GranSport (Fuji White) Running report

[sionie1]

I’d attached the attachment to the previous post as my reading of it is similar to yours. Honest description which you agreed with. Now comes the little bit of fettling. I’d have thought the price you paid would have allowed for a war chest and the dealer seemed honest enough in his description. Hopefully a great purchase and onwards to enjoying it.
Personally I like the black wheels on a light car, works well.

 

[CatmanV2]

Putting aside the fact that I would wish to honour my own word, if I were inclined to pursue the matter (which I'm not), the car fulfils the requirements set out in your attachment.

It would be a different case if I found, for example, substantial corrosion issues meaning the engine was about to fall out. But we're talking about a minor gearbox oil leak that is noted in the MOT history as an advisory and doesn't present (touches wood) a major problem.

That seems fair. Hope it is minor.

C

 

[mjheathcote]

Putting aside the fact that I would wish to honour my own word, if I were inclined to pursue the matter (which I'm not), the car fulfils the requirements set out in your attachment.

It would be a different case if I found, for example, substantial corrosion issues meaning the engine was about to fall out. But we're talking about a minor gearbox oil leak that is noted in the MOT history as an advisory and doesn't present (touches wood) a major problem.

I doubt any second hand car dealer would be interested in a minor oil leak even if sold with a warranty.
You do see cars for sale by car dealers 'sold as seen', 'px to clear' etc so not unusual, even if 'illegal'. Maybe it isn't if clearly stated at sale?

 

[Woots]

It's not an easy colour to take a picture of though, plays havoc with the light sensor and camera's dynamic range.

What do you think of the black wheels? I like them but both my Dad and my Brother think they look ****...

I’m a fan of the black wheels on it to be honest
The holy grail concourse Fuji car has them and that’s about the best looking thing I’ve seen....

 

[Felonious Crud]

The colour is wonderful and suits a GS beautifully. You can easily tone down black wheels by getting them painted in a matt finish. I'm not a gloss black wheels fan but a light colour with matt black wheels can look good. See Matt's Strad and my Vantage for two perfect examples. That said, when I next get mine refurbed I'll be tempted by a dark gunmetal. Matt finish, of course.

 

[Woots]

Took this pic a few years ago when I parked up next to it and left the owner a note...
Whatever finish those have look good I recon

 

[mjheathcote]

Gloss black can soon look speckled gold rust.
However I have discovered Bilt Hamber Atom mac which I spray the discs before washing, and then if using their multi purpose cleaner on the wheels, the amount of disc surface rust after washing is then minimal.

 

[Wattie]

I think your wheels look nice. Although I’ve no experience I remember reading that black can often make tyres look brown, if not freshly turn walled?
I do like gun metal as others have mentioned- must be an app somewhere that lets u explore your preferred look?

 

[Davidt99]

Putting aside the fact that I would wish to honour my own word, if I were inclined to pursue the matter (which I'm not), the car fulfils the requirements set out in your attachment.

It would be a different case if I found, for example, substantial corrosion issues meaning the engine was about to fall out. But we're talking about a minor gearbox oil leak that is noted in the MOT history as an advisory and doesn't present (touches wood) a major problem.

What matters is that you are happy, I was simply pointing out that a dealer can not sell a car and state it is a private sale.

 

[Davidt99]

It's not an easy colour to take a picture of though, plays havoc with the light sensor and camera's dynamic range.

What do you think of the black wheels? I like them but both my Dad and my Brother think they look ****...

As a general comment on black wheels I think the colour ruins the definition and contours of the wheel IMO. This causes the wheel to disappear into the shadow of the wheel well.

 

[Wattie]

This car is for sale near me. Gun metal wheels so you see the look.

 

[Davidt99]

This car is for sale near me. Gun metal wheels so you see the look.View attachment 59796View attachment 59797

A big improvement IMO.

 

[Woots]

This car is for sale near me. Gun metal wheels so you see the look.View attachment 59796View attachment 59797

Bloody **** these pics aren’t helping my need for one

 

[Chris155]

I've had another look at the g/box leak tonight and I'm still no further forward with it...

This time I took the boot apart;

IMG_8916 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_1400 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_1399 by Chris, on Flickr

My Dad mention he'd found a guide relating to topping up the selespeed system and that the writer stated that he was simply able to remove the heat shield. I'd like to know how as I don't think it can be done without bending it in half or removing the rear bumper!

I was able to wriggle it out of the way after applying some masking take to the inside off the rear diffuser to stop it being scratched.

IMG_8917 by Chris, on Flickr

And I learnt nothing. It's no leaking out of the hydraulic pipes.

