The grumpy thread

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, barefoot said:

Acquire a fluorescent coat & a clipboard and move groups of waiting passengers & their luggage from one area to another. And visit as many canteens as you can at 00:01 when much of the food goes out of date and is given away to hungry looking folk in yellow coats with clipboards.

It's ridiculous what a high vis jacket and looking like you're meant to be there can get you.

I knocked on the door of the MD's office in Aberdeen Airport one afternoon a few minutes before I was due to have a meeting with him and suggested that they might want to have a little think about improving their office-area security - given that I'd just walked in the front door of the terminal, turned left and had made it as far as his office without being challenged ONCE.  Several security doors and a lift that needed a keycard and a code to operate - just followed others through.  Nobody batted an eyelid.  This would have been 2010 or so, so not exactly ancient history either.

I believe their response was something along the lines of "You have got to be ****ing kidding me..."

I think they were very glad I delivered my report to them verbally rather than in writing as I suspect that saved them rather a lot of paperwork.

[Weird Car]

Went to go check on my Proton today, it went in the garage to have the front suspension rebuilt “as you can see it’s completely collapsed on the drivers side” it’s a garage I’ve used before and trusted though it’s  about 30 miles away so I can’t check on the car very often, he’s now had it 4 months with the parts still boxed inside and hasn’t touched it yet, I asked today and he said it’ll be done by New Years and he’s had a massive work load with other staff away for Xmas etc. 

looking at the condensation inside it looks like the sunroof may have stated leaking and I can’t sort that out until it’s home. 

[meggersdog]

On 12/18/2022 at 12:39 PM, RoverFolkUs said:

I'm invested in this now, need to know more when tomorrow comes 🤣

Well the car came in with a new front shock. He actually brought the failure sheet with him and what got his goat was the tester failed his car for having the wrong bulbs and no beam pattern. Before logging it in I checked the headlights, sure enough it is fitted with xenon bulbs. The previous tester said it was a fitting kit and is illegal to fit to a halogen headlight. If it is a fitting kit it was very neatly done as to me it looked factory fit. Never seen one before but do fitting kits supply a warning sticker in many languages warning you not to open the cover as there is high voltage ? and whoever fitting the kit put the stickers in exactly the same place on both headlamp covers. No I think they were factory fit.

Anyway on with the test. The advisory for product on the lens was actually the reason there was no beam pattern. A quick rub with some wet & dry and a buff with G3 produced a distinct line and kick-up all be it the nearside was pointing to the moon so that got adjusted. The rear tyre did get a fail but not for tread depth (it was still 1.8mm not 1.6) yes the previous tester failed to mention the nail in that tyre nor did he see the  cut  deep enough to reach the cord. It failed on condition rather than tread depth. He had gone to Leister to go christmas shopping and is actually from Oakham so only about twelve miles from us.

[RoverFolkUs]

6 minutes ago, meggersdog said:

Well the car came in with a new front shock. He actually brought the failure sheet with him and what got his goat was the tester failed his car for having the wrong bulbs and no beam pattern. Before logging it in I checked the headlights, sure enough it is fitted with xenon bulbs. The previous tester said it was a fitting kit and is illegal to fit to a halogen headlight. If it is a fitting kit it was very neatly done as to me it looked factory fit. Never seen one before but do fitting kits supply a warning sticker in many languages warning you not to open the cover as there is high voltage ? and whoever fitting the kit put the stickers in exactly the same place on both headlamp covers. No I think they were factory fit.

Anyway on with the test. The advisory for product on the lens was actually the reason there was no beam pattern. A quick rub with some wet & dry and a buff with G3 produced a distinct line and kick-up all be it the nearside was pointing to the moon so that got adjusted. The rear tyre did get a fail but not for tread depth (it was still 1.8mm not 1.6) yes the previous tester failed to mention the nail in that tyre nor did he see the  cut  deep enough to reach the cord. It failed on condition rather than tread depth. He had gone to Leister to go christmas shopping and is actually from Oakham so only about twelve miles from us.

