Ask a Shiter

[Tayne]

Would a two year old Lithium Ion battery have lost any charge if totally unused?

 

Unused as in still in the wrapper, it's for a mobile phone.

[Pillock]

Yes, it will have lost charge in that time but not capacity. It'll just need a full charge.

 

Li-Ion jobbies are normally shipped at 40% charge as for some reason, they keep that amount of charge best in transit. That's why computers normally turn on when brand new.

[Tayne]

Thanks, probably should have phrased that better.

[Pillock]

If you were on about capacity, it'll likely be fine. It's the charging that cripple them usually.

[Craig the Princess]

Can you change the blub behind the display on a Rover R8 radio cassette player?

[sierraman]

I'm not sure you can. I've a spare in the shed if it's the Phillips cassette type as fitted to the rover 200?

[Craig the Princess]

I'm not sure you can. I've a spare in the shed if it's the Phillips cassette type as fitted to the rover 200?

I think that is the type, how much would you like for it?

[dollywobbler]

Do Pug 405s and BXs have the same stud pattern? I'm way too lazy to look it up

 

I've a feeling that the silver BX had a set of 405 wheels on it - because I stupidly sold the really smart 205 GTi 1.6 wheels it was wearing when I bought it. 

[sierraman]

I think that is the type, how much would you like for it?

 

I'd gladly send it for postage. At least that way if have some bizarre excuse for having kept it for 15 years. Let me check its in the shed still and the fun sponge hasn't binned it.

[DeeJay]

"Fun sponge"  actually laughed at that.

[KruJoe]

I recover about a gallon of water from dehumidifiers every day, I keep a few pints for the iron, and a few gallons to do coolant flushes and re-fills because the stuff from our taps is both salty and limey.

[Parky]

I have seen a lot of RHD cars on Bulgarian plates lately. I am pretty sure BG isn't a right hand drive market so are our new arrivals buying cars here and slapping Bulgarian plates on, or was there a market for RHD cars over there at some point?

 

Is is perhaps standard procedure over there to swap your plate onto a car you buy and they are just continuing that over here?

 

Strikes me that if you put foreign plates on a car it becomes nigh on impossible to trace and made me wonder why Plod isn't cracking down on it. Must be nice to drive through average speed areas at 80mph like the silver RHD 3 series yesterday morning on the A13!

[TataBobu]

It's a lot cheaper to insure a car in Bulgaria or Romania, as for the MOT it's still possible to go to an MOT centre in Romania and ask for one "without problems". The car, however, must be there because they have to take a picture of it on the brake stand. I don't know if in Bulgaria the car must be present or it's enough to have the car's registration and pay double the tax.

[Pillock]

One of our sites who employ loads of eastern European agency workers had the plod and immigration park up outside one morning and just pull over every non - UK registered car for a chat. They were looking for people who had settled here (job, house etc) but not registered the vehicle.

 

Caused havoc at work, it was 50% of the workforce stood outside

[Parky]

That's interesting. Loads of Eastern European registered cars around our way, some of which I know have been here ages.

 

I assume if they re-register it here they end up with a uk plate or can Doovla handle overseas numbers?

[dave21478]

A UK resident is not allowed to drive a foreign registered car at all, so in theory as soon as forrins become resident they need to re-register their cars. In practice, nobody bothers. Not all cops seem fully up to speed with the rules, its hard to prove residency or otherwise and until a shonky old beemer on foreign plates that hasnt seen the inside of an MOT bay here or at its home for years has brake failure, plows into a queue of nuns waiting to get into a kitten show and its LPG install goes up Hiroshima style, nobody cares enough.

 

See also - UK ex pats living in France and Spain but still driving on UK plates.

[barefoot]

The radio in the Scirocco has stopped working. It's a Blaupunkt something that I originally had in the t2.

It has a removeable front panel and if I take it off and bung it on top of the windscreen heater thing for a couple of miles and then stick it back on again it works fine.

Any idea what the prob is and how to sort it?

[Pillock]

Has it got damp inside it?

Either that or a loose connection, dry solder joint etc.

[Sealtainn]

The Granada has a "6" in the middle at the bottom of the rev counter and I think it is under reading. Can anyone tell me if said "6" relates to the 6 cylinder cars and as mine is a 4 cylinder, should mine have a 4?

[Richard]

I think that's very likely, do you think it's under reading by 50%?

[sheffcortinacentre]

yes ford rev counters have the small number at bottom to show which eng their compatible with.

[Sealtainn]

It's showing approx 400rpm at idle. Something else to look for on the spares list then. I'll take a look through the history and see if there is a record of it being changed. Thanks

 

Sent from my E2105 using Tapatalk

[sierraman]

This is the Rover radio I'm on about...

[stripped fred]

One of the less important jobs I plan to do on my recently acquired pug 406 is to sort the n/s passenger elec window. I managed to get it to go down about 2" but could only get it back up by operating it and pushing it up at the same time. Now it doesn't work at all. Without stripping it down would this likely be the motor or mechanism at fault? I'd rather order the parts in first.

[Richard]

This is the Rover radio I'm on about...

 

I think these have a bulb in a bayonet type holder, similar to the ones you find in instrument panels. If that's not the case it will still have a bulb that can easily be changed by someone who's handy with a soldering iron. Take the lid off and have a look/ post a picture.

 

One of the less important jobs I plan to do on my recently acquired pug 406 is to sort the n/s passenger elec window. I managed to get it to go down about 2" but could only get it back up by operating it and pushing it up at the same time. Now it doesn't work at all. Without stripping it down would this likely be the motor or mechanism at fault? I'd rather order the parts in first.

I'd suspect a broken wire in the door shut. The quick test is to try and pull the wires apart with your hands, if the conductor is good you won't make an impression on it, if it's only the insulation holding it together it will come apart.

[Danblez]

Why when everyone says 6 sided sockets are best do we in a world were 12 sided wins the popularity stakes?

[twosmoke300]

One of the less important jobs I plan to do on my recently acquired pug 406 is to sort the n/s passenger elec window. I managed to get it to go down about 2" but could only get it back up by operating it and pushing it up at the same time. Now it doesn't work at all. Without stripping it down would this likely be the motor or mechanism at fault? I'd rather order the parts in first.

Its worth spraying some silcone spray down the channels first . Pour it in till it runs out the bottom of the doors while you move window up and down

[stripped fred]

Its worth spraying some silcone spray down the channels first . Pour it in till it runs out the bottom of the doors while you move window up and down

Thanks, I'll give it a go. I have more important jobs to do first but nice to have a plan with this.

[TataBobu]

Why do 12 sides sockets even exist? Surely they are more difficult to manufacture.

In what situation is a 12 sided socket beneficial over a 6 sided socket (except when you have a 12 sides bolt )?

 

When there's no space at all to turn a bolt 60 degrees.

[Danblez]

When there's no space at all to turn a bolt 60 degrees.

 

Isn't this just the quality of the ratchet though?