Nothing further to report on Poppy at the moment other than running sweeter than ever now that the HT leads are in the right place and all other HT and LT parts have been replaced!! The stolen scatter cushions mean that the driver’s seat isn't quite so crippling either.
All this means that I hadn't got my hands oily in over a week now, and they were starting to itch. (Oh dear...I've got the bug haven't I?
So, my thoughts have turned to the other, ahem, "classic?" in the FB fleet. My Daughters 2003 Daewoo Kalos 1.4SE. Yeah ok, it may be 11 years old but I guess "Classic" is pushing it a bit even if the technology is even older than that!
I thought you might be interested to hear more tales of my bumbling incompetence while I’ve been messing around with this one now.
As the car is only pleasantly competent for it's task of conveying my daughter, and entirely unremarkable in any aspect, I fully understand if feel that this tale does not belong on this illustrious forum though, so please tell me to “shut the F*** up” now, if This is the case.
The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named Poppy
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
Mike.
A Fatbloke in a Herald
A Fatbloke in a Herald
Eeeeeewwww, how frightfully infra-dig. A Daewoo. OMG. FIGHT!
Oi, shut the f.... 
No, don't. Surely [the Daewoo,woowoo,woowoowoo] has as much right to be here as Aron's Dodge Neon? (no offence to either party intended and besides, some of the techniques illustrated on these modern bangers are doubtless useful to know. Aren't they)?
Right, that's the pin pulled and the grenade lobbed, now give us pictures of bits of broken Daewoo please!
No, don't. Surely [the Daewoo,woowoo,woowoowoo] has as much right to be here as Aron's Dodge Neon? (no offence to either party intended and besides, some of the techniques illustrated on these modern bangers are doubtless useful to know. Aren't they)?Right, that's the pin pulled and the grenade lobbed, now give us pictures of bits of broken Daewoo please!
J
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
"Home is where you park it", so the saying goes. That may yet come true..
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tractorman
- Posts: 1399
- Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
- Location: Wigton, Cumbria
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
I fear it isn't a bug you've got - it's more likely to be dermatitis because you weren't wearing gloves when changing the oil (and other mucky jobs)!Fatbloke wrote:All this means that I hadn't got my hands oily in over a week now, and they were starting to itch. (Oh dear...I've got the bug haven't I?
While I don't have a problem with your "neo classic" making an appearance, there is a danger of setting a precedence - after all, my 2008 Golf isn't that much newer (and my neighbour's 1999/2000 Audi A6 estate is older). Hang on, there's a new Cash Cow down the road, I wonder if they want it to feature.
Come to think of it, I got some oil today so I can do a 1,000 mile "running in" oil change (I've done just over the 1,000 miles since the new engine was fitted in the middle of February - I must cut down on my mileage!). Perhaps a few pics would be nice...
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
Well John seems keen and tractorman didn't say "shut the F*** up" so here goes...
I may have briefly mentioned before that The Daewoo was my late Mum's car. Mum was the 2nd owner and she bought her in about 2006 and called her “Sylvia”…because she is silver! The girls have decided to keep the name.
Mum always named her cars. They were Goldie, a Talbot Horizon. The one I learned on and blew up! Then I helped replace engine. (See page 1 of this blog.) Snow drop was next, a Mk 1 Hyundai Pony and Bluebell, a ford fiesta. Mum had a great imagination when naming her cars! I bet you can’t guess what colour they all were!
Anyway, Sylvia has only done 34K in the 11 years on the road and is pretty much immaculate.
When Mum became too ill to drive the car, she gave it to my girls to learn to drive and use until they can afford a car of their own. Needless to say, the girls were really quite pleased and she saw plenty of action as the practice vehicle while my eldest learnt to drive. To be honest, although I was prepared to hate it, I have to say that I'm actually quite impressed. It is absolutely ideal for a 1st car.
Unfortunately, when my eldest passed her test (1st time I might add) the insurance leapt to £1500. There was no way we could afford that, so she was parked up on the drive. (Sylvia, not my daughter.)
It is now a year later and we've managed to get her insured with Admiral for £750. Although I still consider it to be eye wateringly high, we’ve taken the plunge and got the policy. So now it was time to do a brief re-commissioning!
Well, all the mucking about with Poppy has given me the “confidence?, Skills?” ok, just enthusiasm then, to do the work myself. A simple service and all would be ready for the MOT… Yeah right!
So, Plugs, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter and oil were ordered. I even ordered the cabin pollen filter as any loving father would when his daughter suffers from hay fever.
Whilst waiting for the parts, I decided to start Sylvia up just to make sure she was working BEFORE I started messing things up! However the battery was completely dead so Poppy came to the rescue and jumpstarted the Daewoo, which ran quite well after her break from duty.
