The new news 24 thread

[Jazoli]

Dropped the XJ6 off at my old mate mechanic's today, good job really as the n/s silencer fell off on the way to work today  , I went back to get it as I need the trim for the new silencer that is in the boot, it will have lots of nice new shiny bits underneath when I pick it up this time next week and hopefully no more exhaust blows, I also pissed off an insignia driver that had been tailgating me for a few miles down the 40mph 'c' road on the way there, he was most upset that his crappy 68 plate 1.6 diesel got left for dead by a 23 year old jaguar bike when we got to the NSL dual carriageway and must have passed me at well over a ton when I'd settled into a nice 80mph canter 

[Split_Pin]

It could be the fans- god knows how long it ran without a thermostat before I got it - they could be siezed?

 

Worth 12v across the pins!

I have a bit wire in the Corsa from its 'old engine' days for just that job!

[DodgeRover]

I'm in that there London. Place is a big shit hole

Edited for accuracy.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

The Audi has spent a week in heated luxury with a couple of its distant cousins, when I took the DB11 for wheel repair. Interestingly the bill for repairing ( small scrape, no dent or gouge) was exactly what we paid Bramz for the Audi!

 

A bit of experimenting with the hunting issue after the mechanic I left it with for a couple of days did nothing because he hadn't got a tool to time the pump , even though he saw what engine it was and agreed to swap the pump, when I left it!

Anyway, seems that applying the brakes makes it worse, pointing to a servo vacuum issue, maybe.

 

Getting out of the Aston and into the Audi, driving home then taking the Passat to Heathrow, reminds me that variety is what it's all about when it comes to cars and even if my numbers come up on the Euromillions, I could never be happy with just one car, no matter how flash or expensive.

[richardmorris]

I know there is a thread for this, so please move if you need too. Just thought get more coverage here. So it's a sparkomatic c 500. Radio cassette. Found it in a charity shop today for £3.00. does anyone want it for their period shite. Don't know if it works. But I will post it for free and you can have it for free. No Dolby , Bluetooth or sat nav I'm afraid.IMG_20190215_180907.jpgIMG_20190215_180838.jpgIMG_20190215_180919.jpg

A sparkomatic sounds like a Wallace and gromit radio.

[RobT]

Rob, get yer R11 booked in!

Concours it most definitely ain't though! Especially if they parked me next to that mintola TXE...

[spike60]

Four years and 36000 miles after being bought as a stop gap with a grenaded box the 530d has gone. It was smooth, comfy, powerful and economical and scruffy in equal measures and was the pool car of choice for friends and family but I wasn't prepared to change the exhaust manifold to give it yet another reprieve at 269000 miles. The replacement Merc has big shoes to fill.

 

Here it is on the Rotterdam ferry demonstrating why it isn't good to buy cheap tat suspension air bags from Ebay after it went bang on the motorway near Eindhoven last May.

 

 

[Broadsword]

Dropped the XJ6 off at my old mate mechanic's today, good job really as the n/s silencer fell off on the way to work today  , I went back to get it as I need the trim for the new silencer that is in the boot, it will have lots of nice new shiny bits underneath when I pick it up this time next week and hopefully no more exhaust blows, I also pissed off an insignia driver that had been tailgating me for a few miles down the 40mph 'c' road on the way there, he was most upset that his crappy 68 plate 1.6 diesel got left for dead by a 23 year old jaguar bike when we got to the NSL dual carriageway and must have passed me at well over a ton when I'd settled into a nice 80mph canter 

 

Good to hear that the Red Bike is getting it's only real issue (i.e. the blowing exhaust) sorted out. It seems that people driving their shiny new PCP jobs think that some of us driving older cars don't have a right to be on the roads, hence you get tailgating and really forceful overtaking. It happens to us in the Xantia all the time, but the Xantia holds it's ground really well on the big roads and particularly the twisty bits. I've had some many brand new 2.0 TDI Audis get shamed by the Xantia, then they get the red mist and come past absolutely flat out just to show who's the big boy/girl with more money here.

[Timewaster]

The Audi has spent a week in heated luxury with a couple of its distant cousins, when I took the DB11 for wheel repair.

You took the WHAT? A DB11?!

 

How have I missed this? You have a DB11?!

 

I don't fawn over expensive stuff usually but I would make an exception for an Aston.

 

I missed the boat to buy one for my mid life crisis. Maybe I'll have a 3/4 life crisis later.

[Six-cylinder]

The Audi has spent a week in heated luxury with a couple of its distant cousins, when I took the DB11 for wheel repair. Interestingly the bill for repairing ( small scrape, no dent or gouge) was exactly what we paid Bramz for the Audi!image.jpeg

 

A bit of experimenting with the hunting issue after the mechanic I left it with for a couple of days did nothing because he hadn't got a tool to time the pump , even though he saw what engine it was and agreed to swap the pump, when I left it!

Anyway, seems that applying the brakes makes it worse, pointing to a servo vacuum issue, maybe.

 

Getting out of the Aston and into the Audi, driving home then taking the Passat to Heathrow, reminds me that variety is what it's all about when it comes to cars and even if my numbers come up on the Euromillions, I could never be happy with just one car, no matter how flash or expensive.

 

DB11! I was wondering the same as Time waster, owned or moving it for work/friend?

