These two lovely 2014 Ford Rangers came in today for their first annual services, due to the blockexemption law we can service the newest of vehicles without affecting their warranties.
Is servicing important on a new car?
The simple answer is yes, all new cars come from the show room with a PDI (pre delivery inspection check) but this is only a very simple check so basically your car has never been fully checked over since it left the production line! Also lubricants age with time and filters get full of all the dirt and contaminants that your engine produces.
Most new models also have teething problems and therefore require specific items to be checked on the annual services, for example Ford have sent a memo out about this particular model saying that the wheel nuts must be torqued to 136nm even if they have not been removed (and they all did need tightening!).
Servicing is expensive!
If you go to the dealers then Yes servicing can be expensive, but there are many independent garages out there like ourselves who offer the same quality of service if not better for a considerably lower price.
Can I trust an Independent Garage?
If you do your homework you can find plenty of trust worthy garages for example if you check our review page you will see some great reviews. I know what your thinking “anyone can put the best reviews on their website” that is why we have links to several independent review sites and urge new customers to check them first before letting us work on there cars.
Any questions about car or van servicing please don’t hesitate to give us a call on 01332 205070 or drop us an email to dave@aaronsautos.co.uk
This Honda Civic Type R came in to us to have a full steering and suspension checkover and then it was to have its geometry setup for fast road and slight track day use.
The first thing we did after checking all the components is to take measurements of the car as it was when it came into us so we can see what changes are needed.
The most obvious problems were the ride height and the lack of front camber, but after taking our measurements we could see that the rear tracking was toeing out by 4.5mm and the camber was not equal on both sides.
Once we had made all the necessary adjustment on the ride heights, camber and front and rear toe the car was ready for a simple road test to make sure all the adjustments had worked for the better.
The customer collected his car and took it for a spirited drive and later that day he sent us a message saying how much better the car felt.
If you are looking for a full geometry setup or just a 4 wheel alignment make sure the garage you are using know what they are doing, and have a full understanding about the adjustments they are making to your car.
If you would like more information or just some friendly advice give us a call on 01332 205070 or drop usan email to dave@aaronsautos.co.uk
Friday afternoon saw us driving over to Louth to compete in the Cadwell round of the 750 Motor Clubs ‘Roadsports’ series, after a couple of hours we arrived at the track and even managed to watch some of our competitors testing before we headed over to sign on. After signing on we had to get the car ready for scrutineering which as usual was no issue at all.
With the car all ready it was time for some dinner so after much discussion we decided to head into Skegness and see what it had to offer in the line of food and entertainment, the food was great and I even won £8 in the amusements. 🙂
Saturday morning and it was time to get ready for qualifying I was out first so it was my job to get the tyres warm and possibly put one fast lap in before handing over to Dave who should of been able to go for some quick laps, unfortunately due to another car breaking down and causing a dangerous obstruction at the pit lane entrance the marshals decided to cut the session short meaning Dave didn’t get to put a fast lap in meaning we qualified 17 out of 28 which was not good and meant we had a lot of work to do in the race.
Race time and it was raining, this is great news for us because it evens out the class considerably as the bigger faster rear wheel drive BMW’s, Mazda’s, etc can’t get their power down and are very twitchy in the corners.
Our game plan was Dave (rain god) to start and be in the top 8 (from 17th) by the end of the first lap and then I would go out and slowly hunt down the leaders and move up the pack to a podium finish.
The red lights went out and Dave launched the Clio from its starting point past several cars and then got blocked by two cars who had left a gap just wide enough for a Clio with NO mirrors to pass through (now I know why both mirrors were in when he pitted) it was a great move and by the time he came round to finish the first lap he was in 5th place, this was even better than we had expected, the next several laps saw Dave battling with Steve Hewson in his supercharged Peugeot 106 and the white Podium Prep Mini Cup Car, whilst he was trying to hold off the little Peugeot the Mini managed to sneak past the pair of them and got a clean getaway to chase the leaders.
Dave and the Peugeot were trading places up until it was time to pit, the Peugeot pitted on the lap before us so Dave had one clear lap to try and gain some time before coming in to let me have a go, pit stop time and due to our win at Donington we had a 10 second extra pit stop over the little Peugeot (10 seconds is a lot to make up in a race)
I went out (mirrors still bent in) knowing we were in a good position but not sure where exactly! so I concentrated on just doing fast consistent laps and pass anything that was in front of me, this must have worked as I managed to set fastest lap in class B.
