Jazoli

Shock horror in new cars depreciate scandal!
You could but you wouldn't have a new car with a manufacturers warranty, it's a good job cars depreciate as it allows others to buy them when they are older.

Shock horror in new cars depreciate scandal!
You could but you wouldn't have a new car with a manufacturers warranty, it's a good job cars depreciate as it allows others to buy them when they are older.

Shock horror in new cars depreciate scandal!
You could but you wouldn't have a new car with a manufacturers warranty, it's a good job cars depreciate as it allows others to buy them when they are older.

Our mondeo has been well behaved however of late a raspy sound and a smell in the cabin convinced me the exhaust had a leak. This turned out not to be the case. The 2.0 pug engine has two covers - the rearmost covers the injectors. Some dampness on the outside persuaded me to investigate further.

 
 
Oh dear. Only when I pulled the injector did I appreciate how grim it was. I ordered a puller from ebay rather than faff with pliers and pry bars.

Quite a substantial slide hammer - a few blows saw the injector loose. Access - the injectors and fuel rail are effectively in a box - is limited.

Grim. I could not belive the amount of shite that had built up. Very mercedes benz like. And the smell is gopping. Somebody said it was like cooked meat - sorry but if your meat smells like this I hope you have more than one bog.
I made the mistake of spraying carb cleaner on it. All this did was make it soft and even more of a pain to remove. A selection of flat screwdrivers and picks - aided by compressed air and henry the hoover - got rid of the shite and I was happy when I could see dull silver.

The injector was equally shocking and looked like a turd.

A combination of carb cleaner and wire brush in a drill got rid of the baked on crud.
The washer was utterly mullered - eroded on one side.

 
Indeed there was so much crud paranoia set in - I had a vacuum and compressed air and I found myself cranking the engine every so often just to clear the injector orifice.
Paranoia extended to the hole for the injector clamp screw. I had started to put it back but it was harder going than I would have liked so I stopped and wound it out.
I chased the hole out with an M8 x 1.25 tap.

Lack of access meant a pair of thin nosed pliers were the only thing I had that would fit. The tar that I had removed with carb cleaner had solidified inside the hole. More carb cleaner rags and compressed air got rid of the last. Eventually I put everything back after cutting a new seat.

I had to spend £80 on a new set of leak off pipes. Top tip - DO NOT pull back the green lug you can see - on old pipes it will snap - internet vids will show you how NOT to do it. Just get a small flat screwdriver and lever the nearest part of the green clip from the injector body.
Just as I tried to start the car it cranked once - and stopped. I shat myself - I was worried I had hydro locked the engine with carb cleaner even though I had been careful. It turns out the battery was dead.
A jump from a good battery and the car started almost immediately - my chef's kiss was short lived when the car died and wife unit pointed out diesel was pissing everywhere.
I had been caught out. The metal pipe from fuel rail to injector can be fitted the WRONG way around - they are the same pitch of thread but the fittings have a different taper. Fortunately I soon spotted my balls up and swapped it around.
I have also discovered that diesel is brilliant for making underbonnet plastic shine - every cloud etc.
Car started ok off a slave battery and I took it for a run.
The genuine ford leak off pipes were  not cheap however 4x genuine washers were only £12 - less than ebay prices.
I doff my cap to those of you that do this for a living - it took me 2-3 hours just to shift the tar. It's not a nice job.
Let's see how long it lasts.

Bugger. Had a slight loss of coolant in the Astro for months now, which recently turned into a big loss of coolant.Had to take all the dash apart to see what was happening, and access is..... a little restricted. Water was pouring down the back of the cylinder heads and I concluded the inlet manifold gaskets had finally given up gasketing, so I pulled off the plenum and the inlet manifold. Its a squeeze, but you are working inside, diesel heater keeping the chill off and some good tunes on the radio..The old gaskets were rock hard and took some serious work to get the faces cleaned up. Got a pair of proper Fel-Pro gaskets and built it back up. I filled up the radiator, then left it for another day as half eleven at night working on an old American van in the street late at night was causing some curtain twitching..
I went out this evening to get a bit more done, and there was water pouring down the back of the cylinder heads...  Turns out it was a heater hose that had gone all squdgy and had some tiny cracks, and the leak was running down, straight into the Vee but was pretty impossible to see from inside or from under the bonnet..... Harumph.

