The new news 24 thread

[bunglebus]

2 hours ago, bobdisk said:

Did he do the Trabi-Safari around Berlin? I did, Its the best drive around a city there is!!😃!!

Yep that's it. I've never been to Berlin, might have to check it out

[Bren]

On 11/8/2021 at 8:34 PM, Spurious said:

Spotted on faceache

 

Fucking hell. Reminds me of spg in the young ones when he was dropped in the lentils.

[BorniteIdentity]

15 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Friend of mine is in Germany and hired a Trabant. Looks like there were a few to choose from!

 

That would make a fantastic Autoshite "Fly Drive" holiday next year.  A dozen in convoy on a short* trundle** up to Gdánsk or similar.  Nothing like the smell of two stroke and the gaze of eastern european ladies to make you feel alive.

Who's in?!

[brownnova]

11 minutes ago, BorniteIdentity said:

That would make a fantastic Autoshite "Fly Drive" holiday next year.  A dozen in convoy on a short* trundle** up to Gdánsk or similar.  Nothing like the smell of two stroke and the gaze of eastern european ladies to make you feel alive.

Who's in?!

Yes! Mass Autoshite Trabi convoy sounds amazing! 
 

EDIT: although getting time off from small children makes it unlikely… 😭😭😭

[Tadhg Tiogar]

4 hours ago, bobdisk said:

Did he do the Trabi-Safari around Berlin? I did, Its the best drive around a city there is!!😃!!

I see they don't offer the Trabant 1.1 option!

[bobdisk]

Only the genuine 2 stroke 😋

[barefoot]

1 hour ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Who's in?!

Not me, I drove one of the little fuckers as my daily for 6 soul-destroyingly long years.

[Cookiesouwest]

Bristol ring road. Just past Longwell Green.

OUCH

 

[andyberg]

Ooo, thanks for that. I'm due there in the next couple of hours.

[RobT]

@barefoot @Fat_Pirate @BorniteIdentity @dean36014 and anyone else who's owned the Shatis.

Where's the OBD port on this thing? Google says it's underneath the centre arm rest but I can't see it.

I'm meant to be taking it abroad next week, but today it decided to show me the EML. I was 50 miles away at the time but got home OK.  Could be something minor I suppose, but EMLs and limp modes aren't something I want to play roulette with 600 miles away. TIA.

[barefoot]

@RobT I think that it's underneath the ashtray ?

[barefoot]

The EML may be 1420 or similar - O2 sensor - apparently it's caused by a tiny leak in the exhaust & makes no blinding difference to anything.

[RobT]

Cheers m9.  Hopefully it's just that.  Didn't think to pop the ashtray out.

Oil change and lubed the wiper mechanism earlier, as a squeak was disturbing the quiet waft.

[St.Jude]

19 hours ago, bunglebus said:

Friend of mine is in Germany and hired a Trabant. Looks like there were a few to choose from!

 

There's a "museum" opposite Trabiworld and it's a joy. 

Went there pre-COVID, went to purchase something for €5, and they wanted to charge €15 (or something like that) to use my card. Not a minimum spend, an actual charge to use the card. 

I used the coke head's friend instead - cash. 

[bunglebus]

Not sure where else to put this

[Split_Pin]

I phoned the garage last night again about the Audi exhaust.

He said his 3rd mechanic would be back today and they would definitely get the job done.

I phoned again today just before 3.

He said that his 3rd mechanic now has Covid and its just the 2 of them in still, so he hadn't looked at it.

I said I'll stop you there, when do you open in the morning. 9am. I'm taking it back tomorrow, together with all the bits I supplied.

He helpfully told me that my front disks and pads also weren't very good. OK thanks, but EHHH???

Remember the car has been there since October 5th. 

Anyone in the Falkirk area feel free to PM me and I'll give you the name of the garage as one to absolutely avoid.

[RobT]

2 hours ago, barefoot said:

The EML may be 1420 or similar - O2 sensor - apparently it's caused by a tiny leak in the exhaust & makes no blinding difference to anything.

Here's what I got:

Did it drive OK for you when it popped up last? Come MoT time hopefully some Cataclean will sort it.

Just an idle thought, but for 800 miles I was using the wrong fuel.  Apparently this engine needs E5.  So I put some in the other day.  Could be related to the EML coming on....who knows.
 

[barefoot]

That's exactly the same as I used to get - couldn't remember the exact number! My tame mechanic told me it was an O2 sensor not operating at peak efficiency, but I think they've both been replaced. When I introduced it to a specialist Renner licker, he declared it down to a very small leak in the exhaust system. Whatever it is, it tends to come on for no apparent reason, usually on a light or even trailing throttle and it used to make no difference to anything. The old Vel Satis ran exactly the same whether that code was showing or not. Even the fair wife ceased to be upset by it.

[RobT]

I did wonder if the exhaust was leaking, as I noticed a moistness along one section when checking things over pre-road trip.

Thanks for the reassurance!  My cheapo code reader finally had a use.  Not often I have a car new enough for the OBD shiz.

[cort16]

I rolled this old XJ6 seat and various old bits of chair I had in my lockup into one thing. 

it's very comfy .

[SRi05]

That's class. You should make some more, I'd buy one 😂

[cort16]

3 minutes ago, SRi05 said:

That's class. You should make some more, I'd buy one 😂

I used to make them years ago and this is all the bits I have left over. Making this one reminded me why I don't it anymore as it took me flippin ages.

 

[Cord Fourteener]

2 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I phoned the garage last night again about the Audi exhaust.

He said his 3rd mechanic would be back today and they would definitely get the job done.

I phoned again today just before 3.

