keeping me on my toes

[whatdoesxmstandfor]

WOW , this car sure makes life interesting

Last night , on the way home , the car lied to me ... one dial told me my water temp was fine(just above 90) , while other warning lights told me it was overheating , that i should slow, that i should stop, and the fans ran so hard i think the front end was starting to take off !!! ..... OK , so figured it seemed not to be roasting , i made for the mechanic , who told me it was a dud sensor on the water-pump ... loose wire ... to fix this Sat , working OK for now ... i thought to myself , well that was an adventure

THIS morning , driving to work , all behaving normally (ABS sensor light on , Dips not working , heating not working, fuel tank reading full, but fuel warning light flashing) the usual smorgasbord. so all is well , wipers are on cos of drizzle when suddenly the wipers stop mid window AND the brakes apply FULL ON at the same time, and won't release !!!! (can you tell what it is yet?) after a few puzzling minutes, the brakes release, and i once again beat a path to the mechanic. (any clues yet ??) The mechanic says "i know exactly what happened" ...............





Turns out the wiper mechanism lost a linkage, and the short arm on the driver's wiper was flapping free, hit the brake mechanism (located bizarrely under the windscreen), rammed in and applied the brakes full on .... after a few mins it dislodged, releasing the brakes, and hey presto off we go again. 1 hour later , old mechanism out , replacement in, and all is well again.

Anyone seen THIS one before ??

Blue Peter badge to anyone who diagnosed before the end of the post !!

[xmexclusive]

Now that is unusual.
The brake valve does have a habit of seizing on but does so without help from the wipers.
Your 40k car sounds as if it has all the problems of a 240k one.
Very strange.

John

[Zaphod]

Sounds like a typical low miles little use car to me!

[robert_e_smart]

I have a low miles Xm, and the brakes stuck on due to corrosion on the pivot. Never heard of wiper linkages fouling the doseur, but can see how it happens!

[whatdoesxmstandfor]

So last weekend i dedicated Saturday to rooting at the car while at the mechanics (4 breakers to scrounge parts off)

We sorted the Fuel gauge (re plugged sender , and removed and re plugged clocks)
the sunroof , forced it out of its position, ad adjusted it to closed position
The Dipped lights/heating cut out : bypassed fuse 2 with an inline fuse
The foglights : amazingly a switch unplugged

Then Sunday i got all inspired and fixed the trunk lights, replaced some rear bulbs, decided to check my spare (looked good, but leaking air) and while under the car, i noticed two things, 1) the spare wheel carrier was badly corroded (rust holes and all) and 2) there was a crack in my passenger front Tyre which could not be seen from the side . Decided this was too bad to leave, and went to change it , but then as i say , the spare was leaking.... so wen to the mechanics and scrounged a wheel , same tyre size , all set to go , off a series 1 .

I came back , used the civilized jacking process , but , the wheel was seized on. struggled for an hour, dropping it off the jack once, and even with bolts off , the wheel did not budge even with the full weight of the car on it . in desperation , i put the bolts on loose, and drove the car a bit to loosen it ...success !! wheel off , but the series 1 alloys would not fit over the center hub ..... ARRGGGGHHHHH.

So the next day , got the tyre changed onto the good wheel , and got the spare fixed .... Good shoes at last.

BUT ..... the next morning ....i ran outta electricity on the way to work ... alternator done !!!

What fresh hell is this ???

[robert_e_smart]

Sure she'll be grand soon!!

[blue94auto]

Hello all, regarding the brakes being applied when the wiper linkage fails,it is true.
It happened to me a couple of years back,I had a 2.1td mk1 hatch, driving down the m6 and the wipers died,I managed to pull over to the hard shoulder and wondered what was happening as the car wouldn't budge!
I had to remove the windscreen valance panel to free off the loose end of the wiper linkage from the doseur valve.
Very strange the brakes being applied when the wipers fail,but that's the way it happens.
Gary

[Dieselman]

^ Perhaps it's a safety feature to stop you driving the car without wipers...

[nightmare]

LOL

The press always said that citroens were ahead of their time .