The new news 24 thread

[rml2345]

Airlock in the cooling system maybe?

[andy18s]

Just spotted on faceache.

Looking for offers over scrap value....

[trigger]

It's already gone by the looks of it.

[andy18s]

Didn't think it would take too long to get snapped up tbh

[Richard]

I had one of those once, I still have the scars.

[richardmorris]

I'm in France at the moment on holiday. It's a struggle sometimes but one has to put up with draft leffe.

 

But car is now filthy after it rained and local farmers had been driving tractors about. I also did 60 miles on a hired mountain bike today (decathlon rockrider thing) on the local reclaimed railway between guise and hirson. Didn't see a single other person in five hours!

[Vin]

Tonight 9pm on BBC4 - Timeshift     http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06csy8c

 

"The Engine that powers the world"

 

The surprising story of the hidden powerhouse behind the globalised world - the diesel engine, a 19th-century invention that has become indispensable to the 21st century. It's a turtle versus hare tale in which the diesel engine races the petrol engine in a competition to replace ageing steam technology - a race eventually won hands down by diesel.

Splendidly, car enthusiast presenter Mark Evans gets excitedly hands on with some of the many applications of Mr Diesel's - yes, there was one - original creation, from vintage submarines and tractors to locomotive trains and container ships. You'll never feel the same about that humble old diesel family car again.

[stripped fred]

Very impressed with my £2 a pop wiper blades from wilko's. Not sure how long they will last but at that price I'm not too bothered. They work well. Recommended +++

[RobT]

Thanks for the tip. I change blades every six months (assuming I keep the car that long) so will give Wilko ones a go.

[Jazoli]

Borrowed the wife's astra to go to Huddersfield today, 200 mile round trip doing about 85mph for the most of it and got this

 

 

I was quite impressed as all vauxhalls are shite apparently

[Lacquer Peel]

I've been helping* my friend get his Yaris MoT test ready, a garage had it up on a ramp and refused to MoT it because the fuel filler neck was "dangerous". I can see why now... The vapour pipe disintegrated when I touched it.

 

 

The replacement was a plastic one from a 2004 model off eBay, is the original metal because it's a Japan built car?

I thought all Mk1 Yarises sold in Europe were made in France for some reason.

[Pillock]

 

 

Borrowed the wife's astra to go to Huddersfield today, 200 mile round trip doing about 85mph for the most of it and got this

 

I was quite impressed as all vauxhalls are shite apparently

I'm guessing a diesel, by the redline?

Mine is about 10% optimistic, it regularly gets 56mpg on the computer but filling up hovers around 51-52mpg. Actually seems better at 80 than 70 when conducting trials on my own personal motorway.

[alf892]

Brother in law's Daimler 250 spluttered to a stop the other day. Running fine and then begun to misfire which rapidly worsened until it couldn't pull itself along. It happened near a classic car specialist so they collected it for diagnosis. On collection it started and rang fine.

 

Yesterday they rang with diagnosis..........piston/ ring wear causing crankcase compression......one of the effects of which was to cause oil to be forced into the tubes around the plug thereby drowning the plug. Compression test carried out showing lowish compression on 3 pots. Bloke reckoned it didn't hold compression on the low ones as well.........

 

I fetch up today for a look at it and the fella immediately seems to take me for a twat..........I arrived in a bini and was in work attire of shirt and tie.........so I understand why.

 

I thought I would play the part and let him give me his spiel and then quizzed him a bit on his diagnosis.........probing the poorly reasoned bits. I happily admit to enjoying his discomfort as he realised I may not be a complete twat.

 

I was a mechanic for a long time.........and was a tinkerer pre teenage so I'm well able to spot a bullshitter from a good distance. I also quite enjoy discussing possibilities for any faults with like minded people.

 

I don't think he was too surprised when I asked him to just reassemble and we will see how it goes. If he hadn't dived in so deep and so quick he could have had a lucrative new customer.

[Jazoli]

I'm guessing a diesel, by the redline?

Mine is about 10% optimistic, it regularly gets 56mpg on the computer but filling up hovers around 51-52mpg. Actually seems better at 80 than 70 when conducting trials on my own personal motorway.

Yup it's a diesel, and I concur it gets better mpg at 80 than 70, I guess that's the sweet spot at 2200rpm, the wife however averages 36mpg, 1 mile to work, 1 mile from work, walking is not an option apparently

[skattrd]

LP: there may have been a free one waiting at the dealer for that filler neck.

Daihatsu had a recall for Sirions of about the same era as the Yaris you mentioned and they got their filler necks replaced foc by the dealers. This wasn't heavily publicised for some reason. A mate still managed get his replaced by the dealer (free) after the car was 10 years old.

[stripped fred]

Thanks for the tip. I change blades every six months (assuming I keep the car that long) so will give Wilko ones a go.

No problem. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

[trigger]

Got my Sierra home tonight at last!

 

 

It drives surprisingly well considering it's been 9 years since it was last driven, there's a couple of issues, put £20 of fuel in made my fuel gauge stop working again and it runs a bit warm which I suspect is the thermostat but other than that is a good steer.

 

 

Tomorrow I'll see if I can swap the tyres around and get the cossie wheels fitted and then make a start on sorting out the bodywork and cleaning the interior. Yay!

 

[garbaldy]

That sierra looks really nice  it must run on miracle juice and I'm sure my temp gauge never sat that high.

[fordperv]

Sierra looks nice trig, a bugbear of mine with late model sierra's is how you can see the abs warning faint when the lights are on, it bugs the life out of me with mine

[Lacquer Peel]

LP: there may have been a free one waiting at the dealer for that filler neck.

Daihatsu had a recall for Sirions of about the same era as the Yaris you mentioned and they got their filler necks replaced foc by the dealers. This wasn't heavily publicised for some reason. A mate still managed get his replaced by the dealer (free) after the car was 10 years old.

 

I half remembered something like that, I think Dollywobbler got the filler neck on his very rusty Sirion replaced F.O.C.

Toyota have an online recall database, I ran the Yaris's registration number through it, no joy.

[wuvvum]

The Carina passed its MOT first time today, which was nice.  I was slightly nervous as the nearside rear tyre really is borderline (the nearside front was below the limit, I had to swap it for the spare), but it squeezed through.  I really do need to get the tracking done though as it's nomming its way through nearside tyres at an alarming rate.

 

I also got the door welded up on the Innocenti.  The door trim wasn't too bad to get off - the only awkward bit was the window winder handle which is held in place by a spring clip, which was a right pain in the arse to remove.  However whilst I was fiddling with it a bloke came over and started chatting to me about the car - he actually knew what it was, which I was impressed by as most people have no clue, they just know they've never seen one before.  I only managed to strap the skin to the frame in three places, and even that involved poking the torch through some awkward holes and holding internal door fittings out of the way with a bfo screwdriver.  It'll do though - it's now rigid enough that I can rust treat it and then trowel wob into the holes without worrying about it cracking and falling out.

 

Other things that got done today were dismantling and removing the built-in cabinets from the back of the Movano (I gave them to a mate as I have no use for them), and removing almost all of the rotten offside front wing from the A35.  The inner wing structure is actually pretty solid apart from right at the bottom at the ends of the sill and front valance, which are going to need patching up.  Also the hindmost three or so inches of the wing are still in place as the wing is held in place at the back by Philips head bolts going into captive nuts, and there's no way in arse that a Philips head bolt is going to come undone after 56 years - especially one made out of such relatively soft metal.  So they're probably going to need drilling out and replacing with "normal" nuts and bolts.  Sadly I doubt I'm going to have many more days this year when I'm free and the weather is conducive to poking around old BMC tat, and it's pointless fitting the replacement wing until the welding is done, so the car might have to stay wingless through the winter.

[Ghosty]

Spotted a T-reg Rover 75 today. Had to do a double take!

