Stupid F&%$*@£ Vehicle!

[lunalupi]

Well, the Arosa is currently abandoned in Bath city centre with all the syptoms of that curse of the Lupo/Arosa - pedal box failure.

Clutch down, big bang, pedal is now sitting on the floor - luckily it went when he was in neutral, so was able to tuck into the kerb a bit. Oh, and some bullet shaped thing with a big spring in the middle, about 8 cm long with a bar about 15cm long through the middle, came flying out from under my car when it happened - a nice passerby picked it up for me.


So, I'm now sitting at home waiting for a call from the RAC to say they are nearly there, then I have to walk into town to get the car recovered to my local garage to see what they say about it. 2-3 hour ETA!


I am not a happy bunny I'd just bought him his christmas present too!

 

[lunalupi]

Don't Panic!

After all that drama, it turned out that it was the clutch cable - it had snapped in the engine bay. So the RAC man did a temporary fix, but that went a litle way down the road (by some traffic lights, in rush hour, on the busiest road in Bath...!) so I was towed to the garage in state behind his van.

 

[Jonesy]

Phew!!!!

 

[Boo]

I read the 1st post and had heart failure !!! Now Nicola at my age that isnt funny he he he managed to get a heart bump start to read the 2nd post.

 

[ArosaRacer]

clutch cable is'nt that bad to do

 

[UncleFester]

Tis when you're in the middle of rush hour in a city centre

 

[lunalupi]

GG - I nearly had a heart attack when it happened! Got a sore leg cos when it went my foot slammed into the floor

The garage will be trying to fit him in this week - they're busy at the mo, but hopefully it'll be a quick job they can fit in somewhere. So long as I have him back before I have to go back to uni.

 

[m0rk]

I remember when my Ibiza snapped a cable on a major roundabout in Fareham.... so much fun

temp fix got me home (20 miles, and 4 clutch operations only!)

should just about get the cable before xmas, 30 mins tops to fit too

 

[Boo]

When the one went on my dads old 6 series he was half way up a hill - they always seem to go in the most inconvenient places.

 

[lunalupi]

Probably cos your putting strain on it, then BANG! Like mine, I was changing gear ready to pull out of a junction onto a hill....

Anyway, cheers M0rk - hopefully if its just a half hour job, all the other bits I asked to be done will probably take it up to an hour job, which hopefully they will be able to squeeze in

 

[lunalupi]

Car is back with a new clutch cable, but now the brake pedal feels very strange!! I'm worried the pedal box may have got damaged when the clutch cable went, as its creaking and grinding hen I push it down, and the brakes aren't cutting in as early as they used to......

Garage say they didn't touch the brakes, and havn't got time to fit us in till after Christmas Really loosing confidence in my garage now

 

[Boo]

They are probably preparing their livers for the onslaught of christmas and new year Nic.

 

[lunalupi]

I don't even feel like driving it anymore, the clutch feels totally wrong - they said when it arrived yesterday that they were fully booked today, so I said not to hurry and to just do it when they had time. Somehow the squeezed it in today, but I don't think they gave themselves enough time and did something wrong

 

[m0rk]

make sure they fitted the cable the right way round.

I once had one cable fitted by a garage where the 'stop' was on the lever, rather than the other way round.

weird that the brakes are feeling odd....

unlikely that you're passing, but if you are, let me know & I'll hang upside down & look for cracks... (now that does sound wrong)

 

[JonTelfer]

The funny brakes might just be due to rust on the disks if its been sitting around for a while. A run down Bathwick Hill or that North Road/Hill would fix it.

 

[lunalupi]

Well, I went and had a look under the dash and discovered the source of the noise - theres a piece of plastic hanging down, I think its been removed and fitted back wrongly....

As for the clutch cable - I had a look under the bonnet, and it appears to be fitted correctly - except it hasn't got the sprung section that the original had! And the clutch pedal is loose when at rest, and doesn't feel like it engages until about halfway through the travel, which means you hit the floor before it feels like its disengaged!

 

[UncleFester]

It might be that you've been used to driving with a very worn cable and that's why it feels different, the spring should be there however and the pedal should not be 'loose' ... well you expect a little bit of play but not physically loose. That spring is the adjuster spring and takes up any slack in the cable as it stretches and as the clutch wears - IIRC?

 

[lunalupi]

Right, they called me in today to have a look at everything

The bit of plastic was refitted a little bit further accross, so that it sorted. The clutch cable is apparently a 'new design' which doesn't have the spring - the spring is only there to make the clutch a bit softer anyway according to the garage and the RAC man....
They tightened the cable by a turn, but can't do anymore as it leaves no slack in the cable - its not that same as it was, but I did have a worn cable before, with a spring in it.

And they also took it out for a drive to give a third opinion on the gearbox - reckoned its not going to go bang anytime soon, although the clutch is heavy. So I'm just gonna get the clutch changed sometime soon to take the pressure off the cable and pedal box.

 

[m0rk]

when they change the clutch, they'll lube the mechanism in the 'box - it's this that makes it a lot lighter

 

[ArosaRacer]

that spring adjuster is a pain, when it sezzes up you lose your clutch not good