Continuing Rant Thread - Get it Off Ya Chest here

[niftinev]

Grrr,
Took our little 99 mazda 121 Metro (the box shape model) to the mechanics on Tuesday for a rego check
Brakes pads are getting close to needing replacing, but other than that it's in fairly good nick.
Then driving home last night, overtaking 2 trucks up hill doing a tad over 100 it conks out just as I reached the crest of the hill
Pulled over onto the shoulder and just couldn't get it to start again
Fuses look ok, engine turns, half a tank of fuel, oil was at the bottom of the dipstick but not empty
$130 for a tow (not too bad I guess) and it's back home.
Worst part is I can't even drive the good car (2013 grand vitara) because the mrs is going back up to coffs for a week during the school holidays
So it looks like unless I can borrow one of the work cars, I'll be riding to work in minus temperatures for a week

harden up

good for the blood flow and tikker

don't get those temps here, bloody beautiful :chug: :chug:

 

[Camo6]

Grrr,
Took our little 99 mazda 121 Metro (the box shape model) to the mechanics on Tuesday for a rego check
Brakes pads are getting close to needing replacing, but other than that it's in fairly good nick.
Then driving home last night, overtaking 2 trucks up hill doing a tad over 100 it conks out just as I reached the crest of the hill
Pulled over onto the shoulder and just couldn't get it to start again
Fuses look ok, engine turns, half a tank of fuel, oil was at the bottom of the dipstick but not empty
$130 for a tow (not too bad I guess) and it's back home.
Worst part is I can't even drive the good car (2013 grand vitara) because the mrs is going back up to coffs for a week during the school holidays
So it looks like unless I can borrow one of the work cars, I'll be riding to work in minus temperatures for a week

Has it got spark and fuel? Reliable little engines from memory.

 

[sp0rk]

Has it got spark and fuel? Reliable little engines from memory.

Will be checking that tomorrow
I was wearing headphones at the time so I didn't actually hear if it was starving
I'll check spark and fuel flow, clean the dizzy and maybe do an oil change
Anything else than that and it's going on facebook for $300 for parts

 

[niftinev]

Will be checking that tomorrow
I was wearing headphones at the time so I didn't actually hear if it was starving
I'll check spark and fuel flow, clean the dizzy and maybe do an oil change
Anything else than that and it's going on facebook for $300 for parts

not sure whether it will have a dizzy, more likely coil power packs and maybe two, one per two cylinders and generally cause a miss when they start playing up

 

[sp0rk]

not sure whether it will have a dizzy, more likely coil power packs and maybe two, one per two cylinders and generally cause a miss when they start playing up

Nahh, she's got a dizzy, one with an internal coil pack
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-GENUINE-Distributor-Dizzy-For-Mazda-121-DW-1-3L-1-5L-B3-B5-/121000016249
Not cheap, but just a cap isn't too bad, $60-70
It wasn't missing, has been a real prick to start the last few days in the minus temps, tho

 

[mckenry]

Rental car/motorhome insurance.

Pay an additional $45 per day to get 100% coverage with no excess or $7,500 on your credit card at the start of the holiday refundable upon return of vehicle in undamaged condtion. Oh and by the way, there's all these other nice options that we have available, but only if you pay the extra $45/day...

What a rort. I'd love to not pay the $45/day, but may have to, because I don't want to cop a $7,500 (plus currency exchange fees because I don't have that sort of cash lying around) charge on my credit card at the start of the holiday.

Get travel insurance that covers the excess. We've often found its a lot less than the car companies charge and you get the benefits of the travel insurance as well. Usually works best for overseas trips though.

Also, check your credit card policy as some cover the excess if you use the card to pay for the hire costs.

Took mrs mckenry and the two kids to NZ. Thought we'd get a camper and do the south island. A camper will be fun and cheaper right? Half right. It was fun.
Damn expensive. Had the insurance for the excess so didn't opt for the extra daily rental fee. Didnt have to pay $7500, but it was something like $3500. Straight on the AMEX = 7000 points with whoever we rented from.
Also, when I picked it up, they offered other extras such as "Would you like the chairs for $10/day, the rain cover $5/day the clothes line $X/day, the portable BBQ?" etc etc. I said no to them all. Would have been another $50 or so per day.
First place we pulled up, had a look inside the back storage area. There are the chairs, the BBQ, the rain cover. Everything they tried to rent to me. They couldnt be arsed taking them out! So every night I made sure I sat in that damn chair, beer in hand thinking "Thanks for the freebie suckers!"
But yeah, the int'l transaction fee hurt a bit on the $3500 deposit. And they took about 3 weeks to return it too.
Still. Recommended holiday.

