Even I could finish a car to a higher standard than this...

[mhibbins]

I'm not faulting the driving experience as my s3 is fantastic fun and the most involving car I've had to date. I also appreciate that the car is over 10 years old so stuff breaks and I'm quite happy to fix it myself. In fact that pretty much sums up why I bought the car in the first place... but this is getting a bit much. All I ask is that it works for 2 weeks without something going wrong, 2 weeks, that's all. I was driving home happy that I'd fixed the cooling problems (rad, hoses, water pump), smug in the knowledge that I'd fixed the indicators with minds of their own, reasonably happy that the windows now go up and down on command, proud that the tappets are all nice and quiet when BZZZZZZZZZZT and all the head lights go out - bzzzzt - on - bzzzzt - out - repeat - until the smell of burning plastic causes me to switch the whole lot off. The cause was a loose fuse (I think) which caused sparks which melted the fuse block and nadgered the fuse/connectors. Fantastic, now I need to cut out the wires, wire in an in line fuse holder (because the fuse block is screwed) and it'll be fine again. The reason for this tirade following a simple problem is that I had cause to go, for the first time, into the fuse cupboard above the passenger footwell and as I removed the panel all the wires spilled out in a scene reminicent of The Empire Strikes Back when Harrison Ford cuts open the smelly beast at the beginning of the film in order to make somewhere warm for the frozen luke skywalker to spend the night. If the fuse holders the rest of the stuff was at least bolted to the wall or the cover then presumably whatever bashed against the fuse holder and caused the problem would have stayed put and I would not have to sit and quietly swear at the car than nearly set fire to itself. Sadly I did not find Mark Hamill hiding behind my glovebox which would have cheered me up immensely. I was so annoyed with the car I nearly traded it in there and then against a 944 convertible but the guy seemed to think as little of my car as I did at the time. Anyway, I'm less annoyed by the car now and will be much happier when I put my new fuse in, shove the guts back behind the glovebox... until the next thing falls off or catches fire. Thanks for listening . -- Mark

[GreenV8S]

Fuses dropping out is a new one on me, but relays often seem to give trouble and they somehow pick the worst possible time. Next time you go in there its worth taping the relays into their sockets so they can't rattle loose. Cheers, Peter Humphries (and a green V8S)

quote:I'm not faulting the driving experience as my s3 is fantastic fun and the most involving car I've had to date. I also appreciate that the car is over 10 years old so stuff breaks and I'm quite happy to fix it myself. In fact that pretty much sums up why I bought the car in the first place... but this is getting a bit much. All I ask is that it works for 2 weeks without something going wrong, 2 weeks, that's all. I was driving home happy that I'd fixed the cooling problems (rad, hoses, water pump), smug in the knowledge that I'd fixed the indicators with minds of their own, reasonably happy that the windows now go up and down on command, proud that the tappets are all nice and quiet when BZZZZZZZZZZT and all the head lights go out - bzzzzt - on - bzzzzt - out - repeat - until the smell of burning plastic causes me to switch the whole lot off. The cause was a loose fuse (I think) which caused sparks which melted the fuse block and nadgered the fuse/connectors. Fantastic, now I need to cut out the wires, wire in an in line fuse holder (because the fuse block is screwed) and it'll be fine again. The reason for this tirade following a simple problem is that I had cause to go, for the first time, into the fuse cupboard above the passenger footwell and as I removed the panel all the wires spilled out in a scene reminicent of The Empire Strikes Back when Harrison Ford cuts open the smelly beast at the beginning of the film in order to make somewhere warm for the frozen luke skywalker to spend the night. If the fuse holders the rest of the stuff was at least bolted to the wall or the cover then presumably whatever bashed against the fuse holder and caused the problem would have stayed put and I would not have to sit and quietly swear at the car than nearly set fire to itself. Sadly I did not find Mark Hamill hiding behind my glovebox which would have cheered me up immensely. I was so annoyed with the car I nearly traded it in there and then against a 944 convertible but the guy seemed to think as little of my car as I did at the time. Anyway, I'm less annoyed by the car now and will be much happier when I put my new fuse in, shove the guts back behind the glovebox... until the next thing falls off or catches fire. Thanks for listening . -- Mark

[s3 bob]

Ive had problems with blade fuses in the past where faulty construction of the fuse itself has caused overheating - very tricky to find until you try to take it out and it leaves an imprint of the rating on your fingertips!