The Voices

I think the one I bought came from either Lidl or Aldi, just need to get round to putting it together !

Andy was unable to do anything before he went on holiday, did not want to pull it in bits and then not have time to re-assemble before he left.

Had to nurse it home as I could not really leave it at the dealership for two weeks.

I will have a quick look myself, the new hoses are in the boot but not examined them yet.

Pain in the neck is that the MOT is due whilst Andy is away and would rather not take it in with the coolant leak.

14 hours ago, Russ68 said:

Excellent ingenuity on the tool making there, sounds epic! Hopefully your guy can sort it and you be back up to speed before he goes away 

Just wish I had worked it out a week ago !

I did the cut 'freehand' with the mini grinder so not the neatest job.

Now I have the urge to build the stand I bought a while ago that turns the mini grinder into a chop saw, then I could make a neater version of the cut down socket !

15 hours ago, Claws said:

Do you know were he's going on holiday???   

Very possibly with me in a motor home with a trailer towing the STR !

May have a problem.

It was 5.30pm yesterday when we ordered the hoses, cut off for next day delivery is 4pm.

Consequently, hoses don't arrive until tomorrow !

If I had been thinking straight, I should have asked for them to be ordered VOR (vehicle off road) to get priority delivery.

Only problem is that I would not have got any discount if ordered VOR but I would have been willing to pay 'full up' for a change if the parts arrived more quickly.

Chances of a 'proper' fix tomorrow are slim, given how difficult it is to get to the hoses.

Andy did mention the possibility of a temporary solution so I can at least get the MOT done whilst he is away on holiday ?

I presume a 'patch' of some kind over the pinhole to minimise coolant loss ?

The only 'good' thing is that in 35 miles of driving it didn't loose enough liquid to bring up the 'low coolant' warning.

MOT is due 19th September, nothing obvious I can see other than rear tyres are close to the limit, new Michelin Pilot Sport 4's arrived today so need to get them fitted at some point.

Well !

I finally managed to get jubilee clips on the hose and tightened up.

Remembered I had a set of these:

http://www.halfords.com/workshop-tools/tools/sockets-accessories/halfords-advanced-ratchet-spanner-adaptor-set

Basically allows you to use a ratchet spanner and attach sockets, much smaller profile than a normal ratchet handle.

Used the 1/4 inch drive version, which fits a 10mm ratchet spanner.

Had to grind down a cheap 7mm socket to make it 'shorter' and managed to get it onto the nut on the jubilee clip.

I then wedged a pry bar behind the spanner, so that it could not slip off and finally managed to tighten the damn thing up !

Refilled the coolant, fitted new radiator cap and fired up the car, monitored the coolant temperature on my tablet using the 'Torque' App.

Turned the heater up and down to help get rid of any air pockets.

So far, so good !

Until....................

I got out and had a look under the car, only to see more pink coolant dripping off the undertray !

Looked under the bonnet and could hear a hissing sound near the bulkhead.

On closer inspection, there was a fine spray coming from somewhere behind the supercharger.

It looks as though this was the initial cause of the coolant loss plus the collapsing hoses, my contribution was the split hose which was loosing a lot more !

Let it cool down, topped it up again (minimal loss) and nursed it to Bolton for Andy to get on with fixing it (nervously monitoring the temperature on the tablet all the way and took it very easy)

Got to the dealership in one piece and let him take a look after he finished work.

He had a look using a torch and mirror and showed me a 'pinhole' in one of the hoses.

I ordered the hoses that could be the cause of the problem (throttle body coolant hoses ?) so that he can replace them all at the same time.

Fingers crossed that he manages to fix it, he goes away on holiday for two weeks come Friday evening !

10 hours ago, JOE-DOT-COM said:

Hi Jon

I'd be tempted to change the expansion tank cap

there usually a little breather valve built into the cap, so when the system cools, it can suck air back into the expansion tank

looking at your hoses how they have collapsed, there should only ever be pressure in there and when the system cools the cap is suppose to let air into the expansion tank to stop a vacuum being created and causing hoses to collapse

might be worth swapping the cap

cheers

joe

Thanks Joe, I had already ordered one just in case.

Day off tomorrow so going to have another go at the hose !

Getting the 'bottom' clamp on is the problem but I have a few ideas to try, so fingers crossed !

I will feel more confident with the Michelins fitted, mainly because Sue will be the main day to day driver.

tyres are due to arrive by 12th September, hopefully by then I will have a car that I can drive !

Steve, I would look at the overall condition and evidence of servicing and repairs rather than low mileage.

For example, you might find the lowest mileage, most expensive 2002 STR but most of the components would still be 14 years old.

In the case of things like rubber hoses, I can't say with any certainty that it is mileage, age or the number of 'heat cycles' that the hose has been through that cause the failure ?

My personal theory is that, generally, the manufacturer irons out more of the problems as the model life of a car continues, so buy the newest that I can for the budget.

