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The grumpy thread


outlaw118

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43 minutes ago, High Jetter said:

Wait, what? That sounds like a big deposit, and why isn't it up by now? I am presuming it is your fence and not a shared one.

Half now, half on completion.

To be honest it's been such a battle getting anyone to engage with us we just wanted to get it done so we're willing to stand for it.

Their supply chain has been utterly screwed up which has put a bunch of jobs behind.  They're working literally one street over from us so I know they haven't just disappeared into the aether - though there was a while where I was wondering that!  Trying to get work done around here is hell.

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1 hour ago, reb said:

Work have been using the wrong tax code so I've been paying about twice as much tax as I should be. Apparently I need to phone HMRC to sort it, the joys.

I've had cause to speak to HMRC three times in the last 2 months, each time I've got through to a human being within 4 minutes of dialling the phone number. Each time the staff have been spot on. If you can, call mid-morning or mid-afternoon, its (predictably) busier at 8am and at lunchtime.

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My justification for grumpiness. Mrs W owns a Qashqai, a newer one than mine (which is her old one). Unlike mine it doesn’t have the good old bombproof Nissan 1.6, which is sort of 70s easy to work on, but a microscopic 1.2 turbo. Which I decided needed an oil change, because it’s a turbo and Mrs warch was adamant that the oil was changed only 2 years ago.

My annoyance began with the undertray which had been removed previously by someone who’d broken loads of the clips. Removal of the tray revealed something of a rust trap with much of the subframe looking worryingly scabby for an 8 year old car and much worse than my car which is twice as old but hasn’t got an undertray.

The engine itself resembles something like a motorbike. The teeny little sump is drained via a plug with a square key (betraying its French origins) which I didn’t have. I did have a spare 3/8” drive adapter though from which I cunningly fashioned a bit. The oil was diesel black and obviously well past it’s best.

The next issue was the filter. This is located directly underneath the engine next to the sump and features one of those plastic housings you unscrew with a big socket (27mm in this case). Could I move it? Not even a bit, not even with the correct tool, kindly lent by the lads in the yard next door. According to the manual this was tightened to 25nm of torque but that was clearly bollocks. Either this had never been removed before or had been rattled on. Eventually after subsequent phases of regret, anger, disillusionment, indecision and despondency I decided the fucking thing was coming off so I butchered it with a cold chisel which still wouldn’t start it and the then drilled a hole in the top inserted a screwdriver and tried to turn it. The thing eventually gave with the screwdriver bending like Beckham (allegedly) and the sound of tortured plastic. Happily I managed to obtain a spare housing, less happily it cost nearly 30 quid.

I much prefer spin on filters they’re much less troublesome.

 

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2 hours ago, twosmoke300 said:

Man struggles with oil change because he has the wrong tools ?

😂

What tool should I have used? I did have the correct six sided filter removal socket and it wouldn’t even grip because the torque required was excessive 

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Yesterday, someone I know who races a Mk1 Escort (very successfully I might add) was competing at Oulton Park, and during the meeting caught some scumbag in the act of stealing his tow van.  He challenged them, and in response they punched him in the face and drove off, taking all his Escort spares, wallet, phone etc with them.

What has really angered me is not that some cunts would nick a bag of dog shit if it had "old" and "Ford" written on it, but this happened in the paddock at a race circuit during a busy meeting.  Where was the security control?

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Further to my earlier comments about crap construction of modern white goods, the replacement rear "bearing" for our tumble drier just arrived.

This little piece of shit is all that supports the rear of the drum (including bearing against the belt tension).

IMG_20220530_125151.thumb.jpg.92823796be2776e923839c93ac6011eb.jpg

It's held in place by a self tapper into the sheet metal of the case too, just to add confidence.

I've seen more confidence inspiring things made out of Lego.

Oh, I did find what they changed with the recall replacement machine.  They derated the load capacity by 1kg.  Yes, that's it.  Old one said 7kg on the front, this says 6.  That honestly looks to be the only change.

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1 minute ago, cobblers said:

it goes up like fuck, I save the stuff from the filter for lighting the fire. The slightest bit of flame and the whole thing is alight in seconds.

We used to use it for that too. Just ditched the tumble dryer in the end, had an old school White Knight one before a Hotpoint that lasted about three years before being recalled then shitting itself.

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