The new news 24 thread

[Bobthebeard]

"The garage owner's face fell when he saw me"

My local friendly garage has the same response. The owner is polite and professional but his face says it all! 

 

[rmjbn1]

22 hours ago, 00833827 said:

Never had a clutch go on me before but a few months back i said to my missus after driving her car that the clutch bite was gone a bit high and also there was a bit of a vibration in my foot when driving it. So we were out for a spin and got home. I pulled up outside and was reversing in. Couldnt get it into reverse for a while and she was grinding when i tried. Then i got it in. Reveresed in and when putting the pedal in she still wanted to roll back. I switched it off. Put in neutral and started again. Cant get it into gear when its running. Can when its off.

So im guessing clutch is gone?

Its a 2005 1.4 petrol vw golf . 220000km on it and thats the original clutch

I would suspect slave cylinder. Is it leaking? Any clutch fluid in the reservoir?

[BorniteIdentity]

My colleague (who is a bang tidy MILF) has a MINI Cooper S Convertible on lease from BMW.  She likes it - that's fine.

I'm educating her on the servicing "costs" of Main Dealers atm.

Front brake pads?  £275.  Pagid pads seem to be about £45 online - an hour to fit by their own admittance, as they offered her a coffee and a chair to wait in.  They then call to say she needs her backs done (4mm) so total bill of £500.  

The final kick in her vag was the fact they charge £30 to stick it on the diagnostic machine to clear the brake pad warning.

Sorry (and I know it's fashionable around these parts to knock Main Dealers LOL) but in what world is acceptable to charge £30 to clear a code that they've already been paid to remedy? You can bet your bollocks to a barn dance that the diagnostic machine will already be plugged in as they desperately search out other work to bum her for.

I'm trying my best.  I doubt she'll ever smoke a Y2K Toyota Corolla, but I can at least try and save her a few (hundred) quid.

[artdjones]

I hate the main dealer business model too,but servicing and repairs are almost the only way they can make money.The margins on cars are very tight.Someone has to pay for all that plate glass and chrome.

Really,all you need to sell cars is a yard ,a portakabin,and a large shed to house the mechanics,but no-one who sells new cars can be allowed to do that anymore.

[egg]

Interrupting the partsman's* fag break, I picked up my Lion battery for the Mondeo from Euro's.

Fits fine, quite a bit taller though, so probably only just fits under that sleek low bonnet, lol. Which also meant more faffing than is desirable in this never-ending squally winter with the clamp. But hey ho, it's on and she starts.

[00833827]

3 hours ago, rmjbn1 said:

I would suspect slave cylinder. Is it leaking? Any clutch fluid in the reservoir?

i will check that our tonight - had not noticed any leaks.

thanks for all the suggestions guys.

[richardmorris]

I’ve mostly been driving this weekend. Came up in the Mercedes to north wales yesterday morning and today I’ve driven, in my dad’s ds4, the rest of the family  up to Lytham st Anne’s for a funeral. Back now and having a lie down. Rather blowy on the m6 viaduct. The food afterwards was at fylde  rfc. Very nice it was too. Heading home in the morning.

[SierraMikeHotel]

Southern Water are digging up the road directly in front of my drive tomorrow. I won't need to use the car but I also don't want it hit by flying bits of tarmac so I've parked it round the corner.

Every time I go into the kitchen I get a sudden burst of adrenaline when I can't see the car outside the window and think it's been stolen.

I think I might need to leave a Post-It on the blind so I don't have a heart attack when I open it in the morning.

[Cavcraft]

First request for a Rover head gasket set today. Sod's law says I couldn't find it (of all the things!) so I passed it on and continued finding Sprinter headlights and mirrors, which seem to be all the rage at the minute.

[Lord Sterling]

Yo.

Yesterday I took the Vectra for a wash it so desperately needed but I got back a bit too late to start on the plastics/tyres and wheels.

Armed with my tyre shine, a brush, some car wash shampoo and some brushes to try and clean the boot out etc... I went and finished the job.

My attention then turned the Mk3 Fiesta that shares the driveway with the Vectra. The Fiesta and Talbot caravan belong to the 94-year old lady who lets me use the driveway. In turn, I help out with shopping and keep the driveway tidy and weed free where I can, plus it discourages people trying to park for free.

The Fiesta was looking all sad and unloved, it hadn't been used for several years and green algea was beginning to take over the Fiestas' paintwork. So armed with my bucket of water, car shampoo and a soft brush, I gave the Fiesta a good brush over releasing most of the algea. The embedded bits where a bit harder get to. Its still not overly clean, there is still a lot of algea in nooks and crannies, the amount of time its spent sitting about had taken its toll on the paint work but its a lot less green than what it was.

