The new news 24 thread

[Craig the Princess]

Wait a minute.... does that mean the Road Wars Vectra's gone?

Sadly so, cylinder 3 went all red robbo.

[Supernaut]

his favorite garage (who I've never known to fix his car, he's scrapped the last 4 on their advice)

I'd start to be a bit sceptical of this garage's "advice" at this point.

 

You do make the the point they aren't making money off him, which is at least a positive here. Seems a bit odd though.

[twosmoke300]

Aren't good quality lower arms about 100 quid each and don't include the rear bush which is about 25 iirc . May go someday to explain it but still sounds expensive

[Mally]

Ah, I read it as though hes already had it done.

 

My bottom arm was £59 including rubber, mainly because I know it will fail on something else next time.

I toiled getting it off, took 2-1/2hours.

So 4hr job £160, possibly two arms and bushes £250.

Plus ARB links and fitting, comes in around £500.

You can do it yourself using crap parts as I did for much cheaper.

The garage is hardly out of order mentioning the head gasket. We mention them all the time on here.

[UltraWomble]

It does explain why the place is shutting if there is nowt t'see

Anybody got a corpse they need rid of....

 

[stuboy]

Oh dear. Still it's fixable if you can do it yourself or have the £££ to pay somebody.

ideally need money to be spent on more seats

[Dirk Diggler]

Re Fred Dibnah

 

Bought for 185k, attempt to sell for 1m

 

A sign of all that's wrong in the world; historical interest seems to represent nothing now

 

I avoided the open forums here because I truly didn't see them; but when I discovered them, I found men with no view of the bigger picture

 

We live in a split world of 'I'm alright, Jacks' and people uncertain of their futures based purely on their date of births; literally selling our children and grandchildren down the river

 

A sad world with very little chance of restitution

[tooSavvy]

Seems 'Meesterr Moogaaabeeey' - "quiet you, or I murder your cheeldrenn" is getting his Second Wind....

 

Bit of balance, on OZ car manufacturing/unemployment hence..

 

 

TS

[Eddie Honda]

Wee bit rough on the Irish Sea this morning...

[Ghosty]

I'm glad I have new tyres on order. I had to do some driving in the rain today, and managed to light up the rear tyres pulling away from some traffic lights. The front ones made a vague attempt to let go when I was braking once too, but I saw it coming and stopped that before I bent a track rod on the kerb or something.

[Mally]

Even the new ones won't work on ice.

[Guest Hooli]

I'm glad I have new tyres on order. I had to do some driving in the rain today, and managed to light up the rear tyres pulling away from some traffic lights. The front ones made a vague attempt to let go when I was braking once too, but I saw it coming and stopped that before I bent a track rod on the kerb or something.

 

Hooligan!

[nacho man]

There is a show called mind hunter on Netflix, worth it for the 70’s yank motors alone. Also it’s pretty bad ass.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[cort16]

I watched the wheelman on netflix last night . It's mostly shot inside the car, which is an e46 3 series .

All the standard e46 warning lights are visible on the dash. Gritty realism right there.

[wuvvum]

The red Rover 200 got weighed in today.  Had a bit of a mad rush to clear it all out (been using it as storage) and get the original wheels inflated and refitted, but got there in the end.  Topped it up with water and set off hoping for the best and keeping everything crossed - it actually drove the 9-and-a-bit miles to the scrapyard with no problem at all and didn't even need any further top-ups, so the extra two gallons of water I chucked in the boot were not required.  Bit of a shame to see it go, but I can't save 'em all...

 

I bought this this week.

 

 

I bought it because it was cheap (very cheap) and has plenty of test, and I'm rapidly running out of MOT'd vehicles at the moment.  I thought it would tide me over until I pull my finger out and get the remaining Rovers and the Toyota sorted, and the purchase price was roughly what the fine would be were I to be caught driving one of the aforesaid without a valid ticket.  Inadvertently, though, I appear to have managed to buy something which fits pretty much all my criteria for a "modern".  It's comfortable, rides well, goes OK (115 JTD so performance is more than adequate, albeit hampered a bit by tall gearing which will see it pass 50 in 2nd and hit 80 in 3rd, which is a lot for a diesel), and has the obligatory aircon and cruise control.  It's a "modern" diesel, but my experience to date with the 8-valve JTD engines has been pretty good.

