exxos's automotive drama blog

[exxos]

So my old 2001 berlingo past this MOT two weeks ago and basically all was fine.. Or so I thought.......

One thing which was odd was they said they put some oil in the engine because it was low.. I know for a fact it was at the maximum mark 12 months ago because I had the oil changed. I looked at it yesterday morning and the level was around the minimum mark point which was odd. Granted the old girl has some minor leaks which for basically nothing, so it was somewhat of a mystery where all the oil went.

While driving yesterday I noticed the radiator water level warning light was flashing on and off. So I went to fill the water level up and somewhat of a nasty surprise was awaiting...

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I am pretty sure the radiator isn't supposed to be full of oil :roll:

I think what has happened is the engine oil has leaked into the radiator, and the water in the radiator likely leaked into the engine and all burnt off. Checking the oil level again this morning after a 30 mile drive last night, and it is now below the minimum mark.

It does also explain why the engine temperature has been looking hotter than it would do normally over the past couple of months.. I did not really think about it much because the weather has been so hot anyway.. But last night it was a lot cooler and the engine temperature was hotter than it had been previously which was even more odd at the time.

So after messing around trying to find someone to replace the head gasket, nobody wanted to do it basically, that aside from that with it being a old van it just was not really worth spending the money on it :(

My dad (r.i.p) has a similar van almost identical 2002 , It is only done 28k on the clock. It has been sat in our garage for around 10 years. The battery died a long time ago I took the battery off my van to get it started, and it started first time! great I thought! until I actually tried to drive the van out of the garage and would it move :lol: :roll:

Both the rear brakes had seized up solid :( so jacked it up took the wheel off and just repeatedly belted the thing for around half an hour until I could get the drum to turn. The only problem with that logic was the van was tied up against the garage wall on the other side so there was just no way to get to it :roll: In a fit of desperation I just thought f*ck it I will drag it out on three wheels if needs be. So I drove out of the garage with a lot of moans and groans from the rear end but thankfully I got it out in the end.

The pressure was on because the only MOT date I could get was this afternoon at 2:30.. But I had previously robbed the passenger-side window because my van got broken into a few years back and I was desperate for a window. So I had to put that back in. Do the usual pump up the tyres, fill the washer bottle up, check the headlights and all that stuff. After all that I had to loosen the brakes up and test them so I was going backwards and forwards along our driveway as fast as possible and slamming the brakes on forwards and reverse.

So after a nerve wrecking trip to the MOT place ( not the one I normally go to as they were backlog three weeks :roll: ) The guy basically said there was nothing wrong with it whatsoever other than the rear brakes were sticking a bit, which is of no great surprise. So all the tax and insurance will be sorted out tomorrow.

The only thing I don't like about this van is it does not have power steering, when you have poorly hands... The only possible solution is to have it fitted with a electric steering column / rack. Which is not exactly cheap :( I did consider taking the parts of my old van and transferring them over, but I just cannot do this work myself.. Plus I thought it was rather pointless considering the state of the pipes and everything else anyway, it will probably just go wrong in a couple of years and I would be back to square one again.

To be continued....

[exxos]

The next problem is I needed to put my 12v sockets in so I could plug my satnav in.

First off remove the fuse box and splice on the wire into the cigarette lighter wire..

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Soldering the wire on..

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Bodge tape..

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Next some plastic editing..

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Time for a bit of glue...

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GND wire was easy I just bolted it down to the chassis..

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Starting to get wired in...

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And finally system test ( green LED is power for the USB adapter).


I have course took out the 20amp fuse and put a 5amp one in there :)

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To be continued....

[exxos]

Next up, basically de-wiring my sound system.. . Will be fun wiring all this up again :roll:

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[troed]

I guess I'm quite used to seeing your texts on PCBs - I honestly read this as "Dodgy socket" when scrolling past ;)

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[Icky]

I guess I'm quite used to seeing your texts on PCBs - I honestly read this as "Dodgy socket" when scrolling past ;)

In @exxos van a dodgy socket would seem normal ;)

[PhilC]

Happy to see it has bodge wires as well.

[exxos]

I am going to try and do better cable management this time, emphasis on try :lol:

[rubber_jonnie]

Only thing I'd advise, and this comes from personal experience, is to pull off the drums and replace the rear brake shoes.

My ex wife broke her leg, and her car stood for some time as she couldn't drive. Her rear drums seized and when she moved the car, one of the pads came off and stayed stuck to the drum, then wedged itself between the other pad and the drum, totally seizing up the wheel.

Might be worth replacing the brake shoes just in case, or at least removing the drums for a really good clean and inspection.

[exxos]

@rubber_jonnie Yeah the rear ones were stuck :( I took the back wheel off and hit it repeatedly with a hammer until it freed up. It had MOT right after. just see how things go.

[rubber_jonnie]

@rubber_jonnie Yeah the rear ones were stuck :( I took the back wheel off and the city repeatedly with a hammer until it freed up. It had MOT right after. just see how things go.

Honestly I'd suggest getting the drums off, not just the wheels, and just doing a sanity check. An MOT will only say if the handbrake/brakes work satisfactorily, they won't say what condition the brake shoes are in.