Mileage: 28,446 –
29/06/2003 – The Third Pitstop
T |
o
kick off this diary entry, and after last weekend’s trip to Wales rather than Stonehenge, we went along to
York’s dragstrip to watch some action.
Originally, we had Kermit
booked in for the second weekend of July for his 30,000 mile service, but as
the John O’Groats to Lands End Trip approached it
became apparent that we’d need him servicing before we went. So, I had his appointment changed, and was
up at 05:00 yesterday morning to drive back to Lincolnshire to have the work
done.
I’d
arranged for a brake and clutch fluid change, two new tyres,
new wiper blades (a spoilered drivers side blade, too) and the usual
30,000 mile service.
Things
were going peachy smooth, Kermit managed the B1225
route in twenty four minutes, a record time, and I stopped off at Horncastle
for a “human needs break.” I was still
at the dealership just before 08:00, and can’t argue with this.
Now
Ford sell 19” spoilered wiper blades for the Fiesta and Puma, but not
specifically for the Ka. This is
interesting – it’s almost as though they don’t want the Ka to have spoilered
windscreen wiper blades. Instead, we
used Hella blades instead. The Mondeo TD came with a spoiler blade, and I
added spoilers to the Cinquecento’s
wipers too, and they make a significant difference to wiping performance
on the motorway, especially with a crosswind.
Given how frequently we hum along a motorway or duel carriageway, this
spoiler blade should improve wiper performance. It may also reduce the number of dead bugs that land on the
wipers.
As
for Kermit’s needed front tyres, he’s wearing brand new Firestone
F700 Fuel Savers on the back. To
drive, rather to goon, this has dramatically altered the Ka’s handling. He
now has a very grippy ass and a loose front end, so it’s a bit like driving a Golf without the nasty oversteer if you’re off load: lots
of understeer. In fairness, this is
precisely why I wanted to replace just the rear tyres before the JOGLE trip -
I’d rather have understeer than oversteer.
Unfortunately,
when Eyres were replacing the rear tyres and removing the wheels and drum
brakes, they cracked one of the ABS sensors - so Kermit’s
ABS is currently inoperative. There’s a
bright amber lamp lit up when the engine is running, which is quite a
distraction if I’m honest. Worse, there
is nothing I can do about it for another fortnight after we get back from the
John O’Groats to Lands End run. We’ll
put approximately 2,500 miles on to the lad between now and then.
Furthermore,
I had cause to use the ABS on the way to Eyres. I was approaching the second junction on the B1225 at some speed /cough/ and hard on the
brakes, and even harder still, and the ABS kicked in. In a nerdy way, I can report that the order of the wheels needing
ABS was the drivers’ side rear, the passenger side rear, then the fronts (I
cannot determine which one kicked in first, but typically it’s the drivers’
side). Having done a few
calculations using a conservative estimate of the speedometer, and using the
road sign that was my marker to brake, and we get a deceleration of
approximately 0·6g.
Eyres
believe Kermit’s brake fluid leak to be the clutch slave cylinder, and
unfortunately it’s a gearbox out job to get it done. Fortunately, this is covered under the Ford Direct warranty!
Otherwise,
Kermit’s been doing his usual “hunting” right after a service. I’m supposing that after they disconnect the
ECU, it has to relearn a few bits and pieces, and he often hunts. He did it to Mandee in the afternoon, and he
was doing it to me a little bit when I was coming home, but we went out to the
cinema and he wasn’t doing it when we returned home, so I guess the ECU’s
calibrated everything it needs to calibrate.
Performance is unchanged, I have to report, still stretches to 70 in
third with a bit of a wheeze, still makes the same noises and still takes the
same amount of time.