here's hoping !

M

mabo

Club Member
Nov 13, 2011
5,372
4,980
south wales
Due to unexpected complications that I wont bore you with I suddenly need the Cougar back in use. After changing the rear subby I've not had the tracking done yet so I've got her booked in for tomorrow afternoon.
Tried to tax her in preparation of this but curses the MOT expired 2 months ago!
Now I've got to hope my friendly local independent tester can squeeze her in tomorrow morning.

Need her for work Monday. Go ahead punk, ask yourself, do you feel lucky ?
 
Wow, good luck with that, hope he can get you in. My old chap was great for this sort of thing, I've never found a replacement since he retired.

Good luck!
 
Alas she failed, I dropped her to the location before they opened, the proprietor lives close and was walking his dog. I left him the keys he agreed to squeeze it in.
Checking back mid morning she'd failed on quite a shopping list. Frankly I was embarrassed that I'd asked him to vet the car with so many minor faults. I agreed to leave the car with him and cancelled the 4 wheel tracking that was booked elsewhere.
Mrs Mabo was suitably sympathetic. If you need a car for work then you need to buy something else and spend the spare time getting the Cougar right. Hmm permission to buy more wheels. I've been fancying an XJ8, A transit and Smart cabriolet. Not sure Mrs Mabo realises what she has just unleashed.
My sanity has held solid. The agreement with the MOT garage is they'll do the stuff to get her through and I'll do the advisories.
Any one got a set of power steering pipes they dont need 'cos mine are weeping.
 
What did it fail on? Is it the pipes or the cooler leaking?
Mart does decent SS coolers for a decent price..
But I love the randomness, a XJ8 or a Smart car? A world apart lmao
 
Sorry to hear that. Again though is it the PS cooler that leaks? Very common and I've just swapped mine for a Catfabs stainless replace for 50 quid if it's that. Easy, easy job too.
 
mabo said:
Alas she failed, I dropped her to the location before they opened, the proprietor lives close and was walking his dog. I left him the keys he agreed to squeeze it in.
Checking back mid morning she'd failed on quite a shopping list. Frankly I was embarrassed that I'd asked him to vet the car with so many minor faults. I agreed to leave the car with him and cancelled the 4 wheel tracking that was booked elsewhere.
Mrs Mabo was suitably sympathetic. If you need a car for work then you need to buy something else and spend the spare time getting the Cougar right. Hmm permission to buy more wheels. I've been fancying an XJ8, A transit and Smart cabriolet. Not sure Mrs Mabo realises what she has just unleashed.
My sanity has held solid. The agreement with the MOT garage is they'll do the stuff to get her through and I'll do the advisories.
Any one got a set of power steering pipes they dont need 'cos mine are weeping.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear this, my commiserations. My single sill that needs welding and 'driver's view obstructed' by nothing more than my phone cradle, suddenly seem insignificant. The power steering pipes in the engine bay are an advisory on mine at the moment, but are going to need changing very soon. I have seen similar pipes listed on eBay, but not sure of the part number for a Cougar. I think the biggest problem is access to fit them. Perhaps somebody on here has changed them ?
 
I had mine done by a local indy a few years back. He did have to lower the subframe to fit them. As far as I remember he mentioned just lowering of it without letting it off the bolts completely. He's been working on Cougars and Mondeos for many years and knows he's way around the engine bay.

Don't know if your RHD UK cars have a different setup though. I bought my new pipes through the German Cougar-parts.net for roughly double the above ebay quote.
 
Hi Hio.

What a great looking site that is (but bloody pricey). Are there many Cougars in Denmark, I'm guessing they're rarer than here?
 
Pirtek are usually pretty good for this kind of thing (oil cooler lines are a weak point on the RX8 and a lot of owners have had a good experience of them) (y)
 
I was kind of curious about this because I've stripped a few cars in my time and have discovered that those power steering hoses/pipes are properly thick. The reason - as some research tells me - is they have to take at least 300PSI.

So I guess that's why MOT guys are a bit precious about them.

That said, some MOT folk will fail them out of reflex just because they have surface rust. Gently skim that rust off and grease them, and suddenly they pass. I'm not suggesting you do anything dangerous, but if they're just a bit scabby and a mechanic thinks they can be treated...
 
Hi Guys, Thanks for all your support and advice.
She's now parked back on our drive with a pass issued.
I've spent the afternoon completing some of the advisories.
The leak was very very minor and appears to be from a joint between solid and flexy.
The pipes will need to be replaced but probably a job that can be postponed until next winter. If Mart as mentioned above has a set I'm interested. PM welcome.
There was talk of a drive shaft boot split. I replaced that some years ago but I left the grease on the front sub frame which was mis read as a new split.
Shes going to have to wait until next weekend to have the rear tracking checked after my change of the rear subby but my journey to work is through 30 and 40 mph lanes so even if its out a little its only going to finish off the rear tyres and they are past their sell by anyway. Both of the adjusters on the subby are set to the same position so if they are out it should be by a similar amount on both sides.
 
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