The Good News Only - thread...

[briantrumpet]

Also good news.

 

[Pinno718]

 

[briantrumpet]

My 23-year-old Nissan Almera sailed through its MOT, having done a grand total of 514 miles this year. And I found somewhere to park it in Topsham until I next need it. Maybe in October.

 

[Pblakeney]

My 23-year-old Nissan Almera sailed through its MOT, having done a grand total of 514 miles this year. And I found somewhere to park it in Topsham until I next need it. Maybe in October.

A word of warning just in case you are not aware. Some components degrade surprisingly quickly if they are not being used.
I learned that the hard way after putting a parent's car in storage as a do-it-upper-later.

 

[briantrumpet]

A word of warning just in case you are not aware. Some components degrade surprisingly quickly if they are not being used.
I learned that the hard way after putting a parent's car in storage as a do-it-upper-later.

Any in particular that caught you out? I've remembered to leave the handbrake off this time to stop the drums seizing, at least.

 

[Pblakeney]

Any in particular that caught you out? I've remembered to leave the handbrake off this time to stop the drums seizing, at least.

What caught me out was the brake tubes corroding, along with multiple rubber hoses and tyres perishing.
There was also some orange metal eating going on too. 😢 Although that was less of a surprise. Ended up being a financial write off.

 

[briantrumpet]

What caught me out was the brake tubes corroding, along with multiple rubber hoses and tyres perishing.
There was also some orange metal eating going on too. 😢 Although that was less of a surprise. Ended up being a financial write off.

Thanks. I'd assumed that it was rubber things. Maybe more likely when in storage and there's no air circulation? Though I'm not sure that being on the bit of the UK that sticks out into the Atlantic is necessarily the best place to be getting circulating air to prevent corrosion and suchlike.

 

[Pblakeney]

Thanks. I'd assumed that it was rubber things. Maybe more likely when in storage and there's no air circulation? Though I'm not sure that being on the bit of the UK that sticks out into the Atlantic is necessarily the best place to be getting circulating air to prevent corrosion and suchlike.

I was told fluid circulation in the case of the hoses.

 

[briantrumpet]

I was told fluid circulation in the case of the hoses.

Ah, interesting. I do also disconnect the battery: despite there only being a tiny power drain on such an old car – basically just the alarm – I got caught out on the first lockdown in 2020, and needed a new battery.

I do enjoy winding up the posh residents, parking such an old car in a road where most of the houses would sell for over £2mn. My residents' parking permit is just as valid as theirs. I sometimes leave recent Private Eye covers in the window to show that it's not abandoned.

 

[Pinno718]

Thanks. I'd assumed that it was rubber things. Maybe more likely when in storage and there's no air circulation? Though I'm not sure that being on the bit of the UK that sticks out into the Atlantic is necessarily the best place to be getting circulating air to prevent corrosion and suchlike.

Rubber just deteriorates. On the plus side, the flexi hoses (between the hard brake lines and the brake callipers) are cheap and easy to replace. The other thing is brake fluid life - it's finite and brake fluid is highly hydroscopic and no system is completely closed to moisture. Worth getting them done and the brake fluid while you are at it. Possible DIY job - you must have a friend who's mechanically minded? The pistons in the callipers are sealed with 'rubber' O rings ('cut' O rings i.e. square edge). They also don't last forever.
The last thing you need is catastrophic failure of the flexi hoses going down one of those hills - it's hardly Norfolk is it?
I would consider a brake overhaul just simply for your own safety.

Check the alternator belt and consider oil and filter change annually - despite the low mileage. Oil has a finite life too. Short journeys cause blow bye where petrol gets into the oil before the engine warms up properly. East to check - just take out the dipstick and see if it smells of petrol. If the oil smells like burnt toast, it needs replacing.
I say 'look after it and it will look after you'.

 

[briantrumpet]

Rubber just deteriorates. On the plus side, the flexi hoses (between the hard brake lines and the brake callipers) are cheap and easy to replace. The other thing is brake fluid life - it's finite and brake fluid is highly hydroscopic and no system is completely closed to moisture. Worth getting them done and the brake fluid while you are at it. Possible DIY job - you must have a friend who's mechanically minded? The pistons in the callipers are sealed with 'rubber' O rings ('cut' O rings i.e. square edge). They also don't last forever.
The last thing you need is catastrophic failure of the flexi hoses going down one of those hills - it's hardly Norfolk is it?
I would consider a brake overhaul just simply for your own safety.

Check the alternator belt and consider oil and filter change annually - despite the low mileage. Oil has a finite life too. Short journeys cause blow bye where petrol gets into the oil before the engine warms up properly. East to check - just take out the dipstick and see if it smells of petrol. If the oil smells like burnt toast, it needs replacing.
I say 'look after it and it will look after you'.

Thanks Pinno. Will probably get the garridge to do some stuff like that in the autumn... that's a useful checklist. It's amusing that they have to deal with several cars here that the ole biddies keep but hardly ever drive... apparently some of them do less than 100 miles a year. They are a proper old local garage that has never stung me for unexpected or unwarranted work.

 

[Ian H]

Dual-circuit brakes mean that catastrophic failure is highly unlikely.

 

[briantrumpet]

Dual-circuit brakes mean that catastrophic failure is highly unlikely.

What? What are the disaster movies going to base their plots on? No "Runaway Nissan Almera: The Movie!!"?

 

[BoldonLad]

My 23-year-old Nissan Almera sailed through its MOT, having done a grand total of 514 miles this year. And I found somewhere to park it in Topsham until I next need it. Maybe in October.

At such low mileage, would it not be cheaper and less hassle just to hire a car when need, or, even use taxi?

 

[Ian H]

What? What are the disaster movies going to base their plots on? No "Runaway Nissan Almera: The Movie!!"?

Cinema cars are built to different standards.