Let the search begin...

So next on the list is 4 new tyres (185x65 R 14). A quick Google produces the following quotes:

• Kwikfit.co.uk - £152.00 fitted (new)
• Tyre-shopper.co.uk - £132.50 fitted (new)
• **JetTyres.co.uk - £126.56 delivered (new)
• **Tyreplus.co.uk - £100.40 delivered (new)
• **Blackcircles.com - £96.40 delivered (new)
• **ValueTyres.co.uk - £87.97 delivered (new)
• **Mytyres.co.uk - £87.60 delivered (re-moulds)

**You need to add £40 to including fitting, however we might know a guy who know's a guy who can fit them free (for a 4pack of beer) ;)

I've registered on two 'breakers yard' sites so we'll see if anyone can match the £60 delivered quote we got back in June/July... watch this space.

We got the eSpace moving, now we've even made it stop!!

We're now one step closer to passing an MOT, having changed the front discs and pads on the eSpace.

 

 

We'd been meaning to order the parts for months and with all the talk of our new breakaway 'boomerang rally' I decided enough was enough and we should get on with it. A quick search of the Internet discovered that Brake Parts Superstore (http://www.brakepartssuperstore.org.uk/) offered by far the best price and free delivery (on orders over £50). £66 and 1 day later the two discs, four brake pads (and a mystery cat?!) arrived.

So with the Haynes manual to hand we began...

Firstly we popped over to Ross's and borrowed his trolley jack and 2x axle stands and promptly set about jacking the eSpace up and taking off the two front wheels.  Next we needed to remove the calliper assembly, firstly the piston/cover section, then the cradle (see picture opposite). As always this wasn't quite as straight forward as it should have been! First we tried a 17mm - too small, then a 19mm - too big. It was at this point we discovered Tim's socket set doesn't have a 18mm socket! Luckily his neighbour was in and he kindly lent us his set, however his 18mm socket was too big, but his 17mm was a perfect fit - work that one out!?!

With the calliper off it was a simple exercise of removing 2 screws to get the existing disc off the hub and replacing it with a shiny new one (see opposite) which incidentally weighs an absolute tonne!

It was difficult to get a picture that did justice to the amount of wear the original discs had been subjected to, but if you click the image opposite and notice the raised lip on the inner and outer edges of the old disc (right). Then compare that to the new disc (left) which is completely flat! (in fact the face of the new disc is THICKER than the rim! Sadly we didn't have the necessary tool to actually measure the amount of wear the old discs had.

As you'll see from the picture opposite the new disc's look a lot better than the ones we replaced!  Annoyingly I forgot to take a picture of the old pads but suffice to say they were pretty thin too!

With the new disc on its a very simple job of reattaching the calliper cradle and slotting the two new brake pads into it. At this point you'd attach the brake pad 'wear sensor' wire, however on the near-side front wheel the cable was damaged :( The picture opposite shows the new disc and pads fitted (without the calliper cover/piston).

Now came the second 'issue' of the day. When we went to fit the calliper cover/piston over the top of the pads it wouldn't fit. I thought that was to be expected as the new disc and pads would be much thicker than the ones we'd replaced, so I'd expect the piston to be 'sticking out' too much. A quick moment of panic set in when we couldn't get the piston to budge, but a after consulting the 'bible' (thank you Mr Haynes!) it suggested using a G-Clamp or piece of wood. As always Tim had the correct tool to hand and within a few minutes the piston was fully retracted. Job done - or so we thought...

The calliper cover still wouldn't fit, and a bit of 'gentle' persuasion with a hammer only just managed to get it back on. Cue more panic as with the calliper back on the disc was locked tight and wouldn't move - great from the brake's point of view, poor if you're the wheel!!

So as not to get disillusioned with it I suggested we 'leave it and see what happens' and carry on with the next wheel. The next wheel was much easier (despite the 17mm bolt turning into an 18mm?!?) but the good news was the 'pad wear sensor' cable was ok (we think) on the passenger side wheel :)

The annoying news (well good really) was that this time the Calliper cover went on fine with no hammer needed. I suggested maybe starting the engine might cause the brake fluid pressure to be evened out (which didn't work). Tim then suggested I put it into first. Despite his 'trust me' plea, alarm bells immediately started ringing in my head at the thought of engaging first gear on a car with only 2 wheels (coupled with the fact I drive a rear wheel drive car). With the same sensation you get when trying to rub your stomach and pat your head at the same time I brought the clutch out and engaged first gear. As if by magic (well not really seeing as Tim knew the eSpace was front wheel drive) I didn't end up being catapulted into his garage.

