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Doing the front wheel bearing on the Leaf. The lower ball joint is held in with a cotter pin, so should be easy to remove without needing a splitter - but it's stuck, of course. I have to use the form type splitter that you hammer in and it damaged the rubber boot as it always does.
Boots are available generically for 77p but nowhere in stock today. So I call Nissan thinking they might have a ball joint, usually a £15 part, so maybe some dealer markup whatever. Only (as I suspected) the ball joint is pressed into the lower arm, which is inexpensive pressed steel. They can only sell me the whole arm, with bushings in it, for £275 plus VAT!
So a 77p part becomes a £300+ part! What total bastards. That has seriously put me off Nissan. On the Passat the ball joint can be removed with the other kind of splitter thant does not destroy the boot, and even if you do the ball joint is replaceable as a separate part.
Oh and this is after they charged me £25 for a nut for the driveshaft, which of course was not reusable.
they charged me £25 for a nut for the driveshaft, which of course was not reusable.
I think the most expensive part is the nut that holds the steering wheel (and also holds the socket wrench) 🙂
But a suspension arm from ECP or CP4L is less than a quarter of that...
Yeah, buy pattern parts. My old man used to have a 200SX, Back box on the exhaust was blowing...Nissan wanted £300 for a mild steel replacement, + labour..
You can (or could, we're going back some years!) buy a 3rd party stainless steel backbox with a lifetime warranty for less than what Nissan wanted for thier cheap mild steel official part.
That has seriously put me off Nissan.
It's not just Nissan, it's all main dealers.
Ball Joints also on ECP for £15 (I guessed at 2016 Leaf)
Why did you have to use the hammer in type.
A quick look on Autodoc and the most expensive brand is £92 for the control arm.
The nut is £2.58
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<p style="box-sizing: border-box; --tw-translate-x: 0; --tw-translate-y: 0; --tw-rotate: 0; --tw-skew-x: 0; --tw-skew-y: 0; --tw-scale-x: 1; --tw-scale-y: 1; --tw-scroll-snap-strictness: proximity; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px; --tw-ring-offset-color: #fff; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / 0.5); --tw-ring-offset-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000; --tw-shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000; margin: 0px 0px 0.5rem; line-height: 1.5rem; color: #000000; font-family: Roboto, 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, 'Noto Sans', sans-serif, -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Apple Color Emoji', 'Segoe UI Emoji', 'Segoe UI Symbol', 'Noto Color Emoji'; background-color: #eeeeee;">The nut is £2.58</p>
Let's assume he wants to use the car this side of Xmas though
And so it begins….
...there is a hole in your mind...
Nissan is the main issue
It isn't (quite) all main dealers.
We use a family owned (i.e. half the workforce is related) Citroen dealer and they are very fair. They'll give discount on most things, and try and bulk buy common items which I've recently discovered they sell in an eBay shop. e.g. we just found my lad a well looked after 05 Multispace for bike hauling, and it needed a fuel rail pressure sensor. Retail is £119 plus vat, they had a shelf full of oe ones for £30 inc VAT (plus advice on the torque, no it didn't need a seal etc).
But yes, if my wife's C3 needed the ball joint then they'd be selling a whole arm, as would most independents. It is only cheaper for us diy idiots spending hours drilling / grinding out rivets to replace just the ball joint.
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It's worth noting that the 98-2009 berlingo/Peugeot were horrific to work on from a suspension perspective. They were out together in such a way that part of me suspects they were not expected to outlive their suspension.
The 2010 onwards are much more service friendly.
A new petrol tank for my Moto Guzzi is listed at near £2.5k, all the manufacturers are at it 😡
A new petrol tank for my Moto Guzzi is listed at near £2.5k, all the manufacturers are at it
Flippin' 'eck. Surely you could get a hand made artisan one, made my on old bloke in a rustic workshop using only a small hammer and a rag, encrusted with dimonte crytals for less than that!
A petrol tank is specific to that particular bike though. Ball joint boots are generic. Really though the big problem is the fact the ball joint doesn't come out of the arm. There's no need for that. Well, there is - to save dosh when making it.
Also not sure why the nut is £25. It's got this weird arrangement with a long thread on the end of the driveshaft with a slot in it. The nut seems to have an extra thin bit on the nut with no thread, and the slot seems to be there to cut a thread in the unthreaded part. And then you hammer part of the thin bit into the slot to stop it coming undone. What a palaver. You can't undo the old one without partially knackering half the thread.
