The new news 24 thread

[Metal Guru]

3 hours ago, High Jetter said:

I read that wrong. Reindeers can write?

Snow idea!

[JJ0063]

As some of you will have seen on the Shitemove thread, we are all being well due to complete on a house purchase in around 3-4 weeks… our current house is on oil fired heating and our oil level is very low.. it was virtually empty when we moved in so I’m certainly not buying more.

This has left us having to be very careful with how we use the boiler at the moment. Shower is fine as it’s electric, dishwasher takes care of the dishes so it’s basically warmth and some hot water for hand washing etc. 

I have managed to perfect putting the hot water on for 1-2 hours and it staying hot enough for most of the week, heating wise it’s bloody freezing. Our cottage is very old and drafty… we have an electric blanket on the bed and a couple of electric throws downstairs which are brilliant. Thermostat in the lounge today says it’s 12.5c 😂

I’d rather do this than buy heating oil off the pump for £1.25 a litre or having to waste bulk buying 500l.

[GrumpiusMaximus]

1 minute ago, JJ0063 said:

As some of you will have seen on the Shitemove thread, we are all being well due to complete on a house purchase in around 3-4 weeks… our current house is on oil fired heating and our oil level is very low.. it was virtually empty when we moved in so I’m certainly not buying more.

This has left us having to be very careful with how we use the boiler at the moment. Shower is fine as it’s electric, dishwasher takes care of the dishes so it’s basically warmth and some hot water for hand washing etc. 

I have managed to perfect putting the hot water on for 1-2 hours and it staying hot enough for most of the week, heating wise it’s bloody freezing. Our cottage is very old and drafty… we have an electric blanket on the bed and a couple of electric throws downstairs which are brilliant. Thermostat in the lounge today says it’s 12.5c 😂

I’d rather do this than buy heating oil off the pump for £1.25 a litre or having to waste bulk buying 500l.

Do you have Scottish ancestry?

[JJ0063]

1 minute ago, GrumpiusMaximus said:

Do you have Scottish ancestry?

It’s Sunday and I’m not fully awake, thus may have missed the joke, do explain 

[Rusty_Rocket]

5 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

As some of you will have seen on the Shitemove thread, we are all being well due to complete on a house purchase in around 3-4 weeks… our current house is on oil fired heating and our oil level is very low.. it was virtually empty when we moved in so I’m certainly not buying more.

This has left us having to be very careful with how we use the boiler at the moment. Shower is fine as it’s electric, dishwasher takes care of the dishes so it’s basically warmth and some hot water for hand washing etc. 

I have managed to perfect putting the hot water on for 1-2 hours and it staying hot enough for most of the week, heating wise it’s bloody freezing. Our cottage is very old and drafty… we have an electric blanket on the bed and a couple of electric throws downstairs which are brilliant. Thermostat in the lounge today says it’s 12.5c 😂

I’d rather do this than buy heating oil off the pump for £1.25 a litre or having to waste bulk buying 500l.

I do exactly the same.  Except I'm not moving house, I'm just tight saving my precious oil for when the weathers freezing!  Room 'stat showing 15c this morning, so not too bad...

Good luck with the new place!

[horriblemercedes]

23 minutes ago, JJ0063 said:

It’s Sunday and I’m not fully awake, thus may have missed the joke, do explain 

He's saying you're parsimonious 

 

I think it sounds pretty reasonable not to want to buy oil just as you move out  

[wuvvum]

11 hours ago, SiC said:

So no suspension ECU caused the headlights ECU to throw the headlight adjustment light on the dash. That's an MOT failure item. I bit the bullet on my TT and stuck a bit of insulation tape over the warning light.

EFAS.

[Yoss]

Blue Škoda is in London today parked outside a fancy building. 

It's not actually parked there now of course though I could find no signs to say you couldn't. Despite this I thought it unlikely that it would still be there 8f I left it for a few hours. But I am now parked just round the side. 

It's Hendon Town Hall by the way. 

 

I'm here for other reasons. 

