PARTS DROUGHT
One of the biggest problems independent workshops like mine are facing at the moment is the manufacturers not supply ing parts any more, as a way of protecting t heir business. What was once a small problem is now becoming quite a large one.
For example we were recently working on a 1997 Mitsubishi Pajero – not an extremely old car. I couldn’t buy any t hing for it loca lly and was told any thing I needed might have to be ex-Japan.
Having a few old contacts in the game, I managed to get t he use of a dealership electronic parts search and didn’t get a lot of joy. The wording in t hese cases used to be “no longer available” or “obsolete”. The wording now is “discontinued”.
That leaves you in t he dif f icult position of ta lk ing to a customer, you have t he front end of t heir car apart, and now you can’t buy the needed component!
This introduces another issue, where it now ta kes a lot of time to track down a solution, t hrough parts searches, ringing around and leaning on contacts. (See t he letter t his issue re ‘Walk Away’.) You just have to dedicate t he time. Who covers t hat?
It’s a lways been a bit of an issue on some older cars, but now we’re seeing it on much younger models.
I believe t he manufacturers are protecting t hemselves and I understand t hat. Their business is to sell new cars, not repair t he old ones. Once t hey would have encouraged you to take an older model elsewhere, now we’re not even getting t he parts supply.
What we did of course was look for aftermarket options. Now I’ve a lways preferred t he genuine component when it’s available, but we had no choice in t his case.
We found an aftermarket part on Adelaide and had it shipped over to Melbourne to f ind it wasn’t even close. It wasn’t wit hin 5mm of f itting and it was crooked. So there were t wo more days wasted.
I’m not say ing t here’s a solut ion to t his, but it’s something to be aware of. If you’re ta k ing a car wit h a few years on it into a workshop, chances are it won’t be ready tomorrow. Increasingly, t hat’s something the owner and the workshop need to ta lk about.
You might want to keep this in mind when you go to buy an older car, even if it is a ‘youngtimer’.
If in doubt, go for something t hat has a strong ent husiast follow ing, which just might help ensure an af termarket parts supply.
Rust Gods
Glenn Torrens is on the money regarding improved corrosion resisting processes introduced on later model cars over time. Back in the days of the HR Holden the steel coming out of Port Kembla tended to have a high sulphur content, and the HR was inf licted wit h rust starting from t he inside out. Of a ll places t he under bonnet area, (a lways dr y, aided by engine heat), was commonly affected.
This was a time prior to t he introduction of t he ‘Basic Oxygen Steelma k ing’ process, (BOS), by BHP at Port Kembla.
Back in the 1950s even t he elevated sections of t he f loor pan, (where t he front bench seats were mounted), used to rust out in t he old US Fords, and of course the lower section of t he driver’s foot well had no chance of beating perforation over time. Having t he seats bolted t hrough t he f loor to t he chassis ra ils negated t he need for urgent repairs.
Eric Waples
YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY right about rust from day one on a lot of these old cars, Eric. The best thing you could do if you were restoring one of those old cars is to have it media blasted back to bare metal and repair whatever shows itself. Then the best product on the market, which has been around forever, is the old Killrust two-part treatment. Once you have the metal reasonably clean, that stops the rust in its tracks.
These were the days when galvanizing was uncommon in Australian cars and I think it was VJ series Valiants, including the early Chargers, that were the first local makers to use it. The bodies were advertised as having a 10-year guarantee, but when they got to 20 and 30 years they still rusted away. Even galvanizing can’t stop rust eventually getting through, but it does slow it down.
Modern cars are generally far less prone to it.
Of course owners used to ritually go around their cars once a year or more with a can of fish oil and a brush, looking for rustprone areas, and it was very effective. In fact we still use it some places on our restoration jobs. For example we’ll blow out the channels and fish oil them. It’s not as good a longterm solution as Killrust, but it has its uses.
The biggest problem we see is caused by well
meaning people parking their cars under trees. Then the leaves drop and get into the plenum, turn into mulch and eat away the material.
And it’s not just the plenum. We had a boxer engine Subaru in recently with leaves scattered around the engine bay, including around the exhausts – it was bound to catch fire one day.
If you want the car shaded and you’ve run out of shed space, wash it and use a cover.
When grand-dad went around his car with an air line, blowing out the dust and leaves from various nooks and crannies, then going over it with fish oil, he was right!
Walk Away?
Enjoy reading your monthly column, with yourself being the owner/operator of a workshop I just wanted your adv ice please.
I have a few Holdens and HSVs and take them to my loca l mechanic for any repairs / ser v icing required, work underta ken has ranged from minor ser v icing to major work such as engine swaps.
The g uys are friendly, fairly honest and would be summed up as “great blokes” but I’m not getting the desired outcome.
I have cars t hat still have unresolved issues, I explain to them the conditions required to generate t he fault and encourage them to drive t he cars for a distance so they can experience the same faults I do.
But how many times is fa ir to keep ta k ing a car back? At what time does one decide yea h t hey’re great blokes but throwing good money after bad becomes tiresome when I just want t hings f i xed.
Yes I’m fanatica l about my cars, I k now ever y scratch on each one but I’ve paid good, fair money for repairs and ser v icing. The reason I went to them is because they were “good blokes” but t he attention to detail and resolv ing issues is lack ing.
