Qashquai

[Pops]

So, I sold the honda civic as it failed the NCT due to terminal rust, this left me without a daily driver, so after what seemed a lifetime of searching done deal for a suitable replacement I finally found a genuine one owner qashquai.
This qashquai looks great, one lady owner who, because she ticked lots of options when she ordered it had to wait 6 months for delivery in 2008.
She was disappointed in selling it as she had it for so long, 17 years and only 102000km but it failed the NCT due to RUST so her family convinced her to sell as the cost of repairs would be more than the value of the car.
When I was looking at it when buying I had already seen the fail sheet, EXCESSIVE CORROSION of wishbones / swinging arms was the fail along with track rod ends. After having a look underneath and quick test drive the deal was done as anything rusty was a bolt on part and not like the civic with 2ft of chassis missing due to the dreaded rust

[Pops]

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[Pops]

This was the worst bit but thanks to winparts I got 2 wishbones and track rod ends for €275

[Pops]

Rust repair complete , 2 new wishbones and wire brush the subframe.
Brunox rust treatment works very well followed by a good dose of underbody spray and spray wax

[Pops]

Some of the products I used

[Pops]

Had to go to Derry and decided to bring the qashqai, while it's ok for around town it's very underpowered on the 100km/h roads, have to have a better look at the steering as it feels pretty heavy. Really sorry that I didn't use the mx5 as the weather was perfect for it, was pretty jealous when I saw so many mx5s on the trip

[Steve]

Nice work, how'd it been since?

[Pops]

Hi Steve, it's been pretty good really except for the heavy steering, I tried a replacement complete column including the electric motor but the car wouldn't start after fitting, it seems that the steering ecu is part of the immobilizer so had to refit the old unit, however I did find that the original universal joint was seized in spots so I swapped it and the steering is much smoother but still heavy. I had the battery tested and it is failing but still able to start the car but it's possible that it doesn't supply enough power to get the steering motor working to it's full power. Kind of denying the fact that it could fix the issue as it would involve spending more money without a definite fix

[Steve]

haha
Could it be a dirty ground point?

[Pops]

Could well be a bad ground, when I got the car even the electric windows were very slow but I lubricated the channels and that seems to have worked. Will have a look at the ground points the next time I have to do something else with the car, not a big deal anyway as it's unlikely that I will do even 3k Kms this year

[Pops]

So, I bit the bullet and fitted a new battery, steering is much better but my problem is probably that I'm comparing it to a 2024 VW . Car seems to run better as well but that might be things resetting after the battery change

[Pops]

Failed the NCT on a torn inner cv boot.
While fitting the new boot I thought it was a good time to check the earth's as suggested by Steve as the steering still feels heavier than it should, sure enough the main earth cable is corroded and when I removed it it fell apart.
New cv boot and two earth cables and a tin of brake cleaner cost €50 plus a retest fee of €40 and all should be good again.
Just moving the car out of the shed and the steering feels as it should again.

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Pretty corroded cable, hopefully it will be a permanent fix