I put a centre armrest into Daisy.
Not a simple job.

This is how I mounted it.

Nothing is removed but plenty of screws have to be undone to take out the back console part so the plates can be mounted to it, funnily the most awkward part is getting the genuine imitation leather handbrake boot past the lever to facilitate removal and refitting. There's a hidden screw at the rear under a little centre plate at the bottom of the rear cup holder, the rest of the screws are pretty straightforward.

That's for sure, I'm just hoping I'll be able to find a new muffler when the time comes, meanwhile I check whatever components I can so I can source stuff.
The camshaft position sensor is a common cheap part, the MAP sensor is the same as Citroen/Peugeot use, the Lambda sensor uses a Hyundai plug so can be obtained very cheaply, the brake pads are the same as a Daewoo so much cheaper here.
BTW under that handbrake section of the console there's mounted the air bag module and the yaw sensor, but obviously not all models have those.

Sounds like what happened to me 30 seconds after I brought Daisy home the first time, luckily the salesman advised me that when that happens put the key in the ignition, turn it to on, and push the button with the little dot on the centre of the dash.

It'll pay to keep an eye on the door switches for the interior lamp, the designer made the contacts about 0.5 mm undersized for reliable contact. If the door switch doesn't close within 30 seconds of using the unlock on the key then the alarm is triggered. I did show a solution here that I made for the issue but in hindsight the solution may be a lot simpler perhaps just filing a tad off the insulator that the contact arrow screws into, but it is something that should be looked into and I'd hope that Proton has modified and superseded the part.

One thing that's common in all fuel injected cars these days is ensuring a fair level of fuel is kept in the tank at all times. Fuel is used to cool the pump in the tank and running too often at a low level reduces the service life of the pump.
The belief I heard years ago was 30 seconds cranking the starter (which is a pretty long time and you were probably within that) shouldn't be exceeded or the motor may get too hot and die. I also think starter motors like most bits of any car are better than they used to be too.

Very slow here this weekend.
Even for us non-religious Aussies Xmas is a big thing, I'll be on another road trip to see my parents, a little 3500 km round trip, so I'll be gone for a few days, but best xmas wishes for all, hmmm even celebrating the solstice means little to tropical people so have a happy end of year time.
The high point of down journey will only be an altitude of 550 metres so no Genting Highlands thrills for us.

Thanks for the wishes people, we head off early tomorrow unless it rains all night, the first cyclone of the season may strike in a couple of days.
I think our trip will be way less adventurous than Kuching to Kota Kinabalu, maybe not but I can guarantee the countryside will be a lot emptier.


Thanks to the wonders of Google maps this shows the planned route, I always like to use different roads if I'm able, that way I get more adventure. Only 34 km I'm led to believe is unsealed but the country isn't heavily populated. Something folk in other countries may not readily understand is that outside of towns in our inland areas like this it's quite empty, but Google earth and street is a great thing to show what things are like. Perhaps you'll see too why I've moaned about our tiny fuel tanks.

It's pretty big even by world standards 1,730,630 sq km, Borneo too is pretty big but only 748,168 sq km.
Somehow we manage to cram 4 million people into Queensland.

The current in my FLX "Daisy" flows in reverse for the front indicators so nothing will work unless you swap the wires to it over, something I wasn't fond of so I made up a lamp myself by soldering a couple of T10 lamps to a BAU15S plug, with the negative joined to the centre terminal. The plugs had come from a couple of yellow BAU15S LED bulbs that I'd bought but found useless, the Yellow colour isn't right and they weren't bright enough. I ended up using bright white lamps and wrapped amber cellophane over them, resulting in a satisfactory result.
You'll also need to change the flasher unit under the dash, another chore due to having to swap a couple of terminals.

I'm back from my Xmas trip, but Daisy suffered at the hands of a couple of rogue kangaroos, not so pretty now but it's only cosmetic.

On the down leg Skippy jumped into the LH guard.

Then on the return leg a little Skippy whizzed into the bumper while I was wary about another one on the side of the road, knocking off the fog lamp which I never use, at least I've saved it for reattaching.




The damage is only cosmetic but at least I've learned how to remove a few things.

Buggered if I know but here's a few piccies of my work.

I joined two T10 lamps with the negative poles together and soldered the unit into a BAU15S base, then wrapped some cellophane around them. Note that the voltage is reversed from normal so no store bought LED will work.



Note that the plug has offset pins which is a pain, I'm sure it'll work OK if you use a straight pin lamp base and remove by filing or hammering one of the pins out of service.


How it looks from the outside, keen eyes will note the LED headlight which is a lovely bright unit.

Slightly different the pins are set at an angle.

Thanks for looking, Yes I've noticed plenty of incidents on dash cam video that can be put down to A pillar blind spot, as well as having myself spooked enough to move my head about when wary of trouble. Years ago it wasn't an issue, but life was simpler then, if you had a crash you died.

I dunno what FEAD means either but it certainly isn't the CVT belt, that should last the 200k design life of the transmission.
It may be the engine timing belt which would be an expensive gamble to try to extend its service life, make sure you replace that when or even before it's scheduled.
It also (and I think fairly likely) could be the serpentine belt that drives the alternator and other accessories, if this belt breaks then about the worst that could happen is to leave you stranded but run your finger along the grooves on it and if there's any cracks or chunks missing then replace it, but at least it won't cause a heart attack or bankruptcy if it breaks. I must remember to buy a spare sometime as I might have to wait a few weeks to obtain a replacement if mine snaps.

Me likee.

I'd be inclined to open the key and check the position of the immobiliser chip, if it has moved away from the shaped cutout for it some angst is sure to occur as mine at least is very touchy about it's location.
I've used some double sided tape to help keep mine in position.

It's very thick and should have a negative effect on your fuel economy, also mineral oil will have a shorter service life than synthetic but that may only be an issue if changes are rare.
I couldn't make out the API rating but our campro engine isn't a terribly fussy one and IMO I'd prefer to run a SL rating rather than the later SM and SN as the later two have reduced zinc additives, SN being even lower than SM. Zinc is a pretty good additive to have but I think emission standards or some such reason has meant some engines having the later oil standard indicated, zinc helps reduce wear.

CVT is more fuel efficient than old style autos, sometimes more efficient than manuals too.
As far as reliability goes there's a lack of horror stories online about CVTs and the Punch ones in our FLX are said to be good for 200,000 km with fluid changes being about all that's required. A point of note however is the correct grade of transmission fluid is required (EZL799) or it may create one of the rare horror stories, hardly the maker's fault though if the geniuses can't read the manual or the label.

A point about CVT though is to throw away your old mindset when driving, journalists and racer wannabes may like the feel of real gears when driving but the charm of the CVT is the absolute smoothness and that it's always in the right gear whenever and wherever you're driving.

A last point, Williams F1 experimented with CVT many years ago and made it serviceable for F1, the result was F1 banning it before it could race. Hardly something that would happen to an inferior transmission.