My 'budget' high mileage STR stands me at less than half the price of the similar age cars on Autotrader.

Some of those cars are still on 80k+ miles, which might be low mileage on a 2006 registered vehicle but for me does not justify the extra expense.

Who knows, I might have spent the extra and still had some teething troubles and the associated expense ?

No problem Russ, worse case would have been to order a set of each type and return the ones that didn't fit.

Just wanted to conclude this thread.

I finally gave in to paranoia and purchased a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's based on the excellent reviews.

£158 each online with free UK delivery, will get them fitted at work.

Hi Steve,

The DSC is a reasonable safety net, but in the words of Star Treks' Scotty, 'you cannae change the laws of physics !'

The 'valley pipe' is a coolant pipe located in the 'v' of the engine, under the supercharger.

They are prone to failure at 100k miles or so, the pipe itself is reasonably cheap but the labour involved, including removal and refitting the supercharger, is quite expensive.

Dealer prices can easily be upwards of £1,000 to replace the pipe.

Gave in and ordered a pair of Michelin Pilot Sport 4's.

Bought them online from 'tyres Outlet', £158.36 per tyre with free UK delivery.

http://www.tyres-outlet.co.uk/cgi-bin/rshop.pl

The weird thing is that they appear to be part of 'mytyres' but prices are lower (about £10 per tyre in this case !)

23 hours ago, easydebt said:

Just noticed Russ68 planning to fit Nexens. My STR came with fairly new ones, I have to say in 5000 miles use I found them to be excellent, more grip than is sensible to use on the public road, quiet and comfortable riding. I'm not a tyre snob and realise you don't get to test and reject a selection of tyres on the same car, same road and same weather conditions, so it can be a bit of a pig in a poke with one person's opinion countering another's. Can't comment on wear really, except I've had Nexens before (Civic and a Citroen Relay) and they seemed reasonable on that one..

Thanks for the info regarding the Nexens, I am not usually a brand snob but just paranoid about getting the best wet weather grip on the back of the car.

My 3rd 325i came to a very sticky end out of a damp roundabout (exited backwards at about 50mph) and been driving AWD Imprezas since 2002 so going back to a 'quick' RWD car is a bit nerve wracking !

Hi Steve, flat bed collection is my last resort.

The other option is to kidnap Andy and make him fix it by the roadside !

I will need to tow his 'Snap On' toolbox behind the car however !

47, but still don't know what I want to be when I grow up !

20 hours ago, Russ68 said:

Bad luck old chap, although I'm similar on the hours. We bought out our business last year and I regularly do 60+ a week. Today doing 10am (after 8am-9pm yest) to 11pm today. The bonus being the roads are clearer and I drive the Jag back! 

She's working beautifully, and I'm sure the exhausts have increased performance. She sounds faster at least! I've had the tyres stripped from the new staggered alloys and will spray them and refit next week. 

Can't wait to Goodwood in December. Gonna change all fluids before then and bring spare tyres. Hoping to wear out the Winruns so I can get Nexens all round. Shame you won't be there as interested to see what a manual sport is like against an STR. Imagine you'd be loads quicker 

Hi Russ, glad all going well.

At the moment a 2CV is faster than my STR !

I had to drive the Impreza on Wednesday so that Sue could use my XE.

It was a lot of fun for a while but not for any great distance, very uncomfortable and rattles a lot !

Mind you, the roads were damp and all four wheels getting 'squirrelly' under power is awesome.

It is the kind of car where one major failure can write it off but I knew that when I bought it.

My next day off is Wednesday so will probably leave it until then to mess about with the annoying hose.

I just want to get it driveable so that I can get it to my mechanic, he can replace the other hoses and thermostat and bleed the system.

I used to work on old Fords, you could practically climb into the engine bay and walk around it !

The problem is that the hose is not very flexible and getting any type of clamp into place is proving to be difficult.

If I try to re-use the 'spring' type clamp, access is very poor to hold the clip open to slide it down the hose.

Next idea was to use a 'jubilee' type hose clip but then I can't seem to get access to the nut to tighten it up.

Not really in the mood to mess with it after work, I leave at 7.30am and get back around 7.30pm, so by the time I have eaten and got changed it is not worth bothering.

Happy motoring !

New hoses have arrived, I am severely stressed out attempting to fit the short hose from the thermostat housing.

There is just no room to work and the hose is so short that it is very difficult to bend it into place.

Given up to it for today to avoid taking the sledge hammer to the car.

I would like to get hold of the guy that decided on this design and cut his fingers off with a set of bolt cutters !

Whatever Mitsubishi say, this chicken is rubbery !

Another refugee from the old jokes home !

The Mitsubishi Typhoid !

Has a certain ring to it ?

I personally think that the Colt Starion was meant to be 'Stallion' but problems with pronunciation perhaps ?

Or typhoid !

New hoses should arrive tomorrow, I will need to fit at least the split one myself to get the car mobile.