Category Archives: workshop

Vauxhall Meriva rotten subframe found on service.

This 2008 low mileage Vauxhall Meriva came into us for servicing and as we checked the vehicle over we noticed some surface rust on the subframe. Rust is never a good thing so to make sure the subframe still had its integrity that it needs we tapped the rust and we was shocked at what happened.

Not only did a massive chunk of rust/subframe fall off but we found the structural integrity of the steering rack mounting was found to be seriously rotten and in need of immediate action.

Vauxhall Meriva surface rust turned out to be large hole

Vauxhall Meriva subframe steering rack mount rotten

MOT Failure!

We contacted the customer and they popped down so we could show them how serious the fault was and agree on a action plan to solve the issue. We always assess expensive repairs on older cars to make sure that it is financially viable to repair the car and in this case due to the overall good condition of the car and the low mileage it was agreed to replaced the subframe.

We sourced a new subframe from the local main dealer and replaced it, after finishing the service the customer was happy to get his car back all repaired and ready for many more years on the road.

Are Ebay car parts worth the risk?

As a rule car parts are becoming more and more expensive and we sometimes recommend either we or the customer tries and find alternatives on the internet, but after our recent issues we will only be recommending OE parts from our suppliers from now on.

The first instance was a ignition barrel on a 2012 Citroen Relay that had failed. Calling the main dealer for a replacement barrel you had to buy a complete lock kit and it was over 700 pounds. Trying to look after our customer we found one on Ebay and purchased it on there behalf at a very low price. 2 days after fitting the new ignition barrel it failed making us look bad and causing the customer issues.

We managed to find an alternative replacement via Fiat main dealer and the vehicle has been fine since.

”Buy cheap, buy twice”

The second instance was a Vauxhall Meriva subframe that had rotten through, We spoke to the main dealer and the part was over 500 pounds, So again trying to look after our customer we managed to source one from Ebay at half the price.

The new subframe arrived and at a glance looked all good but as we started to fit the lower wishbones we found the o/s/f wishbone was fouling with the subframe. After taking many measurements we found that the front wishbone mounting bracket had been incorrectly welded in the wrong place by 1 cm. After talking to the unhelpful seller the part was returned and a main dealer one purchased and fitted with no problems.

Incorrectly welded wishbone mounting on a Vauxhall Meriva subframe purchased from Ebay

Over the years personally we have purchased parts from the internet with no problems but we thought we would give you a insight to when things don’t go to plan and why we will not be buying cheap parts from the internet in the future.

As the old saying goes ‘Buy cheap buy twice’.

Vauxhall Corsa non start – fixed

This Vauxhall Corsa came into us with a report from a breakdown company that the catalytic converter had collapsed blocking the exhaust making it a non start. We quickly determined that the Cat was infact fine and not the cause. On trying to start the car it would run but backfire and would not rev correctly.

Next we removed the inlet manifold and on removal we found that the lower part had infact blow off. On speaking to the customer they reported that the car did make a loud bang before it would not start again.

Manifold split in half!

Damaged Vauxhall Corsa inlet manifold after blowing apart

Vauxhall Corsa inlet manifold blown apart

After sourcing a new inlet manifold we fitted it and cleared all the ecu codes and the car ran as it should leaving a happy customer.

Dual Mass Flywheel Failure!!

Do you know if your car has a Dual Mass Flywheel? Do you know what a Dual Mass Flywheel is? Here’s the basics.

A Dual Mass Flywheel is basically what it says, it’s a Flywheel in two parts (Dual). The two separate parts are allowed to rotate slightly to create dampening when you release the clutch and to reduce engine vibrations being passed through to the gearbox.

This is done by heavy duty springs in between the the two separate parts of the Flywheel which allow the slight movement.

However, with all moving parts, especially ones under stress they wear causing noises, vibrations and lastly drive line failure!

Vibrations or Rattling?

This was a Dual Mass Flywheel we replaced recently on a Citroen C5, as you can see from the pictures when the old Flywheel had failed it was allowing the clutch to sit off centre causing vibrations. Once the new Flywheel and Clutch Kit were fitted it sat central again.

Once replaced the car was road tested and all vibrations and noises had disappeared.

If you have any concerns about vibrations or noises feel free to give us a call on 01332 205070 and we would be happy to help.

Rapid Supercharged Mini & Stunning Triumph GT6.

The Aarons Autos family has a large width of knowledge ranging across many different makes and models of vehicles with all of us working in different areas of the motor trade through our careers, from dealerships to specialists, Master tech’s and even engineering.

This Width of knowledge helps us when we have to work on older vehicles as this was where we first fell in love with the motor trade. We cut our teeth rebuilding carburettors, replacing points and condensers and grew up with king pins and grease nipples.

With this in mind when customers ask if we can work on their pride and joy classic cars we can be confident in our abilities.

The owner of this Supercharged Mini rang us after purchasing the car for some road rally events and some hill climb events to see if we could check over the geometry and make a few adjustments. We made a few small adjustments and got the customer on his way.

The owner of this beautifully restored Triumph GT6 Mk3 contacted us to ask if we could set up the camber and toe of his triumph after its complete restoration. Carrying out the camber adjustment on the front of the Triumph is done by either adding or removing shims on the lower wishbones and rechecking until the desired camber is obtained, the toe adjustment is carried out the same as modern vehicles. The rear camber is not adjustable but the toe is, the toe is adjusted by using shims again to lengthen/shorten the trailing arm.