 

It does have a bit of a case of Fiat electrics, with the computer flashing up a variety of warning messages.  Also the heater fan doesn't work, although since I bought the car the heater itself, the rear wiper and the cruise control have all started working again.  Unfortunately it didn't come with a handbook so I'm going to have to find a fuse / relay diagram online and go hunting.  I've already replaced several bulbs, which has reduced the number of warnings somewhat.  I now just need a brake light bulb and an H1 for the offside front foglight.  The other main issue is that only the driver's side wiper works - apparently a common thing with these and not an expensive fix, although I've temporarily fixed* it even more cheaply by buying a longer wiper blade for the driver's side.  Apart from that and a BFO dent in the nearside front wing it isn't too bad really.  It could do with a couple of tyres, but they are 205/55/16s which seem to be pretty much a universal size now (four of my current fleet are thus shod) so shouldn't be too expensive. 

 

It's not a bad thing to drive on a run.  The (aftermarket JVC) stereo sounds good, the driving position is decent and, whilst not the most refined of engines, the JTD is a lot quieter than an L series.  And it was cheap.  Very, very cheap.

[eddyramrod]

I hope it was cheap!

[SiC]

Stilo. Urgh.

 

I love electrical problems but a mate gave up before we could determine why his kept misfiring. Replaced plugs, coil pack, inspected head and checked wiring. Suspected ECU but he threw the towel in before I managed to find a replacement.

[wuvvum]

The petrol ones do shit their ECUs on a regular basis.  Diesels aren't so bad.  I'm hopeful I'll be able to overcome this one's electrical maladies - I managed to get the HVAC on my first Alfa 166 working again, so a Stilo should* be a walk in the park after that.

[OwdChina]

AGAIN..............Wasn't the aftermarket alarm then.

 

[cobblers]

Urgh, someones been here before:

 

 

They've got neat handwriting though, I'll give them that, but the poundland leccy tape was falling off and all kinds of things were shorting together.

 

 

 

[Christine]

Tomorrow morning 10 am ,we're going to wheel this out    ...  it's been stood unused for 40 years in  a shed,    and try to get it started , by  cranking handle . .... Hope it doesn't kick back and break me arm !!  Report back tomorrow ...

 

 

 

 

[Guest Hooli]

Fantastic!

[Christine]

I'm half crapping myself TBH...Have you ever cranked a v twin ?  We,ve got some sniff to help it start ,and 

 

 it's got a retard ignition lever .    Wot's that some might say  

[Inspector Morose]

Always remember to pull up on compression, never push down. That's where broken wrists lie.

[Guest Hooli]

I'm half crapping myself TBH...Have you ever cranked a v twin ?  We,ve got some sniff to help it start ,and 

 

 it's got a retard ignition lever .    Wot's that some might say  

 

Nope, never cranked one.

 

Decompressor too?

[wuvvum]

I'd be impressed if a V-twin that's been dormant for 40 years will crank at all, let alone break anyone's wrist.

[Ghosty]

Even the new ones won't work on ice.

 

Well, you can anticipate ice. I can't just not go out in the car because the road's a bit wet.

[Christine]

I'd be impressed if a V-twin that's been dormant for 40 years will crank at all, let alone break anyone's wrist.

Ah , the engine has undergone a rebuild...it just hasn't been fired up yet

[Jams]

All is not well on the golf front

 

Well it’s not that bad it starts and drives ok for a pineappled car but with it being a pd engine it’s got some issues!

 

Fuel consumption!! 28-30 mpg!! It’s overfueling and I’m having boost issues!

 

Hopefully they are related or it’s a simple fix! Not to good on dervs so not really wanting to touch it myself!

 

Oh the joys

[Guest Hooli]

Boost leak after whatever measures the boost pressure? That'd cause overfuelling etc