Messages

1

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Qashqai battery woes?

« on: 17 May 2024, 09:53:00 PM »

I'm intrigued to know how anyone could know it had been as low as 5.5v, unless that is what it read when the AA man arrived

A fully charged battery should be 12.7 volts (disconnected, as especially on modern cars, without a proper ignition switch, circuits can become live from just opening the doors)

A "flat" battery is ~ 12.1 volts, but as I have found, the NG starts fine when the battery shows an indicated 12.15v. It's those live circuits

I have replaced the battery on the TTiD. Voltage seemed fine, but the cold cranking amp test showed it was on the weak side. The car now starts better & I have another emergency battery that is too good to weigh in, but not really reliable enough for going away on long journeys with

5.5V was what the AA guy said when he first checked it before using the booster to start the car.

2

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 16 May 2024, 12:33:02 AM »

Yeah the mechanic collected the car, and brought it back at the end of the day.

Went out with my son in the car this evening for a blast down tbe M40 to Banbury and back. This car never ceases to amaze me. Considering it has 154k on the clock, and we have had the interior in pieces, and the tyres flatspotting in the garage since January, it has emerged triumphant, and feels surprisingly spritely, solid and comfortable..

It also seems to have less rust than my Aero. Only that horrendous lacquer peel on the front bumper lets it down. And I'm going to sort that anyway

3

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Qashqai battery woes?

« on: 16 May 2024, 12:23:13 AM »

The Missus inadvertantly left the key in the ignition at work at lunchtime with the radio on (and maybe the aircon fans) on our 2012 1.6 petrol Qashqai +2. When she came out at 4pm the car wouldn't start.

We tried to jumpstart it with two other cars, but it wasn't having any of it. In the end I called the AA who were out in about 40 minutes. Put his booster pack on, and the car fired up no problem. It had been as low as 5.5V but very quickly recovered to about 12V. However he said the battery health was showing as zero, which he couldn't explain, other than to advise we may need a new battery.

Now I wouldn't expect one drain over a handful of hours to kill the battery, that is maybe only 2 or 3 years old, but I did around a 30 mile loop on fast A roads, and got home to put the battery on charge for a bit.

The car started perfectly OK 2 or 3 times before I put it on the charger and left it for a few hours.

When I took the car off charge and locked it, I noticed a light flashing on the dash - a car symbol with a key in it, which I gather is to do with the immobiliser.

The car still opens and starts and runs, but this light seems to keep flashing once the car is locked.

So have I got an immobiliser issue, or a battery issue, or both, and has one led to the other?

Is there anything I can do to reset this immobiliser light?

4

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 15 May 2024, 12:25:23 PM »

Main Stealers can be quite uncooperative can't they... anyway, how did the MOT go ?

Drum roll.....

Well....guess what??!!!

The car was taken away before 7am yesterday, and every time I messaged my son to see if he'd heard anything, there was no news Until I was on my way home from work, and the Missus said the car had just been dropped back home around 4.30ish, and had passed!!!!! I was eager to get home and see that list of advisories.....but, again, guess what? There were none!!! That is 4 clean MOTs this car has had!!! 

So remaining jobs are to get that rear parking sensor kit fitted, and to get that paint from Paintstore and sort out the front bumper now that I have rubbed down all the lacquer peel!!! Oh and we think the battery is on its way out, so he may go and get a new one.

My son immediately got it taxed and insured last night - he even got a much lower premium than he had previously been quoted (maybe because he had just turned 18 - he was quoted around £2800 - £3000 before, but got a premium of around £2000 in the end!!!

He'll be out and about cruising round in it today no doubt!!!! 

5

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 14 May 2024, 12:45:26 PM »

Well after rebuilding the interior trim following sealing up the panel joints and cracked body sealant under the roof rails, I made a start on the peeling lacquer. I have got it all smooth now, but unfortunately some of the base coat came off too in the process.

I went to the Ford dealer to get the paint code, and they wouldn't give it to me, although they confirmed the colour name. They also confirmed it was discontinued and they couldn't supply aerosols etc. So off I went to our local Paintstore, who have been very good in the past when I've used them. They said the tango metallic was a standard Ford colour they could supply, but there were two or three slightly different shades, and ideally it would be good to bring the car to them so they could determine which one to mix up.

With number 1 son turning 18 yesterday, he has been desperate to get the car back on the road. So fixing the paint isn't the highest priority at the moment, getting the MOT, and then sorting tax and insurance is the important thing. So today, the car is in for MOT - we are desperately hoping it will pass, or at least need very little to get it through. But watch this space......

Once the car is running legally, I'll be back to Paintstore with it . In the meantime, whilst I was at Paintstore, I got some Saab 170 black made up for my Aero to hopefully have a go at painting an new aerial cover I have, and a front bumper spoiler Got some plastic primer too for the aerial and bare bits of bumper we have on the Focus now 

6

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 03 May 2024, 12:59:42 PM »

Unfortunately you're not really insuring your car, you're insuring against the damage you can do to other cars... and as lots of companies have an inability to stock parts (I'm looking at you JLR) so that people end up in a loan car for 6-12 months.... and/or ramped up the prices on parts to an unsustainable level even a minor bump can run into several thousand quids worth of parts needed if it's a new model...

Yes that is true (and yes, take the point about JLR - parts supply seems to be an issue for some reason. They do arrive eventually, but if you get told something is on back order with no ETA, it's a problem!!).

