Ask a Shiter

[95 quid Peugeot]

I'm looking at a ph2 2003 Volvo V70 this week; it's fitted with the 7 seat option (that I wouldn't need and wouldn't mind taking out)

 

If I find a genuine dog guard, can I use it with the boot seats in place does anybody know?

the V70 fleet i seem to have acquired have them in the boot cover/cross shaft.  Ive a spare one  you can have for a beer for me and some  wine or fruit based drink for mrs 95quid

Collect Stowmarket or newark.  be quick sadly it's going to be cubed.

[Dirk Diggler]

the V70 fleet i seem to have acquired have them in the boot cover/cross shaft.  Ive a spare one  you can have for a beer for me and some  wine or fruit based drink for mrs 95quid

Collect Stowmarket or newark.  be quick sadly it's going to be cubed.

Thank you very much; but Irish sea

 

Wouldn't even have a clue how to do it but would happily pay postage plus beer for you and some wine or fruit based drink for mrs 95quid and whatever else for your trouble; I haven't come across one yet anywhere here second hand and didn't want to just buy a universal o e

[sierraman]

Aha antifreeze made from porridge oats, where do I get that. They still sell the blue stuff because of people like me who only have one post millennium car. I have always run my cars on blue and nobody seems to have a definitive answer as to which colour my cars should run.

I have always kept a container of ready diluted blue for topping up and still have a half full 5litres of undiluted. Garages just use what they have got and don't bother to tell you what it is and whether you can mix.

What car is it?

[DSdriver]

Car I checked today is M reg Volvo 940. The coolant appears to be a pinky color, I always used blue in the other 940s I had. The level looked low when the car was parked facing downhill but when I put it on the flat to check the oil level and checked again the coolant level magically had risen to the marker. I only ran the engine long enough to move the car by just over its own length.

We also have a W reg Pug 206 1.4 auto, 02 reg Saab 9.3 lpt and a '73 Citroen DS. Would they all be OK on pink? Only the Pug seems to need regular top ups despite best efforts of mechanics changing head gasket, water pump etc.

[sierraman]

Everything except the DS I’d say OAT. The glycol type stuff won’t lubricate the seals satisfactorily enough. The DS fine with blue stuff.

[Guest Hooli]

Blue n Pink antifreeze mixes fine, it's OAT you can't mix them with. The only real difference between the two is blue is meant to be changed every two years & pink lasts for five.

[Mally]

Nearly everything in the last 20 years or so runs on OAT antifreeze or the makers specific I.e Nissan. Mixing the 2 is a no no unless you use something like Prestone universal. I’ve no idea why they still sell the blue glycol stuff as it’s totally unsuitable for most stuff now, you still see a few cars that’s been maintained at home by someone who knew all about Marinas and Cortinas with the blue stuff in, would put me off if I saw that tbh.

 

The Oat stuff was responsible for leaks on old engines. Something to do with gasket material IIRC.

They denied it for a while, but someone took them go court I think, and proved it legally.

Hence blue is still available. Use blue in Pintos and Red in Zetec is the only rule I need.

[sierraman]

Blue n Pink antifreeze mixes fine, it's OAT you can't mix them with. The only real difference between the two is blue is meant to be changed every two years & pink lasts for five.

Pink/green/purple usually denotes that it’s OAT antifreeze. Most engines from about the K Series onwards use it. If I doubt drain the lot and replace, cost will be no more that £15-20 if you use the concentrated stuff with some soft water.

[richardmorris]

Most automatic cars do this if the hill is steep enough don't they? Mine all do.

 

Mine doesn’t. It’s the only one I’ve owned though. W124 auto.

[twosmoke300]

Don’t mix pink and blue ffs!

[DSdriver]

Don’t mix pink and blue ffs!

Why?

[twosmoke300]

They can turn into a jelly/ sludge that blocks radiators and stats etc

[95 quid Peugeot]

Thank you very much; but Irish sea

Wouldn't even have a clue how to do it but would happily pay postage plus beer for you and some wine or fruit based drink for mrs 95quid and whatever else for your trouble; I haven't come across one yet anywhere here second hand and didn't want to just buy a universal o e

Go on where. I'll get a postage quote for you

[Dirk Diggler]

Go on where. I'll get a postage quote for you

Co. Wicklow; can collect from any parcel ðepot / parcel motel around though.

 

I've missed the 2003 I wanted but have seen a 2006 I'm going to see tomorrow, an Ocean Race special edition with 5seats

 

Are the later ones better or am I better looking for an earlier one of anybody know?

 

This is the one I'm hoping to view tomorrow or Friday

[3VOM]

Car I checked today is M reg Volvo 940. The coolant appears to be a pinky color, I always used blue in the other 940s I had.

All the reading I have done for my 960 says run it with blue.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Whenever I do a coolant change on my fleet I use blue as its cheaper ☺

 

The cooling systems are the same on most cars ( steel, aluminium and plastic with a bit of brass) never had an issue yet, but none of my stuff is fancy

[D Spares & Tyres]

I have some 1950s cars

 

In the gearboxes I use normal gear oil but someone was telling me that the modern gear oils are corrosive to old gearboxes and that I should use 20/50 engine oil instead.

