The new news 24 thread

[MikeR]

Fingers fozen swapping batteries on the cars . C1 now has a recent halfords 063 battery which is bigger than the oe one that failed , the new 063 battery had 4 more amp hours than the ageing 063 in the focus , so in the focus it went .  So hopefully we should be ok now , apart from the c1 needing some more itailian tuning to clear out the remains of the mayonase brought by short trips , as in a mile each way !!!!!!

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

I was looking forward to Southend

That's not a phrase you hear everyday!

[Six-cylinder]

Just now, High Jetter said:

That's not a phrase you hear everyday!

I have always enjoyed Southend, when my kids were young and money was tight I would take them in my company car, buy us low cost sit down fish and chip suppers and a couple of quid for rides and they thought they had been on holiday. There was also the free entertainment of Kevin and Tracy along with their mates driving up and down in their XR3s etc.

[brownnova]

2 hours ago, Six-cylinder said:

I am glad you are fully educated on line now as Mrs6C needs her clutch's changed in her Invacar!

When my youngest was teething the only thing that sent him to sleep was a long drive in a car, fortunately my company car was fully expensed including petrol! On one of the worst nights even the M1 motorway was not doing it so in spite of being midnight I decided I would go the 95 miles to Southend. Just before the M25 he dropped off and I about turned, by then I was looking forward to Southend and felt a bit disappointed. 

A drive was considered, but a Saab driving around at 1am may have caught the attention of the local covid rule enforcement agency... but had the dulcet tones of Hubnut not worked I would’ve taken the fine for some peace and quiet... but as it was she calmed down and fell asleep happily before Ian had even got Twc running! 

[chadders]

46 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

I have always enjoyed Southend, when my kids were young and money was tight I would take them in my company car, buy us low cost sit down fish and chip suppers and a couple of quid for rides and they thought they had been on holiday. There was also the free entertainment of Kevin and Tracy along with their mates driving up and down in their XR3s etc.

We used to take our sons there when we lived in the southeast. They much preferred it to Brighton, as did we. What you saw was what you got without any pretention.

[beko1987]

Eva used to be a sod for sleeping, Amy used to do the drives as I had work but she took my xm to do it, as eva went faster! 

Charlie had none of it though, somewhere I've got a picture of him sat smiling in his rocker at 3am or some silly hour with a miele on low sat next to him whirring away. Thankfully once his teeth came through he started settling again but fuck me that was a long week

[Bren]

Had the vaccine this morning. Lets see if I start picking up 5G or grow womens tits.

[beko1987]

48 minutes ago, Bren said:

grow womens tits.

If you did would you show us? Could kick off a new modelling career for yourself! 

[Bren]

2 minutes ago, beko1987 said:

If you did would you show us? Could kick off a new modelling career for yourself! 

The only thing I could model would be a ski mask.

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

JAAG GOES SWIMMING SHOCKER.... 

Snuck in behind some generic MPV and sailed the seven seas. They slowed down halfway through which made the old arse go a bit but we made it. 4 cars didn't, suggested by the hazard warning light show the other side and that mini... She was steaming like a goodun. Figured the Jaag had taken water in a back box because she was shooting some steam out of one side when I got on the motorway.  Had to swerve the M11 north at Harlow because a cop car was up backwards on a barrier, so that meant the lanes. Despite living around those ways for yonks, I forgot about the flooding!

100% journey success.

[SiC]

Went out to get a few bits of shopping and decided to take the A4. Mrs SiC said, that rear tyre looks a bit flat. I give it a squish with my thumb and it is indeed much squisher than the others. Great. Cross climates too, so not going to be cheap to replace. Will pump it up and see how much air it needs. In for a cambelt on Wednesday, so will get the garage to take a look too. 

So took the Clio instead. A few miles in the STOP light came on with the Gravy Boat light. Aww fuck.

2 seconds later it goes out again. Hmm. 

Point this out to Mrs SiC, "It's not going to blow up is it?" 

