The grumpy thread

[goosey]

41 minutes ago, sierraman said:

AUTODOC must be the absolute last of the last resorts. It takes a month of Sunday’s to arrive from somewhere like Latvia so posting it back must be a laugh a minute. 

It is, and they honestly couldn’t give a fuck about their customers I have the emails to prove this. I leaned my lesson not to use them years ago 

[sierraman]

13 minutes ago, Jazoli said:

Agreed, I really don't understand why people use them apart from penny pinching, use a local factors, get quality parts, be able to return them in the unlikely event its wrong, its a no branier for a few quid saving.

I bought a new PAS sensor last week, obviously could have got one for £11 on eBay but you just know it would have been wrong/shit/took six months to arrive. Went to the factors, £31, a decent brand, I could compare it with the old part and it was in my hand by 5pm. I mean potentially saving £20 and all that fucking about with eBay/autocock isn’t worth my time. 

[Talbot]

3 hours ago, Zelandeth said:

Pilot light out.

How old is your boiler? 😳  Pilot lights haven't been used for an eternity.  They're also immensely wasteful.  A new self-lighting condensing boiler would probably halve your gas bill.

[horriblemercedes]

I've had great experiences with Autodoc. Always had the correct part and delivered much more quickly than people online claim it will be.

 

That said, it's always stuff I won't need for a few weeks. If I need to get the car back on the road ASAP, I'll buy a part locally. However if I know that a car I rarely use needs a few bits and pieces and it's not urgent, Autodoc is great.

 

That and buying service parts. If I plan to service the car in two months, I can order everything in advance and be ready. I don't do this with sheds as it would be annoying to buy all the parts and end up scrapping it for some reason before the service

 

[Datsuncog]

The last two times I've gone to my local motor factor for a part, they've tapped their computer a few times, told me they don't stock it and their supplier doesn't list it, so I'd be better off just looking online and ordering it up myself.

I appreciate their honesty and all, but it's still not much use to me - and I wouldn't have thought a 2005 Yaris is all that obscure a model. I mean, the local place is fine for batteries, bulbs and wiper blades but anything more involved just seems to draw a blank these days.

So far, it's been eBay randomers who have been getting all my business for the past while. I think I've been lucky, in that everything I've ordered has arrived quickly and been the correct part. Never used Autodoc, and from the stories related here, I don't plan to... ECP can GTF also.

[Zelandeth]

27 minutes ago, Talbot said:

How old is your boiler? 😳  Pilot lights haven't been used for an eternity.  They're also immensely wasteful.  A new self-lighting condensing boiler would probably halve your gas bill.

Original to the house from 1981.

It has three moving parts, gas valve, ignition button and high/low switch.  It was chosen for being about the most efficient one available at the time.  From memory it's 9.8kW out for 11 in, so around 89%.

We did investigate replacement a few years ago, a guy with a fancy tablet looked at it gleefully, punched the numbers into his tablet, looked puzzled, did it again and then had to concede that the repayment period for savings would likely be longer than the life of the new boiler.

Plus it wouldn't just be a drop in replacement - I think the gas feed would need to be updated (and it runs through the foundation slab, the meter being at basically the furthest possible point away on the property), I think the flue is too close to a window by current rules, and the control system would likely need to be redone from scratch given the only powered thing going into the boiler currently is the signal line to open the gas valve when heat is called for.  Plus there are bits of the heating side of the plumbing that aren't up to current code and they'd want to change.  We did price it up a few years ago and it was looking to likely be well north of five grand worth of work - assuming we didn't need to lay a completely new gas line to the meter.

Even if it did reduce our gas usage by half, gas is less than a quarter of our monthly usage (and drops to basically zero in the summer when the solar provides virtually all the hot water) so it's hardly going to change our world.

[artdjones]

I've found Autodoc to be fine, but parts take a week to get there. The wrong part arriving would only be due to having not taken sufficient care to check all the possible variations in the part and compared them with your vehicle.

