Ask a Shiter

[Asimo]

As "flange-to-flange" is a thing now, a flange-to-flange exhaust related question. I'm blowing from my flange-to-flange joint, what material (pref from my junk pile) should I craft myself a gasket from?

I used a mix of fire cement and builders silicone to make the flange to flange joint between catalyst and exhaust pipe on my Subaru. This was more than three years ago and it is still fine.

[drum]

A mate of mine got a recall notice for his 16 year old trooper. Something about the injectors.

What's the oldest car that's been recalled?

[ShiteRider]

Can anyone read the Richard Grant rear spoiler section of this brochure scan over on the blue? http://retrorides.proboards.com/thread/164033/carnoisseur-1986-13-again

I've got an fr24 rear spoiler and an fr43 and i'd love to know what they're actually meant to fit, but a combination of shit eyesite and an even shitter computer means i'm struggling to read them.

[Richard]

It looks as if 43 is Rover SD1. I can't see a 24 for sure but it might be Marina.

[ShiteRider]

Thanks, if that's what they are it explains why they look shit on the back of my Cortinas.

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[Wilko220]

In layman's / simpleton's terms, what is the difference between an "inertia" starter motor and a "pre-engaged" one?

[simmo]

An inertia starter uses the resistance of the bendix as the starter turns, it is easier for the bendix to travel up a thread which throws it towards the ring-gear where it meshes while already turning, this causes a slight bit of wear every time it engages. A pre engage throws the drive gear out and it engages the ring gear prior starter turning, a lot less wear.

 

I won't be offended if a wordsmith can have a better crack at it.

[barefoot]

 

I won't be offended if a wordsmith can have a better crack at it.

 

Whilst not considering myself a wordsmith, I read at the weekend that kissing the blarney stone gives you the gift of the gab.

 

Many years ago, a chap of my acquaintance, gave me a bit of shiny silvery stone and told me that it was part of the blarney stone.

Apparently a biggish chunk had fallen and there were smallish pieces to be had, he picked up a couple and was on his way.

 

My question - is this in the least bit likely?

I still have the stone.

[alf892]

Must be. In your thread you detail your costs and reckon your wife knows.

 

you are still alive......therefore you must have the gift of the gab!

[wuvvum]

How long can a 1275cc A-series be safely run with no water in it?  I went to the classic auction at Wymondham this afternoon, and the last lot was a project Austin 1300 auto which had been partly restored and the radiator was in the boot.  They started it up and drove it through the auction - the engine must have been running for getting on for ten minutes, mostly idling but then after it had been through the driver nailed it across the site to a parking space.  I was expecting it to heat seize at any moment, but it didn't.  It cut out when he tried to reverse into the space and wouldn't start again, but it was still turning over and still sounded like it had compression.

 

I would like to think that the auction staff would know how long an engine can safely be run in that condition and would take care not to risk damaging it, but these are the same tits who connected the jump leads up the wrong way round on an Austin Ruby and fried the regulator, so I'm reluctant to give them the benefit of the doubt...

[dollywobbler]

A mate of mine got a recall notice for his 16 year old trooper. Something about the injectors.

What's the oldest car that's been recalled?

 

My 16-year old Sirion just had the fuel filler neck replaced under recall. The Trooper wouldn't be a new recall I don't think, but he probably got alerted to an existing one, as I did when I spoke to the main dealer. Recalls don't expire as far as I know. This presumably means you could buy an early Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan and get the wipers modified at a main dealer. (not that the recall job was very pretty!)

[mercrocker]

That 1300 auto....I would not want to run an A series  that  long without coolant.   Knackered pump, fanbelt or rad maybe but not NOTHING!   Two minutes is long enough.  It sounds like it did not have enough chuff to wind the gearbox up the other way.   I would not assume any auction staff have enough sense or care to worry about running a car in that state.   Why would  you leave it running so long - its not like there was anything to pump around the block still!

[tooSavvy]

 I am having an issue with the SAVVY ABS.

 

The light is OK and, recently - braking really hard on cold, frosty local roads - it has performed correctly on BOTH front wheels and stopped well.

 

Problem is, though, ABS is felt to cut in (Clicking and Vibrating pedal) if I'm on a dry road and slowing from, say 20MPH - turning the steering wheel to the Right.

This has happened around 3 times in the last 8weeks.

 

 

My take on ABS is the system compares relative wheel speed, over all 4, and kicks in if one or more do NOT SLOW as fast as others under braking- or STOP, skidding!

 

 

I appear to have a wheel getting 'out of synch' - but actually there is nothing happening.

ALL 4 WHEELS on a dry, grippy road.

 

 

Happened to anyone else? Presumably if there was a system error we would see the ABS light on (and it wouldn't be working!)

 

 

TS

[red5]

I used a mix of fire cement and builders silicone to make the flange to flange joint between catalyst and exhaust pipe on my Subaru. This was more than three years ago and it is still fine.

 

Just be aware that silicon can coat the cat honeycomb and render it poor/useless.

[red5]

 

 I am having an issue with the SAVVY ABS.

 

The light is OK and, recently - braking really hard on cold, frosty local roads - it has performed correctly on BOTH front wheels and stopped well.

 

Problem is, though, ABS is felt to cut in (Clicking and Vibrating pedal) if I'm on a dry road and slowing from, say 20MPH - turning the steering wheel to the Right.

This has happened around 3 times in the last 8weeks.

 

 

My take on ABS is the system compares relative wheel speed, over all 4, and kicks in if one or more do NOT SLOW as fast as others under braking- or STOP, skidding!

 

 

I appear to have a wheel getting 'out of synch' - but actually there is nothing happening.

ALL 4 WHEELS on a dry, grippy road.

