The customer of this 2007 Renault Laguna came into us with a complaint that there was a knock from the back of the car when he went over bumps or potholes.
We raised the vehicle and it became apparent that the rear axle bushes had split and separated causing the rear axle to move and hit the chassis when going over bumps.
Renault Laguna rear bush split and middle separated.
Once we removed the rear axle from the vehicle we could gain access to the bushes and replaced them both.
Renault Laguna rear axle removed ready for new bush installation.
Renault Laguna new rear axle bush fitted.
The rear axle bushes were both replaced and with the rear axle refitted we road tested the vehicle and all the knocking had been cured.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
This Honda Civic Type R EP3 came into us after the customer had been cleaning and under sealing his car and came across a couple of small holes in the floor.
We inspected the holes and it soon became apparent the small holes were in-fact massive holes stretching the length of the floor pan on both sides.
Honda Civic Type R floor pan rusted through.
After finding good metal we started to weld plates in.
Plate welded in ready to be under sealed.
Whilst checking we also found holes in the rear wheel arches which is another common place for the Honda Civic Type R EP3 to rust so both were repaired and under sealed.
Honda Civic Type R EP3 rear wheel arch rusted through.
Repair panel made and welded into place then undersealed.
All repairs were completed and now the Honda Civic Type R EP3 can enjoy many more years on the road instead of going to the scrap yard in the sky.
We do all Types of welding on all makes and models.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
Our customer gave us a call as there 2015 Peugeot Expert 2.0 HDI oil light, stop light and engine light had illuminated on his dashboard and the engine sounded really noisy.
We started the van and immediately it was apparent that there was a major oil pressure issue. As we service the van we knew the correct oil and filter had been used so we did a oil pressure test to measure the pressure of the oil that was circulating the engine.
The oil pressure was only 1 bar when it was supposed to be 4.2 bar so we knew there was a problem with the oil pump, after speaking with the customer it was decided to strip the engine to gain access to the oil pump.
Oil pump failure Peugeot 2.0 HDI.
We removed the sump pan and lower engine sandwich plate to gain access to the oil pump and removed it so a visual inspection could take place.
Oil pump vain failure Peugeot 2.0 HDI.
Once the oil pump was stripped it was found that the main vain in the pump had shattered and only half of it remained which caused the low oil pressure.
Oil pump shaft damage Peugeot 2.0 HDI.
We cleaned out the oil ways and replaced the oil pump then performed 2 oil and filter changes 200 miles apart to make sure no remnants of the oil pump metal remained in the engine.
Always remember if your oil light comes on pull over and stop your engine immediately as damaged will be caused if you do not.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
This little Citroen C2 came in for MOT but unfortunately failed on corrosion around both rear sills. Once we had removed the side skirts we could see that the corrosion had been there for quite a while but had been hidden by the skirts.
The welding process
Find good metal to weld to!
When welding for an MOT we need to find good metal to weld to, this might sound obvious but it means that what looks like a small hole of say a couple of centimeters might end up being a 30cm plate due to the metal around the hole being corroded and thin and not suitable for welding.
In the case of this VTS we had to make plates for the inner and outer sill to bring it back to its original strength. After all the welding was completed it was just a matter of under sealing the welds and metal work then refit the side skirts and carry out an MOT retest.
A Happy Customer
Then hand the car back to its happy customer to enjoy another twelve months motoring.
The owner of this vehicle had taken his car to another garage for a air conditioning service but they could not complete the work as there machine had detected a leak but they didn’t have leak detection tool.
At Aarons Autos we have a nitrogen gas leak test kit that fills the system with nitrogen which is not harmful to the environment when released into the air.
Front end stripped down to find leak and then removal of the air conditioning condenser.
We used the air conditioning leak detection kit and with the gas escaping we pinpointed the leak to the air conditioning condenser behind the intercooler. We informed the customer of the air conditioning leak test result and after a estimated repair cost they gave us the go ahead to replace the air conditioning condenser.
Damaged air conditioning condenser.
New air conditioning condenser fitted.
After replacing the air conditioning condenser we performed another leak test and the system held gas as it should with no leaks detected.
We do air conditioning servicing, leak tests and repairs.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
Vauxhall Corsa oil in coolant and timing chain noisy.
This Vauxhall Corsa came into the garage after the owner had notice that the coolant was being contaminated with oil. Whilst we were looking into the problem we also noticed the timing chain was very noisy and with no visible problems we informed the customer that we would need to strip the timing side of the engine to investigate the problem.
Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket failure.
On stripping the timing chain side of the engine both problems were quickly diagnosed. We found that the gasket separating the oil from the coolant behind the timing chain cover had failed letting the two mix together, also when the timing tools were inserted the timing chain was found to be stretched which was causing the rattling noise.
Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket (in black) failed.
Vauxhall Corsa timing chain gasket failure close up.
We replaced the timing chain, guides, sprockets and gasket then flushed the cooling system to remove any remaining oil from the system. After performing a intrim service and a full anti freeze change the Vauxhall Corsa engine was nice and quite and the oil was no longer mixing with the coolant.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
This Fiat Ducato camper van came into us after the customer complained that they had noticed a pink fluid leaking from around the front of the vehicle.
Fiat Ducato Camper van
We checked around the engine bay of the camper van and could see pink staining around the radiator indicating that there may be a leak. We used our coolant pressure tester and entered pressure into the cooling system and the leak from the radiator became apparent.
Fiat Ducato camper van radiator leaking
On removal of the radiator you could see where the radiator had failed and the coolant was leaking from.
Fiat Ducato camper van radiator damage
We replaced the radiator and filled with new anti freeze, the camper van was ready once again for many camping holidays.
Camper van, large van, small van service and repairs.
Aarons Autos is the best car servicing garage in the world
What do you do when a van that has failed an MOT on a rear cross member being excessively corroded (not much left at all) and requires a new one only to find the Dealers are on inevitable back order and non of the motor factors list the part?
Well, in our case we make one.
Old v New.
A sheet of steel and a bit of patience and ‘voila’ a new cross member for the van.
New beam in place.
Once welded in place its just a matter of sealing and painting the new cross member and its a job well done.
If your car or van fails an MOT on welding don’t hesitate to give us a call for a quote.
Aarons Autos for all your car or van requirements.
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.
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.
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.
Vauxhall corsa 2011 non start
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.
