Barry Cade

On 3/18/2023 at 7:44 PM, RoverFolkUs said:

Can't remember what models exactly but the only way on a certain generation of BMW is to jack the car up, undo the million 8mm screws to remove one of the million undertrays and then there's a pull cord on the transmission itself. ☹️ That's the only way of getting it out of park in the instance of an electrical malfunction... 

It's not a pull cord.. it's another screw.  Then the car won't lock...

9 hours ago, yes oui si said:

It always gets told as 'hot coffee' to minimise it as if she was taking the piss by suing. 

She had full-thickness third degree burns and needed skin grafts. 

Yeah, now they make coffee with cold water. Instead of the cup of steam you used to get.

16 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

You should not leave children or dogs in a car unattended.

An American sued McDonalds because their coffee was hot. 

Have you read a modern car handbook 😆

31 minutes ago, MiniMinorMk3 said:

If your battery goes dead and the battery is inaccessible because of the way the car is parked (small garage), it means the car is stuck without any lifting gear so you can lift the locked wheels to gain access.

In the olden days, before some one in America crashed their Audi because they put it in gear, you could move the auto stick at will. 

I have a Focus Auto, you can not move the gear lever from park unless it is running and you have your foot on the brake. However, you can move the lever from neutral to drive or reverse with the engine running without your foot on the brake, so what's the point in stopping it coming out of park?

If it's on a hill and there is a dog or a kid in the car? Many auto drivers never use the parking brake.. 

Just now, MiniMinorMk3 said:

Not being able to get an auto out of park without the engine running and your foot on the brake.  

Engine running I can understand, foot on the brake is a good idea I think!

VAG again..

A dedicated towing electrics kit, if someone hasn't specced the 150 quid extra towing pack when they bought the car means the wiring has to go to the body control module and fusebox. The body control module is on the LH side of the dash, with an inch of space at the plugs. You need 2 hands to release the plugs.... to get to the fusebox, you need to remove the sat nav unit, the entire glovebox, the entire fusebox and then split the plugs, remove the individual pins in the plugs, all whilst upside down and freezing. 

Still a hunner times better than a PSA  fusebox. If you  blow a fuse in one of these, scrap it..

VAG again.

You need to do any coding with all the doors closed. And the bonnet open. This makes me think the bonnet switch is part of all the Diesel gate nonsense... anyway. 

Download all the coding through an open window, modify coding, which with 1268 modules can take some time. I'm usually tidying away my tools by this time, when the helpful owner comes out to put his Werthers originals back in the glovebox...

NOÒOOOO.....

Those wavy foot boot opening things. Great idea in theory, if you have 10 bags if shopping and they've cut off the circulation to your fingers, wave your foot under the bumper and the tailgate opens up.  In reality you stand for 5 minutes on one leg doing the Macarena whilst nothing happens.

Except when you are fitting a towbar, when it works every time, just as you get up off the ground, the tailgate comes down to meet you... the lock unit right on the top of your head.

VW's . Why you need the rear foglight to cut off when you open the tailgate. There are about 15 white wires going up the D pillar to the tailgate.  You need to check every one with a testlight, with the foglight switched on. First time I didn't know the boot lock had to be in the closed position,  so some head scratching. Worked that one out and start checking all the white wires again. Nothing.  Then I realised that one of the white wires actuates the boot lock release when grounded. Start again....

Is coloured wire too expensive VW?

56 minutes ago, omegod said:

I recall looking at a broken 3 dr Cossie behind  Warrenders in Preston, sales guy wanted 3 k for it " It came in on a rope and it'll go out on a rope " 

Should of !!

 

I always remember doing a countdown if I was behind one, coming out of a 30 zone.. 5,4,3,2,1, turbo..

Cloud of black reek out the 4" drainpipe. 😆

1990s Cosseh owner.

2023 Ford Sierra Cosworth RS500 owner.

Me when the Cosseh was the thing to beat on the street.

Me now.

Something went badly wrong somewhere..  I thought cars were for fun, transport and... well, other things. Now I understand all those weirdos who never took their toy cars out of the box. 

Shut your eyes and ill bet it still smells like coming home from the pub in 1988.

600 large for a base model repmobile, with a Transit bottom end,  fancy cylinder head and a turbo, a spoiler,  some big alloys and a nerdy previous owner.. 

These are still worth south of 10 grand in my eyes. 

Blue collar hero my arse.

Give  me an SD1 Vitesse any day of the week.

33 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

I’d be more worried about the weather forecast. One good cross wind would see that on its side 🤣

That's what the windsock on the back door is for 😆

4 hours ago, bunglebus said:

What do we think, tacho fitted?

Could be legit. Should be under 3.5t if the Sprinter is empty and might not be hire or reward 😄

4 hours ago, Talbot said:

Seeing this more and more.  I am sure I have read that one of the considerations vehicle manufacturers have to take into account is the weight a vehicle can tow up a 1-in-6 hill (which is bloody steep actually).  WIth the direct-drive fixed ratio of motor-to-wheels, they just cannot tow 2+tonnes up such an incline.

