The Morbidmobile Blog

[Laird Scooby]

If the car is facing downhill, that's a problem!

If it's uphill, you should be safe enough to drive it to level ground, park it, go and have a coffee or pack another box and then re-check it. Usually it's only about a litre from the bottom of the stick to the maximum with about half a litre between the "MIN" & "MAX" marks.

[TomSaintJames]

Hello all, long time no post!

House movings have occurred and the Hearse has been providing excellent service. The OH borrowed a big work van for a day to move all the really big/awkward stuff but otherwise we've been loading up the hearse. We are in our new place (as of 17/12) and need to finish sorting and packing all the leftover dribs and drabs and most of the spare bedroom (yikes...) in the old place before the decorators come in on Tuesday, should be perfectly do-able I think.

With more use the hearse has been complaining a bit, mostly it's service items that are way overdue ever since before I bought it, I think, and it feels like it's drinking the fuel too, we've not filled it up until the current tank so we'll fill up again afterward and measure the mpg (will have to put brave pants on!). I like it much more now that the suyspension is nice, the 17" wheels let it down slightly but it's a different car than it was on coilovers!

Forgive me whilst I make a list of some jobs to get done soon-ish, I like lists

-The exhaust sometimes makes a metal clanging-like noise at hot idle, and i cannot find the source (didn't check the downpipe though, could be that as it's old). It still needs realigning though.
-The PCV system needs a proper clean out as oil is coming out of the filler cap again (although only a little bit), I didn't get to the flame trap last time so will tackle that at some point.
-The power steering fluid is black and sludge like, i've ordered a big syringe so will change that when it gets here, steering isn't very nice just now.
-ATF could do with changing, it is a dark brown and some of the gear changes could be smoother (2nd to 3rd is almost unnoticeable, but the rest could be smoother)
-Fuel pump is a bit banshee-like sometimes so a fuel filter is on the cards too.
-Sometimes water gets in adf mists up the windscreen etc a treat, i'm betting it's the roof rails where they bolt into the roof so these need resealing.

Also the OH's Kia Venga diesel desperately needs servicing, it's 4 months overdue now and i'm going to have to do at least the oil and filter myself - it'll be the newest car i've worked on (2012). And i've not even started on the jobs to do with the new house, they will just have to get in line behind all the rest.

More jobs to do! There isn't enough time for it all!

[Laird Scooby]

All going well then Tom! You've pretty much diagnosed everything yourself - sorting the PCV system including the flame trap will help as will changing the fluid in the gearbox. I'd definitely advise doing part-changes on the ATF, it sounds like the box has got hot at some point so gently introducing fresh fluid in stages would be the way to go.

Do the PAS fluid once a week until the fluid remains clean, suck it all out with the big syringe, top it up with new ATF, start the engine and turn the steering lock to lock slowly and recheck the level, top up if needed.

If you're really pushed for time, try your local Kia dealer for the servicing, they do menu servicing on what they call "Older Models" which your other halfs will be now, probably not much more than buying the parts to do it yourself!
Also if you get really stuck, the CPS on certain Kia models is the same as the CPS on certain Volvos

[TomSaintJames]

I've been taking advantage of GSF's 60% off deal recently, even though that only just makes them cheaper than anyone else as they seem to be prohibitively expensive otherwise.

Saturday has turned out to be a car day, i'm servicing the Venga (way overdue, smelly and smoky on startup recently), servicing my sister in laws C4 1.6 HDI which has gone far too long since it's last oil change (and we all know how these like to be regularly serviced or turbo goes kaput!) as she coudn't afford it to be serviced, so I took pity! I'm sure i'll tinker with the hearse too.

I have completed two PAS fluid transfusions this week, one on Monday and one this evening. No pictures i'm afraid as its dark all the time, more changes planned next week.

Change 1 - Sludgy black fluid with heavy steering (like there isn't much PAS assistance) -> sludgy dark brown fluid with slightly less heavy steering

Change 2 - Sludge dark brown fluid -> sludgy maroon fluid with quite noticeably lighter steering and an unexpected but not unrealistic in hindsight bonus of a less laboured idle!

On the way home after going into town this evening the car almost felt like it had a bit of get up and go too, 2nd gear from 25 to 60 happened the quickest it ever has done I think, not sure why but quite please it does have some power, at least some of the time.

To balance the good things I noticed there is a slow puncture now though on the front drivers tyre... Can't win all the time.

[Laird Scooby]

Glad you noticed GSF are only really competitive when they have their 60% deals on Tom!

Transfusions - Brilliant word!

You've noticed improvements already, that's a good thing! Keep doing it until it stays clean in between and then do it once a year repeating until it's clean again.

Don't forget the fuel filters on these diseasels you're servicing Tom! Get some fresh diesel in a can and fill the filter before you screw it on, smear some engine oil on the seal before fitting as well to help it find it's tight fit. From what you say, the filters have water in the bottom and are at the point where it's likely to give trouble - hence the smoky start up! Could also be lazy glow plugs but that's a totally different kettle of fish!
If the smoke is white/greyish-white and doesn't clear quickly, that points towards the glow plugs being lazy. If it's white and clears quickly, that's more likely to be steam from the water in the fuel.

