The new news 24 thread

[scaryoldcortina]

Foot to the floor does work to clear a flood on a K-jet car too. Useful for hot start issues on xr4x4s.....

[worldofceri]

Interesting, thanks. The Saab floods easily if it doesn't fire on the first couple of turns of the starter. I've found pulling the wire off the cold start injector helps!

[Cavcraft]

Flip me if I haven't just guffed my money on a 2010 Corsa and a fairly early Mk3 Transit pick-up has just come up for sale.  

[Mally]

My godmother, the original owner of my X1/9 is currently in hospital having broken her hip and femur falling off a stool when changing a lightbulb. You'd think people in their eighties would have a little more sense! Anyway she's now talking ( in the ward still) of getting a stairlift and swapping the Astra for an automatic. There's no stopping some people.

 

Quite common broken hips at that age. Some fall from great heights, some trip over nothing.

Takes a good while to heal and not always perfect walking afterwards.

Spell in rehabilitation is often advised, and best, although many just want to get home.

Stairlifts are good, Bungalows are better. Auto is perfect, surprised she hasn't already got one.

Keep going as long as possible. Don't take risks is the advice. But few listen including me.

[panhard65]

Had an mot cancel today so it looks like the Horizon can have the slot. New screen fitted but the trims are pretty buggered. I have found new ones in France but we will see what comes up on the test first. I can see it getting an expensive prize

[richardmorris]

Quite common broken hips at that age. Some fall from great heights, some trip over nothing.

Takes a good while to heal and not always perfect walking afterwards.

Spell in rehabilitation is often advised, and best, although many just want to get home.

Stairlifts are good, Bungalows are better. Auto is perfect, surprised she hasn't already got one.

Keep going as long as possible. Don't take risks is the advice. But few listen including me.

 

 

My Dad's been to see her - she's in the Maelor in Wrexham. Say's she's quite upbeat - she's not a typical octogenarian anyway. She has a manual because she's always liked driving with spirit - the x1/9 was the last in the line of small sports cars (tr7s, spitfires etc).

[egg]

Any clever ideas in undoing this nut? Screw just rotates with it in whatever stupid plastic mounting it's in. As you can see a Motorcraft battery on a 14 year old Fusion suggests it hasn't been undone in a while. Current next plan is to hacksaw the nut off in bits! Can't swing the clamp out of the way either.

 

 

[beko1987]

Ring spanner on the nut then mole grips on the thread? You'll need to be careful not to ruin the thread though. Maybe clamp it using a rag over the jaws, then hope once the nuts cracked off it just spins freely?

 

Or just hammer a bigger battery over the top

[beko1987]

Or cut a slot in the top of the bolt and hold it with a flatblade screwdriver then spanner the nut off? The nut should clean swarf off the top of the bolt as it meets it

[egg]

Good ideas. I don't have mole grips, usually borrow my dad's ones. Tried with some pliers and have damaged the thread a bit. This car has fought me for the last two years on every job! 

 

Going to leave it to soak overnight and the Mondeo will continue to provide work transport for now.

[beko1987]

Cut the bracket off and cabletie the battery to the tray? The Meriva has this because the thread on the clamp bolt is fucked and even the massively picky MOT place I use didnt flag it up!

[egg]

TBH, the bracket/clamp seems like a bit of an overkill anyway, the battery sits in a solid plastic box and is very unlikely to move much! Ministry of crap design as Ben Elton used to say.

[cros]

Flip me if I haven't just guffed my money on a 2010 Corsa and a fairly early Mk3 Transit pick-up has just come up for sale.

 

I don't know how you can look yourself in the eye.

[Kiltox]

TBH, the bracket/clamp seems like a bit of an overkill anyway, the battery sits in a solid plastic box and is very unlikely to move much! Ministry of crap design as Ben Elton used to say.

It'll still fail the MOT as insecure if you don't have an alternative way of holding it down - "unlikely to move much" isn't really acceptable.

