#carmaintenance — Public Fediverse posts

Both #Volkswagen and #Opel / #Vauxhall use convention of #brown wire for an earth/ground (and in the case of this Corsa a black wire for L+), but in modern #ElectricalEngineering a brown wire is treated as live (could be either AC or DC) and black is often L- on older systems (nowadays blue or grey is preferred depending on whether the DC is negative or positive earthed).

I assume these conventions for #cars started long before the standardised European colours for electrical wiring in buildings and other equipment

Which you have to beware of if you often switch between #CarMaintenance and general electric work!

Today new #sparkplugs, #coolant refresh and #oil change - had to jack up car and put ramps underneath other way round rather than drive on to them - bumper slightly fouls ramp ( #bladibarsket ).

Also chocked rear wheels for #safety

Sparkplugs are #Bosch 0 242 230 806 FQR8LEU2

( #AltText contains useful info on tools, methods etc if you have a #Vauxhall / #Opel / #CorsaC #HoldenBarina with #Z12XEP #engine, I try to put this info in the text on any of my #toots about #CarMaintenance )

[ as there's spare space in this toot I added #Holden #Barina as hashtags for anyone here who is in #Australia or #NewZealand #Aotearoa ]

Also needs cabin filter replaced (alas, the one that arrived today doesn't look like right size, it will have to go back along with whichever oil filter turns out to be wrong size (there are *two* listed for this car, according to engine number but the engine number is not anywhere easy to see, and this engine Z12XEP stayed in production with Opel for the Corsa D and at some point oil filter dimensions changed..

I'm already knackered after todays work (I was at the office unusually early today for another reason), so will be getting an earlier night tonight than normal

Those other bits can wait until the weekend or early next week (as the Finance Manager has to deal with insurance anyway)

#Vauxhall
#OpelCorsaC #CarMaintenance

https://www.engine-specs.net/opel/z12xep.html

More #maintenance of #Vauxhall / #Opel #CorsaC

Replaced rear fog light bulb (bumper part dismantled, water tipped out, lampholder cleaned up then reassembled), fitted new horn.

New fuel filter, first time I've done this myself (not fun, had to crawl underneath in awkward position and avoid petrol being spilled out from old filter, self tapping holding screw goosed (fully rounded off), replaced with new one with bolt head

Fitted air filter, intake hoses have to be removed ( #bladibarsket ) so also cleaned up #throttlebody.

Went to ASDA (in my GTI, Corsa still doesn't have tax or insurance), filled up 5 litre #petrol can, topped up tank with new fuel

Still got coolant, sparkplugs and oil to change, but #car now running a lot better (no more rough idle)

#CarMaintenance

Преодолел лень-забывчивость и заехал в автомагазин купить свечной ключик. Дома есть, но короткий. Итак, вашему вниманию старые свечи! (Не романтика, не тот вариант 🙂)
* 95 бензин и практически всегда одна заправка
* накатано 58000 (много, знаю, как обычно лень было за ключиком заехать)

Ваше мнение, автомеханики? То, что электроды уже сильно покушало, вижу. Что ещё подскажите?

#CarMaintenance #SparkPlugs #AutoRepair #EngineHealth #CarTech #GarageLife

This is what the #LED flashers look like when in operation (they are surprisingly bright).

This #trolley will be very useful for use with the #smartcharger, #battery tester and the #VCDS #laptop as I can bring those straight out to whatever car I am working on on one go rather than having to fetch these things one at a time, I might fit a 4 way trailing socket to the bottom for things that need power.. #DIY #maintenance #CarMaintenance #repair

Did a further scan with #VCDS to double check all the #OBD2 #ECU #coding had taken correctly and do some real-time data monitoring, VCDS is way better for this - current draw when the ignition is turned on is as much as 14A !

New #battery holding voltage at around 12,4V with engine off, way better than old one which, barely 12V and sometimes less

Starting engine shows charge current from #alternator as much as 60A, going down to about 10A when idling (which means in future I shouldn't have to worry about #smartcharger overcharging the battery, I may even be able to monitor it this way).

Hopefully this battery lasts another 4+ years as doing all this extra coding is quite a mission compared to older cars!

#CarMaintenance #VW #GolfGTI #GolfMk7 #cars

Got 20A #SmartCharger for lead-acid (and 12V #lithium) #batteries - also has 13,6V constant supply for #coding #car #ECU (so starter #battery doesn't run down whilst getting data from #OBD2)

It works well - but confirmed my suspicions in recent weeks (alas) that battery in my #GolfGTI is goosed (installed 2021 by #VW dealer, presumably as warranty replacement with 0 record on service history, only worked this out from date code)

I'd noticed slower cranking in the cold, battery losing charge quickly and OBD2 scans showing "low voltage warning" codes from LED lighting control.

Will replace it before it bites me in the arse during #winter - #EFB unobtanium but got #AGM on order for fairly good price (will have to change coding when it arrives!)

