The new news 24 thread

[HMC]

After an overnight charge the range rover still refused to catch this morning, slightly embarrassing as SWMBO was watching and had a certain look on her face that sort of equates to " what a pile of shit"

 

Later and with a further charged and boosted by a spare battery it very reluctantly caught after a fair bit of cranking and now starts on the button again. Unsure what that was all about. When I owned it last time round I had the experience that unless the battery was tip top any more that a little extra cranking would meant it would then be a pain to start however much extra juice you supplied to the battery. My friend and former keeper also found this during his 7 year stint. Could it get over fuelled and flood if the battery fails to crank it enough to catch within a window of time?

 

I Will be pondering this when I set off on a 250 mile trip in it tomorrow ( complete with booster battery in the boot)

[catsinthewelder]

Against all odds

 

 

This now has a fresh MOT, 2 advisories for tyres that I'll do once the tracking is sorted.

[twosmoke300]

Brilliant news ! Did you have to lick the testers eyes or was Mr S Wonder wearing his glasses preventing access 😄

[tooSavvy]

I was passed on the A1, Metro Centre contra, by a Merc SilverKoop

 

Plate?

 

W123 SLK

 

.... knobber or wott??

 

*I cannot match it on dvla

 

 

TS

[skattrd]

Nice work on the Disco Rich, did it need much welding? or shouldn't I ask.

[andrew e]

Just sunk £612 on a service, cambelts/tensioner/pump and MOT on a car worth twice that. But 13 years on the original belt is a gamble!

 

 

Done bugger all miles mind, and still tight as drum!

[EssDeeWon]

Blimey thats low mileage, what was the belt like andrew?

[andrew e]

Belt looked good still, however it was attached to a 1.8 20 valve turbo so I was playing Russian roulette! they are enclosed so you can peer in, and are protected somewhat luckily. Unfortunately it means hours of labour.

[cort16]

I was on s Nissan Leaf today for the first time. I wasn't driving but it was surprisingly normal on the road and felt pretty quick when not in Eco mode. If anything it felt too normal o wanted wiz zing lights and flux capacitors

[DeeJay]

Mercury grey is an arse to match but I don't think modern paints are helping.  Did a red paint match on a Honda Civic and on the plastic parts the match was excellent.  The metal parts were a different story, it was like I'd used a completely different paint.  Interestingly, the same red applied to an exhaust which then got hot and baked proved a better match for the paint on the metal of the Honda.  I wonder if to get a better match with modern water based paints you need the baking process to replace whatever magic happened with solvent based paint curing.

So to get a colour match dry the paint with a blow torch.

[Ghosty]

Belt looked good still, however it was attached to a 1.8 20 valve turbo so I was playing Russian roulette! they are enclosed so you can peer in, and are protected somewhat luckily. Unfortunately it means hours of labour.

 

-2002(?) Audi

-1.8T

 

That's going to be worth a lot more than £1200 - our '96 A4 quattro was almost that much on 77k.

[catsinthewelder]

Nice work on the Disco Rich, did it need much welding? or shouldn't I ask.

 

I did nothing at all, didn't even replace the sweet and sandwich wrapper that passes for an indicator lens at the moment.  Last year was an epic weldathon though with a sill and several large patches and I've done a lot of mechanical work over the last year with a new clutch, radiator and head gasket. 

[andrew e]

Quite possibly Ghosty, but for the moment it's in old car hell where it's worth £1500 on a good day! Value is regardless, it's not going anywhere, totally bog standard - It's a Quattro too...

 

-2002(?) Audi

-1.8T

 

That's going to be worth a lot more than £1200 - our '96 A4 quattro was almost that much on 77k.

[Ghosty]

I was wondering if it was an A3. Don't get why/how they're so cheap, even in that form.

[Pete-M]

Night before last I was driving down some country roads and realised that pretty much none of the switchgear in my car was illuminated, and it's all black switches on a black dashboard. As the headlamp height adjuster still illuminated it was pretty obvious that the little lamps in the switches had failed.

 

Yesterday I popped out one of the foglight switches and removed one of the offending dead bulbs - a 7219 micro job like they used to use in Clarion radios. Fiddly little buggers as they have to be wired into little holders.

 

So, I toddle off to my local Maplin with the bulb and show it to the shop droid.

 

"Do you have any of these?"

"Bulbs are over there"

<shop droid points at household bulbs>

"It's not a house bulb, it's from a switch, it's a #7219 12v incandescent wired grain lamp"

"We don't do 12v. Try Halfords"

"They don't do them. Which is why I'm here"

"Try the car dealership, we don't do them"

 

I gave up and buggered off home. Today I went back to Maplin with the Maplin part number for the bulb. BT 24 I think it was.

 

"Hi. Do you have any BT 24 bulbs?"

<droid scuttles off toward household bulbs, I wander toward the little bit at the back of the shop where the keep resistors, diodes etc, droid returns>

"Can't see any, try B&Q"

"According to Google you have 48 in stock, 12v micro bulb"

"12v, have you tried Halfords?"

"Try typing BT 24 into that computer behind the counter"

"We've got 48 of them, how many do you want? "

 

So, £8 later I had six tiny little lamps. Back to the workshop. Popokud the hazard light and heated rear window switches out. Didn't expect to find Nissan switches in a Subaru, and hadn't recognised them.

 

Anyway. My dash lights up properly now.

[Noel Tidybeard]

Night before last I was driving down some country roads and realised that pretty much none of the switchgear in my car was illuminated, and it's all black switches on a black dashboard. As the headlamp height adjuster still illuminated it was pretty obvious that the little lamps in the switches had failed.

 

Yesterday I popped out one of the foglight switches and removed one of the offending dead bulbs - a 7219 micro job like they used to use in Clarion radios. Fiddly little buggers as they have to be wired into little holders.

 

So, I toddle off to my local Maplin with the bulb and show it to the shop droid.

 

"Do you have any of these?"

"Bulbs are over there"

<shop droid points at household bulbs>

"It's not a house bulb, it's from a switch, it's a #7219 12v incandescent wired grain lamp"

"We don't do 12v. Try Halfords"

"They don't do them. Which is why I'm here"

"Try the car dealership, we don't do them"

 

I gave up and buggered off home. Today I went back to Maplin with the Maplin part number for the bulb. BT 24 I think it was.

 

"Hi. Do you have any BT 24 bulbs?"

<droid scuttles off toward household bulbs, I wander toward the little bit at the back of the shop where the keep resistors, diodes etc, droid returns>

"Can't see any, try B&Q"

"According to Google you have 48 in stock, 12v micro bulb"

"12v, have you tried Halfords?"

"Try typing BT 24 into that computer behind the counter"

"We've got 48 of them, how many do you want? "

 

So, £8 later I had six tiny little lamps. Back to the workshop. Popokud the hazard light and heated rear window switches out. Didn't expect to find Nissan switches in a Subaru, and hadn't recognised them.

 

Anyway. My dash lights up properly now.

you want seat heater switches for a scooby doo> taht'll be a nissan primevil then

[Bucketeer]

I think it was a bit hit and miss whatever was to hand on steering wheels, i have seen "untouched" mk2 pre facelift xr4x4's with 2 spoke, 3 spoke and 4 spoke rubber type steering wheels, my saph gls which should have had the 3 spoke came with the same 4 spoke wheel as you have in yours trig, luckily I had the correct type in my parts stash so it went on

 

I much prefer the pre facelift upper dash boards and door cards like in yours trig, mine has the hooded facelift type dash and the door cards with the full handle/

armrest which always bloody break

 

Agreed. It always seemed a bit of a lottery as to which steering wheel you got.

I've had two XR4x4s ('89 + '90) with two spokes, a 90' XR4x4 with four spokes and a '90 2.9i GLS 4x4 with three spokes.

_{And an '88 2.0 GL with a three spoke MOMO racing wheel}

[chaseracer]

Speaking of dash lights, #11 flashed up briefly on the 205 yesterday...

 

 

"Presence of water in the fuel filter."  Given the rain we had yesterday, I'm not remotely surprised.  Full tank and a paysan francais tune-up today, then...

[holbeck]

Speaking of dash lights, #11 flashed up briefly on the 205 yesterday...

 

 

"Presence of water in the fuel filter."  Given the rain we had yesterday, I'm not remotely surprised.  Full tank and a paysan francais tune-up today, then...

I've had the same a couple of times on mine, checked it out and there was pas de eau in the filter bowl. After checking the internetz it seems PSA chod is renowned for random water in fuel warnings.

 

PSA fixed this on later models by deleting the sensor.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Yes my L reg xantia does this and I know its lying to me

[JohnK]

Been using the £200 Avensis Auto for work this week - done nearly 400 miles already and it's a great car. This really is bargain basement motoring.

 

It needs a couple of bits, there's a clunk from the O/S/F suspension over bumps and a wobble at 70 (possibly related). Also, when the engine is cold, it idles at 2k rpm but is fine once the engines warm. All fairly basic and simple stuff though, which I will get on with shortly.

 

It is in for MOT on Friday, fingers crossed! Then it can go to my dads. Bit gutted he's getting it actually, it's slow and boring but there is a huge sense of satisfaction driving a £200 car.

 

Here it is this morning, in the bouncing rain, in the middle of Weardale, County Durham:

 

[xtriple]

While I'm spending money like it's going out of fashion, I've booked my lads car in this weekend to have the new bumper fitted and painted (not simple, not standard). He's only had the new bumper since Christmas... 2013!

[vulgalour]

Mike and I just got back from the vet's, without Blake dog.  Sad times.

[Skizzer]

^ That's very sad.  Sympathies.

[RobT]

Sorry to hear that Angyl, losing a pet is tough.

[vulgalour]

Especially when he's been part of your life for 14 years.  Just glad we were there to give him cuddles and help when he needed it most.  House is now very, very empty without him, it's very strange.

[Junkman]

Speaking of dash lights, #11 flashed up briefly on the 205 yesterday...

 

 

"Presence of water in the fuel filter."  Given the rain we had yesterday, I'm not remotely surprised.  Full tank and a paysan francais tune-up today, then...

 

What's 12? Bedpan stinks?

10? Spectacle defog?

[D Spares & Tyres]

No,number 10 is BEWARE OF OWLS

[xtriple]

So sorry about your dog mate, dreadful day for you. But, they live on in your (our) hearts and are never forgotten.

[fordperv]

Vulg my heart goes out to you, it really is heartbreaking to lose a fur friend that has a special place deep in your heart.

 

Run free over the rainbow bridge Blake x