The new news 24 thread

[Cord Fourteener]

1 hour ago, brownnova said:

Sometimes I need a deadline to get me motivated... 

I’ve booked my MX5 in with my friendly local MX5 specialist to try and diagnose why it won’t run properly for a week on Monday. Which gives me 11 days to try and sort it myself and save myself the inevitable big bill....

... before it goes to him anyway to get it an MoT!! 

Been sacked, have you? 😅 Or booked time of work?

[doobietoo]

Peugeot 406 is at the garage again, I have a daily 120 mile round trip for work all next week so decided that playing cambelt roulette was a step too far now that the PT has run out of MOT and is not available as a back up. While it is there having the belt, pulleys and water pump done  it will also get a new lower pulley as the bearing is knackered and leaking oil and the pulley is sounding a bit rough and looks 'a bit off centre' to the eye. We now also know why the oil filter is rusty as once up on the ramp we noticed that the sump plug is utterly fucked and by the look of it even resisted efforts to being removed with a chisel. I am guessing the only reason it did not leak is because it is jammed solid. 

 How are you going to get that off I innocently asked of my mechanic  'oxy-acetylene' he replied with a grin on his face. 😉 On the plus side the underneath is as clean as a whistle with no visible rust at all.  He is also going to look at the accelerator cable as it is a bit loose resulting in around a quarter of the pedal travel before anything happens which might explain why I still do not think it is as quick as it should be. Despite all of this it continues to start every morning and get me where I need to go with the heated seats being a godsend during the cold weather. The last tank of diesel showed 34.7mpg on the computer but when I actually worked out the brim to brim compared to the mileage covered it was actually 39.7 mpg. Which I am very pleased with. 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

BREAKING NEWS: DISCOVERY PASSES MOT!

I never put a dirty car in for test and the disco was last washed before last year's MOT, so it needed some shine. It's a bit like washing a lorry and takes just as long. Now the car has a ticket and I have some powdery dry substance on my hands which used to be skin. 

 

 

[richardmorris]

Quest tv in three minutes, 2cv van restoration on salvage hunter prog thing. Ex Alan Lloyd van who is H van world and responsible for flooding uk with h vans.

[brownnova]

3 hours ago, Tim_E said:

Been sacked, have you? 😅 Or booked time of work?

“Working” from home....

In fairness I’m going to shuffle and put it in the garage for the evenings and weekends! 

[SiC]

Got my local garage to do the cambelt, water pump, aux belt and tensioners done on the A4 today. Something I had been putting off for a while due to cost and priorities. Decided it had to be done as 6 months overdue and we rely on the car - despite not really using it much.

Ended up coming to £407 all in, which I don't think was too bad considering the scope of the work.

Still not hit the 200k mileage mark frustratingly. We used to do around 1k a month in that car but recently barely topped 200 miles in a month. 

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, richardmorris said:

Quest tv in three minutes, 2cv van restoration on salvage hunter prog thing. Ex Alan Lloyd van who is H van world and responsible for flooding uk with h vans.

Watching now, Arcadienne came from darkest Sussex, judging by road sign. Not sure about that Beta though...

[Cord Fourteener]

13 minutes ago, SiC said:

Got my local garage to do the cambelt, water pump, aux belt and tensioners done on the A4 today. Something I had been putting off for a while due to cost and priorities. Decided it had to be done as 6 months overdue and we rely on the car - despite not really using it much.

Ended up coming to £407 all in, which I don't think was too bad considering the scope of the work.

Still not hit the 200k mileage mark frustratingly. We used to do around 1k a month in that car but recently barely topped 200 miles in a month. 

You'll get there, it won't be too long before we're allowed out a bit more, possibly. I mean months rather than years😅

[Cord Fourteener]

18 minutes ago, brownnova said:

“Working” from home....

In fairness I’m going to shuffle and put it in the garage for the evenings and weekends! 

Fair enough!