Towards the end of my stint I was catching up with one of the bigger BMW’s (who I thought was class B but was actually A) and wanted to pass him thinking this could get us the podium we wanted after several laps of bumper to bumper racing IT happened!! second to last lap I changed up from second gear to third and there was just a crunchng and grinding noise from the gear box and I had no drive! I managed to coast into the pits but it was game over the box was completely shot!!
Once we got the car back to paddock and chatted about what had happened we found out that we were running 3rd in class and would of got a podium before the gear box failed!
We can’t complain really as we have been racing for 3 years and this is the first DNF.
Lastly we would like to say a massive thank you to our sponsors who help us to compete in these races.
This lovely E30 BMW came into us after its owner had finished a complete nut and bolt restoration for us to carry out a full geometry setup so that it could be used on both
the road and the track. The car is running BC Coilovers with bespoke springs to suit the car, stiffer anti roll bars, castor bushes on the front wishbones and adjustable top mounts.
After the customer had taken the car he soon let us know how different and more stable the car felt and was very pleased indeed.
Aarons Autos carry out work on a variety of vehicles from Race Cars to Transit Vans but the same attention to detail is used whatever the model, this has put us in good stead with our regular customers and helps us to grow our name.
The owner of this Mustang got to know Dave through the Cobra owners club and after looking at our website, seeing the kind of work we do and the great reviews we get from our customers any concerns he may of had about leaving his car with a garage he had never used before were gone and he was more than happy to let us work on his pride and joy, a Shelby GT500 Mustang Super Snake.
The Mustang was booked in for an upgraded SPEC clutch and flywheel kit to help the 660+ BHP super charged engine get its power to the tarmac. The SPEC kit is a heavy duty twin plate paddle clutch nearly twice the size of the genuine Ford unit fitted as standard and as well as being able to take the torque it looks good too.
Replacing the clutch and flywheel kit was reasonably straight forward, after removing the exhaust system and prop shaft it was a simple matter of a few ancillaries and then the bell housing bolts and the box was out revealing the old clutch unit. Once the new SPEC kit was fitted and aligned correctly it was time for the rebuild which again was pretty straight forward.
Whilst the Shelby was on the 2 post ramp we had to fit a set of rear brake pads before moving it over to the big 4 post ramp for a 4 wheel alignment.
After all of the work was completed Dave took the car for a road test to make sure everything worked as it should and then delivered the car back to one very happy customer.
Thanks Dave, Aaron for sorting my Shelby Mustang. I don’t recommend anyone lightly as it always seems to come back to me if things go wrong. I was well impressed with the work, price, timing and attention to detail, bringing my attention to other works (genuine!) needing doing and finally great communication.
I like to do what I can where I can on my cars and tend to flap a bit when someone else is hitting my pride and joy with a big hammer instead of me, but I felt very comfortable and confident.
Would definitely recommend and use you again 100% without doubt!
Aarons Autos are proud to sponsor Paul Ivens and his Alien green Scirocco in the VAG Trophy and VW Cup.
As some of you may know Paul started his racing with us a couple of years ago in the MSVR Track Day Trophy and then moved up to the MSVR Team Trophy with his team mate Adam Langeveld who due to work commitments cannot race this year. Paul had an opportunity to
race in the VAG Trophy and a couple of rounds in the VW Cup this year which he couldn’t resist.
After the first three races at Snetterton Paul is 2nd place in the championship taking a podium in his first race.
Hopefully next year Paul will be joining us in the 750 Motor Clubs Roadsports Series in his Clio Cup Race Car built by Aarons Autos, but for this year we would like to wish him luck for the rest of the season.
Upon arriving at Silverstone on Friday evening we managed to secure a garage with the guys from Podium Prep, so we unloaded the car locked up the trailer and headed over to our hotel for the night.
On the morning of the race we had a leisurely walk down to breakfast and a slow drive back to the track as we had already signed on and scutineered the car on Friday evening, a quick look around the car and a cheeky look at the weather forecast (praying for rain) and before we knew it was time for qualifying.
I (Aaron) went out first to qualify and managed to get a fairly respectable 1.10.9 but with 42 cars on such a short track there was a lot of traffic, driver change and time to see what Dave can do he was averaging 1.11’s and then put in a 1.10.8 which gave us a P21 out of 42! not bad but we reckon with better tyres we would have been in the 1.09’s but hey its budget racing 🙂
After a very in depth ‘Team Meeting’ we decided that Dave would start as he is known for his epic starts and I would go second as I am better at chasing places down later on in the race.