On a more disappointing note the front left disc started spinning fine, however the front right didn't move (Was it able to move ok despite the other wheel being locked because of a 'slip-diff'? - answers on a postcard). So we decided it was time to get the calliper off and investigate further.

It turns out that the two bolts which hold the Calliper Piston assembly to Calliper cradle screw into another, tread-less bolt which 'floats' inside the cradle. The problem we had was that one bold was stuck rock solid. Cue gallons of WD40, a large amount of bashing, swearing, twisting, pulling and more swearing. Nothing. Didn't move a millimetre. Eventually after giving up on trying to pull it out we decided to 'smash the sh*t' out of it with a hammer and after a while... bingo it moved - albeit in the wrong direction!

Spurred on by a glimmer of hope Tim used what only can be described as super-human strength to get he bolt out!! We then added more WD40 into the hole and all around the bolt and within seconds the bolt was working as designed. (See above- sorry the picture didn't come out very well)

We assume some water had got into the hole at some point and had caused the bolt to rust and expand. Tim then realised that the small 'lip' on the mouth of the hole and round the head of the bolt is designed to house the springy rubber tube, making it water tight. Needless to say the tube was not making use of this design, so using a small screwdriver we got it on, hopefully preventing it ceasing up again.

We then re-fitted the calliper, both front wheels and lowered the eSpace back to solid ground.

All that was needed now was a quick test drive to check the brakes - and hey presto they worked a treat! Skid marks and everything!

Did you ever doubt us? ;)

Stay tuned for our exploits on replacing the rear brake shoes (once we mange to get the near-side rear tyre off!) and sourcing 4 new tyres.

We've moved!

To support our new adventure we've moved from our old domain to be part of the Boomerang Rally domain :)

eEpaceOdyssey.BoomerangRally.co.uk

Please update your RSS readers / Bookmarks ASAP...

Boomerang Rally 2009 Announced

Team 20089: An eSpace Odyssey is pleased to announce that we're the joint founders of a new 'breakaway' rally scheduled to take place in the Summer of 2009.

At the end of this year's Home2Rome, over a few beers in Rome, Ross, Tim and Brad came up the unique concept of creating a rally where the aim would be to get the car back home, rather than ditching it in a scrap yard in a far off land... and thanks to Tim's name the 'Boomerang Rally' was born.

You can follow the latest plans for the rally on it's website here, where you'll also find a link to the forum.

Postponement confirmed

It is with great sadness that "Team 2008: An eSpace Odyssey" can confirm it will not be taking part in Home2Rome 2008. Due to personal reasons it has been decided to withdraw from this year's rally.

On July 25th my Sister Laura (and she was effectively Tim's Sister too) was killed in Car accident while on her way to work. Not surprisingly this has put the eSpace to the bottom of our priorities for a while. However Laura really liked the idea of us doing it, so fear not, we will be back bigger and better in 2009!

Over the next few months we'll still be getting the eSpace ready for next year (namely sorting the breaks but also some 'mods') so stay tuned to our blog for updates....

In the mean time Ross & Greg are still going, so keep up to date with their progress here, and why not make a donation to help them raise some money for my sister Laura's Charity - 'Guide Dogs for the Blind' by clicking here.

So in light of this news I guess we should re-brand, so welcome to:

"Team 2009: An eSpace Odyssey"

The Rear Brakes (or, lack of...)

So, Tim finally managed to remove the screws holding the rear brake drums together (just realised i talk about myself in the 3rd person quite a lot on this blog, so from hereon in i shall refer to the party(s) in question as 'we', to reform to the more autonomous virtue of this project, although Paul's buggered off to Spain for a week, so in this case, it was all me.)
Apparently, applying loads of grease spray and simply battering it with a hammer for 5 minutes appears to have done the trick. We (I) digress, and will now show you what we (I) first saw upon entry into the (new) world of rear brake drums...


Apart from the obvious amount of rust and carbon (we (I) hope it's carbon - there's a slim possibility those mental French used asbestos in the brake shoes), they appeared to be OK. However, the bible gives indications of minimum thicknesses of brake shoes of 6mm. Shall we (I) show you what it actually is?



Yes, i hear you say, "bloody hell" - it appears they are 1mm on one side and about 1/2mm on the other - that would explain the slight grinding noise we were hearing then! They'll need to be changed then...

Terminal Espacity

Yeah, so, i made a word up - Espacity = the ability to make a fibreglass automobile go forward without having to bodge the spade connectors onto the battery terminals with a g-clamp.

















Tidy and neat, neat and tidy....

Let the modifications begin...

