The grumpy thread

[pogweasel]

  whitevanman said:

Combi boilers are shit...we have athing that calls itself a combi, been condemmed by the gas inspectors as shite and the only thing it does is mildly heat up 7 radiators....want a bath? boil the kettle its quicker..............another modern improvnent under the " new and improved" moniker thats worse than the old system...........give me back my bloody AGA please

Yup. Running a bath with new boiler is almost impossible, as by the time it's full, it is also cold. The old cylinder would fill it in a couple of minutes with water hotter than the surface of the sun. You were guaranteed a deep steaming monkey bath every time. Though we can at least have a proper shower now, old gravity fed shower was like a dribble, even at full pelt. New system blasts your skin off if you turn it up too much.

[trigger]

I have a old back boiler dating from around 1970, It seems to work fine, Never had any problems with it but the chap who my dad's mate who came to service it a few years back siad it's likely to pack up soon and a replacement would have to be a combi system costing around £2000 It would have to go in the loft due to my neighbours house being to close as the extraction flume needs to be so many foot away from his house, Pain in the arse.

[dollywobbler]

Meh. Current house has a combi, as did previous one. Both pumped out plenty of hot water. Mind you, can't be good when you waste so much water waiting for it to actually turn hot, even with a good combi...Mind you, we are definitely going to get a wood-burner fitted, and hopefully soon.

[Arragonis]

Why is it that like the first cuckoo call herald the start of spring, that the first fog lights on a clear night set the starting pistol for the depths of winter.And why is it on the dark nights we still get people using stealth mode, no lights at all ?I think they should be pulled over and given a good shoeing.

[trigger]

Had a barney with the garage i bought the wife's new Micra from today.

 

I'll give you the full story, Bit of a yarn though, Coupe of weeks back i went to look at THIS MIRCA up the road from me, Took it for a test drive, All seemed good, The car was a bit sluggish but being use to a Passat 1.9 TDi i put it down to it just being a small engine, The price was £3895 but haggled it down to £3700 with a new mot, service and 3 months warranty.

 

A few days later i ring back as i wanted the cambelt done, the garage wasn't willing to do it as I'd had money knocked of but agree to discount a further £100 of the price, bearing in mind a cambelt costs £180 + Vat to do, I agreed and left it at that.

So last Saturday i collect the car, Following the wife home i see lots of black smoke coming for the exhaust, which wasn't there on the test drive, but putting it down to just being from lack of use and sitting around a bit i give it a few days to clear, but after 150 miles it gots worse, Really worse!

 

So I ring the garage up telling them and he said it was fine when he sold it but he''ll book it into a diesel specialists near me to get it checked out.

I dropped it of this morning and waited, then this afternoon car saleman rings me up telling it the EGR valve is shagged and needs replacing, he only wants another £100 from me to help towards the cost and that that if i'm not happy he'll give me my money back on it.

 

So i drive down to his garage and see him, telling him that he can have his poxy car back, as it's under warranty and as such it's should be covered, he soon changed his tune and offered to pay the full £250 repair bill still moaning about how he's made no money on the car and that i shouldn't of haggled so much of the price!!.

 

Mind you on the plus side, I've just collected it and it goes like a bloody rocket now!, Was never this quick on the test drive so all well now.

[FredTransit]

Could the pump timing have been out before the work? If so that wouldn't have helped.

[trigger]

They asked that as well but i haven't had chance to change the belt yet so that wasn't the problem, It was a jammed EGR valve which would seem to be a very common problem with modern common-rail diesels according to the diesel specialists, They get jammed open and let to much diesel in and all the smoke is the diesel and oil burning off.

[Mr Lobster]

^ Certainly a common problem on Renault / Nissan DCi engines.

[FredTransit]

  trigger said:

They asked that as well but i haven't had chance to change the belt yet so that wasn't the problem, It was a jammed EGR valve which would seem to be a very common problem with modern common-rail diesels according to the diesel specialists, They get jammed open and let to much diesel in and all the smoke is the diesel and oil burning off.

Wedge the thing open Mk2 transits do very nicely thank you without em. I didn't know what one was till I started mixing with people who have Mk5s.

[Pete-M]

Fred, could you possibly explain your Transit "Mk" system?To me, it was always;Mk1 is the 65-78 Sweeney Bank Job type job.Mk2 is the 78-86 one.Mk3 is the 86-94 oneMk3 "Smiley" is 94-00 smiley grille, PAS Mk3 with the later dash. and smiley grille.Mk4 is the 2000-06 job that replaced the Mk3 and can be RWD or FWDMk4 facelift is the 2006- current one.Yet you talk about Mk7s and stuff. Even after 20 odd years in the motor trade I can't decipher your system. I've never known anyone else use it.

[trigger]

There was a Mk 3 new generation released around 1993-95 with slight different headlights which i think is classed as a Mk4 and the new shape has completely different headlights (like my dad's) which is a Mk 7.

 

There are more on the Marks here http://www.transitvanclub.co.uk/Transitclub.htm

[Pete-M]

Bloody hell, I've just checked Wiki and they're going on about 7th generation Transits and the like. So I'll STFU about 'em.

