The new news 24 thread

[catsinthewelder]

Had a fairly good car day yesterday, started off in a borrowed van as the car had a sticky brake.  This was an arse to park at the motor factors but I did see a good sign on the notice board by the door.

Wanted 

Discovery, Old type 

I thought brilliant until I read the next line;

Not rotten 🤬

So I went in, got all the service bits I needed along with a new caliper for my Focus.

Found the workshop empty at work, they were contemplating changing the oil on a newish A4 but were glad of an excuse not to so I set to work.

First the caliper, it was completely seized onto the hose but I'd already bought one of them when trying to fix it before Xmas.  Fortunately the hose wasn't seized onto the steel brake pipe. 

Seeing a problem ahead I unpacked the caliper and hose and screwed them together to save time dripping brake fluid, if doing it again, I could have saved more time by unseizing the steel clip that holds the hose to the bracket.  Fortunately it only dripped slowly so the increased fannying about didn't have too much effect on the size of the puddle.  Amazingly the rest all went together nicely, I reused the pads as I only bought them last month (hoping it would solve the sticky brake problem for longer than a fortnight).  The boss helped bleed them and we had a good pedal in 5 minutes which is better than I've ever managed with an eezibleed.

A quick service followed which was fine apart from snapping an intake pipe clip while trying to get to the oil filter.  It's running loads better now but the pipes popped off so I need to engineer a cable tie based solution today.

 

 

 

[JJ0063]

Decided to take the rest of the week as holiday from work so I’m thinking of popping to my local scrap yard to get a couple of bits for ambers Bini

If I go I’ll take a load of pics, it’s a proper AS scrappy where you take bits yourself and much of their stuff is proper chod. They don’t have much newer than mid 00s in there.

[Rod/b]

Got back from a few weeks in the UK to find the truck without sufficient electrons in the box to even unlock the doors on the button. Jumped it up using the Kia Mumbus and took it for a spin to see if i could persuade some electricity back into the battery.

Parked up and came back a while later to this:

Upon closer inspection this quick connect elbow on the bottom of the header tank has given up the ghost.

 

Also the battery was flat again so i boosted it and took it down to my tame mechanic as I haven’t got time for dicking about with cars at the moment.

On the way there the tyre light came on, and by the time i arrived the left front was flat. So that’s brilliant too.

The battery is testing is bad, oh and it needs a front wheel bearing.   Always happens right after christmas doesn’t it?

EDIT:

Update - the header tank needs replacing too. Quite excellently Ford have combined the air box and header tank in one unit and therefore it costs £200, which is more than the replacement 4x4 locking hub and bearing unit costs.

Here’s one of the pictures the garage keeps whatsapping to me.

[JJ0063]

I got to the scrappy at 12:36, they close for lunch at 12:30.. typical. I managed to run in and check but only r50 Minis in stock so nothing for me. Didn’t have time to have a full wander round for photos but heres a couple from the row I was on:

The other end is much better - AX, ZX, E36, old vans etc some proper early 90s chod there. 

 

[chadders]

Where is that please?

[JJ0063]

2 minutes ago, chadders said:

Where is that please?

Just outside Dereham, Norfolk

its called Warmers Car Spares 👍

[junkyarddog]

18 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

Just outside Dereham, Norfolk

its called Warmers Car Spares 👍

Was there once,very tidy yard.

[SiC]

"New" car has just been delivered. Bought in the wet and delivered in the wet. Never actually seen it in the dry, so hopefully it's ok! Its the most I've ever spent on a car and much rather not have spent this much. But with the crazy market and needing a car, needs must.
Our dead A4 is due to be taken away on Thursday all being well.

[Rod/b]

1 hour ago, Rod/b said:

Got back from a few weeks in the UK to find the truck without sufficient electrons in the box to even unlock the doors on the button. Jumped it up using the Kia Mumbus and took it for a spin to see if i could persuade some electricity back into the battery.

Parked up and came back a while later to this:

Upon closer inspection this quick connect elbow on the bottom of the header tank has given up the ghost.

 

Also the battery was flat again so i boosted it and took it down to my tame mechanic as I haven’t got time for dicking about with cars at the moment.

On the way there the tyre light came on, and by the time i arrived the left front was flat. So that’s brilliant too.

The battery is testing is bad, oh and it needs a front wheel bearing.   Always happens right after christmas doesn’t it?

EDIT:

Update - the header tank needs replacing too. Quite excellently Ford have combined the air box and header tank in one unit and therefore it costs £200, which is more than the replacement 4x4 locking hub and bearing unit costs.

Here’s one of the pictures the garage keeps whatsapping to me.

See? Pic updates whatsapped all the way.

 

[JJ0063]

20 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Was there once,very tidy yard.

Yeah they’re nice down there too. I went to college many years ago with one of them. 
 

It’s my local yard, they never seem to rotate stock much annoyingly but it’s nice to just have a wander and look at the chod to be honest. 

I did many years ago get a 205 GTI steering wheel for £10 out of a 106 which I used for a few months then sold for £120 on eBay.

