Ask a Shiter

[garbaldy]

The Honda diesel makes a noise like the timing chain is fucked even when they're new. That's all I know, soz.

So if its rattling like its fucked buy it anyway.

[fatharris]

Frank Gallagher on here has one IIRC.

 

Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

[stephen01]

my crv diesel, same engine I believe, makes a slight timing chain noise* every now and then, normally at low speeds, depends who or what you believe I guess, one thing is proper oil changes, I may even do the CRV again tomorrow now.

[LessThanEqual]

The clutch pedal in my 6N Polo is a right pain to use when the car has properly warmed up after 20 or so miles of driving. It gets stiff and creaky, and gets worse the more you drive. Perfectly fine when the car is stone dead cold. I tried spraying some oil on the linkage on the gearbox itself, it hasn't made much of a difference. Am I right to guess that it needs a new clutch?

[Lacquer Peel]

The clutch pedal in my 6N Polo is a right pain to use when the car has properly warmed up after 20 or so miles of driving. It gets stiff and creaky, and gets worse the more you drive. Perfectly fine when the car is stone dead cold. I tried spraying some oil on the linkage on the gearbox itself, it hasn't made much of a difference. Am I right to guess that it needs a new clutch?

 

Maybe, but in my experiences of clutch failure stiffness/creakiness wasn't a sign, just the clutch slipping. It could be the cable.

[twosmoke300]

On a vw it could well be the cable ripping it's way through the bulkhead

[alf892]

Way you have to look at it is you want something that's so worthless it would be written off if you broke a mirror off it. Then consider how many of that car they've had to pay out on recent. Chances are damage to a 2012 Corsa would be repaired, included in that would also be hire car charges etc... Then factor in they will have paid out on a hundred of accidents involving Corsas this year. Hence to their way of thinking statistics say it's a bad risk.

Conversely if you so much as scratched a 1999 Renault Safrane it would be written off quite quickly thus cutting out the hire car bumf (but hey it's a £300 car you likely wouldn't bother even claiming!). Chances are they've never even heard of a Safrane let alone written off any in the recent past. So you are a bit of an unknown and as they say 'no news is good news'. Then to top it all they know there's not a cat in hells chance you'd claim as the excess is £150 and you'd be then only getting a cheque for £150.

So you've only paid £200 to insure an unreliable liability of a French car and the 12 plate Corsa is paying £500.

You are overthinking this.......the Renault will be cheaper because they have less days on the road and broken cars don't crash into much. Mind you, I suppose they can tend to be prone to fires......

[LessThanEqual]

Maybe, but in my experiences of clutch failure stiffness/creakiness wasn't a sign, just the clutch slipping. It could be the cable.

 

 

On a vw it could well be the cable ripping it's way through the bulkhead

Thanks guys, I'll take a look at it tomorrow.

[cobblers]

It's probably not coming through the bulkhead, but I know that the clutch end of the pedal box of Lupos snaps off in 100% of cases. Usually done under warranty years ago but they could go again.

 

6n polos are more or less the same car as a lupo so it could be the same. Apparently you can bodge them by welding in situ. I had the dash out of the Lupo to fix mine. 

[Jerzy Woking]

What is the correct battery for my 1989 300E Mercedes? It is petrol and has air con. Battery presently fitted is dead with NO labels on it-cant even work out what brand it is.

[saucedoctor]

What is the correct battery for my 1989 300E Mercedes? It is petrol and has air con. Battery presently fitted is dead with NO labels on it-cant even work out what brand it is.

 

Type your reg number in here:

 

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-batteries?storeId=10001&cm_re=Search-_-Onsite+Search+Forced+Redirect-_-battery&langId=-1&catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&seo=true&isMobile=

[Danblez]

Do you still get issued with an mot cert? Left the garage the other night with just a receipt.

[Jerzy Woking]

Type your reg number in here:

 

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-batteries?storeId=10001&cm_re=Search-_-Onsite+Search+Forced+Redirect-_-battery&langId=-1&catalogId=10151&storeId=10001&catalogId=10151&langId=-1&seo=true&isMobile=

Tried that-my car is "too old" to be recognised. ECP website equally as unhelpful giving me about 20 different battery options.

[myglaren]

Try The Battery Guys.

[gordonbennet]

Tried that-my car is "too old" to be recognised. ECP website equally as unhelpful giving me about 20 different battery options.

 

Try batterymegastore.co.uk

 

Their site will bring up a 93 on W124, though it'll be 280/320, but if you click on one of those batteries and more info, you can check the dimensions and pole position of that compared to yours.

 

Good to deal with if suitable price etc.

[stephen01]

Do you still get issued with an mot cert? Left the garage the other night with just a receipt.

Some garages don't give them, but yes you should still get a certificate.

 

I'm not sure on this fact but I think you can ask any not garage to give you a duplicate certificate at a cost if requested. This is probably bollocks.

[saucedoctor]

Tried that-my car is "too old" to be recognised. ECP website equally as unhelpful giving me about 20 different battery options.

 

 

Autodata says Battery: V/RC(Ah): 12/110 (62). I'll look up the merc dealer system in a mo.

 

EDIT: FUCK! Millions of batteries! If you wish to PM me your chassis number, I'll see if I can narrow it down.

 

Further edit: I think it's the second one down in the picture. (ignore the Japan and USA stuff, I picked the Europe model from the list)

[sheffcortinacentre]

I got a sistifcate last week, & any station can issue a duplicate, was a tenner

[Noel Tidybeard]

Frank Gallagher on here has one IIRC.

