What's your reason to feel crap today?

[MRTWO]

my MR2 had heart failure...

I was accelerating a little harder than usual on a dual carriageway, near red line, and poof! a huge plume of white smoke out the back and sudden drop in power

fortunately I was only a mile from home so nursed it carefully back there

Although 99% of smoke was coming from the exhaust, when I opened the engine cover I could see a little smoke coming from the firewall side of the engine and it was running a bit rough

Presumably its a blown gasket but my car, that I've had since July, is supposedly a sub 60k miler backed up by all the MOTs and service book and I'm the second owner.

There was no symptoms prior to this except perhaps the over heating problem I had back in Sept, and the slight clear smoking I've had recently as the engine runs cold though I have no idea if these are related

so a couple of questions before you all reply with your own "reason to feel crap today..." (as I'm sure we do get them running such old cars!)

Is this normal for such low mileage?
Would driving a mile home cause much extra damage to the engine block?

Crazylegs is close to me and did a recent service for me, and hopefully he'll replace the gasket for me too... and having joined this forum since getting this car I'm no where near as concerned about blown gaskets as I use to be, but I'm just a bit stunned and wonder what else can be checked/replaced while the gasket is being sorted?

[kevin..in]

its low mileage yes!
but at 21 years old its kind of expected, we are running cars that are now over twice their expected maximum life
my reason to feel crap, after diying all of yesterday then working till midnight on my scooter (only so I can get to work!!)
then again diy today on my knees on a hard marble floor (I feel more than twice my age!) & you can barely see what I have done
I haven't had any time for ages even to look at my MK1 so at least you got to drive yours
Oh to only feel crap

[MRTWO]

... but isn't "expected life" matched with "expected mileage" (ie usage)?
this car has been garaged most of its life (and still is) and I expected that gaskets didn't wear due to age, only due to usage, but to be honest I have no real idea about all this

however, I appreciate your persepective on my bad day and I am honestly feeling for you too!

lets hope tomorrow is better for both of us!

[Tony jinxy froude]

The only reason i feel crap is because i have a stinking cold ( sniff !! ) & as ive just flown at over 35,000 feet on a plane only getting in a few hours ago the pressure on my ears was very painfull .
If its a head gasket Kev will certainly be able to diagnose it for definate for you. Headgasket failure can happen on any age of car at any mileage, the fact that you had an overheating problem probably didnt help & may have shortened the gaskets life by quite a few miles, the engine on these cars can gererate an awful amount of heat , have a word with Kev asap, good luck, Jinxy

[BIGBOBO]

2 reasons:

1. My car isn't working anymore and I have to take it tour our MOT equivalent before friday. And I probably can't even afford to fix it due to reason number 2.

2. I got turned down again during a job interview. 'Lack of experience' Then don't invite young graduates for interviews!

[Blue1984]

We were taking the Red MK1 out tonight, following the 'rents down to Hertford way. On the M25 and it started juddering - the wheel was juddering too. Carried on (gingerly) as it was then ok for a bit but it intermittently came on and off. So, we pulled into a big shopping centre and it turned out that one of the wheels was very hot yet the other 3 were pretty cool.
Saw a passing RAC van, who pulled in to get Petrol and asked him for some help - am an RAC member anyway, who confirmed that it had a sticking brake caliper. We had to come home, all of 30 miles back with 3 stops along the way off the M25 in parts of Essex for it to cool down.

So we missed the show that we were going to see with someone in the Family in it, wasted petrol and also the time. Left here at 5pn & got back at 7.30. We did get to see Top Gear instead of V+ing it! Should've taken the blue MK1 instead lol.

So thats why I feel crap tonight

[MRTWO]

so, I'm definitely not the only one feeling crap today, I'm partly sad and also partly comforted that I am not alone

I guess at least these things are just mechanical and one way or another we can resolve them...

but its still good to share!

[Tony jinxy froude]

We were taking the Red MK1 out tonight, following the 'rents down to Hertford way. On the M25 and it started juddering - the wheel was juddering too. Carried on (gingerly) as it was then ok for a bit but it intermittently came on and off. So, we pulled into a big shopping centre and it turned out that one of the wheels was very hot yet the other 3 were pretty cool.
Saw a passing RAC van, who pulled in to get Petrol and asked him for some help - am an RAC member anyway, who confirmed that it had a sticking brake caliper. We had to come home, all of 30 miles back with 3 stops along the way off the M25 in parts of Essex for it to cool down.

So we missed the show that we were going to see with someone in the Family in it, wasted petrol and also the time. Left here at 5pn & got back at 7.30. We did get to see Top Gear instead of V+ing it! Should've taken the blue MK1 instead lol.