[JJ0063]

45 minutes ago, horriblemercedes said:

He's saying you're parsimonious 

 

I think it sounds pretty reasonable not to want to buy oil just as you move out  

I see!

Yeah fuck am I buying heating oil for someone else. 

[richardmorris]

5 hours ago, horriblemercedes said:

He's saying you're parsimonious 

 

I think it sounds pretty reasonable not to want to buy oil just as you move out  

Quite. Not pouring ( literally with heating oil) money away seems very smart.

[brownnova]

9 hours ago, Rusty_Rocket said:

I do exactly the same.  Except I'm not moving house, I'm just tight saving my precious oil for when the weathers freezing!  Room 'stat showing 15c this morning, so not too bad...

Good luck with the new place!

Pre-children I was the same. Apparently babies need warmth or something according to the wife 

[Zelandeth]

Echoes of when we moved into the last flat in Aberdeen.

We didn't know that there was a prepayment electric meter fitted.  Or that there was about £0.50 left on the emergency credit when we first walked in.  Right up to the point where it went off - at about 22:00 on a Sunday night when it was absolutely tipping it down.  Oh what fun that was to sort out.

[wuvvum]

Now that it's actually getting cold, I decided it was time to put the Renault and the boat away for the winter.  So that was yesterday's job, which involved digging out the Innocenti (I'm not overly happy about that spending the winter outside but it's done so for most of the time since I've owned it and it's holding up a lot better than the Renault), then removing the assorted boxes of crap from the back of the garage and piling them into the van.  Then I wheeled the boat over on its trailer, heaved it off into the garage then leaned it up against the wall and held it in place with a ratchet strap to a handily placed nail in one of the roof beams, and a selection of Haynes manuals shoved underneath to prop it up.  Then the Renault 6 was squeezed in (literally - there's about 3" of width to spare) and I clambered out through the tailgate, which had been left strategically open.  The Mobylette went back in behind the Renault, then I wheeled the Spacy over and parallel parked that next to the Mobylette.  That pretty much filled the garage.

Today's main job was to replace the nearside rear window regulator on the Toyota.  So I moved the Volvo down to the car park and pulled the Toyota onto the drive so I could get to it with electricity.  The mains dremel with a cutting disc attached made short work of cutting through the seized cables on the old regulator (I do have a cordless dremel but it's shit), and I was then able to drop the window down and unbolt it from the regulator.  A fair bit of wangling later the regulator assembly was out (the most awkward bit was getting the wiring off without breaking the retaining clips) and I was ready to fit the new one. 

Except that the new one didn't fit.  I'm not sure exactly whether they've sent me the wrong one or whether it's just a shit aftermarket part, but it looks similar-but-not-the-same and one of the mounting studs isn't even close to lining up with its hole.  The other two sort of line up so I was able to poke them part way through their respective holes then pull them through by winding the nuts back on.  It was a similar story with attaching the glass to the slide mechanism - one of the holes was OK but the other one didn't quite line up and needed a fair bit of buggering about before I could get the bolt in.  Oh, and the motor is wired the wrong way round so you now have to press the switch down to wind the window up.  It's in there though and the window is now securely closed and can be opened if need be, although only part way.  I should probably complain to the seller but to be honest I really can't be arsed.

The new front number plate arrived for the Visa so I fitted that.  I also clipped the headlights in properly and refitted the driver's door card, so it looks a bit more like a usable car even if it isn't quite yet. 

I've also ordered a seat cover for the driver's seat as the upholstery is (as you'd expect from a 40-year-old Citroën) pretty fucked.  The other seats really need covers as well but that can wait until the car's back on the road.  I've treated it to a new wiper blade and ordered a screen wash pump.  I still can't get the offside rear indicator to do anything, although the tail light on that side is now working most of the time.

The Maxus got treated to a shiny new battery.  The 075 battery that I put on it when the old battery died was just about managing OK in the warm weather, but now that it's cold it really wasn't coping.  So I bought the next size up (096) which has improved cold starting quite a lot.  The 075 is on the Visa for now, but long term I'm going to fit it to the Toyota and the Visa can then have the Toyota's 063.  I do love a game of musical batteries...

