The new news 24 thread

[PhilA]

The kids nagged me after work, so instead of doing what I had wanted to do I ended up doing this:

Tree and baubles and lights

Dancing color lights and a pink floodlight (meant to be red, cheap led crap lol)

Brightest mailbox on the street

Front of the house with"snow" falling, lanterns, wreath and a "fire", which I need to build with some logs and things

 

 Gotta smile somehow

Phil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RobT]

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

No thanks.  Don't fancy something that size through my knob.

That's had me in tears......of laughter!

[LightBulbFun]

22 minutes ago, PhilA said:

The kids nagged me after work, so instead of doing what I had wanted to do I ended up doing this:

Tree and baubles and lights

Dancing color lights and a pink floodlight (meant to be red, cheap led crap lol)

Brightest mailbox on the street

Front of the house with"snow" falling, lanterns, wreath and a "fire", which I need to build with some logs and things

 

 Gotta smile somehow

Phil

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yay colourful lights ftw

but it needs more C7/C9 christmas lights man  heres my 2 strings I finally put up again after 6 years (I last had em up in Dec 2014 when I first got them, then ran out of spare bulbs so never put em up again until recently when I finally bit the bullet and bought some more spares)

real shame we never got these in 240V land, well we did about 60 years ago in C6 form but sadly never in any sort of bulbs in parallel form, I have such a British "C6" set very kindly given to me by @egg but im not prepared to bankrupt myself buying new bulbs for that just yet LOL, but it is fun posting pictures of it and confuse US folk because it has 12 bulbs instead of 6  

these are only C7's, I did look at at how much it would cost to import a couple C9 sets+2 sets of spare bulbs for next year

but its so costly (mainly due to international shipping) that It would cost the same to go the whole hog and get a proper GLS lamp, festoon set because who does not enjoy 1000W worth of christmas lighting LOL

https://www.tlc-direct.co.uk/Products/DT643.html

so I think if I can afford it next year thats what I think ill go for LOL

[PhilA]

I haven't been able to find them this year locally.

I need to go to Home Despot and look.

[LightBulbFun]

1 hour ago, PhilA said:

I haven't been able to find them this year locally.

I need to go to Home Despot and look.

what is the world coming too!

 

1000bulbs.com still does incandescent C7 and C9 strings and spare bulbs thankfully https://www.1000bulbs.com/category/christmas-lights/

and for a pretty reasonable price too, (Its who I used to get my  4 lots of 25 spare replacement C7 bulbs this year  and 4 RDC fluorescent tube sockets while I was at it)

 

(am actually surprised at how cheap their C9 sets where as I remember when my friend sent me the 2 C7 sets he said a C9 set was like $30 a string...)

[junkyarddog]

Well,this old heap passed it's test,so is deemed safe to trundle the highways and byways of this land once more.

Thank fuck for that. 

 

[RayMK]

2 hours ago, junkyarddog said:

 

Well,this old heap passed it's test,so is deemed safe to trundle the highways and byways of this land once more.

Thank fuck for that. 

 

My daughter/son in law have a 2002 3 door 1.4 Focus which has also recently passed its MOT. Still going strong at 170K and no signs of corrosion yet. It does drink oil though. 

[Arthur Foxhake]

On 11/29/2020 at 9:17 PM, wuvvum said:

I managed to read the transmission fault codes from the Granvia today.  It's coming up as a fault on both No.1 solenoid and the torque converter lockup solenoid.  Which makes sense.  I think the No.1 solenoid is an intermittent fault and the lockup solenoid is permanently buggered, as even when the gears are all working properly the torque converter doesn't seem to ever lock up.

There are a couple more tests I can do to test the resistance of the solenoids etc.  It took me a while to track down the ECU - seems to be just one for engine and gearbox.  I found a diagram online showing which wires do the solenoids - it's for a 4-runner so a different engine but the plug layout looks the same so I'm going to go with the assumption that the wires will be the same too.  It's nothing helpful like a separate plug for the transmission either - the transmission-related wires are spread out across the three plugs and 64 pins of the ECU.

I'm not sure how how much use all that is going to be though TBH.  If it is knackered solenoids then repair would involve taking the gearbox to bits, and given that the inside of an auto 'box is basically black magic that's not something I feel comfortable doing.  On the other hand if it is a broken wire I really don't fancy trying to trace that back through the wiring loom either.  I'll dig out my multimeter and do the tests next weekend and then consider my options.

The good thing is that the codes didn't show a fault with the speed sensor, so I don't think it's related to the MPH conversion chip - so that's saved me having to take the clocks out, which is a good thing because I bloody hate pulling dashboards to bits.

In non-Toyota-related news I also made a start on the gearbox mount on the Renault 6.  I didn't have time to complete the job due to running out of daylight, but I've (hopefully) got everything lined up so that I can get it done in under an hour in the next bit of dry daylight fettling time I get.  The car continues to amaze me - it's a really quite rusty, nearly-50-year-old Renault, but yet in 13 years of ownership I have yet to encounter a seized bolt...

Are you still messing with that ungrateful thing?

Just bring it here, swap it for cash and be done with it.

I'll even drive you home in a working one!

Serious offer.

[reb]

Dad's Volvo passed its MOT today, so sadly (for me anyway) it'll be up for sale shortly. I wish I could keep it but I can't keep both it and my TDI. There's a nagging feeling that I'm keeping the wrong one but I'm very attached to the TDI.