Race time, after a quick green flag lap it was time for lights out and the race was on, Dave made an awesome start taking about 10 place by the 3rd corner but unfortunately an MR2 had a spin straight in front of Dave causing him to run wide and give back several places but still running in 13th place from 21st on the 1st lap he had a great battle with Steve Hewson in his supercharged Peugeot 106 but couldn’t hold back the slightly faster french car, after a few more laps Dave stuck the clio up
the inside of a Capri (back marker i think) but the Capri decided not to leave enough racing room which ended in a a bit of wheel to door contact but nothing to drastic.
Pit stop time, and time to hand over to me, Dave told me the car felt great and to overtake anything in front of me, so out I went on the hunt it was very hard to tell which cars were back markers and which cars I was chasing (as the two way radio in my helmet was dead) so i tried to overtake everything in front of me and only letting past the front runners. On the last couple of laps i was batting with the Royal Air Force Mini and accidentally let the MR2 past which dropped us from 10th to 11th!
So we qualified 21st out of 42 and finished 11th which we were quite happy with as most of the top cars were much faster than ours.
Next round at Cadwell park so fingers crossed for a better result.
This Vauxhall Vivaro was recovered into us as a non starter, a quick plug-in with our diagnostic computer showed a timing issue. After a bit more diagnosis we discovered that the timing chain had snapped causing complete engine failure!
As this van had covered nearly 160,000 miles we decided it would be better to get a new low mileage engine rather than try and repair the old high mileage unit.
Removing the engine on these vans is quite a large job as you have to remove the complete front end and remove the engine and gearbox complete, once the engine was out it was time to inspect all of the ancillaries to make sure they would be ok for the new engine.
Once the new engine was fitted and all the necessary filters and fluids had been changed it was time for a long road test, once we were happy with the vans driving ability it was time for one final checkover on the ramp and then hand it back to the customer.
The owner of this Fisher Fury Kit Car found us through the internet after seeing that we build and maintain Race and Track Day cars and after a quick chat with us on the phone he was happy that we new our stuff and booked the car in. He had only recently purchased the car and wanted the suspension and geometry setting up correctly.
This car is quite a good example of how kit cars should be, with a bored out 2.1 Ford Pinto engine, throttle bodies with a bespoke carbon fibre intake and what looks like a full titanium exhaust system it makes to be a quick little weapon.
Once we had taken all the geometry measurements it was time to adjust the Camber which meant stripping the front and rear suspension several times to make the relevant adjustments to get it perfect, once the Camber was set we could then look at the Toe which was a simple job on the front but the rear required the lower suspension arms to be removed, adjusted and then refitted to be able to check again.
With the Geometry being completed it was time to carry out an MOT on the Fury, the only issues we could find on the MOT was a slight imbalance on the rear brakes and a blocked washer jet, so with a few brake adjustments and a clean out of the washer jets this Fisher Fury now has a fresh 12 Month MOT ready for some fun in the sun.
For more information on the Fisher Fury Kit Car you can visit their page at Fury Sports Cars Ltd
This week we had a Peugeot RCZ in with a terrible rattle coming from the timing chain area, after some diagnosis we confirmed it was the timing chain that was at fault (common problem).
The RCZ was a 2010 model with a good service history so the customer decided to get a second opinion from the local Peugeot Dealer as they thought a five year old car that had been looked after shouldn’t have this kind of problem!
The Peugeot Dealer carried out a diagnostic on the car and confirmed it was indeed the timing chain that was at fault and proceeded to give our customer a quote for the work to be carried out.
When they returned to the garage with the Dealers quote we put our own quote together and it was considerably cheaper than the Peugeot Dealers price. The RCZ was left with us to carry out the repair.
After stripping all the covers off of the engine to be able to see the timing chain and fit the timing chain locking tools, to our surprise the chain must have stretched quite significantly as the camshaft locking tool wouldn’t fit correctly until we slackened the pulley bolts!
Once the new timing chain kit was fitted and the engine was rebuilt it was time for a quick oil and filter change.
Now it was time to start the engine and see what difference the replacement parts had made, The engine sounded a lot quieter and seemed to run very smooth indeed.
the inside of a Capri (back marker i think) but the Capri decided not to leave enough racing room which ended in a a bit of wheel to door contact but nothing to drastic.