The dead giveaway would be if it had no headlight washers? Obviously (a minority) of cars with headlight washers still only have halogens, but all xenon's would have headlight washers (afaik) so as long as the washers are in place and it's not obviously modified that would satisfy me if I were a tester 

Not as bad in the end as it sounded from the outset then

[richardmorris]

4 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Your neighbour turned their heating off in winter and didn't also turn off the water? I can see insurers denying claims and the landlord pursuing them for the loss.

Lots of people from crown estate in high viz around today sucking their teeth at it. Neighbour still not around - I presume someone has been in touch by now?

it’s been consistently below 0 for a week here day and night. Must be an insurance job as the place needs to be gutted and dried out - icicles were coming out of the air-vents in the window frames. You could see and hear water pouring through the ceilings and out the window sills. Horrific damage really - £100,000? All floors, plasterboard, ceilings. Electrics, wooden floors and carpets, kitchen, plus furniture?

[Zelandeth]

5 hours ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Your neighbour turned their heating off in winter and didn't also turn off the water? I can see insurers denying claims and the landlord pursuing them for the loss.

Absolutely this.  That would be absolutely classed as negligence on the part of the policy holder (at least based on the wording in our home insurance paperwork anyway). 

Though we've heard of a whole bunch of places that have had freezeups over the last couple of weeks both domestic and industrial in spite of being occupied and therefore there being heating to some extent active.

[richardmorris]

2 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Absolutely this.  That would be absolutely classed as negligence on the part of the policy holder (at least based on the wording in our home insurance paperwork anyway). 

Though we've heard of a whole bunch of places that have had freezeups over the last couple of weeks both domestic and industrial in spite of being occupied and therefore there being heating to some extent active.

I’ve not seen him around for weeks. He always was a part-time tenant though. Been there about six years I think, mx5 hasn’t moved since the month he moved in. I’ll be on the look-out for kitchen cupboards when they chuck it out as mine could do with some new doors.

[High Jetter]

Might need to dry them out first tho...

[Wibble]

We’re being called out to jobs like this now. Today was an antiques centre with burst pipe in loft going through three floors below. What fun it was .

[LightBulbFun]

18 hours ago, Harriytait said:

Went into my local Halfords yesterday to buy a brake adjustment spanner, I couldn’t find one so asked the young lad behind the counter to which he replied “never heard of one of dem before mate, and I’ve been a mechanic for 2 years” 

went home and ordered one on Amazon, but I didn’t realise until after I ordered it that it’s not showing up until January. 
 

If this is for TPE?, then I wonder if you might get a better result by asking for a quarter inch square drive spanner? if they dont know what a brake adjustment spanner is?

as a side note amusingly I noticed that literally (within 3 days) this time last year I was ordering one for REV LOL

 

[LightBulbFun]

5 hours ago, richardmorris said:

I’ve not seen him around for weeks. He always was a part-time tenant though. Been there about six years I think, mx5 hasn’t moved since the month he moved in. I’ll be on the look-out for kitchen cupboards when they chuck it out as mine could do with some new doors.

 

4 hours ago, High Jetter said:

Might need to dry them out first tho...

Nah leave them as is, pykrete kitchens are all the rage atm 

[richardmorris]

6 hours ago, LightBulbFun said:

 

Nah leave them as is, pykrete kitchens are all the rage atm 

Four vans and a skip arrived at 6.45 this morning. They're not hanging around getting rid of carpets etc.

[warch]

Bloody eBay timewasters  again. I ordered the kids something for Christmas (start of the month). Dispatched (according to the console) on the 5th, should’ve been here weeks ago. Now received a mysterious partial refund. I suspect I won’t receive anything. 

[sierraman]

Dropped a UPVC door on my foot yesterday, fucking killing me today. 

[Zelandeth]

Oh joy.  For the third time in five days we once again have no water.

[myglaren]

3 hours ago, warch said:

Bloody eBay timewasters  again. I ordered the kids something for Christmas (start of the month). Dispatched (according to the console) on the 5th, should’ve been here weeks ago. Now received a mysterious partial refund. I suspect I won’t receive anything. 

I ordered some LED strings that were dispatched on the 5th too.  Arrive a couple of hours ago.