Luckily, my son is not expecting me to fork out £3500 to insure him on his own car. He's doing overtime, buying and selling things that makes him a bit more, and raiding his own savings!!! So in that sense, I don't mind spending a few quid here and there on his car to get things fixed/working again. And he's still insured on my 107, which only cost me an extra 300 quid or so to add him on.

As we get closer to getting the car in good condition for the MOT, I need to work out how to do it, as I have never SORNed a car before, and so never "recommissioned" a SORNed car and got it back on the road. Currently, the car has no tax, no MOT and no insurance. To get the tax, the car needs an MOT. But without the tax, it shouldn't be driven on the road to try and get an MOT......

So what to do? Do I need a transporter?

7

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 03 May 2024, 08:37:31 AM »

Yes, good point - he doesn't need the sensors on it before the MOT, but I am an on a roll and want to get that job out of the way. Also, it's the longest car he'll have ever driven so will make it easier for him to park when it's up and running.#

The car needs a service too, but priority is the MOT so we can get the car back on the road first.......and he can then spend £3500 on the insurance for a 500 quid car

8

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 02 May 2024, 09:17:01 PM »

Today my son fitted the last of the bits to complete the headliner re-installation. But, he said the interior lights weren't working.

So thought I'd have a look when I got home. After Googling the fuse box location and layout, I had a look, and the fusebox layout did not resemble what I'd found. Bit more digging and it turns out the later Mk2s had the Mk2.5 fusebox, so once I'd established that, I located the interior light fuse, and sure enough, it was blown.

The front cigar lighter had never worked either, and I traced that to another blown fuse. Quick trip to Halfords, and I fitted 2 new fuses, and hey presto, all working again😉😊😊😊

So another simple job done, but great to see broken stuff fixed.😉

So next job is those rear parking sensors........

9

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Non Saab jobs - satisfaction

« on: 01 May 2024, 10:04:32 PM »

Number 1 son has been hassling me to do jobs on the 500 quid Ford Focus he bought in January, and which has been SORNed ever since, blocked in the garage because of a skip immediately outside, due to an extension being built on our house!!

He is also due to turn 18 this month so dying to get the car ready to MOT and insure!!

We located the cause of water leaks being various cracks in seam sealant, some of which were under the roof rails. To remove these required dropping the headliner to access fixing bolts. Plus one end cap was missing the bracket to the body above the windscreen.

We removed the roof rails a couple of weeks back, and I ordered an end cap bracket off Ebay as well as a brand new aerial.

After much prep, and a liberal dose of Tiger Seal, the bracket, roof rails and aerial were all fitted this evening, and we have made a start re-instating the headliner. Hopefully that will be done in the next couple of days, and then we need to fit the rear parking sensor kit I also got off Ebay, and sort the lacquer peel on the front bumper.

But edging closer to getting it taxed and MOTed, and back on the road.

10

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Re: Peeling lacquer

« on: 22 April 2024, 12:40:49 PM »

My son is not too bothered that it doesn't have lacquer in places, but I'd just like to tidy it up a bit if I can. Worst case, i could probably find another bumper of the right colour from a scrappies, but I wanted to have a go on this bumper first, at least. If the colour is slightly off, he won't be too bothered, as it is already slightly off with no lacquer

The car is metallic tango red apparently.

11

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Peeling lacquer

« on: 21 April 2024, 10:55:41 AM »

Hi all, so after restoring the headlights on my son's Ford Focus estate that is patiently sitting in the garage waiting to be fully recommissioned before going for MOT, I want to have a go at fixing the horrendous lacquer peel on a large area of the front bumper.

The lacquer has come off a large area on the left side, but there are other areas where it has bubbled but not come off. I need to get all this off and rub down what is left before re-lacquering.

However, what is the best way to get all the loose stuff off back to the good lacquer without damaging the base coat? Someone suggested jet wash but I'm a bit wary.

12

Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Water in passenger footwell - first time ever!!!

« on: 19 April 2024, 08:51:14 AM »

The good news seems to be the floor and mat has dried out, so hopefully my temporary duck tape solution will keep it dry for now

I am getting another pollen filter housing as the clips on mine are a bit knackered, so will hopefully get on and fit the replacement when I can, with a new seal etc

13

Off-topic chat, Help, Advice, General motoring issues / Flat spotted tyres.

« on: 16 April 2024, 09:37:11 AM »

If you have a car parked in the garage for a few months, is there a good way to fix flat spots on the tyres?

My son's car got stuck in the garage once our building work started and a skip was dropped outside the garage door.

The car is SORNed, but the skips have been there far longer than we anticipated. The tyres are all good/reasonably new, and we have tried to move the car about whilst it has been in there so it wasn't sitting on the same patch continuously.

14

Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Blower fan chirping driving me nuts!!!

« on: 15 April 2024, 07:27:37 PM »

Whilst I had the scuttle panel off for the water leak issue in my other thread, I checked the fan. Couldn't feel any noticeable play in it, so squirted some silicone spray onto the upper part of the spindle/bearing, to see if I could stop the irritating chirping!!

And hey presto....it seems to have worked!!! For now at least If I can sort the leak out first, I may take the fan out for a proper clean and lube the bearings with oil at some point

So that's two good jobs I've managed to do this evening!!

15

Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: Water in passenger footwell - first time ever!!!

« on: 15 April 2024, 07:23:13 PM »

In the next two pics you can see the perished seal as I pull the housing away from the body, and then my temporary duck tape 'solution'.....I hope!!!