Back in the game...

[silverswedemachine]

Yup, picked a T5 today after wondering if there were any 'good' ones that were left, well it turns out good examples are still about. Im sure people will have seen the blue auto estate on ebay, well its just done 150 miles back to its new home without a problem, there are a few issues with it but overall its pretty dam good. Only done 127k, body is pretty much spotless apart from 2 small dinks and a dodgy sprayed rear bumper, I might get the gun out of retirement and sort it when the weather gets warmer. Full grey leather and a the 'proper' colour interior of grey/black combo.

On the way home a few issues have shown up, first is the rear end is chattering a lot on potholes, suspect top mounts, pretty sure its got normal dampers already on so no messing there, while the brakes are fine I do feel I need to upgrade them so going to see if I can find some Volan replacements so I can go 'bigger'. The main issue though is the auto box, I HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE AT ALL OF THESE, I am definitely untrained as far these go but after reading up this morning that it should 'lock' in 3rd and 4th, I am sure it is slipping abit, more noticeable in 4th, firstly the oil is very clean, bright pink, quality unknown also I haven't checked the level yet, I do suspect it is low, it changes smooth, no knocks or jerks. A manual conversion might be on the cards yet, but I don't hate the auto as much as I thought I would do...

As said earlier this thing is in need of alittle love, noticed it still has the original vac pipes on it, im afraid to touch them incase they disintegrate, the normal oil leak from the filler cap that is wetting the engine nicely, it does look like it needs a service but it runs good, potential unknown atm till its ready for some kickdown action...

Advice always welcome, ideas on the box please...

cheers

Mark

[Shinsplintz 101]

Congrats on the car fella -looked a nice example, glad your happy with it!

The Auto's go pretty well to be fair, a few guys on here have pushed some decent power through them [Andy's R for example]

Good luck & look forward to the updates.

Cheers, morgan

[Orca2]

If the auto box changes smoothly, and does not clunk into drive or flare between gears it should be fine, if the atf is a bright clear pinky colour and not stinky or brown the box should be good , they are pretty addictive too . I can't e arsed with manual boxes any more.
Not sure whether yours should lock up in top gear or not.

[silverswedemachine]

cheers guys, regarding the gearbox, like you say that be model specific on lock up but it its not bad any way. I will give a good look over tomora and have an idea what to buy for it...

[Jamest5r]

I've got an auto t5 and i love it so easy to drive in traffic and instant boost with a.15g :)

[nottsgreent5]

Ive had a few weeks back in a auto and its brill but bloody hell there thirsty compared to the manual but kick down is addictive lol

[Orca2]

I have driven manuals for over thirty years and was a bit reluctant to buy my T5 because it is automatic. Now I wonder why I could be bothered changing gear . It's like a tiler I go Kart and the kickdown Is real Punch in the back stuff .
I guess I am just older and lazier but I like it.

[silverswedemachine]

Thanks for the comments, I got the holidays and car season with the shows n that coming up soon so I guess that will be plenty of miles to get used to it. The car feels lazy but all cars I buy do till they get used to my driving or Italian tune up some call it. Will feel better when its serviced and got some good injection cleaner through it. One of the things to sort though is the throttle pedal/cable, feels stiff as **** and is not easy to do small adjustments.

[Jamest5r]

Thanks for the comments, I got the holidays and car season with the shows n that coming up soon so I guess that will be plenty of miles to get used to it. The car feels lazy but all cars I buy do till they get used to my driving or Italian tune up some call it. Will feel better when its serviced and got some good injection cleaner through it. One of the things to sort though is the throttle pedal/cable, feels stiff as **** and is not easy to do small adjustments.

Yep throttle cables do that very easy to replace then simple stage 0 and a remap, trust me it will wake up and not feel sluggish :)

[silverswedemachine]

Wellllll, its been an interesting morning on the car, first off the engine is in need of service very badly, had all the bits off to replace the vac pipes which were so brittle they just snapped off, had the dizzy, rotor off and inspected the plugs. Oh dear, the rotor is date stamped 96 so guessing is original, same with the dizzy, terrible condition. The plugs are R6 Volvo items but I've never seen plugs so tired, barely a point left just a stump, gaps all over the place, im surprised it ran as well as it did. Had the timing belt cover off, belt is ok, cant see any leaks, will get it changed out.

I had a spare dizzy and rotor in the garage from last time so they got chucked on, plugs just got regapped and put back.

As said earlier the list is growing:

Stage 0 - a must now, gonna do thermostat with antfreeze at the same time as water pump
header tank - its cracked just under the return pipe
pcv? thing - neeed to research this but judging by the outlet that fastens on the turbo entry, I think it will need replacing

As ever comments welcome

Mark

[silverswedemachine]

Anybody know anything about ignition barrels, mine is sort of stiff but its not, there is no distinction between the 2 parts - stage 1 radio n windows etc. Stage 2 - ignition lights and then start. It just seems to roll through without feeling the clicks. Thinking the spring is broke or mucked up because you have turn the key back (towards Off pos') a fraction to get the ABS light to go out, elec mirrors, speedo (maybe) to work...

Mark