My car is falling to bits and I feel powerless :(

A

AC5L4T3R

Member
So I took my car out of the garage since the weathers getting better. Took the hardtop off and after about 2 days of opening and closing the roof, the motor failed. :headbang:

My coolant light was on, checked the reservoir and it's almost completely empty. Filled it up and a few days later it was almost empty again and I noticed spots under the car where it was obviously leaking.

Both control arms need replacing (I have the new ones but haven't fitted them yet)

The key has completely stopped working. I did a scan with INPA and it said something about the central locking "Central Locking: Relay does not pick up when locking".

The mirrors only work in 2 directions on both sides.

My handbrake (red) and DSC (yellow) are both on. Carly says it's a wheel speed sensor although it's not completely clear. INPA says only one error in DSC section and says "liquid level switch fault" (translated from German).

Camshaft Sensor pulls up an error that doesn't go when cleared.
I'm at a wits end with all these issues. Starting to wonder if it's worth the hassle in fixing everything as it's an 03 E85 with 85k on the clock.
 
Time to get your hands dirty mate!
All do-able issues apart maybe from roof-motor.
Build up this thread with progress reports and don't be shy to ask for any advice if required.
Doing these jobs can be hugely satisfying when completed.
:thumbsup:
 
Oi! - snap out of it. Its just a few jobs at once if you look at them one by one all are do-able start with an easy one and slide yourself into it. These cars are good for 200+ miles.

There's someone on here who have done each one of these nothing is impossible.
 
Chin up matey. These moments will come to us all so you maybe able to help someone else out after you've learned to fix them. :driving:
 
With the mirrors it might be worth persevering with the controls. I thought mine wouldn't go up or down but the directional switch was just a bit lazy. Maybe try pressing a little harder or in a slightly different direction (mine is also an 03' e85 but with 124k on the clock)
 
Just a thought but a failing battery can cause all sorts of electrical issues particularly if car hasnt been used for some time. I would check the voltages just to make sure it isnt a simple battery problem.
 
Re the mirrors if they only work on both mirrors with the same part of the button on the switch, it's probably the switch
 
My first car was a 1969 Ford Escort, it was 11 years old when I got it. The floor was a Flintstones copy, and it hated starting.
Your zed is 18 years old and packed with a lot more toys.
Are you that surprised that a few sensors and motors are playing up.
Come on now, many younger model vehicles are already on shop shelves as tin cans.
These are lasting pretty well and will give you many more years, with a bit of maintenance. :thumbsup:
 
And if it is the switch as suggested you can pick one up for little expense.

Take a day, show it some love and I'm sure you will be rewarded! Good luck. :thumbsup:
 
Niggles and a few £'s spend on an old car v New car and a Lot of £'s on depreciation/year - Theres no winning either way its pay up!
 
Switch sounds like an easy fix.
As for the rest, work out a logical order to do it all, read up on it through the forum etc then do one ting at a time and fix that before moving on.
I'd start by ruling out a potential battery issue by the sounds of it.
Then obviously if the key won't work you won't get much further, so sort that.
Don't want to be running the engine with no coolant, so find that leak and get it fixed.
Then when you're able to get in the car, start it and run it without killing the engine, you can start thinking of the other bits.

And every time you've had enough, get on here, tell us where you got to and I'm pretty sure you'll get enough encouragement to carry on.



Or sell me your car for 50 quid :poke: :D
 
Thanks for the replies guys.. nice to have a bit of inspiration.

I changed the battery when I was having key problems last year. It worked fine for about 2 weeks before completely stopping. I've got a new expansion tank arriving on Saturday so gonna get the car in the air and sort that out.

@Enuff_zed If you want to come to Germany and pick it up, you're welcome to it :rofl:
 
AC5L4T3R said:
Thanks for the replies guys.. nice to have a bit of inspiration.

I changed the battery when I was having key problems last year. It worked fine for about 2 weeks before completely stopping. I've got a new expansion tank arriving on Saturday so gonna get the car in the air and sort that out.

@Enuff_zed If you want to come to Germany and pick it up, you're welcome to it :rofl:
Click to expand...
Ceertainly! Shall I bring some AstraZeneca with me. :poke: :rofl:
 
I'm getting my jab tomorrow :rofl:

I bought a C310+ and finally cleared my airbag light after 5 or so years. Ive also had the handbrake/dsc light on for a while now and it told me my brake fluid level sensor was causing a problem. I had a look under the bonnet and found my cable almost cut in half.

Any idea how to fix it? It's half way down the cable so no idea what to do.
 

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Cut the wires. Strip 1cm on all the ends. Twist them back together. If the wires aren't quite long enough then splice a short piece in the gap. Fix them permanently with solder. Wrap in black insulation tape. :thumbsup:
 
Got my very handy neighbor to do it yesterday, job done in about 10 minutes. After 5 years of owning this car, there are absolutely no lights on the dashboard anymore :lol: It's strangely weird not seeing anything lit up. One step closer to getting a TUV.

Next on the list is to replace the control arms and find out where the coolant is leaking from. I hope it's the expansion tank as I already have a new one ready to install.
 
Great news. :thumbsup:

It sounds like you are getting close to being able to just enjoy driving it. :driving:
 
Went to the Workstadt with control-arms in hand ready to change. Spent 2 hours trying to get right hand control arm off the joint where the disc and caliper are with no joy. The guys that own the place said a mechanic they know would do it for 350 euros (change front and back discs and pads, both control arms and my expansion tank). Dropped off the car on Friday at 4pm and picked it up yesterday at 4pm all ready to go.

Now all that's left is to take it for the TUV and hope it passes. Then I can finally move on to fixing the roof motor, finding out why the key doesn't work, get facelift rear bumper sprayed and facelift rear lights fitted. :rofl:
 
See, you're getting there after all. Good to hear you're working your way through it all.
Good luck with the rest.
 
So before I took it for a TUV, I got new PS4's fitted 265/30/19 on rear and 235/35/19 on front. Look very smart! Went to get the wheel alignment done today but they couldn't do it as the car is too low :rofl: Said I have to take it for 3D alignment and BMW (although I'll try and find an Indie that does it).

I've also noticed that since having my rotors and pads changed, the theres high pitched squeeling coming from the rear wheels at slow speed, a bit like when you leave the handbrake half-cooked. Goes away once I'm over 5-10mph but before that it's quite loud. Any one have an idea what it could be?
 
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