SportKa MOT advisories question - oil leak

Joe_Horner

Don't worry about it - you're not leading or planning to lead a major political party (are you?) so they'll be on your side - not yet seen a TV program tackle consumer issues from the side of the cowboys

As for "coming across as a whinger", you've made it more than clear on here that you can express yourself clearly & coherently so I can't see there being much danger of that

AliceBanned

Aww thanks Joe. They want to film me driving so Ka needs good clean inside and out.

Guess I've experienced so much bullying and insensitivity from people over the years that I have learnt to keep my head down. And now im going on national tv to complain about nearly being ripped off of £400. I find im often the only crusader and most people are happy to leave me to take on the fight and take on the bad reputation that can go with it.

AliceBanned

Back again. :mad:

This time it seems serious and I am not shelling out more money. Last night, after carrying a heavy item in the boot for 30 miles (may be unrelated) the gears wouldn't engage at all and it was making a loud noise when I tried to engage them. I have left it in the car park at home where it conveniently started to go wrong, but my feeling is that this is the end of the road. I was hoping for another year out of it but as you can imagine I am now finally fed up of the Ka. Was enjoying driving it only that day as well, but maybe I won't go for another Ford. It is 13 years old anyway (87k miles on the clock) so I can accept it may have to go. Will put it all down to experience if that is the case.

Problem is I don't have Homestart so I will have to find a mechanic to diagnose. A friend has recommended a mobile mechanic, I'll call and chat and see how much but I am probably wasting my money if he is only going to say to scrap it. Any advice please?

Thanks.

BeenThroughItAll

I'd imagine it's probably either the slave or master cylinder seals have let go (master cylinder not expensive to fix, slave moreso as the gearbox has to come out - not a massive job on a Ka) or the pin securing the clutch pedal to the master cylinder has broken.


What does the clutch pedal feel like? Does it go easily to the floor more than usual? Is it stiffer/ lighter than normal? Has the clutch felt different lately?


Even if it needs a new clutch, the kit is less than £100 and it is not a huge job on a Ka.

AliceBanned

BeenThroughItAll wrote: »

I'd imagine it's probably either the slave or master cylinder seals have let go (master cylinder not expensive to fix, slave moreso as the gearbox has to come out - not a massive job on a Ka) or the pin securing the clutch pedal to the master cylinder has broken.


What does the clutch pedal feel like? Does it go easily to the floor more than usual? Is it stiffer/ lighter than normal? Has the clutch felt different lately?


Even if it needs a new clutch, the kit is less than £100 and it is not a huge job on a Ka.

Thanks, that's a relief. I thought it might need a new gearbox!

It is stiffer than usual and seems to stick - the clutch pedal. Then it makes whirring sounds as I try to get it to go into any of the gears.

BeenThroughItAll

AliceBanned wrote: »

Thanks, that's a relief. I thought it might need a new gearbox!

It is stiffer than usual and seems to stick - the clutch pedal. Then it makes whirring sounds as I try to get it to go into any of the gears.

Well the whirring sounds are the gears grinding because the clutch isn't releasing properly.


Are there any noises either when pressing the pedal or that stop when the pedal is pressed?


Basically, the clutch isn't releasing properly - which points to either hydraulics (master/slave cylinder, or a pipe leaking) or the clutch itself (release bearing - integrated with the slave cylinder itself) or a physically failed clutch plate/diaphragm spring (the most unlikely of these).

AliceBanned

Mmmm mechanic said based on my (by telephone) description and the mileage and age of the vehicle, it is probably clutch failure and would cost £450 for him to fit a new clutch.

I have a feeling this may be the case. I am probably going to scrap it and then buy a car for under £1k at some point when I can afford it. I have had too much stress from it and it may fail the next MOT, making any spend on it now a waste of money (MOT due December). He said his opinion was that I would be better off buying something with a year's MOT for under £1k to tide me over, rather than spending on this. I am fed up of it now so I don't mind!

BeenThroughItAll

AliceBanned wrote: »

Mmmm mechanic said based on my (by telephone) description and the mileage and age of the vehicle, it is probably clutch failure and would cost £450 for him to fit a new clutch.

I have a feeling this may be the case. I am probably going to scrap it and then buy a car for under £1k at some point when I can afford it. I have had too much stress from it and it may fail the next MOT, making any spend on it now a waste of money (MOT due December). He said his opinion was that I would be better off buying something with a year's MOT for under £1k to tide me over, rather than spending on this. I am fed up of it now so I don't mind!

It's easy to say 'clutch failure' as that covers a multitude of things. £450 for a new clutch in a Ka is not great value - I paid £600 for a new three piece clutch kit, DMF, and fitting at my local place I use, on an Audi A4 Quattro. There is a lot more work fitting a clutch on that than on a Ka, and the DMF alone makes up the difference in cost.


I would say spend the £450 - you can buy a grand's worth of banger with an MOT, but you won't know its history - and the MOT means nothing regarding reliability.


You could buy a car with a freshly minted, realistic MOT and a service just finished and the clutch could still be only hours away from failure, or the tyres could all need replacing a week later; quite apart from all the myriad other problems that could occur with a car at that end of the market - and lets not forget that at the sub-grand price point there are a lot of driveway traders with substandard stock and 'sympathetic' MOTs selling cars masquerading as private sales, but also plenty of dealer forecourts selling £300 sheds as £1000 one-lady-owner-first-to-see-will-buy minters.


A mechanic's opinion of what you should spend your money on isn't that helpful - he might be happy with a 1K banger, but then he can probably fix it when it goes wrong. He might also see a grand's worth of banger in your hands as a ready potential revenue stream fixing the problems it will, at that price, inevitably have.


You know the history and all the faults and foibles of your current car.

AliceBanned

Thanks BeenThroughItAll. You have swayed me a bit.

The problem here is trust, with these mechanics. I guess I can't trust any of them but you have a point about me knowing the vehicle. I am a bit worried about the bodywork on it though but it would be handy to have it fixed and working for a few more months.

I will ponder on this overnight (and ponder on how to get £450). I don't need to fix it straight away I guess.

BeenThroughItAll

AliceBanned wrote: »

Thanks BeenThroughItAll. You have swayed me a bit.

The problem here is trust, with these mechanics. I guess I can't trust any of them but you have a point about me knowing the vehicle. I am a bit worried about the bodywork on it though but it would be handy to have it fixed and working for a few more months.

I will ponder on this overnight (and ponder on how to get £450). I don't need to fix it straight away I guess.

Even if it costs you 450 quid now, that's only 45% of what you're potentially risking by buying a grand's worth of banger. And, if in December it costs you £550 to get through its MOT, you'll have spent the same, less any scrap value, as you're talking about spending now.

MSE way is to get the clutch sorted, and move on - but I would definitely be getting prices for a clutch repair from some other garages.