The grumpy thread

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Tonight I decided to take the Mini's windscreen out to treat some rust before it ruined the scuttle.

 

Read lots on the internet about how to remove windscreen without breaking it.

 

Broke windscreen immediately.

[scaryoldcortina]

Oh, bad luck! Minis have to be about the easiest screen ever to get in and out though... try getting a cortina mk5 eggshell out whole... or getting a montego bonded screen off without breaking it..

 

 

My grump? best bit of 500 miles of motorway in the recovery today at a steady 56mph. It does do 70-80 but I can't afford it because you also get about 10 to the gallon at that speed. 56 and take it steady I can almost make 25mpg.... Now, that isn't the problem. I don't mind it at all, and it doesn't actually make the journey take less time (you would be surprised, or not, at the number of people who wazz past and then you catch up again) my problem is lorry drivers (some of them)

 

FFS, you are driving 38 tonnes that is limited to 56mph. So is every other lorry.. why the hell do you keep passing each other? I was in a queue of wagons on the M62, six or seven long, all doing 56. Someone decided to pass us all (at 56.25mph) it took him almost 15 miles which reduced the M'way to 2 lanes instantly and caused lots of audi/BMW/merc drivers to brake hard and loads of kia/agila/smart drivers to panic, and form a big queue behind him. In fact, he slowed the other 2 lanes so severely the inside lane became the fast lane (at 56) and we all started passing him on the inside instead. Wasn't the only time either...I saw a coach do a full emergency brake (almost on it's nose.. fuck knows what happened inside..) because a brick wagon decided that the two in front weren't quick enough and pulled across in front of it (very close too) and the outside lane wasn't an option (beemers/mercs/100mph) He didn't get past quickly either. Don't get me wrong though, after today I hate *everybody* that uses motorways. Grandma needs to speed up... 45 in the inside lane will push all the wagons into the middle.. if two of them are having a 2 lane race you may die. BMW guy - it isn't the ultimate driving machine, it's a 320D, and you are NOT the stig. Grow up and fucking slow down you twat. If there is a stationary queue ahead of you, doing 90 up to it won't make it go away.

 

Oh, and everybody (particularly the driver of the red 38 tonne scania with the "M" on the back on the M1) put your fucking phone in the fucking glove box and ignore it. I don't want to die because you are chatting to your mates.

 

Oh yeah, one more thing... if you are joining a motorway from a slip road YOU are supposed to give way to ME... match your speed to the inside lane, and filter in. Don't belt down at 80 expecting me to move over or brake for you, I might not be able to do so safely....

[whitevanman]

/\/\/\/\ There is an OFF button

[whitevanman]

SOC, couldnt agree more about that last part, twats the lot of them.......

[dollywobbler]

Yeah, everyone does seem to have missed the part about merging onto motorways. Worse are those who see someone on the slip road and slam the anchors on! Not wise, especially if there's a big truck behind you.

 

I think we should have more 'trucks not allowed to overtake' lanes like they do across Europe. Mind you, the twats who crawl along at 45mph would have to be banned out of kindness to the truckers. You don't have to spend long on the A14 to want to kill all truckers.

 

Have decided to hire a 7.5tonner for our move though, so we'll see how I get on as a trucker myself... (s'pose all the HGV lot will look down their noses at me!)

[MrDuke]

By way of gratitude for me singing its praises on here yesterday, the Pug decided to blow its glow plug relay at 9:00 last night, in Tesco's car park I can't do anything, at all, until the replacement gets delivered (tomorrow if I'm very lucky, more likely Monday) by which time the tossers will probably have clamped it. I'll then have to scav a lift back there, and attempt to fix it in the pouring rain. Bollocks. The evil little sod can forget about having nice new doors and seats after this.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

If it's got a strong battery it should start eventually without glow plugs.

[ashmicro]

While there may well be an "OFF" button, the Bastards, Bolsheviks and Cunts receive their funding from a mandatory tax levied on everyone who owns a TV, irrespective of whether they use the services of the BBC.

 

Don't wanna pay? Go to jail.

 

It's time this neo-communist anachronism had its purse strings cut.

