February 2002
According to the Speed Trap Bible site, Mr Meacher has written to all National Park Authorities to seek ways of banning motorcycles in National Parks.
Ban ban ban. Wot next
More here.
In a leaked letter from the Environment Minister, Mr Meacher he is asking the Police and local/park authorities to look at how motorcycles might be banned from the public ROADS in National Parks. A copy of the letter and details on how you may register your objections are at:
www.speed-trap.co.uk/news.htm Read more
Hi.
Q.When to take a dipstick reading
I know this sounds like a silly Q but....
I've been running a '96 Vectra 2.0Di for a while now and have read somewhere that they take quite some time for the engine oil to drain to the sump so readings should be taken quite some time (say 1hr+) after the car has been warmed up.
I have been following this routine for a while and found it to not be consuming much oil.
It's just been into the garage to look at an intermittent fault and they said they needed to put over 1L of oil in as it was very low.
I drove the car from the garage this morning, arrived at work about 9am then dipped it at lunch (1:30pm). The oil level was covering the entire plastic level- way above max.
I've phoned the garage and they said the engine oil should be checked about 15mins after stopping the engine which in this case would probably give a low, artificially low in my opinion, reading of the engine oil level.
Leaving it longer will allow more oil to reach the sump and give a higher reading.
The question is this. Which method is correct for this engine as I'm either running the car most of the time rather low on oil or the garage has overfilled it depending on when you dip.
Finally what damage will occur to my engine due to over-filling and will it cause damage in the 40ish motorway miles I will need to cover before getting the potential problem sorted.
Thanks, Phil Read more
Phil, I would be interested to know how reliable your engine has been over that distance. Have you had it since new? Did the engine initially consume more oil? Any particular problems to mention regarding the engine or car?
Thanks,
Richard
Hi everyone,
I hope you can help me with this one. Was sitting waiting for SWMBO to meet for lunch when I noticed some steam coming from the engine. Opened the bonnet and found it was mostly white where coolant (I assume) has squirted all over the engine bay.
There's a small fracture in the rubber pipe that is on the top right of the engine and this is where it's escaping from. I've posted a picture of the problem click here. or www.btinternet.com/~harkis/help.html
I just need to know what the pipe is (it seems to end up at the radiator) and how much I could expect to pay to have it repaired at an independent.
I don't know how long it's been doing this other than it was OK on Sunday when I checked the oil & water, but would it be safe to drive to a garage in the current condition. It took a litre of water t refill the radiator to its normal level. I've had to leave the car to seek further assistance (here)
Your expert help would be very much appreciated.
Lee. Read more
Lee,
Ah I see you've popped a "you are here arrow" on the image, only noticed as I was showing SWMBO your nifty page.
Right this looks a good candidate for a repair with another short section of hose and a metal joining pipe. You have so much room and length to play with the possibilities are endless.
David
Apologies if I am hijacking the site with this:
As a member of the UkSupra Owners club, one of our members had hi car stolen yesterday, in the Chesire area.
It is a silver MKIV Toyota Supra, totally stock in appearance, plate L522 RJN
If anyone on here has seen it today, could they give the police a ring with its location.
Again, apologies for this, I am sure HJ doesn't want this board turning into a stolen/spotted noticeboard.
Rob
MKIV SZ Read more
Hi,
The reason no cars are listed is because nobody has bothered to report any.
We can't make them up !. I'm hoping for a bit of publicity for the site (via HJ and motoring press) which should hopefully alert people to the fact it exists.
The search engines should also hopefully pick it up soon as its on the DMOZ register.
hysmc.co.uk is not backed by any commercial organisation, it is our attempt to provide an additional resource in the fight against car crime. This will only be successful if people who have lost their vehicles register them on the site.
hysmc.co.uk is not intended to make a profit for anyone so consequently there is no big budget behind it and it will rely on motorists using it in the unfortunate event of their car being stolen. We don't guarantee we will find your car but everything helps, its your site so use it.
Tim Slater
Webmaster
www.hysmc.co.uk
The National Transportation Safety Board recently divulged they had
covertly funded a project with the U.S. auto makers for the past five
years, whereby the auto makers were installing black boxes in four-wheel
drive pickup trucks in an effort to determine, in fatal accidents, the
circumstances in the last 15 seconds before the crash.
