The new news 24 thread

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, richardmorris said:

3rd mot on the tipo this morning.  Pass.

Advisory for slightly worn discs- it’s five years old on 35,000miles, I’d be surprised if they weren’t. Efficient enough though and £42 booked online.

[DVee8]

This popped up on my local facebook feed

[Bear]

This little hero:

Earned this!

Advisories for greasy brake pipes, some oil stains, and need to give the nearside rear brake drum/shoes/etc. a going over...

[Marina door handles]

This morning my Freelander did a very convincing impression of a car having a big mechanical breakdown...

Driving to work but fortunately only about 3 miles from home, all of a sudden it sounded like a massive playing card had been shoved in the spokes of  the wire wheels it clearly doesn't have. I turned it around, limped back home. Now being a bit short on time I didn't inspect the Landrover and simply hopped into my Rover 800 and headed to work. 

Thankfully the 800 is running really nicely, I even got a thumbs up from a motorcyclist at some traffic lights! Which was nice....

On getting back home this evening, I checked over the Freelander, so what was wrong? Was it a drive shaft, nope. Was it a diff, nope, was it a large rag that had got caught around the prop and had been enthusiastically whipping the exhaust in a slightly kinky way? yes,  yes it was! 

Rag removed, test drive complete, all now okay thankfully. 

[Snake Charmer]

6 hours ago, richardmorris said:

3rd mot on the tipo this morning.  Pass.

Posh.

[richardmorris]

14 minutes ago, Snake Charmer said:

Posh.

Not really. F1 auto centre camberley. My usual local mechanic is not well and not available, so took a chance here. Got new tyres fitted with them last year. And they were fine. I did think about your work, but thought you were nearer Staines?

I was going to take it to the little place near Oswestry that does my x1/9 but it was a month earlier than I thought and so not really convenient.

[stuboy]

with the road tax increases, worried the hondura will go up from £430 to the £700 odd ...............

 

 

[Split_Pin]

7 minutes ago, stuboy said:

with the road tax increases, worried the hondura will go up from £430 to the £700 odd ...............

 

 

What makes you think that?

[Spiny Norman]

Where has all the sudden OMFG about the on par with inflation increase in VED come from? 

[Split_Pin]

The funny thing is nobody actually knows what the rates are going to be until the budget next month.......

[Saabnut]

Whilst eating my bacon roll this morning and catching up on the news, my faceache feed forwarded notification of a ladder lying in the outside lane of the dualed AWPR Aberdeen bypass. Ten minutes later I get a phone call from my neighbour saying her daughter had just phoned and she had hit a ladder on the bypass! Her 2019 Mercedes A class was now leaking water and oil, any idea how to get it to the local garage, would it be OK to drive?. Out with the Disco and trailer, to Stonehaven to collect the car and then delivered it to the garage. Not been inspected yet, but I noticed a split bumper to go with the fluid leaks. Good job my neighbour is good to me as that took up most of the daylight hours!

[New POD]

On 08/02/2026 at 17:56, artdjones said:

I have plans. Off to Lisbon for four days in a fortnight to chill.

So much better if it were:  Off to Lisbon in four days for a fortnight

[Zelandeth]

4 hours ago, Marina door handles said:

This morning my Freelander did a very convincing impression of a car having a big mechanical breakdown...

Driving to work but fortunately only about 3 miles from home, all of a sudden it sounded like a massive playing card had been shoved in the spokes of  the wire wheels it clearly doesn't have. I turned it around, limped back home. Now being a bit short on time I didn't inspect the Landrover and simply hopped into my Rover 800 and headed to work. 

Thankfully the 800 is running really nicely, I even got a thumbs up from a motorcyclist at some traffic lights! Which was nice....

On getting back home this evening, I checked over the Freelander, so what was wrong? Was it a drive shaft, nope. Was it a diff, nope, was it a large rag that had got caught around the prop and had been enthusiastically whipping the exhaust in a slightly kinky way? yes,  yes it was! 

Rag removed, test drive complete, all now okay thankfully. 

I got the living daylights scared out of me when the little rubber boot over the splined bit of the prop shaft on my old Merc TN camper disintegrated.  It would have been utterly unexciting if it hadn't been for the fact that immediately above said boot were the handbrake cables - it literally sounded like the gearbox was about to launch itself through the floor of the cab.

That was definitely one of the most spectacular sounding but least spectacular failures.

[Lord Sterling]

BMW 5er now has an MoT. 

New brake discs and shoes and a couple of brake lines. 

Still has advisories for oil leak, a couple of corroded springs and a brake pipe.