I reassured her that while it's an important light to not ignore, you get a brief moment to pull over when it comes on. 

"Run out of oil?" is the next query.

Good point, I'll check. I pulled over, cycled the ignition and looked at the mileometer for the Oil OK message. Except it didn't appear. Tried again and still nothing. Hmm. 

Hopefully it was the oil level sensor freaking out and triggering it? Can't remember if the oil light is tied into that too if it reports low.

Got to our destination and on the next start, I was greated with the Oil OK message. On Renaults, if you push the trip counter reset, it'll tell you what level it actually is at. It reported that it was full. I probably should double check the dipstick though...

So hopefully it's just being a bit French with the electrics and from sitting for weeks!

Other good news is that even though it's been sat, the interior is bone dry. So hopefully have fixed the water ingress issue it had for good now (centre scuttle drain was blocked). 

[Zelandeth]

15 minutes ago, SiC said:

Went out to get a few bits of shopping and decided to take the A4. Mrs SiC said, that rear tyre looks a bit flat. I give it a squish with my thumb and it is indeed much squisher than the others. Great. Cross climates too, so not going to be cheap to replace. Will pump it up and see how much air it needs. In for a cambelt on Wednesday, so will get the garage to take a look too. 

So took the Clio instead. A few miles in the STOP light came on with the Gravy Boat light. Aww fuck.

2 seconds later it goes out again. Hmm. 

Point this out to Mrs SiC, "It's not going to blow up is it?" 

I reassured her that while it's an important light to not ignore, you get a brief moment to pull over when it comes on. 

"Run out of oil?" is the next query.

Good point, I'll check. I pulled over, cycled the ignition and looked at the mileometer for the Oil OK message. Except it didn't appear. Tried again and still nothing. Hmm. 

Hopefully it was the oil level sensor freaking out and triggering it? Can't remember if the oil light is tied into that too if it reports low.

Got to our destination and on the next start, I was greated with the Oil OK message. On Renaults, if you push the trip counter reset, it'll tell you what level it actually is at. It reported that it was full. I probably should double check the dipstick though...

So hopefully it's just being a bit French with the electrics and from sitting for weeks!

Other good news is that even though it's been sat, the interior is bone dry. So hopefully have fixed the water ingress issue it had for good now (centre scuttle drain was blocked). 

Not sure about on Renaults, but the oil level system Citroen use is only able to detect the level before the engine is started.  It doesn't run when the engine is running.

[beko1987]

8 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Not sure about on Renaults, but the oil level system Citroen use is only able to detect the level before the engine is started.  It doesn't run when the engine is running.

And you get a different reading depending what sort of hill your parked on... Had it saying empty once on a steep driveway

I've stopped paying much notice to mine and just check it every now and again, although it's a known engine that doesn't loose oil rather than an engine thays had major work done so I can see why there was panic! 

[SiC]

30 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Not sure about on Renaults, but the oil level system Citroen use is only able to detect the level before the engine is started.  It doesn't run when the engine is running.

Our A4 is like that too. No idea on Renault though and I've always wondered. It's wired directly into the dash clocks and they're pretty simple. 

[Six-cylinder]

I had a bit of a fright tonight.

 I went out in the Beetle for a take away and was aware the roads were wet and puddled but being local I know where to expect flooding. I approached a bend on the A413 with a local village turn with caution as it is regularly flooded, nothing a bit further up the road I hit standing water so hard that it just about bought the Beetle to a standstill and I thought I had killed the engine. Fortunately the engine revved fine and I put it in first and moved on out of the water and carried on.

 On the way home I snapped a photo but it does not really show how bad going away from home it was and a bit further on the road completely under water.

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, beko1987 said:

And you get a different reading depending what sort of hill your parked on... Had it saying empty once on a steep driveway

I've stopped paying much notice to mine and just check it every now and again, although it's a known engine that doesn't loose oil rather than an engine thays had major work done so I can see why there was panic! 