Now we have a 'working platform' our attentions are already turning to potential mod's we can make. Before we get carried away we still need to shell out £60 on four new tyres and possibly fit a new front drivers side wheel bearing, not to mention getting it through an MOT ASAP. Anyway with the luck we've had so far that all should just be a formality... (who the fcuk am I kidding!)

Anyway number one on my list of modifications is to fit one of these:

It would almost be considered rude to not install the above carbon-fibre ignition system into the eSpace. You wouldn't start a Ferrari or  F1 car with a poxy key, so why should the eSpace be any different ;)

Picture the scene, you've completed your pre-flight checks, there's just one thing left.... You flip the red 'doomsday' switch cover up to reveal the on/off switch. With a reassuring metallic 'click' you select the 'On' position, the 'system ready' light now glows red. All that's left is to push and hold the red 'Engine Start' button and the mighty 2,068cc engine roars into life... Lewis Hamilton eat your heart out!

New battery arrives!

The day we've all been waiting for: the new battery for the eSpace has arrived! With bated breath Tim connected it up via the jump leads (we're still trying to find cheap battery terminals as the current ones are the wrong type) and with his heart pounding turned the key.... and nothing happened! NO!!!!!!!!!!

With a stroke of what can now only be described as 'genius', Tim temporarily fitted the new battery directly into the eSpace as he couldn't comprehend why a brand new battery was dead.... Again with a mixture of anticipation and blind panic he turned the key one more time..... and bingo she started up like a dream!

After phoning me to give the good news I suggested we give the scrap yard battery another go, using Tim's new installation setup. And what do you know - started first time!

So many swear words later I decided (with the benefit of hindsight its obvious) that the jump leads must be faulty (despite them being brand new and still wrapped when I was given them).

In a call to our 'technical consultant' (my uncle Danny) he explained that the leads probably aren't faulty at all, but they're just not rated high enough - then the penny dropped and it dawned on me why the jump leads were getting so hot yet the car wouldn't start - they're not letting enough current through! So given time, they'd have probably melded like fuse wire - oops!

So we're now £50 out of pocket, with 2 working batteries! We're torn between selling it on eBay or sending it back to the seller (which minus the postage should give us £40ish back). But that £40 would go a long way to covering the MOT cost (if not all of it if we find a deal).

Why is life this cruel!

Electrickery

Spurred on by the fact the engine and mechanicals are untouchable at present due to the fact we have not received our new heart (battery), the thought of making the rear of the Espace an extraordinary place to live for 4 days is paramount in our minds.
Tim sets about creating an ambience through the medium of light. Now, bear in mind the only electrical/ electronic training i've received was at college during my apprenticeship (as a welder), and it was a half module during his ill-fated first year doing BTEC national in engineering, which i bollocksed up (rather majestically, i might add - failed the year by Easter half term...) and you will see he's effectively a novice.
I want to utulise LEDs, as they're low power, and i've seen the parts i need at Maplin. Please note, the following photos are basically me trying out lots and lots of LED types, and does in no way reflect the final design...

Lights off:















Lights on:
















So, picture me, sitting at my workbench fiddling with LEDs and stuff. I needed a 12v power supply, so i soldered together 8 x 1.5v C Cell batteries. I know this is probably a stupid idea, as you're not supposed to subject the bateries to heat, etc, etc, blah, blah. Anyway. There i am soldering away when there was the most enourmous BANG! I checked myself instantly to make sure i hadn't put a battery-shaped hole anywhere in my gut. Hannah came rushing down from the house because she heard the explosion from up there! Turns out, the car battery that i'd reworked and had on charge at the back of my workbench had had enough and the result was this (Note the hole in the top...):

MOT Prices

As you may or may not know, the eSpace's MOT runs out the DAY BEFORE the rally starts... so we need an MOT for as cheap as possible!

VOSA sets the max price at £53, however garages can charge less, the best i've found so far is a 33% discount when booking online with "Nationwide AutoCentres" (there's one in Swindon that we'd use). Clicking the following link will get you an MOT for £35.58:

http://www.nationwideautocentres.co.uk/bookOnline/04_CampaignEstimatedPrice.aspx?affiliate=mot33offer

Next best is Kwikfit at £39.95 when booked online.

If anyone can beat this... please let us know!

I might contact Nationwide AutoCentres and see if they're interested in a sponsorship deal ;)

MOT & Tyres

Does anyone know the deal with Tyre specifications and MOT tests? I'm not talking about the tread and ware etc, I'm more concerned with the type of tyres on a vehicle.

According to the manual (and various tyre web sites) our eSpace should have '195/65 R14' tyres. Note the 195 bit... However these RRP at £70ish EACH!

