HOW I ADMIRE THIS MACHINE....

Yeah, finally got the front tyre changed!! The 'soft' Cood Year NCT5 transferred to the rear side. And the all new Silverstone Kruizer take over the steering now. Reason being is; we have been using Silverstone for many years, Silverstone Firefox to be exact. Yeah most mechanics hate Silverstone. Yups, Silverstone produced hard tyres, which are not comfortable on normal roads with potholes. On highways?? It sound terribly, the tyres are loud!! Silverstone Firefox also produced more vibrations and freak sounds as it ages.

That was then the reason for a change to Good Year NCT5, as recommended by most mechanics. Undeniable, with extra cost (Silverstone is cheaper) the NCT5 provide 'comfort mode'. Very soft, shock absorbing tyres, handles potholes very well, also very little noise on highways..BUT it did not handles the car well...especially when I have to take sharp corners. This may be because of the sidewall characteristic. Silverstone have more 'hard' sidewall compared to NCT5. It was so soft to handle potholes, unfortunately cannot handle sharp corners. We made a decision, switch back to Silverstone. To be able to handle sharp corners is more important for us rather than having comfortable tyres.

I always got 'qok qok...quek quek' sound from rear side of the car (fitted with Silverstone Firefox then) in the morning. My mechanic checked all bushes and he said everything is OK. He suspected the Siverstone is the culprit. True enough!! This morning, no more sound!!

The all new Silverstone Kruizer diminished the Firefox, comes out with great features. It comes with Noise Suppression Technology (NST), sinusoidal tread pattern and etc.. It cost me RM165 per tyre (for 185/70/R14).. All in all plus alignment, four wheel balancing, new air valves, it cost me RM371. Looking forward for a cruise and I will update on the tyre's performance.

This morning, I woke up very early in the morning, around 5.15am if not mistaken. I have to drive my dad to the Malaysia new Low Cost Carrier Terminal, Sepang. This is his very first time travelling with Air Asia, in fact he just have to go to Johor only. He sponsored additional RM50 for petrol; WOW! Thats too much because I just filled up RM30 last evening. It has been a while for the 240 not cruising on highways.

On the way, we discussed the 'windshield leakage' problem. He was very sure that if we try to detach the windshield, it will break!! As the car counts 17 years old this September from the delivery date back in September 1989, we are very sure that the epoxy used to attach the windshield was a super duper one. Even seeing new cars with cracked windshield; when they try to detach fractions on the epoxy, they will just use hammer!! Then you know how hard the epoxy was. So he suggested, why not we try to seal it from outside. Yeah, it is logical, cause if the outer part can be sealed, then no worries anymore. The inner part will not be affected. I will ask shops for this.. And from my readings, research on Google, there are some serious warnings about windshiled works. If in case the windshiled is not properly attached with super duper epoxy, in any event of accident, there are huge potential that the windscreen might fall apart from the car..Thats cool man, it will kill anybody easily!!!

Arrived at LCC Terminal around 7.00am, WOW!! The terminal is great!! Whoever never see planes, you can go there. You can see planes from short distance, even see the take offs and landings. The terminal also great. Got McD and all that. Classy look terminal. Not as bad as what I imagine from stories of Firan and Boy :) For me it is just more than enough for budget airlines usage. CONGRATULATIONS AIR ASIA!!!

Last Tuesday I rushed home after work hours ended at 5.30pm. I go straight to the car spray workshop, who did respray the exterior of the car back in 1998. I went and explained to him my case; got leakages on windshield seals, got rusted floorboard, also need some touchup. He frankly said he is not 'brave enough' to detach and reseal the windscreen as there are high chance that the windshield will broke (and he really afraid of that). But he said he can do welding works, busting the rusts, and touchup the car.

Touchup some dents, respray bumpers, will roughly costs over RM500. For the rusted floorboard, he insists to strip the carpet first to see how much area was really eaten by the rust; before he can give quotation. Then he made another offer...RM1800 for respray the whole exterior including bumpers + welding works..Thats great!! And the last offer he made was RM3000 for all interior & exterior; and get your color changed!!

After all he insists I go for the windshield repair first before sending the car to him to bust off the rusts. Yup, there is no use if the windshield still leaks, then water will still continue coming in and new rust will be formed...

I will update soon...

FLOODED!!!

