Shirley Knott

The posh Xantia's outside temperature gauge doubles as an engine temperature gauge with the ignition on and the engine off, pretty cool.
I don't think I've ever had a car without a temperature gauge and it's something I value with 15 year old water pump impellers detaching, borderline radiators and thermostats.

VW Polo 6R doesn't have a temp gauge either

My youngest, who has been driving the family bike Fiat 500 for about a year now, was complaining the heater wasn't very good. First thought is always, oh shit has it got any water in it. So I asked her what was showing on the temperature guage...
" The what?" Was her reply and even when one of her sisters explained where it was ( on a500 it's sort of around the speedo and rev counter , not that clear to be fair) she had no idea what it was or what it's for.
 
Turned out there was no problem , she'd just expected full heat on a 1 mile journey from an overnight -3 start.

My 1987 Visa doesn't have one either.

I have had a similar problem with a Citroen c3, last weekend, changed cambelt and water pump so I had to change the coolant. Put some fresh in and after running it for three or four minutes got the temp too high alarm, guessing I airlocked it.
 
So second attempt I followed the 'official' method of bleeding it beforehand, but this time I plugged in my Bluetooth obd reader and installed torque lite on my phone.
 
After a lot of arsing about I got them to communicate and monitored the temp on my phone till the fan cut in. Think the obd dongle is only about three quid.

Loads of Vauxhalls don’t have one. Just a light that comes on and tells you it’s overheated. A lot of people now though wouldn’t keep an eye on the gauge like they used to when cars were more prone to overheating.

I have a OBD II plug in gauge that shows lots of real time data including actual temp - very very useful.
 

Sadly if I end up with a black box insurance policy in a few weeks for the lad on my car I'll have to unplug it.

I share your concerns, my C4GP doesn't have a temp gauge and for quite a while I found it quite unnerving as I always keep an eye on the temp gauge as an indicator that all is well.
 
Last year I invested in a cheapo ELM327 bluetooth code reader and for a while I drove with temperature displayed through that and found that running temp did actually vary (once up to temp) between about 70&83 but never went any higher.
 
Sent from my Moto G (5) using Tapatalk

It’s not necessarily a modern car thing...
 

 
My 73 Mercury has no temp gauge, just the little ‘Temp’ light. It comes on red if it’s getting too hot. I’m not sure it’s a good idea tbh. I’ve always thought if the warning light comes on it’s possibly too late to avoid any damage. At least with an old fashioned gauge you can spot the needle rising through the wrong half of the gauge before things get unpleasant.
 
My 66 plate work van (Sprinter) hasnt got one either. There’s a warning message if it gets hot, but you can scroll through the options on the binnacle and find a digital temperature gauge.

These engines were state of the art diesel when introduced in the mid-80s, not quite as tough as it's predecessor OM617 but unlike them near silent at idle and with a refinement better than many a petrol six. I even preferred it to the rather antique-feeling equivalent Benz petrol motor; the 3.2 24v was an improvement. Nothing came close in the late 70s/early 80s - diesels were a bit slow and grim before the PSA XUD. The straight six VW van engine (78-95) which Volvo used made about the same power once a turbo was added and wasn't as extensively engineered, or reliable.
 
These 'whispering diesels' are short stroke and revvy, tuned for the autobahn and so can feel a bit of a slug on clogged English roads, especially combined with a heavy and long travel right pedal. Add a tired autobox and performance can be abysmal. They come on cam around 3500rpm and pull hard for another 2000. Under 90 mine used to travel 34 miles on a gallon of veg/diesel, keep around 65-70 and this would go up to 41-42.
 
A mate once had a coupe with the OM603 fitted, he bragged about 45-50mpg on motorway runs which I didn't believe until he leant it to me for a week - it was a manual and the fuel needle seemed to barely move, it was as economical at up to 90 as at lower speeds, something I'd found before with older German cars. My own manual box 250TD (S124) would return a regular 42 on veg (up to 50 on a steady run), yet would hum along at 190kph given a long enough straight.
 
Emission regs and cost did for them, if nothing else I'll miss the steady flame out of the tailpipe for a mile or two when run at over 100 after weeks of restricted driving (on veg) - unburnt fuel presumably gathered in the silencers.

I've been off work with flu today, Im not ashamed to say I've worked my way through the whole thread and wowzers, what a read!
 
