The new news 24 thread

[Jazoli]

Think they use insignia hubs which are 5x120 iirc.

[RayMK]

3 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Daily new fiat has thrown up a message this week since idling for 30mins to defrost on Tuesday. Change engine oil.

I thought it may have a sensor to detect degradation and indeed there was a bit of emulsion on the cap, but I wiped that away and it’s ok now. But message still there.

it’s only 2000miles since the dealer service last august.

Anyone know if it’s based on a sensor reading, or miles and stop-/start trips etc? Also anyone know how to remove the message ? There’s no light showing on the dash, just a message on the car info page.

There's an Italian guy on you tube who says the following (link): 

In short, he says to :-

1.  Switch the ignition on but do not start the engine.

2.  Press the accelerator to the floor and keep it there.

3.  Press the brake pedal 7 times at roughly once per second, keeping the accelerator to the floor throughout and keeping it there for the next step.

4.  Still keeping the accelerator pressed to the floor, wait for one minute then release the accelerator pedal.

5.  Switch the ignition off and wait another minute.

6.  You can then do a normal car engine start and the message should now be reset i.e. 'change engine oil' note gone.

Set your options for subtitles and see the above from 2min-09sec.

 

[bunglebus]

On 26/05/2021 at 21:52, bunglebus said:

My son in law (ish - girlfriend's daughter's husband) is a nidiot. He always goes at everything like a bull in a china shop, and tonight it has bitten him on the arse

Remember this guy? Thought I'd do an update on some of his latest motoring disasters.

Astra became bean cans and was replaced by a Citroen Picasso. Despite my initial concern about it surviving his "care", it actually did rather well. He turned up several times with the engine doing an impression of a Talbot Solara, and would say "Oh yeah, it needs some oil in it". Throwing in a litre or so of whatever I had spare from the Lupo or Passat seemed to cure it with no apparent long term effects. 

Various faults were mentioned in passing (rear suspension seemed very low, odd suspension noises), but what killed it was an engine mount breaking which apparently dropped the running gear onto the steering rack, meaning it was stuck where it was and had to be trailered home before webuyanyshite.com gave him a few hundred quid for it.

Latest mobile dustbin is a Zafira, once again it seemed to survive quite admirably at first, daughter in law has learnt to drive in it and passed her test first time - however I think this may have contributed to its current FTP.

Before Christmas he asked me why in 3d and 4th gears the engine was revving up but the car wasn't going any faster - told him the clutch was FUBAR and he needed to get it done ASAP or he wouldn't be going anywhere at all.

On Wednesday they drove to Maldon and met my Mrs for lunch - she saw how much the car was struggling to get up hills and also told them not to drive it again until it was fixed.  The very next day we get a panicked phone call because the car has ground to a halt in the outside lane of the A12 about 20 miles away from home. He's called the AA and because the person on the phone said it might be a gearbox fault, he'd been ringing around garages and stressing about getting quoted £~{_+ for that to be repaired. We got a quote at Mr Clutch for £550 but as usual he didn't listen, told them it was the gearbox so of course they said not interested. Now he's had to pay over £100 to get it recovered to a clutch "specialist" who have said, surprise surprise , it's the clutch - and quoted £850. He's also hired a car for the week for even more spendage. They're not exactly well off and have had to cancel getting new flooring in their house to pay for it.

Drives me potty

Oh - and then this morning calls asking if I could change the oil pump because it's over £1000 - apparently the "yellow light" is always on and the red pressure light comes on when cornering. Couldn't be arsed to ask if he'd actually checked the level.  

[egg]

chap in France trying to work out how many Citroen LN's left on the road in France (produced 76-78 before they became the LNA), translated by Google

Quote

I arrive at an "empirical" figure of around 300 LNs still running (out of around 130,000 produced in 2 years).

https://ln-lnaclubdefrance.1fr1.net/t4107-recensement-des-ln-encore-roulantes?utm_campaign=popular&utm_medium=topic&utm_source=newsletter

[richardmorris]

19 hours ago, RayMK said:

There's an Italian guy on you tube who says the following (link): 

In short, he says to :-

1.  Switch the ignition on but do not start the engine.

2.  Press the accelerator to the floor and keep it there.

3.  Press the brake pedal 7 times at roughly once per second, keeping the accelerator to the floor throughout and keeping it there for the next step.