[SmokinWaffle]

No room for a tree at my house sadly - but had a big clearout at work of some shelves that have had stuff on for decades, and found about 10 Microsoft binders worth of install CD's back when they used to send you disks for all the stuff you bought. Saved them from the bin and made this:

Poundland superglue, mainly, plus a little bit of hobbycraft cardboard foam stuff to give some extra supports.

Have a bigger one at work that I've made for the wall there too. Nice to recycle and looks awesome. Merry disk-mas!

My other half also works in IT and specialises in training Microsoft products - so it suits us perfectly!

[junkyarddog]

1 hour ago, RayMK said:

My daughter/son in law have a 2002 3 door 1.4 Focus which has also recently passed its MOT. Still going strong at 170K and no signs of corrosion yet. It does drink oil though. 

Yeah,they are a decent old jalopy.

This one is a '99 1.6 petrol,it's been a faithful old servant for the past 16 years,think it cost about 5k all those years ago.

Parts are cheap and plentiful for them,easy to work on,and they are a good drive.

This one isn't too bad for using oil,but it does take a drop when it gets it.

😂

[cort16]

I managed to fix my welder with a new chinesium £25 neck and gun off eBay . 

I think I went a bit OTT with the new earth clamp though it takes two hands to open it! Old one for comparison .

[N19]

On 12/1/2020 at 5:16 PM, sierraman said:

Yeah they’re shite on fuel, good back in the 1990’s when getting 30mpg from your carbed Sierra 1.8 on a run was an achievement. Sometimes on those the CTS can cause crap fuel consumption or a lazy stat. Change it for a 92 deg one, they did 2 different stats on the Zetec, changing it for the hotter one meant it would show more central on the temp gauge as well but in truth the Zetecs always ran on the cool side compared to the later Mazda based Duratec units in the later Mk3.

Hmm interesting, CTS was changed very recently. I will see if I can find out the spec of the one fitted by the garage. May explain why it started off reasonably well...

Going to give it a reasonable 70mph run up the A1 later maybe to Baldock, half an hour each way, see if that improves matters. But if they're known to be sh1te then less worried (still tight).

[davehedgehog31]

If you don't stop at Todhills is it even a collection caper?

[loserone]

You needing topped up already? Glug glug!

[yes oui si]

Dropped off shopping, said hi to my MG and Volvo... 

Both for sale, both not totally fucked. 

[barefoot]

Why don't you put your shopping in the boot? It's a three door, must be as awkward as fuck to squeeze it all onto the back seat.

[Cord Fourteener]

MOT day!

 

[yes oui si]

2 hours ago, barefoot said:

Why don't you put your shopping in the boot? It's a three door, must be as awkward as fuck to squeeze it all onto the back seat.

The boot is full of spares that came with the car. Not had a chance to sort them yet. 

[Three Speed]

6 hours ago, barefoot said:

Why don't you put your shopping in the boot? It's a three door, must be as awkward as fuck to squeeze it all onto the back seat.

If it’s like my car the boot’s full of spare wheels.

[Cavcraft]

Spending actual money on a car today.

 

Here in the work shop is a rusty, wheezy, shitty, badly made monkey's wank pot of a car, with a Sierra behind it. Look upon the Corsas as fluffers to the main act.

[barefoot]

4 hours ago, yes oui si said:

The boot is full of spares that came with the car. Not had a chance to sort them yet. 

 

50 minutes ago, Three Speed said:

If it’s like my car the boot’s full of spare wheels.

What's wrong with you disorganised people? My boots are all completely empty and my glove compartments contain nothing but a pair of string backed driving gloves, sunglasses & the appropriate V5c/MOT/Insurance certificate.

[Cord Fourteener]

Day out with boy face to @sutty2006's to collect Mondeo spares... Predominantly a parcel shelf but I got a whole bunch of useful spares. Poo count 1; boy face's poo on the useful parcel shelf changing shelf. It will sponge off, I'm sure 💩☺️

It was great to meet you Sutty, thanks for letting us oggle some of your excellent fleet!

 

 

[wuvvum]

54 minutes ago, Cavcraft said:

Spending actual money on a car today.

 

Here in the work shop is a rusty, wheezy, shitty, badly made monkey's wank pot of a car, with a Sierra behind it. Look upon the Corsas as fluffers to the main act.

That's a car worth spending actual money on to be fair.

Mind you, so is that Wartburg.

You've changed, Billy...

[yes oui si]

3 hours ago, Three Speed said:

If it’s like my car the boot’s full of spare wheels.

That's the 306. Two full sets. Makes it sit like this:

[cort1977]

2 hours ago, barefoot said:

 

What's wrong with you disorganised people? My boots are all completely empty and my glove compartments contain nothing but a pair of string backed driving gloves, sunglasses & the appropriate V5c/MOT/Insurance certificate.

Wot no werthers or chocolate limes? Call yourself a motorist?

[Cord Fourteener]

Pass!

Advisories: the rust on the wings behind the front wheels and play in a track rod.

 

[stuboy]

Someone had overfilled the headlight, so needed to drain it...lol

 

[mitsisigma01]

17 minutes ago, Tim_E said:

Pass!

Advisories: the rust on the wings behind the front wheels and play in a track rod.

 

You need to get out more.... 

13000 on a Y reg porker 

[Jamie]

I hate Vag cars