He said that his 3rd mechanic now has Covid and its just the 2 of them in still, so he hadn't looked at it.

I said I'll stop you there, when do you open in the morning. 9am. I'm taking it back tomorrow, together with all the bits I supplied.

He helpfully told me that my front disks and pads also weren't very good. OK thanks, but EHHH???

Remember the car has been there since October 5th. 

Anyone in the Falkirk area feel free to PM me and I'll give you the name of the garage as one to absolutely avoid.

You seem to find the bad ones

[SRi05]

8 minutes ago, Cord Fourteener said:

You seem to find the bad ones

There's plenty of them unfortunately, it's the good ones that are hard to find in my experience

[Cheezey]

3 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

I phoned the garage last night again about the Audi exhaust.

He said his 3rd mechanic would be back today and they would definitely get the job done.

I phoned again today just before 3.

He said that his 3rd mechanic now has Covid and its just the 2 of them in still, so he hadn't looked at it.

I said I'll stop you there, when do you open in the morning. 9am. I'm taking it back tomorrow, together with all the bits I supplied.

He helpfully told me that my front disks and pads also weren't very good. OK thanks, but EHHH???

Remember the car has been there since October 5th. 

Anyone in the Falkirk area feel free to PM me and I'll give you the name of the garage as one to absolutely avoid.

I could just PM but curious if I can guess. Any clues? 
I’ve had this a few times where garages have had my car for over a month. 

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, Cheezey said:

I could just PM but curious if I can guess. Any clues? 
I’ve had this a few times where garages have had my car for over a month. 

It’s odd if they were given the parts - easy money I’d have thought. 

[stuboy]

12 hours ago, richardmorris said:

It’s odd if they were given the parts - easy money I’d have thought. 

exactly what i was thinking

[SiC]

Fabia is making some horrific scraping noises at times. Turning a corner and reversing are the worst. Told the Shitbox Snail (it's what Mrs SiC calls it now) that if it misbehaves even slightly then it'll be off to the bailer..

Had a prolonged cold recently so having a look at this problem was a good chance for me to start getting back into the swing of evening car fettling.

Put the wheels on full lock and gave a good look on both sides but couldn't see anything amiss. Bouncing on the corners didn't bring any banging. Neither rocking the engine on its mounts. Slight tapping from the gear cables though. Rerouted them as I suspect they have been making noise over bumps.

Jacked it up and had a look underneath for loose headshields. Couldn't see anything wrong.





Gave the wheels a wobble and could feel no play.

Hand caught the brake disc heatshield and a bunch of rust fell off. A-ha! I've found the cause.

Took the wheel off to find the offside headshield flaking paint and rust. Attacked it with a scraper to get most of it off.




Plenty of meat on the pads and the discs are barely worn.


Forgave the car and decided I'd finally fit the replacement fog light bulb.


Easy to do on this as you just rip off the plastic and you can get your hand round the back. I didn't bother drying out the condensation. Heat from the bulb can do that.




Boot light doesn't work. Rather annoying now we are getting to evenings being dark early.

Removed the internal boot panel by just pulling it off.


Removed the catch. Used those weird spline bits that look like torx but far more teeth.



Removed the microswitch assembly.
The boot light is the microswitch without the lever arm.


Both are sealed so you can't disassemble and clean up. But the troublesome one I put a tiny pin hole in the boot. Then sprayed contact cleaner in and worked the switch.

Also modded the end stop so the plunger had slightly more action. I suspect these are far too underrated to directly drive a bulb. But good enough to work for the warranty period...
Anyhow got my boot light back.

[Cord Fourteener]

8 hours ago, SiC said:

Fabia is making some horrific scraping noises at times. Turning a corner and reversing are the worst. Told the Shitbox Snail (it's what Mrs SiC calls it now) that if it misbehaves even slightly then it'll be off to the bailer..

Had a prolonged cold recently so having a look at this problem was a good chance for me to start getting back into the swing of evening car fettling.

Put the wheels on full lock and gave a good look on both sides but couldn't see anything amiss. Bouncing on the corners didn't bring any banging. Neither rocking the engine on its mounts. Slight tapping from the gear cables though. Rerouted them as I suspect they have been making noise over bumps.

Jacked it up and had a look underneath for loose headshields. Couldn't see anything wrong.





Gave the wheels a wobble and could feel no play.

Hand caught the brake disc heatshield and a bunch of rust fell off. A-ha! I've found the cause.

Took the wheel off to find the offside headshield flaking paint and rust. Attacked it with a scraper to get most of it off.




Plenty of meat on the pads and the discs are barely worn.


Forgave the car and decided I'd finally fit the replacement fog light bulb.


Easy to do on this as you just rip off the plastic and you can get your hand round the back. I didn't bother drying out the condensation. Heat from the bulb can do that.




Boot light doesn't work. Rather annoying now we are getting to evenings being dark early.

Removed the internal boot panel by just pulling it off.


Removed the catch. Used those weird spline bits that look like torx but far more teeth.



Removed the microswitch assembly.
The boot light is the microswitch without the lever arm.


Both are sealed so you can't disassemble and clean up. But the troublesome one I put a tiny pin hole in the boot. Then sprayed contact cleaner in and worked the switch.

Also modded the end stop so the plunger had slightly more action. I suspect these are far too underrated to directly drive a bulb. But good enough to work for the warranty period...
Anyhow got my boot light back.

Those dust shield are the source of most annoying noises on my cars. 

Fortunately my current fleet are not afflicted yet but I've come to expect it sooner or later. 

[beko1987]

That boot light microswitch looks near identical to a Dyson upright brushroll switch incase the repair doesn't last! 

It probably will last though, fixes like that are often all those things need*