[FredTransit]

Well to be fair I am not even that happy with the Mk1/2/3/4/5 thing, somebody once posted a link to a Ford in house publication that said at the time (1998 ish) there were only 3 transits, going in body shape. I would actually agree, but for some reason some people seem to think that each time something gets a new shaped side repeater or summat it's a totally new Mk! By that we would be up to Mk10 by now. But generally it's accepted Mk1 phase1 1965-71 Mk1 phase2 1971-78Mk2 phase1 1978-84Mk2 phase2 1984-86Mk3 1986-91 (could have been phases but I don't think there was)Mk4 1991-95Mk5 1995-2001 (2?)Mk6 2002-sometime recently! :lol:Mk7 now....Sorry I sort of lost interest sometime in 1986. People who go on about this Mk3/4/5 thing will one day need to get it right. Or they will be stook all keen in a scrappy somewhere after being told there's a van in there that's the same Mk as theirs, only to find they have completely missed the Mk1 off when counting......

[trigger]

My up and over door has the habit of coming off the runners when i least want to to, Last time i had to get my dad to drive 25 miles over to mine to fix it as i could repair the poxy thing, and yes i have also walked into the corner of one before, I think i might of cried a bit at the time.

[Cavcraft]

  FredTransit said:

Well to be fair I am not even that happy with the Mk1/2/3/4/5 thing, somebody once posted a link to a Ford in house publication that said at the time (1998 ish) there were only 3 transits, going in body shape. I would actually agree, but for some reason some people seem to think that each time something gets a new shaped side repeater or summat it's a totally new Mk! By that we would be up to Mk10 by now. But generally it's accepted Mk1 phase1 1965-71 Mk1 phase2 1971-78Mk2 phase1 1978-84Mk2 phase2 1984-86Mk3 1986-91 (could have been phases but I don't think there was)Mk4 1991-95Mk5 1995-2001 (2?)Mk6 2002-sometime recently! :lol:Mk7 now....Sorry I sort of lost interest sometime in 1986. People who go on about this Mk3/4/5 thing will one day need to get it right. Or they will be stook all keen in a scrappy somewhere after being told there's a van in there that's the same Mk as theirs, only to find they have completely missed the Mk1 off when counting......

See, that's well handy to have. I got 'spoken to' on one forum for daring to suggest my 1997 Transit was a Mk3 Genuinely always thought anything from '86-2000 was a Mk3, with J reg on being known as 'new gen' and slightly later ones as 'smiley face'.Some models seem to have their own name too in certain circles: mine's been called a 'heavyweight' and a ''truck wheeled' Transit due to single rear wheels, 3.5 tonnes gross and six syud wheels. But at the end of the day it's just a fugging van lol.

[Parky]

Apologies to female readers but ladies:IF PURCHASING ITEMS IN A SHOP, WHY NOT HAVE YOUR PURSE READY? ALSO, IT ISNT NECESSARY TO PAY FOR THINGS WITH THE EXACT CHANGE, THE SHOP OWNER IS GENERALLY ABLE TO COPE WITH PAPER MONEY.Spent about 20 minutes in Tesco yesterday behind these ladies who were genuinely surprised to be asked to pay for their groceries, then played hunt the purse, and then proceeded to dig through the pennies to get the exact money. Took bloody ages. Whats wrong with using your debit card then or that twenty I can see?That is all....Oh, and if you're the bloke living opposite, any chance you can pick up all the discarded fireworks which now litter the street or is that not your responsibility?

[Richard]

Tescos is there to keep all the twats away from the rest of us. It doesn't work if you go there too. That's like putting a jam jar out to catch wasps them getting in beside them.

[Rusty Pelican]

  Parky said:

Apologies to female readers but ladies:IF PURCHASING ITEMS IN A SHOP, WHY NOT HAVE YOUR PURSE READY? ALSO, IT ISNT NECESSARY TO PAY FOR THINGS WITH THE EXACT CHANGE, THE SHOP OWNER IS GENERALLY ABLE TO COPE WITH PAPER MONEY.Spent about 20 minutes in Tesco yesterday behind these ladies who were genuinely surprised to be asked to pay for their groceries, then played hunt the purse, and then proceeded to dig through the pennies to get the exact money. Took bloody ages. Whats wrong with using your debit card then or that twenty I can see?That is all....

Right ,I read this to the missus and the answer is , Purse is burried to stop light fingered shoppers knicking it and is left there to the last second to stop this , the correct change is given so the purse doesnt end up FULL of shrapnel making it bloody heavy and breaking into that £ 20 gives even more change and seems to make you spend more , thats from a woman who knows , trust me

[RedSparrow]

Modern fireworks are shit. Several of us bought some for a bonfire thing at a mates over the weekend. Even the kids were going 'that was rubbish' and 'do some proper ones' in response to the pathetic offerings. The fact I was smoking was more interesting to most of them.

