Ask a Shiter

[Lacquer Peel]

Driving a car with no MOT and pre-booked MOT's: can you drive the car to the pre-booked MOT the day before the test? The XM sellers schedule and mine are going to make getting collecting it and taking it to an MOT on the same day a bit difficult so I'm hoping my garage and plod will let me drive it the day before.

I have done. There's nothing to say you can't drop the car off the day before.

[RayMK]

I read somewhere that, while you can drive a basically roadworthy car to a booked MOT without tax or MOT (though must be insured), the route has to be direct.  If stopped and questioned, calls at friends' houses en route or to get refreshments can lead to tricky conversations with the plod.  Depending on his/her mood and the  general condition of the car, you may be asked to accompany them to the station.

[chaseracer]

Isn't it Mk1 Capri?

 

Believe so.

[mat_the_cat]

There is a lot of new old stock about on there, and it is quite exciting (!) when you find something you need in its original box. 

 

And that's on a 23 year old mass produced Ford. Must be a much better feeling on older/rarer cars!

 

Imagine my joy when I found these for the Stellar!

 

 

And on that subject, I've got a bit of a problem. Low battery voltage even after charging - between 11 and 12 volts. Yet no problems starting, and it will crank for a long while if you remove the fuel pump relay. Depending on electrical load and revs, I get between 10 and 14 volts when running.

 

I rebuilt the alternator around 6k miles ago with new brushes, regulator and diodes, so would be inclined to rule that out. But can a battery fail in such a way to drag the alternator voltage down? and yet still crank the starter at a reasonable speed?

[RayMK]

Imagine my joy when I found these for the Stellar!

 

DSC_5754 (2).JPG

 

And on that subject, I've got a bit of a problem. Low battery voltage even after charging - between 11 and 12 volts. Yet no problems starting, and it will crank for a long while if you remove the fuel pump relay. Depending on electrical load and revs, I get between 10 and 14 volts when running.

 

I rebuilt the alternator around 6k miles ago with new brushes, regulator and diodes, so would be inclined to rule that out. But can a battery fail in such a way to drag the alternator voltage down? and yet still crank the starter at a reasonable speed?

 

I would not have thought so (alternator voltage dragged down by battery).  I have had a battery ruined by a faulty voltage control unit on an alternator.  Normal charging voltage, normal starting and driving even with lights on, slightly low battery voltage when ignition was off, battery flattened overnight.  Battery completely buggered. New battery inserted.  Repeat performance.  Fitted a battery isolation switch because I could not find an alternator fault.  Sold the car (Ginetta G26 fitted with a Cologne V6 instead of the usual Pinto).

[Asimo]

You might have a short-circuited cell - low voltage by about 2v.

Because it is short-circuited, cranking current will be good. Will possibly cook the alternator however, alternator attempts to hold a constant 14 ish volts; which is not going to happen with a 10volt battery!

[3VOM]

Isn't it Mk1 Capri?

I'd say any Ford wing badge from about the early 70s so Capri, Escort, Cortina maybe.

[sheffcortinacentre]

badge is early mk1 capri .

[Matt]

I have done. There's nothing to say you can't drop the car off the day before.

 

I read somewhere that, while you can drive a basically roadworthy car to a booked MOT without tax or MOT (though must be insured), the route has to be direct.  If stopped and questioned, calls at friends' houses en route or to get refreshments can lead to tricky conversations with the plod.  Depending on his/her mood and the  general condition of the car, you may be asked to accompany them to the station.

 

Pretty sure (nae, really bloody sure) I won't be coming across any traffic or ANPR equipped cars outside of the A75 (which I wont be on) anyway come to think of it

[Lacquer Peel]

The laws about driving a car to an MOT test while untested aren't that specific.

[Lacquer Peel]

Inept seller & photos harvested from Google image search?

[Kiltox]

What's the going rate for welding at a garage?

 

I have a MK2 MX5 that needs the usual sill welding doing and there's no way I can tackle it myself

 

Any shiters that want some work let me know....

[scaryoldcortina]

Anywhere near Durham? £30ph with a very generous shiter's allowance on how many hours it actually took.

[Kiltox]

I'm a long, long way away but when I fix the power steering pipes I might be able to bring it for a pre booked MOT.....

[stephen01]

Will a dab radio work in France? If so what stations am I likely to get?

[Landy Mann]

Local-ish Vauxhall dealer emailed me a stocklist. Straight sale price of £7495 for a year old, 9000 miler Astra SRi 1.6VVT. He has a bunch of 1.4 litre ones as well for a bit less, all 2015 cars with sub 15K miles. Obviously, AVAS, but this seems very cheap for a year old motor. Comparable Ford Focuseseses are a lot more money. Are Astras THAT bad?

I had a petrol Astra on hire for a week about 18months ago and it was OK. I had a 3 door SRI on hire for a month this Janauary and as long as you don't want visablity or to get out the front doors in a parking space it was OK.

 

5 door good, 3 door bad.

[Richard]

I think it's only the UK and Germany that use DAB.

[JayW]

Will a dab radio work in France? If so what stations am I likely to get?

French ones? ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Andrew353w]

Will a dab radio work in France? If so what stations am I likely to get?

 

 

Yes, it will! We drove from Calais to Brittany last summer (& are repeating the journey this summer, too!) and our digital radio worked perfectly! It managed to receive the usual BBC stations until about 50-75 miles down the coast, after which we just used the "autotune" to listen to loads of French stations, all of which played English pop tunes! The traffic report over-ride worked too, but by the time I'd worked out which road they were on about it was too late!!

 

Enjoy!

[saucedoctor]

The laws about driving a car to an MOT test while untested aren't that specific.

