Jon's SportKa type thread thing

[Jondot]

You won't ruin disks that easily.

The last problem sounds like a wheel bearing. Jack up the front and spin each wheel round. If it goes all grindy on one, wheel bearing. Also grab the wheel top and bottom and wobble it in that direction. It shouldn't wobble at all - if it does, wheel bearing.

Righto, I shall do when I get a chance.

As for the brakes, they've mysteriously shut up. So either they've magically fixed themselves or I was imagining it. The disks certainly looked fine too, so I think everything's ok.

 

[PureAwesomeness]

You won't ruin disks that easily.

The last problem sounds like a wheel bearing. Jack up the front and spin each wheel round. If it goes all grindy on one, wheel bearing. Also grab the wheel top and bottom and wobble it in that direction. It shouldn't wobble at all - if it does, wheel bearing.

This isn't strictly on-topic but Famine's spelling of disk with a 'k' got me wondering. When talking about brakes, disc with a 'c' is usually the preferred spelling yet when we talk of computers 'k' seems more common. Anyone know why?

 

[TheCracker]

This isn't strictly on-topic but Famine's spelling of disk with a 'k' got me wondering. When talking about brakes, disc with a 'c' is usually the preferred spelling yet when we talk of computers 'k' seems more common. Anyone know why?

Disc is the English spelling. Disk is the Americanized version and is generally therefore mostly used in computing.

 

[Jondot]

Rooiiight, finally had the chance to jack 'er up and have a wiggle. There's absolutely no play (or certainly not enough that I dared explore while it was on its teeny emergency jack), but there is plenty of lovely grinding on both sides. However, I reckon that's more to do with the discs and pads which are well overdue for replacement:

Note the lovely lips top and bottom. Anyway, I'll be off to the main dealer and/or somewhere that's not KwikFit later so they can sort it aaaaat along with a few other bits and pieces.

 

[MatskiMonk]

This isn't strictly on-topic but Famine's spelling of disk with a 'k' got me wondering. When talking about brakes, disc with a 'c' is usually the preferred spelling yet when we talk of computers 'k' seems more common. Anyone know why?

Not sure about brakes, but I heard that in computing if it's magnetic its K, if its optical its C ...

 

[ExigeEvan]

I can't see a lip

Personally they just look rusty. It could be it's stood long enough that the rest has got deep into the metal. But just to make sure it's not surface rust take it out to a nice quiet road (or large deserted car park) and give the brake I nice big stomp from about 30mph. Works for me.

 

[Jondot]

Oh trust me, it doesn't stand for long Although the surface rust is probably because I washed it the other day. I was planning on taking it out later and doing exactly that, as it happens. Although mostly to check whether or not it's stopping as it should be (I did an emergency stop a few weeks ago and it wasn't quite as swift as it should have been).

Anywho, it's booked in at tiny-yet-reputable place for monday. No doubt I'll have to sort a service out shortly after (it's done 10k since the last not-sure-if-they-actually-did-one was done).

 

[homeforsummer]

Those discs look a hell of a lot better than mine do at the moment. Mine are about twice as rusty and the vented bits at the top are looking particularly second hand...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Those discs look a hell of a lot better than mine do at the moment. Mine are about twice as rusty and the vented bits at the top are looking particularly second hand...

That's what I was thinking, maybe it's just the angle but my discs had a clear lip when they were due replacing.

Jon, did the car sit before you bought it?

 

[Jondot]

It did presumably sit for a while (on the forecourt), but it's been driven pretty much every day since then. Hell I've done 10,000 miles in 6 months.

The lip is actually fairly visible (or it is when it's not horribly rusty). Perhaps they can last a bit longer, but they do make a fair racket. Pads are probably long gone or something.

Slightly better photos:

 

[homeforsummer]

I still win:

The only reason they don't look worse is because I drove around for a bit the other day slowly skimming off the top layer of rust Definitely getting them done soon.

But yeah, yours should be okay for the time being. If you have the dosh to get them changed then do so by all means, but I wouldn't call it imperative.

 

[Jondot]

A wee update.

Ka went in to a local garage on monday, and they were unable to procure the evil groaning noise. However, they did give it a service and on my invoice there's a note about the power steering fluid being black (and therefore having been changed). Now I did a bit of interweb searching today (having just driven it and heard what sounded like the beginnings of said mystery groan again), and people seem to have varying opinions on what exactly black p/s fluid is caused by - varying from the power steering pump being screwed to a simple 'it's old fluid'.

Now question: is this remotely likely to be related?


Oh and HFS and Ev were right - apparently disks and pads were half worn, so they've stayed.

 

[homeforsummer]

Is the power-steering resevoir accessible? Might be worth checking there's no leak, and no way of outside contaminants getting into the system.