A few months ago I tried to jump start it but it wouldn't play ball, no lights, no life. So I sprayed some WD40 on the battery terminals and metalwork under the bonnet and left it. Today I stuck the jump leads on again and this time it seemed willing to fire up!

Lights! (Well, a light)

All the lights and indicators work. The hazards didn't work and nor do the wipers, again, this might be down to lack of use.

It might need some fresh petrol to help it along so hopefully I can get it running again.

[320touring]

Good to see you tinkering @Lord Sterling

[rantingYoof]

6 hours ago, BorniteIdentity said:

Sorry (and I know it's fashionable around these parts to knock Main Dealers LOL) but in what world is acceptable to charge £30 to clear a code that they've already been paid to remedy?

Some businesses/individuals love charging a 'muggles' customer for work that sounds much harder or more complicated than it is.

I had an email t'other day from a customer who was preparing a planning application for a new porch. They had commissioned an architect for the drawings and had seemingly been charged a fair amount of money. Their email was asking me whether they were allowed to submit the planning application themself, or whether it was only something the architect could do.

The reason for this question? The architect was proposing to charge a £150 fee just for submitting the application.

If the application form and plans are all together, submitting an application costs £0 and the covering email takes less than a minute to prepare. If the agent wanted to submit the application on the (recently privatised) Planning Portal, they would have been charged £20 for the pleasure and it would have taken them five minutes to complete.

I advised the customer that anyone could submit an application to the Council, and it was completely free of charge if submitted by email. Unsurprisingly, they opted for that approach.

[Timewaster]

1 hour ago, Lord Sterling said:

 

 

Blimey, that takes me back to razzing about delivering parts in a J plate XRV. 

Not looked inside a proper Mk3 for years. 

Thanks

[High Jetter]

40 minutes ago, rantingYoof said:

If the application form and plans are all together, submitting an application costs £0 and the covering email takes less than a minute to prepare. If the agent wanted to submit the application on the (recently privatised) Planning Portal, they would have been charged £20 for the pleasure and it would have taken them five minutes to complete.

I advised the customer that anyone could submit an application to the Council, and it was completely free of charge if submitted by email. Unsurprisingly, they opted for that approach.

Don't think that's the same for all Councils though, unless it's well-hidden to encourage use of the PP - certainly nothing on our Council's website to suggest that alternative. 

Would they really need permission for a new porch?

[yes oui si]

4 hours ago, artdjones said:

I hate the main dealer business model too,but servicing and repairs are almost the only way they can make money.The margins on cars are very tight.Someone has to pay for all that plate glass and chrome.

Really,all you need to sell cars is a yard ,a portakabin,and a large shed to house the mechanics,but no-one who sells new cars can be allowed to do that anymore.

Many people these days are buying an experience rather than a car. 

[wuvvum]

I put the big Bosch battery off the Merc on charge on Saturday morning, to see if there was any life left in it at all.  Took it off charge on Sunday morning.  36 hours later the voltage was still showing as 12.7, so stuck it back on the car and it started it fine.  So I still have a spare battery, which is nice.

[artdjones]

5 minutes ago, yes oui si said:

Many people these days are buying an experience rather than a car. 

The buying experience only lasts a few hours,so how do you get that thrill for the next three years, until your PCP is up.

[rantingYoof]

1 hour ago, High Jetter said:

Don't think that's the same for all Councils though, unless it's well-hidden to encourage use of the PP - certainly nothing on our Council's website to suggest that alternative. 

Would they really need permission for a new porch?

I'd be shocked if Council charged a fee to effectively be sent an email containing the same information that would otherwise arrive by PP, although there are some cash-strapped authorities out there. Given that the money charged by the PP (£20) goes to the PP and not to the Council, there's no incentive to direct customers in that direction, and the workload is essentially exactly the same (I began in the admin/registration team).

And you're right; a porch would normally be good to go if less than 3sqm (measured externally) and no more than 3m high or no closer than 1m (or 2m?) to a highway. However, the house has no development rights at all, so they need PP for basically everything.

[00833827]

18 hours ago, rmjbn1 said:

I would suspect slave cylinder. Is it leaking? Any clutch fluid in the reservoir?

Plenty in the reservoir / wont go into any gear while running. If i try reverse it will grind. Thats about it

[egg]

14 hours ago, rantingYoof said:

However, the house has no development rights at all, so they need PP for basically everything.

Living in a conservation area, we even have* to get permission to cut trees back. Well, we do cos I'm a stickler for details, other folk change windows, put up small extensions with nay a care in the world, and nothing much happens!