Anyway no-one lists parts for Leafs, so I bought a ball joint for a Juke and nicked the boot from that. With new tyres, fresh oil in the diff and a replacement bearing it is now really very quiet indeed.
Because it is really really really important that the driveshaft nut doesn't come off, or the hub and wheel bearing come apart. So they do all sorts of things to stop it coming undone and prevent people reusing bits that should be replaced.
I'm not a huge VW fan, but I must admit to liking their front hub bearings that mount in a 4 bolt flanged unit, with hub held onto driveshaft using a cap head bolt, and bolted flange on the inner CV joint. The downside is there are various bolts in the suspension that are supposed to be single use to get full clamping load, but people rarely replace them.
I'm liking the 05 Berlingo so far - that pressure sensor would have been a nightmare on my old 08 Dispatch. Front arms looked like proper forgings not stamped tin. I'm just resigned that failed rear torsion bars or pivots will be an easy but spendy £400 refurbished axle swap.... But we found a very well looked after base vehicle to make it viable if the situation arises.
It appears to be a standard Nissan thing. Similar to Shimano small parts that should be easily replaceable are only available as part of a larger component. I had similar on a 200sx years ago and ended up buying a ball joint from the states for about £50 and getting the original pressed out as the only Nissan option was a complete new bottom arm.
I've had exactly the same with Ford main dealers.
I suppose why bother holding a whole bunch of different 75p-£10 parts when you can hold a few £275 parts instead. More profit, easier inventory, less space required, and you can still say you carry all the suspension parts.
I agree though, very annoying!
As above, is not just Nissan, most manufacturers do it. I've got similar stories from Mazda, Toyota, Honda and Ford, and that's just my limited experience.
Eg I remember a wire clip from Mazda costing nearly 50 quid.
Yeah, buy pattern parts. My old man used to have a 200SX, Back box on the exhaust was blowing…Nissan wanted £300 for a mild steel replacement, + labour..
He's lucky it didn't do the standard thing of splitting one of the intercooler pipes at the flange. You could only buy the full assembly (including the intercooler) at getting on for 2k IIRC
I thought this was going to be a thread about the new Gran Turismo film which is a) crap and b) heavily branded by Nissan.
That Farther Ted episode is by far my favourite
Because it is really really really important that the driveshaft nut doesn’t come off, or the hub and wheel bearing come apart. So they do all sorts of things to stop it coming undone and prevent people reusing bits that should be replaced
Yeah there are many ways to do this without this level of mangling. My VW had bolts in the end of the driveshaft that were stretch bolts and you could replace them for a few quid. To be fair though, almost all the bolts on the VW were stretch, which was sodding annoying, but they do not appear to be on the Leaf.
Can't beat working on an EV though. There's hardly anything under the bonnet. I changed the diff oil, easy as anything, getting the undertray off was by far the biggest job. Not least because half of it is held in with plastic pop clips that break rather than bolts like the other half. WHY DO YOU DO THIS SHIT NISSAN?
@molgrips … i feel your pain RE the £47 for a pair of nuts!! The older Leaf has a hole in the driveshaft, and uses a normal nut (pence) and a split type pin… I was sorely tempted to drill a hole (perpendicular through the end of the driveshaft) and use a plot pin and normal nut..
Also… breakers often have LOADS of LEAF parts (ebay etc) - i got a new driveshaft (cos i borked the other one!!!) for about £100…
Secondly… I’ve 2 jugs of diff oil in the garage waiting to be popped into the car… it seems easy enough… did you raise the car completely? It seems that you need the car level to do it properly, so i may just borrow 2 more jack stands…
DrP
My driveway slopes, which is nerve-wracking at times but it does mean I can just use two axle stands at the front and it makes the car almost level.
I've also found an appropriate jacking point in the centre front of the car behind the sub-frame. So I drive the car onto wooden blocks which gives me enough clearance to get the jack under the middle point and jack it up from there. Then I can put an axle stand on each side at the same time. Much safer than doing one side at a time.
What are you using for diff oil? I did some research on this - the car needs Nissan Matic-S ATF standard which due to various legal issues other manufacturers cannot sell. But there are many ATFs that do meet it if you dig around, fortunately the Comma multi-vehicle ATF that Halfords stock does meet Matic-S standard.
