I did get a bit of work done on the V6 just before the wedding to make sure it was up to the task of braving the hills of Scotland in the middle of winter.
Unfortunately, I have very few images of this work as I did virtually none of it myself. So I apologise for the lack of optical stimulation in advance.
Firstly, I thought a good set of winter tyres would come in handy. The Goodyear ecocontacts that were on there before were running low on tread anyway so why not?
After much review reading I opted for two Michelin Crossclimate+ tyres for the front wheels. After all, the V6 has a 62/38 front/rear weight distribution.
I also asked for the tracking to be done at the same time. (more on that later!)
I'd also been having problems with the heater. A rather piece of equipment I'd rather not have to do without.
Basically it was taking ages to heat up and not blowing very hot even on full.
I remembered something that Ian (iangsi) told me once about a similar problem he was having on his GSi; he simply flushed the heater matrix to remove a build up of sludge.
I thought it was worth a punt so asked the garage to give it a go.
Lastly, I opted for a minor service and check over.
Unfortunately I got a ring to say that the track rod ends had seized, surprise surprise!
I've had very little luck with un-siezing them in the past so opted to get new ones put on.
These were supplied by Moog.
I finally got the car back a few days later and boy what a difference!
It felt so much more crisp to drive, probably all from the new tyres and tracking.
The icing on the cake was the heater which is now working perfectly!
I got the car back with a nice stamp in the logbook too!
Slight digression; I got one of these genuine logbooks from Kevin Bricknall at last year's VBOA. Been looking for one for ages as the original has long since ran out of room for new stamps. So thanks again Kevin!
I was about this point when I noticed that I'd lost one of the exhaust mount rubbers from the back box.
Rather annoyed at myself as it was a genuine GM one that I only put on a few years ago (earlier in this thread).
While looking on EPC4 for the part number so i could get a new one, I noticed that there are supposed to be clips holding the rubbers in place.
So I ordered some on eBay (apparently genuine GM but no proof of this) and fitted them along with a new febbi exhaust mount (Unfortunately the genuine ones don't seem to be available any more
).
Those rubbers are going nowhere!
Last job was to fix this problem:
Classic Cavalier fault; the wiper linkage wearing out and becoming loose causing the arm to sit too high.
This meant that it was catching on the bonnet every time you opened it and not enough pressure was being put down on the wiper, causing poor wiping of water and a horrific screeching noise even with new blades.
I've had the same problem on my LS before.
New used wiper assembly sourced on eBay:
This is a job I know well:
Always seem to be under the shuttle panel of my Cavs.
Anyway, all seemed fairly ok under there. Bit of surface rust that I'll have to keep an eye on.
This is the problem with these, they just work loose eventually.
It's often caused putting too much pressure on the arm when new wiper blades are fitted.
You can see how much movement is in this fitment, there should be no movement at all:
Et voila, problem solved:
Very satisfying set of niggles ironed out.
I have to say, it really did us proud in Scotland. So glad we took this one, it's a real proper grand tourer.