 

 

Happened to anyone else? Presumably if there was a system error we would see the ABS light on (and it wouldn't be working!)

 

 

TS

 

 

Probably a sensor 'over sensitive'  or a reluctor ring moving/breaking up (the bit the sensor 'reads').

 

Find a friendly tech2 owner or equivalent and get a live feed.

[TagoraSX]

TRX tyres.

Where can I get them, preferably not at £280 a corner!

210/65 HR 365 or 210/55 HR 365

[Tayne]

What happened to kill off the non-German executive car?

 

The Ford Scorpio, Vauxhall Carlton/Omega, Peugeot 607, Fiat 130 and Alfa 166 all have no modern equivalent.

Saab has gone, the Lancia Thema is a rebadged Chrysler 300 and the Renault Safrane/Latitude and Citroen C6 sell in smaller numbers than Jimmy Saville's autobiography.

 

Volvo are selling safety (but mostly in SUVs) and Jaguar are still here but we could have lost them a few years ago.

[willswitchengage]

Brand? The German marques are consistently prestigious across the brand. The others are not; not even Alfa, really. Jaguar is a luxury brand so retains the desirability.

 

Hence why Lexus, Acura and Infiniti were introduced as they represented more prestige than their mass-market owners.

 

 

This is happening to all four corners of my windscreen. What is it?

 

 

 

 

[TagoraSX]

De-lamination.

[Tayne]

I appreciate the brand concept but when did the others give up?

Was it one event, who left the segment first?

I would have thought that the non-prestige metal could compete because if it's lower price.

[Leyland Lawrence]

There's a couple of cars I like but both have aftermarket sunroofs fitted,as was the fashion at the time

 

Has anyone had one of these filled in before? What is the rough cost? Preumeitis a matter of welding a plate underneath and somehow filling the level  change?

 

£500?

[andy18s]

There's a couple of cars I like but both have aftermarket sunroofs fitted,as was the fashion at the time

 

Has anyone had one of these filled in before? What is the rough cost? Preumeitis a matter of welding a plate underneath and somehow filling the level  change?

 

£500?

New roof skin is probably the easiest way to go

Any welding is going to distort such a large,thin panel

And any filler going to crack out

[TagoraSX]

There's a couple of cars I like but both have aftermarket sunroofs fitted,as was the fashion at the time

 

Has anyone had one of these filled in before? What is the rough cost? Preumeitis a matter of welding a plate underneath and somehow filling the level  change?

 

£500?

 

 

New roof skin is probably the easiest way to go

Any welding is going to distort such a large,thin panel

And any filler going to crack out

This, walk away.

[rml2345]

I appreciate the brand concept but when did the others give up?

Was it one event, who left the segment first?

I would have thought that the non-prestige metal could compete because if it's lower price.

Discounting marques that has physically disappeared, I think Ford was the first to drop their large executive class motor after the Scorpio bombed spectacularly.

[dollywobbler]

Discounting marques that has physically disappeared, I think Ford was the first to drop their large executive class motor after the Scorpio bombed spectacularly.

 

Yup. They realised it was better to focus on Jaguar for the top end stuff. A cheap executive car is a bit of a misnomer. Toyota cottoned on pretty swiftly by developing the Lexus brand. Vauxhall's last gasp was the Signum, which was about as premium as Tesco Value. Citroen gave up after the XM, which sold very poorly for a major manufacturer. 330,000 in over ten years is pretty poor. Mind you, after a break, they launched the C6, which bombed even more spectacularly. Less than 24,000 built!

 

Of course, BMW got the real steal on the market, with a small, executive hatchback. The market has evolved all over the place. Premium doesn't mean large necessarily.

[Noel Tidybeard]

My 16-year old Sirion just had the fuel filler neck replaced under recall. The Trooper wouldn't be a new recall I don't think, but he probably got alerted to an existing one, as I did when I spoke to the main dealer. Recalls don't expire as far as I know. This presumably means you could buy an early Ford Galaxy/VW Sharan and get the wipers modified at a main dealer. (not that the recall job was very pretty!)

just checked vosa and theres a seatbelt pre-tensioner recall for the renner 19- Reg seems to have still got wrong ones fitted

[NorfolkNWeigh]

What happened to kill off the non-German executive car?

The Ford Scorpio, Vauxhall Carlton/Omega, Peugeot 607, Fiat 130 and Alfa 166 all have no modern equivalent.

Saab has gone, the Lancia Thema is a rebadged Chrysler 300 and the Renault Safrane/Latitude and Citroen C6 sell in smaller numbers than Jimmy Saville's autobiography.

Volvo are selling safety (but mostly in SUVs) and Jaguar are still here but we could have lost them a few years ago.

Ford and Vauxhall have just moved their models around the current Mondeo is bigger than the Scorpio and the Insignia is the same size as the Omega. The 508 is not quite as big as the 607, but that was particularly long and the 605 was smaller than the 508.

If Ford renamed the range

KA-Fiesta

Fiesta- Escort

Focus-Cortina

Mondeo-Granada

 

That would make more sense to a giffer like me.

As for big Italian cars, I know a guy with quite a good job as a designer at Iveco, he's currently got a Chrysler* Delta it's that or a Guilietta. He used to have a really nice 159 estate . Apparently even his boss only gets some sort of soft roader Jeep.

[Tayne]

I know that cars have gotten bigger and, whilst Ford have slotted a new one in at the bottom, nobody thinks a Mondeo is a Granada equivalent.

[catsinthewelder]

What happened to kill off the non-German executive car?

 

4x4's and people carriers becoming mainstream choices have probably helped.

[meggersdog]

After seeing an advert in the ebay tat thread for an XR3i

I wondered can you still buy the proper flat terminal batteries for Fords ?