Car needs new clutch cylinder and MOT - Time to scrap?

The car has been leaking brake fluid for ages and today my machanic diagnoses the problem as a leaking clylinder. It will need the gearbox removing and possibly a new clutch.

On top of that it will probably need new brake pipes, a new trye, new back box for the MOT.

So we are now stuck, we have no money to buy a replacement.

 

the tire and ehauat are no problems

the brake pipes on their own are proablya killer here

thhe leaking cylinder won't be cheap....parts....labour not good.

if it does need the clutch....maybe the nail in the coffin

 

The clutch works perfectly, but the car is very noisy at low speeds (sounds like a gearbox whine but different but my machanic reckons its the clutch cylinder). There is no way of knowing if it needs a new clutch until he removes the gearbox, a new clutch will be around £70 and labour is already inc in the cost of replacing the cylinder.

The problem is although the work we have had done has been very cheap (new front wishbones, four new brake pads, heater control valve etc) a lot of work has been done although so far we have only spent £200 on repairs in 11,0000 miles.

He said he would do the labour on the clutch cylinder for £100 so it will be around £150 or £230 if it needs a new clutch, plus the cost of the MOT, brake pipes etc it could apprach £400 which is just not worth it for a 10 year old Fiesta Ghia.

The other solution would be to just MOT to the thing and carry on filling up 500ml of brake fluid a week until the clutch stops working, the brakes are not affected as its a different compartment of the brake fluid container.

I feel a bit sick, the car has had some little niggles such as thermostat, idle control valve etc but parts and labour are so cheap. I was charged £10 to have the idle control valve and MAF cleaned for example.

 

if the clutch works...and takes a mod hill start wihoiut slipping....should be ok imo

if you are leaking break fluid i don't hink you can leave that....you have to deal with it


same with br ake pipes...if they are bad.....you ca n't leave them

 

Indeed, the brake pipes will be done for the MOT on friday. They are not leaking or anything like starting to but they are rusty so there will be a danger if these are not replaced. He said its a very easy and quick job though.

The clutch works perfectly no slippage etc.

There is no danger of the brakes failing because the brake fluid level cannot fall below that of the pipe that operates the clutch servo.

I think the real danger is if this is left the clutch pedal will just sink to the floor when there is suddenly a loss of hydraulic preasure.

Been trying to add it up, a new trye will cost £60 and they are 185/55/14"'s . I have no idea about brake pipes.

The exhaust has a very very minor blow you can only hear it slightly when the window is open, it sounds fine at idle, but its loose but this is just the a rubber clamp that needs tightening from what I could tell.

The engine has 71,000 miles on the clock, it uses a little bit of oil (about 1 litre per 1000/1500 miles) but its not got any worse and it never produces any smoke, the tappets were adjusted 14,000 miles ago and it still sounds quite at the top so I know the camshaft is probably good.

There is a slight hum from the water pump but thats been like that for the past 10k and not got any worse so I am not concerned again about that.

Other that the car works perfectly, steering is a lot more responsive and sharp than any modern car I have driven, the gearbox is lovely (even with the faulty clutch), all the many electrics work etc. It has also has the old 1.3 Push rod 'Kent' engine so I know there is no worry of a cambelt snapping etc.

 

welcome back AT!

 

Nothing changes eh

 

AT - if you buy another car for £400, will it be as good as the one you have already if sorted?

That would be my reasoning rather than the value of the car. If you buy a £400 car, it could have many problems also that need sorting.

Brake pipes can be cheap if you put the time in. Buy pipe off the reel (only a few quid), remove the old, bend the pipe to same shape, fit new ends and then fit on car - much cheaper than buying the pre-bent for your car.

Water pimp - keep your eye on engine temps, but as you say, don't worry unless displays more symptoms and then if you change, do cambelt at the same time.

IMO it is better to keep an older car you know running rather than add to the waste society buying a new one every 3 years.

