Entry tags:
Swearing and the art of motor car maintenance.
So Batsy, my cute little convertible, narrowly scraped through its MOT. With several advisories and one non-failing fault. But it's good for a few more months.
The fault was the numberplate light. The contact was rusted so they couldn't replace it. Decided to replace the whole light assembly with some LED lights, only to find one of the new lights isn't working. Oh well. At least I know how to replace the thing.
My passenger window had stopped working so I decided while I was in a car fixing mood I'd see if I could fix that. Getting the panel off is a hassle. Maybe I should have bought the Haynes manual. Still, youtube videos suggest that what I really need to do is unscrew 5 screws and then do lots of tugging. Much brute force later, I finally managed to get the panel off... Only to find there's another layer to remove. Tried removing that. Wouldn't come off. Tried putting it back on. Wouldn't go back on! Eventually realised I missed a screw. So removed that, and after another few minutes of violence, I managed to remove the next panel.
Still couldn't reach the motor and controller though. Tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again. As luck would have it, it worked! Then there was just the question of manhandling the door back together.
Well, that was triring! Luckily for me I have a flickums who made me a cup of tea.
This is the second time the window stopped working.There's a pile of minor electrical issues. Really think it's time to get a new car. Maybe I should get something less than 10 years old this time. Harrison was 11 when new and Batsy was almost 12. Positively geriatric by car standards.
The fault was the numberplate light. The contact was rusted so they couldn't replace it. Decided to replace the whole light assembly with some LED lights, only to find one of the new lights isn't working. Oh well. At least I know how to replace the thing.
My passenger window had stopped working so I decided while I was in a car fixing mood I'd see if I could fix that. Getting the panel off is a hassle. Maybe I should have bought the Haynes manual. Still, youtube videos suggest that what I really need to do is unscrew 5 screws and then do lots of tugging. Much brute force later, I finally managed to get the panel off... Only to find there's another layer to remove. Tried removing that. Wouldn't come off. Tried putting it back on. Wouldn't go back on! Eventually realised I missed a screw. So removed that, and after another few minutes of violence, I managed to remove the next panel.
Still couldn't reach the motor and controller though. Tried unplugging it and plugging it back in again. As luck would have it, it worked! Then there was just the question of manhandling the door back together.
Well, that was triring! Luckily for me I have a flickums who made me a cup of tea.
This is the second time the window stopped working.There's a pile of minor electrical issues. Really think it's time to get a new car. Maybe I should get something less than 10 years old this time. Harrison was 11 when new and Batsy was almost 12. Positively geriatric by car standards.