For example a timing belt kit for a Mégane 3 1.5 Dci has two variations, one with 123 teeth, one with 119. Autodoc provide the necessary engine codes in their listing to know the right one to order. But if you don't check that, you're going to end up screaming "Autodoc sent me the wrong belt".

Also, with Autodoc you can choose the part make you buy, which you often can't at your local factors.

[Talbot]

45 minutes ago, Zelandeth said:

Plus it wouldn't just be a drop in replacement - I think the gas feed would need to be updated (and it runs through the foundation slab, the meter being at basically the furthest possible point away on the property), I think the flue is too close to a window by current rules, and the control system would likely need to be redone from scratch given the only powered thing going into the boiler currently is the signal line to open the gas valve when heat is called for.  Plus there are bits of the heating side of the plumbing that aren't up to current code and they'd want to change.  We did price it up a few years ago and it was looking to likely be well north of five grand worth of work - assuming we didn't need to lay a completely new gas line to the meter.

That does rather change the proposition of changing!  Also, 89% efficiency in 1981 is astonishingly good.  You could still buy a Baxi bermuda back-boiler at that point and they struggled to acheieve 50% efficiency when you take into account the fact that they draw in cold air to the house for combustion.

I'd be very intrigued as to whether the 11kw gas inlet (and 9.8kw heat output) makes allowance for the pilot light.  That's probably information based on when it's lit and running.  I wonder what the pilot light power useage is, as best estimates are usually that they'll burn about 4kwh of fuel a day, for no real benefit.  When gas was about a penny per kwh, it didn't mean a lot.  Now, that could be over 40p/day, or £150 a year.  Not a huge amount, granted, but beginning to get significant.

[Zelandeth]

2 hours ago, Talbot said:

That does rather change the proposition of changing!

I'd be very intrigued as to whether the 11kw gas inlet (and 9.8kw heat output) makes allowance for the pilot light.  That's probably information based on when it's lit and running.  I wonder what the pilot light power useage is, as best estimates are usually that they'll burn about 4kwh of fuel a day, for no real benefit.  When gas was about a penny per kwh, it didn't mean a lot.  Now, that could be over 40p/day, or £150 a year.  Not a huge amount, granted, but beginning to get significant.

According to the documentation, between 50 and 70W.

So even at the high end of that estimate, 1.7kWh of fuel a day.  

The pilot light in this thing is a tiny little pure blue flame which just touches the thermocouple, it's damn near invisible unless you have your face pressed right up against the inspection window.  The only other boilers I've seen which were old enough to use always on pilot lights had far more energetic looking flames.

It's worth noting that this place was built as a somewhat experimental eco home, so everything was specifically chosen for maximum efficiency, with quite a lot of stuff being special order.  Given the rating plate on the boiler doesn't match the figures in the glossy brochure from Thorn, I wonder if that may also have been one of those items.

I do wish the previous owner hadn't ripped half the control system out as their bodgery has done away with useful things like the anti cycle timer and *proper* wiring of the pump run on function.

Sadly that's what you get if you buy a house from an interior designer!  Also missing little things like, you know...a gas safety certificate which apparently we shouldn't have been handed the keys without.

Found the quote we had for rerouting of the gas main (this was 7 years ago...).  £4,900.  Plus the actual boiler, all new control system, and probably wanting to upgrade half the hot water and heating systems.  So probably getting on for ten grand of work.

We'd need to save a hell of a lot of gas to make that stack up.

[goosey]

3 hours ago, artdjones said:

I've found Autodoc to be fine, but parts take a week to get there. The wrong part arriving would only be due to having not taken sufficient care to check all the possible variations in the part and compared them with your vehicle.

For example a timing belt kit for a Mégane 3 1.5 Dci has two variations, one with 123 teeth, one with 119. Autodoc provide the necessary engine codes in their listing to know the right one to order. But if you don't check that, you're going to end up screaming "Autodoc sent me the wrong belt".