[scaryoldcortina]

@ mrduke.... you could always just hotwire between battery and glowplug rail for a few seconds then start it... gets you out of the rain and the carpark anyway

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

While there may well be an "OFF" button, the Bastards, Bolsheviks and Cunts receive their funding from a mandatory tax levied on everyone who owns a TV, irrespective of whether they use the services of the BBC.

 

Don't wanna pay? Go to jail.

 

It's time this neo-communist anachronism had its purse strings cut.

 

What's the alternative? Commercial TV effluence like ITV et al? For all the shit the BBC produces there's quite a lot that no commercial network would have the baws to put on TV.

[ashmicro]

While there may well be an "OFF" button, the Bastards, Bolsheviks and Cunts receive their funding from a mandatory tax levied on everyone who owns a TV, irrespective of whether they use the services of the BBC.

 

Don't wanna pay? Go to jail.

 

It's time this neo-communist anachronism had its purse strings cut.

 

What's the alternative? Commercial TV effluence like ITV et al? For all the shit the BBC produces there's quite a lot that no commercial network would have the baws to put on TV.

 

 

We aren't forced to pay for it, they have to make their own money, and screen what people want to watch, no matter how shit it is. Big audiences=big advertising revenue=income.

 

Commercial TV is a fair indication of where the general populace is "at". So if the great unwashed slaver over crap like "how clean is your celebrity chef" or whatever, if that's what makes money, so be it.

 

If the BBC actually made a decent amount of decent stuff, I'd see past the licence fee. But ,it's largely lowest common-denominator dross, for the mouth-breathing single-helix DNA people.

[maxpower]

i pay my tv licence fee, and only bbc programme i watch is m.o.t.d... i guess its still cheaper than a day at a football match

 

but as for the rest of the shite they show on the beeb total crap.

 

bin the licence fee and make the beeb a subscription channel.... betcha they wouldn't get many people signing up

 

which would force their hands to either make better quality programmes that people want to watch or jump on the commerical advertisement bandwagon.

 

though they do slyly advertise at the moment albeit their own programmes across the bbc network

[whitevanman]

Try just getting rid of the TV.I did 2 years ago and have no regrets, Torrent Downloads FTW...

[Mr Lobster]

The only stuff I ever watch - and I don't watch much TV - is generally on the BBC. But thats partly because some of the stuff the other channels churn out is really, really bad.

 

I'm happy with the licence fee if only for Radio 4 and 5 Live.

[Vin]

Licence fee is worth it for 6music and BBC4 alone. I love listening to Gideon Coe

 

Licence fee may well be a tax, but I pay tax for things like the Police, NHS, Fire brigade, Libraries etc. which is all stuff I have no use for on a regular basis, but it it is a comfort to know that when I need it, it's there.

[Richard]

Not all radios have an off button, or not one you can access anyway.

 

 

It amuses me that people moan like fuck about the licence fee but happily hand Rupert Murdoch several times that amount to pump adverts, with brief periods of effluent in between, into their living rooms. Then they uncomplainingly pay the premium that advertising adds onto nearly everything we buy.

[fotorabia]

nowt more to say..]

[myglaren]

Yeah, everyone does seem to have missed the part about merging onto motorways. Worse are those who see someone on the slip road and slam the anchors on! Not wise, especially if there's a big truck behind you.

 

I think we should have more 'trucks not allowed to overtake' lanes like they do across Europe. Mind you, the twats who crawl along at 45mph would have to be banned out of kindness to the truckers. You don't have to spend long on the A14 to want to kill all truckers.

A14 is certainly not a pleasant place to be

Have decided to hire a 7.5tonner for our move though, so we'll see how I get on as a trucker myself... (s'pose all the HGV lot will look down their noses at me!)

May not be the same any more but I brought our gear from Sweden in a 7.5 tonner and the truckers were great, it was like a different world. Took a photographic processing machine back to Sweden in it, bought in St Neots from Wainco, long gone now it seems.

[MrDuke]

@ mrduke.... you could always just hotwire between battery and glowplug rail for a few seconds then start it... gets you out of the rain and the carpark anyway

 

 

Really?! Fantastic - might just try that tomorrow if the relay doesn't turn up.

Unless the plugs themselves have bought it as well... I'd only been in the shop for 15-20 minutes, and would've expected it to start on the button without waiting for the plugs, as it normally does. Meh, I've got spares anyhow, just means I'll get even wetter!!

