Ask a Shiter

[warren t claim]

Is there a website that lists the statistics of 15 year old cars?

 

I really need to know the tank capacity of my 405 estate.

 

70 litres.

 

Google has the answer.

 

Great! £100 to fuel up (or £125 at Martindales Edge Lane).

[marcello-gandini]

 

405 tank best for tank range.

[Pete-M]

LOL @ Edge Lane, they're the equivalent for diesel of the BP at the Jolly Miller's LPG prices.

 

ASDA - 67p, Esso - 69p, Morrisons - 67p, Calor - 68p, Keele Services on the M6 - 74p, Jolly Miller BP - 81p

[RoadworkUK]

OK, It's possibly rhetorical;

 

Why does almost everybody on eBay show signs of illiteracy?

 

I know I can be a grammatical / syntax Nazi at the best of times, but "it as cental lokking" has never made sense and never will.

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

OK, It's possibly rhetorical;

 

Why does almost everybody on eBay show signs of illiteracy?

 

I know I can be a grammatical / syntax Nazi at the best of times, but "it as cental lokking" has never made sense and never will.

 

What's weird is the number of people I've traded with through eBay whose written communication suggests a single digit IQ, yet are perfectly coherent in person. It's odd having an intelligent conversation with someone while thinking "you speak well, but consistently mis-spell petrol with two Ts".

 

Shouldn't judge, if you'd only ever spoken to me on the phone you'd swear I was in some kind of institution.

[Cavcraft]

OK, It's possibly rhetorical;

 

Why does almost everybody on eBay show signs of illiteracy?

 

I know I can be a grammatical / syntax Nazi at the best of times, but "it as cental lokking" has never made sense and never will.

 

Mostly laziness. Words like 'bumber' [instead of bumper] REALLY annoy me and I suspect people type like that because they've seen other adverts with the same stupidly typed words and assumed that was the correct spelling.

Nobody is perfect and lots of people make 'typos' but alas a large amount of eBay sellers are lazy, stupid bastards. You only have to look and see the ones who can't even spell the make/model of the car they're selling, enough to put a lot of people off bidding alone. Dyslexia is no excuse either because they could find out how to spell certain words if they tried.

[DSdriver]

They never bother to read what they have written before posting...

[KruJoe]

"Cills" instead of "sills" gets my goat. But I've ranted before so I'll shut up.

[face]

I've seen a couple of car ads on eBay which proudly state "never been frashed".

 

ORLY?

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

A bigger annoyance is vague descriptions. "GEARBOX FAULT" in 72pt red Arial isn't quite as useful as a description of what the gearbox is or isn't doing.

 

Fake edit: this isn't GOM

[Felly Magic]

If they use Google chrome, there is an auto spell checker on it!

[CreepingJesus]

If they can spell Googil Chorme, they'll be comforted to find a drop-down which offers a choice of English (USA), English (UK) or Inglirsh (eBay).

Actually, the stupidity has some subtle levels too, if you look for them. Right now, there's a numpty offering a Volvo 850 Est on t'Bay. It says Volvo 850, Volvo 850, Volvo 850 all the way thro' the fairly well written listing. There's only one minor problem - the first photo you see, clearly shows the V70 badge on the back! How braindead do you have to be, to list it as the wrong model of car (albeit that 850's and x70's aren't so different)? When you have possession of the fucking V5? You took pictures of the thing, from all angles, including the tell-tale 'V70' badge, and still you fuck it up?

[tonedepear]

Is there a website that lists the statistics of 15 year old cars?

 

http://www.carfolio.com/specifications/

 

Yes. ^ best website evar.

[autofive]

merc sprinter:

 

sometimes, especially after standing all night, when you turn the key dash lights come up but no starter engages. also does this if you stall it. Turn the key back to off position and re-try, 50/50 chance of starting.

sometimes takes 20 turns of the key before the starter clicks in, and no relay click instead of starter turning

 

stuck solonoid or something more 'mercedes' based?

[Lankytim]

How long do new brake pads take to bed in? Are they meant to get a bit warm/hot until the right amount of bedding in has taken place? Just wondering ,like .

[simmo]

How long do new brake pads take to bed in? Are they meant to get a bit warm/hot until the right amount of bedding in has taken place? Just wondering ,like .

 

My guess would be it depends on what state the discs, untill the discs and pads are the same shape you could probably get hot spots. I think it was Ford that used toi do a pad that had a layer of abrasive to rough up the discs but these would of probably of been on asbestos pads.

[DSdriver]

merc sprinter:

 

sometimes, especially after standing all night, when you turn the key dash lights come up but no starter engages. also does this if you stall it. Turn the key back to off position and re-try, 50/50 chance of starting.

sometimes takes 20 turns of the key before the starter clicks in, and no relay click instead of starter turning

 

stuck solonoid or something more 'mercedes' based?

 

I had the same problem on the Safari recently, it turned out to be a loose connection on the battery terminal. You have probably already checked the terminals but I thought I would mention it.

[simmo]

merc sprinter:

 

sometimes, especially after standing all night, when you turn the key dash lights come up but no starter engages. also does this if you stall it. Turn the key back to off position and re-try, 50/50 chance of starting.

sometimes takes 20 turns of the key before the starter clicks in, and no relay click instead of starter turning

 

stuck solonoid or something more 'mercedes' based?

 

I had the same problem on the Safari recently, it turned out to be a loose connection on the battery terminal. You have probably already checked the terminals but I thought I would mention it.

 

You don't say if the dash lights dim or not, could be solonoid, engine earth, ignition switch or relay but the old voltmeter will isolate the prob

[jonathan_dyane]

How long do new brake pads take to bed in? Are they meant to get a bit warm/hot until the right amount of bedding in has taken place? Just wondering ,like .

 

In my experience usually when fitting new pads results in the brakes getting hot it is because moving back the piston/s or slider/s to fit the new pads (perhaps without cleaning) has resulted in the caliper now binding.

[Cavcraft]

merc sprinter:

 

sometimes, especially after standing all night, when you turn the key dash lights come up but no starter engages. also does this if you stall it. Turn the key back to off position and re-try, 50/50 chance of starting.

sometimes takes 20 turns of the key before the starter clicks in, and no relay click instead of starter turning

 

stuck solonoid or something more 'mercedes' based?

 

Sounds like it's 'doing a Transit Mk3'. Check out the thick red main lead from the battery or the earth wire.

[autofive]

all leads checked, all okay, no heat generated when it eventually does crank and no dimming of the dash lights when it refues to crank

 

its all a bit twilight zone

[scaryoldcortina]

all leads checked, all okay, no heat generated when it eventually does crank and no dimming of the dash lights when it refues to crank

 

its all a bit twilight zone

 

Ignition switch, or starter solenoid. Both equally likely to be dud on a sprinter, sometimes it's both of 'em.

[Lankytim]

How long do new brake pads take to bed in? Are they meant to get a bit warm/hot until the right amount of bedding in has taken place? Just wondering ,like .

 

In my experience usually when fitting new pads results in the brakes getting hot it is because moving back the piston/s or slider/s to fit the new pads (perhaps without cleaning) has resulted in the caliper now binding.

 

 

I worked the pistons in and out a few times and they seemed fine. I can take the wheels off and spin the dics round easily by hand and everything looks ok. It really is very annoying!

[dollywobbler]

Are they just getting warm through normal use? Did you check before you fitted new pads? Generally, I think 200 miles is the usual recommendation for pads to bed in.

[Pete-M]

I'd bet that Sprinter is either the ignition switch or immobiliser.

[Lankytim]

Are they just getting warm through normal use? Did you check before you fitted new pads? Generally, I think 200 miles is the usual recommendation for pads to bed in.

 

 

They were getting pretty hot beforehand as the pistons were seized. I have stuck on a pair of unseized used calipers with new pads to try and cure the dragging brake problem. Tonight I tried spinning each wheel around by hand after jacking each side up in turn. A good shove on the wheel resulted in one complete revolution, which I think isnt too bad considering I was spinning the diff and prop around too!

[CreepingJesus]

How long do new brake pads take to bed in? Are they meant to get a bit warm/hot until the right amount of bedding in has taken place? Just wondering ,like .

 

Motorcraft pad boxes used to have (maybe they still do) one of the flaps printed with a gentle reminder to take it easy on the new pads for (iirc) 100 miles. Once I'd stuck the pads in, I'd tear the flap off, and put it in the instruments so the customer couldn't miss it. It's what I've always stuck to myself, altho' I can't say I've ever noticed new pads heating up any more than normal.

Try pumping the brakes a few times, and then seeing if the wheel spins as freely.

[Lankytim]

Tried pumping them and they always give them same amount of resistance when you spin them around by hand. Maybe i'll have to have another look at the handbrake mechanism.

 

Its not a massive problem TBH. Since sticking the new calipers on the car is nicer to drive and feels faster. Its a massive improvement! The hubs only get a bit hot, I can still touch them with my hands. Perhaps thats the way they are meant to be!

[Richard]

I came across this on Flickr today.

 

Vauxhall Manta by saabrobz, on Flickr

 

Was there really such a thing as a Vauxhall badged Manta in Sweden?

[Cavcraft]

Not that I've ever heard of. Strange that it's a left hooker yet displaying Vauxhall badges, unless someone's been playing about with them (badges) that is.

It's not even a Mantra really, it's a Cavalier coupe.