 

Either way I totally agree with the sentiment of variety regardless of value. 

[Ghosty]

I am also baffled. Might we ask?

[MorrisItalSLX]

A sparkomatic sounds like a Wallace and gromit radio.

 

Does it make toast?

 

[andy18s]

Having a newly-replaced thermostat on the Audi appears to be a poisoned chalice as it's unveiled a hitherto masked overheating issue

 

It isn't losing any water and the old oil that came out showed no signs of water ingress but it heats up to nearly 110c on a run and appears to be unable to cool itself down to the 90 is that it sat at for the first few days after fixing.

 

Just as well I employed the 'drive around for a bit, spend later methodology'!

 

Still a nice car though.

Airlock maybe sitting somewhere?

[andy18s]

As of tomorrow, if anyone is looking for me? I'll be in the shed working on Ronnie the Red Range Rover, whilst listening to ma tunes.

With a least a window wound down....

And the battery on charge as well....

Don't ask how I know

[LabRat]

It's mot day for the Duster. It should pass- there's fuck all wrong with it that I can see, but lurking underneath that solid Romanian body is the brie and wine soaked heart of a Renault, so god only knows what'll happen.

[HillmanImp]

I had to look up what a DB11 was. I'm out of touch. A bit like when someone was saying they'd bought Now 101 at work yesterday.

[andy18s]

On a boring note the new ML270 has run it's 1st full tank through at around 26mpg

Not bad given it's size and has the autobox as insisted on by the wife

Only potential fly in the ointment is the temp sits at around 65-70°c,running up to just over 80 on a good uphill stretch

Google suggests a failed thermostat as it should be at a constant 85-90°

Looks easy enough to do being located near the front of the engine but as its surrounded by plastic fuel lines it can wait untill it's a bit warmer outside

[NorfolkNWeigh]

To clarify , I am a poor man that can barely afford the shonky mostly rusty mostly German shite that we actually own;

1989 BMW 316 auto

1994 Audi 80 1.9 Tdi auto

2001 Mercedes 230 CLK cabrio.

2001 BMW 330d touring.

2009 Fiat 500.

2010 Volvo C30 1.6d.

2011 Mercedes ML350 Cdi.

2012 VW Passat 2.0 Tdi estate.

But as I've been a jobbing chauffeur for the last 25 years, I get to drive and help to look after quite a few nice cars for clients, admittedly these tend to be Range Rovers and big Audis or Mercs in most cases. But one customer in particular has some nice cars that are kept locked up in a Fort Knox type unit , as he's away on his boat in the Southern Hemisphere for a lot of the year.

He often emails me out of the blue with requests like " Can you get the wheel on the Aston repaired" You can imagine I don't need asking twice when it comes to a reason to swan around in a posh car.

Incidentally he's also asked me to arrange selling the Golf in the picture, so if anyone wants a 2016 Golf R with 17,000 miles and one careful owner bids around £22,000 are welcome, will roffle if enough interest!

[HillmanImp]

That sounds like a nice bit of work. I know some people that look after rich people's houses for 50 weeks of the year and work as their home help in the 2 weeks that they actually live there.

 

Nice work if you can get it.

[LabRat]

And it's a pass! Surprisingly no advisories either. Might treat it to a wash and vac out now...

[oldcars]

I shall check that tomorrow

Possible airlock from fitting the new stat?

[DodgeRover]

On a boring note the new ML270 has run it's 1st full tank through at around 26mpg

Not bad given it's size and has the autobox as insisted on by the wife

Only potential fly in the ointment is the temp sits at around 65-70°c,running up to just over 80 on a good uphill stretch

Google suggests a failed thermostat as it should be at a constant 85-90°

Looks easy enough to do being located near the front of the engine but as its surrounded by plastic fuel lines it can wait untill it's a bit warmer outside

Get them to change the stat at the same time you get it converted to LPG?

[MikeR]

I nearly missed off my birthday good deed of the day I did yesterday ..

 

wife got home to say a friend was stranded with a dead car that would not start ..

 

so I threw a spare battery in the boot , jump leads and some tools ..

 

and got to a pug 107 sized car which was indeed dead , connected the spare battery via the jump leads and

 

it started !!!!

 

I am a hero in my own mind ....

[andy18s]

Diesel in this one as we couldn't find a decent petrol within our price range

There are many cheap cars out here but you do need to pay more for something "decent"

The UK really has the cheapest cars for sale in "real terms"

[Split_Pin]

Ok in a word the Audi is fine

 

I ran the engine for 20 mins, top hose, rad nice and hot, all good. The guage appears to be faulty/ erratic:

 

[The Moog]

That's good news. Do you have an infrared thermometer gun or similar to check temp?

[Split_Pin]

Afraid not

[gm]

have you checked the temp reading from the odb socket ? should highlight either a duff gauge or a duff sender

[Jazoli]

Brown car was becoming increasingly grumbly from the o/s rear so I spent an hour fitting a new hub/bearing and cleaned up the rear brakes.

 

Silence has now been resumed, its a really easy car to work on too which was nice, despite lots of surface corrosion everything came undone easily and there was plenty of evidence of preventative maintenance which backs up the full main dealer history.

 

[SRi05]

Spring is in the air (beneath all the clouds)