The grumpy thread

[myglaren]

We have lived in three houses since 1978 and all have had gas boilers.  No problems with them.

They were rented properties, housing association, and the boilers were changed regularly.

Bought this house as they were replacing the boilers so they ignored us.  I paid for a new one three years ago when the pressure vessel in the existing one packed up.

The only problem we had was when moving into this house, I connected the gas cooker and there was no gas.  As the boiler worked it wasn't a supply problem.  Seems that when the house was built the builders had cleverly bunged up the cooker supply with cement.  They installed a new pipe and all has been well ever since (that was 1987).

[Lord Sterling]

On 24/10/2024 at 18:00, Metal Guru said:

Aircon f@cked again. Only got it fixed on 10/10/23. I bet they say it’s a different part failed.

Story of my life. Both of these refuse to work on Air-con. Both condenser related. Vectra is more complex due to the modification of one for the pipes. The Jag just needs either a new condenser or some condenser sealer.

[Spiny Norman]

When I got my 2001 CRV I went and checked to see whether or not it was exempt from Glasgow's ULEZ zone and was quite surprised to see that it was.

Checked it again the other day and now presumably because I've put a private plate on it, it's coming up as not allowed.
Not that I'm ever in the ULEZ zone but since they're doing major fuckage with both the M8 and M73 motorways just now it's quite possible that I may have to divert through the city centre coming back from my mate's place in the east end.

[Metal Guru]

6 hours ago, Lord Sterling said:

Story of my life. Both of these refuse to work on Air-con. Both condenser related. Vectra is more complex due to the modification of one for the pipes. The Jag just needs either a new condenser or some condenser sealer.

Both times mines been a pipe. Thought that would involve a length of copper / stainless stock being cut and shaped to fit, but apparently no, it’s a Subaru specific part £150 plus an hour plus to fit plus gas refill plus VAT = £350.

Unless it’s the same part failing and they agree to do it FOC (a year and 2 weeks ffs), I’ll do without. The compressor and condenser will be 20 years old , so living on borrowed time. 

[iainrcz]

I've been doing the 13 hour shift every year for nearly 20 years, still fucking horrible every time it comes round.

[Lord Sterling]

9 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

When I got my 2001 CRV I went and checked to see whether or not it was exempt from Glasgow's ULEZ zone and was quite surprised to see that it was.

Checked it again the other day and now presumably because I've put a private plate on it, it's coming up as not allowed.

Yes, it happened to me but the other way around for my old Jag. That used to have a private plate on it so wasn't allowed, when I sent an email to the council, theu just updated my records and suddenly I was allowed. 

I suppose getting a screenshot of a similarly reg'd car and yours will show them that you have a private plate in your car and they should just update their records to allow your car to go into the zone.

Both my current fleet are exempt but I never go into the zones, although both cars have been into Brussels, none have yet seen the inside of Birmingham City Centre under my ownership. I suppose though it's only a matter of time, but then I won't need to worry about extra charges.

[mercedade]

The ex @NorfolkNWeigh S211 has been doing a sterling job for my sister over the last year, chewing up the miles between Cardiff and Basingstoke for fun, right up until last week when it flashed up an ABS light and shuddered to a fairly aggressive stop. Luckily, she was just pulling on to the slip road of the M4 at the time, so managed to grind to a halt in a lower-speed hard shoulder. But it doesn't sound like she had much warning or control over it! 

The usual garage seem convinced it's autobox related rather than brakes/bearing etc so it's being recovered from their premises to a specialist a few miles over. 

Is this a likely scenario, are they a weak point? Tagging @SiC as I think you had one too. 

I'm light on details because she can't really tell me much, and the garage haven't been particularly communicative. All I know is that she loves the car (totally smitten, right from the get-go - @NorfolkNWeigh really set the bar high, fantastic fella) and will almost certainly be getting it fixed.

[SiC]

9 minutes ago, mercedade said:

The ex @NorfolkNWeigh S211 has been doing a sterling job for my sister over the last year, chewing up the miles between Cardiff and Basingstoke for fun, right up until last week when it flashed up an ABS light and shuddered to a fairly aggressive stop. Luckily, she was just pulling on to the slip road of the M4 at the time, so managed to grind to a halt in a lower-speed hard shoulder. But it doesn't sound like she had much warning or control over it! 

The usual garage seem convinced it's autobox related rather than brakes/bearing etc so it's being recovered from their premises to a specialist a few miles over. 

Is this a likely scenario, are they a weak point? Tagging @SiC as I think you had one too. 

I'm light on details because she can't really tell me much, and the garage haven't been particularly communicative. All I know is that she loves the car (totally smitten, right from the get-go - @NorfolkNWeigh really set the bar high, fantastic fella) and will almost certainly be getting it fixed.

Is it the 5 speed or 7 speed auto?

5 speeds are tough boots where as the 7 are more fragile.