 

[sp0rk]

Just called the mrs to get the fuel pump relay model number so I could grab one on the way home from work
She says the pump doesn't even spin over when you turn the car on, so fingers crossed it's a pump/relay/filter

 

[Camo6]

Just called the mrs to get the fuel pump relay model number so I could grab one on the way home from work
She says the pump doesn't even spin over when you turn the car on, so fingers crossed it's a pump/relay/filter

Haha! Let's be real here, you know it's gonna be the pump don't you! And Murphy reckons yours will be the model where they deleted the access panel under the passenger seat to save a few dollars in production so you'll have to drop the tank which, in order to reduce vehicle length, is moulded to fit above the rear crossmember which, in order to reduce NVH issues, is secured firmly with a special style of bolt that utilises an almost hex, almost torx style of 'torque to yield' disposable bolt that requires a special $80 socket that has to be imported from Japan.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

It wasn't missing, has been a real prick to start the last few days in the minus temps, tho

 

[sp0rk]

Haha! Let's be real here, you know it's gonna be the pump don't you! And Murphy reckons yours will be the model where they deleted the access panel under the passenger seat to save a few dollars in production so you'll have to drop the tank which, in order to reduce vehicle length, is moulded to fit above the rear crossmember which, in order to reduce NVH issues, is secured firmly with a special style of bolt that utilises an almost hex, almost torx style of 'torque to yield' disposable bolt that requires a special $80 socket that has to be imported from Japan.

I farkin bet



I did chuck some starter fluid in last night, but was too stupid to actually open the throttle to let it in...
That and the bloody thing has a retarded AFM setup which is a pain to get off to be able to actually spray the fluid right into the intake

 

[Fraser's BRB]

Took mrs mckenry and the two kids to NZ. Thought we'd get a camper and do the south island. A camper will be fun and cheaper right? Half right. It was fun.
Damn expensive. Had the insurance for the excess so didn't opt for the extra daily rental fee. Didnt have to pay $7500, but it was something like $3500. Straight on the AMEX = 7000 points with whoever we rented from.
Also, when I picked it up, they offered other extras such as "Would you like the chairs for $10/day, the rain cover $5/day the clothes line $X/day, the portable BBQ?" etc etc. I said no to them all. Would have been another $50 or so per day.
First place we pulled up, had a look inside the back storage area. There are the chairs, the BBQ, the rain cover. Everything they tried to rent to me. They couldnt be arsed taking them out! So every night I made sure I sat in that damn chair, beer in hand thinking "Thanks for the freebie suckers!"
But yeah, the int'l transaction fee hurt a bit on the $3500 deposit. And they took about 3 weeks to return it too.
Still. Recommended holiday.

Yeah, we're doing the same, camper around the south island. Works out a little over $100/day not including if we stay at a paid park so from that side of things it's fine and we got all those things included in our package, it's just the outrageous $7,500 charge up front in case we wreck it that is pissing me off.

 

[TheWiggman]

Remember the days of engines you could spray a bit of Aerostart into the carby to get going when they were being difficult? Those days are gone. I could rant about the economics of it for pages, but will instead rant internally.
*shakes fist over internet*

 

[Mardoo]

Stop complaining, at least your car and toaster are internet-enabled... :wacko:

 

[niftinev]

yep the old days of always being able to start your car going are gone.

**** modern day electronics in cars and you can't even read them anymore to find out the prob.

 

[sp0rk]

Dangit, starter fluid didn't work so it's electrical
tomorrow will be a day of new spark plugs, wires and maybe a dizzy cap
Also, don't use an impact driver to remove spark plugs, it kinda smashes them...

 

[Camo6]

If it just stopped on you Spork, I doubt they'll fix it. Check to see if there's a spark at each lead (plug a screwdriver into a lead and hold half a cm off a metallic part of engine while cranking. If it's got spark I'd be checking fuel pressure. If no spark I'd be checking for a signal pulse from the dizzy to the coil/coils. If it runs an internal coil in the dizzy you might need to refer to a diagram. Noid lights come in handy for this. Retrieving some codes would be a good step too. Best of luck.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Electrical is easy, but you will need 2 people so 1 can start it and the other to look for spark

Or just burn it....it cold there you know

 

[goomboogo]

If it just stopped on you Spork, I doubt they'll fix it. Check to see if there's a spark at each lead (plug a screwdriver into a lead and hold half a cm off a metallic part of engine while cranking. If it's got spark I'd be checking fuel pressure. If no spark I'd be checking for a signal pulse from the dizzy to the coil/coils. If it runs an internal coil in the dizzy you might need to refer to a diagram. Noid lights come in handy for this. Retrieving some codes would be a good step too. Best of luck.

I speak three languages. This is not one of them.

 

[sp0rk]

Electrical is easy, but you will need 2 people so 1 can start it and the other to look for spark

Or just burn it....it cold there you know

Mrs just went up to Coffs for the week this morning so no one to help me :/
Did check for spark this morning and nothing
I guess I'll clean the dizzy and possibly grab a new cap, gotta grab a battery charger too as it's about to go flat from trying to start
might just have to all wait until she's back to give me a hand
Luckily work has lent me one of the seasonal vet's cars so I can get to work this week and not have to ride

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Luckily work has lent me one of the seasonal vet's cars so I can get to work this week and not have to ride

Company car already... :super: