The new news 24 thread

[dave21478]

female friend keeps having trouble starting her car so she gave up left on drive key under seat..

 

first problem...

 

rolled it backwards..

 

 

jumpstart it..

 

 

 

 

One of the best things I have done for old chod recovery was to make up a set of extra-long jump leads so I can jump a car while parked behind it.

You can buy the wire by the meter online or from a welding supplies shop, and either sacrifice an old set for the clamps or buy new ones online, which arent too expensive.

[Mike D]

The best thing I've bought for chod recovery was a jump pack - Jump leads have nothing on one!

[dollywobbler]

A jump pack is fine if the thing starts straight away. Less good if there are other woes to combat. Both is the answer! That and a starting handle. 

[Asimo]

I don't think I have seen an Alpine that colour, lovely!

 

They are such frustrating cars, so nearly ideal and yet spoiled by stupid design decisions and penny-pinching.

I would love that for a project if I had the space and the time......

[trigger]

Unsurprisingly the sale of my Merc has fell though as my mate says he's had a unexpected "Buy now, pay later" bill come though and can't afford it now, Bugger. I'm not sure if I'm that fussed or not really though, especially now i've got the heaters to work again after flushing the system plus I'm not sure if i slightly undervalued the car?

[cms206]

Spent the afternoon with the work's R-reg low roof LDV Convoy clearing my mate's flat... oddly enough didn't have any issues dumping the couch he died on after his dad had a few words with jobsworth's gaffer. Still five days to the post mortem

[Hertz]

I don't think I have seen an Alpine that colour, lovely!

 

They are such frustrating cars, so nearly ideal and yet spoiled by stupid design decisions and penny-pinching.

I would love that for a project if I had the space and the time......

 

Yes it's like an electric blue which is more striking than the normal "Alpine Blue". If you can find the space and the time it is for sale until after Christmas then if no buyer is found it will be broken for spares. PM me if you or anyone is insane enough to have a go at saving it.

[AlabamaShrimp]

Whoops I bought it

 

 

 

Bad points

 

There are practically no inner sills on both sides. Just crumbles and the wires behind fall out.

Locks itself randomly

Exhaust is blowing

Funny noise from the engine that I think is just a belt

Drivers window winds up but gets stuck

Boot gas struts to support the door

 

Good points.

Doesn't need painting

Has some alloys if I'm scrapping it

New battery

Cheap

 

All in all not bad to sit on my drive and have me practice welding on it. Will be a full interior out job though

[RobT]

I got a call from the local housing association this morning offering me the choice of two lock-ups they now have available.  I submitted an application form for one three years ago which just goes to show how long their waiting list is...Anyway, I'll check out the location tonight as I think it's in a good secure block, and is only a 20 minute walk from home whereas my current one is 6 miles away.  Same cost too.  The plan would be to keep the Metro in there, and being more local it should encourage me to use the thing more often. 

[Ghosty]

Whoops I bought it

 

IMG-20141126-WA0006.jpg

 

 

Bad points

 

 

Locks itself randomly

<snip>

 

What do you mean by random locking? Both of the late '90s Hondas my dad has/had auto lock themselves if you leave them with all doors shut and key out of ignition IIRC.

[AlabamaShrimp]

What do you mean by random locking? Both of the late '90s Hondas my dad has/had auto lock themselves if you leave them with all doors shut and key out of ignition IIRC.

This I never knew and must be what it's doing

[Bobthebeard]

Mrs Beard has been asking me for months to put some lighting in the back garden. After buying a Tilley lamp on eBay recently I am now loving paraffin lamps. Tilley lamp on hook by the back door, hurricane lamps suspended artistically in the trees!

Not quite* what she wanted, but she grudgingly admits that it looks great when they are all lit. Christmas lights 'old school' style also FTW!

[The Moog]

Soldered on new headlight connectors to the civic. The old ones were melted like a Dali painting. Put my new lidl gas soldering iron to good use and managed to avoid too many burns.

