January ride out from Ashbourne towards Pikehall but due to one of the riders having a fall in a brook crossing and getting drenched we decided to call it a day.
Rider and bike were all ok (smokey exhaust for a few miles) but we still had to make fun of him falling in though – watch the video till the end to see what I mean.
We wanted to be able to ride from Ashbourne to the Yonderman Cafe (above Buxton) without having to use the main roads.
Our customer brought his Ford Transit Custom to us with the clutch pedal a lot higher than it should be but the biting point was still ok?
A lot of cars and vans have a ‘stop’ for the clutch pedal in the form of a bracket or a rubber but in the case of the Transit Custom it is built into the Clutch Master Cylinder itself.
Once we had removed the Master Cylinder we could see that the operating arm inside had broken allowing the return spring to make the pedal sit high.
When we replaced the clutch master cylinder and bled the hydraulic system we could see the pedal was now sitting in its correct position and felt a lot more natural to drive.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
This Ford Transit was recovered into us after breaking down on the M5, the customer said he suddenly lost all power and pulled into a laybuy.
After a quick investigation it was very apparent that the van had no compression and we suspected the wet belt had failed causing the crank shaft to keep turning without the cam shafts which has caused internal damage.
We removed the front end of the van including head lamps, radiator and bumper to allow easy access to the wet belt cover.
Once we removed the cover we could see that the wet belt had indeed failed, several teeth were missing from the belt which had allowed the crank and cam shafts to turn separately and caused piston and valve contact.
With a quick inspection of the damaged parts we decided it would be cheaper for the customer to fit a reconditioned engine than for us to repair his damaged engine.
Ford are aware of the premature failure of their Wet Belts which on this model were due at 150,000 miles or 10 years but as far as we are aware they are offering no help if the vehicle is out of warranty.
When the new engine arrived we started swapping all auxiliary parts from the old engine to the new engine carefully inspecting for damage or wear in the process, all gaskets and seals were replaced at the same time.
With the engine and gearbox built up it was time to refit them into the van and get to a stage where we can run the engine and test for any leaks or blows before refitting the front end.
Starting an engine after such a big job is always an intense feeling no matter how confident you are, but after checking and double checking we were happy with our work and we turned the key…….. and voila, life.
We left the engine running for some time to allow the oil and coolant to get up to temperature and so we could check for any problems.
All good so time to refit the front end and road test, after the road test we recheck all levels and hand back to the customer.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
This Ford Transit 2.0 EcoBlue TDCI came into us with a complaint of excessive oil leaks, high crankcase pressure and intermittent white smoking.
When you removed the oil filler cap there was an excessive amount of pressure and white smoke coming from inside the rocker cover and also from the breather pipe going to the inlet pipe.
On this Puma engine to be able to remove the rocker cover you must first remove the diesel injectors and when we did the problem became apparent.
what had been happening was that the injector to cylinder head copper sealing washers had failed and was allowing the combustion gases to enter the engine which was causing the high crankcase pressure.
The high crankcase pressure is also what we believe was causing all the oil leaks on the engine, the engine was trying to find the easiest way to relieve the pressure, either a weak seal or weak gasket would allow the engine to release pressure and oil hence ‘oil leak’
With the injectors removed we removed the old copper seals and cleaned the body of the injectors using a wire wheel, making sure not to touch the tip of the injector as modern injector nozzle holes are so fine any attempt to clean them normally causes damage.
Using an injector seat cutting tool we cleaned the sealing base of the injector and also cleaned the injector holes in the cylinder head making sure to blow out any excess aluminium that the cutting tool may have left in the injector holes.
Using a new rocker cover gasket and injector sealing washers (copper) we refitted the injectors making sure to also replace the injector clamp bolts as they are a one time use stretch bolt that require torquing to a specific setting when fitted.
Once rebuilt we started the engine and gave it a few minutes to settle due to having the injectors removed, and instantly we could see by removing the oil filler cap that there was now very little crankcase pressure and no sign of white smoke.
After a long road test the vehicle was returned to the garage to have a final check over for any signs of leaks and for an oil and filter change as the oil would have been contaminated with diesel and carbon deposits from the injectors which had been blowing past and then returned to its owner.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
This Mercedes A200d with the 2.1 diesel engine came into us for a Diagnostic Code Read because its EML (Engine Management Light) was on.
The Codes were –
After checking some of the live data we decided to remove the EGR pipe to have a look inside the intake system, the system was full of carbon build up which was causing blockages.
After speaking to the customer we found that he only uses the car for short journeys and it very rarely gets a long run.
We are seeing this as a weekly occurrence at the moment, modern diesel engines are not designed for lots of short journeys they are more designed for long distance commuting.
When a modern diesel engine is driven on a long journey it carries out a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) regeneration which basically means it cleans out the exhaust system of carbon and soot build up, the same carbon and soot is found in the engine and long journeys help to clean that too.
Once we had cleaned out the intake and EGR system we cleared all stored engine codes and took the Mercedes for a long road test, upon return we carried out another Diagnostic code read and none of the codes had returned and all live data was reading correctly.
The car was given back to its owner and we also advised him to go on at least one long drive per week or the car would be back to us with the same fault.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
This Audi TT was brought into the Garage with its Engine Management Light (EML) on, after carrying a Diagnostic Code Read we could see numerous codes in its ecu the main one for us was P00b7 which related to poor coolant flow!
When checking the live data we could see that the engine coolant temperature sensor was reading at over 100 degrees whilst the radiator temperature sensor was at a stable 40/45 degrees even after a road test.
The cooling system on this car is controlled by an electronic thermostat which is built into the back of the water pump housing located under the inlet manifold.
To access the water pump housing we removed the inlet manifold for ease, once the manifold was off we removed the water pump and housing for inspection.
When we removed the cover off the electronic thermostat we could see that the gear on the operating motor had broken off meaning that it couldn’t open the thermostat.
Using genuine Audi parts we replaced the water pump and water pump housing along with its drive belt then rebuilt the engine so that we could retest for operation.
After running the engine up to temperature we rechecked our live data, the engine temperature sensor was now reaching 98 degrees and then dropping as the thermostat opened and we could see the radiator temperature increase too.
Once the car had been road tested and rechecked for leaks it was handed back to its owner.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
This Audi A5 was brought into us barely running by a customer for our diagnosis.
We had to push the car into the Garage as it would no longer start! Firstly we carried out a diagnostic code read to see if that would point us in the right direction but there were lots of codes stored and it was hard to know what were old codes and which were relevant codes, however there was a code for ‘Camshaft and Crankshaft Incoherence‘ which normally means the timing chain has jumped teeth.
We decided to carry out a compression test before stripping the engine completely, the compression’s were all low but were similar across all four cylinders.
Once we had removed the front bumper, head lights, radiator and other ancillaries we could now access the timing chain cover. Time to remove the covers and see if the timing is out.
The timing was at least three teeth out on the exhaust camshaft which is more than enough to stop the car running and lucky enough not to cause any serious internal damage.
We check the timing using specific timing kits as shown below.
This car also has two balance shafts which are ran by a separate timing chain which is also replaced as part of this job.
We need to lock both camshafts and the crankshaft into their timed positions using the timing tools before we start fitting the new guides and chain, once the chain is fitted we can release the new tensioner’s and remove any slack out of the chain.
Now we rebuild the engine using new gaskets where required until it is in a position to be turned over by hand, turn the engine twice by hand and recheck the timing marks all ok.
Next we replaced the oil and filter before building up the front end of the car (just in case we need to strip it again).
Time to start the engine, I don’t care how long you have been in this trade it is still a scary time when you first turn that key on a rebuilt engine!
But, first turn and it fired up and ran perfectly.
Now time to rebuild the front end top up coolant levels and road test, the engine ran beautifully and was returned to a happy customer.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
Over the last couple of years we have seen a large increase in jobs being cancelled last minute by customers and also not turning up for their appointment on the day.
This in turn has a major affect on the day to day running of our workshop as we allocate jobs to our technicians based on Labour times to maximize the efficiency of our workshop.
When a Labour intensive job doesn’t show up for example a Clutch or a Cambelt the technician that was booked to carry out that job has no work and not only is that a cost to the workshop but it also affects other customers that are waiting to book in for work as they could have used that slot.
Going forward we have made the decision to take a £50 deposit for all jobs that are expected to take over two hours which will only be refundable if the job is cancelled at least 48 hours before its booking slot.
This will allow us to book in other customers who are waiting for our Services.
We understand sometimes it is out of your control and you have to cancel but we hope you understand our position, this is a hard time for all small business’s.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.
The Ford Transit is probably one of the most common vans seen on the road today and is championed by tradesmen and delivery drivers up and down the country.
With the latest edition to the Transit range the 2.0 EcoBlue TDCI you get a Timing Belt in replacement of the old Timing Chain which Ford recommend to be replaced at 150,000 miles or ten years.
What we are seeing in the trade though is timing belt failures well before either the 150,000 mile interval or the ten year time frame.
We are recommending customers to get theirs changed around 60,000 miles or five years to prevent the chance of failure and a hefty bill for un-necessary engine repairs caused by the failure.
Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.