Yep...I get a false positive about once a quarter.

I still immediately check the oil when it pops up though.  It's a warning system I'd always rather have than not, even if there is the occasional false positive.

[beko1987]

I've got the later odo screen one, so I just loose and gain segments rather than a light on... 

Every time I've checked it on the flat its been fine and it's got the mandatory psa weepy rocker cover gaskets too... Must re-ingest it somewhere to keep the level good

[SiC]

Rear tyre has a puncture. Started snowing when I took this picture. Irony is they're crossclimates and this is the first time it's properly snowed to get to use them. 

[SiC]

Oops!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Whatcouldgowrong/comments/l9aekc/using_the_wrong_type_of_fire_extinguisher

Not sure quite what happened there. Presumably the guy is smoking a cigarette, while the other chap is bleeding brakes (blue box) and the brake fluid drips onto his hand. 

Scary though. I have a CO2 and a powder extinguisher in the garage. My go-to default would be CO2, but to be honest powder would be more appropriate.

Also reminds me to always leave the key in the back door of the garage as a secondary escape path!

[Spurious]

9 minutes ago, SiC said:

Oops!

https://www.reddit.com/r/Whatcouldgowrong/comments/l9aekc/using_the_wrong_type_of_fire_extinguisher

Not sure quite what happened there. Presumably the guy is smoking a cigarette, while the other chap is bleeding brakes (blue box) and the brake fluid drips onto his hand. 

Scary though. I have a CO2 and a powder extinguisher in the garage. My go-to default would be CO2, but to be honest powder would be more appropriate.

Also reminds me to always leave the key in the back door of the garage as a secondary escape path!

It's a tiddly little one though like you'd have in a caravan. 

 

I'd expect a workshop to have a big industrial powder job. 

[SiC]

It's a tiddly little one though like you'd have in a caravan. 
 
I'd expect a workshop to have a big industrial powder job. 

My co2 says it's good for fuel fires apparently. That spread so quickly that I don't think any fire extinguisher would have saved that.

[N19]

Depends, chances are the blast of CO2 scattered the fluid far and wide. 

[wuvvum]

So this happened... 

[Split_Pin]

Holy crap!

This is what the elements can do to a Corsa alternator after 3 years.

 

[Cord Fourteener]

1 minute ago, Split_Pin said:

Holy crap!

This is what the elements can do to a Corsa alternator after 3 years.

 

Not sure whether to laugh emoji or cry emoji

[Cord Fourteener]

On 1/30/2021 at 9:58 PM, Six-cylinder said:

I had a bit of a fright tonight.

 I went out in the Beetle for a take away and was aware the roads were wet and puddled but being local I know where to expect flooding. I approached a bend on the A413 with a local village turn with caution as it is regularly flooded, nothing a bit further up the road I hit standing water so hard that it just about bought the Beetle to a standstill and I thought I had killed the engine. Fortunately the engine revved fine and I put it in first and moved on out of the water and carried on.

 On the way home I snapped a photo but it does not really show how bad going away from home it was and a bit further on the road completely under water.

I did that in my E46 BMW, there was dead ground under a bridge filled with water. Scary. Then my crank sensor, which was already applying for retirement, died. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.

[Cord Fourteener]

On 1/30/2021 at 10:35 PM, beko1987 said:

I've got the later odo screen one, so I just loose and gain segments rather than a light on... 

Every time I've checked it on the flat its been fine and it's got the mandatory psa weepy rocker cover gaskets too... Must re-ingest it somewhere to keep the level good

I've stopped relying on the Christmas tree lights, my e46 oil sensor failed, it tended to drink oil.

My Volvo 740 doesn't know how to guage (verb). Fuel? No. Speed? No. Temperature? Allegedly. Revs? Hope so.

[N19]

8 minutes ago, Split_Pin said:

Holy crap!

This is what the elements can do to a Corsa alternator after 3 years.