Other than that, it could well just be old fluid. I'm relatively new to power steering (the Fiesta didn't have any) so I can't offer too much more than that.

I thought the brakes were okay then. Mine are starting to smell when I brake from higher speeds. Definitely need changing soon...

 

[Jondot]

WAAAAA IT'S MAKING NOISES AGAIN!

Got in it this morning, drove down the road and on reaching about 30 the front driver's side wheel started making a sort of intermittent dull (but loud) grindish noise. Stopped below about 25, but continued when I went around a roundabout. Sounded just like a flat tire, in fact. But it's not. All perfectly inflated. My guess is wheel bearing. Famine threw the suggestion out there a while ago for another problem, and from what I can Google it seems like a possibility.

Question is chaps... what now (or rather tomorrow)? Am I going to damage it further by driving all the way down to the main dealer, or shall I get a nice AA man to come and fiddle about with it and then take me down there? Incidentally I'm on their package that gives me a courtesy car, so I suppose I might as well use it. I just feel a bit pathetic phoning them for what's essentially a funny noise coming from a car made of tinfoil.

EDIT

Mysteriously stopped now, but I did find a longish strip of plastic stuck to the bottom of the tyre - what looks like the plastic strapping those claims direct people get worked up about. Probably just that. Crisis averted.

Now who can I sue...

 

[ExigeEvan]

Yeah probably the bit of plastic. I've had something similair before, think it was a piece of paper!

 

[Jondot]

Mmmm, me again.

Ka went for its annual service last week from the main stealer, and while none of them could find the source of the evil groaning/grinding noise it's been making for... a year and a half now, I did get a phone call to inform me that 'Everything's fine, except the 2 front wheels are buckled'. He then informed me that if I wanted them replaced (which in his view I did) it'd be £168. Each. Plus VAT.

So a total of nearly £400 then. Mmm, thanks but no thanks.

What I'm basically wondering is... will driving around on two slightly bent out of shape wheels have any detrimental effect on the rest of the car? Mr Ford Dealer wasn't very helpful beyond saying 'well it'll make things vibrate at certain speeds'.

As far as I can establish we're talking very slightly buckled if anything - I did 250 miles in it yesterday and didn't notice anything unusual. However, while I was stuck in traffic on perhaps the smoothest bit of road in history I did notice that it was picking up bumps that simply weren't there - we're talking at less than 10mph, as it all seems to sort its self out much beyond that.

Any thoughts?

 

[Famine]

It'll take a few weights, but a wheel balancing can mask a rugby-ball wheel. Ellie's rear-left was perpetually testicular, rather than round.

 

[C-ZETA]

Well if you're getting some bumps in the car you'll definitely wanna check the suspension maybe. And if the wheels are only slightly buckled it won't make a massive difference, but if the damage gets bigger you'll have to watch out for what happens to the tyres then.

 

[Jondot]

Interesting. I'll keep an eye on it, but it sounds like it's nothing majorly worrying then.

Thanks muchly

 

[ExigeEvan]

Mmmm, me again.

Ka went for its annual service last week from the main stealer, and while none of them could find the source of the evil groaning/grinding noise it's been making for... a year and a half now,

CV joints? Do as Famine told me to do, park your car up at full lock, look behind the wheel for any muck and grease coming from the drive shaft joining towards the wheel. My front driver's side is on the way out, the garage supposedly re-greased and resealed it at last MOT but I'm not convinced.

I did get a phone call to inform me that 'Everything's fine, except the 2 front wheels are buckled'. He then informed me that if I wanted them replaced (which in his view I did) it'd be £168. Each. Plus VAT.

So a total of nearly £400 then. Mmm, thanks but no thanks.

What I'm basically wondering is... will driving around on two slightly bent out of shape wheels have any detrimental effect on the rest of the car? Mr Ford Dealer wasn't very helpful beyond saying 'well it'll make things vibrate at certain speeds'.

As far as I can establish we're talking very slightly buckled if anything - I did 250 miles in it yesterday and didn't notice anything unusual. However, while I was stuck in traffic on perhaps the smoothest bit of road in history I did notice that it was picking up bumps that simply weren't there - we're talking at less than 10mph, as it all seems to sort its self out much beyond that.

Any thoughts?

Get it balanced and it should be okay. But what you'll find is it you will notice vibrations are something like 10, 25 and 40 perhaps. As long as you can adjust your speed slightly to get out of that "pocket" you won't notice it.

 

[Jondot]

CV joints? Do as Famine told me to do, park your car up at full lock, look behind the wheel for any muck and grease coming from the drive shaft joining towards the wheel. My front driver's side is on the way out, the garage supposedly re-greased and resealed it at last MOT but I'm not convinced.

Righto, shall do when I get the opportunity. FYI it doesn't make it consistently, nor at full lock - it seems to be when I drive perhaps 3/4 of the lock to the left, and only with a passenger on board or down a slight incline onto the road (say leaving a driveway). And there's no sign of anything visibly rubbing, it's all a bit weird... Oh well.

