Ask a Shiter

[KruJoe]

Packaging.

[worldofceri]

Did somebody say Straight Eight?

[Station]

Just a question on tax at the end of the month:

 

If I sell a car at the end of the month (eclipsing September/October), what happens with the tax (if I tax it next weekend).

 

And a more 'open' question - how will this work? Will ebay sheisters expect a car to have tax paid for inclusive of price, or will that be a practical impossibility? I can see buyers getting the humph because they don't understand the rules. Thanks DVLA.

[Jon]

Right heres one. I always thought I couldn't tow owt because I passed my test in 2003. But I just went on that drivling licence record thing to see how many points I have and it turns out I can tow like any normal person?

 

"You can drive vehicles up to 3,500kg Maximum Authorised Mass (MAM) and up to 8 passenger seats, and a driver, with trailer up to 750kg; trailers over 750kg if combined weight of vehicle and trailer isn't over 3,500kg and the fully-loaded trailer doesn't weigh more than the unladen vehicle"

 

So I can tow a reasonable caravan if things get that bad? And why have a couple of people I know my ages been sent off to do proper trailer tests?

 

Others have answered here but I thought I'd have a stab at this too (and am sure I have done before on more than one occasion), as I think one or two crucial things have been left out. A 750kg trailer is basically an un-braked one, so in the realms of those ERDE ones chained outsides your local Halfords. However, towing anything beyond this means you then get in to the lottery of working out gross train weights, so you have to consider how much your car car weigh full loaded, plus the maximum plated weight of the trailer. Even light single axle caravans are mostly out of the question, unless you get one of those comedy 8ft 1970's jobbies, or a Puck. But towing anything useful behind your VW van, for instance, would be scuppered by the fact its gross weight will take up a fair proportion of the 3500kg MAM. For some reason though, you can go to 4250kg MAM, if the trailer is a 750kg one. Bizarre.

[dave21478]

How do you set off an airbag?

 

I have a spare airbag lying here and fancy trying something funny/dangerous with it for youtube lols, but I dont know how to set it off.....it has three wires to its original plug, one of which is earthed to the airbag casing. Do I just give 12v to the other two? does polarity matter?

 

Its from a Citroen passenger side if that makes any difference.

[Bobthebeard]

How do you set off an airbag?

 

I have a spare airbag lying here and fancy trying something funny/dangerous with it for youtube lols, but I dont know how to set it off.....it has three wires to its original plug, one of which is earthed to the airbag casing. Do I just give 12v to the other two? does polarity matter?

 

Its from a Citroen passenger side if that makes any difference.

Pinched from t'internet, so could be entirely wrong:

 

"12v battery and a trigger switch is the best way of doing it. Also make sure you set it off in a large open area and make sure you place it airbag facing up (as fun as it is to put it upside down and seeing them shoot off into the air).

 

Also the chemicals that react with the electricity to inflate get very hot and can burn your skin so give it some time to clear first before you pick it up."

[Station]

Don't let anyone sit on an airbag when it goes off. You can either:

a) Have him fly into the air and land on the ground, then you all have a laugh and put it on Youtube,

Have the airbag destroy his spine and paralyse him for life, and then get sued.

[Danblez]

OK, I keep seeing WBOD but its got me stumped?! Anyone?

[dave21478]

Yeah, I wasnt going to use it on a person....way too much potential for it to go badly wrong. I quite fancy seeing how high it will launch an old washing machine or something though.

[Richard]

Isn't it Distinction?

[willswitchengage]

How do you set off an airbag?

 

[Shep Shepherd]

Can anyone suggest a supplier for dashboard switch illumination bulbs like these which isn't Skandix or a Volvo main dealer?

 

 

Alternatively, is there any way of getting standard capless bulbs to fit in the holders?

[mat_the_cat]

I'd consider switching to LEDs. Find a 5 mm LED (with a built in resistor for direct 12 V connection) in the right colour and the same sort of brightness, and it should be a simple job to fit. Snip the bulb wires near the terminals, feed the LED legs down and solder. I think even if you unfolded the wires on normal capless dash bulbs, they would be too short to reach the terminals.

 

If the LED is too directional (try and pick one with a wide viewing angle), roughen the surface with some fine sandpaper and it will diffuse it no end.

[Shep Shepherd]

Thanks, but I'm not a fan of LEDs in old cars' interiors. The search is on for some capless bulbs with long wires. They must exist somewhere.