4.  Still keeping the accelerator pressed to the floor, wait for one minute then release the accelerator pedal.

5.  Switch the ignition off and wait another minute.

6.  You can then do a normal car engine start and the message should now be reset i.e. 'change engine oil' note gone.

Set your options for subtitles and see the above from 2min-09sec.

 

Did see that exact one earlier, it’s not got exactly the same dash warning setup. Seems it’s the cold starts and idling that’s likely to have done it. I’ve not cycled to work much this month, so using it for shorting journeys etc.

another YouTube( in fact mopar)  says that pressing the accelerator three times with the ignition in position 1 will also clear it. 
 

what’s wrong with a simple ok/clear button?

[hairnet]

11 minutes ago, richardmorris said:

Did see that exact one earlier, it’s not got exactly the same dash warning setup. Seems it’s the cold starts and idling that’s likely to have done it. I’ve not cycled to work much this month, so using it for shorting journeys etc.

another YouTube( in fact mopar)  says that pressing the accelerator three times with the ignition in position 1 will also clear it. 
 

remove tagliatelle from intake?

[Split_Pin]

A pass for the 75 last week, happy with that. It's still running great and the airbag light has stayed off for a week now! It originally failed on front discs, pads and the handbrake. I wish I had known about the state of the front discs as I'd have done that myself. The ones the garage sourced were a little on the dear side. On the other hand, they stripped the handbrake mechanisms down and freed everything off. A twat of a job on a 75 so it all weighs up.

I had to clean the interior afterwards as they'd made it quite dirty so have a gratuitous interior shot.

The brown 93 is in for its test next week. Once I have fitted a side light bulb it should be good to go.

 

[puddlethumper]

Having put a 4 speed box into my van I had to make a trip to Leeds to drop my lithium battery off coz the battery management system doesn't work and therefore wont give the power out of it.  Anyway that's probably more a grumpy thread thing. 

So off to Leeds I went. A 305 base van doesn't have anything to stop noise, no carpets etc,. A 5 speed is bearable, a 4 speed is noisier. Had to stick at 60 instead of 70, fuel economy goes down. I worked out it would be about £20 each way but forgot about only having a 4 speed. I reckon it cost an extra £5 each way.  I've had an update on the box that UselessPS damaged/lost. The tracking now says 'on the way, delivery rescheduled' so it may still turn up, after I spent out on getting the 4 fitted. I'm trying to be philosophical about it but it's difficult. 

[Noel Tidybeard]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Did see that exact one earlier, it’s not got exactly the same dash warning setup. Seems it’s the cold starts and idling that’s likely to have done it. I’ve not cycled to work much this month, so using it for shorting journeys etc.

another YouTube( in fact mopar)  says that pressing the accelerator three times with the ignition in position 1 will also clear it. 
 

what’s wrong with a simple ok/clear button?

a sevel van (big one so fiat) is hold accel & brake pedal down then turn key on for 10-15 secs then off and voila no light

[Six-cylinder]

43 minutes ago, puddlethumper said:

So off to Leeds I went. A 305 base van doesn't have anything to stop noise, no carpets etc,. A 5 speed is bearable, a 4 speed is noisier. Had to stick at 60 instead of 70, fuel economy goes down. I worked out it would be about £20 each way but forgot about only having a 4 speed. I reckon it cost an extra £5 each way.  I've had an update on the box that UselessPS damaged/lost. The tracking now says 'on the way, delivery rescheduled' so it may still turn up, after I spent out on getting the 4 fitted. I'm trying to be philosophical about it but it's difficult. 

Until recently I had two very similar Citroen Visa 17RDs both 1769cc 60bhp but one was 4 speed and the other had the optional 5 speed gearbox. Driving them I could not feel the difference, the brochure says 4 speed had 22.4 mph/1000rpm and the 5 speed 21.6 mph/1000rpm . Top speed was 2 mph faster, 0-60 mph was 0.3 sec less in the 5 speed, but the fuel consumption was 2 mpg better with the 4 speed. I kept the 4 speed just because I liked the sunroof. 