The bad news is I now want a boat *Patiently waits for roffle to commence*

I've been off work with flu today, Im not ashamed to say I've worked my way through the whole thread and wowzers, what a read!
 
The bad news is I now want a boat *Patiently waits for roffle to commence*

I feel your pain RE stuff lodged down the plug recesses... I used to loose the rubber insert from my spark plug socket all the bloody time when I had Mazdas. The Answer I've found is create a couple of 8"  straight lengths of wire coat hanger with a tiny hook bent into each end, torch in mouth it's pretty easy to lean over/place one either side of the plug and pry stuff off and out.
 
In the end I glued the rubber inserts into all of my spark plug sockets but recently had to use the coat hanger pick set after changing the coil packs on my brothers CorsaD after finding that the old ones either left the bottom inch stuck on the plugs or disintegrated completely (TADTS), again the coat hanger pick set worked well.
 
For the oil spill, my drive is a similar brick paved affair and I find putting down cheap washing up liquid then tipping bio washing powder on top before scrubbing it in with a stiff hand-brush so it becomes a paste lifts it out even when it's come from diesel cars with the blackest oil imaginable, I'll often leave it there for a week before hosing it off!

It was indeed a success and another test run up the lane confirmed it.

You know when you procrastinate for so long that things mount up into a mahoosive overwhelming wall of shit, and whatever the original issue was is now 1% of the drama you now face?
 
FML.
 
I will explain later once I’ve recovered from minus 5 and 3 hours of buggering about.
 
Meantime... have a little Sierra teASe.
 

I was indifferent to the royals until the paradise papers came out and it was revealed that their big show of paying tax was just that, a show.
Despite being tax exempt, they were hiding money off shore to reduce the amount they were paying whilst trying to convince the country they were decent people.
Not to mention the £369million they’ve asked for to redecorate Buckingham palace whilst charging people £24 to walk around the place.
 
And being chauffeured around, smiling, waving, cutting the odd ribbon and eating gourmet food off priceless crockery whilst being treated like royalty doesn’t qualify as work.

I feel your pain RE stuff lodged down the plug recesses... I used to loose the rubber insert from my spark plug socket all the bloody time when I had Mazdas. The Answer I've found is create a couple of 8"  straight lengths of wire coat hanger with a tiny hook bent into each end, torch in mouth it's pretty easy to lean over/place one either side of the plug and pry stuff off and out.
 
In the end I glued the rubber inserts into all of my spark plug sockets but recently had to use the coat hanger pick set after changing the coil packs on my brothers CorsaD after finding that the old ones either left the bottom inch stuck on the plugs or disintegrated completely (TADTS), again the coat hanger pick set worked well.
 
For the oil spill, my drive is a similar brick paved affair and I find putting down cheap washing up liquid then tipping bio washing powder on top before scrubbing it in with a stiff hand-brush so it becomes a paste lifts it out even when it's come from diesel cars with the blackest oil imaginable, I'll often leave it there for a week before hosing it off!

The morning after ... well, it looks worse in the metal, it is a bit rough around the edges, but I'm hoping the important stuff is good as it's relatively low mileage at 56k.
Despite the seller saying he was going to remove the plate he decided to leave it … That's probably worth half the purchase price, or maybe not.
The previous owner was a city dentist who bought this at 3 years old and 27k in 1997 to use at his country house, which he didn't visit often. He clocked up just under 30k in 21+ years ownership
 

 
There are many dents and scuffs, this is one of them:
 

 
The drivers seat is pretty comfy, it's just a shame I can't move it … electric controls inop
 

 
 
Interior - pretty filthy
Rear seat might get replaced/removed or something. it's leather so I'll give it a clean and see how it looks after that. I'll probably just gaffer tape the hole.
 

 
 
Mechanical/important stuff:
 
Check engine light permanently on - I'll google some forums for this. It's 1994, so pre-obdII, I doubt a std code reader will read anything useful.
There is a chance I might just tape it over or remove the bulb.
 
HT leads on order to hopefully rectify misfire/bucking.
Air filter - clean
Oil - clean, on the low mark, will check grade and top up
Gearbox oil - clean, on the low mark. I'll check whether I'm supposed to check level hot or cold before topping up.
Fuel filter - I didn't see, I'll check manual for location
OSR position lamp inop - prob bulb, I'll check the type as I've only got 501s at home. All other lights appear to work.
There isn't a huge amount of  toys or buttons. I tried cruise control yesterday (not working) and I'd be amazed is the a/c was working.
 