As I've mentioned in previous posts I've managed to source 4x '185/65 R14's for £60 all in. Note the 185 bit.

Here's the question...

Does an MOT test check that the tyres match the vehicle or just that they're safe/legal etc?

I've phoned two MOT test centres (one in Reading who do MOT's for £32, one in Carterton who do them for the standard £53) and they've both told me that they must all be the SAME and legal, but it doesn't matter what spec they are.

Now having bought a battery from a scrappy that turned out to be duff, I don't want to have my fingers burnt again by buying four tyres that then cause the MOT to fail, to then have to find four more expensive replacements! Call me skeptical, but rightly or wrongly i have a tendency to take what a garage tells me with a pinch of salt...

However KwikFit contradicts this:

"The nominated MOT tester will check the vehicle's wheels and tyres for a number of key points: the condition, security, tyre size and type and tread depth."

So answers on a postcard please... if any of you know a mechanic please ask and help us out!

UPDATE:

Here's the MOT Testers manual which doesn't seem to state that the tyre's size is an issue - providing they're the same on each axle. There is no 'reason for rejection' for having tyre size that doesn't match the recommendation:

http://www.motuk.co.uk/manual_410.htm

So does this mean we're ok to get the 185's?

New Battery on its way

Good news - a brand spanking new 096 Car Battery is on it's way to Tim's workplace, courtesy of ALPHA BATTERIES in Rochdale, Lancs.

I spotted their advert on eBay the other day (which had a very good price to begin with) and sent them a 'best offer', explaining our mission to Rome and our somewhat limited budget.  Chris at ALPHA BATTERIES took pity on us and agreed to accept our 'ridiculous' offer in exchange for a bit of free advertising, providing I don't mention the price and put him out of business (suffice to say it beat's Halford's price by a country mile and includes delivery!).

So just to ram home the message, and thank Chris one more time - if you ever need a new battery, use ALPHA BATTERIES ;)

Day 11: eSpace arrives at new home

Ok here's the latest - despite being on charge for 72 hours the battery we got from the scrap yard still failed to start the eSpace. So with much reluctance it looks like it'll be get getting ditched and put 'down to experience' as they say... :(

The 'potential good news' I spoke about in a previous post never fully materialised (there was a slim chance of getting a free battery via a sponsorship deal) but a VW dealer my uncle (Danny) knows could do it for cost at £45 + VAT (£53 all in) which is still a saving of £40 on the RRP and marginally better than www.batman.co.uk which was our previous best. Danny's also got another 'iron in the fire' with another of his mates so we hope to hear by the end of today if he can source one any cheaper.

So back to the eSpace, we push started her last night after work (we're both still amazed how easy it is!) and got her running ok(minus a battery). Then we took her to her new home round the back of Tim's house.

Hannah (my sister and Tim's girlfriend - which is how we met) was less than impressed at the site of it parked outside her house and presumably the thought it won't move till the end of September ;) Sadly I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get a shot of her expression - suffice to say it was picture! Her main comments were 'er' (x10), 'it's minging' followed by 'its huge' and finally 'I don't like it'.

As you can probably tell she's not entirely 'on board' with our 'buying a banger, doing it up and driving it to Rome on a jolly' plan yet.

Here's a quick video showing the eSpace in her new home, along with the exterior paint/trim quality inspection...

Plan for the days ahead...

We still need to get the battery obviously, but in the meantime Tim's going to get his pressure washer underneath and clean off all the grime and mud from the underside of the engine bay so we can actually see what we're looking at.

Unfortunately I'm at Cornbury music festival over the weekend so we can't start our 'bible' inspired pre-pre-MOT check (as its a two-man job) but that will begin in earnest next week.

Locking passenger door

All old cars have a bit of what their proud owners describe as 'character', and our eSpace is no different. To begin with we thought that the passenger door's lock was broken, until we discovered we were 'doing it all wrong'. The video below shows how we have to lock the passenger door...

See it's simple really, you just lock it, try and open it, push it shut and try again... easy when you know how ;)

Crossing the Channel

Getting across the channel is obviously a key part of the rally, with us trying to strike a balance between speed and price (as we're on a budget!). The two options are either Ferry or Tunnel. I did a provisional check and the ferry loses on speed, but wins on price. However, thanks to Greg (see here), Tesco have come to the rescue! Tesco ClubCard points can be redeemed for use with EuroTunnel.

As it's not high season, if we book the right time (1800-0600) we can get it for £49, and since £10 of ClubCard Vouchers = £40 worth of EuroTunnel the net outlay is only £9 :)

A bit of background

The Renault eSpace range was introduced in 1984 as a five-door, five- or seven-seat multi-purpose vehicle (MPV). It quickly established itself as a trend setter and leader in what would become a very competitive sector of the market.