I also fitted an additional LED reversing light to the Maxus.  It's quite bright.

That along with the reversing camera should mean that I can avoid backing into anything now that it's dark most of the time.

[Kiltox]

On 11/13/2022 at 6:27 PM, Kiltox said:

Just won a job lot of 59 on eBay for less than I think the postage will cost so I’m not holding my breath on them actually turning up 😂 

 

Bugger me!

[New POD]

On 20/11/2022 at 10:09, JJ0063 said:

It’s Sunday and I’m not fully awake, thus may have missed the joke, do explain 

He's calling you a tight arse. Probably..

[GingerNuttz]

Next foor neighbours car failed it's mot and the garage quoted her £1000 for this welding

One side isn't even holed 😂 

Best thing about it is my uncle is the mot tester in the place, shower of robbing bastards.

 

[richardmorris]

[richardmorris]

And the bad news is about the parents DS4. Dealer said the battery was dead ( well it’s been sitting with them for three weeks after not starting). Battery fitted on Thursday, needed diagnostic on Friday and they rang ( me accidentally and not dad) at 4.30 today to say the battery control unit wasn’t turning off and so a constant drain. Just £740 of your Earth pounds! They can do it tomorrow which is a damn sight faster than they could get a battery.

[Dyslexic Viking]

We've had our first real snowfall and like every year, it's a sure sign of winter when the landscape is littered with crashed Yarises.

[brownnova]

Would the plural of Yaris be Yarises or Yari? 

[Dyslexic Viking]

5 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Would the plural of Yaris be Yarises or Yari? 

Plural is new to me but after a quick google I understand.  And not sure but changing to Yarises  now. Think that's right?

[stuboy]

Missus sister calls to say her car won't start at the nursery, shot over jumped started it, started immediately, said its getting damper and colder so batteries start to die off... It gave me a chance to use my battery tester, and it said 'replace'.. much talking between the missus and her sister resulted in me calling hafrauds and she went off to get a battery fitted for 85 English pounds...cash today...lol which I thought was ok as I was due to go too work and not had time.

[richardmorris]

11 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Would the plural of Yaris be Yarises or Yari? 

Not sure. But as a collective noun….a yuck?

 

ps shame they haven’t really cloned Gareth bale..( your Gareth bales…).

[Yoss]

Did some driving in London yesterday for the first time in a long time, I think since the extended ULEZ was introduced. So I can't go inside the North Circular as neither of my Škodas is compliant (the Triumph is exempt, certainly not compliant and whilst it does seem to work I still haven't completely finished putting it back together and need to do some short runs before I attempt anything like this). 

But no worry, I'm heading for Hendon which is just outside the North Circular. I did have to do a swift U turn at one point as I used one of my old shortcuts through Brentford and Ealing (it's not really a shortcut in terms of distance but it cuts out Kew Bridge and Gunnersbury roundabout which can be a nightmare) when approaching the North Circular it said no left turn. I can understand no right turn but no left turn makes no sense. Going straight on would take me in to ULEZ land. Fortunately being 9.30 on a Sunday morning it was relatively easy, London doesn't wake up very early on a Sunday. 

Once there I was riding round on old buses, as some of you will have seen, some of which were going inside ULEZ but my observation is that are still plenty of non compliant cars both sides of the boundary. 

These two were in the same road in Golders Green, well inside the zone. 

Shirley these aren't compliant if my Škodas aren't. Maybe they just popped in for the day but the Micra in particular didn't look like it moved often, lots of leaves on and around it. So how does it work if you are parked inside the zone and stay there? Do you get charged every day or just as you enter? They can't have cameras everywhere (actually they probably can), there must be hundreds just on the boundary. But with the above pair it wouldn't take long before the charges (£12 a pop) pass the value of the car. These weren't the only two by any means. Maybe I'm just tight but I wouldn't even consider entering with my two. 