[dollywobbler]

Mr Duke - the 'keep cranking 'til it fires' suggestion earlier also does work. Doesn't half create a lot of smoke, but might get you home! (the smoke does go away after a bit...)

[MrDuke]

Mr Duke - the 'keep cranking 'til it fires' suggestion earlier also does work. Doesn't half create a lot of smoke, but might get you home! (the smoke does go away after a bit...)

 

Yeah - I was tempted to just keep it turning over until it caught, but after a few goes I could hear the starter motor starting to slow down... and the last thing I want is to have to jumpstart it too. I assume the heat from the friction in the cylinders eventually ignites it in that case?

[dollywobbler]

Gawd knows how it gets hot enough for combustion, but my mate's ZX had knackered glow plugs for a VERY long time!

[scaryoldcortina]

It's the compression that generates the heat to ignite the diesel rather than friction (although it could still be thought of as friction, just on a molecular level... rubbing molecules together), trouble is on an inderect injection diesel like the pug it takes a good while for the injection chamber to get hot enough to light, that is why there is a glow plug in there too. Direct diesels fire straight into the cylinder, which is why transits don't have glow plugs and always start first click even when they are fucked.

 

I'm a little concerned that the failure to start was only 15 mins after stopping it, usually there is enough heat left to start even with the plugs off (My LT has a dead glow plug relay - I only need to fire them manually first thing in the morning, or if it's been off more than an hour or two) so I'm wondering if it is the glow plugs or the stop solenoid that has gone west. Or even, the "engine control" fuse which feeds both the relay and the solenoid.....

[Station]

Not all radios have an off button, or not one you can access anyway.

 

 

It amuses me that people moan like fuck about the licence fee but happily hand Rupert Murdoch several times that amount to pump adverts, with brief periods of effluent in between, into their living rooms. Then they uncomplainingly pay the premium that advertising adds onto nearly everything we buy.

 

I've been watching a bit of BBC1/2/4 recently, and it's really good. My housemate pays 50 quid for Sky which has TV/Phone and Broadband, and the other channels are absolute dogpoo. ITV3, etc is another good channel for older programmes like Professionals, etc., but they're repeated about four times in the day. You have teleshopping through the night, and even worse, things like bingo and poker. They've also increased the adverts to play every 5 - 10 minutes, so you're constantly getting insurance/non-fault solicitors, etc shite. There's absolutely nothing on documentary channels, unless you count contrived crap like cutting down trees and watching unlikeable American mechanics argue as a documentary.

 

I did temp work in an office at the start of the year and it was good until they decided we needed a radio, on which they put Radio 1 on, which destroyed my entire day.

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Direct diesels fire straight into the cylinder, which is why transits don't have glow plugs and always start first click even when they are fucked.

 

Out of interest, do direct injection diesels work ok even in the depths of winter, especially old school ones? My boss has a a Land Rover with a DI Mazda SL35 engine with no glow plugs. As it's sometimes as cold as -25C here it's a bit of a worry.

[ashmicro]

It's the compression that generates the heat to ignite.....

 

 

Reminds me of the first time I went to see a rallycross, aged 6. Some bloke was cranking a Mini over and over and over, and I still remember thinking "That car won't even go, how can he have a race?" It turned out to have some mad high-compression engine.

[scaryoldcortina]

Lenoard, yes, as long as the diesel hasn't turned to wax in the lines (round about -18C) a DI diesel wil crank into life in any temp at all. In fact, due to the greater density of cold air it will make more power on sub zero days

 

ashmicro - I know what you mean, hi comp wild cam petrol engines can be a total cunt to start. The high compression ratio is actually counter productive to starting a cold rich mixture, tends to condense on the spark plugs and earth them out.

[Claypole]

People on Ebay watching stuff that's on a Buy It Now of £3 ffs...

[Guest Leonard Hatred]

Lenoard, yes, as long as the diesel hasn't turned to wax in the lines (round about -18C) a DI diesel wil crank into life in any temp at all. In fact, due to the greater density of cold air it will make more power on sub zero days

 

Thought so! He was worried about having to sort out a block heater, etc.

[M'coli]

Re the cranking to get a diesel going - think of pumping up a bike tyre from flat using a hand held pump, after a time the end of the pump gets hot.