Cord Fourteener

Best advisory on an MOT ever

Oops, it's been a while since I posted! Blame life/ music practice/ day job/kids/ wife/scatter brain.

Not much to report, V70 is still rumbling along and approaching 360k miles.

740 is still trundling along, only thing 'wrong' is that my 4y/o lovingly 'fixed' a side light glass with a toy hammer. I'm going to have to fix it again, not pretend this time. 

Wifeshite Peugeot 307 petrol thing is still going. She moans about it and can now afford to buy herself a nice car (after a good promotion at work) but won't so it's staying for now and doing us well.

That's all

Is it me or have I potentially found hen's teeth shit?

Is it, just maybe, possibly a rhd heater control valve?

£100 posted though. 

That's the high mileage v70 mot, just needed a top mount and handbrake seeing to plus other piffle. 

There's a warning light, need to find out what it's trying to tell me, I suspect an abs sensor.

740 has been daily faithful car in the mean time, all is good!

Milestone! '03 V70 D5

Heck, I keep falling off the internet!

My Facebook notifications are an obscene and uncountable number now...

Anyway, I have washed both my Volvos, had a sqeek fixed in the alternator of the 740 and a rattle fixed (that was a broken pully) on the V70.

Looks like I'll have to continue to look at noises on the alternator or alternator belt of the V70, and get a cam belt. But that will get done, car is fantastic and going strong. 

I am about 120 miles from a milage milestone with the V70, if I can get a photo I will! I hope I can. 

Right, been having phone mischief again, kot to mention general business.

However, I've this to report now I'm back, 

One, V70 has a rattle in the aux belt, I think. I was going to rest it and use the 740 for daily purposes until I sort out until Mrs' Peugeot 307 went all French and both headlights failed at the same time at 6pm after work, leaving her to drive home on side lights or full beam. Not fun. 

So, she has the V70, rattles and all, I have the 740.

Here's me at a wedding fair I was piping at, with a rather tasty wedding Rolls. Taken by the very friendly Rolls owner.

He was very complimentary of my comparatively tatty 740.

Note: apparently we are upside-down and there's nothing I can do about it. 

On 12/24/2022 at 1:43 PM, worldofceri said:

IN: 1
OUT: NIL
Non Movers: 5

December 2021 - Working: 4; Broken: 1   
December 2022 - Working: 4: Broken: 2

IN: 2011 Ford Ranger Thunder   
STATUS: Working

The back end of ‘21 and the first half of this year were a good period for Walsgrave Transport and I began to have ideas about putting a second truck and trailer on the road. When @ruffgeezer put this Ranger up for sale my interest was piqued when I noticed it already had a tachograph fitted, which would save me a good few quid over getting one fitted.  Over the following few weeks, and egged on by @Inspector Morose, I talked myself into it. At about the same time I won a ‘cherished’ plate in a roffle from @Cord Fourteener, so that went on it. All it needed was the tacho calibrating and it was ready to go. Unfortunately since the summer, costs have been higher and business less brisk, so my plans to have a second trailer roadworthy have faltered. Still, the Ranger is proving a useful backup truck for when the Isuzu is in for service or whatever, as evidenced by this pic Mr Morose took the other week whilst out in the snow.

NON MOVER: 2017 Isuzu D-Max      
STATUS: Working

The Isuzu continues to be a superb towing machine. Now on 170,000 miles, averaging around 2,000 miles a week.

NON MOVER: 2000 Vauxhall Astra van     
STATUS: Broken

With the Ranger providing runaround duties, I have less use for the old Astra. When the wiper motor packed up just before the mot expired, I parked it up and cancelled the insurance, as I just didn’t have time to do anything with it. Currently still sat around whilst I figure out what to do with it.

NON MOVER:  2005 Honda Accord    
STATUS: Working

Mrs WoC’s Honda is still here as it just keeps going. Needs a wheel bearing and a couple of tyres. And a rear bumper if I’m being picky, after someone drove into it in a supermarket car park.

NON MOVER: 1980 VW Transporter Devon camper
STATUS: Working 

Our camper continued to be reliable and fun through 2022, though as ever, we didn’t really use it as much as we’d like. Currently for sale as we’re likely to use it even less next year. Terrible time to be selling a camper though and we’ve had very little interest.

NON MOVER: 1972 VW 1200
STATUS: Broken

Still in the garage surrounded by junk. Third year running for this photo.

