Ask a Shiter

[Kiltox]

In feb this year i fitted a pair of Osram night breaker unlimited to the x-trail.

This afternoon i noticed one had blown,lasting 8 month in normal usage.

Any of you lot had such a short lifespan out of these bulbs?

They live up to their name in my experience (they break at night)

[steveo3002]

yeah they do seem to fail more often than a normal bogo spec bulb

[stephen01]

In feb this year i fitted a pair of Osram night breaker unlimited to the x-trail.

This afternoon i noticed one had blown,lasting 8 month in normal usage.

Any of you lot had such a short lifespan out of these bulbs?

 

Yep, paid nearly 20 quid for a set and had about the same amount of time out of one of them, and you can't just keep one in as its so much brighter than normal bulbs. still standard bulbs are cheap

[DVee8]

I think 8months is piss poor,especially over the summer months. I have emailed osram just too see if this is normal.

[Richard]

Years ago I used to fit 100/80 bulbs when I bought a car. One of them would always blow after a few months and be replaced with one of the standard bulbs I'd taken out. I could never tell which was which when I was running with one of each.

 

I prefer Silver Star to Nightbreakers. Nightbreakers make ludicrous performance claims and they cheat by using a blue tint to make the light seem brighter. Silver Stars are cheaper, a bit more honest and last as long as a standard bulb.

[NorfolkNWeigh]

There was a bit on a consumer programme on TV recently , where the Police and Trading Standards were confiscating hundreds of boxes of fake Osram bulbs, mostly Xenon D1&2 , I think.

i wouldn't have thought there was enough profit in fake Halogen bulbs, but you never know.....

[spike60]

further investigation suggests the dates might have been printed on the inside? Similar Kumho powershift on the rear is 2008.

 

Change the front one on the Mondeo anyway before winter for new ditchfinder?

 

IMG_20161022_151105.jpg

Tyre dates are usually only on one sidewall. Kumho are a good tyre at the price for me, I've had loads down the years.

[spike60]

There was a bit on a consumer programme on TV recently , where the Police and Trading Standards were confiscating hundreds of boxes of fake Osram bulbs, mostly Xenon D1&2 , I think.

i wouldn't have thought there was enough profit in fake Halogen bulbs, but you never know.....

A couple of years ago there was a load of fake oils discovered and I thought that was a bit unlikely!

[Snipes]

Years ago there were fake Dunlop SP Sport tyres doing the rounds. They didn't have a DOT code at all.

[Kiltox]

It's amazing what properly clean and properly aligned headlights can do - brighter bulbs are not always the answer

[bub2006]

Looking at car derived vans. I know the Peugeot partner-berlingo are the sane but there is also renault kangoo and fiat doblo which are all similiar styles. Anything to look at or avoid or just go for a big 7 seater with the seats out like a synergie or 806? Cheers

[dave21478]

It's amazing what properly clean and properly aligned headlights can do - brighter bulbs are not always the answer

 

Very true. Its also a good idea to check the bulbs are actually getting full voltage and not losing a load of power through shitty, corroded connections and decades old switchgear.

[steveo3002]

10.5V : 510 lumens
11.0V : 597 lumens
11.5V : 695 lumens
12.0V : 803 lumens
12.5V : 923 lumens
12.8V : 1000 lumens 
13.0V : 1054 lumens
13.5V : 1198 lumens
14.0V : 1356 lumens 
14.5V : 1528 lumens

 

big difference if theres a couple of volts drop

[steveo3002]

Why aren't cars fitted with a water (coolant) filter to catch crud circulating in the cooling system?

shouldnt need it if the owners keeps good coolant in the engine  

[steveo3002]

well you could be sold dirty fuel /stuff fall in when filling

 

a sealed coolant system comes with rust inhibitors in it and shouldnt rust /corrode  , its when owners use tap water or stale coolant they get skanky

 

as long as it lasts past the warrenty car makers dont give a frig ....same as a dab of grease or bit more cavity wax would double the life of a car

[twosmoke300]

Some Ag/ industrial stuff has coolant filters

[Kiltox]

Volvo S60 T5 auto.... ruinously unreliable or actually OK?

[Slartibartfast]

Hypothetically, if a man had a 9 seat vehicle and he bolted another seat into the boot ... could that be made legal? What license would said man need to have to drive said conveyance?

