SportKa MOT advisories question - oil leak

AliceBanned

Had excellent help from Halfords. The guy was so helpful - officially they don't do the Ka bulb installation for my model but he said personally he knew how to do them, had done them on a friend's so ..result!:D

All working well now.

Oh, I was trying to change the main beam instead of dipped. I was making it so impossible for myself, as that bulb is further down. I had unplugged something (earth?) into the back of that or near that bulb, so that is why they were all off.

I even splashed out on new wiper blades and got them changed by the guy. All done within about 3 mins flat for £10.

Sometimes it makes no sense to diy..:mad:

AliceBanned

jackr5 wrote: »

I remember trying to do the headlight bulb on my sister's KA - I failed completely as I don't have the hands of a 1 year old child.

The guy in Halfords was also wearing sensible gloves. Better than pressing all those sharp bits with your fingers when you can't even see what you are doing.


Must get some gloves for this type of work. :cool:

AliceBanned

A few patches of rust on the sill creeping back through. Doh!


Is that normal?


I might get an angle grinder and do it when I go to visit my parents next month! At least they will make me tea and I can park it on the driveway and do the work.

Joe_Horner

Yeah, it's not that unusual to see bits show up once it's started. Tackle them early and you've much better chance of stopping them for a decent time, although you're never going to hold it off forever once it's there.

Over a year isn't bad for it to be just starting to show though, so you obviously did a pretty thorough job last time!

Prothet_of_Doom

AdrianC wrote: »

Bulbs, oil & filter, brake pads and discs aren't "repairs" - they're basic maintenance.

KAs do rot badly, from the inside out - the paint loss is a symptom of structural rot coming through - and what you're seeing on those sills needs PROPER attention very soon, unless you accept that the car only has two to three years life left in it.

I have seen some pictures on the internet which are worse than the worst that lancia was ever guilty off back in the dark days when rust was a thing that was normal.

I have a rule for cars. I ignore it's value once it gets below £1000.

Even if it were worth only £10 with a full MOT, I'd spend £500 without thinking if that could guarantee another years motoring.

Because £500 is 4 tyres, 4 discs, 8 pads, and a couple of suspension joints plus a full service if you do it yourself.
Just things that wear out.
And I won't scrap a car just because it needs £500 for a clutch, and welding ? Well I've learnt to weld and the MOT man isn't underwhelmed by my work.
Anything that is just normal wear and tear is not a good reason to buy another car.
I only change cars when 1) I'm bored with it and 2) When offered an absolute bargain by a mate for almost nothing.
In exchange I've given away perfectly good cars to friends because they needed them, they were not worth much and I believe in Karma. Plus if you give away a shonky car to a mate and it breaks down he's not likely to complain. :rotfl:

AliceBanned

Joe_Horner wrote: »

Yeah, it's not that unusual to see bits show up once it's started. Tackle them early and you've much better chance of stopping them for a decent time, although you're never going to hold it off forever once it's there.

Over a year isn't bad for it to be just starting to show though, so you obviously did a pretty thorough job last time!

Thanks Joe. It is not looking too bad either. Good to know I did a reasonable job. I'll keep on top of it.

AliceBanned

She doesn't seem happy this year, despite all my TLC.


I just went back to my car after shopping and saw fluid all over the ground. At first I thought it was oil but it didn't seem quite like it and a guy nearby said it looked like water from the radiator. The recovery guy said the coolant had emptied. Well strictly speaking he said it 'needed filling' as though it had always been like that and I had no idea. I said 'err yes I know that as it is all over the floor'. But to be fair he picked me up two floors down as I was parked in an ncp.


Trying a new garage and they can't send someone until 11am FRi. They are only maybe 200 yeards away from where my car is parked but they said it might need recovering.


I noticed the blue temperature light flashed on just before I parked it - not much of a warning but I suppose something must have given at that point and the water started leaking.


In retrospect I remember walking back to my car a few days ago and thinking I saw something underneath that I had never noticed before, at the front towards the righthand side, but I wasn't certain whether I just hadn't noticed it or it was something that had dropped down. I looked a bit closer but it was difficult to tell whether I was imagine things. Maybe I notice more than I think as the leak was coming from this area.


I guess I can't do much until I get a quote and on the phone the guy said maybe radiator or more serious, head gasket.

AliceBanned

I have just had another look, and the liquid is still slowly coming out. I have put newspaper underneath so that I can see it properly. It looked coffee coloured/reddish brown before and quite thin.


Having just looked underneath in the daylight I can see that several areas towards the front are damp with whatever is leaking..looks a bit worrying and like more than a radiator problem to me, but what do I know?! Any advice welcome.


I am prepared to say goodbye at this point to Ka if I have to..not sure what I will do, maybe enjoy a car-free existence for a while. Only for a few weeks.

salubrious

Let's face it, it's a money pit.

BeenThroughItAll

salubrious wrote: »

Let's face it, it's a money pit.

Or, it could be a perfectly decent little Ka with a holed radiator. Being worth a few hundred quid versus a few hundred grand doesn't make it more likely to get a stone through the rad, or develop corrosion in the core.

If it's just the radiator, get a new one chucked in and keep on driving.