[dozeydustman]

That looks like a great yard to walk around.

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Rod/b said:

See? Pic updates whatsapped all the way.

 

Sounds like heaven compared to trying to get updates out of most garages!

[Yoss]

17 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Is that why we haven't had any post since NYE? 

Only new years eve, you're doing well! The week before Christmas we lost over 40 staff to covid. That's in an office of around 130, so almost a third of our staff. Most of those are back now but more are off as it spreads. I was lucky* enough to catch it in November so I was immune to this wave but it has been both chaotic and eerily calm at the same time as parts of the office are practically empty. The bosses have given up, there's not a lot they can do really. We work in pairs from each van but every time one of us has a day off we don't have any cover so it'll just be me covering both duties. What tends to happen is I concentrate on the packets and leave the mail behind as its the packets people want and they take up more volume. Then the next day we'll have two days mail to clear. Then it will be my partners day off and we're back to square one. But our customers are the lucky ones, they only miss out one day. The duties where both posties in the pair have gone off are a lot more hit and miss and it is just pot luck. We do our best. Most of us anyway. 

17 hours ago, Asimo said:

What happened to cleaning the vehicle at the end of the shift? If the scuttle is that neglected, how is the sump?

 

Ha ha, I've never washed it and it's ten years old. There are no facilities at our office to wash them even if I wanted to. But there is no time in the duties anyway, I'm usually at least half an hour late getting back. 

When I started we only kept the vans for three years. You always used to see old Royal Mail Sherpas knocking about in private hands. I think they were auctioned off and probably a good buy as they were generally well looked after. Not any more, my Pug is ten years old this year. You never really see them in private hands now because we keep them until they utterly fucked. I guess it makes sense from a private companies point of view but it doesn't do much for the public image. 

It does get serviced twice a year and obviously MOT'd but the garage never wash them either. I even have lichen growing on mine and that takes decades to grow. 

[grogee]

3 hours ago, Rod/b said:

Got back from a few weeks in the UK to find the truck without sufficient electrons in the box to even unlock the doors on the button. Jumped it up using the Kia Mumbus and took it for a spin to see if i could persuade some electricity back into the battery.

Parked up and came back a while later to this:

Upon closer inspection this quick connect elbow on the bottom of the header tank has given up the ghost.

 

Also the battery was flat again so i boosted it and took it down to my tame mechanic as I haven’t got time for dicking about with cars at the moment.

On the way there the tyre light came on, and by the time i arrived the left front was flat. So that’s brilliant too.

The battery is testing is bad, oh and it needs a front wheel bearing.   Always happens right after christmas doesn’t it?

EDIT:

Update - the header tank needs replacing too. Quite excellently Ford have combined the air box and header tank in one unit and therefore it costs £200, which is more than the replacement 4x4 locking hub and bearing unit costs.

Here’s one of the pictures the garage keeps whatsapping to me.

Sorry for your January automotive expense. 

On a related note, I take pics and videos of work I do for 'customers' (don't tell tax man). I can't believe most UK garages haven't caught onto this. It's easy and free, plus you often need pics as reference anyway. And it's reassuring for the customer. 

[grogee]

8 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Only new years eve, you're doing well! The week before Christmas we lost over 40 staff to covid. That's in an office of around 130, so almost a third of our staff. Most of those are back now but more are off as it spreads. I was lucky* enough to catch it in November so I was immune to this wave but it has been both chaotic and eerily calm at the same time as parts of the office are practically empty. The bosses have given up, there's not a lot they can do really. We work in pairs from each van but every time one of us has a day off we don't have any cover so it'll just be me covering both duties. What tends to happen is I concentrate on the packets and leave the mail behind as its the packets people want and they take up more volume. Then the next day we'll have two days mail to clear. Then it will be my partners day off and we're back to square one. But our customers are the lucky ones, they only miss out one day. The duties where both posties in the pair have gone off are a lot more hit and miss and it is just pot luck. We do our best. Most of us anyway. 

Ha ha, I've never washed it and it's ten years old. There are no facilities at our office to wash them even if I wanted to. But there is no time in the duties anyway, I'm usually at least half an hour late getting back. 

When I started we only kept the vans for three years. You always used to see old Royal Mail Sherpas knocking about in private hands. I think they were auctioned off and probably a good buy as they were generally well looked after. Not any more, my Pug is ten years old this year. You never really see them in private hands now because we keep them until they utterly fucked. I guess it makes sense from a private companies point of view but it doesn't do much for the public image. 

It does get serviced twice a year and obviously MOT'd but the garage never wash them either. I even have lichen growing on mine and that takes decades to grow. 

Thanks for your postie efforts in these challenging times. It can't be easy. We are blessed with a lovely post lady who is very friendly and helpful. She got a bottle of wine for Xmas from us but now I feel bad that no-one in the depot got anything!