[mat_the_cat]

Fair enough, but done right you wouldn't be able to tell! I certainly wasn't suggesting you replaced them with blue...

 

It may be worth a trawl through this site to see if you can find anything, especially if there is anything printed on the bulb itself.

http://www.donsbulbs.com/cgi-bin/r/t.pl

 

Alternately, if you want to pop a dead one in the post I could have a look - it's difficult without having one to play with, and I like tinkering with anything which lights up

[Shep Shepherd]

They are standard 286-type 1.2w bulbs, but I need ones with long wires.

[mat_the_cat]

Ah, I did think they looked similar. In which case these should do:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12V-100mA-1-2W-5mm-Wire-Ended-lamps-NEW-Qty-10-/111344446058?_trksid=p2054897.l4275

[Shep Shepherd]

That's exactly what I need! Thanks a lot!

[Station]

Can anyone suggest a supplier for dashboard switch illumination bulbs like these which isn't Skandix or a Volvo main dealer?

 

IMAG0016.jpg

 

Alternatively, is there any way of getting standard capless bulbs to fit in the holders?

 

 

Yes, they are mounted to the clock in the middle of the dashboard on MGFs. They look identical.

[Bobthebeard]

A stupid question, but I was in Peterlee near Durham today..... Couldn't help noticing that there was loads of taxis... Everywhere! Almost one in ten cars seemed to be a white taxi....

Why? Just wondered .

Never seen so many taxis in one town before!

[saucedoctor]

The people of Peterlee are notorious drunkards, maybe?

[Shep Shepherd]

The bulbs arrived today and they work a treat! Thanks for your help, Mat! :-D

[Bobthebeard]

Question before I splash out and buy new front calipers for the Prelude....

The front brakes have been a tad squeaky ( when driving, not braking ) since I got the car, but no real issues as such. Got an advisory for front brake imbalance at last MOT a week or so ago though. However today, on a run to visit my mum (100 mile round trip), the front r/h caliper started dragging and wheel got HOT. Stinky hot. Pulled over to let things cool down and carried on. Was ok for a while but then started binding again. Made it home ok, but plenty of stops etc. Seems random. Can suddenly bind when driving without applying brakes, or squeak/get hot for a while after (but never squeaks during) braking.... Sometimes no squeak or binding.

Any ideas?

[spike60]

Hopefully not a stupid question but what is the verdict on CO meters/gas testers? It's looking like I'll probably have use for one and have been trawling Fleabay without success. Useless tat? Marvellous bit 'o kit? Somewhere in the middle? Gunson gasmeter is about £100 new, predictably I don't want to pay that. Any to avoid or jump at?

[Des]

The ultimate CO machine will be an ex MOT 4 gas type of thing, the ones that were made obsolete whenever the ministry moved the posts, but avoid the models that shut down demanding calibration every 6 months, then there's the portable12V single gas ones that look like a battery charger with a length of screenwash tubing for sampling, I happily used one of these for many years until the MOT standards became unreasonably demanding, still useful but I recently had great trouble getting a replacement element after it popped at a mere 20 years old. I know nothing of the Gunson machines, probably a bit of a faff and for what they cost you could probably rig up a lambda probe in a metal tube with a bit of silicone hose to slip over your tailpipe to read with a voltmeter, and still have change for a couple of pies from Lidl. I find CO meterage essential since my conversion to the church of autogas, no chance of working out that stinky mess by smell, taste or voodoo, but I find I have trouble making sense of what's what with modern petrol, cos all modern petrol....

[spike60]

A battery charger with screenwash tube was what I was looking at, I'd looked at the ex mot stuff but anything with wheels, keyboard and printer a tad OTT for occasional DIY stuff! Only looking to test and adjust CO.

[Luckythirteen]

@bobthebeard: collapsed brake hose, like Trigger's Merc maybe?

[outlaw118]

You know that MoT certificate that says "Wheels Look Shit"?

 

Where is it, or can someone put it up here again, I NEED to put it on a thread on faecesbook.

 

Cheers!

[Spiny Norman]

You know that MoT certificate that says "Wheels Look Shit"?

 

Where is it, or can someone put it up here again, I NEED to put it on a thread on faecesbook.

 

Cheers!

From this very forum...

[meshking]

I have been granted leave to purchase a van based car. Fiat doblo 1.3 multijet, shite or just shit?

 

Did anyone do this type of car around 94? If they did it would slide straight onto my classic policy ☺