 

New addition to the coral reef? 

[wuvvum]

So yeah, I bought another van this weekend.  It was temptingly cheap and local enough that I could go and get it without taking the piss too much - although I did do more miles on my pushbike on Saturday than I've done in a long time...

It was advertised with a catalogue of issues, the most pressing of which were that almost none of the lights worked.  I got it home in daylight on Saturday (just about) and this morning I went out and started to have a poke around.  The lighting issues were at least partially cured by replacing three blown fuses - I now have sidelights, tail lights and main and dipped beam headlights (the brake and reversing lights were working OK when I bought the van).  The indicators also sort of work, but there are issues with the wiring somewhere - the nearside rear indicator kept cutting out, and when I took it for a drive in the dark this evening I noticed that when indicating right both rear indicators flashed.  So I've removed the bulb from the nearside rear for now, so at least I can indicate right properly... 

The van has a towbar but no plug - looking underneath at the back there are a lot of wires running here there and everywhere so I'd imagine something is shorting out or wrongly connected - which could be why the fuses blew in the first place, although the new ones seem to be holding up OK.  I can't get the rear foglights or the number plate lights to work either, despite the bulbs being all good - I think next weekend I'm going to have to back the van up onto the ramps so I can get underneath and try to work out wtf is going on.  The front indicator lens was broken, and someone had wedged in an amber offset pin bulb to make it flash orange - that took some persuasion to come out, I've fitted a parallel pin bulb and finally got to use the lens repair kit I bought from Poundland about 15 years ago.  The interior light wasn't working but that turned out to be just a bulb.

It also needs a bit of welding - there's a hole in the back of the nearside sill and a pop-riveted repair to the passenger side cab step which will need to be done properly - but from a quick look around it looks in far better shape underneath than the last Trafic I had.  It's tested until June anyway so it's a little while before I have to worry about such things.  It used to be a camper so the load area is all carpeted out on the sides, which helps to reduce the noise level a bit and keep things warmer.  Having windows in the sides helps with the rear 3/4 visibility too.

The other major issue it has is that the throttle takes a long time to return when the pedal is released.  The chap I bought it off reckoned it was a problem with the linkage under the bonnet but I reckon it's the cable itself - when I tried revving the engine using the arm on the pump the revs dropped back to idle as soon as I let go.  I'm going to fit a secondary return spring to the arm to see if that helps - I might try disconnecting the cable as well and seeing if I can get in to drop some oil down there.

Also none of the door locks work at the moment.  I'm not overly worried about that - I don't live in a high crime area - but a pair of pattern locks is 15 quid off eBay so I'll probably go down that route eventually.

Other than that it drives well enough.  It's a 2.5D - same engine as the Iveco in fact, albeit in indirect injection form and with marginally more power - so although it's certainly not a fast van it's definitely a lot quicker than the last two Trafics I've had, which were both 2.1D and rather painful.  This one will at least do 70 on the flat - it sits happily at 65 and doesn't sound like it's about to put a rod through the block at that speed like the Iveco does.  It also has luxury features missing from the Iveco, like power steering and a radio.  It even has what appears to be an OBD2 port in the fuse box, although I don't know how compatible with anything that'll be - I might try plugging the laptop in and seeing if it can talk to anything at all.

I haven't really decided what to do with it yet, but I don't really need two "van" vans so I might make a half-arsed attempt at turning it back into a camper.  We shall see.

 

That took up pretty much all my weekend - I was going to have another go at the passenger door on the C2 this afternoon, but then I decided I couldn't be arsed - I don't actually need the door to be working anyway, I'm not going to be carrying any passengers for a while and if I did need to I'd probably choose a more spacious car anyway.  I did get around to taking the steering column surround off - disappointingly there's no sign of any pre-wiring for cruise control, I assume that must be only on later cars.

[chadders]

Is this the start of Norfolk's answer to Amazon, based in the Bure Valley rather than Silicon Valley?

Wuvveron?