[Lankytim]

I spied these poorly advertised Cobra slot wheels on eBay, as they were local I stuck on a very low bid and won. After getting over my immediate buyers remorse I arranged with the seller to collect and picked them up today. 

The seller hadn't advertised the size or the PCD but it turns out they're 14x6  with a PCD of 130mm, meaning they were probably fitted to a classic Beetle, although I think they'll fit some Skodas too. Not much use for me, unfortunately. 

I'm going to remove the scrap tyres, clean them up and stick them on eBay again, except this time I'll give them a proper description. 

 

 

[Zelandeth]

About six months ago my housemate's company car threw a hissy fit.  While sitting stationary in a traffic jam, the traffic jam assist, adaptive and standard cruise, collision avoidance system and park assist all announced on mass that they were out of order.  Today the dealer was finally able to get it in for a diagnostic session.

Their assessment: The wheel alignment is out, and that's not a warranty issue so will be £110 plus VAT to sort.

I am seriously calling bullshit on that...I reckon they've cleared the codes and looked for something chargeable they can spend ten minutes doing to make it worthwhile.

Taking bets on how long after we get it back tomorrow before the fault reappears.  I give it a week.  Though it should have been handed back about four months back as it is, nobody knows when the next one is likely to surface.

Audi haven't had a great track record with us really where defects, and especially their ability to fix them are concerned.

[grogee]

6 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

About six months ago my housemate's company car threw a hissy fit.  While sitting stationary in a traffic jam, the traffic jam assist, adaptive and standard cruise, collision avoidance system and park assist all announced on mass that they were out of order.  Today the dealer was finally able to get it in for a diagnostic session.

Their assessment: The wheel alignment is out, and that's not a warranty issue so will be £110 plus VAT to sort.

I am seriously calling bullshit on that...I reckon they've cleared the codes and looked for something chargeable they can spend ten minutes doing to make it worthwhile.

Taking bets on how long after we get it back tomorrow before the fault reappears.  I give it a week.  Though it should have been handed back about four months back as it is, nobody knows when the next one is likely to surface.

Audi haven't had a great track record with us really where defects, and especially their ability to fix them are concerned.

Get to fuck! Wheel alignment my ass. 

I think with this sort of thing an electronic hiccup can knock all those things out, but the first course of action is pull codes - record - clear codes - test drive. But that is of course not chargeable. 

I'd be saying that's an outrageous cost for wheel alignment, and you're not paying. Cheeky fuckers - name and shame

[Yoss]

16 minutes ago, grogee said:

Thanks for your postie efforts in these challenging times. It can't be easy. We are blessed with a lovely post lady who is very friendly and helpful. She got a bottle of wine for Xmas from us but now I feel bad that no-one in the depot got anything!

Cheers, like I say most of us do our best. There are a few try to do as little possible and seem to get away with it, but probably no more than in any other large organisation. I do alright at Christmas so I must be doing something right. 

[Zelandeth]

10 minutes ago, grogee said:

Get to fuck! Wheel alignment my ass. 

I think with this sort of thing an electronic hiccup can knock all those things out, but the first course of action is pull codes - record - clear codes - test drive. But that is of course not chargeable. 

I'd be saying that's an outrageous cost for wheel alignment, and you're not paying. Cheeky fuckers - name and shame

Sadly as it's a company car telling them to do one and take it elsewhere isn't an option.  This is the same main dealer which "repaired" a broken seat adjuster (the handle snapped off the first time we tried to adjust the backrest) on a TT a few years ago simply by gluing it back on rather than replacing the part.  Twice.

[Sunny Jim]

The only good thing about getting up in the dark at this time of year is seeing a sunrise like this on the way to work.

[wuvvum]

Wow!  That is spectacular!

[Sunny Jim]

Here's the shiter's shot

[HMC]

Ongoing use of the s type r as the main car. Fun, quite discrete and practical (photo taken during pizza collection, earlier )

[wuvvum]

How many sets of rear tyres have you got through so far?

[HMC]

25 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

How many sets of rear tyres have you got through so far?

You have clearly understood my relationship with this car 😂

[loserone]

54 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Here's the shiter's shot

Too late for a calendar entry ?

[grogee]

Promising call re: job this afternoon. The nice thing about it was I sent a CV this morning, then a Person who works there called me for a friendly and informal chat this afternoon. There was no HR bollocks and I'm guessing my CV hadn't been computer-filtered. 

Interview next Thurs apparently. I need to buy a shirt. 

[GMcD]

5 hours ago, SiC said:

"New" car has just been delivered. Bought in the wet and delivered in the wet. Never actually seen it in the dry, so hopefully it's ok! Its the most I've ever spent on a car and much rather not have spent this much. But with the crazy market and needing a car, needs must.
Our dead A4 is due to be taken away on Thursday all being well.

I do like these a lot. Good choice 🙂. 

[Angrydicky]

2 hours ago, HMC said:

Ongoing use of the s type r as the main car. Fun, quite discrete and practical (photo taken during pizza collection, earlier )

Nice '63 Lincolnshire plate on that, did it come with the Jag?