Oh and to add to the fun, my nearly new battery charger seems to have bitten the dust. 🤬
Sorry if you already know this but before you bin the charger or return it if under warranty have you checked it on another battery? Usually when a battery is totally discharged it needs jump leads from a good battery attached to it and then attach the charger. Give it a few minutes then remove the jump leads and continue as normal.
Oh and to add to the fun, my nearly new battery charger seems to have bitten the dust. 🤬
Sorry if you already know this but before you bin the charger or return it if under warranty have you checked it on another battery? Usually when a battery is totally discharged it needs jump leads from a good battery attached to it and then attach the charger. Give it a few minutes then remove the jump leads and continue as normal.
Sage piece of advice there 👍 A lot of these so called smart chargers won’t recognise a battery being connected to them if the voltage is below a certain level.
Oh and to add to the fun, my nearly new battery charger seems to have bitten the dust. 🤬
Sorry if you already know this but before you bin the charger or return it if under warranty have you checked it on another battery? Usually when a battery is totally discharged it needs jump leads from a good battery attached to it and then attach the charger. Give it a few minutes then remove the jump leads and continue as normal.
Checked on several other batteries sadly, in fact it was working on this one after I'd removed it from the merc. It was only when I went back to see how it was progressing did I notice it was lights out and no-one home
Post by toomanyprojects on Nov 1, 2021 21:46:52 GMT
Couple of little wins after work tonight.
Bit of a result on the charger as after testing and confirming mine was dead they offered to replace it (quite rightly too), unfortunately for them they didn't have any of the like for like Noco's in store so got a CTEK instead. Probably what I should have got in the first place really.
Was on chef duty so no time to play by the time I'd got back so will see how things pan out tomorrow.
FIngers crossed all has cleared, but if not then I have a cunning plan... and one that doesn't involve a 3.5hr drive to near Basingstoke... well not yet anyway
Have you reset the windows - something that needs doing after a battery swap ? I'm led to believe the process is in the manual.
Yes, all reset and have done the ASR too (essentially it's windows down to microswitch and hold for 2 secs, then up and hold for 2 secs, steering is full lock left to right), still no joy.
Time to locate someone local with a star reader to clear the codes.
Post by toomanyprojects on Nov 9, 2021 14:40:13 GMT
One step forward... well not really as it turned out.
Following a few phone calls to local auto electric firms, I managed to find someone confident they had the gear to sort the code issue. Oddly the guy I spoke to on the phone was behind me in the queue when I picked up the new battery a couple of days before - small world up here!
So as it was a nice Autumnal morning on Saturday, after fitting the new battery I taxed the car and fetched it out the garage. Would have been nice to have had the roof down too
Duly took it to the guys for their thoughts and as suspected it was locked out and nothing they could do to sort at this stage, they have other bits of kit too so need to drop it back another time when they are slightly less busy. In all fairness they didn't charge anything and was nice to see what else they had in including a bit of a sleeper with the suspension set up I'm after for my Celica and TVR Tuscan loitering behind.
So one step forward... well not really as it turned out. Still the drive and morning out was nice.
Post by toomanyprojects on Nov 29, 2021 23:02:19 GMT
With a few days away from the usual day to day distraction it was time to get stuck in to a few of the jobs that have been on the list for too long. A weekend in the garden sorted mosty of those on SWMBO's list so today was a day back in the workshop.
Having spoken to another local specialist who have the right diagnostic kit for the SL but not the man to operate it, well at least not until next week , I thought I would instead tackle 'that' bumper issue in the meantime
So out of the garage and into the workshop for a date with the ramp once more
A few nuts, bolts and plugs later
After a quick chat with Chris to check I was on track with what was needed for the adhesive he kindly left when visiting the other week, it was our with the stanley for some trimming
While I was at it I could also deal with another split on the bottom edge
Both were then given a good going over with a course sandpaper to key the surface for the adhesive, and the reinforcing mesh trimmed to suit both repair areas
Last step was to come up with a cunning plan to keep the crack closed as it was intent on opening up. Luckily I had some spare washing line lying about
Finally both areas got a good wipe over ready for adhesive... but that will have to wait until tomorrow.
Post by toomanyprojects on Dec 9, 2021 12:44:05 GMT
Where do the days go?!
After a bit of fun and games with the cartridge gun I eventually managed to get the adhesive mixed and applied with the mesh in a relatively neat fashion on both areas.
The key is to work as swiftly and neatly as possible, however easier said than done when it goes off pretty rapidly, probably not helped by he cooler temps at the moment.
Having left it for a few days it's absolutely rock hard and I'm happy with how it's joined. Next stage is to knock it back and finesse with a finer filler if required. Chris has also kindly advised of a number of paint suppliers (thank you sir), who should be able to provide what I need in terms of paint and lacquer so now just a case of a spot of shopping before attacking it once more and tidying underside.
Post by toomanyprojects on Jan 4, 2022 12:53:17 GMT
Some time over the xmas hols meant I could finally get on with sorting the bumper repairs and tick this one off the Merc job list
Rubbing down the adhesive revealed what was still left to deal with
The adhesive had done its thing but it wasn't quite the finessed finish I was after . So some fine filler was needed to sort the rest, when out getting a a few last minute xmas gifts I picked up a pack of UPOLs bumper repair
Due to a number of the other scratches shown above, scope creep set in and I decided to knock back the whole of the lower section for good measure when rubbing down the filler (More by luck than judgement it turns out this was a wise idea!)
Plenty of filling, sanding, more filling and more sanding later and I eventually got to a point I was happy with. Nothing more for it than to tape and paper up, and give everything a final wipe over.
I decided I'd try a trick a friend taught me which was to tape along a section line but peel the tape back just enough so the paint drifts into the join which should hide any hard paint lines, took a while but got there eventually.
First coat was a light one just to get reasonably even coverage
Before building it up a bit more in stages 2 and 3
While that was drying I cracked on with a few MG and trailer jobs before finally hitting with lacquer and then wet sanding everything
Last stage was to give it all a polish before refitting to the car, however at this stage I noticed why it was a wise/lucky! idea I did the whole of the bottom section as opposed to just spot repairs
As you can see, it's close but not quite an exact match, then again I guess it was never going to be out of a can. I'm not 100% happy with it but that's just me being picky. For where it is on the car it's not really noticeable and it's 10x better than it was before with the various scuffs and splits.
While the car was in the workshop and I had the polishing gear to hand I gave it a good wax and polish for good measure, having the lift for this makes it so much easier on the lower panels
Job done. All now ready for it's test and hopeful roof code resolution on the 14th