Clankety Clank repair time! A quick look underneath Moffy and it was clear what the problem was.

So I ordered a new bracket and bottom bolt
First thing was to remove the old bracket and clean up the top bolt and nut

It took me a while (and phone call to my Dad) to work out how to get the new bracket over the pipe.

Whilst getting the bracket on I discovered that there was another one further back – completely rusted away!

It was tricky to get the strap through the top and the new bolt through the bottom as the bracket got a little squished whilst I tried various methods of widening the gap.

Cost : £1.90
Time: 2.5 hours – rusty bolts!
Difficulty: Easy – apart from getting the rusty bolts undone.
Injury Level: nothing – yey!

Replacing the side light bulb

This is a pretty easy task – supposedly! It also included an occurrence that appears in the “Idiots guide to the Haynes Manual” spot which :)


I twisted, pulled, pushed, rocked, scraped away, sprayed WD 40 (all with something around my fingers in case of glass breakage) and eventually managed to remove the glass part of the bulb!

So then I used pliers, a knife and brute force to yank that out. The reason for the resistance?.....



So I cleaned up the rust as best I could – blocked hole in the base with a small piece of rubber, dried it, sprayed WD40 and put the new bulb in. It’s loose but does come on, however I’ve decided to replace the whole unit sometime soon! Apparently the rusting is quite common.

Cost : £0.50
Time: 1/2 hour – with cleaning
Difficulty: Easy
Injury Level: nada

Clankty Clank

Well, just to prove there never is a dull moment in the life of a moggy owner I couldn't even get the next 'here's one I repaired earlier' post up before something else needs looking at!

I went to visit some friends at the weekend and on the way down (just to distract from the fun of finally getting a go with the Sat Nav me and my sisters got for christmas) there was an ominous new clanky noise from the Ps side/rear of my car. The cause: a clamp that holds the exhaust pipe up broke (well, rusted really) and the exhaust was merrily jiggling around on top of the rear axle!

So made the journey back with a sturdy (?!?) piece of string holding it up am just off to search the web page of Bull Motif and perhaps take a trip over there for some advice tomorrow. Hopeully will be able to get this seen to and the 'HOIRE' post up by Tuesday.

Windscreen Washer Replacement

For about the last 3 years the system (such as it is!) for cleaning my windows has not been working properly. The windscreen wipers work fine - as long as I replace the rubbers every time I return home! – but I haven’t been able to spray washer fluid on to the windscreen. I did have a wonderful system that involved a squeezy bottle and winding down my window but it’s not recommended whilst driving ;)

I had several ideas as to why it wasn’t working but have finally had the time to investigate and repair it.

First job was to remove the Glove Boxes to gain access to the back of the Dashboard and the tubes.


After inspecting the tubes and pumping the pump I could tell that there were no blockages and the pump was pumping air out. It was not, however, sucking up any water. I needed a new pump so I decided I may as well replace all the tubing at the same time as it was looking a little the worse for wear! (Green and mucky to be precise, hmmm lovely)

I ordered: 1 Manual windscreen washer pump
1 Washer non-return valve
8ft of windscreen washer plastic tube

First I removed the tubes from the old non-return valve (in the screen wash bottle) and the jets (I thought removing them was difficult enough, but the joys of getting the new ones on was still to come…).
To remove the pump I unscrewed the bezel on the front and took it out from the back.

The next job was to attach the new tubing to the new pump and junction piece

I split the tubing into 4 parts. The 5ft length goes from the pump to the washer bottle, and the 3 x 1ft lengths go from the junction piece, to the pump and the jets.


Then I attached the tubes to the jets ........(Tip:a hair dryer/hot water are a great way to warm up the ends of the pipe and make it easier to fit them on).....

and fed the ‘OUT’ tube through the hole in the bulk head.

Hurray I can now have a clean windscreen! Although I have discovered that the junction piece leaks a bit so I’m going to have replace that, but still, a good days work.

Cost : approx £15
Time: 2.5 hours
Difficulty: Pretty easy – the most difficult thing is getting the new tubing on everything!
Injury Level: ½ a plaster - 2 scraped fingers – from getting the tubes on/off

Rub a Dub in the Tub

Yup here it is, finally got round to it. Just when I thought I had the time to do this little venture it disappeared. Still to be getting on with I shall introduce you to someone very important in Moffy's life - Toby, full name Toby Parker. Toby is 2 and a bit, he is Moffy's biggest fan and enjoys nothing more than playing in her for as long as I have the patience! He is already learning the basics of car maintenance - last week he asked to "put water in 'aditor" - not bad for a 2 year-old whom I had only shown the radiator twice before!

Toby came round last week and helped me give Moffy a much needed wash. It was cold, raining a bit and windy but do you think that put him off......