Monthly Archives: May 2026

Wigan warriors

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A trip up the road to Wigan today, venturing into LM territory with a visit to see Debbie & Darren in an attempt to figure out what is going on with my temperamental passenger window. With the LM500 already gleaming in the sun outside the Morrisons’ house I pulled the Mantis straight into their garage & it was up on the ramp in a matter of minutes.

Where the magic happens…

After some social pleasantries the door card was removed (not something I was keen on doing for the first time by myself but a well practised move for D & D) the prodding & poking commenced.

Passenger door with door card removed. The micro-switches are behind the circular holes.

After considerable pondering, some WD40, a mirror & a hammer(!) Darren’s fault finding prowess paid off with a diagnosis of a suspect micro-switch for the ‘up’ signal. A brief chat with Guru Chivers confirmed the findings.

The micro-switch contact poking out from behind the internal aluminium door panel

A plan was hatched to purchase several switches (avoiding Chinese sourced units) with a return visit to Wigan to swap out the micro-switch. Amazing how something that costs less than a quid can be so disruptive! The passenger door card was reinstated and then a final check the window was behaving itself still. Some TLC on the driver’s door card & replacement of some missing rivets on the sump guard Darren spotted, then it was time to head home. A good result & it hardly rained. Thanks to Darren & Debbie.

Window woes in the sun

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So April 2026 has seen an awful lot of sunshine – not great if you are a farmer but not so bad if you have a Marcos Mantis Spyder! Blazing sun was especially welcome because the passenger window refused to go up, which has meant religiously checking the weather forecast before heading out. I am at a complete loss as to why this issue has resurfaced. Anyway last weekend was a lovely if entirely random drive out to Holmes Chapel & back – definitely not as the crow flies! This weekend I set out to go to Hope Valley via Macclesfield & Buxton coming back via Snake Pass. However wild fires near the summit meant Snake Pass was shut so I headed back via Winnat’s Pass & Lower Macclesfield where fortuitously some roadworks meant a diversion to the wonderfully named Pott Shrigley. Driving a very winding road through rolling hills & dales was enormous fun. I consider myself extremely lucky to have the Peak district a mere half hour away. Sadly I was too busy enjoying myself behind the wheel & never stopped to take any pictures. I really really must get a dash cam though.

Today was a public holiday & time to embrace the challenge of the unidirectional passenger window. Having backed the car out of the garage to get some room to poke around a bit, I gave the window switch a cursory prod & could not believe my eyes when the window glass went up! Whilst I am not complaining about the opportunity to make the car a bit more proof against the traditional Manchester weather, the intermittent nature of the fault is doing my noodle. I could do without the whole ‘Will it? Won’t it?’ thing so I have reached out to Guru Chivers for some Marcos Wisdom & may well be hot footing (wheeling?) it to Wigan to enlist some emotional support from the Morrisons.

Watch this space!