IMG_8925 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8923 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8920 by Chris, on Flickr

I'm back to it's leaking around the rear mount;

IMG_8919 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8918 by Chris, on Flickr

Which makes me wonder if there is a problem with the mount itself? It seems to be filled with a liquid, is it some kind of weird type that is somehow filled with gearbox oil? I can't imagine it would be... (ETA, it's not)

IMG_8918 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8927 by Chris, on Flickr

The only thing I can think to do now is unbolt the engine mount and the corsmember it's attached to and see if there's anything obvious there.

But I can't work out how to support the gearbox whilst I do that. The bottom of the box has a fragile looking box attached to it;

IMG_1364 by Chris, on Flickr

Anyone know what function the box serves?

And does anyone have any suggestions where the leak might be coming from?

Thanks.

 

[MrPea]

Bloody **** these pics aren’t helping my need for one

I don't see the problem. You use the word 'need' rather than 'desire' do the sensible thing would be to satisfy your need. After all, it's unhealthy if you don't and you must look after yourself.

 

[Navcorr]

Its a torsion damper. Just bolts on. How much of an oil leak are you talking about and when was the clutch last changed?
When mine was last done I had a slight oil "over spill". Even using an SD3 in specialist hands it would appear difficult to stop the refill precisely.
So, a slight overfill is preferred knowing there'll be a very slight temporary spill. Maybe worth cleaning the area and seeing what happens before you start dismantling.

 

[Chris155]

I'm pretty sure it's gearbox oil. Certainly smells like the stuff. But I don't remember what the hydraulic oil used in selespeed systems smells like? Is it the same horrible smell?

The clutch wear reading as of <500 miles ago was;

s-l1600-29 by Chris, on Flickr

It drops maybe 50ml on the drive after I've used it, i.e. when its hot. Not a lot but enough to be annoying.

I had it up on axle stands, ran it up to 60mph through the gears, no leak was evident.

Looking at these pics I found of a gearbox;

s-l1600-27 by Chris, on Flickr

s-l1600-26 by Chris, on Flickr

s-l1600-22 by Chris, on Flickr

s-l1600-23 by Chris, on Flickr

s-l1600-25 by Chris, on Flickr

There isn't anywhere for the box to be leaking from.

So it must be the hydraulics.

Or the gearbox casing is cracked

 

[Chris155]

Couple of other bits of info, as much for my own information than anything else as I'm having to covert everything from km into miles...

11th Oct 2017 MOT 41564 miles

No advisory for oil leak.

19th Oct 2018 MOT 44646 miles

Advisory for oil leak recorded.

18th Aug 2019 I bought it at 45,500 miles

It's now done 46ish k. (250 mile return journey + general showing off)

So it did 3k between Oct 2017 and 2018 and developed the oil leak during that time. In the following 10 months it has travelled less than 1k miles. Most of which are likely mohave been in the dealers hands as "it's taxed and had petrol in it" lol

I suppose it is plausible that it had a clutch late 2017 and having only done 1k since it could still be over filled with hydraulic fluid?

Or am I being overly optimistic?

 

[Chris155]

I've carried on with the investigating over the last couple of evenings;

IMG_8930 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8931 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8933 by Chris, on Flickr

Which included removing the bumper to liberate the heat shield...

IMG_8939 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8942 by Chris, on Flickr

And the subframe crossmember / gearbox mount

IMG_8944 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8948 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8940 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8941 by Chris, on Flickr

I couldn't see the leak but my Dad had a look and we concluded its leaking where the feed pipe (no 17) from the pump enters into what eurospares describe as the power unit (distribution block with all the solenoids on it) or no. 1 in the diagram.

106_026 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8948 by Chris, on Flickr

IMG_8947 by Chris, on Flickr

What isn't clear is whether or not it is leaking from the pipe union or the larger hex head that the union screws into.

I've put the wheels back for now whilst we think about that and another problem which is...

IMG_8937 by Chris, on Flickr

Firstly, I was expecting it to have adjustable height platforms on the suspension strut, but it doesn't. Is that right?

And the problem is there's fore-aft movement in the upper arm ball joint on both sides.

I'm assuming that there should be none?

That being the case, what's the best (i.e. cheapest) way of repairing them? I know you can get replacement bushes but is there anyone who can refurb the ball joint itself?

 

[Zep]

Firstly good work.

This is the first issue I have read about with that union, so you will probably have to investigate further.

Regarding the suspension, you are right, UK supplied Gransports all had skyhook suspension which would have the adjustable platforms, yours clearly doesn’t have that.

There shouldn’t be any movement in the ball joints. The only solution is replacement arms I’m afraid. ES do pattern replacements.