The new news 24 thread

[New POD]

So family RAC membership is due for the 4 of us

 

National Recovery, £185

 

So before phoning I went on quidco, looked at AA 40% cashback on the introductory rate Recovery, home start and Onward Travel (hotel or hire car) Comes in at £137.40 after the cash back. 

 

Phones RAC, I'm now paying £138 for 15 months, for Recovery, and Onward Travel (but no home start - not ever needed it)

 

Basically they make it up 

[beko1987]

You'll likely have the alternator either frazzle itself or the engine ECU in short order.

Its only got to last 1.3 miles!

 

But I picked up a scrap battery on the way home tonight and saved a very kind man a trip to the tip apparently! Then a good friend messaged me saying he had a scrap battery too (too late) but also needed one so if the bosch in the 406 fits his missus's Zafira A gsi that'll be £20 right there and a happy mate.

[eddyramrod]

Got all excited today when the post came, because one of the envelopes said DVLA on it.  Excitement dwindled a bit when I realised I couldn't feel a plastic card inside.  So I opened it.  They've written to my doctor and he may take up to six weeks to reply.  Oh great.  Well the last time I saw him we had a good chat about this, so he might get his finger out, I don't know.  Just have to hope.

[spike60]

I still have bitter feelings toward the DVLA after they showed me what a shower of shit they were when I was trying to my licence back in 2003. I hope you have a smoother ride with them and get good news ASAP. 

[mrbenn]

Got all excited today when the post came, because one of the envelopes said DVLA on it.  Excitement dwindled a bit when I realised I couldn't feel a plastic card inside.  So I opened it.  They've written to my doctor and he may take up to six weeks to reply.  Oh great.  Well the last time I saw him we had a good chat about this, so he might get his finger out, I don't know.  Just have to hope.

 

That sounds rather hopeful! Fingers crossed you'll be back behind the wheel in no time

[danthecapriman]

Got all excited today when the post came, because one of the envelopes said DVLA on it.  Excitement dwindled a bit when I realised I couldn't feel a plastic card inside.  So I opened it.  They've written to my doctor and he may take up to six weeks to reply.  Oh great.  Well the last time I saw him we had a good chat about this, so he might get his finger out, I don't know.  Just have to hope.

Fingers crossed it’ll be soon, spring’s just around the corner...

[ruffgeezer]

 

Got a bit desperate trying to take the wheel off Mike's Range Rover. Mike had already tried hammers, more hammers, kicking, hammers again, driving around the with wheel nuts slackened off, driving around with NO wheel nuts, and an extensive array of swearing. No dice. So, let's see if the Princess can help.

 

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Nope. All that did was make some smelly clutch smells and drag the Range Rover and the axle stand it was on across the floor. Erm. Okay then. We've left it with no wheel nuts, a jack just underneath the car but not touching anything, and the weight of the car on the wheel. Perhaps it'll free off overnight somehow.

If it is a full time 4x4, raise all 4 wheels well off of the ground, leave the wheel bolts out of that wheel, run it up to speed and stomp the brakes. The it potential issues are if the stands aren't secure enough or if the disc screws break first...

[Tadhg Tiogar]

When I was a kid , it was a monthly treat to go to Llandovery Horse Sales , don't know if it still exists but it sounds as if you pretty nearby.....

 

Couldn't find a mention of the Horse Sales, so looks like they may have gone the way of the Daihatsu dealership.....

 

In other news, still haven't got around to collecting the CX....

[MikeKnight]

If it is a full time 4x4, raise all 4 wheels well off of the ground, leave the wheel bolts out of that wheel, run it up to speed and stomp the brakes. The it potential issues are if the stands aren't secure enough or if the disc screws break first...

 

Ooo I didn't think of that! Thanks for the tip, I'll try that tomorrow. 

 

Also going to try using a block of wood and the power steering to force it off (and not caring if I bend the drag link because it's getting replaced anyway) and using a bottle jack and some wood to do the same.

 

I have a few bodges.. er I mean "professional techniques".. I can try at any rate.

[wuvvum]

Had a bit of luck on the Innocenti fixorating front.  I'd more or less resigned myself to having to fork out 150 quid or so for a new headlight from Italy, as the glass on my offside headlight had so many cracks in it it was starting to take the piss.  Then I chanced across an Italian eBayer selling just the glass on its own, for £9.20.  Obvs postage added a bit to that, but it was still only about 24 quid delivered.  Only issue was it was for the wrong side, but the headlights are close enough to being rectangular that I took a gamble that it'd just about fit.  It arrived yesterday, and it does.   There are a couple of small gaps which will need to be sealed with silicone or something, but it's close enough, and a metric fuckload better than what was on there before.

 

In other fleet news, the Rover 75 has now been divested of all its locking wheel bolts, and shiny new plain chrome bolts fitted in their place.  It looks like it'll need rear discs and pads for the test, but that's not a huge surprise as the handbrake has always been shite.