However the ABS light coming on is a red flag and suggests that has got unhappy. I wouldn't expect that to flash up ABS failure warning if it was gearbox related. ESP flashing maybe if the box locked the wheels out or caused a lot of drag. 

Have they said what codes are stored?

[mercedade]

7 minutes ago, SiC said:

Is it the 5 speed or 7 speed auto?

5 speeds are tough boots where as the 7 are more fragile.

However the ABS light coming on is a red flag and suggests that has got unhappy. I wouldn't expect that to flash up ABS failure warning if it was gearbox related. ESP flashing maybe if the box locked the wheels out or caused a lot of drag. 

Have they said what codes are stored?

No, it's been very frustrating getting much out of them at all by the sounds of things, and then I'm getting things third-hand, filtered through my sister who doesn't have a huge amount of knowledge about cars. Part of the challenge I think is that they've been a bit pissy with her because the car was delivered back to them with no notice (the breakdown happened at just before 5am, recovered back at 8.30am). My sister is extremely gentle, she absolutely appreciated that they're busy and this wasn't booked in, so left them to it with no pressure. When she called them after 9 days to ask them if they'd had chance to take a look, apparently the receptionist was a bit crabby about it. Bad day maybe. 

Anyway, I wonder if 'ABS light' really was 'ESP' - I doubt she can accurately recall.

The RAC recovery guy thought it was 'maybe a wheel bearing', but I'm probably not going to get too carried away by a diagnosis made with 18 wheelers inches away from his head.

No idea which box this is - I'll go back and see if the original thread says. I know the box had been serviced (fluid and filter) within the last two years. 

[mercedade]

Edit -

5-speed box

 

[Rust Collector]

Topical, seeing as I’ve got my head buried in a W211 this morning! I dimly recall that someone mentioned cars fitted with SBC have the potential to lock on the anchors, although I think that may have been in relation to SLK’s??

[mercedade]

15 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

Topical, seeing as I’ve got my head buried in a W211 this morning! I dimly recall that someone mentioned cars fitted with SBC have the potential to lock on the anchors, although I think that may have been in relation to SLK’s??

Interesting. I was looking around for SBC info and most fails seem to be losing braking power. Will search for this! Ta

[Rust Collector]

7 minutes ago, mercedade said:

Interesting. I was looking around for SBC info and most fails seem to be losing braking power. Will search for this! Ta

This is of course going by appalling memory! It maybe had something to do with brake hold models, but again take this with a pinch of salt as it has come from my sleep deprived brain!

[maxxo]

Fucksticks 

 

[mercedade]

40 minutes ago, Rust Collector said:

This is of course going by appalling memory! It maybe had something to do with brake hold models, but again take this with a pinch of salt as it has come from my sleep deprived brain!

This is the max info I can get it seems, plus that the garage "didn't have a code". 

[goosey]

On 25/10/2024 at 19:14, High Jetter said:

Did they get a police escort?

No, I was awake downstairs at 3.30am with my 3 year old daughter as she was feeling unwell and I kept hearing noise outside. When I looked there was 3 blokes throwing bags of product into the back of a Transit Custom which sped away with 2 other cars. Yesterday morning the same Transit Custom came back and picked more stuff up. I guess they will probably default on the mortgage and the house will be up for sale again at some point 

[Dyslexic Viking]

Thanks to the stupid clock settings, it's now dark outside.

[Bfg]

^    Clocks don't make it go dark outside  

[Dyslexic Viking]

What I meant was that since the clock has now been set back, it's dark at 5.30 here now.

[myglaren]

Indeed, it gets late early these days.

[High Jetter]

Shirley now, on good old GMT here, it gets dark at the right time? It's early later during the summer.

[Spiny Norman]

What pisses me off about the clocks changing is that they go back (this year) 56 days before the shortest day, after December 21st the days start getting longer yet it takes nearly double that until the very end of March before they go forward again.
We're not at war, farmers are always telling us they get up at 4 in the morning and most people who do normal office type hours are getting up in the dark anyway during winter so why leave it so long when we could be having lighter evenings till 7-8pm in February?
 

[wuvvum]

Drove in to Norwich earlier this evening, and bugger me it was painful.  I shouldn't have been surprised, it's the same every bloody year - people who haven't driven in the dark since March and have completely forgotten how to do it, giffers who find that their eyesight has deteriorated even further since last winter and brake nearly to a stop every time a vehicle comes the other way, cars with multiple bulbs out, etc. etc.

Then traffic in the city was a nightmare because the bloody football had just finished.  

[Yoss]

38 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

Drove in to Norwich earlier this evening, and bugger me it was painful.  I shouldn't have been surprised, it's the same every bloody year - people who haven't driven in the dark since March and have completely forgotten how to do it, giffers who find that their eyesight has deteriorated even further since last winter and brake nearly to a stop every time a vehicle comes the other way, cars with multiple bulbs out, etc. etc.

Then traffic in the city was a nightmare because the bloody football had just finished.  