[Kiltox]

Flip me if I haven't just guffed my money on a 2010 Corsa and a fairly early Mk3 Transit pick-up has just come up for sale.

Your friendly trade buyer can probably take a slightly fucked 2010 Corsa off your hands if needed

[fordperv]

can you not prise the clamp up from the end youve undone and once its clear of the threads rotate it out of the way?

[dollywobbler]

With the RAV heading to a new home, I thought I'd better wash it. Just before I drive it 100 miles to the new owner. That was clever. Still, I shall enjoy its cleanliness for now.

[scaryoldcortina]

I think there is usually another clamp on the tray holding the battery down. Those stupid over the top ones are more trouble than they are worth. Seeing how the stud is already spinning in the plastic housing I'd just prise it out and throw it away along with the rest of it.

[Jim Bell]

 

 

Maf jiggered?

[Supernaut]

Probably got a leaf stuck in it.

[Barry Cade]

Probably got a leaf stuck in it.

[Barry Cade]

Had a nice morning in upullit yesterday. 1 MG in the whole place, a TF. Bollocks thought I.. until I spotted the brand new hood. Grabbed that along with a load of other bits,bonnet cable, heater vents,upgraded wiper linkage,fag lighter,interior mirror and other odds and ends. £40 the lot

 

Starts off the button in -5, it's getting there!

 

[320touring]

Good news re the hood:)

[Supernaut]

The Xantia's CD changer is coming over all French.

 

I have 6 CD-Rs in it. All are Sony, and all were written by the same drive in the same computer. A couple work fine, a couple will read but skip all over the shot, and a couple just come up with an error.

 

There was a reason I used that aftermarket radio in it for a while. I may put that back in. At least it has a USB port so I can stick a thumb drive full of music in there, but I lose the steering wheel controls.

 

 

However, it is chucking it down with rain right now, so perhaps I just got some water on the CDs.

[Negative Creep]

I was behind one of those test mules today, first time I've ever seen one on the road. New Insignia perhaps?

 

 

 

Also, yesterday it was 15 years since I passed my test. 35 or so cars, 1 minor fault accident, 0 points, 0 convictions, 2 parking tickets. Not bad.

[andy18s]

So the Mrs said this morning,"oh we've got some wood being delivered at lunchtime"

"OK" says I,"how much?"

"9 metres" she says...

"Eh?" Says me?

"Well I think he said metres"......

 

Behold 9 cubic metres of fire wood...

And because we had ordered it a bit late in the season,we were ripped off (according to 1 native neighbour) to the tune of £150 all in

 

And whilst clearing out 1 of the barns to stack it in,1 of the dogs came running out with this in his gob

Jeans soon got tucked into my boots but nothing else turned up

[Guest Hooli]

I could do with wood at that price, along with the barn to put it in

[spike60]

 

 

Maf jiggered?

Sounds familiar, make sure the oil cap is on properly.

When my lady had one of these the tickover went to shit sometimes, I would clean the MAF, delete the codes and fanny about and it would be fine again for a bit. She worked out it was a couple of days after she'd put oil in it would go haywire, and it turned out she wasn't getting cap seated properly and it was sucking air in, the engine management was unable to adjust the fuel to keep up. Summat to do with the PCV breather system.

Eventually it would bring on EML for fuel level 2 or something on the scanner.

[egg]

can you not prise the clamp up from the end youve undone and once its clear of the threads rotate it out of the way?

 

 

I think there is usually another clamp on the tray holding the battery down. Those stupid over the top ones are more trouble than they are worth. Seeing how the stud is already spinning in the plastic housing I'd just prise it out and throw it away along with the rest of it.

 

Unfortunately the over the top clamp also has some electrical gubbins attached on mounting at one end (relays maybe?) so serves more than one function. Bit annoying as this mounting prevents any rotatation left or right.

[scaryoldcortina]

cable tie it back together after you break it.