They were surprised to find in 49 of the 50 states the last words of
drivers in 61.2 percent of fatal crashes were, "Oh, S**t!"
Only the state of Alabama was different, where 96.4 percent of the final words were -
"Hey Y'all, hold my beer and watch this!" Read more
I have 6K to spend on a solid family car. I have considered a Passat, Audi A4 and old A6, old 5 series BMW, Honda Accord, Toyota Avensis and high spec Mo Mondeos. It appears to be a trade off between old quality high milers and newer cars perceived as less quality vehicles.
The Passats seem to get a hammering on quality. Toyota Avensis seem OK and pretty cheap, Accords the same. I have to narrow it down to look properly. Any thoughts? What should I avoid on my list? Should I get myself down to the auctions with a knowledgeable friend?
Thanks Read more
I would not want to get into the deathtrap debate, though smaller cars tend to be less protective. The original inquiry was for a family car, the matiz is a sub 1litre super mini/small people carrier. However good it is at that i doubt it would take a family of four, a large tent and camping gear in the boot and 75kg on the roof which is my user requirement for a family car!
As you where all so helpful onmy last post I thought I would take advantage and ask another question.
My Corrado (1.8 16v) has done 104000 miles Everything seems fairly sound, apart from the tappets which chatter a bit when I start the engine. The car is regularly serviced. However, I am little paranoid about things like my head gasket going. IS there any preventative maintenance I should be considering carrying out?
Thanks in advance
Ross Read more
I forgot!
if your cambelt tensioner gubbins is original,change it now!
Hello,
I was wondering if anyone could give me any advice? I have a 1990 Corrado, (Nugget Yellow) It's starting to look a bit tatty around the edges. I was considering getting it re-sprayed but Have no idea how much this would cost, Could anyone give me an approximate figure for a total re-spary and another figure for how much it would cost to get a door re-sprayed?
Thanks in advance.
Ross
P.S. Does any one know of any reputable spray shops in the north east? Read more
You can but then your respray doesn't cost £800.
Selling my 2001 Golf GTI 1.8T - asking price 15K
Got a call from a potential buyer, 1st question - is it on finance? - no
2nd question - whats the reg number? DK** ***
3rd question - whats the VIN - WVW ****etc
said he was going to do an AA check on it and get them to inspect it, can he have my address please? Get the AA to call me and i'll give them my address I replied.
He gave me his name and address - turned out to be false, got a mobile number - switched off.
Whats he going to do with these details?
Cheers
Andrew Read more
People can get loads of info about your car, as described above, plus they can get the VIN no on a modern car as it is displayed in the windscreen. A good start for getting a V5 and or duplicate keys.
Searching the various car lots last week end for a car for daughter and armed with Parkers (March 2002) I noticed that virtually all on display were marked up some £500 - £750 above that shown for A.1 condition. Asking the HJ question, immediately that sum was reduced and down to the top price shown in the Book. Presume this is an attempted con and do people fall for it?
I was able further to get a reduction through bits and pieces and tax. Perhaps we should have lessons from Growler as from experiences in my youth in the Far East this is how they do the business.
Why does it take a week to complete a purchase?
Lastly, came across a Garage, selling 18 month old motors, which looked in pristine condition , well spec'd and very low mileage. V.5 showed the owner as a named individual, Mobility Leasing, and then their home address. Bearing in mind as I understand it, the major Car rental firms show the owner as something like Barclays Security etc. should this ring warning bells when considering purchasing one?
DVD Read more
The trouble with the motability scheme,large numbers of the beneficiaries of which i know from direct observation,are very marginal cases indeed......
The trouble is that they are not charged for the difference in the condition of the car from that which would be reasonable.
In the circumstances,"As new but better polished"would be a reasonable stipulation.they presumeably have the time.
In short its another bit of crackpot socialism,you dont see the manufacturers of quality cars after the business,I observe.
Browse
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Some nice examples of the Law of Unintended Consequences being QED'd by gov't actions.