The grumpy thread

[scaryoldcortina]

He could always take a trip to maplin for a load of switches and relays...

 

[Richard]

If I'd paid house money for a car I'd be pretty pissed off if it developed a serious and unrepairable fault while it was still quite new.

[MarvinsMom]

the original directive (should that be a fuhrer directive?) making the MOT changes came from Brussels, VOSA only implemented them. like good little stooges (bureaucrats?)

 

and that came from Classic Car Weekly (or was it the other one, CCB?) and not the Daily Hate Mail....

[Tamworthbay]

the original directive (should that be a fuhrer directive?) making the MOT changes came from Brussels, VOSA only implemented them. like good little stooges (bureaucrats?)

 

and that came from Classic Car Weekly (or was it the other one, CCB?) and not the Daily Hate Mail....

well you should have said, if you read it in a magazine it MUST be true

[HH-R]

If it's just the switch panel that's buggered, it's probably repairable. Not exactly convenient when you need to get to work and your motor is sans MOT though.

[dave21478]

He could always take a trip to maplin for a load of switches and relays...

 

 

Im waiting for the first Autoshiter to buy some crippled modern thats shat its brains out and get it running with Megasquirt and all the body electrics via an icecream tub full of relays and spaghetti wiring shoved up behind the dash.

[scaryoldcortina]

the original directive (should that be a fuhrer directive?) making the MOT changes came from Brussels, VOSA only implemented them. like good little stooges (bureaucrats?)

 

and that came from Classic Car Weekly (or was it the other one, CCB?) and not the Daily Hate Mail....

 

2009/40/EC... Here's a copy if you want to read it.

 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:141:0012:0028:EN:PDF

 

Driver's seat adjustment is NOT included, and the purpose of the directive was to bring other states up to the high standards set by the UK and Germany. There isn't much in there that wasn't already part of a MoT, and it also introduced the concept of leniant rules for classic and historic vehicles!

 

Oh yeah, and the 4/2 testing schedule that the VOSA stooges keep refusing to do...

[artdjones]

Just be glad you don't live in Ireland. All commercial vehicles that have welding done on the chassis have to have an engineer's report done ,which costs around 200 Euros.Because the engineers are worried about covering themselves they are setting impossible standards on the welding work.A man I know just had his 2004 Toyota Hilux crewcab condemned.He had his chassis welded to a standard that would pass a UK not but when he took it for the test the engineer said that it needed 2000 Euros worth of welding, basically cutting off the rear spring hangers and totally remaking the rear chassis before welding the hangers back on.So a vehicle worth 5000 Euros has to be scrapped. I saw the rear chassis after the original repairs with the truck bed off and it would definitely pass the test,even in Germany,but not here.

[chaseracer]

Im waiting for the first Autoshiter to buy some crippled modern thats shat its brains out and get it running with Megasquirt and all the body electrics via an icecream tub full of relays and spaghetti wiring shoved up behind the dash.

 

 

My money's on FPB7 and a Citroen C6.

[captain_70s]

No, the grump is this, while there, a chap infront of me got told the bad new that his 58 plate XF has failed its MOT as the drivers seat doesn't move. the module thing that controls it is NLA and jaguar don't have any spare stock!!!! 

 

its a 58 plate car, like, WT actual F!!!!! 

 

Welcome to the future of motoring, electric everything controlled by circuit boards that will cease to exist very quickly. Could be worse, the avg lifespan of a Japanese market car is 6-8 years so there is not much market for spares and therefore it's easier to find bits for old Jap motors outside Japan.

 

Probably the EU's fault. Cunts.

[Richard]

My money's on FPB7 and a Citroen C6.

 

Bo11ox and Scary with Lagunae, I think you'll find. And they have both proved that electronics are the least of your worries, even on a Renault.

[Tamworthbay]

Welcome to the future of motoring, electric everything controlled by circuit boards that will cease to exist very quickly. Could be worse, the avg lifespan of a Japanese market car is 6-8 years so there is not much market for spares and therefore it's easier to find bits for old Jap motors outside Japan.

 

Probably the EU's fault. Cunts.

too right, I bet the Japanese are really scared of the EU, especially after they nuked them in ww2, and banned them from cooking fish, and sent a tsunami. That'll teach em not to be in the EU.

[strangeangel]

Welcome to the future of motoring, electric everything controlled by circuit boards that will cease to exist very quickly.

