The new news 24 thread

[richardmorris]

[Snake Charmer]

Panic over, you can all stop searching now. I went on the hunt for a knackered compressor out of my Mercedes last night and found the security remote from a Kenwood car stereo l have been trying to find for 25 years. 😁

The battery is original and still holding 3.2V. 🫢

[stuboy]

I purchased this... anyone used it before? I was looking for a corrosion remover for electrical plugs etc and seen this. Wernt cheap.. shiter in me now don't wanna use it as cost lots more than wd40 does.

 

 

[lesapandre]

A tear in the space-time continum this morning.

As with all Rootes  products beautifully detailed design exuding quality.

Manufactured at their Dunstable plant - then converted to a camper by someone professional (maybe Dormobile?).  Now a food truck - but not ruined to convert back sometime.

A rare sight - hardly ever see them - at one time they were everywhere.

Full history of these vans here:

https://www.allpar.com/d3/squads/spacevan.html

[SiC]

On 10/02/2025 at 22:39, Split_Pin said:

More BMW fun in the scheißhoosen that is my garage.

I am hoping that the code for the o2 sensor might be a bit of a red herring as I also got one for the throttle position sensor. On a normal* car, accessing and removing the throttle body is easy. Not so on an M54.

The TB is buried under the air intake paraphernalia, the DISA valve, the idle control valve (twat), some loom and it sits on the side of the inlet.  It's an absolute hoor to remove, especially the hose clamp that attaches the last bit of intake to the TB (cunt). It's so tight that the worm drive can only sit at one position and it's hell to get to.

Anyway, got it all off and cleaned up the TB.

As you can see before cleaning it wasn't too bad so I reckon it might be the o2 sensor after all. Oh well, free fixes must be tried first.

Disa valve also looked decent.

Someone's been in before me and snapped a 10 mil that holds the idle control valve on but I don't think it matters as it's still secure.

Did you clean the ICV when you were there? They should rattle when disconnected and off. If it doesn't then it needs cleaning. 

[Split_Pin]

19 minutes ago, SiC said:

Did you clean the ICV when you were there? They should rattle when disconnected and off. If it doesn't then it needs cleaning. 

I went as far as spraying brake cleaner in it and letting it run through but due to my ignorance I didn't want to go any further. Very easy to take off again if my problems persist though.

[PhilA]

Might have agreed to purchase a new car.

 

(edit: it's not totally shite)

[Popsicle]

The new bolts and washers for the couriering Caddys fuel filter housing turned up earlier.

Went out to fit them and the fuel filter housing is bone dry - I have done over 600 miles since I serviced on Sunday, so its had a good run.

I did nip the bolts up and put a slather of vaseline around the rubber seal, must have done the job.

As I have a habit of doing jobs that don't need doing and everything going wrong, I decided to leave well alone and put the bolts somewhere safe for the next service.

Top computer desk drawer, in the study. Remind me please folks when I can't find them in a few months.....

[Popsicle]

I've also been playing with a new toy. I decided to put a cheap tracker on the van, more for seeing what I've done/places I've been, than for security, its far more in depth than I expected and there are quite a few reports that it can run - very impressed so far. Fitted over the weekend and so far.

Routes I've done.

Miles, cost and co2.

It provides events for harsh acceleration (not possible in my van🤣), harsh braking and aggressive cornering.

The idling score was probably caused by two things, rush hour on the M42 and a crash on the A50 near Stoke, but maybe I need to corner a bit more sedately.....

 

[loserone]

Oooh, link?

[tooSavvy]

6 hours ago, lesapandre said:

A tear in the space-time continum this morning.

As with all Rootes  products beautifully detailed design exuding quality.

Manufactured at their Dunstable plant - then converted to a camper by someone professional (maybe Dormobile?).  Now a food truck - but not ruined to convert back sometime.

A rare sight - hardly ever see them - at one time they were everywhere.

Full history of these vans here:

https://www.allpar.com/d3/squads/spacevan.html

Ahhh.... P.O. Vanning 👍

I chopped the 'waistline' strip out of one, in the scrappies, using a bolster chisel.. to get welded into my IMP (front lower panel) .. good job too ✔️

🚙💨

[Popsicle]

22 minutes ago, loserone said:

Oooh, link?

https://www.trutrak.co.uk/

Strangely the trackers were a bit cheaper, with discount codes, on ebay https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184337269963

[loserone]

£60 a year.  Not bad!