We were once staying in Lowestoft and went in to Norwich for the evening on the train. When we went to come back the football had just kicked out and the train was still a single two car class 156 just it as would be any other day. Probably the most crowded train I've ever been on. And they would have had spare units as the evening peak had long finished. But no, that's too difficult. 

 

Anyway back to now and I've cut the end of my finger off with a Stanley knife. Such fun. 

It's only the very very tip but there's been a lot of blood. Who know a finger had so much blood in it. 

Worst thing is it happened in such a ridiculous way. I'd been crawling around under a car all morning and have any number of power tools and knives that I use regularly for jobs round the house, on the car or the railway in the loft that I could damage myself with. 

But no, Mrs Yoss asked me to put a couple of eggs on to boil. So far so good. Some minutes later I could smell burning. I'd left a tea towel touching the edge of the hob and it was just starting to smoulder (an electric hob not gas that would have gone up immediately). So I grab it and run the smouldering bit under the tap. 

It's an old tea towel, most people would have just thrown it away. But I looked at it and one edge was a bit crispy so I though if I cut that bit off it'll be as good as new. I tried some crappy scissors but they didn't want to know. There are some decent scissors in the garage about ten paces away but that would involve opening two doors so I thought I'd use the nearby Stanley knife. I'm still not really sure how it happened but it did. Mrs Yoss tried putting one of those special end of finger plasters on but there was so much blood it didn't really take so I just wrapped the a towel round it (a different one), tied an elastic band and held it aloft for a while. This was about lunchtime. It definitely stopped bleeding because I moved the tea towel around to a non blood soaked bit and no more came through. 

So about 7 o'clock I thought I'd take it off and as soon as I tried peeling the plaster off it just started gushing again. So now I've wrapped it in surgical dressing cloth, so it's not actually sticking to the skin, then a bit more tea towel and elastic band again and it has stopped again so I'm not going to disturb it again tonight. If I take it off tomorrow and it starts bleeding again I might have to take it somewhere. 

I've just added the bit of rubber glove as I'm off to bed and I don't want to get blood on the bedding if it starts again. 

It's not the same tea towel I set fire to so we've now lost two tea towels. And ironically those are the good scissors I couldn't be bothered to go and get from the garage in the first place. 

Why didn't I just throw the bloody thing away. The whole chain of events is frankly ludicrous. If you wrote it in to a sitcom it would be dismissed as totally unfeasible. Who knew boiling eggs could be so dangerous. 

[Zelandeth]

7 hours ago, Spiny Norman said:

What pisses me off about the clocks changing is that they go back (this year) 56 days before the shortest day, after December 21st the days start getting longer yet it takes nearly double that until the very end of March before they go forward again.
We're not at war, farmers are always telling us they get up at 4 in the morning and most people who do normal office type hours are getting up in the dark anyway during winter so why leave it so long when we could be having lighter evenings till 7-8pm in February?
 

The "but think of the farmers" line always hacks me off.  I asked one of them who used to frequent our local pub from time to time what their thoughts on it were.  Their answer was, and I quote: "Couldnae give a flying fuck fit the clock says." 

Long and short of it is that they start work at roughly the same time every day, largely tied into the routine of the livestock if it's a dairy/sheep farm, and you work till the work's done.  What time the clock on the wall is pointing at doesn't make the slightest bit of difference.

It might have been different 50+ years ago when electricity wasn't a given in really rural areas, lighting in and around farm buildings was almost universally awful or non existent, and lighting on tractors was similarly crap.  That's really not the case any more though.

Sure mileage may vary, but that's what I got told when I asked a cranky farmer in the pub in Aberdeenshire about 15 years back.

[myglaren]

Pretty indefensible these days, no need for it at all and just disrupts everything twice a year.

[juular]

The majority of November after the clock change is a nightmare at morning rush hour, since both the M9 and M8 run east-west,  all of the Eastbound traffic is suddenly completely blinded by the sun being right on the horizon.  Then on the evening rush the opposite is true, all westbound traffic can't see fuck all.

There's often reports on Traffic Scotland about slow moving traffic due to low sun. Combine that with the salt starting to go down and it's not uncommon to see people on the hard shoulder trying to scrape their windscreens with random clothing items or trying to pour a can of coke down their windscreen.

Honestly would rather just drive in the dark.

[Yoss]

I took my home made dressing off. The bandage had embedded itself in the wound so I had to soak it to get it off. Looked like this. 

 

Still looks bad but not as bad as yesterday. I've applied clean bandage and it is still mostly white 15 minutes later. Yesterday it turned red before I could even tape it down. And I've left the end as open as possible and I'm not using the elastic band tourniquet so it shouldn't get worse than this hopefully. 

 

I've bought one of those fingerbobs to protect it though I'm leaving it open at the mo. Also what look suspiciously like condoms but they must be better than the finger of a rubber glove i used last night. 

[High Jetter]

10 hours ago, Yoss said:

Who knew boiling eggs could be so dangerous. 

That would have been a great plot for Victor Meldrew! Glad it's improving today though.

[myglaren]

Would this be any better?