Ask a Shiter

[Des]

Have the cars been standing? I've had backfiring from every available orifice caused by stale petrol, getting worse as the engine warms eventually barely driveable, modern fuel can go off very quickly if you're unlucky.

[DSdriver]

They have both been used quite a lot, the Safari is my daily driver and the saloon has been to the south of France and back and both have done a couple of runs down to Southampton since the new year. So I don't think stale petrol is the problem as both get filled regularly.

If and when it stops raining I will check the plugs and have a look under the distributor cap which will be the limit of my expertise.

[wuvvum]

What's a slightly scruffy but pretty sound T&T'd 1967 RT40 Toyota Corona worth? I've put the Stagea up on the blue forum for £1200 and got a lad wanting to do a swap. It's really not what I was after, and he's in Preston which doesn't help, but the idea is niggling away at me - I have no clue what such a car would be worth though so no idea if I'd be getting a good deal or not.

[hairymel]

o/t where are all these rude chocolate bars coming from? o/t

[Spiny Norman]

I found a few of them somewhere online and I've just been swapping between them as a signature pic.

I guess all it takes is an idea, Google images to find a suitable wrapper and some Photoshop-type image editor to sellotape them together.

[hairymel]

pah sounds like too much hard work to me.

 

i want my gratification instantly

 

shame my job description of 'everything with wires' includes graphic design and production.

 

sucks to be one of our clients

[Des]

Small compilation.

 

[TimothyClaypole]

Knock it off with the chocolate pictures I'm starving.

[hairymel]

silly me

 

of course after a bit of digging they seem to originate from B3TA

 

http://www.b3ta.com/board/8422998

[KruJoe]

Ah, thanks, I was gonna ask the same. Now we have...

[hairymel]

that made me LOL

[hhhugues]

A bit of fuel for the mondeo haters there:

 

I need to put my 05 plate 2.0 tdci through its MOT very soon, and i'm worried that it will fail on a couple things:

 

1) i know from being told when i changed the front tyres last week that one of my alloys is slightly buckled. Is that a systematic failure ? It's barely noticeable really, although i did suspect it as you can see the steering wheel wobble a bit when you get your hands off it.

2) there's a clunk when you pull the steering wheel to the right from center, sometimes does it to the left too. it's pretty strong when the engine's cold, but it clears once it's warmed up. I've been chasing info on this on the web, but i'm still not sure if its likely to be a steering rack problem or joints or whatever else. Steering is otherwise fine, no play, no whining noise from the pump or anything.

 

Anyone with some experience of either issues and MOT implications ?

[hhhugues]

forgot to say, brake / PAS fluid is fine, which i suppose would indicate the clunk isn't steering rack related ?

[worldofceri]

The steering on my Volvo's a bit clunky too. No idea what it is. I'll just wait until it all falls apart to find out.

[ruffgeezer]

Glad the DVLA thing was sorted. You absolutely cannot afford not to let them know about it or you'll get screwed down the line. Looks like I'm still going to have to pay a fine over the Renault 21 Monaco, which I sold years ago. I should have told the DVLA I'd sent the logbook off but I actually told them the truth, which is that I forgot the V5 when I swapped cars with someone, and posted it to him assuming he'd sign it and send it off. He didn't. Since then, I make sure that I send the logbook off - with the BX, I even asked VA to sign it and send it back to me, so I could send it off to the DVLA. I have finally had a piece of paper come through from the DVLA saying I'm no longer the registered keeper of the 21 though. At last. I did send a letter previously but I think they ignored it. When I phoned up recently, they were very helpful and I'm sure that assisted the wheels when my second letter arrived.

 

 

Refuse the fine and tell them to take the car away if they want to do anything. They won't and they'll waive the fine, this approach has worked for me 2 or 3 times in the past.

[Albert Ross]

Ref: Clunky steering on Macpherson strut vehicles. Probably the strut top bearings with debris inside them. Noticeable mostly when low speed turning from lock to lock, and the bearing "grabs" momentarily, giving rise to a clunk, which is the spring twisting slightly, and returning to normal. Can fail MOT if serious enough in the centre position, but can come as an advise if at the extent of the lock. Worth jacking the car up, both wheels free, and getting someone to turn lock to lock slowly and gently, whilst you have a had on the strut top from under the wheelarch, to feel for any grabbing. Give it a go, anyway.

[skattrd]

Whats good (easy) for getting veg oil off paintwork?

The area just below the filler cap appears to be the area worst affected ...

[worldofceri]

Cheers for the tip, Albert.