So thats why I feel crap tonight

Thats a pathetic excuse at an attempt to get some sympathy Tina .... a sticky brake caliper its sooooo easy to fix, well would take me about an hour & it'd be like new, you were even minutes from my house too, cos i know where you stopped, you stopped at Tesco's brookfield farm Cheshunt.... am i right ? ........ shocking, my number should be on your phone as your a S.East owner , Jinxy

[ligertigon]

I repaired my blown HG.

Then a week later, drove down the motorway forgetting to replace the pressure cap as I checked coolant.

Plume of steam behind me and tep guage pegged beyond hot...

Next w/e replaced HG Again.

twice in one month

[kevin..in]

... but isn't "expected life" matched with "expected mileage" (ie usage)?
this car has been garaged most of its life (and still is) and I expected that gaskets didn't wear due to age, only due to usage, but to be honest I have no real idea about all this

NO, consider why all service items will have a life dictated by either mileage or age i.e. cam belt is 60K miles or 5 years
your car will deteriorate whether you use it or not, depentant on how you use it and or store it
coolant left uncirculating in you engine/cooling system is not good for the long life of you engine/gaskets
if this is the original head gasket (and it probably is) then 21 years is an exellent life span!
I feel a bit better today but thats maybe because I am now high as a kite from floor tile sealant fumes

[Jaspa]

... but isn't "expected life" matched with "expected mileage" (ie usage)?
this car has been garaged most of its life (and still is) and I expected that gaskets didn't wear due to age, only due to usage, but to be honest I have no real idea about all this

NO, consider why all service items will have a life dictated by either mileage or age i.e. cam belt is 60K miles or 5 years

You also need to think about the life of the car prior to you obtaining it. Was the car thrashed from cold for example.

Stuart

[WeirdNeville]

I feel crap today because:

1) I got 4 hours sleep last night because Fallout 3 Has stolen my life.
2) My MR2 is still at the garage, they fixed the sticky caliper only for the handbrake cable to fail as they re-tested it for the MOT! Still, another job done from the list. I'm missing the car though.
3) I fell heavily from my pedal bike last week and everything on my left hand side aches and I have been slightly concussed for days.
4) Just got back from visiting my dad in hospital - He had a severe stroke about 3 weeks ago aged 57 and now I'm convinced I'm gonna suffer the same fate. Interestingly a Stroke is pretty much a head gasket failure of the brain (my dad recorded a Blood pressure of 255/140 right after his stroke. Look it up. It's high).
5) I go back to work tomorrow for 12 straight days.

[tonigmr2]

Pft, amateurs. Try waiting 4 years for a project to get back on the road.

T

[LimeyMk1]

Pft, amateurs. Try waiting 4 years for a project to get back on the road.

T

Getting there. 2 years so far.

[cartledge_uk]

Pft, amateurs. Try waiting 4 years for a project to get back on the road.

T

Getting there. 2 years so far.

At least you 2 have a shell thats more structurally sound than the titanic

[Blue1984]

Thats a pathetic excuse at an attempt to get some sympathy Tina .... a sticky brake caliper its sooooo easy to fix, well would take me about an hour & it'd be like new, you were even minutes from my house too, cos i know where you stopped, you stopped at Tesco's brookfield farm Cheshunt.... am i right ? ........ shocking, my number should be on your phone as your a S.East owner , Jinxy

Haha cheers Tony, yes it was indeed Brookfield Farm! My other half Yves has been working on it this morning and put new spark plugs, HT leads, a rotor arm and a dizzy cap on it but he's now doing an oil change on his MK1 now so mine will get the caliper sorted on Saturday. Am glad that the problem was only that and that it wasn't worse or something like a blow out on the M25 or A10!

I haven't got your number either btw.

[SuperRedMR2]

I was clenched in my seat on sunday night, thats why I felt like xxxx!

I found myself going home from my gfs, travelling along a road I know very well, suddenly finding a branching about 70mm diameter spanning across both sides of the road! Not having chance to brake, as road was incredibly wet and very leafy (braking would have been a mistake too), and having to go onto other side of the road and running over the bloody thing!

Luckily no damage, but if I had not avoided it, this message would have probably been posted from my phone in hospital or at home, as I would have come off the road

[MRTWO]

well, some of these posts have put some perspective on my crap day on Sunday. and I do appreciate mine is just a possesion rather than something truly meaningful, but 2 days later I still feel like I'm missing something when I have waited 19 years to own an mk1 again, and only had this for 3 month...

I'm hoping soon though to create a "What's your reason to feel great today!" topic which will include me driving my Mk1 again

[WeirdNeville]

The car kicked me in the 8*lls again today!
Picked it up from the MOT center to be handed a bill for £500.

Ouch. Last car that did that to me was in the 'trader a month later, but I love this one too much!

[MRTWO]

ditto. told my wife before I got this one that it would be with me for life now... no matter what... (I didn't say whether it was its life or mine but at 47 tomorrow I suspect (hope) I'll outlive it...!)