12 - 155, what?! How? Why?

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Thanks for all your advice everyone!

Usually under breaking the front brakes are binding and cause judder under the pedal etc.
This morning? NONE of that, braked a couple of times and no brake pedal judder and no binding noise or anything - fully functioning brakes!

This car is puzzling me.
Fuel gauge still says half full this morning by the way......

When I bought the car I knew about the exhaust... I had the warning light for the dpf on - all of which - I HAVE sorted.
Too true I got the car extremely cheap so I should expect to spend some money on it.....

Sonia,
When I first got mine the I thought the brakes were terrible (& they were) although it passed it's mot two months before .
It would only take the slightest damp road surface to make the ABS kick in on moderate braking , Trust me your rear calipers WILL be siezed at the sliders & probably the pistons too.
Mine were & they were in a shocking state .
The upside of this is after I rebuilt them & replaced the disc's & pad's with pagid one's, Flushed & blead them, then beaded them in they are very good .
Night & day to before & after & guess what no more ABS kicking in. I have jumped on them untill I have the hazzard saftey system kick in & NO ABS kicking in unless then road surface is wet.
No need for a Brembro upgrade on my ploder .
Hope this Helps DDD.

[Sonia406]

Why is it ABS faults follow me around?

I am now left in the predicament, do I let a garage do the work for me (at a huge cost) or do I stick to Plan A, Get the birthday & Christmas out the way and just swap the insurance back to Miss Pug and tax her for the cost of £143 OR do I shovel hundreds more into this thing and pray it passes the MOT 6th Jan?

Will a car fail the MOT on steering rack gaitors hanging off?

I know the horn needs attention (even though Doggy seemed to have no problems and scared the crap out of me when he beeped it with no effort........)

Needs two front tyres, could easily put Miss Pug up on blocks and steal her steelies though as she has excellent tyres

[grasmere59]

Yep it will fail with knackered rack gaitors,

[jonsowman]

Good news is the rings are easy to change. If someone tells you the entire driveshaft needs replacing it's just not true!

The 2.2 HDi has a different tyre width and load rating to the 2.0l petrol I think, best check (mine are 215/55/R16 93W).

[Sonia406]

Yep it will fail with knackered rack gaitors,

Do you know how easy / hard these are to do? (Since you're local, do you use the same garage for work as you do the MOT? I got him to fit the exhaust, quoted me £40, then it came to £56, wish they'd quote WITH the stupid VAT!)
Have you any experience with Hi Q in Cartoooooontown?

Good news is the rings are easy to change. If someone tells you the entire driveshaft needs replacing it's just not true!

The 2.2 HDi has a different tyre width and load rating to the 2.0l petrol I think, best check (mine are 215/55/R16 93W).

That sounds good Jon...

[grasmere59]

I try and do all my work myself although it's hard with a steep drive like mine.Rack gaitors should be straight forward as long as you count the turns when you spin the track rod ends off and spin them back on the same amount or you'll have to get the tracking set again.I've MOT Dec 13th on mine so I better have a crawl about underneath at some point soon,it had an advisory last year on very slight play in N/S rear top link which I'd forgotton all about so I suspect that'll need doing which'll be fun on my drive.

[Sonia406]

I try and do all my work myself although it's hard with a steep drive like mine.Rack gaitors should be straight forward as long as you count the turns when you spin the track rod ends off and spin them back on the same amount or you'll have to get the tracking set again.I've MOT Dec 13th on mine so I better have a crawl about underneath at some point soon,it had an advisory last year on very slight play in N/S rear top link which I'd forgotton all about so I suspect that'll need doing which'll be fun on my drive.

Ahh... Well to be fair the tracking and balancing needs doing so not overly worried about that... doing the limit on dual carriageways (cough) and it shakes like, well, like my 205s used to

Feel free to come and use my drive, it may be a little bumpy (crap when you have to use axle stands and scissor jacks) but at least it's flat compared to yours! You must have a fully functioning handbrake
Do you still use Miles? I think he's a nice chap, certainly appreciates that I go in and don't take any nonsense The MOT at his place, was well - quite an experience

[grasmere59]

The handbrake needs adjusting up as I replaced the discs,pads,shoes and cables last year and they've bedded in and I haven't nipped them back up since,it works if I snap up the handbrake quickly and holds on my drive but I always leave it in gear aswell,i've got to pop up and see Miles over the next couple of weeks to get it booked in.I can always use the top end of my neighbours drive for a flatter place to work but I feel a bit awkward doing that at the mo as he died a month ago and his wife is housebound and don't want to disturb her,one of his sons has took on the Rapier estate he had off me and it's going to rack and ruin now.

[Sonia406]

The handbrake needs adjusting up as I replaced the discs,pads,shoes and cables last year and they've bedded in and I haven't nipped them back up since,it works if I snap up the handbrake quickly and holds on my drive but I always leave it in gear aswell,i've got to pop up and see Miles over the next couple of weeks to get it booked in.I can always use the top end of my neighbours drive for a flatter place to work but I feel a bit awkward doing that at the mo as he died a month ago and his wife is housebound and don't want to disturb her,one of his sons has took on the Rapier estate he had off me and it's going to rack and ruin now.

Ahh I've been kept out of trouble with the old leaving it in gear trick too
I think Miles told me about your rapier... or was the chap in Curbridge with the 3.5k china blue estate?
Well the offer is there, I'm literally only a mile or so for you to travel and my neighbours don't even blink twice when I am out there tinkering
I will say this though - Don't rely on me for any tools, I literally throw them anywhere, some are still in Miss Pug, some are now in Pugster and some in the garage, only the other day I found my bolt cutters, 2 spanners and a hammer in my bedroom

[GingerMagic]

My wife says there is a spanner in the bedroom...?? Not sure what she means by that..

[jasper5]

Good news is the rings are easy to change. If someone tells you the entire driveshaft needs replacing it's just not true!

Good how-to in the knowledge base

[Sonia406]

My wife says there is a spanner in the bedroom...?? Not sure what she means by that..

Good news is the rings are easy to change. If someone tells you the entire driveshaft needs replacing it's just not true!

Good how-to in the knowledge base

Shall head over there now...........

[davew]

i would change the rack gaiters asap ,you don't want all sorts of road crap getting into the rack.

[dirtydirtydiesel]

Brake judder really sounds like ABS to me, especially the fact that it happens when coming to a stop and not at speed. It's a very distinctive noise and feel. Could be failed reluctor rings? Cheap and easy fix if so!

Sonia,
Have you been shown / told that your reluctor rings have split / failed ? .
If money's tight at the mo & trust me I know what that feels like .
Park pugster & put miss pug back to good use while you sort pugster at your time & conveiance.
+ miss pug will sell better with tax 'n' test when finished with her .
ps the horn fix is a dead easy, follow earwig's guide / I'll post my pic's tomorrow.

[markw]

My wife says there is a spanner in the bedroom...??

I think it's to tighten your nuts up mate.....