[Popsicle]

5 minutes ago, loserone said:

£60 a year.  Not bad!

Yea seems decent value, I used to pay £15+ the tonic per month about 10 years ago for similar.

[loserone]

Pretty sure there will be no harsh cornering or heavy braking events for the express 

[barefoot]

7 hours ago, lesapandre said:

A tear in the space-time continum this morning.

As with all Rootes  products beautifully detailed design exuding quality.

Manufactured at their Dunstable plant - then converted to a camper by someone professional (maybe Dormobile?).  Now a food truck - but not ruined to convert back sometime.

A rare sight - hardly ever see them - at one time they were everywhere.

Full history of these vans here:

https://www.allpar.com/d3/squads/spacevan.html

That's not a Dormabile roof.

[Mally]

12 minutes ago, barefoot said:

That's not a Dormabile roof.

Go on then, tell us what it is, he did say maybe, and it's quite similar.

[louiepj]

I purchased this... anyone used it before? I was looking for a corrosion remover for electrical plugs etc and seen this. Wernt cheap.. shiter in me now don't wanna use it as cost lots more than wd40 does.
 
 

A lot of the U.S. youtubers I watch swear by it and I have used it before and rate it.
Just do not like spending £20+ on a can when isopropyl alcohol is so cheap and good at cleaning electrical contacts.
Think it's only 5% deoxit secret blend, mostly white spirit and then the propellent in the can.

[gm]

well, that's getting into Newcastle from the south basically fucked then !

[stuboy]

Thought it was time to change the pollen filter.

[PhilA]

25 minutes ago, louiepj said:

A lot of the U.S. youtubers I watch swear by it and I have used it before and rate it.
Just do not like spending £20+ on a can when isopropyl alcohol is so cheap and good at cleaning electrical contacts.
Think it's only 5% deoxit secret blend, mostly white spirit and then the propellent in the can.

Yup, and it's good stuff. The D100L in the little sewing machine oil looking bottle, bright red is the 100% deoxit which copier machine techs, electronics repair and generally anybody who has corrosive environments with connectors all swear by it. 

Phil

[PhilA]

3 hours ago, PhilA said:

Might have agreed to purchase a new car.

 

(edit: it's not totally shite)

If all goes well, this will be in my future. 

Phil

[barefoot]

34 minutes ago, Mally said:

Go on then, tell us what it is, he did say maybe, and it's quite similar.

Not a clue, it's just that a dormy roof is much thicker, more bulbus.

[loserone]

13 minutes ago, PhilA said:

If all goes well, this will be in my future. 

Phil

[lesapandre]

18 minutes ago, barefoot said:

Not a clue, it's just that a dormy roof is much thicker, more bulbus.

Will need a better expert than I. Autosleeper, Bluebird Moto, Danbury and even Rootes amongst others were converting these van to campers. 

Perhaps we need a classic camper thread?

[PhilA]

14 minutes ago, loserone said:

As nice as that would be, no.

[richardmorris]

10 hours ago, stuboy said:

I purchased this... anyone used it before? I was looking for a corrosion remover for electrical plugs etc and seen this. Wernt cheap.. shiter in me now don't wanna use it as cost lots more than wd40 does.

 

 

Not specifically- I’m still using my can from Maplin! Take a photo of the ingredients on the back.

alcohols alone won’t dissolve the green furry bits.

[Schaefft]

2 hours ago, gm said:

well, that's getting into Newcastle from the south basically fucked then !

This will lead to apocalyptic street scenes in no time. Tyne bridge getting renovated, Gateshead overpass blocked off and now Redheugh Bridge as well!

Edit: Just for a day, crisis averted!

[gm]

7 minutes ago, Schaefft said:

This will lead to apocalyptic street scenes in no time. Tyne bridge getting renovated, Gateshead overpass blocked off and now Redheugh Bridge as well!

Edit: Just for a day, crisis averted!

ah, i didn’t actually bother reading the article   

[richardmorris]

29 minutes ago, gm said:

ah, i didn’t actually bother reading the article   

At the moment the a 319 has been closed all week. So has the alternative side road. The a320 has roadworks. As does the a30. Goofle and tomtom suggest the m3 which is twice as far.