The grumpy thread

[cms206]

Think I may be without a servicable car. Bother.

[anonymous user]

It was too late and all squished by then, and I already had a car full to bring back.  But it would have been a two-minute job to drill or pick the lock -- or even just order a new key from Thule.  Which makes you wonder about people.  They were driving a C4 Picasso though, which says a lot.

Could'nt you have put it on the roof?

[chaseracer]

He didn't have the key.  Do keep up...   

[TimothyClaypole]

Ebay in 'probably not worth the effort' shocker.

Seriously though, that's pretty shit. Hope the buyer realises what trouble you've gone to.

 

 

I got it for free so anything is a plus otherwise I'd have scrapped it, I've mentioned it as he was nagging for the tracking number already.  I've left the money with Paypal and any problems I'll refund him and he can throw it out etc.

 

Nice trick of the carriers not to mention they don't take crates after you've booked a job, spent after work today disguising it as a cardboard box...

[Inspector Morose]

Okay, I'm sitting in Paisley premier inn after driving one of our low floors exhibition buses from Birmingham, a distance of about 300 miles. This is modern(ish) and lower emissions than the Metrobus I usually drive. How the hell can lower emissions make it do 5mpg compared to 12 for the dirty old Gardner. I've had to fill it twice on the trip up and I'd guess that I'll burn about £600 of fuel in it this week just tatting about. Progress eh?

[M'coli]

It depends on what emissions are lower. Particulates and NOx rather than CO2 presumably.

[Sloth in a bowl]

Think I may be without a servicable car. Bother.

 

FPB7's in town, you can probably borrow his bus.

[Inspector Morose]

It's not a Volvo, it's a Dennis.

[cms206]

Okay, I'm sitting in Paisley premier inn after driving one of our low floors exhibition buses from Birmingham, a distance of about 300 miles. This is modern(ish) and lower emissions than the Metrobus I usually drive. How the hell can lower emissions make it do 5mpg compared to 12 for the dirty old Gardner. I've had to fill it twice on the trip up and I'd guess that I'll burn about £600 of fuel in it this week just tatting about. Progress eh?

At the airport? I'm about three minutes away, I can arrange to have it vandalated if you wish.

[Inspector Morose]

I went there by mistake earlier, bit of a bastard to turn round in the car park with a trailer in tow! I'm in the one on Linwood road. You can't miss it!

[Richard]

I was in a Premier Inn once. It won't happen again. I'm currently in the fifth best of five hotels in North Uist.

[vulgalour]

On the plus side I have HBOLS for Volvo 340 and Alpine (free, please PM) and a whole wodge of car history - thread to follow.

 

We seem to be amassing HBOLs at the unit, so we'd be interested in these.  Are we talking Renault Alpine or Talbot Alpine?

[cort1977]

Ebay.   FFS.   I only use it once in a blue moon but had happy experiences selling tat I found in the skip at work in about 2002.  

 

Trying to sell a van seat, every time I log on with a different computer I have to go through security and talk to some random Canadian or indian.   Then the buyer for my item dicks around for two weeks over collection and then stops replying.  

 

Then I go to relist not realizing for three days that relist does not include the pictures.  

 

Then realize that the pictures are on my in-laws computer. 

 

Arrgh.

[Slappy]

That awkward moment when your card gets declined after filling the car up and you have no cash....

 

Marginally improved when some guy in a nicer set of clothes and car had the same thing happen 5 minutes later whilst I was filling out the form.

[Inspector Morose]

Continuation minor grump(ish). Remember I said that I went to Glasgow airport Premier Inn by mistake instead of the one I was booked into? Well, Barr,  who's roadshow this is (we just supply the bus, power, graphics on the bus and me amongst other things), their head office is just across the road from the airport Premier inn. Miles driven in traffic this morning when I could have had an extra while in bed. BAH!

 

Off to Dumfries this afternoon for tomorrows show on a construction site. Oh, how the other half live, eh?

 

 

( Edit: ) Balls, it Dunfermline not Dumfries. I knew it began with D anyway.

[JohnDeere]

He didn't have the key.  Do keep up...   

 

Nor a cherry picker to get it onto the roof of the Disco

[rml2345]

Gardner

That's basically the answer. Big, unstressed engines went out of fashion unfortunatley so now it's a screaming horror that chews fuel or nothing.

Can't wait to see how the Volvo B5TL gets on...

[JohnDeere]

We seem to be amassing HBOLs at the unit, so we'd be interested in these.  Are we talking Renault Alpine or Talbot Alpine?

 

I've got the following -- all available for the cost of a bit of postage:

 

Chrysler Alpine 1294cc and 1442cc 1975-77

Ovlov 340/360 1397cc and 1986cc 1976-84

Washing Machine repair manual

 

I also have Mini 1959-on (published 1971) which might possibly be worth some scene-tax coin on eBay

[beko1987]

Been off work yesterday and today with liquid bottom syndrome. Felt a bit better today so I decided to fit my swanky head unit in the zx.

 

First grump is that the pioneer in there ATM is wired straight to the loom with bullet crimps... So I spent 20 minutes wiring on a spare Iso connector I had, and plugged my old hu in...

 

Fucking nothing. Bollocks.. Tried it in the meriva (possibly should have done that first), nothing...

 

If I hold the connector at an angle it works. Further investigation reveals its snapped, then I remember dropping it in the garage a year or so ago...

 

Slung the lot in the bin and spent another 20 minutes re crimping the pioneer back in.

 

Too poor for a new head unit, so CDs and echoey Nokia car kit remains. I also checked the fuses and none are blown so the non working fog lights mist be a different issue. And I couldn't be bothered to take the heating controls off and investigate the lack of illumination, so fuck that too.

[oman5]

the same thing is happening with Hgvs. Ultra clean emissions but fuel economy that gets worse every time we go up a Euro rating. It's currently Euro 6. Back in 2003 we ran Scania 420s and would regularly achieve 13 mpg on most motorway runs. These days if you get 8 you are doing well. Then of course you have to factor in the cost of the adblue. If you balance it out with the increased emissions of bringing all this extra crude oil over,refining it into diesel and transporting it for the clean, green hugely thirsty modern diesels I wonder if this there is any real benefit in the grand scheme of things.

[twosmoke300]

With modern tractors the latest euro4 ones with adblue have brought economy and power back to pre euro levels.

 

They were getting progressivly worse with each tier up until then.

[ruffgeezer]

Slung the lot in the bin and spent another 20 minutes re crimping the pioneer back in.

 

 

Rescue it and I'll have a bash at fixing it, meantime I'm sure I have some reasonable cd/mp3 players in stock, I seem to recall having enough to leave a fancy sony in my last C15, well I had to give Wilko something to swear at on his trip home!

[cobblers]

Ignoring the actual cost of the adblue. The pumps constantly go to shit as well. The most common ones we get sent to repair at work (Grundfoss ones) are unrepairable and over £1k new. The actual metering block and casing are made of poorly anodised aluminium and are complete dust by the time the things are 3 or 4 years old. The ones on merc (hilite) are a lot better but the actual pump head inside is one designed for pumping plain water, so after a few years the rubber components swell to 3x the original size and it stops pumping. They are fixable if you catch them before it's started leaking urea into the motor windings.

[oman5]

With modern tractors the latest euro4 ones with adblue have brought economy and power back to pre euro levels.

 

They were getting progressivly worse with each tier up until then.

I'll report back when we get our new euro-6 fleet at the end of the year. current trucks are 3 years old and coming up for retirement.

[Bobthebeard]

Arrrghh!

This

 

Has just failed the MOT on this

 

......Stumps off to shed to dig out tools, bits of 0.9mm steel, Waxoyl and MIG welder.....

[sporty-shite]

Saw a Mk2 Golf GTI on R-R. Got pics sent from the seller and then waited for a bit to have a chat with our Maud, seeing as money is a bit tight at Sporty Towers. Anyway, decided to buy it, went on to reply, and it's sold. Bit gutted really, as I don't think I'll get another Mk2 without paying through the nose.

[Ghosty]

Saw a Mk2 Golf GTI on R-R. Got pics sent from the seller and then waited for a bit to have a chat with our Maud, seeing as money is a bit tight at Sporty Towers. Anyway, decided to buy it, went on to reply, and it's sold. Bit gutted really, as I don't think I'll get another Mk2 without paying through the nose.

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C510021

Same price?

[Angrydicky]

......Stumps off to shed to dig out tools, bits of 0.9mm steel, Waxoyl and MIG welder.....

0.9mm is a bit thin, no? I always use 1.2mm for car body repairs (1.5 or 2mm for chassis repairs) now, much less likely to blow holes everywhere with the MIG!

[sporty-shite]

http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C510021

Same price?

Yes, but too many doors.

[Ghosty]