Blimey, a bloke who does what his wife tells him! that would be Gordonjcp who runs this site and works in Hamilton. Welcome along, most of us on here have been there and done it so when something stops working, you'll find someone who can help.
Michelin Latitudes and Pirelli Scorpions were what was fitted as standard from the factory (depending on what they had kicking around at the time), so you won't go far wrong with either of them.
The K-Seal we get here (but made in USA) comes in an 8 fl oz blue plastic bottle and has a coppery colour. According to their website, it has fibres that block the hole and tiny copper particles to fill the gaps between the fibres. It is usually that which can be seen in the header tank looking like it has been sprayed with copper coloured metalflake paint.
Not sure what SR had in his radiator, or how much Steel Seal had been used. Sodium Silicate usually just makes the coolant slightly cloudy and if any is spilled anywhere it dries as a whitish powder. Never seen it solidify like that, although there are warnings that it isn't compatible with OAT anti-freeze, only Ethylene Glycol, so maybe it was mixed with something it shouldn't be mixed with?
Sloth wrote:
On most modern normal cars the compressor runs all the time now
and, unfortunately, last no more than about 5 years......
Because of the amount of current they'd draw. It isn't noticeable on a P38 because even at idle there's plenty of torque available to turn the compressor and the ECU is given a signal from the HEVAC to open the IACV to keep the revs stable when it engages (stick the Nano on and look at the idle air valve opening and watch what happens when the compressor engages). On my daughter's 1.8 litre Toyota Celica, you can hear the revs drop when it engages and she only uses it when she really has to as the fuel gauge plummets too.
No doubt someone will come up with an electric compressor sooner or later just like quite a number of cars now have electric power steering. The modern DC Inverter, heat pump domestic systems are very efficient, giving 3kW of heating or cooling for 600-700W of electrical input so it wouldn't surprise me if someone starts putting a similar system (the components are the same, compressor, condenser, evaporator, refrigerant it's just the electronic control that is different) in a car. Could do away with the conventional heater running off the cars cooling system too. So you'd be buggered trying to find heater hoses to plumb an LPG system into.......
K-Seal will work on some leaks while others need Steel Seal (or plain ordinary Sodium Silicate, Steel Seal without a dye in it), it just depends on where the leak is. They are the only two I would consider using but the downside with K-Seal is the tell tale copper residue on the underside of the coolant cap. A dead giveaway if you are sell a car.......
It's odd how they go. All of mine on the ex-plod are fine yet the left side rear one on the Ascot is bubbling nicely even though the others have no bubbling at all. Finding a car in a breaker (if you can) and removing it yourself has got to be much cheaper than a specialist P38 breaker who knows what they cost.
If you replace it then make sure the oil is in it when you put it on. Was over at my mates yesterday working on a P38 and he'd got a couple of customers booked in to have their AC re-gassed at his house rather than mobile. First one wasn't a problem but the second one passed the pressure test no problem but still wouldn't cool as the compressor clutch wasn't engaging. Turned out that the compressor was seized solid and I suspect the thermal cut-out had done it's job and cut the power. Owner then admitted it had last been gassed about 2 years ago and at that time had needed a new compressor. Recovered the gas, took one of the pipes off and it was completely dry inside suggesting whoever had replaced the compressor hadn't put any oil in it hence it had seized.
Listed by Brit Car and LRDirect, but not cheap......
Google the part number (CGE101280 for the right side).
Vac won't draw the oil out, only air, and when the gas leaks you might get a tiny bit of oil come out with it but it will only be a very small proportion of what is in there. So what is in there will stay there unless it has been drained out. Your system takes 180 ml so maybe they could put 20-30 ml in just to be sure (unless you fancy taking the compressor off and draining it all out).
Which bit do you mean?
Probably from looking at the glovebox strut, I know they are expensive. I looked as mine has no gas left in it but after reconnecting the one in the Ascot I realised that a strut with no gas makes closing the glovebox easier. I'm OK though, my poverty spec interior doesn't have a strut in the cubby, or the worse than useless cup holders either......
I did the practical on my car. It was a choice between doing it on a test rig in the classroom or the other side of a door in the car park. Full recovery, pressure test, vac and refill and I know for definite I've got the correct amount of gas in it.
He'd be a bit far away for you Nick, Tony Muxlow Developments (https://tony-muxlow-developments.co.uk/) who is an hour up the A1 for me. He does have accommodation there but I suspect that is extra (although Mrs Muxlow does appear regularly with coffee and at lunchtime a plate of sandwiches). Under normal circumstances he does training sessions at various other places but that isn't happening at the moment. The F Gas course was £995 + VAT (and F Fgas registration a further £142) and I think the Automotive one is around £300 if done on it's own but it is only a day. Biggest problem I had was that he starts at 8am meaning I had to be out of bed earlier than when I was working!
Anyone need any nuts? After noticing the boot on the drag link was split when I was under the front changing the steering box, I ordered a Lemforder replacement from Island 4x4. There was a note saying that it didn't come with new nuts and they needed ordering separately, so I ordered 2. Got an email from Sam at Island to say they were out of stock of Lemforder but could supply either a Moog or Sidem (which in the description says it is made by Moog anyway). Emailed back saying that they were the same price and as long as they didn't send me a Britpart I wasn't too bothered. It arrived today, a Moog. But, unlike the Lemforder it comes with new nuts. Not only that but the nuts are supplied in bags of 5 so I've got 10 brand new, never taken out of their packet, drag link and track rod nuts.....
Also pulled the passenger side heater blower out. A couple of days ago the output from the heater was feeble and the outdoor temperature was shown as 19 degrees when it was at least 28. Passenger side blower wasn't working so the colder air from the AC was being blown out the duct onto the external temperature sensor. Putting it onto recirculate improved things but it still wasn't good. Oddly, no book symbol or faults recorded when I checked with the Nano. Last time I had a blower out (drivers) I noticed the brushes were well worn so I'd ordered some replacements (same as most other Valeo motors used in Citroen, Peugeot, Mercedes, BMW, and a few others) and they arrived today too. Unsoldered the old brushes and soldered the new one in place. Running it from a variable current, 12V supply, it didn't seem to be running that smoothly and sparks could be seen from one of the brushes. Figuring the commutator was a bit dirty and the brush just needed to bed in a bit, gave it a squirt of contact cleaner. Not a good idea as it appears contact cleaner is flammable and the sparks ignited it. So there's me holding a motor spinning at quite a rate with flames coming out of it. So, after recovering it from the flower border where it had ended up after I'd dropped it, had a closer look. Commutator was burnt in one place so not all poles were working and the reason why it had stopped the other day was because it had obviously come to rest on the dodgy part. Fortunately I had another motor with completely worn out brushes so swapped them over and this one ran much smoother. Then pulled the drivers blower, checked that, fitted new brushes and job done. So reliable fans now too.
Certainly is. That leak on the pipe union would have lost your refrigerant in a matter of days, but all looks fine now, well done. The other good point is the Nitrogen will draw out any moisture or contamination when it is let out, so it'll work better once is is filled.
They are obviously being cautious as the system runs at 4-5 times that. The electronic leak detectors aren't a lot of good in all honesty. They have to be set at their most sensitive then they end up responding to any exhaust fumes, oil fumes and anything else floating around. On the course we just used the very same Fairy Liquid and water mix I use for looking for EAS leaks!
If you have it, do a test to make sure it is correct. If you lock with the fob and then unlock with the key, it will ask for the EKA. Enter it (instructions are also in the handbook, under Locks and Alarm) and make sure it works. If it does, great, if it doesn't then you just need to unlock with the fob again and that resets everything back to normal.