Originally available with a 2.0 litre carburetor petrol engine and a 2.1 litre turbocharged diesel engine, a more powerful fuel injected version of the 2.0 litre petrol engine was added to the range in 1989. This also marked the first face-lift of the eSpace range, with reshaped grill and various styling and mechanical revisions. These first two versions are referred to as 'Phase 1' and 'Phase 2'. 'Phase 3' arrived in 1991 when the range received major engineering and styling revisions. Also introduced at this time was the 2.2 litre fuel-injected petrol engine, together with enhanced emission control equipment and numerous vehicle safety features.

All engines are based on the aluminium block wet-liner J-Series which is similar in construction in both petrol and diesel forms. These engines are all four-cylinder overhead camshaft design, mounted longitudinally at the front of the vehicle, together with the transmission and final drive.

Suspension is fully independent at the front, with upper and lower wishbones and coil springs, while at the rear, a semi-independent, coil sprung, rigid axle is used. Power steering is standard on all models.

A wide range of standard and optional equipment is available within the eSpace range to suit most tastes, including central locking, electric windows, electric sunroof, airbag and unrivaled interior layout flexibility. An anti-lock braking system and air conditioning are available as options on certain models.

Provided that regular servicing is carried out in accordance with the manufacturer's recommendations, the eSpace should prove reliable and very economical. The engine compartment is well designed, and most of the items requiring frequent attention are easily accessible.

Taken from Renault Espace Service and Repair Manual ~ John S. Mead, Haynes Publishing 2003

Haynes Manual Arrives

What we're affectionately referring to as 'the bible' has now arrived... Bought for the princely sum of £10 from eBay it arrived in the post today.

Now we can set about doing basic servicing, fixing the wheel bearing and making the necessary checks before we put it in for it's MOT. (which believe it or not expires the day BEFORE the rally starts - that's the kind of luck we're up against!)

I'm not sure about anyone else, but I can't help thinking we could have done with 'the bible' earlier... ;)

There's also a guide on how to change the wing mirror which will please Tim - Next stop scrap yard to get the green one!

Day 8: Sit Rep

There's not been much progress with the eSpace this weekend, after Tim and I spent Saturday paintballing with Ross and Greg. We then spent Sunday (and probably most of this week by the way every part of my body is aching today!) recovering from it.

However we did manage to get the battery to a local garage who tested it with the result of "nah mate it's fcuked, looks like one of your cells has gone". So either its definitely broke, or he's reading from the standard 'mechanic handbook'. Just to be sure the battery has been on charge since 1730 on Friday, and we'll give it one last chance to start the eSpace at 1730 today, if after 60 hours of charge it still doesn't work we'll admit defeat!

On the plus side there is potentially some good news on the horizon with regards to a new battery,  but I'm not going to say any more until something's confirmed... stay tuned!

It starts with a key!

Well if nothing else we're making progress - by day five the eSpace started with a key!** And we're now 99.9% sure that the battery is the root cause, which is good and bad, although easier to fit than a new starter, it is double the price :(

** Although it did need jump leads and a Mitsubishi Pajero 4x4 to help ;)

So our scrap yard battery almost got it started, the Pajero battery on its own did a bit more, both of them combined a bit more than that, and with the Pajero running it started a treat!

So with our limited knowledge we're assuming the starter must be fine, all we need is a 'new' battery with sufficient charge. We're also assuming that the Pajero battery must be slightly undercharged too (it is old) as I'd have hoped that it could have started the eSpace on its own.

There's still 0.1% of me thinking that maybe a starter 'on its way out' could need more power to work? The eSpace's previous owner has assured us that once he fit a new battery it worked fine (he kept the new battery when he sold us the car - mainly as the battery was worth 92x more than the price we were paying for the eSpace ;) ).

Just to be on the safe side Tim is hopefully getting it tested tonight at a local tyre/battery place (and if there's time I'll get a second opinion at another after). Then to be doubly sure, we'll leave it on charge for 60+ hrs and give it one last go on Monday evening.

Battery Prices

Can anyone find a '096 Battery' for anything less than £59.98 including VAT & delivery?

Ross pointed out www.batmanuk.com but that came in at £69.35 inc VAT but then I found one on eBay (here) for £59.98 - both are much better than my previous best of £93 from Halfords!

