Shade tree mechanic(s) wrestle with a faulty radiator coolant expansion tank: The reservoir was split which allowed weepage and seepage which eventually became leakage. None of these symptoms were visible from the engine compartment topside, except for the occasional adding of coolant. The sickening sweet smell from the slippery glycol mixture dripping from the underbelly was also noted. A new unit was ordered. The challenging bit was the removal of the original hoses and clamps. They were hard to access due to obscure placement and confined space. Luckily we prevailed with the uttering of only a few choice curse words and NO skinned knuckles. We took step by step photos detailing the procedure. Once the new piece was in place we followed the procedure to refill and bleed the system.
Category Archives: cars
UK misc, rambling observations
The Driving: A serious challenge and will whip any lazy (brain dead) USA motorist into a focused attentive driver pretty darn quick. The country roads are ultra narrow. Add bicyclists, motorcyclists, farm tractors, pedestrians, equestrians to the mix and there is no chance for bad habits like fumbling with the CD changer or blabbing on the cellular.
The Laws: Roadway Signage is excellent — until you get to a traffic circle round-a-bout that is; then all bets are off. Stop Light Signals, when RED, change next to YELLOW and then GREEN drag race staging style. Lane discipline on the motorways is something to see. No left lane, er uh, right-lane bandits ever.
The Cars: 80% are subcompact Vauxhall, Peugeot, Fords, Citroen all silly looking and fugly. Some of these towing caravans(!). Surprised at how many MINIs there are. They blend in (fit) really well. If I change my residence, then I would have one of those. Trucks have safety side bumpers to prevent small cars from wedging underneath. “Well Driven? +44 0555-1212”. A scarcity of American cars. Only saw a half dozen or so and most of them were the Chrysler minivan. Spotted 1 Corvette and 1 Ford Lightning PU. The medium|high priced car in the UK is, in order of popularity, Audi (by far), BMW, Mercedes. Our “hire car” was a Land Rover Freelander 2 which was either a curse or a blessing. Thankful for the extra room / comfort but we were now the biggest and widest thing (the British relative equivalent to a Ford Excursion) on those aforementioned skinny country lanes.
Navigation: Thank gawd for the in-dash NAV system. Off the beaten path exploration would have been a PITA impossible without it. The Brits use miles and MPH (?!)
O2 Sensor
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A helpful repair forum suggested removing the oxygen sensor from underneath the car by first removing the catalytic converter at the exhaust manifold. Another poster thought access could be made from under hood above after removing the wiper assembly and other bolt on pieces. The former sounded like a can of worms with possible rusted or frozen manifold nuts so I went in from the top side. I found it unnecessary to remove anything. You can snake your arm between the cowl and engine cover to put the special 22mm slotted socket and ratchet wrench onto the plug by feel. The photo shows what is hidden to the eye behind the transverse mounted engine. (I had to guess at the camera angle with several attempts to frame the shot.) Luckily the plug threads release without a cheater bar or skinned knuckles. The sensor’s cabling follows the head shield to under the car and abeam the catalytic converter where the end plug is located. There is a universal part which replaces the original but it requires identifying and splicing wires. The cost is a bit higher but do yourself the favor and purchase an OEM style part with the correct wire length and connector. There is a second sensor positioned after the converter which is easier to get to but that one only monitors catalytic converter health and is likely not the one needing changed. That figures, right? Total time to R & R the forward O2 sensor: 100 minutes. |
Road hazards
A flying rock chipped the glass leaving a starburst. The expert with a battery powered resin pump and UV light to cure the catalyst sealed the fissure insuring continued happy motoring on the OEM windshield. Apart from this pure magic repair the amazing thing was that the total elapsed time from Insurance Co. phone call claim to job completion. 2 hours
Oh Yeah, That’ll Buff Right Out
Some dirty dog in a blue parking lot get-away swapped paint with our yellow one. No witnesses.
Collateral Damage
Dang’d if I didn’t break my dipstick off. Routine maintenance and I knew the thing was brittle, fatigued, fragile and aged. Well, there it is. Cheap sucker.
Stanislaus and M
Circa 1961: Hillman – Sunbeam. Leach must have been required to take these brands to get the rights to sell Jaguar. Out of view on the NW corner was the new car showroom for Slavich Bros. During this era they began selling Mercedes-Benz through benefit of their Studebaker – Packard franchise. Several years later Toyota was added as Studebaker faded but the facility was just too small and Toyota was sold. This left Mercedes-Benz and Jeep — an unusual combo… The diagonal corner shown in the left of the picture was the Slavich Bros., used car lot. Ralph and Frank Slavich sold Willys after the war. Here is today’s: street view.
You also will do better here!
Difficult to imagine but in the bygone days of 1971 this was an authorized Mercedes-Benz showroom. This small facility, glassed with plate window at the time, displayed 2 new cars. There was a single desk shared by two salesmen. The old building (originally The Larson Hotel) had a sidewalk curb driveway leading through to a back interior space which housed a 5 bay Mercedes service department. Adjacent (far right white façade with window awnings pictured) stood a Mercedes parts department.
Opposite (across street) was a main office showroom featuring Buick, Pontiac, GMC, Opel, Jeep (CJ-5), Hondacar (the N600, early Honda predecessor) , Subaru (GL) and the building can be seen in an 1988 historic picture (below).
The dealership franchise was originally operated by one Claude L Allred
Circa 1968 entire conglomerate was owned by legendary car dealer Arnold Wiebe. Wiebe acquired an additional facility for authorized sales of British makes such as the Austin (America), Jensen (Healy and Interceptor), Lotus (Europa).
Radio media (spots) would boom his voice in a 20 second advertisement touting special pricing and encouraging the listener to drive to the corner of Main & Bridge in Visalia where “You Also Will Do Better Here!” and punctuated with “HAVE a Good Day!”
Broken Bits
Remains of passenger side window regulator. Made a loud report when it failed but fortunately the glass was already closed when it broke. Replacement HowTo