HOOD & INTERIOR CHECKS

23 PLASTIC REAR SCREEN If the hood has a plastic rear screen, check this hasn’t cracked or perished. New plastic screens are available for around £145, which are pop-riveted to the rear edge of the hood frame, zipped across the top and held with Velcro down the sides. Alternatively, upgrade to a glass rear screen for £185 from Mgfmania, or one of their new hoods with a glass screen from £395. 24 STICKING HOOD The hood should fold down easily, but if the frame sticks and one of the bars needs to be folded inwards to finish off retracting down the hood, then a couple of Velcro straps from Mgfmania (£12) are all you need. They are attached between two of the bars in the hood frame and help to pull everything together when folding.

25 BROKEN ZIP

The zip slider (also called the zip tag) for the rear screen can break or fall off. Mgfmania sells new ones for £5 each, which can be fed onto an existing zip. Broken zip sliders can be replaced by removing the end stop on the car side of the zip, removing the old slider, and reversing-on a new slider. There’s no need to replace the end stop as the rear screen’s zip stop will prevent the slider coming off when fastened.

26 SRS DISASTERS

If the SRS light remains illuminated, disconnect the battery, wait for 15 minutes, then check the wiring connections underneath the seats for the seatbelt tensioners, making sure they aren’t damaged, trapped or that the plugs are disconnected. If diagnostic equipment cannot help, then the problem is usually either the seatbelt tensioners or the coupling behind the steering wheel (which normally lasts for five years only).

27 TEST THE HEATER

Check that the heater’s speed settings work. The heater’s resistor is known to fail, often resulting in it not blowing at low speed. Eventually all speed settings stop working. A new resistor costs around £30 and can be renewed from within the passenger footwell and glovebox area.