 

Another observation (I'm suddenly thinking I should be putting this in the grumpy thread but hey ho), driving through Brentford and Ealing it's now almost a blanket 20mph speed limit. I even saw a speed camera in the 20 limit which is a first for me. Ironically the only bit you were allowed to go faster was on the North Circular itself but on a Sunday evening you can't. But as soon as soon as you turn off you could but you're not allowed. 

I don't know when this all happened, possibly the same time as ULEZ perhaps, the painted 20s on the roads certainly didn't look that fresh. I used to drive round London all the time, but don't any more, but they are certainly doing their best to make it as unpleasant as possible. I guess that's the idea. 

[Barry Cade]

Today's infatuation is the Renault Wind. 

Help.

[richardmorris]

4 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

Today's infatuation is the Renault Wind. 

Help.

Is that the weird two door targa thing? I’ve never seen one. Did they sell any?

[horriblemercedes]

19 minutes ago, Yoss said:

Did some driving in London yesterday for the first time in a long time, I think since the extended ULEZ was introduced. So I can't go inside the North Circular as neither of my Škodas is compliant (the Triumph is exempt, certainly not compliant and whilst it does seem to work I still haven't completely finished putting it back together and need to do some short runs before I attempt anything like this). 

But no worry, I'm heading for Hendon which is just outside the North Circular. I did have to do a swift U turn at one point as I used one of my old shortcuts through Brentford and Ealing (it's not really a shortcut in terms of distance but it cuts out Kew Bridge and Gunnersbury roundabout which can be a nightmare) when approaching the North Circular it said no left turn. I can understand no right turn but no left turn makes no sense. Going straight on would take me in to ULEZ land. Fortunately being 9.30 on a Sunday morning it was relatively easy, London doesn't wake up very early on a Sunday. 

Once there I was riding round on old buses, as some of you will have seen, some of which were going inside ULEZ but my observation is that are still plenty of non compliant cars both sides of the boundary. 

These two were in the same road in Golders Green, well inside the zone. 

Shirley these aren't compliant if my Škodas aren't. Maybe they just popped in for the day but the Micra in particular didn't look like it moved often, lots of leaves on and around it. So how does it work if you are parked inside the zone and stay there? Do you get charged every day or just as you enter? They can't have cameras everywhere (actually they probably can), there must be hundreds just on the boundary. But with the above pair it wouldn't take long before the charges (£12 a pop) pass the value of the car. These weren't the only two by any means. Maybe I'm just tight but I wouldn't even consider entering with my two. 

 

Another observation (I'm suddenly thinking I should be putting this in the grumpy thread but hey ho), driving through Brentford and Ealing it's now almost a blanket 20mph speed limit. I even saw a speed camera in the 20 limit which is a first for me. Ironically the only bit you were allowed to go faster was on the North Circular itself but on a Sunday evening you can't. But as soon as soon as you turn off you could but you're not allowed. 

I don't know when this all happened, possibly the same time as ULEZ perhaps, the painted 20s on the roads certainly didn't look that fresh. I used to drive round London all the time, but don't any more, but they are certainly doing their best to make it as unpleasant as possible. I guess that's the idea. 

The Fiat would almost definitely be compliant. You only have to pay if you move the car. If parked, it won't pass a camera and therefore trigger an alert

[Barry Cade]

5 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Is that the weird two door targa thing? I’ve never seen one. Did they sell any?

I saw one today, and have been browsing.. A dealer locally has one in for sale, in a rather nice spec. Autocar likened it to a modern X1/9... 😆

[richardmorris]

3 minutes ago, Barry Cade said:

I saw one today, and have been browsing.. A dealer locally has one in for sale, in a rather nice spec. Autocar likened it to a modern X1/9... 😆

Just been refreshing my memory. Yes x1/9 ish. But just having your head visible from the side is weird.

The proportions are a little off I think.

 

[Barry Cade]

This is the local one,, might be nosey. Developed by Renaultsport seemingly... I think I may be too tall for them..