#CarMaintenance #bladibarsket

#LiquidEngineering (if you are of a certain age, you will get the reference)😄

Hadn't intended to make this mess whilst emptying the #oil extractor (good thing I put down the cardboard) but it is tall and more awkward to keep control of than I realised (it also cannot be tipped more than 90° or oil ends up in the wrong chamber and then has to be purged out of the tank)

#CarMaintenance #cars #bladibarsket

Discovered its better to leave coilpack bolts slightly loose when reconnecting their plugs due to tight harness.

Might be placebo, but car feels like it runs better after replacing #sparkplugs

Decided to take a few engine bay #photos of the #EA888 with #LumixG100D after washing my hands, so got a few bonus shots of high pressure #petrol pump and MPI (multi point #injection) extra fuel rail (there are port injectors below it which should hopefully reduce carbon buildup) - USA variants of this #engine don't get this and its been deleted from later engines (2019 onwards?) that have #GPF (gasoline/petrol particulate filter) due to WLTP requirements

#VW #GolfGTI #CarMaintenance #cars #autos #ShotonLUMIX

Also added red aluminium #DSG paddle shifters (replacing the stubby ones that #VW supply as stock), and selector knob with red #GTI pattern stripes. Got a thinner set of needle nose #pliers with serrated edges to yoink out plastic pins in steering wheel that hold the shifters - all the others I had were too wide by about 2mm.

Had to fork out £13 Earth Pounds to Admiral (about £5 was admin fee) to declare these for #insurance purposes - insurers do check for #mods like these, their staff monitor social media as do more observant Police officers from the Roads Policing Unit should they pull you over!

(I sometimes have to use car parks that is popular with "boy racer" types and the old bill keep an eye on these)

#GolfGTI #CarMaintenance #CarMods #Cars #Volkswagen

tyre wasn't losing air quickly but I didn't want to take any chances, so early start the next day to drive to the #tyre garage - thought I might be needing new #tyres due to high speed rating, but thankfully it could be repaired (cost me £30, £5 more than similar repairs for Polo, not sure if it was cost of living increase or " #GTI tax", but having hauled around wheels myself for past few days I think the lad earned his extra fiver, they are heavy and he has to do that all day..)

Cleaned up front discs and calipers as well, 8mm on front #brake pads (tip - if you drive a Euro #car buy the peg that screws into the bolt holes, makes putting the wheel back on way easier)

Also got a proper Euro warning triangle that fits in the compartment made for it

#VW #GolfGTI #CarMaintenance

Nothing to Say

I’m down to the final minutes of my lunch break on this fine Friday afternoon. I am pretty exhausted from a lack of sleep over the past… month(s) but I’m hanging in there. I had some Purdue Popcorn chicken and some peanuts and some sugar free Hershey bites for lunch. I really want a drink of water but I still have to wait the better part of an hour before I am clear to drink anything. That’s a gastric bypass patient thing. If you know, you know.

Fed Ex delivered a package today. I am not home to get it, but it contains a new guitar pedal. If I read the amazon shipping notes correctly, it’s a compressor pedal. The first I’ve ever purchased. I have this weird idea of using cleaner guitar sounds for this year’s RPM Challenge in February and a compressor will be a part of that. I bought an MXR Dyna Comp because it’s super simple and it will let me squash my clean signal down to a delightfully mushy… mush. There are two more pedals coming over the weekend. One is a Flanger, the other is an Amp Sim. I don’t have room on my pedal board for any of these kiddos and I don’t have open slots on my power brick… so I am going to need to get creative, I think. It should be fun. I don’t think I bought a single guitar pedal during all of 2024. I know I bought a couple of microphones for band practices that haven’t actually happened yet, but no pedals.

There are a lot of tentative plans for the weekend. We may be messing with our living room and we may be going to some stores for research purposes. I hope to spend some time wandering around town taking pictures with my new/possibly antique (though probably not) camera. I got a gift card for the sugar free bakery in Salem, NH for xmas. I haven’t bought anything from them in about a month, but now I am definitely going back and getting some cookies. Good stuff.

What else… I thought there was something else… One of our cars is going to get a break job. That wasn’t the thing that I am forgetting though… am I going to go shopping for a new iPhone? That’s definitely on the to-do list before we go to Florida at the end of the month, but is it this weekend? I don’t know.

I have to start practicing the guitar. The band is hoping to reconvene (hopefully for real this time) at some point after this weekend. I need to get ready for that. Which guitar should I bring to the first practice? Probably the Les Paul Standard that my wife got me for my 50th birthday in 2021. I really dig that guitar.

I know I had something else I wanted to write about but it has slipped my brain entirely. Don’t get old, kids. This is what happens to you when you get old. Stay young for as long as you can. Unless you’re already old like me in which case… sorry, folks. We had a good run, I’m sure.

#absentMinded #age #breakJob #breaks #Car #carMaintenance #carRepairs #food #Guitar #GuitarGear #GuitarPedals #homeDecore #homeDesign #homeImprovement #LivingRoom #livingRoomFurniture #lunch #Memory #Music #old #oldAge #plans #redesign #sometimers #toDoList #weekendPlans