 

Yep, electronics have taken over from rust as the new in-built obsolescence.

[richardmorris]

The cost of Rust repairs stopped anything (cheap) pre 2000 getting fixed, and now the industry has fixed the rust issue it's now computer problems that will kill a car. Who thinks a 20 year old Tesla will be worth having?

 

I liked my c5, but for some reason Citroen fitted it with the software from Marvin the Paranoid Android. And for that reason, I'm out!

[Dave_Q]

The cost of Rust repairs stopped anything (cheap) pre 2000 getting fixed, and now the industry has fixed the rust issue it's now computer problems that will kill a car. Who thinks a 20 year old Tesla will be worth having?

 

I liked my c5, but for some reason Citroen fitted it with the software from Marvin the Paranoid Android. And for that reason, I'm out!

Me, I can't wait to get a Tesla (or even a Leaf) for 500 KWID SPEARS OR REAPERS in about 20 years time and see if I can fix it with 1000 Tamiya ni-cd batteries.

[richardmorris]

The thing is they're not really computers. Ie not standard hardware with software installed. More a plug and play system that has to be coded. No problem, but then it comes down to how much dealers will charge to supply.

 

Ecu s for w 124 series can run into the thousands. Nothing on earth could fix my c5 short of a complete rewire and new ecus. I wasn't about to send £5k on it.

 

As an aside:

I've just bought two IBM PCs with flat screens, mice and keyboards for £11on eBay and local collection. They're perfect for work as we need Windows xp to run the instrument's software. The new software that will run on 7, 8 and 10 isn't backwards compatible, so the only other alternative is £60k of new equipment!

[RoadworkUK]

Me, I can't wait to get a Tesla (or even a Leaf) for 500 KWID SPEARS OR REAPERS in about 20 years time and see if I can fix it with 1000 Tamiya ni-cd batteries.

 

Pinto conversion.

[Lacquer Peel]

I sort of agree with Hirst but another problem is multiplex wiring, tracing wiring faults is very difficult and it's sometimes easier to replace the loom. ££££

[strangeangel]

The computer I'm typing this on is about ten years old and suffered from a major hardware failure last year. I just figured out what it needed, bought the parts (for buttons) and replaced them.

 

I think the problem lies in not being able to buy replacement electronic car parts for buttons.

[robinmasters]

Waste pipes. Every connector seemingly has to be connected to a pipe before joining it to another connector (rather than being able to join the two bits directly), meaning you're left with a massive long chain of potential failure points. 

[scaryoldcortina]

It could very well do that and still be impossible to fix because a lot of manufacturers like to resin pot their ECUs so you can't get in to alter them!

[strangeangel]

a £1000 ECU could fail because of a 15p off-the-shelf capacitor. Diagnosis equipment has improved a lot too.

 

Sure, but I'd need to spend £££ on this improved diagnostic equipment in order to isolate that 15p capacitor, surely? Assuming I could get into the thing to repair it anyway...

[strangeangel]

Visual inspection most of the time.

 

How do you do that when the things are usually encased in resin?

[cobblers]

They aren't usually encased in resin. Sometimes they are, but generally only stuff for harsh environments.

[strangeangel]

Just smash them to bits first!

 

OK then, thanks for clearing that up!

[hairnet]

Pinto conversion.

anglia sidevalve

[MarvinsMom]

a-series.....

[MarvinsMom]

no.

 

those are too, too modern and full of gimmickry and mimickery.

 

better idea, morris series e side valve.

[DSdriver]

My 1973 DS has efi controlled by a biscuit tin full of transistors which is kept in the passenger footwell*. This used to be considered black magic but nowadays it is simplicity perfected. Same will happen to modern electronics.

 

* A brilliant bit of strategic thinking by the Citroen department of design, right under the heater matrix which it is a good idea to take good care of.

[jakebullet]

1pm I get a text from idiot sister: "The trains are fucked and you're stuck in Leeds ha ha".

 

Googled it and signalling fault, so they will prolly fix it in a few hours. Kinky girl is excited 'cos she thinks she'll keep me for another day. So she's not happy when I go at 4pm.

 

Got home and Ma not happy due to late hour. I stupidly mentioned I was still in bed at 1 anyway to get mega rant of why am I still in bed? Really Ma? Do you really want that one explaining?

 

So unhappy women all round.