I have limited mechanical knowledge so have to go to a mechanic. It’s hard to f ind one t hat can be trusted, a rapport is built up over time especia lly when it comes to owning classic and performance cars.
Regardless of whether I’m a long-term customer t here has to be a point where enough is enough and it’s time to cut my losses and
“HOW MANY TIMES IS FAIR TO KEEP TAKING THE CAR BACK?”
find a new mechanic. I would appreciate any recommendations you can give me.
Chris Hodgson
WOW, THAT’S A tough one and I can sympathise with both sides on this. There are a lot of people out there who run a good business and are good at what they do, but are often knowledge-rich and timepoor.
Some jobs just take a disproportionate amount of time and workshops often get embarrassed about how long it’s taking. Can I charge for that and how do I explain it to the customer? Plus, I think there is an issue out there where attention to detail is falling away.
As my grand-dad used to say, it’s that two-bob’sworth of finesse which really makes a job. And that’s not always on offer. Sometimes you have to bite the bullet.
The customer knows there’s something wrong with the car and relies on us to listen to their issue and then pursue the problem. Now if they haven’t got the time to provide that final bit of finesse, it is time to move on.
Finding a good mechanic is like finding a good doctor. Some of the younger generation mechanics out there leave people like me for dead
on electronics, but don’t necessarily cover off the areas I do well.
How do you find what you need? Word of mouth is the best place to start, and I’d be talking to people in your club.
Sometimes you also need to have a conversation with your mechanic. Lots of workshops get beaten around the ears about what they’re charging, when you may well prefer to pay for the job to be done properly. It doesn’t hurt to remind people of that. Let us know how you get on.
Lights & Brakes
In issue 447 you ran a letter from Colin Francis about the XJR supercharged Jag wit h t he weird electrica l issues. He mentioned assorted fault lights kept coming up and the dash sometimes did Christmas tree impersonations.
I own an XKR of similar v intage, which has a lot in common with the XJR. A lot of those problems seem to stem from low batter y voltage. A few tips: Don’t leave t he keys in t he car, and a lways lock it so it shuts down properly. Plus, put it on a trick le charger.
I hope you passed on my email to Colin as I went t hrough a ll of t hose problems to f ind a simple f i x.
Last issue you got on to the topic of bra ke and wheel shudder. My once-new Toureg had four sets of new front brakes in three years because of steering wheel shake and brake pedal shudder after about ever y 5-10 k. Then a VW rep said to change a wheel bearing. That fixed it–who would have thought?
Ken Bryce
SOME GREAT advice there, Ken. First the electrics. You could argue that a lot of later model or ‘young-timer’’ cars with more sophisticated electronics never entirely shut down, so battery health is absolutely critical.
And you’re absolutely
“FRONT END SHUDDER DIAGNOSIS, IF IT’S IN THE PEDAL, IT’S PROBABLY WARPED DISCS”
right to point out that it can pay to lock them and remove the keys, as there are a lot of models out there that don’t ‘sleep’ properly until you do. Ed Guido once got caught out by this, leaving his Soarer Limited unlocked and then throwing a cover over it. The car immediately ‘saw’ that it was dark and switched on all the courtesy lights – including one at each external corner – so he could find it in the dark! Of course the battery was dead flat the next day.
I was really intrigued to read the issue with the wheel bearings on the Toureg and that story tells me Volkswagen knew about the problem. To me it’s a symptom of what we see with late model cars where the vast majority are built to very tight price boundaries and sometimes the quality suffers.
What I suspect has happened is you’ve had a misalignment in a doublerow bearing and this isn’t an easy one to check. Where a ‘normal’ tapered bearing will tell you pretty quickly if something is wrong, as you get movement, a later doublerow unit often doesn’t make it obvious. They tend to be noisy before they show any signs of play.
In the past we’ve mentioned the basic front end shudder diagnosis: If its in the brake pedal it’s probably warped discs; If it’s in the steering wheel, check out the bushes and steering. A double row bearing could well produce a vibration in the brake pedal.
Benz Buyer
I am considering buying a 2014 Mercedes SLK 200. The car has done 55,000k ms.
Could you inform me of a ll the good and bad points of t his car.
John Nawn
HI JOHN. There is plenty of road test information online for this series, so I’ll stick to the issues from a workshop perspective. In general, they’re a wellengineered car. Benz has tended to build to more competitive prices over
the years, which owners of older models will tell you has resulted in a drop in overall quality. Not everyone agrees, and M-B overall has a good reputation.
What I’d be looking for are two main things: evidence of regular servicing. Engines of this era will put up with a lot, so long as the correct fluids are kept up to them. In any case, you’re talking of a low-mileage car. Operation should be crisp, and there should be no smoke.
The other thing is I’d look very carefully at is the operation and sealing of the roof. You’re after no squeaks or grinding or hesitation. If there is an issue, it may be expensive to fix and could suggest a knock at some stage.
Okay, let’s add a third: Get someone who has an eye for it to go over the car, looking for evidence of crash repairs.
If you are serious about a particular example, I’d get your local workshop or motoring club to go over it as a precaution. Good luck with it.