Looking for advice: Scrap or repair my Frontera B

[theskull]

OK guys

Haven't been on for a while because my 99 Frontera B (98,000) has been sitting in the drive for the past 5 months doing nothing. I'm loathed to do anything else but get her back on the road but I'm worried about ongoing costs. I reckon currently see needs about 600 pound spend to get her back running (Thats if my mechanics assumptions on what she needs are correct) and very soon will need to replace the tyres. If I knew I would spend this and that there wasn't a list of other things (engine/transmission/suspension wise) ready to give me bother then I would be getting it sorted straight away, but I just don't know with these beasts. Can any of you help me think clearer about my dilema. Ideally I would love to have an old 4wd as a spare vehicle to use when I need it and know when I want to use it that it will not fry my head with problems on an ongoing basis.

Any advice/words of wisdom would be very much appreciated

The current state of affairs are..
The 4WD engagement is not working and hadn't been for (believe it to be the actuator, but there could be more problems lurking right?)
Brakes started to seize on me in the final days using it (Presumed I need to replace discs and pads)
Dashboard Clocks need doing
Needs tyre's pretty soon

Diesel pump replaced about 2 years ago as well as the MAF & VAC pipe kit from Vauxhall so the engine (last time it turned over) was going alright

[Paul A]

Repair it!
Nothing there that sounds too serious.
The brakes are an easy repair, so will the 4wd be, likely as not just vac pipes and contact cleaner needed.
The dash is an easy repair if youre good with a soldering iron.
As for tyres, you'd be surprised at what you can pick up on Ebay for a good price.
If you do most of the work yourself, you will save a fortune.
Scrapping it won't bring you much of a return, you might get another vehicle that has worse problems!
Where are you located?
I'll do the dash for you if you want (no charge), if your nearby I can help you out with the brakes etc.

Save it and enjoy it! - Don't scrap it!

Paul

BTW 98,000 on a diesel is nothing - barely run in!

[CB_newbie]

for what its worth, id save it ! - when i bought my 2.2 DTI (currently 98,000 miles) there were a few things that needed doing, but its almost there now + i love it !!! - i can look forward to fun things now, like fitting my 2in suspension lift kit - should get it looking + riding better

If its your daily driver (as mine is) i can understand how much of a pain it is having your motor out of service, but if you ask me, its well worth saving !

....having said that, if you do scrap it, bagsy your bullbar (+ front and rear bumpers, if theyre colour coded + silver !)

[ernie1]

Don't scrap it mate,you will live to regret it,think how much you are saving by not buying a new car.Whatever car you run,it's going to break sometime,so you might as well repair what you got.If you repair it and sell it youre going to get a lot more than scrap,having said that though,if you are scrapping it let me know,I'll willingly give you scrap price for it

[Huwwalford]

I would keep it and repair it.....but I may be biased.

Huw.

[stu]

the vote is you keep and repair your ride .keep us posted with the progress

[Big Dave]

Scrap it........

NO KEEP IT - just thought I would be different

Seriously, The jobs that need doing aren't too big, so get them done and get another fronty on the road

[alex]

The dash and 4wd arent essential to driving (ok ok maybe the dash is a legal requirement) but the only real push is the breaks, surely not a big one that. Get her back on the raod and do all the jobs in turn, scrapping isnt an option unless you want to give her to me

[marlbororman]

dash wasnt mot requirement when mine packed up, but the fix i posted does work, and my dash is still ok, nearly or more than a year on now at the end of the day its not working now,so wot you got to lose by trying? failing that, vaux bits in nottingham might have a second hand one, but you can bet it will go the same way too.

[theskull]

OK OK I hear ya....there's no need to labor the point

Democracy has spoken.....the restoration shall begin (is restoration the right word for a 9 year old vehicle????).

Right...I'm guessing the order of work would be as follows

Get her started again (shouldn't be a problem)
See if I can get her to move (brakes were holding pretty badly 5 months ago)
Sort out brakes
Sort out 4WD ( I take it that replacing the actuator rather than rebuilding is still the best option if it is the problem). Does anyone have a price off the top of their heads
Fix Dashboard at leisure
Changes the tyres

Seeing as shes been sitting for 5 months......which can't be good for a vehicle, is there any other work which you could recommend to help free her up and prevent other problems from surfacing???

Thanks for the words of encouragement BTW guy's. You told me what I wanted to hear. If it ends up costing me a fortune.....I'm tellin' the wife it was all your fault

[andysd1]

can always fill in the area bit on you user control panel, you never know some of us might pop round for a cuper or another sort of drink, just dont ask drift, he drinks like a fish and you will have to give him a bed

[Huwwalford]

[theskull]

Hello Lads
Long time no speak

So I've got the brakes done. Calipers needed freeing and disc's and pads all round
Tried to sort the dash out following all the advice given but it's still the same (fuel guage doesn't work now---first stepper motor attempted ). At least when I switch the light On/Off it still fires up so...should get through MOT

So still need to get the 4wd sorted

Mechanic is adamant that it is the motor actuator which engages/disengages the system. Does anyone have a part number for this unit?

Oh another problem was one of my spare wheel bolts had seized. Had to grind off. Is it easy to take off the braket from the door so that I can fit/weld another bolt to it on the inside (looks like a propritry socket is needed for the bolts which attach the bracket to the door)?

Would also love to get my drivers window sorted. Don't think it is the switch as you can hear the relay cicking when I press it. Any known problems wityh B series electric windows that you are aware of?

[Road Hog]

Well done on the work so far

Ask your mechanic does he mean on the gearbox ??

Spare wheel carrier is a mole grips job (unless you want to buy the special tool from Vx)

Relay clicking,the next thing to check,is there any voltage at the motor ?

If you use the User Control Panel to edit your Profile & show model,year,engine it would help as there are differences between them.
Also show an approximate location the may be help nearby !

[theskull]

Cheers A friend

Yes...the motor bolted onto the gearbox (press the button on the dash and the motor engages the front wheels). Last time it was used, I lost all drive all wheels, whilst taking it out of 4wd on the fly . Mechanic disconnected the wiring to the motor and manually put it back into 2wd mode. Has been like that for over 2 years. Have phoned a few breakers just to get a second hand price, but they won't sell separately as it's part of the gear box.

As the vehicle isn't worth a pile of money, I'd love the get the 4wd going again and start to use it off road a bit more, so any help with this would be very much appreciated.

Will follow up on your other advice...cheers

Profile has been updated

[Road Hog]

Hi bud, thanks for doing the profile thing.Is it a manual or auto please ??

If you can bear with me I will try to sort part number t`moz

[theskull]

sweet A friend...thanks

It's a manual

[theskull]

Anyone able to help me source this part number?

My local vx parts dept were totally useless

[Road Hog]

Apologies Skull missed that , will be on it t`moz.

[Trugga]

Would someone like to confirm that this is correct:

28 ACTUATOR ,ASSY., FRONT AXLE 97101856 3 01 209
Note: FOR SHIFT ON THE FLY

Lawrence