WHY DO YOU DO THIS SHIT NISSAN?
1) cheaper production
2) cultural - there is not the same culture of repairing stuff in Japan so they don't think of repair
3) Cars in Japan become worth very little after 3 years due to their MOT rules so again no thought of repair
HOnda I believe are a little different. they no longer produce spares for all thier vehicles ( up till a few years ago they would make any part for any vehicle they had ever sold) - now there is a time limit IIRC 30 years but their repairability and spares supply is much better than most japanese stuff
there is not the same culture of repairing stuff in Japan
Disagree in general - but not sure re cars.
But these cars are made in Europe/US for Europe/US markets. They could spec a different part for these markets.
Suzuki.
My Vitara has a cap missing on one of the AC control knobs. A simple plastic disc with a chromed ring around the outer edge.
Suzuki don't sell them on their own, I'd have to buy the whole HVAC unit that fits into the dash, didn't even ask the price
I took my T6 in for its annual service which is really just an oil change obvs... £200 which I think is a bit steep really. 84Bhp 2.0 model. They called me up to check if I was OK to pay an extra £3 for the new crush washer off the sump plug. I kid you not...
cultural – there is not the same culture of repairing stuff in Japan so they don’t think of repair
They've literally turned repair into an art form
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kintsugi
yes but they do not have the same culture of repairing stuff like cars and bikes and other consumer goods.
My Vitara has a cap missing on one of the AC control knobs. A simple plastic disc with a chromed ring around the outer edge.
Suzuki don’t sell them on their own, I’d have to buy the whole HVAC unit that fits into the dash, didn’t even ask the price
Hah. Ebay though - vehicle breakers now are pretty well organised now and you'll find one.
2) cultural – there is not the same culture of repairing stuff in Japan so they don’t think of repair
Spent quite a bit of time in Japan. When it comes to bikes and cars and most things, totally disagree. The repair economy is huge. Lots of ancient cars with lots of time and money spent on them to keep them going. just look at the immaculate fleet of 1980’s Crown taxis in just about any major city!
Don't get me started on Nissan design issues. Tried to replace the blower motor on an old Note (50 quid part and a plug in and play connector) easy I thought. No you have to remove the entire dash/drop steering column to fit it... what a ball ache.
To be fair, blower motors are often hidden behind the entire dash.
I'm a bit conflicted now because the Ariya is a beautiful car inside and might be near the top of my list.
Thats not just Nissan. I had a VW Golf and its the same on them. 45 quid part but the entire dash has to come out
I just go to scrapyards for that kinda stuff
yes but they do not have the same culture of repairing stuff like cars and bikes and other consumer goods.
Yeah they do, there's load of electronic repair shops (they hate throwing that shit away) and the classic car scene is huge, see also Kimono/textile repair (along similar lines of pottery), the Philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, Carpentry that just uses jointing rather than nails, so it can be dismantled and repaired, 1000 year old Bonsai, accepting things that are imperfect, knife sharpening traditions, inheritance and so on and on. Preservation and repair are really deeply rooted in their cultural aesthetic
Thats not just Nissan. I had a VW Golf and its the same on them. 45 quid part but the entire dash has to come out
VW Touran - the rear boot gas-strut mounting was loose. To replace it according to VW would write off the car as you had to cut a hole in the rear panel to tighten the bolt....We found a welder and a RivNut worked, but what a ridiculous design.
Yeah they do, there’s load of electronic repair shops (they hate throwing that shit away) and the classic car scene is huge, see also Kimono/textile repair (along similar lines of pottery), the Philosophy of Wabi-Sabi, Carpentry that just uses jointing rather than nails, so it can be dismantled and repaired, 1000 year old Bonsai, accepting things that are imperfect, knife sharpening traditions, inheritance and so on and on. Preservation and repair are really deeply rooted in their cultural aesthetic
This.
To say that the Japanese do not have a repair culture is entirely wrong. It’s the exact opposite. More so than any other developed nation I’ve experienced.
Don’t get me started on Nissan design issues. Tried to replace the blower motor on an old Note (50 quid part and a plug in and play connector) easy I thought. No you have to remove the entire dash/drop steering column to fit it… what a ball ache.
