Ask a Shiter

[wuvvum]

We're driving from just outside Chicago to San Francisco - about 2,250 miles in total (not counting detours, getting lost etc), and we have a mileage allowance of 2,500, so that shouldn't be a problem.  They do charge a lot for extras though ($125 for a "kitchen kit" - 80 quid to rent some pots and pans for a week, fuck that for a game of soldiers).  It's a 28' C-class, based on a Ford E-series chassis as far as I can ascertain.  V10 petrol engine, so not going to be as economical as the one in your link which is a (presumably 5-pot) diesel Sprinter.  Insurance is included, but there's a $1,000 excess which will just get lobbed on the credit card (and then we'll try not to crash).

[Clanger]

Hopefully you're going to take more than a week to make that trip... you'll need the time to explore.  I have driven the same journey in three days and that was hard going, but we were at the end of a cross country trip and just wanted to get home.

 

I would sat that the V10 on that E-series will probably be returning some pretty awful mpgs.  I am going to opt for 8 mpg on average (downhill, with the wind behind you...).  On a positive note gas is cheap in the mid western states - I think the national average is about $1.79 per gallon, but get ready for a shock the further west you go as we have "winter" blend and our gas is always a little more expensive that the rest of the country, so here in California you are looking at around $2.80 a gallon.

[gm]

I was driving through more bloody roadworks on the a1 and the signs for "free recovery, stay with your vehicle" had me wondering - how do they know where and when you break down ? this was around 9pm and there was no work going on, just a load of cones.

 

further down the road at another set of roadworks, a similar sign had a mobile number to call, handy if that's where you conk out but a bugger if you're half a mile past it

[cros]

Pardon my ignorance of the world of modern motoring, but I'm puzzled by this horrendous loud exhaust snarl that some tasteless but standard-looking performance cars seem to be able to emit at will. Do they have a hidden switch to turn it on and if so can it be found and rammed right up the drivers ringpiece?

[Asimo]

We're driving from just outside Chicago to San Francisco - about 2,250 miles in total (not counting detours, getting lost etc), and we have a mileage allowance of 2,500, so that shouldn't be a problem. They do charge a lot for extras though ($125 for a "kitchen kit" - 80 quid to rent some pots and pans for a week, fuck that for a game of soldiers). It's a 28' C-class, based on a Ford E-series chassis as far as I can ascertain. V10 petrol engine, so not going to be as economical as the one in your link which is a (presumably 5-pot) diesel Sprinter. Insurance is included, but there's a $1,000 excess which will just get lobbed on the credit card (and then we'll try not to crash).

Why not rent a full-size car and stay in motels? Motels are cheap and plentiful, cars can go a lot of places RVs can't and if there are just two of you, sleeping in the car is manageable. And you don't have to shit in a cupboard sized portaloo. RV parks anywhere popular don't look attractive places to stay, packed in tight, throbbing generators and aircon,

 

Whatever, have loads of fun and take one of those towing gadgets, to collect roadside-bargain Chod.

[LC Torana]

Why not rent a full-size car and stay in motels? Motels are cheap and plentiful, cars can go a lot of places RVs can't and if there are just two of you, sleeping in the car is manageable. And you don't have to shit in a cupboard sized portaloo. RV parks anywhere popular don't look attractive places to stay, packed in tight, throbbing generators and aircon,

 

Whatever, have loads of fun and take one of those towing gadgets, to collect roadside-bargain Chod.

This.

[Slappy]

Came to find my newly fitted at 1600 hours yesterday tyre flatter than next Wednesday's pancakes this morning.

 

Will be having a word with the fitters shortly, but should I insist on the tyre being replaced if for instance it's the valve that's faulty, due to it having sat on it's sidewall overnight?

[fatharris]

MG woes, again.

 

The notch in the braking is still there, I reckon its either one of the front calipers having a sticky piston (any way to discern which one it is?), but the main issue was quite a sudden one, if I pump the pedal or use it on and off in quick succession, the pedal becomes very hard and I have no assistance and very little braking. It's fine during normal driving, notch aside.

 

Where am I best off looking first? It's got a cam driven vacuum pump, so I'll be checking the hose, the fluid level is fine too.

 

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[GrumpyCat]

Is the Renault Clio III shite?

 

Wifey needs a newish modern...it's a 07 1.1 5 door. Ta.

[Station]

Pardon my ignorance of the world of modern motoring, but I'm puzzled by this horrendous loud exhaust snarl that some tasteless but standard-looking performance cars seem to be able to emit at will. Do they have a hidden switch to turn it on and if so can it be found and rammed right up the drivers ringpiece?

They have ignition cut which still puts fuel in but no spark and it usually ignites in the cat making all that noise.