Car Battery Test Guide

Simple Battery Test:

1. Connect the voltmeter directly across the "Battery Terminals". (NOT to the Cable Clamps)
2. While watching the meter, try to start the Car.
3. The Battery Voltage should never fall below about 10 Volts.
   If it does:
   
   a) The battery is either "Low in Charge".
   b) The Battery is "Low in Water".
   (The water level in the battery should be about 1/4 of an inch, Above the Plates.) "DO NOT" Fill it up FULL.
   
   c) The battery has a "High Internal Resistance".
   (Probably Time for New Battery)

**NOW Repeat This Test BUT:

1. Connect the voltmeter directly across the "Battery Clamps on the Battery Cables".
2. This Reading should be Within 0.1 Volt Maximum of the reading taken in point 3 above.
   ***If NOT, Clean Battery Terminals and Clamps.
   
   a) If Necessary, Repeat Test to Verify it is now OK.

**NOW Repeat This Test Again, BUT:

1. Connect the Voltmeter Directly Across the Positive Terminal of the Starter and an 'earth' point.
2. If the voltmeter reading is More than 0.5 Volt Lower than the Previous Test You Probably have a Cable or Connector Problem!
   
   a) Check the Connections between the Cable and the Cable Connectors. ON BOTH ENDS.

Battery or Starter Motor?

General consensus appears to be that it could in fact be the 'new' battery that is the cause of it not starting, not a dodgy starter motor. Here's the facts:

• Sunday
• No lights when just connected to original battery
• Connected to 4X4 via jump leads
• 1st attempt wouldn't start - starter wouldn't complete 1 revolution
• 2nd attempt after leaving 4X4 running at higher revs for 5 mins started fine via the key
• 3rd attempt (approx 1hr later) wouldn't start under it 'own steam' or via the running 4X4 as per 1st attempt
• Wednesday
• All lights on dash, plus electric windows, central locking, wipers, headlights all work fine
• Tried starting 'under its own steam' but starter wouldn't go fast enough - noticeably better than 1st/3rd attempts on Sunday though

So maybe the 'new' battery is either a) faulty or b) not fully charged? We had it on a charge for 24hrs, but maybe we should have tried it for longer?

Plan ahead...

Tonight I'm also going to try jump starting the eSpace with the 'new' battery AND the 4X4 (both running and not running). Hopefully the combined charge in both will get the eSpace going - which I guess proves the starter motor is fine?

If there's time after work tomorrow I'll take the 'new' battery into a local garage and see if they can test it. (I can only test the voltage, not the amps which is the important bit). Depending on the outcome of that I'll stick it on charge for another 48hours and see if that has any effect.

Thoughts...

Now if the battery does turn out to be the culprit its actually bad news for team '2008: An eSpace odyssey', as a new one is £93 RRP whereas a 'new' starter motor is only £25-30 from a scrap yard.

Now buying a £93 battery for 1 trip to Rome seems excessive, especially as we're not bringing it back! So it makes more economic sense to buy a 'portable jump starter' for < £30 (on amazon here, picture above) which we just use each time we need to start the engine - and then immediately put it on charge inside the eSpace once it's going. Also it has a build in compressor so we can pump up any flat tyres we get and I can bring it back on the easyjet flight to use again and again (even if we didn't it'd still save £60+ on new battery from Halfords). We could even try and run cables so we could 'jump' start from inside...

Tim raised a point - does a car need to be able to start off an 'attached' battery to pass an MOT? I've had a look here and here and can't see it mentioned... anybody know?

It Lives!!

Having tested the 'new' battery and re-filled the coolant system we the set about re-connecting the battery. However due to  slight 
'compatibility' issues with the battery terminals we were forced to use our ingenuity and decided to temporarily connect it with a set of jump leads (see above).

With everything ready we waited with nervous anticipation for the key to turn...

and.... it didn't work! :( Although the starter motor was making a noise and trying to turn over slowly, it wasn't doing it anywhere near fast enough to start the engine.

Following advice from friends and forum posts we rocked the eSpace with it in gear, tapped (what we think was) the starter motor with a hammer in a vain attempt to 'free' a potentially jammed starter motor - but it was to no avail.

Un-deterred our intrepid heroes would not be beaten! The battery was mounted (read as 'wedged') on top of the the turbo, and with a bit of elbow grease the eSpace was pushed through the car park... Once up to speed the clutch was brought out sharply with the eSpace in 2nd gear and the engine spluttered into life!

Our £1 eSpace works! (sort of)

The joyous next few moments are shown in our blog's first video:

So our plan for the next few days is to positively identity the starter motor and source a 'new' one for as cheap as possible. Before we get one we'll try and get a mate who's a mechanic to take a look and see if he thinks its the starter motor (or in our dreams) something more simple. Stay tuned for developments...

