service almost done

[monkey]

well I bought a fto gs 1995 not long ago now, with problems.
I had time to service It last week.

replaced all bushes front and back with camskills nylon one if you get a nocking like mine on the driver front it turned out to be the - FTO - Front Bottom Arm - Rear Bush - Std Castor, very loose compared to the left side .
nocking now gone for good
fixed aircon, rod in the passinger footwell came off
just refitted and work.
changed auto gearbox oil + airfilter and plugs. (plugs from halfords)
changed coolant sensor to stop hard to start in mornings.(£15)cheapist sensor on the thing.
brakes sticking on abit, removed cleaned and reasembled and as I was doing this gave them a coat of red smooth right (hammer right brand)from woodies.
looking good, caliper paint is just smooth right at 500 times the price.
replace antirollbar bushes front and back as well.

what else mmm

are yes the really stupid fuel filter (replaced)
this thing is a complete joke.
undo top nut above the car then remove botton nut below the car now undo the 2 bolts holding the bracket to the car.
place new filter in the bracket then connect it loosely to the car.
now connect bottom bolt (becareful not to cross thread the bolt that why you fit it back in loose)
then connect the top bolt , once done go round and nip up all nuts and bolts. (this took 1 to 2 hours work)
you do not need to release presure first from fuel line.

changed the fuel pump well it was 12 years old.
ok the car handles well now not a hard ride really to say all bushes nylon.
car starts up straight away now on a morning.
still the car is jerky at a steady 100kpm I will replace the stepper motor when I can aford it.
on a lighter note put a touch screen radio/dvd panasonic from halfords in.
had to order new center console though (cheap plastic brakes easely).
got the reversing camera as well this is cool makes you want to drive in reverse all the time just connects to live on the reversing bulb then to the stereo.
mitsibishi to iso connector from halfords as well.



to do list.
stepper motor (£300)
stainless steel cat back exhaust (£350)
seat covers of some sort
covert to mph and new clock faces.

the car is costing me a small fortune but its worth every pennie spent

before i go did the headlight trick from this website
rubbed it down with wet n dry then t-cutted it the job looks brilliant may laquer them later.
this is a very easy car to work on.
hope this may be of some help to someone

[colm_mcm]

Isn't Hammerite Smoothrite paint just going to crack off as soon as the brakes heat up?

sounds like you've been busy!

[kevinod]

Welcome Monkey!

Sounds like you've been busy! Fuel filter sounds like a right pain in the ... alright, hope its not similar to the one on the GR!

Any pics?

[monkey]

smooth right will not crack its made for metal like ovens so can handle extreme heat and has anti rust properties trust me look it up on the net
as for the fuel filter I think thay are all in the same place on the bulk head.
I have a idea though is to scrape out the insides of the fuel filter so its a straight through pipe and place back on the car then we have no fuel filter yes. well at the drivers back wheel were all other fuel filters are found is rubber pipe cut the pipe and find a 2000 on mondeo or something like this at a scapyard and buy the fuel filter and about 2 to 3 inches of the pipe its atached to.
get a new fuel filter from halfords and connect the bits of pipes into your pipe work now you have a quick release fitting fuel filter for your size engine it will take seconds to replace then

[Muad_dib77]

Hey Monkey..

You've been busy!

Did you try cleaning your stepper - you may not need to replace it..

Also 300gbp sounds like an awful lot to pay for a stepper - unless the gs oes are different from the GPX version?

[monkey]

the stepper motor is different to the 2ltr's
on camskill the 2ltr's is £85
on the 1.8 it's not just the sensor its a metal peace aswell £300.
go figure always has to be the dear one thats my luck.
as for cleaning it I removed the sensor/probe and wiped the element tip not using chemicals the rest is a spring and magnet thing.
I am trying to find out how this works from looking at it the probe detects the temp of the coolant and as it heats up it moves back and engages the magnet thing to give a reading .
or it just heats up the air going into the engine .
i know its a idle controller but how doe's it work????????????
thanks

[colm_mcm]

why would you want to convert to mph?

[Muad_dib77]

why would you want to convert to mph?

I'm guessing to move the speed restriction to 200mph rather than 200kph..
Just stabbing in the dark here.

[Wildhound]

That would be my guess, but surely you can do it other ways?

[colm_mcm]

Surely a 1.8 auto won't need a speed limiter

(No offence OP!)

[monkey]

colm I think your right the car may not need the limiter removing it's a 1.8.
it's not that fast at all but looks the buisness.
you see I may be moving to the uk in a year or 2 and the speed cameras are all over the place.(need mph)
also going to convert the inner 2 back brake lights to a fog light.
to be truthfull the car was bought for the wife, the idea of a 1.8 was to keep her speed down with the kids inside but keep finding my self nicking it to go to work or to the shops the car is a dream to drive and wished I got it for my self(maybe the mivec one though).

[colm_mcm]

I was thinking about doing a rear foglight for mine too. When I do mine, though - I'll be using the right hand side reversing light and a red bulb.

[Bernard]

I was thinking about doing a rear foglight for mine too. When I do mine, though - I'll be using the right hand side reversing light and a red bulb.

Just a thought but would you not prefer to keep things symmetrical?

[colm_mcm]

It'll be a red bulb behind the white lens, same idea as the front indicator, only red.