 

I took the Lancia in to Norwich the weekend before last, when the weather was balmy, and it got rather warmer than I'd've liked sitting in traffic.  It didn't boil over and turning the heating on soon brought the needle back down again, but it was obvious the fan wasn't kicking in.  So at the weekend I decided to wire up a bypass switch.  It was going well, and I was doing it properly with a fused relay and everything, but then I couldn't find a way of getting the wires through the bulkhead and into the cabin.  The car's entire wiring loom passes through the bulkhead in one great big clump, through a hole which cannot be got to without removing the dashboard.  The only other hole I could find (other than the heater vents) was a bit of a gap round the bonnet cable, but even that requires wheelarch liner removal to access.  So for the moment, as a temporary* solution,  I've run the switch wiring down the side of the bonnet and through the door shut, and  into a switch in the driver's side cubby hole - bit messy, but it works which is the main thing.

[andy18s]

Ooo I didn't think of that! Thanks for the tip, I'll try that tomorrow.

 

Also going to try using a block of wood and the power steering to force it off (and not caring if I bend the drag link because it's getting replaced anyway) and using a bottle jack and some wood to do the same.

 

I have a few bodges.. er I mean "professional techniques".. I can try at any rate.

An ex-boss had a Disco Hse with stuck alloys

Ended up with a 4x4 piece of timber and a sledgehammer at which point we found out just how soft the bead lip on the wheel was

[stuboy]

   I've run the switch wiring down the side of the bonnet and through the door shut, and  into a switch in the driver's side cubby hole - bit messy, but it works which is the main thing.

fixed for good few years ahead...........

[anonymous user]

Couldn't find a mention of the Horse Sales, so looks like they may have gone the way of the Daihatsu dealership.....

 

In other news, still haven't got around to collecting the CX....

Don't remember them in Llandovery, but think they still do horse sales in Llanybydder

[somewhatfoolish]

Got a bit desperate trying to take the wheel off Mike's Range Rover. Mike had already tried hammers, more hammers, kicking, hammers again, driving around the with wheel nuts slackened off, driving around with NO wheel nuts, and an extensive array of swearing. No dice. So, let's see if the Princess can help.

 

If driving through potholes and a bit of enthusiastic acceleration/braking hasn't shifted it with slackened nuts it's probably time to cut it off.

[adw1977]

[holbeck]

Hi. How's your day going?

 

Me? Not so great actually.

 

[beko1987]

Sorry to see someones stolen your garage man

[stuboy]

Hi. How's your day going?

 

Me? Not so great actually.

 

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whats happened

[holbeck]

TBH nothing much. It was heat seized. The first time I've had the necessity to hot start and It just went click.

 

I had to wait for it to cool down a bit and it was fine.

[Split_Pin]

heat seized.

Do you mean the actual engine and not the starter solenoid?

 

If so, erm,  

[bramz7]

My old BX did that. It would just click on random occasions when hot starting.

 

Oddly pumping the throttle pedal got it going...that car was bloody odd but a good learning experience.

[holbeck]

I do mean the engine. It's not actually seized. I'd had about 20 mins in traffic and then turned off the engine to wait for a space in a packed car park.

 

After 3 minutes I tried to re-start and the heat in the engine bay had made the engine tight. It did more than click, actually about an 1/8th of a turn then the starter could do no more.

 

I've had several cars over the years that did exactly the same.

 

10 minutes with the bonnet up and It started like normal.

 

It was bloody inconvenient (first world problems) as a space had come free and all I could do was look at it and hope the Safrane would cool down before someone nabbed it... and not be late for work into the bargain.

[wuvvum]

I once had a 1976 Cadillac Seville which did the same thing.

[Split_Pin]

4 new injectors later and the Clio os running better than ever.

 

Now, the mechanic mentioned checking thw injector plugs. He said that they just pulled out. Pretty sure he was referring to 2 and 4.

 

These should not pull out but when I was refitting them tonight, number 1 would not stay in. It turns out that because the plug retaining sptings are so fiddly, they looked correctly seated from top but the hidden side was not in fact located. So I made sure these were all correctly installed.

 

It also idles better now too so pretty pleased with all that.

 

Like leaving the party when it's cresting, I am now thinking of selling or Roffling. I value it at £1400 though so might be too dear.

[Tickman]

Like leaving the party when it's cresting, I am now thinking of selling or Roffling. I value it at £1400 though so might be too dear.

 

One random here please

[loserone]

I tried that John, he won't play

[Tickman]

 I am now thinking of  Roffling.

 

 

One random here please

 

Another here.

 

I tried that John, he won't play

 

Two sold* so far 57 to go Iain

[loserone]

I'll have two. Get a list up quick, it'll be sold out by Wednesday

[vulgalour]

Someone popped up in my thread over on the blue recently because they'd spotted a Princess in Finland.  No really.  I can't figure out what the wheels are that it's wearing and it's bugging me.  Anyone know?  They're not Volvo 240.  On the assumption there's no adaptors, they'll be 4x114.3 and since they don't look too massive, they'll likely either be 14" as per Princess, or perhaps a 15".  I'm guessing they're off something Japanese.  I don't really know what sort of cars are about in Finland.

 

[Split_Pin]

I'll have two. Get a list up quick, it'll be sold out by Wednesday

Cheers, currently giving it a good, hard mulling over