Blurred background is absolutely fine, I'd rather that than a living room. 

Blurred background is absolutely fine, I'd rather that than a living room. 

Blurred background is absolutely fine, I'd rather that than a living room. 

Blurred background is absolutely fine, I'd rather that than a living room. 

Some scamming bams in Glasgow have ripped off a friend of my daughter's. 
They phoned him up telling him the mileage etc of his car and how it needed a service. This would be £145 including collecting and dropping off. 
He's at uni on a visa and a bit naive, so thought this was normal practice in this country.
They wouldn't return his car until they paid this bill.

The invoice letter head is for a garage in Enfield London, who are no doubt oblivious to their name being used.
Dirty bastards

I'm struggling to find the words to describe just how unimpressed I would be if someone I was interviewing referred to a notebook throughout an interview. 
Basic interview technique to remind yourself of your career highlights and lowlights beforehand.

New filter in, have driven 30 odd miles… steam has cleared and it drives/boosts fine, had it up to 70mph no drama.. hoping for the best!

Only time will tell I guess! I’ve just driven 10 miles very carefully as no airbox fitted but again it drove absolutely fine so I’ll get the new filter on tomorrow and try and cover some decent ground to see if anything happens.
 
Ah it doesn’t worry me that much. It’s still a cheap enough car that if I really had to go down the route of sticking another engine in, it’d just mean it’s no longer a cheap car if that makes sense. 
 
I had a lot of time sat in that water today to get my head round that if it was fucked, I’d struggle to get a replacement for what I’d get paid out by insurance, and this is a good enough car that meets my needs that I’d want to keep it so what will be will be 

Maybe time for WBAC, there's no way I'd want to keep it personally, have you seen how low the air intakes are on these? You have either been very lucky or not, I wouldn't have gone through that amount of water knowing how low the intake is on these myself though.

Maybe time for WBAC, there's no way I'd want to keep it personally, have you seen how low the air intakes are on these? You have either been very lucky or not, I wouldn't have gone through that amount of water knowing how low the intake is on these myself though.

Nice to see one of these, I had a couple of TRX850's in the day, make sure you follow the correct procedure for checking the oil level (check whilst warm with the bike upright after being knocked off for 10 seconds iirc)

Is she still there? she was getting a bit baggy last time I saw her.

That's just ignorant in my opinion, its pointless you being there, I ask that everyone has the cameras on in teams meetings and its not an unreasonable request, it shows the person is engaged and not wanking off.

I'm lost.
I have a MGB that I've owned for the best part of 50 years and wouldn't be even slightly concerned if the make was recorded as BL rather than MG, in fact some later ones had BL badges on the wings. It wouldn't affect my enjoyment of it, it's just a reference on a form.
I assume the 'bodge' you refer to is in response to a communication from you, where they've tried to help you.
 
 

Is she still there? she was getting a bit baggy last time I saw her.

Is she still there? she was getting a bit baggy last time I saw her.

I'm still lost as to what the problem really is here?  
Who gets to decide when government documents are issued?  Is it the government department responsible for the administration of vehicles in the United Kingdom, or is it one member of the public who happens to be the registered keeper of ONE of the 41 million vehicles currently registered?
Honestly dude.  I'm lost as to what the problem is here.  And I really don't think (unpopular opinion) anyone owes you either an apology or an explanation.  

Agreed, I work for a large government organisation and you would never be able to speak directly with pretty much anyone, about anything, and most complaints get filed under 'B' for bin
 
You are dreaming if you ever think you are able to 'go nuclear' with the CEO, its complete fantasy, I don't know if you are aware but in the real world most CEO's don't even manage their own mailbox.

Agreed, I work for a large government organisation and you would never be able to speak directly with pretty much anyone, about anything, and most complaints get filed under 'B' for bin
 
You are dreaming if you ever think you are able to 'go nuclear' with the CEO, its complete fantasy, I don't know if you are aware but in the real world most CEO's don't even manage their own mailbox.