[Rust Collector]

16 hours ago, RoverFolkUs said:

The dead giveaway would be if it had no headlight washers? Obviously (a minority) of cars with headlight washers still only have halogens, but all xenon's would have headlight washers (afaik) so as long as the washers are in place and it's not obviously modified that would satisfy me if I were a tester 

Not as bad in the end as it sounded from the outset then

I used to have a Subaru Legacy GT-B with factory fitted HID headlights but no washers. Always fun at MOT time 😁

[wuvvum]

17 hours ago, meggersdog said:

The advisory for product on the lens was actually the reason there was no beam pattern.

That advisory always seemed to me to be very poorly written - it is almost never an actual product on the lens, it's usually the shite plastic lens itself which is going cloudy and causing the problem.  Glass headlights FTW...

[warch]

1 hour ago, myglaren said:

I ordered some LED strings that were dispatched on the 5th too.  Arrive a couple of hours ago.

Mine have been refunded now.
 

I can’t work them out, I have had three similar incidents, I buy something, they mark it despatched, nothing comes, then I get an email saying it was damaged in transit. The main irritation is the length of time waiting for something they evidently either can’t or won’t supply. I wouldn’t mind if they made a mistake and didn’t have it and said so at the outset but they wasted weeks of my time over this, leaving me no time to get something somewhere else before Christmas. 
 

Btw these companies are invariably Far Eastern or Indian masquerading as UK sellers, are they set up as a front for money laundering?
 

 

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, wuvvum said:

That advisory always seemed to me to be very poorly written - it is almost never an actual product on the lens, it's usually the shite plastic lens itself which is going cloudy and causing the problem.  Glass headlights FTW...

"Power steering component has slight seepage from a component" always gets me!

[RoverFolkUs]

1 hour ago, Rust Collector said:

I used to have a Subaru Legacy GT-B with factory fitted HID headlights but no washers. Always fun at MOT time 😁

Interesting, wonder how they got that through type approval?

[hairnet]

*cries into l&p

[Rust Collector]

6 minutes ago, RoverFolkUs said:

Interesting, wonder how they got that through type approval?

The trim level was only available in Japan so I'm assuming that washers weren't a requirement out there at the time it was sold. But the MOT manual had/has provision for the fact that not all cars would have automatic levelling or headlamp washers despite being equipped with HIDs. In the manual it says 'where fitted/may be fitted/if fitted' on these items. On the Subaru they were never fitted nor was there provision to, so can't be failed for not being there. It had the correct light units for HID lamps and projected the correct beam pattern so had to be given the benefit of the doubt. Obviously it never was though, and was a ball ache each time it was tested.

[richardmorris]

2 hours ago, myglaren said:

I ordered some LED strings that were dispatched on the 5th too.  Arrive a couple of hours ago.

A pair of mountain bike shoes I ordered on ebay on the 2nd arrived today. Sent 48 hr tracked so could see it left the seller (biketart) on the 4th.

 

[myglaren]

Mine was tracked and clearly sat in a sorting office until yesterday, or they didn't update the tracking info.

Set one of them up to test, they are seven metres long and destined to replace the fluorescent tubes in my son's garage.

Said in the instructions that they were 5/12/24V so used a 19V power supply.  They lasted five minutes.  Ooops

[Datsuncog]

Trying to swap out the seized alternator in MrsDC's Yaris on a rare afternoon without sleet and/or freezing fog.

The fasteners came off easily enough, and the old spark-factory came away from the block bracket with only the mildest of encouragement needed from the Friendly Persuader.

So now the old unit is down the back of the block, nestling on the subframe - and there is NO way to get it out.

The HBOL blithely assures me that unhooking the exhaust rubbers and moving the pipe aside a little will allow the withdrawal of the alternator from below, but this is plainly bollocks as there's all driveshafts and steering rack in the way. Not even close.

So it looks like I'll have to pull the air box, throttle body and inlet manifold in order to get the units swapped, which of course will require new gaskets.

And the motor factor advises me that the throttle body and inlet manifold gaskets are NLA individually - though they can sell me a full gasket set for £100.

So eBay it is, then...but I'm a bit sceptical of their delivery time optimism.

Highly doubt this car will be back on the road this year.

Bugger.

[MikeR]

the zorst on the C1 is starting to sound a bit louder , I think a internal baffle has gone awol ...

good point is the resultants zorst noise is nice and audible to my some what downgraded ears,

which makes it easier to follow what  the highly refined powerplant is doing ...

hope fully it will pass the mot in the new year !!