[wuvvum]

I ordered a Mini throttle return spring on Monday night and it turned up today.  Fitted it to the Trafic this evening and it's definitely made a difference - the revs drop back to idle a lot more quickly which makes it far more drivable.  It's still not 100%, but if I fit a stronger spring I think it might make the accelerator too heavy.  I'll have a go at lubing up the cable at some point soon - it doesn't look like it'd be too difficult to unhook it from the pump end, although there's bound to be some hidden complication because French.

[OM646]

Today i went to work in the Aldi just to find out it had water in the O/S footwell.

Apparently, gunk accumulated so much that it obstructed the drain ducts, so the water found its path through the cabin air filter into the cabin itself.

 

Great.

[Jazoli]

4 hours ago, OM646 said:

Today i went to work in the Aldi just to find out it had water in the O/S footwell.

Apparently, gunk accumulated so much that it obstructed the drain ducts, so the water found its path through the cabin air filter into the cabin itself.

 

Great.

That's a standard feature on a lot of VAG cars

[andy18s]

"Free" car anyone?

I'd love to try take one of these just to wind up the Mrs

 

[andy18s]

"Free" car anyone?

I'd love to try take one of these just to wind up the Mrs

 

[brownnova]

One out! Take it to the bridge! 

The broken 206 which had been littering my drive way has finally gone for scrap! 

[SiC]

12 hours ago, Tim_E said:

You'll get there, it won't be too long before we're allowed out a bit more, possibly. I mean months rather than years😅

Oh we will for sure (providing it doesn't blow up). However it's my wife driving it usually and she has zero interest in the mileometer. So there could be a good chance I'll miss the roll-over!

[Jim Bell]

New tyres day. 

[Dick Cheeseburger]

3 hours ago, andy18s said:

"Free" car anyone?

I'd love to try take one of these just to wind up the Mrs

 

There's a HUGE amount of trust involved with the temporary custodian. 

Sod that. 

[OM646]

Back to the Aldi after a rainy night.

Checked the cabin filter, and it's dry, so i guess the drains were successfully cleared. 

Behold one of the less tidy engine bays ever!

[barefoot]

My turn out in the little VW Fox. By God it's built down to a price. The doors and particularly the tailgate crash shut. Thin isn't the word, but it does what it sets out to do & there's a comfortable ride, if little or no roadholding. It lights up its tyres with the minimum provocation, but it's nippy and cruises on the motorway at 70mph/3,500 rpm which is about the same as the 944!

the verdict from the barefoot is in - it's OK.

[wuvvum]

Well I've taken the first tentative step towards converting the Trafic into a camper.  I was looking at those Chinese diesel heaters on eBay - my neighbour has recently installed one in his Bedford Bambi and reckons it's brilliant - and found a reputable-looking UK seller flogging them for £79.99, which seemed reasonable enough.  I was debating whether to go ahead or not, but then when I clicked to add to my basket the price dropped to £66, which is the cheapest I've ever seen them.  So I did a buy.

It's never going to be a Cobblers-style van, but the heater will remove my main bugbear about camping - that I always wake up freezing my bollocks off at about 3am.  A mattress on the floor in the back and maybe a Porta Potti in the corner behind a shower curtain with some basic handwashing facilities will be enough for me - I wouldn't be doing any cooking in there or owt like that so a kitchen would be a bit of a waste of effort.

[Minimad5]

17 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Well I've taken the first tentative step towards converting the Trafic into a camper.  I was looking at those Chinese diesel heaters on eBay - my neighbour has recently installed one in his Bedford Bambi and reckons it's brilliant - and found a reputable-looking UK seller flogging them for £79.99, which seemed reasonable enough.  I was debating whether to go ahead or not, but then when I clicked to add to my basket the price dropped to £66, which is the cheapest I've ever seen them.  So I did a buy.

It's never going to be a Cobblers-style van, but the heater will remove my main bugbear about camping - that I always wake up freezing my bollocks off at about 3am.  A mattress on the floor in the back and maybe a Porta Potti in the corner behind a shower curtain with some basic handwashing facilities will be enough for me - I wouldn't be doing any cooking in there or owt like that so a kitchen would be a bit of a waste of effort.

Got a link, please ?