 

Is there any truth in this??

[Soap Distant]

EP oils contain additives that are corrosive to copper and brass and will damage older diffs over time.

[forddeliveryboy]

Very roughly speaking, GL4-rated oil is safe for yellow-metal (older) transmissions and many GL-5 rated ones aren't, but googling is probably helpful.

[Guest Hooli]

Very roughly speaking, GL4-rated oil is safe for yellow-metal (older) transmissions and many GL-5 rated ones aren't, but googling is probably helpful.

 

That's how I always understood it when I had LRs with their old fashioned boxes.

[DodgeRover]

The Oat stuff was responsible for leaks on old engines. Something to do with gasket material IIRC.

They denied it for a while, but someone took them go court I think, and proved it legally.

Hence blue is still available. Use blue in Pintos and Red in Zetec is the only rule I need.

 

Opps broke that one then, been running the red stuff for just over a year in my pinto, no leaks to report (fingers crossed obviously)

[Squirrel2]

Co. Wicklow; can collect from any parcel ðepot / parcel motel around though.

I've missed the 2003 I wanted but have seen a 2006 I'm going to see tomorrow, an Ocean Race special edition with 5seats

Are the later ones better or am I better looking for an earlier one of anybody know?

This is the one I'm hoping to view tomorrow or Friday

Hi, My XC70 is an Ocean Race edition and is a 2005 car and has the Euro3 version of the D5 engine. If the one you are looking at is 2006 and is a diesel, it may be the later E4 version with 185hp engine and DPF. The quick way to tell which engine is the colour of the plastic engine cover; grey is an E4 and black is the E3 version. Evidence of regular oil changes are a must if you want to get the moon ship mileage that these engines are capable of.

 

It is one of the nicest cars I've owned. The only thing that can make it hard to live with is a massive turning circle... which is my only grumble!

 

 

Squirrel2

[Mally]

Opps broke that one then, been running the red stuff for just over a year in my pinto, no leaks to report (fingers crossed obviously)

 

http://rrtechnical.info/miscellaneous/coolantoatwarning.pdf

 

I may* be wrong about court, and unless your pinto is in a RR don't worry about it.

[Bobthebeard]

As some may know, my recently acquired Rover 416 has been lowered in a previous life.

Drastically.

Whilst looking nice* it is virtually undriveable on our local roads. Jarring teeth and smashing heads into roof liner. It came with a set of replacement springs, but these are 35mm lower than standard. I appreciate that these cars were low as standard, but will the 35mm shorter than standard springs just be a waste of time? I suspect so. They may raise the ride height slightly, but probably not enough to convey a 56 year old plump bloke plus wife and dog around without discomfort.

Not wanting to waste money, was just wondering.

[AlabamaShrimp]

If those springs are anything like the length of the ones that are on then I'd chuck em straight in the bin and get some more normal hight. At least then for a bit you aren't having a terrible drive.

[Matt]

Pop rivets. Am I thinking about this wrong? I have one of these that I want to attach to the front bumper of my car:

 

(Edit: this attached to the bumper then the number plate is screwed into the bumper through another hole).

 

The holes I want to attach it through are 6mm in diameter. Do I want 6m rivets or will 4.8mm do because as far as I can tell 6mm ones simply do not exist.

[RayMK]

Pop rivets work best when the rivet and hole diameters are closely matched.  You can sometimes use suitably sized washers to bridge the difference in diameter to enable the pop rivet to pull down and form properly.  Are captive nuts used with a suitably headed type of bolt not an option?

[Matt]

Are captive nuts used with a suitably headed type of bolt not an option?

 

Not without pulling the bumper cover off of the actual bar and the problem with using a bolt is that the head would get in the way when installing the numberplate (which screws into the bumper through different holes on that bracket).

[Noel Tidybeard]

Pop rivets. Am I thinking about this wrong? I have one of these that I want to attach to the front bumper of my car:

 

(Edit: this attached to the bumper then the number plate is screwed into the bumper through another hole).

 

The holes I want to attach it through are 6mm in diameter. Do I want 6m rivets or will 4.8mm do because as far as I can tell 6mm ones simply do not exist.

 

they serpently do exist

http://www.ukfixings.net/6mm-x-10mm-Aluminium-Pop-Rivets-Dome-Head-Box-of-250.html

https://www.transtools.co.uk/fixings-hardwares/screws-and-fixings/pop-rivets/aluminium-pop-rivets-6mm-x-18mm-steel-mandrel-250-pack

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Metric-Aluminium-Steel-Open-Pop-Dome-Head-Rivets-2-4-x-6mm-To-6-4-x-25mm/371138794789?hash=item5669989525:m:m0vDWQcLZJ0JXbuBiHC30tQ

[bezzabsa]

why dont we have a search for existing post fixed to main page..

Pissed off posting summat then to be 'outed' for posting summat for which a post already exists...

 

sorry but I aint gunna trawl through x amount of pages just in case there is a post!!

 

 

 

Rant over-ish!!