Magnet

Hello Roderick, I think it’s unusual for sumps (gaskets themselves) to leak oil. Sumps can of course get damaged as can drain plug threads. Most ‘lower end’ oil leaks are associated with the front and rear crankshaft oil seals rather than any failure of the sump casting itself, so in effect, we don’t know the cause without having the car to inspect. Perhaps you can keep us posted. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Tom and thanks for joining. Have a search of the forum, and you should come up with a recent thread on the same sort of symptoms - turned out to be a dry universal joint on the steering shaft. Have a look and please let us know what you think. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Paul and thanks for joining. Not available and not repairable, points to most likely outcome of having to find a secondhand one. Well worth trying EBay - international as well as U.K. Also register your ‘want’ with on line car breaker link sites such as Partsfinder ( there are more). Perhaps you could let us know how you get on. Kind regards, Gareth.

You will need to tell us far more about this Steve, if anyone is going to be able to help you. Even manual or automatic would be useful. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Paul and thanks for joining. The simple answer to your question of whether ……97Y, is an acceptable alternative to ……91Y is yes, but….. At what cost to your ride comfort, since the 97Y may well be XL (extra load) tyres which will have stiffer sidewalls - hence compromised ride? Would I be right in interpreting your question as ‘I want to buy suitable tyres as cheap as I can’? Of course, you will appreciate that you are comparing the price of premium brand tyres with that of budget tyres - not really a fair comparison. Bit like comparing Nike trainers with ones on your local market stall! Would you buy and wear market stall trainers in preference to a premium branded pair? All important:- is this car your daily driver, and is used in all weather conditions, or is it locked-away- only-used -on-nice -days car? If you want to buy cheapest then don’t worry about the consequence and eventual £1/1000 mile cost outcome until you get into trouble, but if other factors apart from ‘cheapest option’ does matter, then you need to do some homework - e.g. wet grip etc.etc. Blackcircle are not the only discount supplier, there are more, and probably more competitive outlets. Perhaps you can come back to us with some answers/responses Paul. In the end:- 4 x premium brands = £520. 4 x budget brands = £320. Depends on how you value that extra £200 in relation to your need to fit a new set of tyres - hardly the cost of a minor service these days -? Have you considered mid range tyres? Kind regards, Gareth. Kind re

Have you been in touch with ecutesting Jonathan?

Welcome Terry and sorry to hear of your issue. There are a couple of You Tubes on this, together with other references found on a Google search. Worth a look pending other responses. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Andrew, Thanks for joining. Not sure how many members we have in Germany. Based on information of a couple of decades ago, aftermarket parts availability was restrictive - unlike here in the U.K. - and Australia? Owners were therefore pushed to having to buy parts direct from main dealers. Now…? Sorry for being pessimistic, but your chances of getting leads from here within a couple of days maybe slim. Let’s hope I’m wrong. Can we take it you have searched EBay - ? Perhaps you could let us know. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Lilly, Many thanks for joining, and welcome. I sounds as if you have two nice cars there, and we look forward to hearing more about them and their use. Kind regards, Gareth.

Welcome Gregor and thanks for joining. We hope the forum will be of benefit to you, and vice versa. Kind regards, Gareth. p.s. I’ve removed the ‘alert!’ from your thread title, since it suggests there is something to be alarmed about - which I’m sure there isn’t.

Helllo, Having a bit of a system tidy-up, and noticed you joined and posted on the same day, back in July, and were given very sound advice, but you don’t appear to have returned it read or at least acknowledge it. Just wondered if you have a valid reason -?

Any progress since Joe?

