Fiend]

a 4 stroke lawnmower

That's no way to talk about the wee Abarth!!

[Fultonius]

Yeah it’s turning. It sounds just like when you normally start a car except the engine doesn’t start.

Did you ever get this running?

We've got the van running well again, back to 40mpg and goot power. Not bad for 309000 miles!  Annoyingly it's randomly going into limp home mode and the fault code is Throttle Posn Sensor. Checked that and it seems fine, so I suspect something else is causing issues on the earth or something. The Speedo and fuel gauge are also wandering about, so hopefully  it's linked to that. Vaguely remember having similar issues when the engine speed sensor failed, so hoping a new sensor fixes it (clutching at straws...).

Anyone had a 2009 ish mini cooper S before?  (1.6 172bhp). Considering getting one as a runaround while the van is getting worked on.

[Paul B]

I've not had the S, although I did test drive one and return it with smoke coming from the front (it wasn't my fault, the salesman told me to do another lap of the Skipton bypass after I said I could smell something bad [he was adamant it was the car behind]!).

Obviously  I can't comment on the engine in the S but we had the same shape (I think?) in a Cooper D (special edition) and generally the car was bombproof, including all of the electronics. The head lights were pretty rubbish until I put night breakers or similar in.

[tomtom]

Re 1.6 S. If it’s the supercharged one then it’s a blast but renowned for being tricky to run. Drinks oil (a litre per 1000miles isn’t unusual and ‘within manufacturers tolerances) hence the likely smells on your test drive Paul. Of course if something breaks expect a large bill given all the supercharged gubbins.

I think they changed to a turbo around 08/09 so might be a turbo one - which I’m afraid I know nothing about! Except it’s probably a good laugh to drive!