[Dave_Q]

Looking at car derived vans. I know the Peugeot partner-berlingo are the sane but there is also renault kangoo and fiat doblo which are all similiar styles. Anything to look at or avoid or just go for a big 7 seater with the seats out like a synergie or 806? Cheers

 

Partner and Berlingo are identical. They're based on a slightly wider 306/Xsara front end with a 405 rear beam. Decent steer, not many inherent problems, main thing to watch for is the rear beam, if the rear suspension doesn't move or one or both wheels point in lots at the top it needs a recon beam at £300ish DIY - £500+ fitted.

 

Engines are mainly diesel, 1.9s are slow but reliable, 2.0HDi is the one to get if you can. None like the veg. You can find Bosch pumps for the 1.9s but they're rare, unless you get a very early one with a 1905cc rather than 1868cc engine. 

 

I've had mine for 3 MOTs or about 2.5 years, it's the longest I've ever had one vehicle on the road consecutively which must tell you something. I love the space inside, the massive headroom. The HDi engine is willing and will do the ton without too much problem where laws allow. It's not actually a heavy car so even with only 90bhp it accelerates OK.

 

Carrying stuff is just ace, for example we went to IKEA for a new bookcase, I still had the old bookcase in the boot in bits, the new one fit in without folding the seat down, which was good as it was full of children. Rear seats fold down and forward to give a load space a bit bigger than a large pallet, or can be removed completely with 6 x torx bolts to allow even bigger stuff in, like so:

 

 

Overall I can say I wholeheartedly recommend the Berlartner.

 

The Kangoo I'm less sure on, Cavcraft had one and said it was pretty good, the Doblo I also looked at, it's the biggest of all of them, engines to go for are the JTD or 1.9 n.a dizzler, avoid the multijet 1.3 diesel.

 

Vs a 7 seater like the synergie etc? I'd say unless you need 7 seats go for a van based 5 seater, loads better at actually carrying things and much easier to fold the seats down than take them out.

[Dave_Q]

Hypothetically, if a man had a 9 seat vehicle and he bolted another seat into the boot ... could that be made legal? What license would said man need to have to drive said conveyance?

 

Said man would definitely need a D1 minibus licence and would probably get into all sorts of horror having to reregister his personal transport as a minibus or something.

 

This hypothetical dude should probably be careful about bolting things places they aren't meant to be, unless the chassis is designed to be loaded in the place you have bolted it to, our friend could be endangering his hypothetical children a bit maybe.

[Dave_Q]

These spark plugs - are they OK or running rich?

 

 

[Asimo]

Plugs look fine. Its the earth electrode that shows whats happening, and the insulator. Sooty body- the threaded bit- means nothing because it is relatively cold.

[Slartibartfast]

Said man would definitely need a D1 minibus licence and would probably get into all sorts of horror having to reregister his personal transport as a minibus or something.

 

This hypothetical dude should probably be careful about bolting things places they aren't meant to be, unless the chassis is designed to be loaded in the place you have bolted it to, our friend could be endangering his hypothetical children a bit maybe.

 

The hypothetical dude isn't really that dumb, he just found himself wondering about it while loading two megane leather seats into his boot. Having a nine seater when I have ten people to cart about is a pain the arse Can't go visiting relatives etc. unless we want to leave one behind or make them take the train.

[overrun]

Plugs look fine. Its the earth electrode that shows whats happening, and the insulator. Sooty body- the threaded bit- means nothing because it is relatively cold.

 

Yep. The electrode looks the perfect biscuit brown colour.

[LC Torana]

Yep. The electrode looks the perfect biscuit brown colour.

 

Indeed - it has a buttery biscuit base.

[twosmoke300]

I like the Base

[Lacquer Peel]

Are 1998-2003 Honda Accords known for lunching manual gearboxes? My mum's one is making 'a noise' and she thinks the gearbox has croaked. I'm not so sure and wouldn't mind taking it on for the winter.

[oldcars]

Wipers on the Reliant work but don't park, they just stop where they are when the wipers are switched off. Is this a mot issue?

[Eddie Honda]

No

 

Edit to add:

 

"Wiper blades that park automatically in a position that obscures the view through the windscreen are subject to Reason for Rejection 1."

"RfR 1:

A wiper or washer control missing or inaccessible to the driver

a wiper does not continue to operate automatically when switched on

a wiper installed for the use of the driver does not operate over an area of the windscreen large enough to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front."

 

My take is that they intentionally don't park automatically (e.g. they don't always stop in the same place when switched off), so it shouldn't be a reason for RfR 1.

 

2nd edit: people that know far better than me concur: http://forums.motester.co.uk/forum3/844.html

[Snipes]

Does anyone know what those reverse warning sounders that are fitted to HGVs are called? Not the talking or beeping versions. The one that makes a weird kind of "Kark. Kark. Kark" sound.