Ask a Shiter

[M'coli]

Thanks, Joe. He'll get to see the Muffy the BX if it all goes well!

[Wilko220]

What is the best way of eliminating dog hairs from a car's upholstery? Not being a pet owner, it's not something I've had to think about before - but a previous owner of my 45 obviously was...

[Pillock]

You can get a rubber bristled brush - I think to actually groom pets, but I find it pulls pet hair out of carpets really well.

[HillmanImp]

I have a grinder you can borrow. No idea if its a 9 inch one or not though. Its just a grinder to me.

 

In fact I think its this one if thats any help. No guard disc or handle though.

 

http://www.screwfix.com/p/titan-ttb283grd-9-angle-grinder-230v/40362

 

[Tayne]

What is the best way of eliminating dog hairs from a car's upholstery? Not being a pet owner, it's not something I've had to think about before - but a previous owner of my 45 obviously was...

Parcel tape.

Wrap it round your hand or the end of a brush or whatever is to hand and pat down the affect area.

You might need several goes but parcel tape is cheap.

[dave21478]

What is the best way of eliminating dog hairs from a car's upholstery? Not being a pet owner, it's not something I've had to think about before - but a previous owner of my 45 obviously was...

 

Yeah, horsey places sell various rubber grooming brushes, which work fine.

A pair of marigolds will do in a pinch, just rub your palm over the seats and the hairs should lift and bunch up into clumps.

 

I cleaned out this Corrolla using these methods after most valet places refused to touch it.

[Wilko220]

^ Had you been transporting a horse in it?

[KruJoe]

marigolds

Dampen your Marigolds for enhanced satisfaction.

(Is that one?)

[KruJoe]

Thanks, Joe. He'll get to see the Muffy the BX if it all goes well!

WTF you have a BX? I've been out of the loop too long. And a perfect weapon for transporting heavy kit, I'm sure it is too.

I was going to suggest you don't go up for it in Mrs_Coli's new Kia Picanto anyway!

[DS20]

If disconnecting the battery in preparation for leaving a car for a while, is it better to remove the positive lead, the negative lead, or should it be both?  I think I've always removed the negative lead in the past, but am having a moment of self-doubt and wondering if this is the right thing to do.  

[Pillock]

I always do negative, because you do negative first anyway - anyone who has clouted the bodywork with a spanner undoing the positive first will tell you this is a great idea.

 

And once the negative is off, your battery can't discharge so might as well leave it at that.

[steve_earwig]

Everything you read says negative first, everyone you talk to says negative first, even Haynes says negative first, so why do cars that have a quick release always have it on the positive terminal?

[Hendry]

Went through a fairly large puddle earlier and now I'm struggling to go from 2nd to 3rd gear, as in it will go into third but not very smoothly and going from 1st to 2nd or 3rd to 2nd the way I'd usually put it in its not going in, I've got to almost force it in to 2nd, sometimes it just grinds when I try to get 2nd (clutch pressed all the way) and other times it hits resistance, which I know is normal but usually when you press against the resistance in the levert it goes straight in, only now sometimes no matter what I do I can't push past the resistance and make it go into gear, it just wont go into gear, ive got to go back into another gear and try again and it will go in 2nd time, what have I done?

 

(2009 Clio 1.2, 53K miles, gearbox was working as well/smooth as you'd expect from a small French shitbox)

[steve_earwig]

Water in the gearbox? Seems unlikely. Water in the clutch? Is the clutch releasing fully? Can you get it into reverse without it complaining?

[red5]

Stone/crud stuck in gear linkage?

[rainagain]

At least it's cheap, the one for my 2.4 Alfa was twice as much and fucked again in 5k miles. Why do Italian 'stats look like an artificial heart, not a thermostat? Some older cars (Renault 12 etc) used an in line stat inside the main top hose, worth looking into?

Yep had to change mine as well, found one on cheesebay for £40ish seller assured me it would fit, thought great this seller is cheaper than everyone else, big surprise when it arrived and was completely wrong. Had to send it back, the the correct one from the same seller cost just under £100 and like Spikes the next winter it was not working right again (engine not quite getting to temp). Grrr

[Luckythirteen]

It's possible you've knocked the linkage on the Clio, they're bad for that. They get out of alignment, like how your tracking goes. It's easily adjusted, if you can get the measurements from the Renault service manual.

It's also possible the cable's had enough after its quick bath. Again, not hard to do, but you'll need to adjust the linkages after.

