nickC

Hi, After finding out on my previous thread that I need to pull the engine to do the head gasket I've been mulling over what to do next. The engine suffered a pretty serious overheat last year, caused by the nearside turbo water pipe. Last week I finally got round to replacing the pipe, and doing a water by pass while the plenum was off. I think I knew really that the gasket was knackered but needed to sort the pipe to be sure :( So the dilemma is, do I pull the engine, have the heads skimmed & do gaskets or replace the engine completely with a known working one (yet to be sourced)? The gasket kit and skimming is going to cost several hundred and that's assuming there was no other damage done, so probably not a lot of difference in price to a used one. Also replacing the engine will save stripping the heads etc. But the other side of the coin is the replacement engine could be risky and I'll need to at least do the cam belt which was only done a few K's ago on mine. I'm not planning on modding or increasing power so a full rebuild of mine doesn't really appeal. Also I'm on a fairly tight budget so need to take that into account. None of this is going to happen till Spring next year so I'm just trying to plan ahead. Any advice greatly appreciated.

Just seen stuck at entrance to Ace of Spades Shell station. Very sad sight. Looked around but couldn't see driver. If it's anyone on here and you need help I live in road opposite so let me know.

Thanks for kind offer. Think I'm just going to cover it up for the winter and make plans to pull it in the spring. The whole of 2013 off the road. Ho hum.

Can't really do it elsewhere car is on sorn. Does sound like too much grief with engine in. Gonna have to resort to plan B. Any ideas how I can get an engine through my house into garden :biggrin:

Bummer. Hoping not to hear that!

TT. Am guessing that's gonna make it harder?

Hi all, I need to do head gasket on the old girl. I know the best way is to pull the engine but I haven't got the space to do it. I'm on a small drive with no rear access so everything has to stay in car or go through house to shed :( I see from the online manual that it can be done with the engine in but was wondering if anyone on here has actually done it and what, if any, problems they had. Cheers Nick.

Ta for the quick reply. So do i get to the pipe from above at rear of engine (plenum already off) or from the side?

Hi all, it's been ages since I've posted on here. Car has been laid up for a year or so! It has a coolant leak at rear of engine on passenger side (nearside). I've pulled the plenum to do a water bypass but think the leak is coming from further down! Is that where the passenger turbo water feed is? If it is how the hell do you get to the pipe with the engine still in. I can just about squeeze my hand between the rear of the engine and the bulkhead. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Pics would be nice too :). Cheers

Hi, I got some repair panels off him a couple of months ago. His ebay user name is still littlebird1303. If you search him and send a message via ebay he should get back to you. HTH Nick

Hi, Unfortunately VOSA will only get involved for manufacturer safety defects. This is from their site - 'Please note that VOSA is unable to assist in any claim for reimbursement of repair costs or any other form of compensation. For issues related to recently purchased vehicles, faulty repairs or durability issues please contact your local Trading Standards Office, consumer protection or citizen’s advice' They also have this link on Direct Gov for consumer rights, which i'm guessing you've probably seen. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Governmentcitizensandrights/Consumerrights/index.htm HTH nick

Thanks for the replies. Took a few hours but finally sorted it. It was one of the injector connectors, but not the green gunk, i had a break in the wire. Must have gone brittle over winter. Ruddy hard to find. Oh and i shorted it. :( Thanks

Hi all, Had car off road for the winter. Just started her up today, which she did on the first key turn. However she's a missing!! Checked with Datascan, had no fault codes but found that no. 2 cylinder is not firing. I had a quick prod around but before I get going on it tomorrow i though i'd check for a few pointers where to look 1st. There were no problems before winter break. Still got series 1 PTU but would that show as a fault code? Thank Nick

Well it's my birthday today :clap: My daughter passed her driving test this morning. I'm off to Wings and Wheels on Sunday & then on Monday off to Cyprus for 2 1/2 weeks! Not a bad bank holiday weekend at all :cool:

Lmfao. If you go back along street they are sitting in deckchairs reading newspapers with umbrellas out. WTF :rofl::rofl::rofl:

Hi all, I'm changing my inner rear tie rod (failed mot on it :sad:) I've got a hicas eliminater fitted and am having trouble getting a spanner or grips on wide end of tie rod where it goes into hicas. i'm guessing i'm going to need to drop rear section of exhaust to get to it properly. Was wondering if anyone else has managed to get it off without dropping exhaust and if so how? Cheers Nick

Was working at Barking for a change and spotted 3 Zeds during the day:D Red with white wheels parked in driveway in Goodmayes Lane. Black F plate import around Sunnyside Road area. And J plate import in Lime Green:x: in same area. Any one from on here.

Had a rubbish week with our cars:mad: On monday karen phoned me at work to say Jag wouldn't start. (04 x-type 2.0 Diesel Sport). Was completely dead with some weird fuel data error message on screen. We have had it for about 15 months and done about 10,000 miles and never put a foot wrong before. After eventually getting breakdown people out (another boring story), they couldn't fix it cos it needed plugging into diagnostics & tugged it to a jag specialist in croydon where it now lies. Anyway they had a quick look at it and got the fault codes. One of three things. A break in the loom; faulty instument panel; or ecu. its gonna take hours to trace. They can't even try a working ecu cos they're all individually programmed:cry: Whatever it is it's gonna cost mega bucks! Either in labour to find break (i'm hoping) or worst case a new ecu:eek: Then to finish off the fun was driving into work with the Zed, heard a big bang as i hit a bump and the drivers door window fell down!! When i got round to checking it found that the lug that's built into glass and sits in door channel had snapped off, and damaged the glass tint on the way down. I know that it's only car trouble and money and there's a damn site worse going on in the world right now. (just reading some of the very sad stories on here) but still frustrating.

Here you go mate. http://202.43.230.118/ Download Link on left panel Have fun

Yep definately coming on Saturday with Karen.(As long as I can get new exhaust fitted in time:))

If it was registered with them they should be able to update it. They managed to track mine down from my old email address. Nick

Made a right mess of it now:( Tried to cut through pipe close to Cat but could only get half way through cos of my useless angle grinder doh. Also cut top off one bolt but can't get to top nut with pipe still in place. Wot a plonker!! Gonna leave it for today, get pi**ed and try again tomorrow. May even give up and drive to my nearest exhaust centre and pay the price. Sounds very meaty with no back or centre boxes :) Cheers

Hi all, Am just replacing my exhaust from the Cat back. The bolts that hold the centre box to the cat are completely corroded in. Have tried plus-gas, heat and brute force but no joy. Have just cut off the back boxes with angle grinder and am now tempted to do the same with centre box and then drill out bolts. Anybody got any ideas before i get this drastic. i was thinking of dropping system from manifold but can see this causing even more problems. Should have gone to exhaust centre:( And JAE coming up as well:(:( cheers

yep just plug into any of them and it should connect automatically. If you have problems with a decent connection you may have to set up port forwarding, i did. Not too hard to do. link http://portforward.com/routers.htm Have fun

Maybe new but i don't work there often so am not sure. It was parked in the side road next to the new driving test centre.You wouldn't be able to see it from the main road.:)