 

also: if anyone needs any spec/info on eqiupment etc on late '90s/early 2000s cars, ask me. Have a Glass's Car Checkbook 2004

[DSdriver]

XM (aka Thunderbird 2) sailed through the MOT today. Apparently the air come out the exhaust cleaner than it goes in the front end of the car*.

Monoxide at tickover zero percent. Useless for gassing yourself in the garage then.

[RobT]

I've been wracking my brains recently trying to find a decent, friendly local mechanic ever since my one moved from the area. I've tried a few others over the years and they are OK, but none seem that bothered by the older stuff and their rates were pretty steep. Dunno why I haven't thought of it sooner, but there's a bloke locally called Les who used to do the suspension pump ups on my Metro (got my own pump now!) so I popped in to see him today, told him I need a fair bit doing on the Cavalier for the MoT, and he said he'll do the lot no problem. BL transverse is the name of his gaff, and he's proper old school with a yard full of rusting BMC/BL tat that he uses for spares, and doesn't charge huge amounts. We had a bit of banter about 90s rep chariots and Tales of Modern Motoring before I buggered off and left him to the Volvo 460 he was swearing at when I arrived. I'm glad people like Les still exist.

[forddeliveryboy]

Taking global warming seriously, Guardian-style, I've been away for weeks doing as little as possible to harm the environment, the last couple of which were spent learning about building wooden boats (just in case those ice caps melt even faster).

 

No net, no mobile, so prior warning given for a splurge of bollocks-comments as I re-acclimatise to the modern communication world. You have been warned.

[fred]

I imagine with the influx of migrants over to the West methinks the Earth will wobble a bit more and will need tracking up

[dollywobbler]

 

 

Tonight 9pm on BBC4 - Timeshift http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06csy8c

 

"The Engine that powers the world"

 

 

The surprising story of the hidden powerhouse behind the globalised world - the diesel engine, a 19th-century invention that has become indispensable to the 21st century. It's a turtle versus hare tale in which the diesel engine races the petrol engine in a competition to replace ageing steam technology - a race eventually won hands down by diesel.

Splendidly, car enthusiast presenter Mark Evans gets excitedly hands on with some of the many applications of Mr Diesel's - yes, there was one - original creation, from vintage submarines and tractors to locomotive trains and container ships. You'll never feel the same about that humble old diesel family car again.

Really enjoyed that. Featured our previous Shitefest location of the Internal Fire Museum of Power too.

[chaseracer]

Yup it's a diesel, and I concur it gets better mpg at 80 than 70, I guess that's the sweet spot at 2200rpm, the wife however averages 36mpg, 1 mile to work, 1 mile from work, walking is not an option apparently

 

Your blat to Hudders would have done it a world of good, then...

[chaseracer]

I've been wracking my brains recently trying to find a decent, friendly local mechanic ever since my one moved from the area. I've tried a few others over the years and they are OK, but none seem that bothered by the older stuff and their rates were pretty steep. Dunno why I haven't thought of it sooner, but there's a bloke locally called Les who used to do the suspension pump ups on my Metro (got my own pump now!) so I popped in to see him today, told him I need a fair bit doing on the Cavalier for the MoT, and he said he'll do the lot no problem. BL transverse is the name of his gaff, and he's proper old school with a yard full of rusting BMC/BL tat that he uses for spares, and doesn't charge huge amounts. We had a bit of banter about 90s rep chariots and Tales of Modern Motoring before I buggered off and left him to the Volvo 460 he was swearing at when I arrived. I'm glad people like Les still exist.

 

Similarly: Ian, my 'tame mechanic' in Hednesford.  I need to start planning for his retirement...

[bub2006]

Spotted a T-reg Rover 75 today. Had to do a double take!

 

also: if anyone needs any spec/info on eqiupment etc on late '90s/early 2000s cars, ask me. Have a Glass's Car Checkbook 2004

Does it tell you if a car had remote locking from factory? Thanks