Not working,
Electric seats
Central locking doesn't work at all. I also have a remote fob, which I'm tempted to ignore.
Interior courtesy lights - they work when you manually turn them on, but not when you open the door.
Rear view mirror not attached - sticky pads on order.
 

 
I'll read the owners manual for the oil grade, ATF checking procedure and bulb types.
It might also give some hints for things like the courtesy light.
 
Edit: 
ATF check is when warm, which it says is after 15+ miles, so I'll check that another day and leave for now.
Engine oil is unsurprisingly 10w40 - I've got spare, so will top up
Bulbs required are P21/5w … will get from ecp tomorrow

Sounds good to me, agriculture!

Well, it's worth a try.My Chinese style vacuum sucker just arrived.£25 on eBay.Will let you know of any disasters.

It sounds like a healthy VE TDI, good work!

Cheers Fellas, I'm never really sure what to post / how much detail to go into. Photos of a stove flue aren't exactly the most exciting thing to look at! But I find it quite reassuring when I'm feeling down/underachieving to be able to look back through the thread and see that progress has been made somewhere even if its not something major!
 
 

Glad its provided some entertainment! Although surely if theres one lesson to be learnt from this thread its that buying a large boat is a bad idea unless you have 10+ years to dedicate all your spare time and money to!
 
Cheers
Dave

I've been off work with flu today, Im not ashamed to say I've worked my way through the whole thread and wowzers, what a read!
 
The bad news is I now want a boat *Patiently waits for roffle to commence*

Update time! I'm afraid this is going to be a bit disjointed as thats sort of how things have been!
 
Galley/interior progress - Cooker is now fitted and the galley units have shelves and doors, final carcass which will take a microwave at the top and some sort of cupboard/tat space underneath is made but still needs final adjustments to fit the gap then make shelves for it.
 
Heads compartment door is now finished and fitted although i don't have a photo showing it completed.
 
First of all some photos showing part of the gas installation for the cooker, I had bought a period hob unit to install but eventually decided to use common sense and get a new modern unit with flame failure protection and actual spares availability! Its made in Bolton by leisure products ltd who have been making gas cookers for years (they used to make the neptune range for plastimo)
 
The plan is to make a fibreglass gas locker which will fit in the corner of the wheelhouse and act as a seat, from there the gas pipe runs through the aft bulkhead of the wheelhouse and into the engine room.
Then along the deckhead and down the cabin side before going through the bulkhead into the forward cabin.
 
Folded steel brackets:
 

 
 
Hydraulic pipe mounts:
 

 
 
Copper pipe is the gas feed to the cooker:
 

 
 
I'm planning to put a watertight door through the bulkhead where the cables cross on the left so the plan will be to run them up the new cable tray and across the deckhead above the door instead:
 

 
 
 
Gas valve mounted through some stainless plate:

 
 
 
With an aperture routed out in the bulkhead besides the fridge:
 

 
 
 
From there the pipe runs underneath the worktops:
 

 
 
 
To the cooker itself:
 

 
 
 
 
 
Heads compartment door - This was a slightly butchered teak door off the toilet on a boat that was broken up about ten years ago. I had kept it to use the wood for other things but realised with a bit of messing about i could trim it down to suit my toilet.
 
I ended up disassembling it and replacing one of the sides and the top and bottom as well as adding a machined bead to the sides of the centre panel so it matches my aft cabin doors.
 
 
Dissasembled:
 

 
 
 
Trimmed, replacement side, bottom and top as well as bead routed onto centre panel:
 

 
 
 
Iroko machined for the doorframe:
 

 
 
 
Using my patented table-less router table:
 

 
 
 
Iroke frame glued up to teak facings:
 

 
 
 
The top of the frame fits around a couple of steel frames:
 

 
 
*Missing photo of end result!*
 
 
 
Galley/microwave unit - built to my usual high quality plans, in fact by the time I came to make it I had several sets of plans which contradicted each other a bit:
 

 
 
And dry assembled:
 

 
 
Glued up:
 

 
 
At the same time I machined up supports for the shelves under the cooker:
 

 
 
 
Thanks for reading.
Dave

Two more I took from across the river today: