Ask a Shiter

[The Moog]

Cool.Once it has got new mot I think next purchase is snow tyres. See how I get on with that. ( means I can stop searching gumtree now )

[skattrd]

Do average speed cameras work in the dark?

Someone may have forgotten about them last night and gone through a few sets slightly faster than advised

[cobblers]

Yep, infra red and stuff.

[Craig the Princess]

Just been looking through the SORN expiry dates to put onto a calendar for next year and it looks like one hasn't been renewed since 2006 and two others have been bought in 2011 while on sorn and not resorned. Should we sorn them and if we do are we likely to get a big fine, should er ignore it as DVLA don't seem to have noticed and sort it when they are ready to be taxed maybe after the sorn rule has changed to be a one-off thing?

[Wilko220]

I'm currently sitting in STS Tyres getting a puncture looked at and the bloke behind the counter has just offered to sell me a tin of this:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B005GDC46E

 

I assume it's snake oil. Anyone tried it or know anything about it?

[KruJoe]

@TheMoog: what others have said, you should be fine, but I'd keep a shovel and a set of chains in the boot just in case.

[KruJoe]

A MAF is a delicate piece of gear. (Mass air flow sensor) How should I go about cleaning it? Ta.

[cobblers]

Hot wire one or a piece of shit old bosch springy flap one?

 

The hot wire ones can apparently be cleaned by just spunking some carb cleaner on them, don't touch the wire or owt.

 

The piece of shit bosch springy flap ones just can just razz out with some old petrol on a rag, but the odds are it's not mucky but the tracks for the potentiometer are buggered. Easy enough to bodge and fix though.

[drum]

Just been looking through the SORN expiry dates to put onto a calendar for next year and it looks like one hasn't been renewed since 2006 and two others have been bought in 2011 while on sorn and not resorned. Should we sorn them and if we do are we likely to get a big fine, should er ignore it as DVLA don't seem to have noticed and sort it when they are ready to be taxed maybe after the sorn rule has changed to be a one-off thing?

I would ignore. I taxed a land rover at the post office that hadn't been sorned for at least three years.

[KruJoe]

Hot wire one or a piece of shit old bosch springy flap one?

It's the Volvo 850 MAF, I haven't taken it off the car, but from pics I've seen it looks like a wire mesh inside, so probably the 'hot wire' type.

So just spray carb cleaner in and leave it to dry?

[brickwall]

Don't muck about with the wire thingy.

[saucedoctor]

So just spray carb cleaner in and leave it to dry?

Aye. Has worked for me on numerous occasions.

[KruJoe]

Really? Thank you Doc.

[saucedoctor]

Yep. Don't spray it from too close, though, maybe about a foot away. My W203, for example, regularly threw codes for the AFM, and I squirted it on prob half a dozen occasions, and sorted it every time. Done a few other Mercs and Jap stuff when we owned the taxi firm.

As a general point, if you're buying a new Bosch AFM, check that the screws holding the sensor into the meter housing are Pentalobe (5 point) and not standard Torx 6 pointers. The latter type, available on eBay, are fakes. Bizarrely, the fake meters also SMELL FUNNY. Additionally, the real thing will have a five digit date of manufacture code on the housing. Additional numbers indicate production line number and work shift. Fake AFMs aren't' worth having.

[KruJoe]

Thanks again Doc, my situation is this: my 850 in Thailand has a strange stalling at speed problem. I don't think it's the AFM ,but they're light and I'll take the spare one from my breaker here in the UK. I'd like to try to clean it, or the original before re-fitting it.

My main suspect is something called the 'idle air control valve', so I'm taking a spare, and preparing to clean that too.

[saucedoctor]

IACV fault should only prevent the car from idling. I can't see how it would cause the car to cut out at speed. The IACV on my Rover failed recently, but it drove home just fine after I adjusted the throttle stop screw on the throttle body. It just idled a bit high/lumpy.

 

EDIT: Autodata says that the 850 cutting out problem may be due to the throttle valve not closing correctly due to a build up of shit in the throttle body. Take the throttle body off and give the bore a damn good clean is the way to go.

[KruJoe]

That sounds likely too.

 

To explain it better, if we're on a swift bit of road (eg ring-road) trucking along, then lift off suddenly for a bend/lights/roundabout, then the revs drop right down and it stalls. Being an auto, it won't bump-start itself as I normally would in another of my old rot-boxes. Quite dangerous if you're not ready for it - I loose all PAS, and servo help on the brakes!
Sometimes I can shift into 'N' and re-start as I coast along, other times we roll to a stop and it's a real pain to spark up again.

 

From my VOC research the IACV is a likely culprit. From looking at the one on my spares car, it looks like a little electronically controlled butterfly valve that bypasses the throttle when it's closed, to allow the car to idle. If it sticks should it could cause this.

 

But I will also heed advice on cleaning the main throttle. Thank you once again!

[KruJoe]

PS, here's my VOC thread on the issue:

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=191336

 

Should I be using carb cleaner on the IACV and throttle body too?

[saucedoctor]

Should I be using carb cleaner on the IACV and throttle body too?

Yes and yes.

 

 

If there is muck and crap on the areas where I have crudely drawn the red arrows (this area is the throttle bore), then the throttle disc cannot close properly. Clean the whole thing, both sides of the throttle disc too.

[dugong]

Ahh, the grebby ICV. Cleaned the 460's three times and it still hunts like a fannyhound.

[ShiteRider]

I may have found a storage solution to my vast horde of shit, http://www.yelp.com/biz/mere-view-storage-burscough also these guys who aren't as local but aren't a million miles away either www.storeitnw.com

The storeit place seems the more secure of the two, the reality for me is there aren't any cheap units to rent around here any more - somethig big enough to hold four cars and with wiggle room to get around them is £320 pcm minimum and that's in a shit part of town.

So the stupid question is what's the best way to store a car outside for winter? i normally run my cars through winter but that ain't happening this time.

[MrDuke]

Can a minibus with less than 9 seats be insured as a car?

[daveb47]

Can a minibus with less than 9 seats be insured as a car?

I changed the tax class of my transit 8 seater to mpv.

[Wilko220]

As Dave suggests - I think 8 seats is the cut-off point.

[MrDuke]

Tres awesome. One less lie to get past Mrs_Duke, then

[KruJoe]

Space for four cars and with wiggle room to get around them is £320 pcm minimum

:shock:

 

Edd pays £40 for that in Yorkshire!

 

Suggestion:

Type 'farm' and your postcode into Google, 192.com will give you a list of local farmers. Make some phone calls, what's the worst that could happen?

[M'coli]

Bear with me on this one:

These are for sale on ebay, they're 235/60r18s.  The vendor has stated in the advert,

 

They were used on a Volvo xc90 but would suit any car.

So my stupid question to him was,

"Would these fit an Austin Mini?"

I await their response... :twisted:

[KruJoe]

How is this possible?

 

[gary_davidson]

are HGVs allowed to use the third lane of a four lane motorway?

[Station]

Yes, but it depends how much sleep the driver has had. HGV drivers usually prefer about 2/3's of the hard shoulder.