Barry Cade

Scuse the mess, we're unpacking.. forgot about unisex facilities in France, my heart is just about back to racing...

Ps.. SLK owners.. unplug the little fan in the module box.. it shorts out and that's what causes this issue.. I do this so you don't have to.

Yeeeeeeeehaaaaaa🙃😋 Normal service is resumed. Found a module on German Ebay, in Freiburg, haggled a bit and nipped over the border to pick it up Everything back to normal 😀😀 Thing is, now it's too hot to go roofless! Now in our wee hut, beers in the fridge and I can relax.. 1300 miles in so far..

All the way to Paris and all I got was this lousy dent 😆

Been planning this trip for some time as I've missed driving on the wrong side. The SLK was prepped as if it was going to the moon.. full service for both engine and transmission, all fluids done including weird SLK fluids, 4 new tyres, brakes and suspension all settled and everything tip top and Bristol fashion. . Set off and headed towards that England. About an hour in I needed a pee... annoyed me this as I usually have at least a 300 mile bladder.. stopped at the side of the road, walked behind some bushes and simultaneously fell in a river,through barbed wire in some nettles... Wet foot, ripped jeans and nipping arms we continued happily South to overnight in Towcester in a Travelodge. Up next morning and kept south towards Newhaven. Got into the Brighton and decided to put the roof down. Nowt. Window.. nope. Stopped at Sainsbury's for some stuff and no central locking either. FFS. Off the ferry after having to hand documents through the door, down to Rouen in the dark and into an F1 for the night. They're great if you breathe in and walk sideways.. Up today and nipped into a Carrefour and bought a torx driver, opened the roof control module and found this... FFS.. Onward and into Paris. A mile away from the Eiffel Tower as I stopped at a crossing, there was a thud. In my mirror was a chap on the ground beside a hired electric scooter.. he got up, gave the thumbs up and disappeared into the crowd. I now have a helmet sized and shaped dent on the boot lid.. FFS.. Onward to Ligny en Barrrios, to a cracking AirBnB, we stopped at the services for some coffee. I opened the door and the alarm went off... the central locking and remote have packed in so it wont switch off.. I found and pulled the fuse to shut it up, but now I have to wait 5 mins every time I open the door for the hazards to go off. FFS. 2 black boxes in both my cars to go down in the space of 2 weeks. Is it the Chinese? Solar flares. The law of sod? FFS... Anyone overnight courier a 1708200926 to Alsace in the next 5 days? P.s.. the Eiffel Tower needs agood prodding with the Corrosion Assessment Tool...

Yay , another SLK back. I'm sitting in a Travelodge in Towcester.. realised today what Sally Traffic was going on about when she mentioned Toaster.. 7 hours down in my SLK on the way to the Black Forest, 2nd tank just brimmed, working out at just over 36mpg, sitting all the way down the M6 with cruise on 80. Nothing to report.

I just put 4 Falkens on mine, they seem pretty good so far, rear size is the odder one, so I chose going on who made that size.. fronts are 205 55 16 so everyone does em. I'm confused. I didn't think the 320 was supercharged...?

Yes.. Even better in anthracite. Centras?

OMG! Take off the radiator muff and fit a summer thermostat forthwith 😆

Its here Got delivered today.. First time I've ever even sat on a Triumph. after a run this evening, I rather like it!

Very relevant to shiters though! some real gems in there... Read some of the "common faults!" I quote.. "Note: GM cars account for nearly half of the diagnostic work in our workshop! You have been warned " " Later 2010> VAG engines 2.0 CR engines fitted to Superb II and Transporters. Are known now to "right themselves off" when the Aux belt tensioner fails causing the Aux belt to shred and wrap around the bottom pulley. The problem with the repair process is. This type of engine has a pair of fragile cams which bend and the deflection cannot be seen "by eye". If you do not change the cams, you may get loss of power and misfires when you start up the re-built engine. Aligning the new cams in the fragile alloy cam carrier built into the head is not for the faint hearted either. Get it wrong and the carrier will break when you start the engine up. Then you will need a new cylinder head. This is not a DIY job. The pile of parts needed to do the job will cost about £1800 without labour (14/04/2014). FIA now sell pattern cams, which will reduce the cost (30/11/2015). We have repaired four Superb II and six Transporter engines that have failed in our workshop to date which have failed for this fault. So the advice is: if you need a Aux belt tensioner, go to the dealers and buy the correct one, which has a part number for the correct engine code (differing tensions). Don't buy a generic pattern part!"

Its looking very much like the ECU is the cause. Bugger.

Great wee basic website with a lot of stuff relevant to us shiters and garage owners/mechanics. Dunno if anyone has posted before, but stumbled across it.. @twosmoke300 http://www.remmington.info/future.htm

yup, battery monitor reset. I'm going to delve into the PCM later..

Brand new battery fitted today, and..... Still exactly the same .

Spent a bit more time on it today, and did sum lernin about P068a.. Put the O silly scope on Forscan and watched the voltages. Its dropping to 9.5v at the ECU on startup 😯 10.2v at the battery.. that would explain a lot! I can't believe how well it starts and have never had any "normal" low battery symptoms.. new one on it's way from Tanya. Need to code it in with Forscan. It tells me battery life is 69%.. P. S .. The battery is the original... from 2013..

My mini Mondeo has started giving me a bit of grief after 2 trouble free years.. first a bust CV boot.. sorted but you have to do them from the other end, and now its telling me it needs an oil change. it doesn't, but wont reset.. Code P068a, won't go away, and now engine malfunction and no matter what its 12 degrees outside.. All pointing to a low voltage issue somewhere. ruled out the battery and the earths under the airbox. cleaned up all the battery terminals and maxi fuses. Changed the ECM relay. . Still starting and driving same as it ever did, but this is really bothering me.

Did anyone watch Ian Tyrrels u toob vid about the Rolls Royce Camargue... The Fiat 130 coupe's interior in the vid is SPECTACULAR..

That's the one!. Pity I was going in the other direction..

From today, dark green Reliant Fox on cobra slots, a late Xantia V6 and a beautiful 60s Mercedes 230sl. Best and worst of all, a mint baby Blue Manta B coop on the hard shoulder of the M876... thought it was Dome, then remembered .. @dome

😁 Its getting delivered, dunno where, dunno when!

New bike incoming.. purchased blind from Essex for more than I've ever spent on a bike before.. hope I like it, never even sat on one!

I bought my SLK on Autotrader, it was just like it used to be.. phone seller, arrange to view, test drive, agree a price, cup of coffee, sort V5, shake hands and leave with car. I think its free to advertise under a grand?

I did....

Got some amount of grief on the SLK forum, for daring to ask a question about air con... was basically told I was stupid, didn't know what I was doing and I should leave it to the professionals.. Got a long spiel about microns, temperature to pressure ratios, how I should replace every single part in the system and how it'll never work.. God, I fucking hate car "clubs" Made me right angry so it did.