Somewhat Broken

I've had my car since brand new in 2001 so she's just turned 6 years old. I've done a hell of a lot of mileage in those years tho... And sadly it's taken it's toll on her somewhat fickle K series engine. As regular readers will know my car's not been quite right since the water pump went in 2005, and it turns out that shoddy workmanship in its replacement is possibly where all my problems stem from. Sadly there's not much I can do about it though as it's difficult to prove what's at fault.

The latest problem is one that's going to cost me big time... (Click here for a explanation on various engine parts) As the big end has gone in one of the con rods, which in turn has worn the crank shaft to an unrepairable level (Normally it'd be reground, but sadly the wear is too much and would result in the big end bearing being loose if it was reground). So as you can see from the photo, it's engine out and rebuild time. What is useful tho is that because it's now lying all over a bench the impending replacement of the clutch is rendered a 5 min job :-) hopefully it'll only take a week as I've left it in the hands of a well known (In there parts) professional. In the meantime thankfully I have the loan of my dads car to get me around :-)

My dad owns a rather nice Volvo V70, which I've driven before but only in Germany, so I never really paid much mind to the power the engine had as speeds were not and issue on the autobahns. Driving it in the UK now though I've learnt it's got a lot of poke in it... As cruising at 70 on the motorway involves barely touching the throttle. And getting there involves no effort at all. Even better though is the fact that it looks like an unmarked police car so other road users give it a wide birth :-)