artdjones

A lot of people don't realise how big the sumps are on Mercedes diesels. So it's a shock to see the oil coming out at £154+Vat. I had a row with a customer once about this after the service of a 2.0DTi Zafira. They have an 8.5 litre sump and we were charging €6 per litre for 10/40 semi synthetic so the bill included €51 for oil. When he came in to pay he started moaning that he could buy a gallon of oil for €25 and why were we charging so much? As he had taken 5 months to come in and pay I reacted rather irritably.

Maybe a lot of UK expats have been taking a trip down the coast to get done?

Same here, after the engine change I did recently the backs of my hands looked like they belonged in a leper colony

And my insurance disc and cert for a policy that started on the 28th hasn't arrived at the broker yet. Apparently all the data processing for Aviva is done in India and is affected by the pandemic. Hope any Gardaí I meet will be understanding as it's a €60 on the spot fine if your disc isn't on display.

If you can stomach the wires at all get a Kranzle. Petrol ones that sit around always take too long to start when you do need them.

There is an online system but it's only for authorised motor traders.

The noise is definitely in the rack and not a column bush/uj?

It's a shame about the rust situation on these, because they seem pretty good mechanically. The styling is slightly gawky, the front treatment was ok but the wheels never seem to fit the arches properly.

On the road now. I can't help noticing how much better to drive it is than my Doblo, which it's replacing. It feels faster, even though the Fiat has 10 hp more, and is better both in ride and handling. And doesn't have the Doblo's soft accelerator response. The Doblo's natural speed feels like 45mph whereas this floats along at 60.

Usually 6000 although some were 5000. The more highly tuned stuff like the Dolomite Sprint was 3000. When the B2 1.6D Passat came out in Ireland in 1981 the usual 5k oil change interval was cut to 2.5k because of the high levels of sulphur in Irish refined Diesel.

My idea of an old barge would be an E28 528i. I still think of the E60 as very modern. Time passed quickly.

Yes 13000 miles a year was a lot then.

The best way to clean roofs is soft washing, which is usually done from the floor using a very long lance using chemicals but a low pressure. I hate power washing as often all it does is redistribute the dirt in a very thin layer over the surrounding area, and has a huge potential for damaging things.

Wheel centres for the Berlingo arrived from @ruffgeezer. Thanks, Tim.

The sky was just too blue, so I bunked off work this afternoon.