Also, with Autodoc you can choose the part make you buy, which you often can't at your local factors.

I had used them plenty of times without issue until I ordered some Moog ML270 ball joints, I got the correct parts but they were second hand parts (as in old ball joints removed from a car with a grinder) in a damaged new box. After a lot of emails I had to return them at my own expense for them to decide they wouldn’t issue a refund as the parts were second hand and in a damaged box ! 
I just give up with the hassle as communicating with them was like pulling teeth. 

this was back in 2017 maybe things have changed but il never use them again 

[Bren]

Looking at RR sport on ebay.

Those that can move under their own power appear to be small in number.

[Popsicle]

Are Lucas bulbs all crap these days? Bloody front indicator bulbs lasted about 6 weeks in the Vectra, no big deal normally, but you have to remove the bumper, to remove the headlamp unit to change the bulb as the indicator bulb is against the inner wing.

Its not a one off with these bulbs either, brake light out on the Caddy, popped a new one in, the amber indicators looked a bit black with bits falling off so swapped them for the new shiny Lucas amber ones, that one lasted less than a month.

Halfords to the rescue, I don't want to be removing Vectra front bumpers again for a while.

[Saabnut]

37 minutes ago, Popsicle said:

Are Lucas bulbs all crap these days? Bloody front indicator bulbs lasted about 6 weeks in the Vectra, no big deal normally, but you have to remove the bumper, to remove the headlamp unit to change the bulb as the indicator bulb is against the inner wing.

Its not a one off with these bulbs either, brake light out on the Caddy, popped a new one in, the amber indicators looked a bit black with bits falling off so swapped them for the new shiny Lucas amber ones, that one lasted less than a month.

Halfords to the rescue, I don't want to be removing Vectra front bumpers again for a while.

Yes. I was told that Lucas does not exist anymore as a manufacturing company. Apparently the licence to use the Lucas name for a 5 year period is auctioned off every 5 years to the highest bidder. The winner is invariably a chinese company making the cheapest tat so they can recover the cost of the licence. My source was not an official one, but have no reason to doubt. I have stopped buying anything new labelled Lucas after many failures.

[Noel Tidybeard]

the Lucas name is held bt Elta Lighting

https://eltaeurope.com/lucas-bulbs-wipers-switchgear/

[camryv6]

21 hours ago, sheffcortinacentre said:

Management material if ever was.

I laughed, but so true !

[Ghosty]

I once had to wait SIX MONTHS for a £60 refund from Autodoc as I asked them to cancel an order, they agreed, then said actually it's too late, it's gone now. Refuse the delivery and it'll be returned to us.

Spent several months going in circles at German customs in the tracking.

[Bren]

1 hour ago, Saabnut said:

Yes. I was told that Lucas does not exist anymore as a manufacturing company. Apparently the licence to use the Lucas name for a 5 year period is auctioned off every 5 years to the highest bidder. The winner is invariably a chinese company making the cheapest tat so they can recover the cost of the licence. My source was not an official one, but have no reason to doubt. I have stopped buying anything new labelled Lucas after many failures.

Chinese company? Pyrotechnics?

[Remspoor]

1 hour ago, Saabnut said:

Yes. I was told that Lucas does not exist anymore as a manufacturing company. Apparently the licence to use the Lucas name for a 5 year period is auctioned off every 5 years to the highest bidder. The winner is invariably a chinese company making the cheapest tat so they can recover the cost of the licence. My source was not an official one, but have no reason to doubt. I have stopped buying anything new labelled Lucas after many failures.

Like a lot of companies. Philips is another one.

[Popsicle]

2 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Yes. I was told that Lucas does not exist anymore as a manufacturing company. Apparently the licence to use the Lucas name for a 5 year period is auctioned off every 5 years to the highest bidder. The winner is invariably a chinese company making the cheapest tat so they can recover the cost of the licence. My source was not an official one, but have no reason to doubt. I have stopped buying anything new labelled Lucas after many failures.

