mat_the_cat

VAG shit(e) alert
SWMBO pressured me into getting something less than 30 years old to be our family wagon. Somehow ive ended up with this A6.....
 
Im unaccustomed to having something that can manage over 50mpg. Sadly its also new enough and audi enough to have an overly firm ride, which is annoying me more as time goes on.
 

Its also done over 240k yet still manages to drive pretty tightly, It probably helps that the previous over was a 'maintained regardless of cost' type who sent it in to the dealer at the slightest hint of a clonk or untoward rattle by the looks of the service records. it has the PD 130TDI engine which is a bit gruff but quite torquey. I suspect the engine will stay in top fettle whilst the rest of the car slowly disintegrates around it. I just hope that with a recent cambelt and recently booted with a fresh set of winter tyres it doesnt go wrong expensively or bore me too much.....
 

 

I hate to sound like a broken records on this subject but it would not be right if I didn't stick my oar in as usual.
 
My standard lights are absolutely fine on all my cars until I can no longer see as some twunt coming in the other direction feels the need to have floodlights on the front of his car that are so bright they probably tan the stunned animals they drive over. 
 
When driving past these people I have to assume that I am driving in a straight line and am not about to go off the road or into the oncoming car, or more importantly that there is not a cyclist/pedestrian/ in front of me as quite frankly I am not going to see anything over the blinding light of the twunt on the other side of the road.
 
Don't get me wrong I agree you need lights that are sufficient to see the road ahead however that's all you need to be able to see, the road ahead, not a hedgehog 3/4 of a mile away. Its not the Lombard RAC out there, the lights should be good enough to light the road ahead and any immediate hazards and not be unsafe for people coming the other way. 
 
TBH I think I am fighting a losing battle and think the only way to stop being dazzled is to buy some brighter lights than the oncoming cars so that my brilliance out-radiates theirs.

I was going to say that this is one of my pet subjects! Can't really add any more, but I use Osram 64205s which are rated at 2000/1350 lumens - slightly more than the Nightbreaker 90s @ 1895/1150. Although technically not permitted as they are 65/60 watts, and the trade off is short life; rated at only 150/400 hours on main/dip.
 
For that reason I'm considering a soft start circuit to prolong their life a little, just to ramp up the voltage slowly so the filament resistance builds up (with heat) and you don't get the large current surge through the cold filament.
 
I used to use 100/55 w bulbs (2400/1000 lumens), but found the contrast between main and dipped ruined my night vision. The Nightbreakers sound interesting as they may be more of a satisfactory compromise with the output vs lifespan trade off, and also legal given that AFAIK the rules only govern the wattage rather than the light output!

What is this I'm seeing? A ribbed floor I can use on the Shifter?!
 
Forget Health & Safety, these guys didn't even know what those words meant......picking it up on Sunday is it was still held by some of the cross members and it got too dark.

Reet, I know a bit about this as I'm into this kind of thing through work somewhat,
 
For single filament bulbs, Almost all LEDs are complete shit, no use as a headlight at all, unless they are like The ones in the picture above with fuckin heatsinks and fans coming out he back of them. The beam pattern will be to cock because the size of the emitter and location are not really all that close to what the original bulb is.
Cheapo HID kids are £13-£30. All roughly the same kind of quality, they last for about 6 months to a couple of years. A bit brighter than halogens but the beam pattern is never quite as good as stock. Depending on the particular lamp unit it could end up absolutely terrible - park in front of a wall with one bulb in each side and compare.
Some lamp units will tolerate HIDs/LEDS better than others. Projector types are much more likely to be usable than reflector types.
Higher wattage halogens will give the easiest upgrade in power while keeping a reasonable beam pattern, but you need to make sure the wiring and headlamp unit will take the extra. Halfords do 90w "rally" bulbs which are OK priced if you have a trade card.
 
For H4s, basically anything other than the stock halogens will give you a totally messed up beam pattern in either dipped or full beam. Some HIDs have a little shield that kicks back and forward. I used these in my MK2 golf and they were OK on dip but on full beam it was patchy and weird. Some H4 HIDS only give you dipped beam, and some have a separate halogen bulb for full beam. All total shit.
LEDS again are absolutely unusable for many reasons - Not bright enough, won't last very long run at the power required with the cooling available and there isn't yet an elegant solution to the dual beam situation.
 
Again, just buy some bright halogens if you want a somewhat easy life. 
 
Oh, and ebay HIDs take 20 seconds to warm up, so they are no good in a full beam application.
 
Personally I have a set of £13 ebay 3000k (yellowish) HIDs in the dipped beam of my daily, and some 100w Halfords Rally bulbs in the full beam.

Dear Sir,
Today I tried to weld two tyres together, but your miserable shitty product failed to do What It Said On The Tin. As a result, I crashed into a minibus full of nuns carrying kittens to the unicorn sanctuary, and have been arrested by by Will Smith.
Please feel entirely free to fuck right off,
Yours,
Herbert Dimwimple.

I'm a welder/fabricator by trade,a few before and after pics of one of Metro's and my Land Rover

Worryingly, that has crossed my mind...
 
However, the taxi folk of Iraq have already been there and done that. (albeit not with an XM)

Leave it now Dave. Fred's clearly upset, and all we can possibly do is advise on stuff that should have been done weeks ago. It is clearly a problem, but it ain't ours to solve...
 