[Stanky]

24 minutes ago, Datsuncog said:

Trying to swap out the seized alternator in MrsDC's Yaris on a rare afternoon without sleet and/or freezing fog.

The fasteners came off easily enough, and the old spark-factory came away from the block bracket with only the mildest of encouragement needed from the Friendly Persuader.

So now the old unit is down the back of the block, nestling on the subframe - and there is NO way to get it out.

The HBOL blithely assures me that unhooking the exhaust rubbers and moving the pipe aside a little will allow the withdrawal of the alternator from below, but this is plainly bollocks as there's all driveshafts and steering rack in the way. Not even close.

So it looks like I'll have to pull the air box, throttle body and inlet manifold in order to get the units swapped, which of course will require new gaskets.

And the motor factor advises me that the throttle body and inlet manifold gaskets are NLA individually - though they can sell me a full gasket set for £100.

So eBay it is, then...but I'm a bit sceptical of their delivery time optimism.

Highly doubt this car will be back on the road this year.

Bugger.

I have the same engine in my Daihatsu Sirion, the alternator will come out the bottom but is a total shitshow of lowered subframe and no access. Going in the top is massively easier because one the intake manifold is out you have LOADS of access.

It took me about 40 minutes to extract the alternator this way, start to finish. I would suggest there is little harm to be done by mingebagging it and reusing the intake manifold gasket in the very short term, you can replace it easily when the new one arrives (in about June) 

I thought I'd documented this with pics, but haven't somehow? Anyway, its way easier taking it out the top

If you hate yourself, then @Tubbo gave instructions on how to get the alternator out the bottom if you go back a page in my thread. 

 

 

[Datsuncog]

52 minutes ago, Stanky said:

I have the same engine in my Daihatsu Sirion, the alternator will come out the bottom but is a total shitshow of lowered subframe and no access. Going in the top is massively easier because one the intake manifold is out you have LOADS of access.

It took me about 40 minutes to extract the alternator this way, start to finish. I would suggest there is little harm to be done by mingebagging it and reusing the intake manifold gasket in the very short term, you can replace it easily when the new one arrives (in about June) 

I thought I'd documented this with pics, but haven't somehow? Anyway, its way easier taking it out the top

If you hate yourself, then @Tubbo gave instructions on how to get the alternator out the bottom if you go back a page in my thread. 

Hey, thanks so much for that! Good reading in there...

I think that settles it then - will get the inlet manifold off tomorrow, weather permitting; swap the alternators over and and just put it all back together using the original gasket if possible.

Like yourself, I thought there might be room to manoeuvre the alternator over toward the much less cluttered gearbox end for withdrawal - but the clutch cable and sundry other bits in the way thwarted this approach.

Removal from the bottom end looks like a right old fuckabout, but it's useful to have photos of both processes!

I'm not even sure it's possible to do exactly the same on this particular car, as it's a run-out model with electric power steering (not even mentioned in the HBOL) so has additional motors and gearing lurking above the o/s driveshaft which would also need removal - and I've no idea how I'd even start on that.

So - watch this space, I guess, and find out whether someone with the mechanical ability of a mince pie manages to pull this one off...

[MikeR]

light blue touch paper and ....

Honda drivers , what is with their parking ????

went to the farm shop today , the big car  park was empty and I parked one small cars width from the log bunker so that the rear of my car faced the shop door .. we had the shop to ourselves most of the time which was great ..

and wife wife proceeded to buy out the shop , as she does , sack of spuds to start ,  it was totalled up as we went and I took the goods to the car and shoved them in the boot ..  and so on , I was surprised how much we squeezed in the C1 ....

in the time it took me to load the car ( which was quite a while ) , no fewer than three Hondas tried to park in the gap between the car and the log bunker , and every time it was just a bit tight !!!   , and they moved on .. after all they had another 50 or so spaces to choose from

then when we cashed up and walked out of the shop , and another Honda was tried to shuffle into the space after I got in the car !!   , somat like 6 inches between us , and the driver  was stuck in his car till I drove off !!   ,

even my wife commented on the parking  nonsense ..  and this is some one who normally  refers to a car by its colour ..