 

This. Under the Road Traffic Order N.I. (and I assume in the rest of the UK), a car going to a pre-booked MoT Test is technically exempt from needing an MoT Certificate, but must be in a roadworthy condition (as all cars must be, if used on the road, regardless of whether an MoT certificate is in force for the vehicle.)

 

Furthermore, it's unclear whether you have to go to the nearest test centre, or can pick any one - the law isn't specific.

 

I had a member of the public phone the station and ask me that once. Rather than guess, I told him to "Phone the MoT centre to check on the current regulations, sir. They are subject to frequent change." A poor answer from a Police Officer, but I hadn't a fucking clue. I'd wager that if you asked any two Peelers, you'd get two different answers, or none at all.

[stripped fred]

When I scrapped my A4 2 years ago I took the battery off it and it's been sat in my garage until today. I tested the voltage and it showed 10.8v which I thought was OK for 2 years of no use. After a couple of hours connected to my charger it shows 19.3v while connected and 18.7v when I disconnect the charger but does seem to keep dropping further. This seems a bit high to me! Can anyone advise why it's showing this when I would have assumed more like 14.5v? Is it kippered?

[saucedoctor]

^

 

[scaryoldcortina]

When I scrapped my A4 2 years ago I took the battery off it and it's been sat in my garage until today. I tested the voltage and it showed 10.8v which I thought was OK for 2 years of no use. After a couple of hours connected to my charger it shows 19.3v while connected and 18.7v when I disconnect the charger but does seem to keep dropping further. This seems a bit high to me! Can anyone advise why it's showing this when I would have assumed more like 14.5v? Is it kippered?

Either you discovered cold fusion and have solved the energy crisis, or it's buggered. Try giving it a load (like a headlamp) and measuring the voltage, I'd guess it drops like a stone.

[HH-R]

When my Metro was laid up for about 6 months, the battery was absolutely knackered. Lead acid batteries don't like it at all.

[stripped fred]

Either you discovered cold fusion and have solved the energy crisis, or it's buggered. Try giving it a load (like a headlamp) and measuring the voltage, I'd guess it drops like a stone.

I'll try that tomorrow. Can't work out why it would have more volts though!

[myglaren]

When my Metro was laid up for about 6 months, the battery was absolutely knackered. Lead acid batteries don't like it at all.

Same here - put a brand new one in the meter cupboard and forgot about it.

Big paperweight after six months

[JayW]

When I scrapped my A4 2 years ago I took the battery off it and it's been sat in my garage until today. I tested the voltage and it showed 10.8v which I thought was OK for 2 years of no use. After a couple of hours connected to my charger it shows 19.3v while connected and 18.7v when I disconnect the charger but does seem to keep dropping further. This seems a bit high to me! Can anyone advise why it's showing this when I would have assumed more like 14.5v? Is it kippered?

Firstly, your charger is fine, the 14.4v you're expecting is what you'd get from an alternator.

 

When you take the battery off charge, it will gradually fall and settle. 12.7v represents a perfectly charged battery. If it settles around 12.2v it's on its way to shagsville. Anything less is fubar.

 

Your best bet is an overnight charge on a regulated charger or conditioner, leave it a couple of hours, then test.

[cobblers]

I'm guessing your charger is a big heavy box that hums?

If so it's just a transformer with poor regulation. In theory they're horrible really but they work well if you just put them on a good battery for a couple of hours. The output voltage is "on average" 15v or so, but it peaks to 20+. Not a problem really because a good battery will soak that up no worries.

 

If you've seen 19 volts then it's absolutely bad news, it means your battery has gone well beyond the phase where it's accepting a charge, and to the state where the plates are bubbling away and it's acting like a capacitor (which is why the voltage was dropping quickly)

 

Looking at the thickness of the wires I'd say it's at best a ten amp charger. Ten amps over two hours is 20Ah (and the battery was definitely dead flat to start with if it was sat at 10.8v)

 

If you've managed to take a flat battery to 19.3v with 20AH of charge then it was bollocksed to start with. It might have been weak to start with but any time spent over 16v would have been merrily boiling all the electrolyte away.

 

Don't waste money or time trying to condition it - Best case scenario, in an ideal world is you can salvage it and get a 12AH battery. Or you could buy the very smallest car battery off ebay for £20 which would have double that and a guarantee.

[RayMK]

When my Metro was laid up for about 6 months, the battery was absolutely knackered. Lead acid batteries don't like it at all.

 

On the other hand, I bought two Varta batteries (car type) for my old mobility scooter about 8 years ago. When the scooter developed terminal transmission problems about 18 months later I took it to the recycling yard but kept the batteries.  One went in my Reliant (500 miles per year and no trickle charging or whatever - it just starts when required) and the other went on a shelf (again, no charging).  About 2 years later, the new batteries (gel type) in my replacement 2nd hand scooter failed - they only lasted a year after I replaced the ones that were in it when bought - so I bought a new battery for the Reliant and paired up the two old Vartas in the scooter.  They are still in it now and were tested two weeks  ago because I thought they might be getting near giving up.  No.  On a full  load (meter, cranking amps) test, they were both fine.  I think it depends on the quality of the battery.  Better ones will withstand more neglect.

[stripped fred]

I've just took the battery off charge. It was on the lowest setting, 2.5 A DC. I'll check it tomorrow and see what the voltage is.

 

I didn't realise you shouldn't let lead acid batteries go flat. I usually leave the battery on my mr2 over winter so up to 6 months. I've done this for many years and it's only on it's 2nd battery. Maybe I've just been lucky. Think I'll invest in one of those plug in trickle chargers.