Ask a Shiter

[DSdriver]

...

 

Rarely need to file pads though, usually clean up the mounting bracket instead....

 

I wish I'd thought of that whilst I had them off to change the discs, I did make a half-arsed effort once I had bolted them back on though.

 

This is the first time I have ever had this problem (mind you, the first time I have done brakes on this car).

I did once have a problem with pads friction material contaminated with tool steel swarf which was grinding up the discs. It took a while to work out why the brakes were grinding after changing the pads.

[face]

What actually makes a car crackle and bang on overrun?

 

Not just the exhaust?

[3VOM]

What actually makes a car crackle and bang on overrun?

 

Not just the exhaust?

Valve and timing overlap at low engine speed IIRC.

[andy18s]

Weak mixture. If it's definitely not an exhaust leak allowing air in then get it looked at as I think it maybe running too lean

[Des]

To clean calipers out where the pads go in, after scraping out the crud with a screwdriver, cut a wire brush down the middle and give a good jiggering with the halves, but chuck the brush before the bristles get too curly and catch the rubbers, or, use someone else's tinsnips to trim the bristles to an aggressive 1/4''.

 

Tech question, those 4G internet boxes that give mobile WIFI from a simcard, I have an EE card which offers some gigabytes for a tenner, when I go to Europe I assume I'll need another simcard, is there anything available here that will work or is it a case of trying to obtain one locally abroad, hitting language barrier, pointing and shouting then getting into an argument with Johnny Foreigner before sacking off the idea?

[dave21478]

Apparently international roaming charges have been abolished in Europe? Worth looking into it to see if you can just use your UK card.

[andy18s]

Roaming charges have been reduced but Not abolished just yet. I think I heard they will be by Octoberish time though but obviously check with your network.....

[philibusmo]

I'm half looking buying a series 1 Peugeot 306 Convertible. Apart from the hydraulics for the roof kersploding and general wear to the quality* Peugeot interior fabrics, is there anything else I should be lookin out for?

 

It's a 1.8 manual with some wonderfully fake wood trim on the dash. I'm in NZ socparts availability is likely to be sparse at best.

[twosmoke300]

Drive one first - terrible !

[philibusmo]

I've had a blat around in a 2.0 one before and it seemed pretty reasonable.

 

EDIT: but then at the time I was driving a Maxi with about 170,000 miles on the clock as my daily so my standards probably weren't that high.

[Dave_Q]

Lyca or lebara aren't bad for euro data, I used a Lyca sim card for my hols last year and got 1gb data to use in .nl for a tenner.

 

Three have no roaming charges in France, Italy and Spain so worth a look, you could get a 30 day sim only contract from them with many data.

 

Either way you might have to not tell them it's going in a mifi thing as they're not always cool with them.

 

Sadly there is still not 1 cheap option for all of Europe, depends where you're going.

[dave21478]

I'm half looking buying a series 1 Peugeot 306 Convertible. Apart from the hydraulics for the roof kersploding and general wear to the quality* Peugeot interior fabrics, is there anything else I should be lookin out for?

 

It's a 1.8 manual with some wonderfully fake wood trim on the dash. I'm in NZ socparts availability is likely to be sparse at best.

 

Front electric windows are a common failure point and the mechanism is unique to the phase 1 cabriolet so basically unobtanium.

When I bought mine the  "small problem with the wiring" turned out to be both windows wedged up with bits of wood. I eventually found one mechanism on ebay and the other from a member of the owners forum.

[Richard]

Can't you just jam a screwdriver in the starter ring gear or put a breaker bar on it and flick the starter? Not that the "official" method sounds all that challenging really.

[dave21478]

I was always scared to try the breaker bar and flick the starter method as it sounded like a Darwin Award in the making, but after encountering a Zetec pulley that simply wouldnt undo by other means I tried it - worked a treat and I have done it a few times on other stuff since then.

 

IMO its best to leave 8 inches or so if possible between the handle of the breaker bar and whetever it will hit...ground, wishbone etc, so the engine gets a little bit of momentum up, whereas just having the handle already against the ground means you are only using the power of the starter. Granted its a low gear ratio but the extra momentum of the engine turning a bit seems to help.

 

Top tip 1 - diconnect coil or something so engine wont run on.

Top tip 2 - Careful with Hondas where the engine spins the "wrong" direction.

[M'coli]

It's petrol, isn't it? Pop a sparkplug out at the bottom of the power stroke, feed a rope down the cylinder, turn the engine backwards until it locks against the rope and procede to remove the pulley bolt.

[twosmoke300]

Mark with paint pen and whizz off with windy gun if you have one . Then whizz back up to the mark plus a little bit for luck

[doobietoo]

Quite often you can crack a nut off like that by putting a decent spanner on the nut and giving it a few hefty hits with a club hammer. Yes it does spin but it often works....80nm is not that tight....

[twosmoke300]

Not even as tight as most wheel nuts

[doobietoo]

And I use this method successfully when I have forgotten to loosen the wheel nuts before jacking the car up as too lazy to put the jack back down   

[dave21478]

To retighten I personally would just wang it up as tight as I could by hand then clout the end of the spanner a few times with a hefty hammer to turn it a little more.

 

Something else that can work is to get the aux belt and wrap it round the crank pulley and then improvise a way to hold that tight with a ratchet strap or similar as the friction of the belt on the pulley can prevent it turning.

[chaseracer]

Anyone ever replaced the horn on a 2003 Blingo?

 

  

 

I'm hoping there's a way to do it without removing the bumper, because that scares the shit out of me.

[Pillock]

You could just lob a train horn on the roofrack. Seems simpler.

[trigger]

Quick question. The headlining on the Audi keeps dropping so i need to pin it up, what is the name of the pins and where can i find them?

[Richard]

Brass split pins. They would normally come from a stationery supplier.

[trigger]

I didn't realise there was two threads the same, stupid Tapatalk. I'll move this to the other thread. Thanks Richard.

[Inspector Morose]

Anyone ever replaced the horn on a 2003 Blingo?

 

 <looks eastward toward Ruffgeezer...> 

 

I'm hoping there's a way to do it without removing the bumper, because that scares the shit out of me.

Wait until next week and ask nicely.

[DeeJay]

Quick question. The headlining on the Audi keeps dropping so i need to pin it up, what is the name of the pins and where can i find them?

 

https://www.heritageupholsterysupplies.co.uk/twist-pins-1134.html?gclid=CJaL7bLEyswCFeop0wod1nsFFg

 

I've seen these used but you need foam or padding behind headliner for pins to screw into. 

[Kiltox]

Fucking bastard Kangoo van still doesn't have a working clutch pedal despite taking the drivers seat and bulkhead out so I can get better access to the pedal box

 

Anyone ever had to replace the pedal linkage on a Kangoo or Clio and know how other than being a fucking contortionist you can get the rod onto the ball joint above the pedals??

[oldcars]

Caravan indicator has stopped working. Checked bulb and it seems ok. Previous owner looks to have worn through the cable near the a frame and jointed the cable back together and taped it up. Would this botch be a good place to start trying to fix it?

[Captain Furious]

If the standard banging on the light lens with your fist and jiggling the plug hasn't made it work it sounds a likely candidate, though I would say more likely would be where it (presumably) scotch locks onto the cars wiring.