Ask a Shiter

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Not sure what you're getting at there. It's true that no water at all or frozen water won't show an obviously high reading,

if your car starts losing water it will start to overheat with about quarter to half the coolant capacity left. I think it's bad enough that some cars don't have coolant level warning lights.

[warren t claim]

The Mini 850 and City and, I think, the Morris Minor didn't get a temp gauge. More recently a lot of 80s PSA kit, on which you REALLY needed to know what the cooling system was up to, didn't get one either.

 

Agreed. My 205 had a duff thermostat and an air leak in the system causing air locks. During summer I always had the heater on to see if it needed any water adding.

[Timewaster]

Not sure what you're getting at there. It's true that no water at all or frozen water won't show an obviously high reading,

if your car starts losing water it will start to overheat with about quarter to half the coolant capacity left. I think it's bad enough that some cars don't have coolant level warning lights.

 

No water = no temp gauge reading.

Therefore a temp gauge that never moves or sinks down to the bottom of the gauge is a good indication that all is not well.

[cms206]

Not sure what you're getting at there. It's true that no water at all or frozen water won't show an obviously high reading,

if your car starts losing water it will start to overheat with about quarter to half the coolant capacity left. I think it's bad enough that some cars don't have coolant level warning lights.

 

No water = no temp gauge reading.

Therefore a temp gauge that never moves or sinks down to the bottom of the gauge is a good indication that all is not well.

 

 

S'alright, it just still seems daft to me that this is the case, though I suspect I've driven buses for too long which have broken temperature gauges, though in fairness it took nearly 40 miles for the Mondeo's gauge to reach anywhere near normal operating temperature last night.

 

I'll away back into my hole!

[Pillock]

Also, in cars without heaters does the interior receive any engine heat, or it hypothermia for the passengers at this time of year unless they wrap up?

 

 

Cars like the Beetle have vents on the floor, which do the square root of fuck all in the cold

 

Indeed. Anyone who's ever spent more than an hour or so on a winters day riding in the back of an old Type 2 will confirm that VW really didn't know jack shit about warmth in those days.

 

Air cooled Porsche 911s, on the other hand, have furnaces hidden somewhere. Heaters on those things are immense.

 

Type 2 heaters are pants - you can buy booster fans to blow the heat through further/warmer/quicker but still pants.

Type 1, if looked after, are amazing. They have heater channels - hollow sills - so the entire inner sill gives out warmth, and the vents at the front get red hot. I had a pair of Airwalk trainers with a melted side where I'd left the heating on in my 1303, driven to Newquay, and wondered what the smell was.

 

Sadly in any VW, the heat exchangers are pricey so it's one of the first things to get junked in a "restoration".

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Not sure what you're getting at there. It's true that no water at all or frozen water won't show an obviously high reading,

if your car starts losing water it will start to overheat with about quarter to half the coolant capacity left. I think it's bad enough that some cars don't have coolant level warning lights.

 

No water = no temp gauge reading.

Therefore a temp gauge that never moves or sinks down to the bottom of the gauge is a good indication that all is not well.

 

Ah, I wasn't totally sure on that. I'm pretty sure I've had a Rover 420, run out of water completely and show a normal reading.

I occasionally stick the heater on in cars with suspect cooling systems now, but that isn't totally fail-safe either.

[Timewaster]

 

 

Ah, I wasn't totally sure on that. I'm pretty sure I've had a Rover 420, run out of water completely and show a normal reading.

 

I suppose it is possible that it got so hot that the temp transmiter probe was heated by the metal around it rather than being immersed in hot water.

 

Anyway......

[The Moog]

Halfords used to sell these little squares of film that you put on your wing mirrors which repelled water. Meant that you wing mirrors were always clear and pretty much never iced up. I cant find them anywhere.

 

Does anyone know what I am talking about or am I making things up again? I cant think how to search for them.

[Pete-M]

Heated mirrors are 'THE ONLY WAY' in this weather.

[The Moog]

Sadly Ashtray has manual mirrors and certainly no heating!

[KruJoe]

I think it's bad enough that some cars don't have coolant level warning lights.

No water = no temp gauge reading.

Therefore a temp gauge that never moves or sinks down to the bottom of the gauge is a good indication that all is not well.

I'm pretty sure I've had a Rover 420, run out of water completely and show a normal reading.

Last week the Volvo burst a hose at the top of a long, hot, steep climb, (pissing out ALL its coolant) and the temperature gauge never moved from 'normal' - I was watching it like a hawk. The steam left in the system gave the same temperature as the water would normally be.

Thank kcuf for the low water warning light, it was the ONLY clue I had.

[Andrew353w]

Read the comments about old air-cooled Beetles and their heating; I always found their heaters to be good (maybe I just drove good examples!) and also found air cooled Dafs (33s & 44s) to have decent heaters too. Again the engine speed had a great deal to do with how much heat you actually received.