This is also why vehicles have GTW weights rather than "towing" weights.  You can trade weight between the trailer and vehicle within certain limits, as the overall limit is based on how much weight can actually be dragged up an incline.  On the flat-and-level, a fiat panda could probably pull 10 tonnes (slowly).  Up an incline though?  not likely.

It's part of the reason that anything with a low-box often has such a high towing capacity.  Shove it in low-box 1st, and you have enough gear reduction to be able to pull said weight up a hill.  Electric drive just doesn't have this ability.

Just remember this Is a hybrid,  but has a 2.5 petrol engine. Other Rav models can tow 1600kg, so no problem with body strength etc. All to do with the hybrid and the vehicles weight.. any caravanners out there, look after what you have... this looks like the future.

Just had to abort a job to fit a towbar to a 2022 Rav 4 hybrid. Chap has just bought a swift 530, at 1400kg.. the Rav maximum towing capacity is 800kg..

WTF?

Funny, I spotted one today as well. Lying in a driveway in Freuchie with the nsr wheel at a strange angle.. looks serious..

I know of 4 or 5 cars locally lying in fields, after the police changed their policy on recovery.  At least 3 are "fast" Audi's.. the others are BMWs.  The local farmers are getting pretty fed up, and are making life really difficult for insurers and recovery people.  Recovery trucks rarely have enough cable on the winch, and farmers won't let you in the field.. police aren't interested as its not causing an obstruction.. stalemate.

2 hours ago, Schaefft said:

Not to derail the thread but Northstars are known to blow headgaskets due to cylinder head studs ripping out of the block. Seems like many blame the GM coolant for it (no clue how that would cause it). If you are happy to play the omghgf roulette these are otherwise great cars though. And no, with maybe a hundred sold in the UK you definitely won't find a rhd headlight (or anything else rhd-specific) easily. Everything else (aside from adjustable dampers) is absolutely no problem though.

The car wizard on you tube has just rebuilt a Northstar, seemingly there is a fix for everything now, but quite a big job.

😄

I remember Ron Dixons 2.8 capri, Max Farnham had a Volvo 480, also remember  a mk1 1100s Fiesta , a Frontera  and the obvious MK1 Cortina..  Bobby Grant had a Montego as well I think.. this might be fun!

On 1/31/2023 at 4:25 PM, wuvvum said:

It was always Wednesday morning for me - that's when the Diamond Freeads came out.  I'd invariably be at the local 24-hour BP garage by 6am to pick up my copy and get circling.

Yep, me too, with plenty 10p's for the phone. You outbid me quite often in the early days of Ebay... I'll never forget your Ebay handle 😄 

We must have similar tastes... or budgets...

12 hours ago, DavidB said:

I'm looking at spending £1000 - £1500 for a car I would not have paid £250 for a few years ago, I think folk have just gone a bit mad with pricing - but pretty much anything sub £700 on facebook marketplace is gone very quickly.

Yeah, then appears a few hours later at a 100% markup 

Everybody is a poundshop Mike Brewer these days.

Just watched a mk2 Cav SRi sell for £9300. 

FFS.

Would somebody please tell my boss old stuff is worth a lot more?

I just bought an LS2 firefly, to replace my LS2 metro. Reduced at M+P from £169.95 to 35 quid... pinlock,  inner tinted visor, and ACE gold rated.  Glows in the dark too 🙃

That'll do.

Noticed as well it has red tabs on the sides in the lining- checked the website and its emergency tabs to take the lining out for the emergency services.. never seen that before.

4 hours ago, andyberg said:

?? What's that then? No I always felt that the front of the bike would slip in the wet. The tyres I have had in the past never made me feel like I had a lot of grip, I always felt as if I was going to come off. I had the bike MOTd in November and had the pilot fitted then. It was pissing down on the back and even with the new tyre I can't explain the confidence it gave me. I have never been a fast rider, never hang off the bike, more Mick Grant style😂 but as soon as the rear needs replacing then it's a pilot for there too. Well worth the money in my opinion.

Front End Chatter is a podcast about motorbikes, just noticed your number plate.. people that listen are feccers..

If you like bikes, it's worth a listen!

1 hour ago, andyberg said:

Took the Sprint out today. Not ridden it since November. I had forgotten how good it is, comfy, fast and sounds great. The roads were damp, and I have never been confident in the wet but the Michelin road pilots are bloody brilliant. Never felt unstable at all. Got home however and noticed all the crap from the roads on the bike, good hose down and liberal spray with ACF50 before putting it away. Hopefully I'll get to ride it to work next week.

 

 

Are you a Front End Chatter listener..?

1 hour ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

US conversion vans sold quite well here for a period think there was a tax loophole that helped a lot. And these must be the ultimate road trips or family cars. And the rear seat on this can be turned into a bed.

1993 Chevrolet G30 Starcraft 6,2 V8 diesel and auto this one has only 260,000km which is low for these 6530 pounds.

https://www.finn.no/car/used/ad.html?finnkode=267157508

Proper proper want. One of these is on my bucket list.