 

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spaceship- yay

diseasel- nay tis 1.8 petril

[Noel Tidybeard]

Does anyone have experience with honda civic diesels.

It's on an 06 plate

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/

[Barry Cade]

What is the correct battery for my 1989 300E Mercedes? It is petrol and has air con. Battery presently fitted is dead with NO labels on it-cant even work out what brand it is.

It's an 096

 

Terminals

Voltage 12 Volts

Technology Wet Capacity 75 Ah

CCA 700 A

Length 278 mm

Width 175 mm

Height inc. terms 190 mm

 

 

http://www.halfords.com/motoring/bulbs-blades-batteries/car-batteries/halfords-lead-acid-battery-hb096

[Barry Cade]

Maybe, but in my experiences of clutch failure stiffness/creakiness wasn't a sign, just the clutch slipping. It could be the cable.

On VW's with the back to front flywheel/clutch, the pedal gets really heavy when the clutch wears- this is what mainly causes the bulkhead issues, older gti's and Scirocco's were terrible for it and it happened long before the clutch would slip.. Moderner VW's just bust the plastic retaining clip at the top of the pedal

 

 

[spike60]

The clutch pedal in my 6N Polo is a right pain to use when the car has properly warmed up after 20 or so miles of driving. It gets stiff and creaky, and gets worse the more you drive. Perfectly fine when the car is stone dead cold. I tried spraying some oil on the linkage on the gearbox itself, it hasn't made much of a difference. Am I right to guess that it needs a new clutch?

A couple of years back I bought a 6n2 1.4 Tdi which had a £71 clutch pedal fitted the day before, after a day or to it dawned on me the clutch was just too heavy so would snap again. Easy and reasonable cheap fix, after doing it was as light as the throttle. Stil in use as a daily 20k miles later.

[fairkens]

How long does it take a car to properly warm up? Always assumed that it is nothing to do with hot air coming out of the vents but any other indicators?

[scaryoldcortina]

Do you still get issued with an mot cert? Left the garage the other night with just a receipt.

 

The certificate is a reciept now - it hasn't been proof of anything since they started with plain paper printing, it's just your copy of a record entered onto the MOT computer system, and you don't need to produce it to tax the car any more anyway.

 

Also, I can do duplicates from home and email them to you.

[Lacquer Peel]

On VW's with the back to front flywheel/clutch, the pedal gets really heavy when the clutch wears- this is what mainly causes the bulkhead issues, older gti's and Scirocco's were terrible for it and it happened long before the clutch would slip.. Moderner VW's just bust the plastic retaining clip at the top of the pedal

 

Speaking of VAG clutch issues, on my 2004 Caddy (last of the Mk2 shape) there's a judder at idle sometimes but it isn't the engine, could it be the clutch and/or flywheel? I don't think it has a DMF but I might be wrong.

[steve_earwig]

How long does it take a car to properly warm up? Always assumed that it is nothing to do with hot air coming out of the vents but any other indicators?

Apart from the temperature gauge? You're right about the heater, this is usually piped off before the thermostat so not dependant on this opening and often heated by other means (EGR, electrickery, thermos etc.) so it gets hot before the rest of the engine does. Even the temp gauge doesn't tell you the full story, it's only telling you it's hot where the sender is, the sump could still be stone cold. An oil temperature gauge is probably a more accurate way of telling but not by much.

 

But then you said "car", how long does it take the gearbox to get to it's desired temperature? And what about the diff? Plus this will all depend on ambient temperature and what these components are made of (cast iron vs. alloy or whatever).

 

I'm beginning to think the answer to your question is "forever"

[RayMK]

How long does it take a car to properly warm up? Always assumed that it is nothing to do with hot air coming out of the vents but any other indicators?

There's a huge variation in warm-up time, depending on conditions, make and model, state of repair and whether you simply start it and wait or start and drive off.  Most car engines will warm through in about 15 minutes after a cold (degC) start.  Some will have warm air from the vents after just a minute or two but the engine will take a while longer because it has thermal mass.  A temperature gauge if fitted is a reasonable indicator of engine temperature, as is the ability to tick over and pull cleanly without choke (manual).  Auto choke will show a drop in revs when the engine reaches a certain temperature.  Transmission will take at least 30 minutes to warm through if just idling.   As examples, my son's new Suzuki Alto cleared its screen within about 5 minutes if simply started and idled. My Mitsubishi 660cc i car used to take at least 15 minutes.  My 1988 Hyundai Stellar takes at least 10 minutes.  Things happen more quickly when driving (again there's variation according to the type of driving) but my Stellar will take 15 miles or more to warm thoroughly and some autoboxes will be jerky until warm.   The question is akin to 'How long is a piece of string?' .

[gordonbennet]

Presumably the way the pillock down the road used to thrash the living daylights out of his poor bloody Transit from an ice cold start they are warm instantly, should have been done for cruelty.

 

Mind you if you believed all the hype, seemingly swallowed wholesale, the new Gucci oils wear their underpants on the outside so no warm up necessary, nor cool down, and it lasts forever.

 

Agreed, it takes a good while to thoroughly warm a vehicle.

[Coprolalia]

Yo team,

Female work colleague has approached me about tyre issues.

She drives an 03 Freelander pez.

 

She did not take kindly to my "And it still runs?"

 

Money is tight. Both front tyres bald. Tyreleader has some up for £50 a go.

 

Will nuns and kittens die if she only does the front?