Tag Archives: derby garage

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

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info

Fiat Ducato camper van radiator repair.

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

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Arrons Autos for more info

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Transit Van cross member on back order!

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.

Transit van repairs at Aarons Autos — Old v New.

A sheet of steel and a bit of patience and ‘voila’ a new cross member for the van.

WELDING AT AARONS AUTOS DERBY — 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.

Your friendly car garage in Derby

Give us a call at Aarons Autos for more info.

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.

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.

Audi A1 1.4 TFSI Timing Chain Fault.

This Audi A1 TFSI came into us with poor running, noisy and the engine management light was on! We carried out a diagnostic code read to find the reason for the EML light to be on which gave us several codes relating to an incoherence between the cam and crank shaft sensors.

The next step was to partially strip down the engine on the Audi to access the timing chain, once stripped we were able to see if the timing marks for the chain lined up with our specialist timing tools, then check for any signs of stretching or damage to the chain and gears.

In this case it was quite obvious, once the timing chain cover was removed we could see that the chain had stretched so much that even at full extension the chain tensioner couldn’t tension the chain, thus causing the timing marks to be miss aligned.

We sourced a new timing chain kit and tensioner for the A1 and fitted it making sure to check all timing marks were lined up as per factory settings, then rebuilt the engine using new gaskets, oil filter and some fresh oil.

After the rebuild we cleared all the existing codes relating to the timing issues and tested the engine which sounded nice and quiet compared to when it came in to the garage, the engine management light stayed out and all sensors read as they should.

Lastly we carried out a long road test before handing it back to a happy customer.

This seems to be a common fault on this 1.4 TFSI engine which is fitted across the VAG group of vehicles, VW, Audi, Seat and Skoda.

If you would like any more information give us a call on 01332 205070 or drop us an email at dave@aaronsautos.co.uk

A few Jobs from last week.

This beautiful Mercedes ML63 AMGcame in for a brake check after its owner had noticed the brake warning light had come on, after a quick strip down and report the customer gave us the go ahead to replace its MASSIVE front brake discs and pads and rear pads.

The front brake discs on this three tonne 500+ horse power beast are 395mm in diameter! to put that into context a ford focus has 270mm discs! The AMG also runs Brembo six pot callipers on the front for optimum braking.

The owner of this Scirocco R came to have his own lowering spings fitted as he wanted the car to sit lower.

There are Pro”s and Con’s to fitting lowering springs to a road car the Pro’s are –

Better handling (centre of gravity is lower and springs are generally slightly stiffer than OE)
Better looking (not everyone thinks so, but if your a petrol head they do)

The Con’s

Very hard drive (UK’s roads are not the best so you feel every bump and pot hole)
Can cause stress to other car parts (if it feels hard to you imagine how the car feels)
Speed bumps (self explanatory)

This BMW 325 Compact Track car came in for a quick Geometry check and adjust before its owners took it to Bedford Autodrome for their Track Day, the owners had fitted all the suspension components them selves and just wanted the alignment checking to make sure it didn’t kill tyres and they could get the optimum performance from their new kit.