Thanks Cliff, I too wouldn’t contemplate renewing springs, shock absorbers as single items on one axle - not good practice. However, if there isn’t wear in the fixed points of the suspension, then, as said, the geometry remains the same, although the ride height from wheel centre to underside of wheel arch will differ if different spring heights are fitted, but….. back to the opening statement. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Roderick, Pricing things is a little like trying to price a house - costs vary from area to area. Way forward:- Check sump price on line :- EBay, Parts in Motion etc. etc. As you probably know, parts aren’t cheap anymore. The £428 - forget VAT, we’ve all got to pay it! - doesn’t surprise me if it works out at a 2 hr. job. Labour ( this is where we don’t know your local rates) is likely to be c£120/ hr., so you have over half your cost there. Perhaps you could let us know the sump (ribbed aluminium?) price Roderick, once you have had some quotes. Issue with your current sump? Thread damage perhaps? If so, considered Helicoil? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks John, Can only take it you have wear in the upper link bushes, and/or the lower bushes. Kind regards, Gareth.

Hello Steve, Having a bit of a system tidy-up, and can see you posted close on a month ago on 10th July, were offered advice, but have not returned to the forum since the day you posted. You were asked on 15th July if any of the information given to you as a reply was of any use to you, but we haven’t had a response to this either. Can we now take it that you aren’t now going to respond?

Hello Chris, Did you get any further with this?

Sorry for a different slant on the problem folks, but the actual camber ( inward/outward lean of the wheel at 6/12 o’c) shouldn’t be influenced by the springs. The amount of lean-to-one-side will certainly be affected, but I cannot see how the camber will be. The camber is controlled by the distance between the (fixed in this case) upper swivel point, and (in this case) the adjustable lower link (wishbone). As I say this has a fine adjustment affected by rotating the outboard lower concentric bolt. The adjustment is fine, so one can guess the important of the precise dimension ( effective length) of the aftermarket wishbone. Make of your replaced wishbone John? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Gary, but I’m having a little difficulty in understanding how the ‘heater comes on’ - when the car is switched off and the engine isn’t running. Could you please explain further, and break it down to exactly what happens and when - ? Kind regards, Gareth.

Thanks Colin, Good to hear. Maybe of help to others:- I now also favour Exide batteries, and have bought a couple from Tayna Batteries ( no connection with the company) at competitive prices via. their EBay listings.

Accepted, and that’s better Daniel, and it doesn’t hurt does it? Have a read of a recent post on ‘Reacting to posts…..’. Yes, you are welcome to retain your claim that ‘…it’s not the battery…’ and there’s nowt we can do about that.

Hello Daniel, It’s probably just me, but your persistence to ask advice then ignore or reject it, is wearing a bit thin. Brake light switch:-‘ Anyone know where this part might be?’ Worth trying to put a Please in there somewhere??

OK Daniel, now things are getting more informed, and indeed meaningful. Again, I’m not claiming this as the culprit, but if I was to compile a list of the battery brands I would not have - even if given to me - Lion would be the top of that list. ECP’s best!! I believe they are now branding them Starline ( another of ECP exclusive names). Nothing to do with the reputation of Lion of course. So, buy cheapest and you get to the buy twice syndrome. If it wasn’t the cheapest, then that’s an even greater shame. Make note, the electronics on modern cars are demanding - particularly on batteries. Alternator output:- unknown. Parasitic drain :-unknown. Your issues may have nothing to do with any of the above, but from the school of eliminating cheapest option routes first, then I would have wanted these checked, before cluster investigations, brake switch etc. It looks like you are going to have to wait some weeks then.

Ok, this is getting difficult, since we are not getting the answers to questions asked. Yes, you can go ahead with your assumption that this isn’t battery associated - and it may not be - but it remains an assumption until proven. To go ahead with that assumption, points you to the expensive route of getting the cluster assessed. Not my money, but if it was, I would need answers to:- Make of battery, since some brands are notorious for poor quality-? Alternator output check? Parasitic drain on battery check? I am not claiming your issue is battery associated, but simply to confirm whether it is or not. Only when I had eliminated these factors, would I move on to investigating more costly options. Questions are asked, and advice offered, but of course we have no control over the responses received against either. I really cannot offer any other first-line advice, so I can only leave it to others to offer their advice, based on the facts which have been tendered.

Not as simple as that that then. Alternator output checked? Brand of replacement battery?