[dollywobbler]

Today's rant is specially for those idiots who think sidelights (or no lights at all) are acceptable in fog. I may have had this rant before. I'll also rant about the idiots who don't turn off their foglights when you're sitting inches behind them in stationary traffic. I think I've had that rant before too, but meh.

[Pete-M]

There's a chap on another forum I frequent trying to petition the gubbermint into making front fogs only come on with sidelights so you can't have front fogs and headlamps at the same time.I've just driven home in the fog and could see perfectly well just using the headlights on the Audi - didn't bother with the fogs as it has to be pretty bloody seriously foggy to need 'em. Sometimes in very heavy fog sides'n'fogs works, other times front fogs are handy to light up the kerbs if nothing else.I think I've had to use rear fogs once in the last year, and that was on the M6 in February when it wasn't safer to go above 30ish mph because of the fog, and I turned the buggers off whenever the fog lifted for a while. Front fogs were a major help then.The giffers who put rears on in the rain should be executed by special firing squads.

[CIH]

I really hate the bloody fake chirpy optismisim in call centres (I use to wok in one today so I know first-hand). Also, when they try to pretend they're having a conversation rather than flog you something. If I call them I usually play along as the poor sap is just doing their job and gets chewed up if they don't (as I use to) but it's even worse when some shithead cold calls you. Example;me: hello ?them: hi I'm from blah blah how are you today ?me: what do you want ?them: don't you want to tell me how you are (or words to that effect) ?- I'm quite happy to hang up on 'em nowadays so that's waht she got.Then some cock knocks on the door pecking my head too.

[Mr H Sceptre]

The current Ford advert.'All new Ford's are designed to look like they're moving, even when they're stationary' (or words to that effect).What the hell is that about?Firstly, they don't look like they're moving when they're stationary. And secondly, even if they were, I wouldn't want it to look like it was moving.Ford Kinetic Design my arse.

[trigger]

Poxy bloody car batteries!!! I got in my Passat to go to work at 6am this morning after not using it for two days only to be greeted with the weer weer click click sound you get from a flat battery, So rushing around in a flap i try jumping the car with my wife's car but trying to start a car in the dark with no torch isn't the easiest thing, so i end up taking her car and making her walk the 2 miles to work.I got home tonight with a bit more time so i try again, After a lot of fiddling round with the terminals trying to get a contact due to all the fuses and crap they now fit on them i get it running.As i take the jump leads off i then manage to drop the end of one into the fan and it jams against the poxy pulley and V belt stripping half the belt off. And to top it of the wife then burns my tea as she's flapping around trying to shut the engine off after me shouting like a fool to her indoors to help me whilst I'm trying to stop the clamp end jamming up completely.

[myglaren]

  RedSparrow said:

Modern fireworks are shit. Several of us bought some for a bonfire thing at a mates over the weekend. Even the kids were going 'that was rubbish' and 'do some proper ones' in response to the pathetic offerings. The fact I was smoking was more interesting to most of them.

Try buying them from a Chinese supermarket. Some of them are like Krakatoa all over again (and probably dubious in the legality department).

[Milford Cubicle]

  trigger said:

so i end up taking her car and making her walk the 2 miles to work.

What a gent!This is the time of year when batteries can be a menace. My mum's Primera's battery has started playing up, it was completely dead yesterday morning and was very sluggish this morning. It's less than a year old, that's what I get for buying £30 batteries I guess.

[Gompo]

  trigger said:

Poxy bloody car batteries!!! I got in my Passat to go to work at 6am this morning after not using it for two days only to be greeted with the weer weer click click sound you get from a flat battery, So rushing around in a flap i try jumping the car with my wife's car but trying to start a car in the dark with no torch isn't the easiest thing, so i end up taking her car and making her walk the 2 miles to work.I got home tonight with a bit more time so i try again, After a lot of fiddling round with the terminals trying to get a contact due to all the fuses and crap they now fit on them i get it running.As i take the jump leads off i then manage to drop the end of one into the fan and it jams against the poxy pulley and V belt stripping half the belt off. And to top it of the wife then burns my tea as she's flapping around trying to shut the engine off after me shouting like a fool to her indoors to help me whilst I'm trying to stop the clamp end jamming up completely.

I agree, I dont use my car much but if I leave it for a week it'll struggle. It shouldnt have much strain on the battery when sat or when being driven.Gone are the days when you could leave them 2/3/4 weeks and still get it to burst into life. Maybe i need a diesel battery.

[trigger]

In hindsight i should of got my 1602 out of the garage! she did moan about about it!.

[Albert Ross]

I have no battery problems since skanking a 680Ah unit from a current model focus tdci.....Starts my Land Rover admirably in all weathers. 2.3 diesel too.

[pogweasel]

EBAY CUNTS. They have suspended my account. Again. Because I didn't pay for items quick enough / through paypal... on large items, which were for collection!!!!I had two sets of wheels and an A1 plotter that they deemed 'unpaid', even when arrangements had been made with the sellers!Now they won't unlock my account until these items are paid through paypal. FUCK OFF EBAY!5 years of trading, £20-30 a month in seller fees, and that's how they treat their customers?