Faults:
Minor welding to rear chassis rails at 95000.
Sealed open front chassis rail to wheel arch panel joints under wheel arch to prevent water ingress and rust (was rusting on o/s; this seems to have arrested it - no visible change in 6 years).
Head gasket at 130000; faces were not corroded or damaged. This was preceeded by months of slow water loss. Metal rings in gasket around bores were circumferentially cracked, no other damage - fatigue?
Front discs replaced when car acquired and twice since.
Exhaust at 95000 and 167000.
Alternator at 135000 and 165000.
Split heater and bypass hoses at front of engine connection (next to alternator) at 140000 and 150000.
Coolant warning float became neutrally buoyant 140,000! Would float when cold, but sink when hot - very disconcerting!
Front anti-roll bar links replaced at 15000.
Rust in rear wheel arches where doors shut. First noticed at 150000.
Wiper motor crank came loose at 100000. Repaired by cleaning metal debris from shaft serrations, plus super glue for good measure, and new locknut. No recurrence!
Wiper frame later came adrift at driver's end (while on holiday). Nylon nut insert had split, releasing screw. Temporary repair with soft iron wire held for long enough to get home. New nylon insert (both replaced) was modified design.
Wet under front carpets found at due to leaking connection to heater at 130000. Seal ring had been snagged during original (probably factory) fitting. May have leaked since new. New seal rings fitted. (Accessible without any dismantling of dash.)
Rear dampers (pump-up type) replaced at 160000, expensive (leaking).
All breather hoses at tank (all 2m) replaced at 160000. Tank has to be dropped, but easy job.
Tank found rusted through bottom in one place, where in contact with support strap. Petrol weeped from bottom of rust pit after abrasive removal of rust. Repaired by sheathing the area in GRP. Strap re-fitted with soft sealer (Dum-Dum) between it and tank to fill any gap and exclude water.
General Comments:
Very comfortable motorway mile-eater.
Overall average (full records kept) 26mpg, but can do up to 40mpg on long trips. (Very high gearing- 30mph/1000rpm - once convertor locks at 52mph).
Plenty of room inside - cavernous boot. Seats 4-adult family with ease (and all their luggage).
All the electrics continue to work, except the heater blower now only has two speeds. Switch was replaced, so must be resistor pack.
Electric sunroof sticks if fully slid open - then needs manual assistance for a mm or two.
Has never failed an MOT.
Brake disc replacements were due to vibration. Discs appear to wear very fast and develop uneven thickness. Suspected that stiff caliper slides could be the problem, but latest discs exhibiting mild vibration when braking at around 60mph despite attention to this, after 20,000. Luckily discs are quite cheap (from motor factors). Previous discs caused vibration at around 40mph.
Temperature is normally 90 (on gauge) but rises to 100 on long step climbs and when idling - could be normal, but wonder whether viscous fan actually works!
Pump-up rear dampers invaluable with heavy loads. Have had 4-up plus luggage plus four bikes on towbar mounted rack. Pump-up the dampers and its still level!
12th Feb 2022, 22:53
A very well written review, my father had an '88 Carlton 2.0 CD estate car back in the day, good memories. Generally a reliable car, but rust got the better of it (in the same spots you mention in the review) at around 11 years old; that was the only weak point on these cars.