[Jon]

What was the last car sold with RoStyle wheels as standard? I'm thinking MK1 Cavalier circa 1981 but can anyone concur?

 

With such an important question I'm sure that you'll all agree that festivities should all be put on hold until there's a definitive answer.

[Richard]

When did they stop putting them on Chevettes?

[Shep Shepherd]

What was the last car sold with RoStyle wheels as standard? I'm thinking MK1 Cavalier circa 1981 but can anyone concur?

 

With such an important question I'm sure that you'll all agree that festivities should all be put on hold until there's a definitive answer.

 

I think the Range Rover, which ditched its standard Rostyles around 1986. I believe that the SWB Defender was avaialable with the same wheels as an option until 1995 or so, however...

[Jozza]

I think the Range Rover, which ditched its standard Rostyles around 1986. I believe that the SWB Defender was avaialable with the same wheels as an option until 1995 or so, however...

 

You're quite right. Pressed-steel Rostyles were standard fit on County-spec Defender 90s (as modeled in my avatar, in fact) and optional on others, but only SWBs as they're not rated to the greater weights of the 110, until the mid-90s when alloys became the thing to have.

 

My Land Rover Ninety CSW still has its original Ivory White steel Rostyles and very fetching they are too, but they're really, really heavy and mud gets stuck in the notches and 'spokes' when you go off-roading and unbalances the wheel.

[Jon]

Thanks LR nuts! I've always liked the RR/90 steels but never really noticed they were Rostyles, mainly because they weren't painted black in the centres. No chrome trim rings either obviously

 

Official: Christmas is back on now.

[dollywobbler]

Ah, so my new toy has crap wheels. Great!

[Albert Ross]

 

My Land Rover Ninety CSW still has its original Ivory White steel Rostyles and very fetching they are too, but they're really, really heavy and mud gets stuck in the notches and 'spokes' when you go off-roading and unbalances the wheel.

 

A nice set of 6.5J "One-Ton" Rims from Vass would sit well on it, heavy, but smooth, and less likely to fill with mud.

[CreepingJesus]

^What about the ex-military 'Wolf' ones? Straight fit, or do they fuck up the wheel bearings in short order?

[Pete-M]

^What about the ex-military 'Wolf' ones? Straight fit, or do they fuck up the wheel bearings in short order?

 

Straight fit from what I can tell. I've fitted 'em to a few 90s.

[Tayne]

Any Land Rover 5-stud rim from series/FC/defender vehicles will fit Dolly's 90.

As will the steels from a range rover classic and the original Discovery (1989-1998).

Alloys from these vehicles will fit at the front but require modification or spacers for the drum brakes at the back.

 

Discovery steels would be my choice, in grey because the car is White.

 

Please excuse the crap photo.

 

My Old series 3 by Tayne, on Flickr

[Cavcraft]

Is it possible to make a radiator hose (or adapt one from another car) with a smaller auxillary hose running off (and subsequently back into) it? I've had this mad idea you see involving piggy backing a smaller hose on, but wasn't sure if creating more piping for the water to run through might cause heating or cooling problems.

[Tayne]

I'm sure its possible but why would you want to?

 

You'd be adding extra capacity into the system and overcooling it (although thermostats and such would mean your are unlikely to do any damage).

 

If its overheating then fixing the problem would be a better option rather than adding extra cooling capacity.

 

If its a k-series....

[M'coli]

I suspect it's to keep the screen-wash unfrozen.

[kinkersaab]

Well, its not so much a question, more an observation, i have no idea how i noticed this, but, why is it, on VW audi cars from the 80's and early 90's if you switch on the headlights with the ignition off and pull and hold the main beam flasher thing, the ignition comes on and all accesories like heater stereo wipers etc will work and the usual lights come on, could it be that if the steering lock was broken, you could then bump start and drive the car with no keys?

[Cavcraft]

Did they really make a Transit Mk3 with a 1.8 diesel engine? I keep hearing that they did but have never seen one.

 

Is it true that the diffs from the 'heavyweight' (six stud wheels) LWB Transits give the best top speed? My last one certainly seemed bloody quick but always seemed to be looking for another gear.

[Cheggers]

My "I really should know this" question:

 

What is a throttle body...what does it do??

[CreepingJesus]

My "I really should know this" question:

 

What is a throttle body...what does it do??

 

Quite simply, it's the airflow valve which is connected to the throttle pedal. Whether it's a butterfly or flap in there, when you press the throttle down, it opens. Then the fuelling is increased to suit (whether electronically or by vacuum depletion), and away you go. It's essentially the same thing as the body of a carb! But more moderner...

[254575]

When I was in Primary school (1986 ish) I remember a teacher having a 1.6 laser Capri. I was impressed by the fact that it told you to put your seatbelt on.

 

Did they really do this or was it too much space dust?

 

 

Presumably they meant it had a seatbelt warning light?

 

Are you sure it wasn't an early mg/vdp 1.6 maestro with the infamous talking dash?