[puddlethumper]

29 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

Until recently I had two very similar Citroen Visa 17RDs both 1769cc 60bhp but one was 4 speed and the other had the optional 5 speed gearbox. Driving them I could not feel the difference, the brochure says 4 speed had 22.4 mph/1000rpm and the 5 speed 21.6 mph/1000rpm . Top speed was 2 mph faster, 0-60 mph was 0.3 sec less in the 5 speed, but the fuel consumption was 2 mpg better with the 4 speed. I kept the 4 speed just because I liked the sunroof. 

I think the ratios on a 305 van were different to a saloon/estate because the thinking was you were going to be loaded up a lot. I noticed with an empty van that first was too high and second too low, or is it the other way round, when pulling from standstill. 

[artdjones]

1 hour ago, Six-cylinder said:

Until recently I had two very similar Citroen Visa 17RDs both 1769cc 60bhp but one was 4 speed and the other had the optional 5 speed gearbox. Driving them I could not feel the difference, the brochure says 4 speed had 22.4 mph/1000rpm and the 5 speed 21.6 mph/1000rpm . Top speed was 2 mph faster, 0-60 mph was 0.3 sec less in the 5 speed, but the fuel consumption was 2 mpg better with the 4 speed. I kept the 4 speed just because I liked the sunroof. 

The 4 speed petrol Visas all had 3+E gearbox as well. My Super E could cruise at 75-80 as long as the road was reasonably flat. If it wasn't  you revved harder downhill then used the extra momentum to get you up the inclines, as long as they weren't too long.

Edit:long not short.

[HillmanImp]

Watching a shite telly programme on channel 5 about the 'Secrets and Scandals of Top of the Pops' which according to the woman at the end of the adverts contains 'outdated, historic racial insensitivity'. 

Yeah, thats the least of their worries with 1970s DJs. 

That's a Fred Talbot on a scale of Gary Glitter. 

[Six-cylinder]

14 minutes ago, artdjones said:

The 4 speed petrol Visas all had 3+E gearbox as well. My Super E could cruise at 75-80 as long as the road was reasonably flat. If it wasn't the you revved harder downhill then used the extra momentum to get you up the inclines, as long as they weren't too short.

The 11RE was geared at 19.1 mph/1000rpm so 75mph was a comfortable 3900 rpm. They did list a 5 speed 1124cc but I don't every remember seeing one and I did sell them new in 1987.

@Mrs6Chas a 1124cc 4 speed Visa Cabriolet.

[artdjones]

13 minutes ago, Six-cylinder said:

The 11RE was geared at 19.1 mph/1000rpm so 75mph was a comfortable 3900 rpm. They did list a 5 speed 1124cc but I don't every remember seeing one and I did sell them new in 1987.

@Mrs6Chas a 1124cc 4 speed Visa Cabriolet.

They are great cars. I took a while to get used to mine, as my previous two cars were Triumph Dolomites. The only two real downers were having a heavy clutch for the first year owing to a distorted pedal box, and their tendency for the load sensing valve on the back to not work very well, leading to trying  to swap ends under heavy braking. A great ride, though, and it could be hustled along nicely. I once had to pick up a friend who lived 28 miles away in the back of beyond in West Cork, and did it in 34 minutes on fairly twisty roads. I drove a bit slower on the way home, as I didn't want her to throw up.

[Metal Guru]

2 hours ago, HillmanImp said:

Watching a shite telly programme on channel 5 about the 'Secrets and Scandals of Top of the Pops' which according to the woman at the end of the adverts contains 'outdated, historic racial insensitivity'. 

Yeah, thats the least of their worries with 1970s DJs. 

That's a Fred Talbot on a scale of Gary Glitter. 

TBF they did mention Jimmy Saville and his activities  at the end.

[HillmanImp]

7 hours ago, Metal Guru said:

TBF they did mention Jimmy Saville and his activities  at the end.

Ah, did they. I'd switched off by then to watch something on Netflix. Fair enough. 

[Sunny Jim]

Farewell Santo Porto we're bound for Madeira. 

[andyberg]

5 minutes ago, Sunny Jim said:

Farewell Santo Porto we're bound for Madeira. 

I hope you are having a great time. Your car is safe and has had a couple of runs to keep things free 😁

[Sunny Jim]

6 hours ago, Sunny Jim said:

Farewell Santo Porto we're bound for Madeira. 

Good down wind passage making 6 knots on just a head sail (funny to be excited about travelling at 6mph!) Found a good spot to anchor for the night, the sun's over the yard arm so cheers!

[stuboy]

Spotted this on top of load stuff at FiL House.. 

[mitsisigma01]

Has anyone seen the uggadugga gun from Lidl, I think they have cordless and mains ones . Anyone used one ?

[mitsisigma01]

6 hours ago, Split_Pin said:

Put it all back together

But did it work 🤔

[Stanky]

1 hour ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Has anyone seen the uggadugga gun from Lidl, I think they have cordless and mains ones . Anyone used one ?

brother_Stanky has one of the corded ones and rate it highly. Slightly lower rated than my Clarke CEW1000, but about £30 cheaper. Well worth getting IMHO. I saw the cordless one was £70 in my local Lidl yesterday.

TBH they're bulky things anyway, I'd opt for the corded one unless you're likely to need to use it a long way away from mains power on a regular basis. You can use the money saved to buy a decent set of impact sockets and a 30m extension lead.

[DVee8]

11 hours ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Has anyone seen the uggadugga gun from Lidl, I think they have cordless and mains ones . Anyone used one ?

Yeah, I bought a cordless  one last weekend.  Having used the one @gm has.

It comes in a carry case, has 4 or 5  deep sockets,the battery and charger . It happily removed the wheel bolts from the Bini except the rounded/damaged  one. It came fully charged so ready to use.

Aldi have their version on sale from today online only for £10 less but no mention of the case or sockets.

 

[gm]

mine certainly came in handy last week when I had the gearbox out of the Exo, it's fairly hefty but has adjustable torque settings so you don't have to go in guns blazing. I bought a spare battery and the matching cordless angle grinder at the same time, the whole lot came to around £100ish I think.

[artdjones]

A friend had a narrow escape yesterday.  He got a 2009 Mazda 3, which is basically a Focus 1.6 with different styling. I said I'd do an oil and filter change for him with my suction pump. He was around at my house at midday for something else, then left to take his wife home, get changed and come back. As he started up the car to leave, I couldn't help noticing a terrible rattle for about 2 seconds, which then shut up.

When he got back, we lifted the bonnet and put the suction tube down the dipstick tube and started sucking the old oil out. After about 1.5 litres  came out oil stopped coming through. I thought the tube had bent above the oil surface, so I removed it and tried again. Still nothing, so I cut a piece of stiff wire and put it down the tube until it looked like it would be level with the sump bottom. Nothing on the bottom of the tube. So I got some cheap 10/40 and poured back in about 1.5l, and tried with the dipstick. Nothing there. We poured in another litre. Nothing there.Another litre, halfway up the stick marking. So we started up the engine and ran it for 5 minutes, then checked again. It took another 1/2 litre to bring it to max.

So when he arrived at my house he must have had around 1.5l in the engine, including what was in the filter. Amazingly enough, he seems to have got away with it, as it got checked after 30 miles and was still on Max.

[SiC]

I did a little bit on the MG yesterday but it's bloody cold. Should be out there right now but sub zero temperatures makes it a bit off putting. By the time the heater has taken the chill off in these temperatures, I'll be going back in again.

We did watch the sunset this early evening. I will be very glad when the sunsets later in the evening in the next 2 months.

[dozeydustman]

Stepdaughter wants a new car, despite the Mini having a long MoT the traction control light is on and friendly garage can’t clear it.

Might be for sale on here soon.

[De Selby]

3 hours ago, SiC said:

I did a little bit on the MG yesterday but it's bloody cold. Should be out there right now but sub zero temperatures makes it a bit off putting. By the time the heater has taken the chill off in these temperatures, I'll be going back in again.

We did watch the sunset this early evening. I will be very glad when the sunsets later in the evening in the next 2 months.

 

Is that Clevedon? I was there earlier on today.