I took the opportunity to stick my head in and have a good look around and try to identify what was where. It all looked surprisingly simple for a “modern”. Even more shockingly, the handbook that came with the car actually has a large amount of useful stuff in it. Not only are there fully illustrated instructions on how to change all the light bulbs, it also shows you how to change the filters AND tells you the spark plug gap! It’s almost as though they realise that owners might actually want to do the simple jobs themselves. Both the VW and Honda handbooks simply say “take me to your Dealer” for EVERYTHING!
I've also managed to find an online version of the dealers service manual for all Daewoo’s which although doesn't go into as much detail as Haynes, does look rather useful.
Anyway, a charger was connected up to the dead battery and I retired to excitedly await my delivery of more shiny bits to tinker with.
I may have briefly mentioned before that The Daewoo was my late Mum's car. Mum was the 2nd owner and she bought her in about 2006 and called her “Sylvia”…because she is silver! The girls have decided to keep the name.
Mum always named her cars. They were Goldie, a Talbot Horizon. The one I learned on and blew up! Then I helped replace engine. (See page 1 of this blog.) Snow drop was next, a Mk 1 Hyundai Pony and Bluebell, a ford fiesta. Mum had a great imagination when naming her cars! I bet you can’t guess what colour they all were!
Anyway, Sylvia has only done 34K in the 11 years on the road and is pretty much immaculate.
When Mum became too ill to drive the car, she gave it to my girls to learn to drive and use until they can afford a car of their own. Needless to say, the girls were really quite pleased and she saw plenty of action as the practice vehicle while my eldest learnt to drive. To be honest, although I was prepared to hate it, I have to say that I'm actually quite impressed. It is absolutely ideal for a 1st car.
Unfortunately, when my eldest passed her test (1st time I might add) the insurance leapt to £1500. There was no way we could afford that, so she was parked up on the drive. (Sylvia, not my daughter.)
It is now a year later and we've managed to get her insured with Admiral for £750. Although I still consider it to be eye wateringly high, we’ve taken the plunge and got the policy. So now it was time to do a brief re-commissioning!
Well, all the mucking about with Poppy has given me the “confidence?, Skills?” ok, just enthusiasm then, to do the work myself. A simple service and all would be ready for the MOT… Yeah right!
So, Plugs, air filter, fuel filter, oil filter and oil were ordered. I even ordered the cabin pollen filter as any loving father would when his daughter suffers from hay fever.
Whilst waiting for the parts, I decided to start Sylvia up just to make sure she was working BEFORE I started messing things up! However the battery was completely dead so Poppy came to the rescue and jumpstarted the Daewoo, which ran quite well after her break from duty.
I took the opportunity to stick my head in and have a good look around and try to identify what was where. It all looked surprisingly simple for a “modern”. Even more shockingly, the handbook that came with the car actually has a large amount of useful stuff in it. Not only are there fully illustrated instructions on how to change all the light bulbs, it also shows you how to change the filters AND tells you the spark plug gap! It’s almost as though they realise that owners might actually want to do the simple jobs themselves. Both the VW and Honda handbooks simply say “take me to your Dealer” for EVERYTHING!
I've also managed to find an online version of the dealers service manual for all Daewoo’s which although doesn't go into as much detail as Haynes, does look rather useful.
Anyway, a charger was connected up to the dead battery and I retired to excitedly await my delivery of more shiny bits to tinker with.
Mike.
A Fatbloke in a Herald
A Fatbloke in a Herald
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tractorman
- Posts: 1399
- Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
- Location: Wigton, Cumbria
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
I don't swear unless I've hit my hand with a hammer - or seen half a gallon of diesel on the garage floor! When working in schools, where pupils can't put two words together without swearing, I have had to get into the habit of not swearing (hard work for an ex-farmworker and vicar's son!).
TBH, I now get annoyed with "comedians" on TV, who can't make a comment without having to be "manic", swear or just plain vulgar (Jimmy Carr being the most obvious and odious one). I expect being an older fart has something to do with it!
My late mother had names for her first two cars - "Herry" and "Marina". I suspect you can guess what make and models those were. The two Metros didn't get names - though I had less than complimentary names for both (and it was before I worked in schools)!
TBH, I now get annoyed with "comedians" on TV, who can't make a comment without having to be "manic", swear or just plain vulgar (Jimmy Carr being the most obvious and odious one). I expect being an older fart has something to do with it!
My late mother had names for her first two cars - "Herry" and "Marina". I suspect you can guess what make and models those were. The two Metros didn't get names - though I had less than complimentary names for both (and it was before I worked in schools)!