 

Freudian slip?

 

No cam belt crap on this engine, its one of the reasons I bought it . Its a simple chain driven push rod unit .

I won't be doing the pipes myself so it might be cheaper to pre buy them, but I was under the impression you had to bend them anyway.

We could probably get a better car for £400 but not one which we could afford to run/fuel/insure so as far as a small supermini goes these cars go for around £800 on ebay with a full MOT and problems sorted etc.

We paid £850 for it this time last year and its in good condition, no rust etc apart from a very minor bubble on a wheel arch.

Engine temps are a little high, it will go above half way in traffic but a new thermostat helped a lot with this, its fine on the motorway etc. In the full 11,000 miles we have owned it the car has never over heated so its not really an issue for us.

 

cam belt doesn't go - everything else does apparently!

 

AT I don't want to be a boring b****d but I think the point of owning a car is keeping it maintained.

Anything that could interupt your concentration whislt driving is maybe not a good thing.

Unlikely I know but say a kid walks out from behind a car....you have to react to that......your clutch pedal dissolves into the carpet at just that moment......WTF???.......your concentration is momentarilly interupted at just the wrong time.

If you know its wrong perhpts you need to get it sorted

 

This is the joy of car ownership. So you scrap it, pay a yard £50 to take it away, or get a tenner if you're very lucky. You then have to buy another.
You need to get the clutch done. That's essential. You might as well pay £70 for the plates whilst it's all out as well. Brake pipes are cheap and easy as long as they're not rusted in place and you don't break the thread off (oh I went there on a Marina many years ago......)
So it costs you £400. What would it cost you to buy a new one, what would finance cost you?
If you run old cars sometimes they'll cost you.
IMHO, you paid £850 for it, you've spent £200, it needs another £400 (probably a bit more when a few niggles are uncovered). Not long since I sold my wifes perfect 02 Micra for £2500 with 20,000 miles on the clock.
If you want reliable motoring that isn't going to cost you anything you need to save up and find the money for something like that. You had that answer then, and you'll get it now.

By the way if someone is trying to sell you a tyre for a Fiesta for £60 they're taking your trousers down. Try this place:

www.event-tyres.co.uk

I had some tyres fitted to my car recently, they were brilliant. You can go to them, they're based in Manchester, that'll save you the surcharge. £43.47 fitted and balanced.

 

By the way how come no. 1 in this list wasn't any car owned by AT?

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-s...-allegro-voted-britains-worst-car-870149.html

 

Indeedy

Do you pay to have it repaired or doi you start again and cut your losses on the £xxxxxx you just spent on it.

We all have the judge ment call to make.

Its never easy.

 

Of course it is, motoring euthanasia is perfectly legal and it's the humane thing to do. And what's more, with the price of metal at the mo' there's never been a better time to scrap your car.
You should get more than a tenner anyhow.

Next time, keep away from those bloody super-reliable simple to maintain fiestas that are such a great bargain, and buy some crappy Japanese box on wheels that will sadly keep going for years if you can be arsed to change the oil once a year. You know it makes sense, ha ha.

Mind you, I did just buy a Ka, and tbh I quite like it even if it is a girls car, teehee.

Chin chin!
:guiness:

btw I'm getting about 48mpg out of that Ka, which I'm well impressed by!

 

Yes but so of you guys don't know how the other half live.

 

But how do you know which half are which?

 

Oh, don't you worry, I know

 

Have you lot been drinking?

Oh yeah - the pimp thing - ooopsy. Lol

Fiesta 1.3 - okay, no cambel, but seriously, the Yamaha 1.25 engine is still far more reliable. However, I am an advocate of keeping old cars good. I am a bit of a petrol head and have 2 older cars which I love. One is a 1994 and the other is a 1991 - okay, not quite old enough to be classics, but there is far more satisfaction to be had when someone admires an older car and comments how well you have kept it than just having a new one every couple of years.