November 2002
If anyone has a suggestion for the above for online suppliers, I'd be really grateful. Six months ago on this site, Trade Sales was offering the 1.6 Zetecs for £9299; I'm interested in this model but can't find a similar price. A diesel would be fine, too.
Many thanks indeed.
frmarcus Read more
Noticed this in Road Vehicles Lighting Regs 1989.
Never noticed this before and never actually seen it on a vehicle either,
It is in Part 2, section 13 para 2 (e)
Here is the gist.
13.-(1) Save as provided in paragraph (2), no vehicle shall be fitted with a lamp which automatically emits a flashing light.
(2) Paragraph (1) does not apply in respect of-
(a) a direction indicator;
(b) a headlamp fitted to an emergency vehicle;
(c) a warning beacon or special warning lamp;
(d) a lamp or illuminated sign fitted to a vehicle used for police purposes;
all fair enough then one gets
(e) a green warning lamp used as an anti-lock brake indicator;
Pardon? What's all that about then?
in case you donn't believe me the link is here >>
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si1989/Uksi_19891796_en_3.htm#(Tii)i4filamentlamp
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"FIF Now we know, but are we wiser?????"
Thanks DVD, well done that man.
Virtual pint behind the bar for you, and a real one if you ever visit down this way.
Am I any the wiser? Hmmm. Other than I now ought to know better when not to start "difficult" threads.
Seems the EEC are no better at drafting clear legislation than our mob. I can see anomalies in all that stuff already; but I'm not going to go there you'll be relieved to hear.
Rebecca, looks like your job is OK for quite a few years then.
cheers all,
FiF
Well, this is a rare happening. I've got a brand new MINI Cooper parked up outside. After the three month or so wait we've finally got our hands on it. And having driven it around the roads and motorways today I don't think we're going to be disappointed. Of course, if we are I'll post here! :-)
Just a quick thanks to HJ, Andy S and everyone else who gave me advice on choosing. I've taken HJ's advice and not opted for the super hard sports suspension+ with 17" wheels and I think that's a wise move. His recommendation that it's "the most fun car there is" (C by C) I'd find hard to dispute. And Andy, thanks for putting the seed there in the first place.
Of course, we'll be living on beans until it's paid for (well, perhaps beans and chips)
I'll drive it for a bit and then post a driving report in Technical. Just a quickie - what sort of MPG are people getting with their MINIs? 43mpg seems a bit optimistic...
Lee.
>>>The seed:
Going Nuts? - Andy S Thu 25 Jul 02 12:17
Lee,
My opinions:
1 - I don't know what sort of mileage and roads you drive, but I would recommend you think very carefully, try a couple of long journeys in a small car and then consider whether the brand new car appeals more than the comfort, stability and safety of a 2-year old £7k larger car (or your existing Xantia).
2 - If you are happy with the concept of the smaller car consider very very carefully whether you can afford to stretch your budget a few thousand to buy a Mini. Go on, you know it makes sense! Sensible argument is that depreciation will be peanuts compared with the Italian or French stuff, and build quality and reliability should (though I take no responsibility here) be way better.
Good luck
Andy
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Thanks Ian,
We've already put 200 miles on it (24 hours!) and loved it. It's even fun to watch the SWMBO driving it while following her in the Clio - it looks so cute!
Can't think of anything I don't like about it yet, apart from the torrential rain it's been driven through today that has well and truly done for the shiny showroom finish. Back to the polishing thread...!
I agree with you wholeheartedly about the gallery. It almost got shut down last week through inactivity. Seems to me that there must be some ugly b*ggers around here, or perhaps they're just intimidated by the handsome mugshots of your goodself, Jonathan, Mark(RLBS) and me!
If anyone's new-ish here, there are some photos of some forum folk and some of their transport at communities.msn.com/honestjohn
I kinda administrate it - it's not part of this site, just a off-shoot I put together and you can send me photos to add there at the address in my profile (Click my name above this post). If you're sufficiently handsome! ;-)
And Miniian? Can't quite shake off all those years of following the Chevrons that easily! It'll have to stay for a while yet!
Lee
PS - I think the 17" and SS+ would have done for my spine, but having driven a Cooper with that set up, and having an absolute ball in it, I reckon it'd have been worth it!
Anybody interested in fuel additives? I was persuaded to use some recently with very positive results. Normally I would have ignored such things. The short version of the story is ....
At the 60,000 mile service of my Mk 3 VW Golf the compression test showed a very poor reading on one cylinder. Try this fuel additive said the man, and he persuaded me to pour the whole bottle in half a tank and work the engine hard. This was despite the directions on the product. I might add this was all conducted in French, in Belgium and "me no speaky French" (I can manage German, Nepali and some Arabic but that does not cut much ice over here). Anyway a second bottle was sold to me before the re-test but this time I slipped in only half. By this time the engine was noticeably in a better state of tune. Then came the re-test. The results surprised me. The dodgy cylinder was back with the rest and all were significantly better and more evenly matched.
Such then is the case for fuel additives - they are A GOOD THING! Or are they? Can overuse damage and engine? Is periodic use preferred to constant use (even in accordance with directions)? Does the cleaning action interfere with any lubricating properties that the petrol may have? Do some fuel brands need additives and others not? What is the case for diesel engines? What actually do fuel additives do and do they all do the same thing?
Grateful for any comments.
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Hmmm....... Fuel Additives readily offered, and usage fairly common in that territory makes me suspicious of the fuel quality in that area. Must be like our old supermarket fuel.
However, definitely a good thing when needed. Saves labour & materials needed dismantling cyl head to free deposits from sticking valve.