 

[ExigeEvan]

Righto, shall do when I get the opportunity. FYI it doesn't make it consistently, nor at full lock - it seems to be when I drive perhaps 3/4 of the lock to the left, and only with a passenger on board or down a slight incline onto the road (say leaving a driveway). And there's no sign of anything visibly rubbing, it's all a bit weird... Oh well.

Mine doesn't click at lock either, and that's why the bellend at the local garage fixed the (and still) leaking power steering hose. But then the MOT month later and they replaced the gasket which I had pointed out to them after they'd already done the power steering.

 

[Jondot]

So, fun new issue today!

It's currently stuck outside Spar, refusing to start. Starter motor was just making a nice clicking sound and not even attempting to crank the engine, now it's doing a sort of... strangled duck noise. A loud one, at that. Also worth mentioning that it did a similar thing a week or so ago, and I've managed to fix it by starting with the clutch depressed since then. That method no longer works.

AA aren't going to be phoned until tomorrow (since nowhere's open for them to take it to), but any ideas until then? New starter motor, we think?

 

[homeforsummer]

AA aren't going to be phoned until tomorrow (since nowhere's open for them to take it to), but any ideas until then? New starter motor, we think?

If it's anything like when the started in my Fiesta was making an identical clicking noise, it could well be that your battery is discharging somehow and it can't scrape together enough power for the starter to crank the engine.

Mine did it because I drained the battery by accident leaving the lights on. Depending on how long you left it outside Spar, doing something similar would have been enough to drain the battery. If not, then your alternator could be knackered and starting it this time was the straw breaking the camel's back, and you now have little enough charge to power the starter.

Starting with the clutch depressed worked before because there's less load on the starter, less power needed to turn it. It sounds like you no longer have enough power to turn a blender...

 

[Keef]

Take the battery out, take it to an auto parts store, and have them test it. It might be done for. Often it will have enough power to turn on lights and whatnot, but not enough power to engage the starter and turn the engine over (which requires a lot of power). Based on the fact that your car is tiny to begin with, the battery is probably a pitiful little thing and quite fragile in terms of its lifespan and load cycle.

 

[Jondot]

If it's anything like when the started in my Fiesta was making an identical clicking noise, it could well be that your battery is discharging somehow and it can't scrape together enough power for the starter to crank the engine.

Mine did it because I drained the battery by accident leaving the lights on. Depending on how long you left it outside Spar, doing something similar would have been enough to drain the battery. If not, then your alternator could be knackered and starting it this time was the straw breaking the camel's back, and you now have little enough charge to power the starter.

Starting with the clutch depressed worked before because there's less load on the starter, less power needed to turn it. It sounds like you no longer have enough power to turn a blender...

Ahh well funny you should mention that, as I've had it not start before due to a flat battery and it was a completely different noise. The dials flickered around like they were having a fit, and the engine did at least try to start to begin with. This though, bit different. Dials do nothing, engine doesn't even let out a cough. Just makes - as I say - strangled duck noise now.

But we'll see. It'd be nice if it was a flat battery, the one in there happens to have a warranty attached (already on my 2nd). Or alternator actually, at least that's at the front where I can hit it with a hammer.

 

[ExigeEvan]

I'd join the battery line of enquiry, with a second check at the alternator. Both should be relatively inexpensive fixes (I had battery, alternator and starter motor for £109 all in when mine packed in).

 

[Punknoodle]

I'd say it'd be the battery too, although it COULD be the starter. If the solenoid is still working there may be a burn out point on the armature, hitting it with a hammer or rocking the car back and forth whilst in gear may move the armature to a different point where there is no burn out point on it so it can start. Sometimes there is enough charge in the battery to keep the solenoid in place (so it only clicks once), sometimes just holding the solenoid is too much, so it goes on off on off (you hear a clicking noise and you dials flap around).

Luckily it's easy to diagnose, just put a load tester on the battery. If that's fine, time to get dirty and remove the starter motor.

 

[Jondot]

hitting it with a hammer or rocking the car back and forth whilst in gear may move the armature to a different point where there is no burn out point on it so it can start

Ahhh, interesting that you'd say that - the rocking trick is what my friend's dad suggested when it did it outside her house the other day, and my neighbour and I went down earlier with a mallet in the hope of giving it a whack. Typically we couldn't actually find it, of course.

Anyway, fanks all - I'll post again tomorrow when it's all figured out (in theory).

 

[Jondot]

Right, who had bets on the starter motor?

Nice AA man came and confirmed it, before promptly bump starting me (which, according to the manual, Ford don't like you doing but there we go...) and sending me on my way. Should have a new one fitted by wednesday. Crisis averted.