This is true for a lot of cars. The HVAC system is one of the first components fitted to the interior, so it's one of the most difficult to remove/access afterwards.
VW Touran – the rear boot gas-strut mounting was loose. To replace it according to VW would write off the car as you had to cut a hole in the rear panel to tighten the bolt
Ford Mk7 Transit - **** me I could write a list of shit design flaws on it. I loved having a van but hated that it was a Ford.
Lower control arm retained nut spinning - had to hole saw through two layers of cab floor steelwork to get to it.
Stupid ball joint that needs a special hydraulic tool to install.
Rear discs with torx bolts that rusted out and had to be all cut off.
Front discs - my mind has deleted that horror but IIRC it involves new bearings/hubs.
Brake lines routed to catch salt rather than out of the way which would take longer in production.
I was almost happy when despite my best efforts with Waxoyl/Dinitrol it still rusted to death.
And the exact opposite approach - Volvo. Well designed for future maintenance in mind. I whole heartedly enjoy working on both of mine.
I needed a new back box for the MX5. I happened to be passing the Mazda dealership so popped in for a quote out of curiosity. Can't recall the exact cost but it was north of £550 for a boggo unit but "that did include VAT". Luckily there is big aftermarket business for MX5's and I got a stainless one for a lot less and my local garage fitted it for 30 quid.
Just wait and see if Tesla perfect the gigacast chassis/subframe. Imagine what that will cost in parts and labour after a shunt that damages it.
It's not Nissan, it's any manufacturer. They make spares to be a quick swap, and of course it's usually the whole part. Less labour costs to replace a whole assembly than strip, repair and replace.
If you can search about, you can get third party boots etc - my son had to do this recently as his boots were perishing and VAG wanted a fortune. Don't get me started on VAG using plastic for many parts where metal is better.
We've got two Nissans, one is 22, the other 10, and they have been very cheap to run - come parts have been a bit spendy, but that's wear and tear, and it's rare the cars have needed any work. A £500 repair bill is only a single month's PCP on something newer, so see it like that.
I can just about match this. In my old Civic estate I snapped the latch which held the boot cover in place when extended. A catch, a small plastic bit which when mentioned during first service they tried to fix by gluing it. Clearly was never going to work. Lived with it for too long, long enough for the warranty to expire and then asked a dealer for a replacement catch. Ah, now, we can't supply that as a part, it's the whole interior side panel of the boot you'd need to replace. £300 plus fitting. Needless to say, when it was sold, it still needed a replacement catch.
For an otherwise excellent and reliable car, that was mighty annoying.
I’m liking the 05 Berlingo so far – that pressure sensor would have been a nightmare on my old 08 Dispatch. Front arms looked like proper forgings not stamped tin. I’m just resigned that failed rear torsion bars or pivots will be an easy but spendy £400 refurbished axle swap…. But we found a very well looked after base vehicle to make it viable if the situation arises.
It's fine until you get to something that's on the off side of the engine in a UK car. I scrapped mine because of a crack in the clutch pedal which becomes and engine out job because it unbolts from the engine side and isn't accessible in UK cars.
Even the brake master cylinder is stuck in there unless you take the cylinder head off.
It’s not Nissan, it’s any manufacturer. They make spares to be a quick swap, and of course it’s usually the whole part. Less labour costs to replace a whole assembly than strip, repair and replace.
This +1
I had the front inner suspension bushings replaced on my C-max at the time, and the chain garage quoted a fixed price that was about £400, Vs it would have cost me £200 for some pattern control arms from ECP. Figured it was probably worth it to not have to take it back/forth to get the MOT re-tested.
It took them 8h! Bet they regretted buying just the bushings and believing the computer when it said it was a 3h job.
Same with shaimno brake calipers, do you want to pay £17 for a new one with pads that can be fitted in minutes then bled, or 50p for some seals, an extra half hours labor splitting and re-sealing the caliper.
Molgrips… I went with what the leaf forums suggested…Redline D6 ATF..
I’ve 2 quart bottles waiting to be put in!
I think my neighbour has dome DIY car ramps (basically, several wood planks on top of another, with a ramp obvs..), so will drive onto that, and jack/stand the rear up.
Also…. Another mod on my list is to replace the pathetic horn! Again, a simple job, but still takes time!
DrP
I wonder if you can replace the pedestrian alert noise?