I tried to repair the spare key. It worked for a bit, but the curled battery holder, despite having a bleb of solder eventually came off, so that's something I'll have to sort out.

It's going to be lent to another shiter for a bit whilst I sort out my other cars/finances. It will, at some point become my daily alongside the S-Type.

[comfortablynumb]

10 hours ago, Marina door handles said:

was it a large rag that had got caught around the prop and had been enthusiastically whipping the exhaust in a slightly kinky way? yes,  yes it was! 

The range rover of too many wheels did this to me on the A1 near Baldock a couple of years ago, sounded like a machine gun in the gearbox.

In my case, a disintegrating propshaft boot had decided to flap around, and rip out all the gearbox wiring, back to the bulkhead, including the old inhibitor switch wiring from when it was an auto.

Limped into the services, and spent a fun* half hour tidying up and reconnecting earths etc so it would actually start and get me home.

Why is it that whenever I'm underneath it, covered in oil and obviously not in a good mood, people want to talk to me about it?

[EyesWeldedShut]

9 minutes ago, comfortablynumb said:

Why is it that whenever I'm underneath it, covered in oil and obviously not in a good mood, people want to talk to me about it?

Land Rover motto "Misery shared is a misery halved"?

[artdjones]

8 hours ago, New POD said:

So much better if it were:  Off to Lisbon in four days for a fortnight

I love Lisbon, but a two week city break would be way too long.

[SiC]

21 hours ago, Mr Pastry said:

And is the air intake low enough to have been under water?

Most BMWs have the main air intake at the top of the grille to ensure plenty of fresh cold air.

So get a wave of water through the grille and it'll ingest straight into the air box. If small amounts it'll drain out the bottom of the air box.

[Kiltox]

10 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

Where has all the sudden OMFG about the on par with inflation increase in VED come from? 

Clickbait idiots mostly but there are also bots spreading stuff about it suggesting political motivation

 

[Mr Pastry]

1 hour ago, SiC said:

Most BMWs have the main air intake at the top of the grille to ensure plenty of fresh cold air.

So get a wave of water through the grille and it'll ingest straight into the air box. If small amounts it'll drain out the bottom of the air box.

I think if you were getting into deep enough water and fast enough to get much of a wave into the air box, the exhaust would be well under water by that time anyway.

 

[Pete-M]

Some sad news. 

Kromer the cat, the star of the first Autoshite calendar passed around Christmas. He was about 15 years old and living his best life up on Stornoway. 

Passed in his sleep. 

 

[SiC]

1 hour ago, Mr Pastry said:

I think if you were getting into deep enough water and fast enough to get much of a wave into the air box, the exhaust would be well under water by that time anyway.

 

Is water in the exhaust enough to stop an engine? I've stuck exhausts in water (to silence) and seen plenty of cars drive through water with the exhaust underwater and not seen issues from that. An engine is an air pump after all. 

[Mr Pastry]

2 minutes ago, SiC said:

Is water in the exhaust enough to stop an engine? I've stuck exhausts in water (to silence) and seen plenty of cars drive through water with the exhaust underwater and not seen issues from that. An engine is an air pump after all. 

If as someone said earlier, the back box fills up with water, then yes.  Hence need to keep revs up in flood water.

[Snake Charmer]

19 hours ago, richardmorris said:

Not really. F1 auto centre camberley. My usual local mechanic is not well and not available, so took a chance here. Got new tyres fitted with them last year. And they were fine. I did think about your work, but thought you were nearer Staines?

I was going to take it to the little place near Oswestry that does my x1/9 but it was a month earlier than I thought and so not really convenient.

Saved yourself some cash and had better seating! 😁

[Snake Charmer]

Best design for a hidden OBDII port l have seen, a perfect size hole underneath the plug so your Bluetooth OBDII dongle disappears into the centre console mid Mot. 🙄

[lesapandre]

Just got a little socket set in Lidl. £11.99 if anyone's looking for one. Complete with spots of rain - it's pouring here.

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, Snake Charmer said:

Saved yourself some cash and had better seating! 😁

Do let me know , I’d prefer to support local people.

[McRusty]

My Father in law died last year and the family have been going through some of his belongings and found two of these crates. They probably found their way home while he was working at Triumph at Canley putting Heralds together - always referred to it as 'The Standard'.  Little bit of automotive history in my garage now, with British car parts back in them.

[alcyonecorporation]

That is fucking ace. 

Never, ever let it be taken to a hipster cafe and turned into a stool top, or some shit. 

[alcyonecorporation]

I'm trying to remember what fucking cafe it was in Shoreditch that served me a full English breakfast on the blade pan of a short handled spade. 

It tasted crap, and the breakfast wasn't much cop, either.