Also check if yours has rubber bump stops by the box, sometimes they come adrift and cause problems.

Good luck!

[Hendry]

It's possible you've knocked the linkage on the Clio, they're bad for that. They get out of alignment, like how your tracking goes. It's easily adjusted, if you can get the measurements from the Renault service manual.

It's also possible the cable's had enough after its quick bath. Again, not hard to do, but you'll need to adjust the linkages after.

Also check if yours has rubber bump stops by the box, sometimes they come adrift and cause problems.

Good luck!

Its weird, it mostly seems to be fine now, only the odd time it wont go into 2nd, once every so often it does it with 3rd, by the rest of the time its spot on, sometimes it will go into 2nd with slightly force like its just very notchy, it NEVER happens with 1st, 4th, 5th or reverse. I'm reluctant to take it to a mechanic/garage, not because I don't want to spend on it, just in my experience the minute you mention gearbox related faults they want to rebuild it even when it may not need it and it doesnt fix the problem, they just see a way to make maximum profit, gearbox specialists are the same. How I would describe going into 2nd now is the same way as your gearbox notches into gear when you are putting it into gear with the engine off and not pressing the clutch to park in gear. I dont think its the box anyway as with the clutch pressed an engine off it selects gears as smoothly as it ever did, I'm told if its still difficult to go into gear with engine off its the box.

[Matt]

What is the best way of eliminating dog hairs from a car's upholstery? Not being a pet owner, it's not something I've had to think about before - but a previous owner of my 45 obviously was...

 

An alternative method that I have discovered that works very well is a damp leather chamois with a vacuum cleaner handy. Wet a leather chamois in the sink and ring it out so it's damp. Now bunch it up in your hand so that you have a large, blunt surface and wipe in one direction until you have a pile of hair, remove with the vacuum cleaner and repeat.

 

I took my mothers Volvo from this...

 

 

... to this using said method, not very labour intensive but some spots can be a bit awkward. I wound up just sitting in the boot.

 

[Station]

How much can you get for used batteries? I've asked at a couple of metal scrap merchants and they have only:

a ) mumbled something or other under their breath

b ) said the boss isn't in

c ) said the price of scrap is low or something, and then continued to mumble something under their breath

d ) scratched their balls through their overalls while uttering something I couldn't understand

e ) all of the above.

[Station]

My old MR2 was bad, I had to take everything out to get rid of all the festering dog hair and random McDonalds chips out.

 

[twosmoke300]

Batteries are usually 4 to 6 pounds each .

Price if scrap is always low if you ask them .

[Matt]

What cars have fuel efficiency comparable to Citroen AX diesels (60-70 MPG) but are more widely available for shiter kind of money?

[twosmoke300]

Saxo and 106d . corsa 1.5d maybe

[Rusty_Rocket]

What cars have fuel efficiency comparable to Citroen AX diesels (60-70 MPG) but are more widely available for shiter kind of money?

The 106 diesel of course!

Fiesta TDCi comes close IME.. but there's always the 'common rail roulette..'

[Matt]

Saxo and 106d . corsa 1.5d maybe

 

Are they in the real world though? They're heavier and Parkers has them all listed as 53 MPG.

 

Maybe it would help if I said that my intention is to strip the interior and do a load of a aero modifications to see how fuel efficient a light little diesel can be.

[Rusty_Rocket]

106/ Saxo is the best possible base for an eco car as that is what it was designed for.  Small frontal area, low kerb weight, skinny tyres and covered (flat) wheel trims.

Over the past 4 years, I've averaged 59-61mpg on two 106 diesels.  That's every tank recorded, all types of driving.

[Luckythirteen]

It's probably been asked before (and I could JFGI, but where's the fun in that?), but if I panelled inside a van to camper it: is there any reason why I couldn't/shouldn't fill the gap between plywood and metal with expanding foam?

Sounds like the obvious way to insulate. Sounds too easy though.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Batteries are usually 4 to 6 pounds each .

Price if scrap is always low if you ask them .

 

 

Euro Car Parts are currently offering £3 per battery so that has to be a minimum

[Craig the Princess]

Are they in the real world though? They're heavier and Parkers has them all listed as 53 MPG.

 

Maybe it would help if I said that my intention is to strip the interior and do a load of a aero modifications to see how fuel efficient a light little diesel can be.

 

I think the AX leads the field by a margin due to lightness. There are a lot of platstic pieces even compaired to a 106.

Have you seen the ecomodder.com forum, mainly american but lots of folks doing similar areo mods etc.