This morning, the car driver's floorboard is really really wet. I cannot imagine what had happened to the floorboard. What I can imagine now is that the noise damper sponge under the carpet will surely started to deterioriated. And sooner or later, if I am not fast enough, the same thing will occur as what happened on driver's side floor board; RUSTED!! I am targetting this week to send the car for whole body restoration. To welding back the floorboard, to seal the windshield tightly (which is the root of this so heavy flood), repair dents and some paint touch-ups... I want to strip off the carpet and see myself with my naked eyes, what had happened to the floorboard after 17 years of service; and of course make necessary repairs if needed. I will update those works soon. Watch out!!

READ THIS!!

Vehicle Repair Log 2005
Last modified: 16th November 2005
Next Timing Belt Change: 320000km / 2008
Next Service: 263000km
Year: 1989
Make: Volvo
Model: 240 GL
Vehicle ID No. (VIN): YV1244833K5-379045

Date
Description of Work
Shop Name
Mechanic
Notes
Labor Cost
Parts
Cost
Receipt No
Total Cost



07/01/2005
240035km Service, Change; Engine Oil, Oil Filter
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
RM87.00
10190
RM87.00

17/01/2005
Change; Coil Spring Hose LHS & RHS
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
RM90.00
10206
RM90.00

07/06/2005
252075km Service, Change; Engine Oil, Oil Filter, Plugs, 4pcs Brake Pads, 1pc LHS Ball Joint, 1pc LHS Caliper Pin
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
All bushes inspected and OK, Center long-shaft mounting found faulty but still can use, All suspension and undercarriage bolts retightened, Hot-start problem solved by adjusting carburetter & choke setting (engine tuned)
RM130.00
RM479.00
10445
RM609.00

20/07/2005
Readjusted Front Wheel Bearings, Change; Long Shaft Rubber Mounting
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
He installed the new rubber, there comes a very little vibration from the long shaft when in 30-40 km/h - Readjusted wheel bearings solve squeaks and uneasy handling
RM60.00
RM80.00
10568
RM140.00

22/07/2005
Change; 2pcs Good Year NCT5 tyres + 2pcs Valve + Alignment + Balancing
KYM Power Speed
Veteran Mech Biasa
Change front tyres, RHS old tyre replace spare tyre, did alignment & four wheel balancing
RM34.00
RM360.00
16738
RM394.00

27/07/2005
Change; Spark Plug Cables 5pcs HOTSHOT Australian Made (YELLOW)
Batu Gajah Spare Part
Ahmad Zhafri
Changed 4 cables, the coil cable are different
RM0.00
RM25.00
RM25.00

14/09/2005
257075km Service, Change; Engine Oil, Oil Filter, 1pc AC Fuel Pump+Gaskets(Pierburg Original)
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
Changed AC Fuel Pump (RM275) due to excessive leakage, Carburetter's diaphragm said to have some leaks, Ng retighten/adjusted diaphragm and carburetter fittings
RM40.00
RM275.00
RM390.00

01/10/2005
Change; Pneumatic Vacuum Hose + 1 set Bosch W7DC Plugs + Pioneer Stereo 6A Fuse
Pneumatic Shop Jln Bendahara + Ecco Trading Ipoh + Hardware Shop Sect18
Ahmad Zhafri
Tangan gatal, pergi bukak plugs, then one plug jatuh, damn!! That plug broke (air gap melekat) / On the way balik SA, suddenly Pioneer on off intermittenly and dies off, found out that connection of 6A Fuse underneath carpet get corroded, the fuse itself broken
RM0.00
RM20.50
RM20.50

2x/12/2005
Change; OEM Pickup Timing Sensor
KC Ng Auto Service & Repair
Ng
Insulation of the faulty unit exposed, less pickup, notice very good pickup after change
RM20.00
RM190.00
RM210.00

Year End Tolerance (left some behind such as aircond blower motor replacement, forgot how much)
RM300.00

Total repair expenses:
RM2,265.50

-----------> people always ask me; 'doesn't it is expensive to maintain this car??' above is DATALOG for my service record for year 2005. Read the datalog and do your own judgement, because to say it is expensive or no is abstract. Some people find the price is affordable, others may find it was expensive and another level of people may find it cheap fro exactly the same price. Ponder upon this. All in all we have spent around RM2265.50 last year on the car, including changing tyres; which make the figures up. You might want to read it slowly to understand how the DATALOG being arranged :)