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
The parts soon arrived and I thought I’d start by gapping the plugs. Surprisingly, they were all spot on and none of them needed adjustment.
After my embarrassment with Poppy, all the HT leads were numbered before I started and so was the distributor/coil/thingy that they plug into. The old spark plugs were removed and replaced 1 by 1 and they all looked exactly like the photo of a “good” used plug in a Haynes manual.
Obviously, everything was going far too smoothly at this stage and I was starting to feel nervous. Unsurprisingly, there followed a minor disaster…All the HT leads were rather firmly attached to the plugs and needed a good pull to free them. The 4th good pull though proved rather too much for the last HT lead which left me holding a broken lead and the terminal and rubber cap still attached to the plug. Rude words were said and a set of new leads ordered.
I then set about changing the air filter and pollen filter. The trouble was, pollen filters were only fitted to Kalos’s with air conditioning. Sylvia doesn’t have air conditioning and my reputation as a loving father is in tatters. Does anyone won’t a brand new Daewoo Kalos pollen filter?
I decided that I had better do a full inspection of all the other basic stuff and discovered that my “to do” list is growing rapidly!
1. The rear nearside tyre wall is perished and cracked and will need replacing.
2. The rear drum brakes, whilst not seized, are binding on slightly but I’m hoping I will be able work those free.
3. The front disc pads need changing as very low.
4. The front windscreen washers don’t work
5. Both front wiper blades and the back are all perished.
6. Fit new HT leads.
7. Change oil and oil filter.
8. Try and find the fuel filter to replace that.
9. Buy a new battery as a week on charge has had no effect.
10. Change the coolant.
On the plus side though, all the lights were working.
After my embarrassment with Poppy, all the HT leads were numbered before I started and so was the distributor/coil/thingy that they plug into. The old spark plugs were removed and replaced 1 by 1 and they all looked exactly like the photo of a “good” used plug in a Haynes manual.
Obviously, everything was going far too smoothly at this stage and I was starting to feel nervous. Unsurprisingly, there followed a minor disaster…All the HT leads were rather firmly attached to the plugs and needed a good pull to free them. The 4th good pull though proved rather too much for the last HT lead which left me holding a broken lead and the terminal and rubber cap still attached to the plug. Rude words were said and a set of new leads ordered.
I then set about changing the air filter and pollen filter. The trouble was, pollen filters were only fitted to Kalos’s with air conditioning. Sylvia doesn’t have air conditioning and my reputation as a loving father is in tatters. Does anyone won’t a brand new Daewoo Kalos pollen filter?
I decided that I had better do a full inspection of all the other basic stuff and discovered that my “to do” list is growing rapidly!
1. The rear nearside tyre wall is perished and cracked and will need replacing.
2. The rear drum brakes, whilst not seized, are binding on slightly but I’m hoping I will be able work those free.
3. The front disc pads need changing as very low.
4. The front windscreen washers don’t work
5. Both front wiper blades and the back are all perished.
6. Fit new HT leads.
7. Change oil and oil filter.
8. Try and find the fuel filter to replace that.
9. Buy a new battery as a week on charge has had no effect.
10. Change the coolant.
On the plus side though, all the lights were working.
Mike.
A Fatbloke in a Herald
A Fatbloke in a Herald
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
Sounds like you are having fun. It doesn't matter what vintage car you have, they all (petrol powered ones) need compression, fuel and a spark. How they get those changes but once you know the basics you can work out what everything does.
I suspect distributor/coil/thingy is a coil pack.
Tip with removing HT leads, if you twist them while gently pulling the rubber will unstick itself from the plug so you can get it off. I replace HT leads annually anyway so you aren't doing any extra unnecessary work, the car will benefit from new ones
Your drum brakes probably have a coating of rust on the inside of the drum. the drive to the MOT station will probably sort that out.
For your washers, get a helper to push the button for them and listen for the motor. (Assuming there is water in the washer bottle) if you hear it run then there is probably some algea in the lines / jets / pickup. You can try unblocking the jets with a pin or blowing very hard down the line from the tank to see if that clears them. I don't know your model of car but if the pipe can be removed from the bottom of the jet you can try blowing the jets and line through from there. If you don't hear it run, check the fuse, if that is good then while someone is pushing the button to squirt the windscreen, give the motor a tap and see if that starts it.
Unfortunately, batteries don't like being left uncharged for long periods. Sometimes you can repair one (have a look on youtube for repair car battery videos, there are lots) but if it was my daughter I would fit new as you have decided to so I know she could get home.
It is very satisfying when you get a job finished and working properly. Every job you do, the more you learn, the more confidence you get, the more jobs you do, etc.