Our Alternator is OK!

A bit of good news for a change, the eSpace's alternator is working a treat. The workshop manual we've got states that with the engine running the voltmeter should read 13.4v to 14.8v. The picture on the left was taken with the engine just idling, so at higher rev's we'd probably get somewhere approaching 14.8v - exactly what the Renault workshop manual suggests.

There's potentially more good news with the battery. Before removed it from the scrap yard eSpace it was reading 10.1v. After 24hrs of charging at a mate's it now reads 13.0v and there was a definite spark when connecting the jump leads to it (something the other battery never did). Also another test is the lights - with the 'new' battery connected the headlights and beam were very bright, the electric windows and central locking all kicked into life.

Sadly the 'new' battery was still unable to start the engine, however it was trying - the starter motor sounded to be ticking over - just not fast enough...

Stay tuned for some even better news in our next post... :)

eSpace Original Specification (1994)

5Dr MPV 2.1 dT RN Helios 5-Seat

Price	£18,458
Engine	2,068 cc
Power	88 bhp
0-60mph	15 seconds
Insurance Group	14
Fuel Economy (urban)	32 mpg
Fuel Economy (extra urban)	36 mpg
Fuel Economy (combined)	34 mpg
Fuel	Diesel

So based on our £1 purchase it's depreciated at £1,318 a year since it was first registered in 1994. I'm assuming the 0-60 and fuel economy may also have suffered ;)

Engine technology appears to have come on somewhat in the last 14 years, despite having an engine 3x the size of my Smart Roadster (698cc), it develops only 7 more bhp and does 15mpg less... Of course being a diesel it can run on vegetable oil (if we ever get it started!)

Batteries Included...

So, it appeared the old battery was not only u/s, one of the terminals broke off during preliminary tests (the fecking car wouldn't start). So Brad swiftly claimed some major pwnage over a scrap yard dealer type bloke and managed to get one from an Espace sitting lonely and dented in his yard...

However, this very afternoon, the old battery was diagnosed as simply not having enough of the old electrical juice in it (despite outputting 12voltsish) - the level of deionised [?] water in it was rather a little... negligible is the right word i think. So, i set about trying to devise a way of using the old battery as a spare, for those just-in-case moments which i expect will happen. It'll be dead easy to fill up - got some deionised water knocking about somewhere... ;)
Also, I managed to hacksaw under the broken terminal and created a sort of recess that we can either push the neg cable under and clamp down or drill into and pop a bolt through to enable proper usage.
Wire brushed the hell out of the little sod as well, so it's shiny now...

eSpace Photos

What you've all been waiting for... Pictures of the eSpace!

The 'chariot' undergoing the coolant reservoir transplant.

Tim re-attaching a coolant hose.


The view from the back


The interior

The back seats folded forward... these will be removed.


View from the drivers seat, the picture doesn't do it justice, its over 6ft from the rear door to the front seats.

Hope it's genuine ;)

Scrap Yard Challenge Part 1

Yes it is possible to get to a scrap yard, remove a battery, two hoses and the coolant reservoir, haggle with the owner and get back to work inside a 1hr lunch break!

It turns out we were very lucky that the battery was there though, as it's a legal requirement that they are removed for safety reasons. The guy at the yard said I was doing him a favour when I arrived - which I reminded him of when we were negotiating for the price later ;)

The multi-meter gave a reading of 10.2V, which hopefully means the battery still has some 'life in it'. So hopefully using a mate's battery charger tonight should get it back up to 12V ready for us to try in the eSpace tomorrow evening.

Getting the coolant pipes and reservoir proved slightly more fiddley than hoped - it appears Renault use 'one way' clips, much like a cable tie (only made from metal) for some of the joints - so a hammer and chisel later and they were off. Incidentally if anyone knows a clever way of removing these seemingly impossible to remove clips please let me know!

Anyway I got the lot for £20, which considering the battery is £92 alone in Halfords, (providing it works) surely means we bagged ourselves a bargain!

Day Two: Things are looking up!

Having trawled the interweb I've sourced three 185x65 tyres AND wheels for £50 delivered (taken straight off another Espace)!!

I've just called them back for a quote for all four tyres (then we can use the random 195x85 as the spare).

Update: They'll do us 4 tyres for £60 delivered! :)

Also during lunch I went to a local breakers yard and they've got two espaces in (or what's left of them). Anyway after a bit of haggling I'm going back tomorrow to extract the battery (£15) and the replacement hose (£1) we need. Subject to more haggling I hope to get the coolant reservoir and the drivers side wing mirror (in green - a special request from Tim). They had tyres for £15 each, but we'd somehow need to get them on our Espace's rims so the £50 delivered option is much better.

