Tales Of Woe

So what's gone wrong ?

Well unfortunately, I seem to have had more than my fair share of trouble with Mr. Toad. I'm very glad I took out the 2 year warranty with the dealer, the following list explains why;
  • The day I bought him, most of his electrics failed ! No headlights, radio, horn etc. Straight back to the dealer, turns out that half the dashboard had shorted out !
  • Soon after, the alternator belt went. Nice Mr. RAC didn't have one exactly the right size, but got me going. The old one was so perished that it was actualy brittle. I insisted that the dealer replaced all the belts as a precaution.
  • On a club run (of course !) I started to get an appaling rattle from the back. Sounded a bit like bad pinking (been described to me as sounding like pebbles in a tin can). As it was a very hot day, pinking seemed to be a possibility. Into the garage, & egg on face when I found out it was just gravel in the heatshield !
  • The odd flat battery. This isn't realy surprising, I drive a company car during the week unless the sun's out & I know I won't have to make a trip from work, so Mr. Toad quite often only goes for short hops at the weekend. Since the '5 only has a small gel battery, it's not altogether surprising that it dies once in a while. A set of jump leads live inside the spare wheel !
  • Puncture ! I wasn't as upset as you might think to collect a large chuck of metal in a rear tyre. I'm sure that I still had the original set of Bridgestones (I have heard them refered to as 'Bridgerocks' due to their hardness), these tyres were so hard that they had the grip of a soggy lettice in the wet. Good riddance.
  • The most scary problem that I've had has been the differential. It broke !! Don't ask me how. I went for a drive one day & there was a horrible graunching noise coming from the back end. On the phone to the dealer; "Ah yes sir, that'll be the brake pad wear indicators". Top phone diagnosis or what ! I went out for another drive to convince myself that it didn't come on with the brakes, and was only noticable with some load on the drivetrain. Clutch, propshaft joint or differential I thought. Into the garage, up on the ramp after a quick spin so they could hear the noise, and two slivers of metal the length of a finger came out of the diff ! Let's hear it for the warranty !
  • A leaky water pump (so that's why he was running so hot !). Looking in the enthusiast's manual I find that what should be a simple job involves removing the rocker cover and all the belts and pulleys. No thanks. So in for his 1st aniversary service and a new water pump please. Pick up the car that evening, to be told "you need a new water pump; it's on order". Aaaaagh ! I TOLD them it was duff ! Almost two weeks and one new water pump later, all is now well.
  • New battery time. The old battery finaly gave up the ghost & wouldn't hold a charge. I had a look around, & took some advice from the mailing list, and finaly went for the WestCo sealed battery from Moss UK. At a tad over £86, it's not cheap, but it is cheaper than importing one yourself (for once). Mr. Toad now turns over like he means it - I must have been running on <12v for a long time ! I'd recommend it to anyone with an old battery.