wuvvum Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Oh no, what a PITA! I did have a moment of panic when I saw the bonnet up pic thinking "Not the cambelt!" This sounds like a rather easier (and cheaper) repair. On a vaguely related note - has anyone on here had any good experiences with the RAC? Everyone I've spoken to - on here and elsewhere - has said they are an unmitigated clusterfuck, which pretty much matches my experience... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tadhg Tiogar Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 ....On a vaguely related note - has anyone on here had any good experiences with the RAC? Everyone I've spoken to - on here and elsewhere - has said they are an unmitigated clusterfuck, which pretty much matches my experience... Only experiences I've had with the AA, sorry. And those have fortunately been very rare. Generally one hour to 90 mins' waiting time to do an on-the-spot repair, except for the recent one when I had to trailer the CX home (three hours for a suitable transporter to become available) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Bucketeer has now collected me from Northampton and the car is with the Alfa garage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Auto Aid. They dispatch your recovery job to the nearest contractor - which apparently has pretty good coverage throughout the UK so usually quicker than the RAC spending an hour to decide they don't have capacity and then subcontracting to someone else. About £40 a year too rather than the hundred and something the RAC wanted for the renewal (in 2007ish!). Hopefully this is a pretty quick and painless fix. Sure I'll end up with one of these cars one day... dome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barefoot Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Plus eleventy on auto aid, although I've just paid £48 at renewal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dollywobbler Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 I've also gone AutoAid. Last time I used the RAC, I was in someone else's Jaguar, at it was precisely five hours between breaking down and finally getting recovered - one chap did come out after a mere hour, spent ages faffing about failing to fix it before buggering off. Mind you, the AA destroyed by Rover, but at least they gave me some money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Oh no, what a PITA! I did have a moment of panic when I saw the bonnet up pic thinking "Not the cambelt!" This sounds like a rather easier (and cheaper) repair. On a vaguely related note - has anyone on here had any good experiences with the RAC? Everyone I've spoken to - on here and elsewhere - has said they are an unmitigated clusterfuck, which pretty much matches my experience... I’ve had to resort to the rac twice - 2011 for the cursed C5 which stranded me in wickes carpark Slough. Nice guy turned up and took me into isleworth on his flatbed when the fuel pressure regulator died. He was very amused that the courtesy car was a 2cv. And then in 2013 when after some welding work on the Mercedes’ jacking points the alarm threw a hissy fit when I had the car at home. I did not have the key for the alarm! He was ok too and we worked out that despite the alarm going off all the time, every fourth turn of the key the car would start. On one of these attempts he unplugged all the wires to the cutoff switch and it continued to run and restarted. Annoyingly this means that the remote no longer worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 On a vaguely related note - has anyone on here had any good experiences with the RAC? Everyone I've spoken to - on here and elsewhere - has said they are an unmitigated clusterfuck, which pretty much matches my experience... 3 hours 45 mins to get to me. Almost worst was the stringing me along, 1st call recovery will be 60 - 90 mins, then after 72 mins CMG call and say they have only just got the job and it will be 60 - 90 mins, then RAC called to say 20 mins etc. If they had said it will take 3 3/4 hours to get to me I would have arranged a lift to lunch and to meet them back at the car at 4.33pm! They also played me an ad while on hold saying "RAC breakdown patrols fix four out of five vehicles at the roadside, within an average of 30 minutes - you can count on us for recovery or roadside assistance. Our patrols carry over 500 parts and tools, including a universal spare wheel, to get you moving again." I was blocking one side of a 60 mph road, marooned in the countryside with no drink, food or toilet (I was on my way to meet friends for lunch) Anyway subject closed I don't want to talk about the RAC any more. RobT and richardmorris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Glad you’re home ok now anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 RAC rant removed as per poster request. Glad you're home safe. You do have to wish companies would just keep you up to date with real estimates than stringing you along...that always irks me. Six-cylinder 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Black beauty has gone to the same garage as Hi Yo Silver so as the garage proprietor had come back after closing time to meet me he showed me the underside of Hi Yo Silver that requires welding for MOT, the rest of the underside is solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted November 14, 2018 Share Posted November 14, 2018 Hijacking a thread, but I completely forgot about the woman in the Lake District the other weekend whose battery had died next to our car ( not mine with handy jump leads but my parent’s modern DS.) oddly despite seeming local, she didn’t know exactly where she was, so I ( in pouring rain) was on the phone to the rac explaining exactly ( to the grid reference ) where she was. They seemed incapable of understanding that we were in a signed carpark off the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 14, 2018 Author Share Posted November 14, 2018 Hijacking a thread, but I completely forgot about the woman in the Lake District the other weekend whose battery had died next to our car ( not mine with handy jump leads but my parent’s modern DS.) oddly despite seeming local, she didn’t know exactly where she was, so I ( in pouring rain) was on the phone to the rac explaining exactly ( to the grid reference ) where she was. They seemed incapable of understanding that we were in a signed carpark off the road. The recovery firm CMG the RAC gave the job too, sent me an app so they could pin point me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dozeydustman Posted November 15, 2018 Share Posted November 15, 2018 RAC are a total waste of time. When my folks bought the Cougar in 2001, it came with a year's worth of RAC thrown in. As my folks decided they would do a tour of Europe they paid extra for international cover. The engine blew up in Italy on the outskirts of Rome, RAC were informed, as it was middle of summer most of Italy was on holiday so recovery took about 5 days. No courtesy car provided which the cover was supposed to include. When RAC eventually crated the car up for repatriation, mum and dad had already flown home, had no courtesy car waiting for them at Gatwick. The RAC put their car on the wrong transporter and it went to somewhere in Germany and not UK, but the remnants of the engine were sent to the local Ford dealers in Kent from where the car was initially purchased. 2 months later the car arrived at Swale Motors in Northfleet minus the drivetrain. That got lost somewhere else. Parents have always used CSMA/Britannia rescue and have never had any issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Disappointingly having fitted new tyres to the E30 on Monday for a BMW Club meeting that night, the heater fan choose to pack up. As it was a wet cool night full of jammed traffic I decided not to battle on with ram only and took a 156. Today I decided to tackle it, not so bad to get too as some cars as a plate unscrews from the engine side of the bulkhead to reveal it. Armed only with a can of WD40 I made it spin again and now it is freed off it seems fine. dome 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Our C15D has been more and more difficult to start in spite of being in regular use at the moment moving apple press equipment for Mrs6C orchard’s group. Sometimes needing 4 goes of the glowplugs and with colder weather due after the success of the BMW heater fan I thought I would change the glow plus myself. Not too bad to access on a non turbo 1769cc. Usual stuff two came out straight forwardly, one needed a good pull on the bar and the last one I went back too because it was a pig. I was just ready to give up and take it to a garage for fear of disabling the van, one last heave on the breaker bar and it popped and I hit myself in the face! It now starts well and I have looked up the record and the old glow plugs were fitted June 2015. The old glow plugs looked ok, but were not doing there job. Mrs6C, Exiled_Tat_Gatherer, wuvvum and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clayts450 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 There's nothing quite like a good old smack in your face at your own hand to greet success in cracking off something welded in, is there ? Good job jobbed, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 Is three years ok for glowplugs? I never changed the ones on my cx and I had it for six years. It always started instantly when the orange lamp went out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 17, 2018 Author Share Posted November 17, 2018 Is three years ok for glowplugs? I never changed the ones on my cx and I had it for six years. It always started instantly when the orange lamp went out. I would have liked a bit longer but I guess they were after market ones guaranteed for a year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuvvum Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I've found I'm only getting a couple of years out of the glowplugs on the Rover of Doom these days. Likewise, they look fine when I take them out but don't seem to be doing much in the way of heating. Also the Rover only has 3 plugs from the factory so it can't really afford to drop one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiC Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 That's pretty bad. I've never had to replace a glow plug on any diesel I've owned. Admittedly they're probably a bit newer, but that still at least over 10yrs on the original plugs. Thank goodness really, as I'd imagine they'd be fun* otherwise to remove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zelandeth Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I know a lot of people reported short plug lives from anything other than the Beru branded plugs on XUD engined Xantias (something to do with the other plugs not being as able to handle the post heating scheme used), not sure if that carried over into the later DW engine too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beko1987 Posted November 17, 2018 Share Posted November 17, 2018 I've never changed glow plugs before! Bottled out of doing it on the blue gooner to cure the blow and just scrapped it! Also have a knack of buying cars that have had it done recently! Silver gooner, 406, xantia and green zx were all fairly recently changed when I bought them and ran them into the ground! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 The End of Company Cars Now Oct 1996 a planned job change was going to leave me without a company car, but my white 1975 Mercedes 280CE was not ready so I had to buy a stop gap car. At work we had a 1988 Alfa 164 V6 manual, a house brick red 1984 Saab 900i 2 door saloon and I looked at a W123 Mercedes 250, 1983 Alfa Giulietta 1.8 out of the paper. The Alfa 164 was a bit scruffy, had no history and a broken speedo so while I enjoyed taking it home for a weekend I gave it a miss. The W123 had a busted heater matrix and the Giulietta seemed to have too many Alfa foibles for my new every day car. The Saab was a useful stop gap car in good condition that would resell easily so I took that. When I came home with the Saab Mrs6C was not impressed, “I understand you needed a car but why not one of the interesting ones!” I was told to go back and get the Giulietta as well! richardmorris, Brodders, ProgRocker and 8 others 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matty Posted November 18, 2018 Share Posted November 18, 2018 I Quite like my wife but she never suggests I buy cars. Jammy sod... richardmorris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 18, 2018 Author Share Posted November 18, 2018 Company cars may be over but car buying is not! Driving back from London in a very slow Luton van with my new boss the conversation turned to cars and how he had been offered a 1980 Ford Fiesta 1.1L running well and MOTed for very little money. My boss said he did not want it so I said can I have, he said yes and made a call to the seller, that relieved the boredom for ½ hour but now I owned a Fiesta! Opel Kadett C 1.2 Coupe, one of the most beautiful cars ever made, a friend donated this car but it needed a bit more that a patch for MOT and we passed it on. Opel Kadett C Caravan, they say busses come along in pairs so do Opel Kedetts, we also got given this Caravan Auto by a different friend unconnected, again too much work at the time and sold on. One wet Saturday night Mrs6C and I spotted a Lancia 2.0 HPE for sale and drove to see it in the rain.as soon as the deal was done and the seller took us around a couple of cashpoints so we could gather the money and could take it away. Great to drive, but all the wows of a Lancia. Fiat 500, I took a friend to collect his car from a local garage and the proprietor who I know said do you want to buy my 500 I muttered the usual non committal reply and he said I need you to buy it TODAY so I can buy the Bedford Caravanette I want, come in the office! Fitted with a Fiat 126 650cc engine and brakes it was good fun but unreliable. I stopped at a Zebra crossing to let a group of very attractive ladies across and they noticed me. Mrs6C said it was the car not me! 1984 VW Passat 2.0 estate came to me as these things do, again a very good car and I did not have it long before a friend wanted it from me who drove it for several years. Mrs6C then found the 1st production Bond Equipe GT4S and had to have that as well. Peugeot 504 Cabriolet It was under threat of being scrapped by Thames Trains as it had been dumped in one of their car parks. I called the manager responsible and he was sympathetic and did not want a lovely old Peugeot scrapped so he appointed me as there legal disposal agent and after due notices were served I collected the car. I now had legal title to the car but it was a project car and required a bit too much work for me so I passed it on. Burnside, Mrs6C, dome and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 19, 2018 Author Share Posted November 19, 2018 Black Beauty is home, both rear struts have been replaced, the 2nd as a precaution but it turns out it was a good call as the spring support had already started to break away. RayMK, Burnside, Saabnut and 7 others 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs6C Posted November 19, 2018 Share Posted November 19, 2018 Black Beauty is home. I think we need the full sequence and music now... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hasBJ1Gkjy8 HMC and Six-cylinder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six-cylinder Posted November 20, 2018 Author Share Posted November 20, 2018 My MG BGT is in the M&S ad, what are the other cars in the street? at 52 secs RobT, SiC, chaseracer and 11 others 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richardmorris Posted November 21, 2018 Share Posted November 21, 2018 Volvo? marina? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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