So there's a 1% chance that by tomorrow night we'll be back on the road. Did I say 1%, its more like 0.001%. If it doesn't work the next thing is to try and work out wether its the starter motor that's gone? (does anyone know how you can tell?). Could the alternator cause it to not start - surely it would just mean that the battery would just keep going flat but wouldn't effect it jump starting?

Dark day for Team '2008: An eSpace Odyssey'

I got the call we'd all been waiting for on Sunday morning, "our chariot awaits!". However the day took a turn for the worse shortly after we arrived to get it...

After getting the 'chariot' going (jump started off a mate's 4x4) and replacing the flat rear O/S tyre with the spare we had a major coolant failure (appears to be need a hose replacement - for once luck maybe on our side and the hose appears small and relatively easy to get at). With coolant pouring out onto the tarmac we cut the engine. Sadly when we went to restart it it wouldn't have any of it. Jump starting from the 4x4 didn't work either. Then to top it off the negative terminal broke off the battery!

So in summary, points of note from what we're referring to as 'black Sunday:

• Probably needs new battery - regardless of broken terminal - will check with multi-meter tonight
• Possibly needs new starter motor and/or alternator  - will check with multi-meter tonight
• Rear D/S tyre is the only "spec" tyre (195x65 R14 - RRP £72), the other 3 + (now flat) spare (which at least 3 need replacing) are "non-spec" 185x65 R14s (RRP £32)
• Rear D/S tyre has 2 bolts that we can't undo (we'll keep soaking with WD40)
• Brakes need checking
• Needs new D/S wheel bearing (apparently < £10 and easy to fix)
• New coolant hose
• Coolant system needs draining and cleaning - reservoir full of black sludge!

Other cosmetic issues:

• Rear child-lock appears broken
• Rear D/S window is made of Perspex
• D/S wing mirror has some kind of Perspex 'hall of mirrors' style cover?!
• Catch holding the front sunroof handle a 'bit loose'

On the plus side:

• Engine seems fine, sounds ok, no cloud of smoke when flooring it, oil cap clean and no sludge/whiteness.
• Exhaust looks new and not blowing
• Suspension seems perfect
• Chassis seems fine, no rust
• Lights all work
• Sunroofs and E/Ws work
• Fuel filler cap is brand new!

Looks like we'll be investing in a Haynes manual ASAP, and I'm off to a scrap yard at lunch! We'd better get the 3 rear seats on eBay ASAP to try and raise some money for repairs.

Espace Mods and Kit List

A trip of this nature demands an extensive list of kit that we'll need to cobble together before we board the ferry to Calais in September. Then there's the Espace modifications we'll need to make to ensure our journey is as comfortable as possible.

Kit:

• Fire Extinguisher **
• Road Safety Kit **
  (First Aid Kit / Hi-Vis vest  / warning triangle)
• European Lens Kit **
• GB Sticker **
• Two new 'off-side' tyres (185/65 R14)
• Cooking equipment - Disposable BBQs or Camp Stove?
• Car Stereo (ideally with 3.5mm / iPod input)
• Camcorder - I've got one but want a smaller SD card based one
• 240V Inverter
• Toolkit
• TomTom
• Maps
• Mini-USB Car Charger(s)
• Tow Rope
• Jump Leads

Mods:

• Remove rear seats and turn into 'Camper Van' style accommodation
  • With Cab Separator?
  • Fold out table?
  • Fit fold-out BBQ grill (if spare is under a panel just inside the boot door - this will work very well!)
• Decals
  • Team Name
  • Driver Names and Flags
  • Plus others
• Red 'eye' (lit by switch) mounted in dash

If anyone has any of the above going spare, or knows a cheap place we can pick it up from let us know ;)

** I think these are a legal requirement in France?

And so it begins...

And so it begins. As all good tales do. This one in particular is about a couple of noble gents, keen to leave their little (skid)mark on the world.

It began with an idea, or a dream, if you will. To complete the Home2Rome Rally in a car that would befit any dude of the road. The one rule that would seemingly be their downfall? "You may spend no more than one hundred of the finest English pounds on your carriage". Our two intrepid 'heroes' trawled the interwebularnet and local auctioniniums, but to no avail, it seemed a lost cause. However, as everybody knows, good things happen to good people, and this is no exception. A friend of friend was able to furnish our explorers with a noble steed known as the 'Espace' or 'space' (using Babelfish).

So, the odyssey has started (or 'commencement' as it is in French). Modifications will ensue, plus about 1400 miles, but we hope you'll be with us every step of the way...