Not totally relevant here, but as good a place as any to ask this!

I have used my shell pluspoints card on 2 occasions this month, yet the balance on the card is still zero, over 48 hours after the second use.

I have now received a second pluspoints card in my name (this time without the hyphen) and the balance on this card is zero too.

Also, the mountain of smart points I got on taking out (and using) a Shell Visa card, which should have been converted to pluspoints have also disappeared.

Of, course, ringing shell pluspoints just gives you an engaged tone!

Has anyone here had any pluspoints added to their shell account and/or smart points converted?

It makes me want to go to Sainsbury's for petrol. Less convenient, but at least reliable!

Writing this as an Air Miles collector, but more people may read this board. Posted on Air Miles Board too btw.

Thanks. Read more

My new car is the first one to have air con.

But how do I use it?

Is it only with the temperature on COLD, or does it have some benefit on medium and higher temperature settings. I do not think I have climate control, but what do I know, eh?

Thanks.

MMJ Read more

A month ago I noticed that the oil gage pressure on my 89 Chevrolet Camaro RS 2.8 was running very high (round 80 -instead of 40/50) I immediately stopped the engine, checked the oil only to see that smoke came out of the dipstick column for over a minute. I added 1.5 litre of oil but this did not solve the problem.
The oil pressure is still high when I drive it around (very rarely these days) and there is still smoke coming out of the same area, although less than before, perhaps because the oil level is adequate.
I'll add that the car is not overheating and that there's no oil leak although the car does consume its fair amount of oil.
I recently took it to a local garage who told me that the pistons were worn out, that there was too much back pressure and that basically the engine was on its way out. I find it hard to believe that given the type of engine and it's only done 55 000 miles. They added that it would cost £2000 to fix it...
I am at a loss to know what to do really as it is very hard to get advice for american cars from local garages. I suspect it's far less serious that I've been told, maybe something to do with the breathers in the system. What do you think the problem is likely to be and is it safe for me to use for the time being for short distances ?
Thanks a lot for helping. Read more

just read a note on a usa web site that was discussing the pros and cons of leaving the air con on all the time. There was general agreement that the system should be left on all the time or used regularly to keep the seals in good condition and prevent premature failure. Until one "veteran" member stated that this was true of old systems using R12 gas, but the new systems use R134a and have polyalkylene glycol as the lubricant, a different elastomeric seal material that does not swell and, therefore, it is not necessary to occasionally run R134a systems to prevent leaks.

Can any air/con experts confirm the theory? Read more

looking through some old photo's yesterday and found pictures of my old Triumph Dolomite 1850, red with black vinyl roof, also found pics of my old Avenger, metallic dark green with tan tinyl roof. Suddenly realised that I havn't seen a car with a nice piece of vinyl on the roof for years. Why is that? Read more