 

Replaced a few of the rear bulbs. As much as it is an unerpowered piece of shit, stuff like changing bulbs is simple. Around town it is fairly quiet. Tomorrow going to try and fit the radio, fit reversing sensors, remove gb giffer sticker and sort out rear wiper.

 

Need to get the 405 up on stands as has started to pull to the right under acceleration.

[Lord Sterling]

Went back to my garage man today, got fed up of the bouncy ride in the Merc and seeing as I have already bought the spheres, I reckoned it was time to get this thing booked in for Sphere changes.

 

Having been roped in (again) to help out with an MOT my garage man told me about his beloved Nissan Serena which had been now been scrapped! Apparently he went to see one of his mates in Small Heath he was doing a 3 -point turn when he heard something go bang on the front end, the car felt Ok so he carried on a few yards when another bang was heard, he got out to see that his front wheel had collapsed.

 

Turned out that the floor and few other bits had rotted out. He contacted Nissan about a new floor but they wanted £1k, all other scrappies who had Serenas were also just as rotton, so that was the end of his Serena. Serena has been replaced by a Landcruiser.

[HillmanImp]

This I never knew and must be what it's doing

 

Aye a fair few cars started doing that around then (no idea if they still do). You used to see lots of people getting the RAC out to retrieve their keys that they had left on the seat whilst they had stepped inside for a cup of tea. 

[tooSavvy]

My Savv will 'plopp' lock itself if you turn ya back 4 a minute.

 

Dunno if it will with the key in the ignition as the 'immob' sensor cuts out when you stick it in....

 

 

TS

[HMC]

^my A6 does this regularly. Ive only one set of keys but so far have avoided being locked out. Im unsure why it was considered a desirable feature to have as i find it unnerving/annoying. But for the need to disconnect the battery to stop the airbag sensor having a meltdown, when I changed the interior last week Im sure it would have happened at some point as I was clambering about and swearing at bits of trim.

 

In other news more than many cars Ive sold on, I miss the rover P4 I had a few years back...

 

Wallowing around a corner in my old rover

 

Im due to have a look at one soon, its supposed to be solid but not the best cosmetically, but I tend to like cars that are honest like that. Theyre usually cheaper to buy that may have something to do with it too!

 

 

[Skizzer]

SD1 has spark but still no internal combustion.  At one point this afternoon it didn't have a working starter motor either, but some despairing jiggling of random wires somehow seemed to fix that.  Fuel pump is now prime suspect, or its electrics, so tomorrow I'll get another can of petrol and see if it'll run off a gravity feed.

 

Renault 16 is now doing sterling service as the daily runaround of choice.  Raised a few eyebrows with the Transit Connect brigade when I went down to Screwfix to pick up some copper pipe and fittings.

[cort16]

The fuel pump is easy to get out as you can get to it via an access panel behind the back seats.

[dollywobbler]

Go for it Brookjm. Ratty P4s are truly wonderful things. Not long after I started working with Nick Larkin, he somehow managed to score a ratty but really solid P4 for a grand. A grand! It is truly marvellous.

[twosmoke300]

Cars locking themselves is called passive arming and is supposed to only do it if you unlock via the plip but don't get in after a certain amount of time . If your car does it even after you have opened a door then you prob have a door switch problem . Do your courtesy lights work ? Wouldn't have thought a Suzuki swift would have passive arming tho

[beko1987]

The meriva shits me up with this, I put the only key we have back in the house when working on it. Bet when I do fuck it up the window I smash to get in will be the most expensive...

[AlabamaShrimp]

Cars locking themselves is called passive arming and is supposed to only do it if you unlock via the plip but don't get in after a certain amount of time . If your car does it even after you have opened a door then you prob have a door switch problem . Do your courtesy lights work ? Wouldn't have thought a Suzuki swift would have passive arming tho

Won't know till tomorrow when I collect it weather it still does it after the doors have been opened. The girl I'm getting it from says she has locked the keys in before and it does open when something smacked over the lock on the outside.

