Monthly Archives: September 2015

Cambelt Replacement on Mileage or Age?

Aarons Autos Cambelt ReplacementOne of the biggest problems we have with customers when talking about cambelts is that they always say My cambelt isn’t due till 60,000 miles!” even though the car is ten years old and the dealer recommends 60,000 OR five years!! 

The main component of a cambelt is rubber which deteriorates over time, this is one of the main reasons that dealers specify a time interval as well as a mileage interval.

Renault Megane Sport R26 handling problems.

Megane R26 lowering springs

We had a call from a Megane R26 owner saying that his handling was poor and he suspected that the lower swivel bearings were at fault.

As he was from Hertfordshire it was hard to diagnose it over the phone so we recommended that he come up and we would do a full suspension check.

After he arrived we checked the car over to find the O/S/F road spring had broken and this was the cause of the handling problems he had been having.

Renault’s spring prices are ridiculous so it was quickly decided that the customer would source a new set of lowering springs from Eibach and would return to have them fitted.

A week later the customer returned and the springs were fitted and all the handling problems
were eradicated leaving a happy customer.

Toyota Hilux Surf overheating and pink liquid coming from the gearbox.

 

Aarons Autos Automatic Gearbox repairsOn his way to work this customers Toyota Hilux Surf started to overheat so he pulled over to check his coolant to find it had all gone.

He topped up the coolant but as soon as he started the car it disappeared and when he looked underneath there was a puddle of pink creamy liquid coming from half way down the vehicle.

He had it recovered to the garage and it was our challenge to find out what had gone wrong.

First we removed all the under trays and found the pink creamy liquid was coming from the top automatic gearbox breather!

We drained the gearbox to find it was full of gearbox/coolant mix indicating a major failure in the gearbox cooling system.

The next port of call was to check the gearbox oil cooler which is situated in the bottom of the radiator and straight away we found that this was the cause of the problems.

As the vehicle was a import the customer was able to source a radiator cheaper than the main
dealer, the next day it arrived and we fitted it as required, next was the clean out operation of the cooling system and gearbox which we did with a coolant flush and gearbox flush.

The customer was informed that as we couldn’t get all the oil and coolant out of the cooling system and gearbox he would have to return the car for future flushes.

Once all of the work was completed we needed to test drive the car to make sure it selected all of its gears as it should and that there was no more mixing of the gear oil and coolant.

Bmw X5 M-sport suspension fault.

BMW X5 Air Suspension fault

A very worried customer rang saying his car was hissing and the suspension had dropped on the N/S/R, We of course told him to bring it in straight away to find the fault and a solution.

On inspection it was apparent that the N/S/R suspension air bag wasn’t lifting the vehicle as it should.

We connected the BMW to our diagnostic computer and tried to re-inflate the air bag but the hissing returned and a hole was found in the suspension airbag.

Aarons Autos BMW specialistWe sourced a new air bag at half the price of the dealer part, fitted it to the car and programmed it through the diagnostic computer. Once the vehicle started the suspension system re-inflated the car was ready for the customer to take away the same day leaving a happy customer.

Alfa Romeo Mito Gearbox Troubles.

Aarons Autos Alfa Romeo Specialists

This Alfa Romeo Mito came into us with a complaint of a strange smell, also the gearbox was noisy and sometime’s locking up.

The gearbox had to be removed to try and find the problem.

As we started to remove the gearbox it became obvious that the strange smell the customer had complained of was in fact gear oil.

After removing the gearbox we found a hole in the casing and several ball bearings
etc that had punched their way into the bell housing.

After talking to our gearbox specialist we found that this was a common problem with the Alfa
Mito and the gearbox unfortunately was un-repairable.

The customer decided to let us source a reconditioned gearbox and replace the
clutch (whilst the gearbox was out).

Two days later the gearbox arrived, so we fitted the reconditioned unit into the vehicle along with a new clutch kit.

Once the work was completed and tested the customer collected their Alfa Mito and was very
happy as we had saved him £££’S on a new gearbox from the main dealer.

Citreon Picasso clutch pedal sticking.

Aarons Autos Citroen clutch

This Picasso was brought in to us with its clutch pedal sticking down causing the car to not
drive as it should.

As soon as we checked the clutch pedal it was very apparent there was a major fault on the clutch itself.

We removed the gearbox and clutch to find the clutch pressure plate hadAarons Autos Derby Clutch Replacement split into 3 pieces!

Something we had never seen before!

The customer was informed of the problem, the clutch kit was replaced and gearbox refitted as required. The vehicle was then tested and the customer was informed their car was ready for collection.

Aarons Charity Ride for Macmillan

 

Aarons Autos Sponsors Macmillan

Aaron took part in the Cycle Derby Sportive 40 kilometre bike ride today to help raise money for Macmillan Cancer Research.

The course started at Markeaton Park and went on up to Carsington Reservoir following some of Derby’s beautiful country lanes and with a total climb of over 1800 feet.

He managed to complete the course in 2 hours and 12 minutes which for an over weight guy that only started cycling properly 2 months ago isn’t a bad time!

Aarons Autos Cycle Derby SportiveAs we said the main reason for taking part in the Sportive was to raise money for Cancer Research and we managed to raise £385.00 + 25% gift aid.

Aaron would like to thank everyone who donated for there kind contributions (even though some just wanted to see him fall off)