Hello everyone.

A

ashgte

Member
Hello A2OC. I recently bought an 2001, 1.4 petrol with 110k on the clock.

Its a great little car with loads of character. Its a bit like Marmite as far as my friends opinions are concerned.
I bought it in order to travel to work and it returns 60 mpg most of the time.

I can't say the first 6 months has been trouble free as I've so far replaced.

Radio (no code)
Starter motor (It made a whirring noise on release)
Rear shock absorber dust covers
Cabin heater resistor
x1 track rod end
x1 CV boot kit
All the handbrake cables including the stailess steel clips. (very important, as I found out)
Brake shoes and cylinders, new dot 4 fluid.
Complete service including, oil, oil filter, plugs, fuel filter, air filter and cabin filter
Rear indicator bulbs
New drive shaft nuts. It had the old allen key type.
Repaired the rear brake lines as they sheared off when swapping out the brake cylinders (not easy with steal lines)

I've had to buy a couple of new tools in order to do all this work but who doesn't like new tools!
As with most old cars once I eventually get a spanner on all the bolts they will come off easier in the future.

I'll upload some pictures once the weather cheers up a bit.
 
Hi and welcome to a2oc. Sounds like you have done most if not all the little jobs that a car of that age will need, not to enjoy it. Be great to see you and your car at a social, they will start in spring time. Cheers Mike
 
Hi,

Welcome, I am sure that you will find lots of useful information on here.

For example you will find that many A2 owners have the "run on" noise from the starter and have discovered that it is only the noise that is the problem, they keep on going for years even with that noise. There are also tips on how to lubricate your starter motor to save you lots of money replacing it.

But "reading between the lines" of your post, I am guessing that you are pretty fastidious with your care for a car. You are certainly not alone there either, we have many members who are very fastidious in their care for their car.

One thing that is a very strong recomendation is to ensure that the cam belt and associated pulleys, tensioners and water pump have been replaced within the last 4 years (or so) or within 50k miles (or so). Don't accept the sellers word and the "tick" in the box in the service book is no guarantee that it has been done either.

It should cost in the region of £300 (less of course if you are doing it yourself) snd it coulkd save you thousands.

Check out the "How To" index thread, lots of help and info - A list of some of the "How To's" and useful threads


Hope to see some pictures soon and also hoping that you will be attending some socials this year perhaps? (as Mike has said!)

Steve B
 
Thanks for the warm welcome.

I do like my car to be mechanically sound. It is kept clean but washed and vacuumed as and when it needs it. Its a thing of purpose so polishing it every weekend is out of the question.
I did read on here that the Starter noise is only superficial but it was rather annoying so swapped it out. I will rebuild the old one and put it on the shelf for a rainy day.

I have a timing belt kit ready to go. Like you said don't take the previous owners word for it. The kit was pretty cheap too.

The car still has a few niggles like: the hatch does not shut properly all the time and bounces back. The heat shield fasteners underneath have almost all snapped off.
The tappets are louder than I would like. I think I will put a new set in when I do the cam belt.
 
Hi
with the tailgate, consider the following.
The electronic release is on a tiner and so it stays open for a second after you have pressed the switch. So drop the tailgate without holding the switch on and if it bounces up and doesnt close properly when you try again give yhe nechanism a second to allow it to move back to the closed position before you drop it again.

Changing the tappets is not cheap and may not fully resolve tge issue, most people live with it, but i woukd bet that you woukd prefer to change them yourself anyway.

Looks like you will fit in nicely here.

Steve B
 
I did notice that the solenoid take a while to return but it seems to be a little more complicated than that.

Quick question: How much of a thump should the rear hatch make when it closes? I'm not sure how good my struts are and how heavy the hatch should actually be.
At the moment is reasonably heavy at the bottom but the struts still hold it open at the top. Should the struts push the hatch open at all?
 
I couldn't say for sure but I don't think the struts on my tailgate have ever held it up in the bottom half of its travel. I tend to close the tailgate by allowing it to drop from about 9-12 inches height rather than slamming it. It seems to work most of the time. Slamming rarely works.
 
ashgte said:
I did notice that the solenoid take a while to return but it seems to be a little more complicated than that.

Quick question: How much of a thump should the rear hatch make when it closes? I'm not sure how good my struts are and how heavy the hatch should actually be.
At the moment is reasonably heavy at the bottom but the struts still hold it open at the top. Should the struts push the hatch open at all?
Click to expand...


The struts will not lift the tailgate at all, the best you will get (even when new) is that they will assist with the opening and slow down the closing slightly.

Steve B
 
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