PS: When viewed on an iPad on Tapatalk, your Avatar looks like he's just shit a watermelon (there's a green circle to show you're online in just the right place)

Really sorry to hear about the ashes, that's a hard one. Vans can be replaced, sentimental stuff can't.

And picked up yesterday, thanks
 
GR8 Autoshiter, would collect free stuff from again A+++++

I expect you to get a bloody solicitor!
 
 
The morally right thing for them to do is to pay for repairs with no hassle. They wont. They CANT. Why? because as soon as they start doing that, the business is finished. Every Thomas, Richard and Harriot who has used them will take the piss. "when I had my battery jump started three weeks ago your man scratched the grill, I want a respray."
They HAVE to make it a hard, complicated process to get compensation to discourage the piss-takers. If anyone could fill out a few forms and maybe represent themselves in a small claims trail against them and get what they wanted, the company would be bust by the end of the week. having a long process and requiring a solicitor weeds out the chancers - Thats why they are not going to pay you without a fight. Thats why you need legal advice.
 
Back to your particular case - it doesnt matter one jot what you have written and whether its fact or whatever - Its a waste of time - aside from telling us about it, you achieve nothing and there is always the chance you might trip yourself up and say something you shouldnt have said. Since you dont have legal training you dont know what this might even be until its too late. If you had spent the time and energy you have put into your posts on this thread into finding a solicitor - someone who knows what they are doing, someone who knows how to proceed in the legally correct manner, someone who is paid to get results for you, then this would be resolved by now.
 
Yet here we are three weeks later and you dont even know if you have free legal cover with your insurance.

Re: Meh.
 
Thanks all. Feeling a bit more calm.
 
Bloke upstairs kept me up again, got 3 hrs kip Las night. Turned my alarm off I was that disheartened, but woke up 23 min before work anyways so got up quick sharp.
 
Got some ear plugs today.
 
Citalopram worked for me. It has sorted ne brain out, I can see a future for myself now with actual fun in it! And I enjoy doing daft stuff again like playstation which I completely fell out with.
 
Can describe how I know I fine, I just do, been good for over 3 months and want a good shot at next year alcohol and medication free. See how it goes.
 
I tapered off the meds over 2 months, have tried to stop cold turkey twice this year resulting in full meltdown and quitting job etc. I'm being very careful at the moment.
 
Apart from wanting to stick the guy upstairs in the neck and watch him bleed out in fairly normal
 
I played 'train horn' sounds to him Las night ad loud as ny system would go. Fexking hurt my ears but got my point across.

Save £3.20 per car over many, many cars =even bigger profit.
 
Oh, your sidewall is torn out on the hard shoulder of the M6 ? well, boo hoo hoo for you.

Hey Sambasssssss man, take care of yourself, if you're in a tangle then don't worry about work, get yourself right. People ring in sick for much less like a fuckin cold or a hangover. Just because you can physically walk and stuff doesn't mean you're not worthy of a few days relaxing, perhaps some softcore pottering round shite to keep yourself busy and in a good place. 

Don't you have a Reliant one spare?

Posting on the internet is doing you absolutely nothing whatsoever. Also, if things get legally messy, posting on the internet may end up counting against you.
 
You need to have proper legal advice.
 
I will say that again, just to make it 100% clear....
 
You need to have proper legal advice.
 
Do you have a solicitor acting on your behalf?  Thats a Yes or No question, and if the answer is no you need to pick up the yellow pages and find some local to you. Visit them in person and find out if they can help you.
 
Owners clubs are almost certain to be no use to you, and to be blunt pretty much anyone who is NOT an actual lawyer with actual legal experience who will bill you for their time is of no use to you. If you want to take on the Royal Automobile Club legal team in court, then "some people on the internet said..." isnt going to cut it.
 
Its been three weeks since this happened now. Frankly the trail is going cold. Had you engaged proper legal advice on day two, this would probably be wrapped up and forgotten by now.

Don't you have a Reliant one spare?

A ford Ka with a k series mated to a renault automatic gearbox with the electronic handbrake from an insignia.

Would be quite interesting if Fred had legal cover on the RAC policy..............................the RAC engaging a lawyer to sue itself.....................

I don't see how the breakdown company can blame anybody else, or how the alleged condition can have any relevance.
 
I agree with Dugong. This looks as if it's going to get quite messy and you should be very careful about what you say and where you say it, until the case is resolved at least. I would look at getting proper legal advice, preferably from somebody who has dealt with similar cases. Some owners clubs and other associations offer legal services, it might be worth seeing if any that you're in can help.

Don't you have a Reliant one spare?

Who wants a Maserati when you could have a knackered 305 van with an obsolete engine?

Managed to score a brand spanking new old stock carb from a bloke in France who seems to have a hoard of PSA bits (and for substantially less than £150, thankfully).
 
Also sniped a rebuild kit for a tenner delivered from eBay, which will give me the chance to refurb the existing one at my leisure, hopefully learning something in the process.
 
Next stupid question - Carb vac hose is perished, and the garage recommended I obtain a new one.
 
I can't see much difference from the fuel line - Is it exactly the same type of hose?
 

 
(Bottom carb hose in the middle of the picture above - It's 14mm o.d.)

Who wants a Maserati when you could have a knackered 305 van with an obsolete engine?