That was the ex- @mat_the_catcherished plate. Good to see it serving a noble cause.

They are ok, can't say they are over noisy or wear too quickly. I'm sure they proper ratings!

They aren't the very best for fuel consumption but I can't complain about that, can't either myself. 

They have decent grip and handling all year so I like them. And considering the next better brands are 10 or £20 more each then I'm sold thanks very much!

V70 has four brand new Vredstein all- season tyres (after much research looking at ice tunnel testing etc etc I'm now convinced that decent all-season are the best overall for UK conditions).

It was costly enough, Bridgestone, Continental and Michelin were a bit too expensive for comfort and I've had Vredstein before and liked them very much. 

3 year olds wants a story...

Ok, very good. 

Wait, I know these!

Vauxhall Astra, orange Astra, I had a Belmontin that shape and that colour, BMW, BMW, Saab. And look those prices, pretty much Shite prices.

Is that an orange Sierra?

Looks at the editorial, 

1992.

Of course. 

I feel stretched and lacking in time and and money to give three cars the care they need so I've been thinking of downsizing .

Then Wife Shite runs out of MOT without telling us and 740 steps in again. 

I'm so confused about the right thing to do now. Maybe be more organised... I think I'll need drugs for that though. 

14 hours ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

It's rather amusing, too. Here's my contribution.

That might blow your 12v outlet...

Oh look, just passed a minor milestone!

Right, I failed at adulting.

I've still not got all my energy back from covid, kids are harvesting bugs of all sorts. 

I'm working part time on average but it feels like 80 hrs a week.

I left the kids to entertain themselves yesterday while I had to sleep which started a chain of events leading to leaving the ignition on in the V70, now the French is jump starting the V70.

A month or two ago I broke my phone rather spectacularly and I was unable remember my password to AS or which email I used to sign in so I had to message the beacon of functionality that is @brownnova in the end to get back in!

Thanks to @ruffgeezerfor reminding me that I'm missing 😁

I'm not moaning by this post, it's more of an excuse. Over-worked, looking after kids while Wifey settles into new job and works far too many hours etc etc

So, after waking up first thing in the morning (youngest likes to climb in our bed at random-o'clock in the morning and cough at us and wrestle us) I realised that during my parenting fail yesterday I had left a thing on charge in the v70 with the ignition on...

Oops. Anyway the photos of jump starting the V70 at stupid o'clock on a Sunday morning before a crazy full day of work (yes i'm working basically all day on remembrance Sunday) are very AS I think so I've finally managed to get back in to post the picture of my adulting fail! Yippee.

Family camping trip achieved, home now. 

Ideal car, especially when Mrs buys the most ridiculous family tent off Facecrack.

Car behaved impeccably. Shame about the leaky tent though. 

I've been at a very small family festival in mid Wales, and the automotive shite had a much stronger representation than out in the wild. 

Some highlights:

6 hours ago, reb said:

My 850 does this too, I think it's a high mileage thing because I don't recall dad's estate on a third of the mileage doing it. The mechanism must just get a bit worn.

Are you saying 337k miles is high mileage or summat?

It turns out that if you don't fasten the seatbelts when folding the rear seats in a V70 then the seatbelts reverse lock. 

Fix: unbolt the seatbelt. Bit of a faff but not a serious wpsi.  

Then remember this always. 

16 hours ago, Fumbler said:

But sir, that's the other side!

That's official. Correctly done. 

I learned something about the folding seats. 

Always have the seatbelts done up when folding. The way they enable the cavernous cargo load is by putting the seatbelt reel in the seat tops so sometimes they lock too short to return the seat backs to upright.

Fix: unbolt the bottom of the seatbelt.

On 8/20/2022 at 5:36 PM, Shortos said:

Are your full beams staying on? Rather than just doing a little flash? 

I find i have to really concentrate on giving the lightest touch and they will flash with lights on but I blinded a few folk while learning this!

The 740 has a more normal set up. 

I find with all my Swedish designed cars i leave the lights on all the time and when the ignition is off they all go out. 

Volvo V70 2002 (phase 2)

To me at least it doesn't look 20 years old and it doesn't feel 337k miles

On 8/19/2022 at 4:03 PM, wuvvum said:

They do have a shit turning circle.  That's the only thing I really don't like about them.  It's odd as the previous gen V70 (850 shape) was nearly as good as the RWD cars.

Yeah that's odd.