 

No doubt it'll be in the grump thread on the tenth time I'm locked out

[phil_lihp]

Alright, SVM, own up.  Which one of you lot fixed something on your car?  We've established that there is a UK Volvo Welfare Balance, I know I caused cms206's 740 to suffer HGF by mending my 940's washer pipe and heater and I'm very sorry but that's no reason to go and tilt the balance back the other way so abruptly.

 

The 940 is having a failure to proceed tonight, fortunately at home and not urgently needed - if it'd died last night whilst on canoe trailer towing duties it would have been a disaster.  It turns over fine but won't even try to fire - it initially started, ran for a couple of seconds, then died.  Investigations reveal that there is no noise from the fuel pump when turning the ignition on and pulling number #1 fuse (fuel pump/fuel injection computer) makes absolutely no difference to anything.  The fuse isn't blown so my guess is the fuel pump relay - I'll be glad if it is. as that should be a quick and relatively cheap fix.

 

Just as well I've got a day off tomorrow, I need it back in action Saturday morning so I suppose the timing couldn't have been much better if it had to go.

[cms206]

Alright, SVM, own up. Which one of you lot fixed something on your car? We've established that there is a UK Volvo Welfare Balance, I know I caused cms206's 740 to suffer HGF by mending my 940's washer pipe and heater and I'm very sorry but that's no reason to go and tilt the balance back the other way so abruptly.

 

The 940 is having a failure to proceed tonight, fortunately at home and not urgently needed - if it'd died last night whilst on canoe trailer towing duties it would have been a disaster. It turns over fine but won't even try to fire - it initially started, ran for a couple of seconds, then died. Investigations reveal that there is no noise from the fuel pump when turning the ignition on and pulling number #1 fuse (fuel pump/fuel injection computer) makes absolutely no difference to anything. The fuse isn't blown so my guess is the fuel pump relay - I'll be glad if it is. as that should be a quick and relatively cheap fix.

 

Just as well I've got a day off tomorrow, I need it back in action Saturday morning so I suppose the timing couldn't have been much better if it had to go.

I fixed the front door catches and all door locks on the 340 earlier this week but Dave did supply Adrian with new tail light units last night after he had a coming together with some scenery...

[andy18s]

Alright, SVM, own up.  Which one of you lot fixed something on your car?  We've established that there is a UK Volvo Welfare Balance, I know I caused cms206's 740 to suffer HGF by mending my 940's washer pipe and heater and I'm very sorry but that's no reason to go and tilt the balance back the other way so abruptly.

 

The 940 is having a failure to proceed tonight, fortunately at home and not urgently needed - if it'd died last night whilst on canoe trailer towing duties it would have been a disaster.  It turns over fine but won't even try to fire - it initially started, ran for a couple of seconds, then died.  Investigations reveal that there is no noise from the fuel pump when turning the ignition on and pulling number #1 fuse (fuel pump/fuel injection computer) makes absolutely no difference to anything.  The fuse isn't blown so my guess is the fuel pump relay - I'll be glad if it is. as that should be a quick and relatively cheap fix.

 

Just as well I've got a day off tomorrow, I need it back in action Saturday morning so I suppose the timing couldn't have been much better if it had to go.

Sold mine.......?

[DS20]

Double-entry Volvo-karma bookkeeping  

[cort16]

They did a diesel Yaris? You live and learn.

[320touring]

They did a diesel Yaris? You live and learn.

Thing is, he'll live and regret;)

[Norbert]

Make sure the yaris isn't losing coolant - bloke at work had a diesel one of those and the heater failed, and it was also firing coolant out at the rate that needed several pop bottles for a 15 mile run. Never got to the bottom of it and chopped it for another yaris. It lasted for less time than the Maestro it replaced.....