If you have a classic car or even a modern classic and have any problems give us a call to see if we can help you on 01332 205070

Air Conditioning service and repair.

We may not have Air Conditioning in the garage but we do try and make it more comfortable for our mechanics Adam and Sean on hot days like today. Remember we service and repair vehicle Air Conditioning. Our Air Conditioning service is £84.00 inc vat and includes gas up to a extra 500 grams top up, give us a call today on 01332 205070.

Illegal Part Worn Tyres, Is It Worth It?

Four garages found selling illegal and dangerous part-worn tyres, Nearly all (97 per cent) of the part-worn tyres were found to have defects

Motorists are still being duped into buying dangerous and illegal tyres. Image: Bigstock.

Trading standards officers have found a number of garages across the East Riding of Yorkshire to be selling dangerous part-worn tyres to the public.

Investigators from East Riding Council visited four garages selling part-worn tyres in Bridlington, Beverley and Market Weighton.

After officers seized two tyres from one garage, an examination revealed they were unsafe for sale and had become degraded due to how old they were.

Unsafe, serious defects

Both tyres were discovered to have exposed cords which could have resulted in immediate catastrophic failure had they been fitted to a vehicle.

One of the tyres was also believed to be around 28-years-old.

Following a Yorkshire and Humber-wide survey, organised by the Office for Product Safety and Standards, 97 per cent of all part worn tyres examined were found to have some type of defect, with 45 per cent found to have defects so serious they were condemned immediately as unsafe.

Catastrophic consequences

Colin Briggs, trading standards manager at East Riding Council, said: “As tyres are the only part of a car that is in contact with the road surface, their integrity and roadworthiness is of the utmost importance.

“Any faults of defects could have catastrophic consequences, such as the driver losing control of the vehicle, not only risking their life, but the lives of any passengers in the car as well as other road users.

Consumers being put at risk

“Our investigations, together with those from around the Yorkshire and Humber region, should act as a stark reminder to anyone thinking about buying second-hand tyres.

“The findings suggest some sectors of the trade have developed bad practices which could be putting customers at risk.

“Consumers may feel that they can get a bargain by buying second-hand tyres, or some consumers may not have any other choice, but irrespective of that, they have the right to demand the products they buy are safe and legal.”

Volkswagen Transporter Broken Springs.

This lowered VW Transporter came into us with noisy front suspension when turning.

After a quick inspection on the ramp it was quite obvious that the cause of the noise was the broken front springs.

The customer had brought the VW with the lowering springs already fitted and wanted it restoring to original height for a more comfortable drive, this meant replacing all four springs with original length springs.

Once we had replaced all four springs the van was then taken for a road test and drove as it should with no rattles or bangs then was handed back to one happy customer.

Broken coil springs can be very dangerous, they can cause tyres to blow out, wheels to jam up inside the wheel arch and are also an MOT failure so if you think your car doesn’t sit right or you can hear a noise from your suspension get it checked out before it gets worse.

Lease Car / PCH Car Servicing.

When you are looking at leasing a car there are many things to consider, one of the most important of those is cost!

So you have bartered with the sales rep to get the best price for your new lease car and now you know how much the monthly costs will be, but then most dealers or lease companies will try to tie you into a service plan with them to increase there profits on the sale.

Most lease cars either on Business Contract or Personal Contract do NOT have to be serviced at the main dealer, you can find this information out by contacting your lease company or checking your lease contract.

There is a law which stops main dealers forcing customers to use their services and as long as the car is serviced to the same specified schedule and genuine or OE parts are used it will not affect your warranty or your lease contract, this law is called ‘Block Exemption‘.

When it comes to cost an independent garage is on average 30-50% cheaper than the main dealer, so over a three year lease period you could save quite a bit of money.

If you are interested in finding out more about lease car servicing give us a call on 01332 205070 or drop us an email to dave@aaronsautos.co.uk

New Race Car Testing.

As some of you may know we decided sell our beloved Clio Cup race car and move up to a Honda Type R which will make us able to race in higher class’s.

Over the last few months we have been testing the car to make sure it doesn’t have any issues and for us to get some well needed seat time to get used to the new car, many thanks to Chris from Circuit Days for the track time and his input into how the car handled.

The first test day was at Donington Park which is our local circuit and would be good to see how it compared to the old Clio, after the test day we realised that in general the car was very good but the suspension seemed a bit to soft for how we wanted the car to handle.

After doing plenty of home work we opted for the Yellow Speed Racing coil overs (as used in the Civic Cup) with bespoke spring rates, we managed to get the kit fitted and setup before our second test day which was to be at Rockingham Race Way.

The test day at Rockingham was a great success, the new suspension had transformed the car into exactly what we wanted, the car was now planted, balanced and very controllable, we even managed to get a few laps with one of the cars we will be racing against next year and realised that even though the car was more than capable of keeping up we needed more seat time!

Our third and final test day of 2018 was at Oulton Park and it was wet, ideally we wanted a dry day to see if our times were good but we also new we needed to test in the wet so it wasn’t all bad, with our wet tyres on the car handled brilliantly and we were getting more and more confident as the day went on.

In the afternoon the rain had died off and there was a dry line appearing on the track so we decided to try our dry tyres to see how it would handle on a drying track, the car behaved in general but was a little twitchy on the back end which was to be expected.

In conclusion we are very happy with car and have managed to get it to a point where we are happy to race it.

Now for the strip down over winter and over to the bodyshop for our new paint scheme for next year, stay tuned for more updates.