As for the hearse, i think you've probably got that covered by now!

[TomSaintJames]

The Kia gives off blue/black smoke when you first start it, has been for a little while and is quite smelly. It clears within a couple of seconds though, it has been remapped so I had it down to a dirty air filter/overdue service as it's only done 40000 miles. I've never seen the C4 smoke but then I don't see it very often, even less so on cold startup, that has even less miles, more like 30000 I think, very low for a 2009 car.

I hadn't planned on doing the fuel filters, it's a bit daunting on these new super high pressure diesels, i'd hate to get it wrong and leave air in there which would give all sorts of running issues that I don't want to be responsible for!

I'd like to do a ATF change at some point on the hearse, what was the fluid you recommend Dave?

In other news our old house is cleared, cleaned and decorated and looking quite presentable. Almost ready to rent out (if anyone needs to rent a place in Yeovil - let me know ), just have the garage to sort which i'm looking forward to doing in a way as I can organise all my tools and have an obsolete parts clear out.

[Laird Scooby]

I'd definitely agree with your diagnosis of dirty air filter and overdue oil/filter change if it's dark blue/black Tom.

Here's a vid on a Kia Rio (very similar engine/principles involved) to show you the basics on the fuel filter change, the PSA HDi is going to be similar or you can search for a video on that later.

https://youtu.be/0Vf84XzO_Rw

Most modern diesels are self-bleeding but it is wise to be cautious. On the older PSA cars, there was a "rugby ball" in the fuel inlet line to the filter - this is in fact a hand pump and i believe it's still present in the HDi - slacken the bleed nipple on the filter housing and squeeze the ball (ooo-errr missus!) until fluid (diesel) comes out out of the bleed nipple then tighten it again. If there's no bleed nipple on the filter housing, slacken the outlet from it and squeeze the ball repeatedly to pump the fluid through, tighten again once diesel is coming through.

Not sure if the Kia has a similar hand pump of any description but i daresay YouTube will give the answers on that.

As for the ATF, this is the one Tom :

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Carlube-A...C/121347314407

That's about the best price on fleabay at the moment, note that it's 4.55L and not 5L, in other words, a gallon.

Good news on your house, i hope you've already got it advertised/available for rent? Sooner those particulars go up, sooner you get a new tenant! The garage can be cleared later if needs be and (if you feel generous) perhaps reduce the rent by £30 for each month you need the garage.

[TomSaintJames]

Wow, long time no post! Life has, as usual been rather busy! Between work pressuring me to finish some qualifications/coursework/dull stuff etc, the house move and getting the old house up to rental standard - there has been very little time for tinkering or other stuff.

However, I had a spare morning yesterday so thought i'd get on and tackle the fuel filter. What a pig of a job! Initially I was impressed that Volvo decided to use bolted fuel unions to the filter, rather than rubber hose and clips. My being impressed lasted about 5 minutes...

Those bolts would not bloody undo! It was very difficult to get any leverage on them as the fuel filter and pump are mounted using rubber (anti-vibration?) supports, and the whole assembly twists when you try and undo a bolt.

I got there in the end, but ended up removing the filter from the cage and housing, using a pair of mole-grips as a 'stand' to support the filter (wedged against a handily lumpy bit of the concrete driveway) and then attaching a spanner and hitting it with a hammer... The bolts were on so very tight.

Getting to this point took me 2 hours! (handily re-purpoused 'support')



New vs old. Old was in surprisingly good nick outside compared to what came out of it.




On re-assembly I missed a copper washer from the tank side, so it leaked quite a lot! It was also difficult to get the hole inside the bolt to line up with the hose and fuel inlet, but after a fiddle all was well.



I don't think it's a placebo, but it now seems quieter and a bit more eager, especially at lower revs - it certainly starts better.

In other news the Hearse will have it's inaugural trip as a camper in a couple of weeks! We're heading up to Shropshire for a challenge walk and will be camping out in it! There are a couple of jobs to do before we go, but it's quite exciting.

[TomSaintJames]

One of the jobs to do before we go up to shropshire is to fit the radio and speakers. Are there two wires for each speaker, or did Volvo use just the one? I need to have the doorcards off to find the wires, although there are no speakers, I also can't see any wires! The head unit will be a wire-it-myself job (which I had to do with my BX a while back) but i'm hoping the speakers will just plug-in to the existing wires, maybe with slight connector modification.

May even get time for that this afternoon, I hope so as listening to the omnipresent prop bearing whine is getting quite boring...

[Laird Scooby]

Good work there Tom - you see on the fuel filter there are hexagon shaped pieces where the bonjos bolt on? They're designed for a spanner to go on to hold the filter while undoing the banjo bolts and doing them back up again.

As for the stereo, two wires per speaker. Anything else is cheap, nasty and asking for trouble and won't give a very loud output. You need to check to see if yours originally had the power amplifier under the dash above your feet, if so you'll need the patch leads on ebay to bypass that to use the original wiring.

Do not, under any circumstances earth out any speaker wires at all - you will damage your head unit!

I'm sure somewhere further up this thread someone gave you the links for the patch leads, one to bypass the original amplifier and the other to plug into the original loom and then into the new head unit but from memory i think somene has chopped wires in your dash.