The time is running out on the company lease on my Dad's A6 Avant 1.9TDI and we are looking at replacements. In consideration is buying the A6, as it will have mega miles for a 3 year old (100k) when the lease is up in June. However it will still not be cheap.
However he is considering trying to source a Zafira 2.2DTI Elegance. From the link here
a>
it suggests showroom4cars.com sells them. The aren't on the website though.
Also a personal import from Belgium might be a possibility. Anyone know (HJ?) a source for one of these would be? LHD is not necessarily a problem.
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Didn't there used to be an edit button?
Anyway the url is www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/index.htm?news_id=583
What do you think the penalty should be for the following :
You have written off a car and your passenger sustained 8 fractured ribs, a punctured lung, leg and knee injuries and 80% body bruising, and is not fully recovered 5 months later.
You were driving along a country lane, limited to 30mph, and you were travelling at 110mph when you left the road, flew over a dyke, hit the opposite bank, landed the car on its side in the dyke, and slid to a halt with the wrecked car half submerged.
What do you reckon? Dangerous driving? Ban? heavy fine? multiple points? strung up by the thumbs?
Wrong. This guy got careless driving, £500 fine, £1200 costs, 9 points.
Could this have something to do with the fact that he's an advanced police driving instuctor?
The case was heard today. South Yorkshire police chase exercise, two patrol cars chasing this one.
I would risk a little bet that the magistrates would have treated us in a different manner.
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Perception is indeed important. Certainly I was less than impressed at the reaction of the police to an attempted mugging (I was attacked by about 10 youths) and 2 car break ins. Basically the reaction was "we will do nothing" and I think this generates bad will. However, I have learnt from this forum that the reason the police take this attitude is lack of resources. So they can't win can they? They don't have the resources to do the job 'cos we don't given them the money and they get flack 'cos they don't chase up all crimes. And of course this government have initiatives that force 'em to target specific crimes at the expense of others.
Mmm. I feel a rant coming on ...
Unless I am mistaken most crimes (or a significant proportion) are drug related i.e. drug users stealing to fuel the habit. At the risk of stoking the embers I reckon that the sooner we distribute free drugs to the idiots who want to damage their bodies the better. (Though in point of fact heroin of a known purity is relatively safe. It is the impurities, unknown concentration and dirty needles that kill.) Organised crime would lose a big source of income, scum bags would stop stealing from motorists, grannies etc, and instead visit the local government controlled scum bag heroin shooting gallery with medical staff and counsellers on hand and the police could then get back to the traditional "Ello ello what's goin' on 'ere then" routine. But of course this is way too contentious to implement.
Yup. It was a rant.
Hi guys,
Our '98 Passat Auto (120k miles) has what sounds like a final drive whine - most noticeable at around 60 mph. A transmission specialist spent a week re-building the 'box, to no effect whatsoever! I've used him before and he seems to know his stuff, and he was certain he'd got the crownwheel/pinion alignment correct. He was as mystified as anyone, and to his eternal credit declined to charge for *any* work whatsoever!
I've read in HJ's 'car-by-car' that this may be a common(ish) fault, so can anyone shed any more light on it? Are VW aware of the problem?
So much for 'legendary' Teutonic build quality........ Read more
I posted about starting problems with a BMW 325TDS SE - all cured now thanks to some new glow - plugs, but what a game fitting them... inlet manifold off etc...
Anyone know how to adjust the idle speed - it currently runs at about 750 - 800 rpm, seems a tad fast to me - any ideas?
Who is STIG? In my dreams it's Vicky BH ...!!
Sideways
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May be a silly "teach your granny to suck eggs", but have you tried switching off and re-booting? Read more
HJ
Just picked up on this lengthy thread regarding your email and Word problems. Doubtless you have already checked your email settings in Outlook Express. However, here is a link to a page on the Pipex site containing setup instructions.
www.dial.pipex.net/support/faq/mail/olex-mail-setu...l
I use Outlook Express 6 but supplement it with a small freeware email client called Popcorn. Popcorn has all the normal email functions in that you can send and receive emails but it also enables you to view all your incoming mail directly on the server. This means you can see all the message headers and delete any junk together with anything suspicious without downloading any mail to your local machine.
You can download Popcorn from:
www.ultrafunk.com/products/popcorn/
The program is tiny and will run directly from a floppy, thus it is excellent for use on the move. Setup is very easy, all you will need is your username and password plus details of the two Pipex mail servers as below:
POP3 server is pop.dial.pipex.com
SMTP server is smtp.dial.pipex.com
Of relevance to your email problem, if you install Popcorn and your mail works fine then you must have a local machine problem probably with OE6. If you are unable to access your mail with Popcorn then the problem must lie at the Pipex end.
If the problem is with OE6, buy a copy of PC Pro and just install Internet Explorer 6 from the cover disk. This should give you the latest version of OE6 and clear up any damaged files.
Regarding the Word problem, a common solution it to shut down Word then do a search for the normal.dot file and just delete it. Word will automatically make a new one when it restarts and this often clears up problems with the program. If you are worried about deleting it then rename it normal.old and then start Word up.
Sorry about the long winded post - hope this is helpful.
my 97R astra had its cambelt changed 3k ago, but when engine is cold it occasionaly makes a whining noise, only for a short period when engine is at tickover but sounds like cambelt slipping but shouldnt be should it?!also how easy is it to fit reversing light switch as mine is dodgy! Read more
Did they also change the cambelt tensioner roller? Sometimes the bearings on the rollers can get quite noisy and make a whining or squealing noise. If the cambelt is overtightened, it can lead to the bearing being damaged.
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Trade Sales are offering the following deal
51 Reg Ford Focus 1.6 Zetec 5DR
Low Miles, Met Paint, Air Con, CD, Alloys
Our Price from £7,999