[outlaw118]

Re Veg oil: I would guess washing up liquid and hot water, although you'll need to bang a bit of wax over the cleaned area, as the salt an stuff in it will strip that off as well. Don't use Cillit bang, no matter what Barry Scott tells you, it'll be a bit harsh for paint. (trust me, i spent a weekend cutting and polishing a mate's Golf after he cleaned it with that stuff )

[vulgalour]

I've been considering booking an early MoT on the BX once I've sorted a few things out I know it'll fail on, like the exhaust. If it fails an MoT before the current one expires, does that invalidate my existing MoT, even if I keep the current pass certificate? Presumably, if it passes an early MoT then that effectively resets the date for a new 12 month period. I want to restagger the MoT and tax and since I shan't be able to afford 12 months but can afford 6, this seems the sensible way to do it at present.

[Lord Sterling]

As I understand it, it wont invalidate your current running MOT. Though if it passes the date can be reset to the date it passes or something like that.

[cobblers]

Nah, your old MOT stays valid. If it passes with up to 1 month left on the old one this is added on, so you can have up to 13 months MOT. Any more than 1 month left and you just get 12, for some reason. Obviously if the car fails on something mega unsafe then you should deffo get it fixed especially now that it's down on computerised records that you've got a brake pipe 99.99% sliced through or something.

[Ben_L]

Who are VOSA? Yes, I know who they are but who are they REALLY?

I saw a couple of helmets driving a VOSA liveried Galaxy ( seems to be their weapon of choice) ridiculously fast along the A10 yesterday, overtaking everything and going way beyond the speed limit.

Are these fuckers bound by the same laws as the rest of us? What powers do they actually have? Can they stop you without a PC Plod being present?

I mean, whats the fucking point of them?

 

I was on the way to Kings Lynn on the A10, following a pikey wagon LDV Pickup dual cab, when I here sirens behind me and a Galaxy come screaming* past trying to pull the LDV over... But, no blue lights, only Amber. So I assume, as they're not an emergency service and they're not travelling at low speed or towing a long/wide load that Amber LED's, Wig Wag lights and a bloody stupidly loud whelan horn isn't 100% to the letter...

 

But they get away with it!

 

 

*By screaming, I was doing 65-70 in a NSLimit area and this thing flew by. Bunch of knobs.

[meggersdog]

If it fails an MoT before the current one expires, does that invalidate my existing MoT, even if I keep the current pass certificate? .

 

Technically it might invalidate the MOT as if it fails then you are knowingly driving an unsafe vehicle.An MOT means the vehicle is safe only at the time of the test and it is up to the driver to keep the vehicle in a roadworthy condition.

[Spiny Norman]

I asked the same question on here last year and I think the consensus was that while a new 'fail' cannot over-rule or invalidate an old 'pass', you're leaving yourself open to prosecution/insurance related issues should the MOT detect any major safety related or roadworthyness issues.

 

If it throws up a cracked tail light lens you're probably OK, if there are big holes in the sills, probably not.

[CreepingJesus]

I remember that question/answer from last year. I put mine in 3 weeks early, and one of the fails was a balljoint; so with that answer in mind, and the tester's opinion that it still had a valid MOT...I sidelined it for a few days until it was repaired, and had a fresh ticket.

No point in having to answer awkward questions from officials, about why I was driving a clearly unroadworthy car. Not worth the hassle imo.

[wuvvum]

VOSA do have the power to pull you over - they were given delegated powers by the ACPO some time ago. I don't think they're allowed to exceed the speed limit though - but then that probably wouldn't be an issue if they're chasing an LDV.

[triumph1300]

Right this is probably really obvious, but what is the difference between a diesel turbo unit and a petrol one. Could a diesel turbo unit be fitted to a petrol car?

[CreepingJesus]

If it'll bolt on, it'll 'work'. No guarantee of a good, or even driveable result tho'. Bolt a truck turbo on, for maximum hilarity.

[skattrd]

Right this is probably really obvious, but what is the difference between a diesel turbo unit and a petrol one. Could a diesel turbo unit be fitted to a petrol car?

 

Yes.

A turbo is a turbo,no matter whether its for petrol or diesel. However there are many, many, many varieties of turbo. They come with long numbers on them to identify them, different sizes/shapes of flanges, different sized compressor, different angle of inlet/outlet etc etc ... How do I know? I had a box of IHI RHF3 turbos, and they were all different .... Long story short, there's a petrol kei car out there sporting a turbo from a Corsa 1.5D