My first vehicle. Ever.

[Ucof]

Thank you mr rover It would be good if you were a bit nearer too - I'd buy you a beer

Small update - my partner's sister managed to call in at the place we got the last alternator from, and managed to persuade them to let her take away a different one, without paying for it, based on the premise that we bring the old and knackered one back tomorrow morning.
I have just come back in from fitting it, and the good news is that there is a battery warning light on the ignition, that goes out when the van is started. Hopefully this means the battery will now get charged up again.

I'm still not sure how much money to spend on it though. There's always something that needs doing. I'm sure that's the case with everyone's van though

To do:

Wheel trims
Full engine service
LOTS of welding
Sub and Amp
Alarm/ immobiliser
Leisure Battery tray (I already have a 2nd battery)
Split charge relay system
Inverter
Rear corner bumper
Ford transit forum windscreen sticker
4" front speakers replaced with some good ones
I'd also like a respray to black and UV green and/or orange, though I doubt this'd ever happen now I have seen the price!

The only reason I was going to scrap it, was that I don't know how much money it will keep sucking up, then break on something else. We could do with a bigger van to "live" in, but I think I need to build my confidence on the low roof SWB I got now anyway. Anything bigger and I might start getting a bit more nervous.

[rover]

Well apart from the welding and the corner bumper, you would need to the evrything else on that list to whatever van you buy

Like I said, take it for an MOT before doing anything else, letthe MOT tester tell YOU how much welding needs doing

Rover.

[FredTransit]

Sound advise from Rover. You could run in circles and try to guess what the van will fail on, and still have something to do when it comes back from test. Take it to the MOT and see what they say.

[MR BigBeefy LDV Guru]

m8 rover is giving you good advise

keep the van most of what you want are luxury items that can be moved from one van to the next

keep the van till it dies a deadly death

[Ucof]

Fair enough - cheers for the advice. Im taking heed

If I take the van in, and it fails the MOT, can they not take it off the road as it is 'unsafe'?
I'd rather have a knackered one that needs work, than no van at all

thanks again guys

BTW - this is my new handle that arrived this morning!



I also managed to finish attaching all the panels after I get a new 10mm drill bit

[MurrayXmas]

Sounds like you need to make your van work for YOU!! My van paid for itself in the first two months,(fitted a couple o kitchens,moved a couple o sofas,drove some bands,moved some bikes). It can cost £60 a day to hire a van and people always need stuff moved around. Any old vehicle is gonna suck up money be it a citroen xantia or a ford transit! Vans can make money and cars can Take money ( i speak from experience!!) I should post a pic of my stepdads sprinter on here, i've never seen so little van on so much rust but it keeps passing the mot!!

Listen to Rover and keep it til it really is dead....................Then ebay it

[Guy88]

there is a date on the MOT certificate that if you take it in befor then the original MOT is still valid, i think thats how it works anyway

[AlanN]

Fair enough - cheers for the advice. Im taking heed

If I take the van in, and it fails the MOT, can they not take it off the road as it is 'unsafe'?
I'd rather have a knackered one that needs work, than no van at all

thanks again guys

BTW - this is my new handle that arrived this morning!



I also managed to finish attaching all the panels after I get a new 10mm drill bit

If you ever find a supply of the caps that go over the screws, let me know

[Ucof]

Forgot to say - the RAC man confirmed that the blower resistor is f*** - he said it was an open circuit.
I've added it to my "parts needed" list

The only date I can see on the old MOT certificate is when the last test happened and when it runs out.
Nothing about "before this date the old certificate is still valid" - or have I got the wrong end of the stick?

Alan - will do mate!

[Ucof]

Right - so todays drive went much better. Me and the partner's sister went out to B&Q, the scrappy to take back the knackered alternator, Tesco's and all that sorta jazz. We also found a nice quiet open area that I spent 15 minutes in learning about how to drive the van properly (starting off from stationary and hill starts)- then had a good drive around. I also found out that my van seems to have better acceleration in reverse, than it does going forwards!

We were noticing however that the van was kinda misfiring. So, seeing as we were low on fuel, and the engine needed it anyway - we bought some of that fuel line cleaner stuff and poured it in the tank and stuck £20 fuel in. The misfiring now seems to have stopped! There must have been some gunk and crap in the bottom of the fuel tank.

However, and it is a big however, that I was hoping one or two of you clever chaps could help me out with - the new alternator I put in... when you start the engine, the oil and the battery warning lights come on, then the oil one goes out, but the battery one remains on until the second you rev the engine - any ideas what is causing this? Could it be caused by the van idling at too low revs? Driving it on the clutch when you are starting going often results in it cutting out, the same with reversing. Any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[AlanN]

Mine does the same thing as yours and was told that it was on its way out!!!! But 2 years on its still going, so Im not going to anything about it

[Ucof]

Oh don't tell me that, I'm starting to enjoy driving her!

'nother clue for the battery light problem - when I turn the engine off by the key, the battery warning light pops on for between half and one second. I don't know what could be causing this odd problem, but then again, I'm new to cars and engines.....

The engine was misfiring earlier... I just found out that this was caused by one of the spark plug leads not being connected! I think the RAC man must have moved something, and it got disconnected!

[Altransit]

the battery one remains on until the second you rev the engine

My old Mk4 did this for the 6 years I owned it, it never caused a problem. I think it is caused by the engine idling too slowly to put out the light until revved. But as long as it goes out then, I wouldn't worry

[Ucof]

Thats good to know, thanks


Is there anyway to increase the idling speed? It's partially what keeps making me stall....

[Altransit]

As long as it idles without stalling then it is fast enough

If you're stalling it, then you need to either, 1/ use a few more revs, or, 2/ feed in the clutch more slowly. You'll get used to it with a bit more practice