[richardmorris]

Back down south again after two hundred non stop miles in the Mercedes.  It may* have touched an indicated 90mph up the stockenchurch cutting as a bmw was trying to bully me out of his way in lane 3. 

[yes oui si]

Spent a tenner on a proper wash while I was up in Alnwick so I could take decent For Sale photos of the 307 on the way home, but by the time I got back to the village it already looked like this:

[beko1987]

But that is a for sale post 

[rantingYoof]

7 hours ago, egg said:

Living in a conservation area, we even have* to get permission to cut trees back. Well, we do cos I'm a stickler for details, other folk change windows, put up small extensions with nay a care in the world, and nothing much happens!

Never fear. When they sell their house, and if the buyer's solicitor is sharp, they'll be having to find paperwork confirming permission was sought quite sharpish!

[MKT]

20 years ago today my mum, dad and I went down to buy this in Southampton, my second earliest memory at just after two years old.

139,050 miles later its still going strong. This car took me to pre-school and I'm now driving it to work every day, hence why it's rather special to me!

 

(Yes this is an old picture, the car got absolutely pelted with bird shite today ruining any chance of a reasonable photo).

[richardmorris]

Could it be? Yes it is! Front page of the bbc website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-51565046

A man who restored his late grandmother's Mini after rediscovering it has said she would have loved the "fuss" made about her old car.

Daniel Fox, 37, came across the Mini in 2019 - 25 years after he last saw it - while seeking a second-hand car.

The find attracted national media coverage.

Mr Fox, from Great Gransden in Cambridgeshire, worked with a friend for 10 weeks to get it to a condition where it successfully passed its MOT.

Image copyrightMARTIN WINDLE Image captionMr Fox said his driveway was "littered with old cars" - and his collection includes this Ford Sierra

A year after buying the car, Mr Fox told the BBC: "It's done 1,000 miles and it passed the MoT on 3 May and next day we did an Ipswich to Felixstowe car rally. Since then it has been all over."

Mr Fox said the car, which had done about 59,000 miles (95,000km) when he bought it, had "survived really well" and he had spent about £600 on repairs.

"At first it would not run - the clutch had seized up but was fixed by hammering on it and the same with the starter," he said.

"It needed new brakes and I changed all the tyres."

Image copyrightFAMILY HANDOUT Image captionA young Dan Fox with his grandmother Joan

Mr Fox's late grandmother Joan died in 1990, when the car was passed on to his sister.

He said he thought his nan "would have loved the fuss and fame", and he was surprised by how his chance discovery had "caught the public imagination".

The car is also loved by his four children - Corey, 15, Fraser, 11, Remy, seven, and Albie, four. He described his wife Catherine as "very understanding".

• Mini launches its first all-electric car
• The 60-year-old car that became an icon
• Minis weave through streets for anniversary

He said he hoped to keep the car in the condition his grandmother kept it.

"I feel a sense of responsibility towards it," he said. "After a year it still doesn't feel any more real to have found it." 

 

 

[dozeydustman]

12 hours ago, 00833827 said:

Plenty in the reservoir / wont go into any gear while running. If i try reverse it will grind. Thats about it

Try pumping the clutch pedal several times, a dozen or more; does it then allow you engage gear? if any of those happen it's got a knackered master or slave cylinder that's allowing air in the system, or the adjuster (if cable) is out of whack. Could also be a bulging clutch hydraulic hose.

Sorry if you've posted already but I'm not sure what car you have.

[00833827]

1 hour ago, dozeydustman said:

Try pumping the clutch pedal several times, a dozen or more; does it then allow you engage gear? if any of those happen it's got a knackered master or slave cylinder that's allowing air in the system, or the adjuster (if cable) is out of whack. Could also be a bulging clutch hydraulic hose.

Sorry if you've posted already but I'm not sure what car you have.

Hey thanks will try in the morning. Its a 2005 vw golf 1.4 petrol. She got it at 2 years old and Been trouble all the way since. 

[HillmanImp]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-51630630

@LightBulbFun

To be fair it was probably only the 2nd time the bulb had ever been used if its been blocked off for decades. 

[00833827]

11 hours ago, dozeydustman said:

Try pumping the clutch pedal several times, a dozen or more; does it then allow you engage gear? if any of those happen it's got a knackered master or slave cylinder that's allowing air in the system, or the adjuster (if cable) is out of whack. Could also be a bulging clutch hydraulic hose.

Sorry if you've posted already but I'm not sure what car you have.

So the pumping didnt do it but i inspected the master and slave cylinders and it looks like the slave is wet/ leaking. The pedal def feels like its different so can be pushing air maybe?