The only thing I would add to your list is to replace the brake and clutch fluid. that will have absorbed water while sitting so should be replaced. it is at least a 2 year service item.
I suspect distributor/coil/thingy is a coil pack.
Tip with removing HT leads, if you twist them while gently pulling the rubber will unstick itself from the plug so you can get it off. I replace HT leads annually anyway so you aren't doing any extra unnecessary work, the car will benefit from new ones
Your drum brakes probably have a coating of rust on the inside of the drum. the drive to the MOT station will probably sort that out.
For your washers, get a helper to push the button for them and listen for the motor. (Assuming there is water in the washer bottle) if you hear it run then there is probably some algea in the lines / jets / pickup. You can try unblocking the jets with a pin or blowing very hard down the line from the tank to see if that clears them. I don't know your model of car but if the pipe can be removed from the bottom of the jet you can try blowing the jets and line through from there. If you don't hear it run, check the fuse, if that is good then while someone is pushing the button to squirt the windscreen, give the motor a tap and see if that starts it.
Unfortunately, batteries don't like being left uncharged for long periods. Sometimes you can repair one (have a look on youtube for repair car battery videos, there are lots) but if it was my daughter I would fit new as you have decided to so I know she could get home.
It is very satisfying when you get a job finished and working properly. Every job you do, the more you learn, the more confidence you get, the more jobs you do, etc.
The only thing I would add to your list is to replace the brake and clutch fluid. that will have absorbed water while sitting so should be replaced. it is at least a 2 year service item.
Understeer: when you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Oversteer: when you hit the wall with the back of the car.
Horsepower: how fast you hit the wall.
Torque: how far you take the wall with you.
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
oi fatbloke its not a classic keep it up
i really enjoy reading your exploits, have you thought of starting a career as a motoring journalist?? cant do worse than jc & his crowd....
meanwhile i would like pics of all your efforts & im still waiting for pics of the pony
keep it up i really enjoy reading your exploits, have you thought of starting a career as a motoring journalist?? cant do worse than jc & his crowd....
meanwhile i would like pics of all your efforts & im still waiting for pics of the pony
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suffolkpete
- Posts: 1141
- Joined: Sun Jan 23, 2011 11:54 am
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
Well done Mike. You've discovered that the basics of cars haven't really changed that much over the years. Even on new cars, most routine service items can be changed without the need for special tools and equipment, although you might need a code reader for the electronics. You did well to get insurance for your daughter at that price, I was paying that, also with Admiral, for my daughter 11 years ago on a Clio. If she can get through the next couple of years without bending it, insurance will become a lot easier. A Pass-plus course can be a good investment, if my experience is anything to go by they are much more likely to take advice from an instructor than their father.
1974 Rover 2200 SC
1982 Matra Murena 1.6
1982 Matra Murena 1.6
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tractorman
- Posts: 1399
- Joined: Mon Feb 21, 2011 11:22 am
- Location: Wigton, Cumbria
Re: The misadventures of a fatbloke and 13/60 Herald named P
I took advice from my mother when it came to driving matters. The first piece of advice she gave me was "Don't drive like your Father does!" One of the problems of being a country vicar is that everyone knows you and, being country folk, like to wave: Father's rarely had two hands on the steering wheel - probably as often as he looked through the windscreen! He also "taught" me to freewheel down any incline...
I'd recommend a good battery (eg a Varta as fitted by VW on new cars) rather than a cheap one. I soon discovered that cheap ones don't last - and, when Smiley's were on the go, was a regular visitor as I'd bought one from them with a lifetime guarantee (three batteries in two years!)
I can't fault the advice others have given - though I never changed plug leads on an annual basis (Only once on the Maxi that I owned for thirteen years!). However, I would say that some leads are cheap tat and, if you can get a set of "performance" leads, they will improve things a lot: I did with the Montego and the difference was worth the extra expense (even if the car only lasted a year).
Even if you think you know little about cars, you are still head and shoulders above Clarkson - but would you want to be a motoring journalist and be associated with him!??
I'd recommend a good battery (eg a Varta as fitted by VW on new cars) rather than a cheap one. I soon discovered that cheap ones don't last - and, when Smiley's were on the go, was a regular visitor as I'd bought one from them with a lifetime guarantee (three batteries in two years!)
I can't fault the advice others have given - though I never changed plug leads on an annual basis (Only once on the Maxi that I owned for thirteen years!). However, I would say that some leads are cheap tat and, if you can get a set of "performance" leads, they will improve things a lot: I did with the Montego and the difference was worth the extra expense (even if the car only lasted a year).
Even if you think you know little about cars, you are still head and shoulders above Clarkson - but would you want to be a motoring journalist and be associated with him!??