[barefoot]

4 hours ago, Dick Longbridge said:

There's a HUGE amount of trust involved with the temporary custodian. 

Sod that. 

I spent much of my time with the Y10 worrying about it!

[wuvvum]

13 minutes ago, Minimad5 said:

Got a link, please ?

12V 5000W Air Diesel Night Heater LCD Display 5KW for Car Truck Motor-Home Boat 6941577355381 | eBay

[somewhatfoolish]

70 beer tokens for one of them? How does the chinese economy actually work?

[wuvvum]

2 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

70 beer tokens for one of them? How does the chinese economy actually work?

 

 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

BREAKING NEWS: S TYPE PASSES MOT.

Rewards driver with first ever show of abs, TC and brake warning lights on way home. 

Immediately fixed by turning engine off and on again.

 

EDIT: those 3 lights appearing suggest a low battery voltage.

[aldo135]

3 hours ago, wuvvum said:

Well I've taken the first tentative step towards converting the Trafic into a camper.  I was looking at those Chinese diesel heaters on eBay - my neighbour has recently installed one in his Bedford Bambi and reckons it's brilliant - and found a reputable-looking UK seller flogging them for £79.99, which seemed reasonable enough.  I was debating whether to go ahead or not, but then when I clicked to add to my basket the price dropped to £66, which is the cheapest I've ever seen them.  So I did a buy.

It's never going to be a Cobblers-style van, but the heater will remove my main bugbear about camping - that I always wake up freezing my bollocks off at about 3am.  A mattress on the floor in the back and maybe a Porta Potti in the corner behind a shower curtain with some basic handwashing facilities will be enough for me - I wouldn't be doing any cooking in there or owt like that so a kitchen would be a bit of a waste of effort.

This is how I see it. So many of the coach built ones look like they are 40-50% kitchen, but you’re on your holidays! Get a chippy! A comfy bed and some kind of toilet facilities would do fine. You can always have a wee burner under the tailgate to make a coffee or whatever

[brownnova]

Had a work meeting... hmmm.... haven’t driven the 900 in a couple of months I’ll take that.

Battery: You wot M9... don’t think so.

So I go to work and come back and the. Run the battery charger on an extension, pop the bonnet and..... shit myself because a mouse sprints across the engine!

Little bugger goes and hides 

Worried that it may have infested I hook the battery up to the charger and leave the bonnet up so it’ll go away.

I return to the car half an hour later... no sign of Mr or Mrs Mouse. Good.

Car starts, good. I reverse it from its spot and watch as a mouse jumps from the front of the car into the hedge... 

I put it on the proper part of my drive and get ready to check it over at which point another mouse makes a leap from the front bumper inches from me. Now I’m a proper bloke and don’t scare easily, but I jumped a mile and shouted fuck off you fucking fucker very loudly at it... 

Good news: no sign that they got into the car, and no obvious signs of damage under the bonnet.

Bad news: there were mice under my bonnet... were they living there? We are in the countryside and do get mice around but never had them in the cars before! 

Other bad news the Nova and MX5 are also both parked on that storage part of the drive and have been for a long time... I’ll take a bloody big stick and check them for critters at the weekend.

Ahhh countryside life! 

[Crispian_J_Hotson]

4 minutes ago, brownnova said:

Had a work meeting... hmmm.... haven’t driven the 900 in a couple of months I’ll take that.

Battery: You wot M9... don’t think so.

So I go to work and come back and the. Run the battery charger on an extension, pop the bonnet and..... shit myself because a mouse sprints across the engine!

Little bugger goes and hides 

Worried that it may have infested I hook the battery up to the charger and leave the bonnet up so it’ll go away.

I return to the car half an hour later... no sign of Mr or Mrs Mouse. Good.

Car starts, good. I reverse it from its spot and watch as a mouse jumps from the front of the car into the hedge...  

Bounce sheets used to work for us when we lived in a mouse infested house with character* in the middle of nowhere... And traps loaded with bits of Mars bar, but they could be messy.

Our record was 11 mice in a night. We soon moved to another great* house near a river that had reoccurring issues with rats. No cars were ever eaten though.