 

1 hour ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

the Lucas name is held bt Elta Lighting

https://eltaeurope.com/lucas-bulbs-wipers-switchgear/

Thanks for the heads up chaps.

Think I'll empty most of my biscuit tin of bulbs in the bin then.

[cobblers]

Everything made by lucas is complete dogdirt, the brand is dead and the name used to resell any old chinese rubbish. The bulbs are the worst stuff they make sell.

At work we go through dozens of bulbs every day, occasionally I fuck up and end up with a box of lucas bulbs and maybe about 50% of them will last more than an hour.  If they last an hour they will be alright, but they mostly don't.

[Mrcento]

Yup, I ordered a bunch of bulbs for the old discovery dash clock, box of 10, took me 4 bulbs to find one that worked, and it lasted approximately 3 weeks then blew.

Not the first time i've had that with Lucas bulbs either.

[HarmonicCheeseburger]

Lifespan of Liz Truss then.

[RoverFolkUs]

On the subject of Lucas, I fitted one of their Alternators recently, dead out of the box

Was a Disco 2 TD5 so not a particularly straightforward job to have to do twice either

Had me second guessing my diagnosis but after spending another hour going over everything (again) I tried a Denso one and it was obviously ok 

Obviously Starline and RTX are no good either so don't bother with ECP unless they list a Denso one. Bit more expensive, but it should last, or more importantly, actually fucking work out of the box!!

 

[mitsisigma01]

Who actually makes bulbs for Halfrauds , probably some other Chinesium outfit🤔

[adw1977]

1 hour ago, HarmonicCheeseburger said:

Lifespan of Liz Truss then.

But hopefully brighter than her.

[Popsicle]

1 hour ago, mitsisigma01 said:

Who actually makes bulbs for Halfrauds , probably some other Chinesium outfit🤔

It doesn't say on the back of the numerous ones I have, it just states 'Produced for Halfords'.

[Metal Guru]

5 hours ago, Saabnut said:

Yes. I was told that Lucas does not exist anymore as a manufacturing company. Apparently the licence to use the Lucas name for a 5 year period is auctioned off every 5 years to the highest bidder. The winner is invariably a chinese company making the cheapest tat so they can recover the cost of the licence. My source was not an official one, but have no reason to doubt. I have stopped buying anything new labelled Lucas after many failures.

I bought some Lucas branded windscreen wipers via eBay last week. Seem pretty good , as good as Bosch ones but about 40% cheaper.

[somewhatfoolish]

Not much justification for buying incandescent bulbs from China either, it's an exercise in shipping fresh air; @LightBulbFun are there are still plants in Hungary/eastern europe making tungsten lamps?

[LightBulbFun]

50 minutes ago, somewhatfoolish said:

Not much justification for buying incandescent bulbs from China either, it's an exercise in shipping fresh air; @LightBulbFun are there are still plants in Hungary/eastern europe making tungsten lamps?

yeah there are a number of Factories in Eastern Europe still churning out Tungsten lamps, as well as in India as well, the company that made "STATUS" branded bulbs that most corner shops stocked, is still churning them out over there, and they where/are pretty damn good, made on ex Osram-GEC machinery shipped out from here when the factories where wound up in the late 90's

 

sadly of course getting ahold of these lamps is another matter, since officially they are banned here, (I mean a personal import is no problem, but a company is not allowed to sell them to the UK etc)

 

although I realise this is in reference to Automotive lamps, for which none of the above really apply LOL I believe there are a few factories even in the west still churning out decent auto lamps

 

but yeah the Lucas bulbs and likely halfords ones will just be cheap Chinese crap!

 

 

 

[somewhatfoolish]

All the more irritating as the tech is literally ancient, no excuse for making shitty bulbs at all.