[HillmanImp]

Does the Rover 220 have a petrol light? I forgot to go for petrol on the way in this morning and the place near work is 4p more a litre and in the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road to where I want to go, so I am thinking about winging it 13 miles home as I am a) a tightwad and B ) starved of excitement these days.

 

The gauge is low but there is no light yet but I am not sure if there is one. If there is I am good, assuming its accurate which it probably isn't.

[fatharris]

Bubble 200's certainly don't.

 

Go ahead, ask me how I know.

 

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[HillmanImp]

Bubble 200's certainly don't.

 

Go ahead, ask me how I know.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

Might not risk it then. Ta.

[FakeConcern]

When was it that hub caps started to be known as wheel trims?

[Richard]

When they started to cover the whole wheel I think.

[fatharris]

Probably when they started covering the whole wheel.

 

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[doobietoo]

30 miles left when it gets to the bottom of the red....

[mercrocker]

When was it that hub caps started to be known as wheel trims?

 

Surely you mean nave plates?

[fatharris]

MG woes, again.

 

The notch in the braking is still there, I reckon its either one of the front calipers having a sticky piston (any way to discern which one it is?), but the main issue was quite a sudden one, if I pump the pedal or use it on and off in quick succession, the pedal becomes very hard and I have no assistance and very little braking. It's fine during normal driving, notch aside.

 

Where am I best off looking first? It's got a cam driven vacuum pump, so I'll be checking the hose, the fluid level is fine too.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

I hate to be "that guy", but BUMP, I'm home now but I could do with some suggestions!

 

Also, why does a car suddenly seem a lot faster when you put a bit of fuel into it? I stuck a fiver in it for the MOT tomorrow, and it went like a scalded rat afterwards.

 

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[dave21478]

No assistance after a few presses is classic failed vacuum hose somewhere. Is this the BMW diesel engine? if so there is quite a lot of pipe to check. Its normally rubbed through against something, or the ends have gone hard and split. Its connected to the EGR and allsorts of other stuff as well as the servo.

 

Dunno about the MG but there is a vacuum accumulator bulb in other applications which may be cracked too.

[twosmoke300]

Check vac pipes for deffo. feel free to pm me if you want to come to my workshop for a second opinion

[Jazoli]

I hate to be "that guy", but BUMP, I'm home now but I could do with some suggestions!

 

Also, why does a car suddenly seem a lot faster when you put a bit of fuel into it? I stuck a fiver in it for the MOT tomorrow, and it went like a scalded rat afterwards.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

 

Probably because you are not afraid to press the go faster pedal.

[fatharris]

I never am, but it definitely feels faster.

 

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[D Spares & Tyres]

Is the Renault Clio III shite?

Wifey needs a newish modern...it's a 07 1.1 5 door. Ta.

No, that's just a car. Just some car.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

When was it that hub caps started to be known as wheel trims?

When they became plastic. Possibly the launch of the Sierra.

[phil_lihp]

Does the Rover 220 have a petrol light? I forgot to go for petrol on the way in this morning and the place near work is 4p more a litre and in the wrong direction on the wrong side of the road to where I want to go, so I am thinking about winging it 13 miles home as I am a) a tightwad and B ) starved of excitement these days.

 

The gauge is low but there is no light yet but I am not sure if there is one. If there is I am good, assuming its accurate which it probably isn't.

 

Having run it out of fuel once, I can confirm that no, it does not.  Nor is there any generosity, when the needle touches the bottom, the tank is dry.

[stephen01]

Has anyone ever rented a camper van in the US before?  If so, what kind of MPG did you get?

 

I've been trying to work out a budget for my upcoming US trip, and I was working on the assumption that a modern petrol-engined C-class RV would do about 15 miles per (US) gallon on a long steady run.  After all, my old (admittedly diesel) Chevy van did 25 (to the Imperial, so 21 US), and that was off of the early '80s - surely engine tech would have improved since then?

 

Emailed the hire place to check, and they reckon about 6mpg.  Six!!!  2,500 miles at 6mpg is going to cost a fucking fortune, even with petrol at a third of the price that it is here.  I'm struggling to believe that an almost-new van could really be that bad.

 

is that not nearly 415 gallon?  Fuck me.

 

*edited for accuracy

[cort1977]

416 US gallons.   Averaging about $1.60 here at the moment, more like $2.50 in California.   So that's between $665 and $1040.   GBP 415 to 650.  

[stripped fred]

Can anyone tell me why the fuel gauge on my 406 sometimes shoots up by 1/4 tank? It was a good job I noticed it the other day otherwise I'd have run out of juice. At first I though what wonderful mpg I was getting, should get 800 miles out of this tank!

 

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[Aston Martin]

Following on from the police auction enquiry, I've seen two things which look flippable.

 

If only my driving licence wasn't at the dvla for over a week... (Motorhog need photo id)