El Andrew

That sucks mate. Was it much damage? Got the car back this morning - mechanic gave me a few more pics once the sump was off

Yeah good point - hadn't thought of that. I'll pick the mechanic's brain about it when I pick up the car in the morning. Obviously don't want an engine failure in the future from a pump issue. I've got an oil pressure gauge, but sounds like a good case for a Haltech with alarms and engine protection in case the pump sh!ts the bed [emoji16] I've got photos coming of the pickup and then I'll send all the info to the dealer. I'll let you all know how it goes!

So apparently the sump had chunks of silicone in it and the oil pickup had silicone all over it. Oil filter hopefully caught anything before it got through the motor. Getting photos though in case I have future problems that turn out to be from a piece of silicone lodged somewhere.

One is my silicone job on our kitchen window One is the dealers silicone job on my sump

It's like having another kid in the first couple of months!

Yep. Only reason I took it to Ford was that my own diagnosis was their previous report was the problem! In fairness, I guess it is a bit hard to tell exactly what is leaking until it comes apart. But they didn't even entertain the idea, even though there re dags hanging off around the sump!

Back to my leaking sump issue. So dealer had fitted a replacement sump, started leaking again, when I looked at it the sealing job was very rough. Took it back, they had a look and diagnosed leaking crank seal and rear main. So then had to pay $115 for diagnosis and got a quote for nearly $1900. Mechanic quoted $950. Dropped the car this morning. Trans came out and guess what - rear main is dry and sump seal pissing oil. Waiting for Ford to call me back. I'm asking for them to reimburse me the original repair and the diagnosis so I can just get the place where the car is currently stranded to finish the job. But yeah, depends what they agree to.

Yeah I think he likes the new fragrance in his bed, given he treats the litter box like a vending machine.

Got the dog a new bed for inside. He sleeps outside at night and the cats sleep inside. Kitten has decided that the dog bed is a great place to take a sh!t every night.

I've got a 400GB SanDisk Ultra in my Surface Pro. Was waaaaaaay cheaper that the kajillion dollars to buy the model with increased storage onboard

The beaches along there seem about a season behind in water temperature - November still quite cold, March perfect! I'll be about 200km north of there that weekend enjoying the beach [emoji41] But means I can't do this trip sadly

Yeah that probably sounds good. The road up from Cann River to Bombala is good from memory - even though I did it in a Kluger with a trailer. Cooma through to Merimbula via Steeple Flat and Candelo is nice. Merimbula, Tathra etc are all nice spots. Stunning coast. A bit of caravan traffic etc through there - definitely not as secluded as the Snowies drive. But most of the Canberra traffic to the coast is further north through Braidwood to Batemans Bay. Have definitely done the road to Merimbula and enjoyed it. I've got a friend near Merimbula who was just in Canberra so I'll ask what the pothole situation is like. 🫣

This is the daggy silicone job they did last time. I'm half tempted to pull the motor instead of the transmission and do seals, water pump, timing chain guide, powder coat the rocker cover, valve springs, get a built motor wait no stop. Had a look under it again tonight and still not convinced it's the crank seal but it might be. Rear main is definitely an issue though. I blame the potholes.

Afternoon Keith! Dropped the car at Ford today as I have an oil leak. They fitted the sump for me last year and it looked like it was leaking from the new gasket. The silicone job looked like it was done by my dog, so I took it back for a diagnosis so they could fix it if that's where it was leaking. Instead a got a quote for $1700 for new crank seal and new rear main seal. I know the trans would need to come out but otherwise looks like a pretty quick job on a hoist and only a few bucks in parts! I'll have another look myself and maybe get a second opinion. I hadn't noticed any leaks at the rear so might just do the front seal myself and see how the rear goes.

Yeah I reckon there's a fair bit more to unpack here before jumping to "anti-lag is bad mmm...okay" Something else in the tune, an existing mechanical weakness waiting to go bang, etc. Without obviously knowing who you are working with, I'd be getting a couple of opinions on engine and tuning before throwing more cash in any particular direction.

Haha oh no! Expensive trip for everybody. My wheels got straightened yesterday. Drove home with my fingertips, enjoying the serenity of no vibrations.

Keith please investigate. This isn't Puff so his account has clearly been compromised.

Yeah they said one was bad and three very minor. Got a second opinion this morning (dropped it in for a balance and didn't mention previous diagnosis) and they said exactly the same thing as the first place. Maybe I should just buy new wheels that would clear Brembos...

So I just went to pick the car up from getting a wheel balance... All four are buckled. I only had one direct hit. The guy reckons I probably did a front and back then and the others would have been sometime in the last couple of months around Canberra and I just didn't know $1200...

Thanks guys - was a great trip as expected! The road from Khancoban towards Cabramurra back through the national park was fantastic. 60km of 2nd and 3rd gear corners. Pretty boring once you are on the main Tumut to Cooma/Jindabyne road. Was too narrow to overtake without getting in the dirt so had to rely on people pulling over. One wouldn't, so I'd just pull over for a few minutes like this pic. The third time I caught them they finally got the message [emoji23]

Weather tidied up alright overnight! I'm at Dudley's Cafe nearby which seems pretty good if anyone is looking for brekkie

Haha glad to be here even if it was late last night. Doing all the stuff I should have done yesterday - car check over, wash and flash. Realised on the way I had the wrong tune in after some fiddling around this week so lucky I brought the laptop.

Plugs, oil, coolant, thermostat and some nice new injectors all went in last week. But most importantly... Nice clean looking coolant overflow bottle. Looking forward to Friday!

I thought saffa was saffa 'straya, and still thought Keith's advice was appropriate

I'm all booked for Tumut and Jindabyne. Had to hold off as it looked like I might be changing jobs in November. Turns out I am, so negotiated leave for this trip into my starting arrangements [emoji16] I'll see how I go re Omeo, but as I minimum I might drive the sunday morning then head back home after lunch, rather than just heading straight home from Jindy like previously. Now I've got to pull my finger out and get my fuel system sorted.