January 2003
I have the misfortune to live and drive a car in London.
The increase in bikes and particularly scooters in this city is understandable. The way most of them ride is not.
Their aggressive, ill-mannered and downright dangerous riding is infuriating and is starting to provoke a backlash from car drivers.
I speak as an ex-biker. Read more
just been watching the local news
a diesel scam has just been uncovered red diesel was been bought by a garage in birmingham then had an acid/bleaching agent added to it then sold as full price diesel on the forecourt
whats the big deal you may ask?
2 local taxi firms that used this garage have had to put a number of new engines in their taxis at around 3k a time as the bleaching agent screwed up their diesel units
ouch. Read more
Hmm - I'd say they'd have a case for suing the garage if they can prove that's where they got all/most of their fuel from. Damage to engines is just one reason not to use hooky fuel - there's also the fact that if C&E dip your tank and find you've been using illegal fuel they can impound your car and fine you. £750 is where they usually seem to start for a first offence, at least around here - I live in a rural area where a lot of people just put red diesel in their cars, and they do get caught from time to time.
I saw this on the letters page of today's Guardian and thought
what a good subject for discussion.
"If the government stopped issuing new private vehicle registrations two things would happen. One, the number of cars on the road would effectively be frozen. Two, today's worthless wrecks would have a market value, since a new vehicle could only be registered by turning in an old one."
Read more
Singapore (the city state which introduced congestion charges more than 30 years ago) has restricted new vehicle registrations for a number of years and this situation means car prices there are amongst the world's highest.
Even if you can afford to buy a motor vehicle, you can't register it for road use unless you first obtain a Certificate of Entitlement (CoE). And this is difficult because a CoE
is only issued when an existing car is scrapped or when the CoE is part of the tiny annual quota growth for new vehicles.
.. being the title of an excellent article about 4x4's (SUV's) in the US. See:
www.thenewrepublic.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20030120&s...3
"All the decent people who buy SUVs with the idea that they are safe or chic must recognize that their vehicles are pollution- spewing hogs.." should raise some reaction! Read more
Thanks, CMark. I expect the Yanks will have to be dragged kicking and screaming from their SUV's, although a war in the Middle East might do it. The 13-litre Caddy mentioned by Andrew above is probably a symptom of the same mindset, as is the Dodge Viper engined motorbike (!) mentioned by me in another thread. Perhaps it's a last hurrah, partying while the ship goes down.
What does surprise me about the US is their protectionism towards home industries - strange for a fiercely capitalist country that ostensibly believes in free trade...
I am thinking of buying either Laganza or Tacumma, any comments or advice. Read more
Only my own opinion, but I suggest your money would be far better invested in a mainstream Japanese marque such as Honda or Toyota etc. For a more budget buy, suggest Kia or Hyundai. Daewoo have all sorts of problems with their dealer nework etc, I'd steer well clear.
Baz
I want to put an alarm on my 2001 Corolla (1.4s) and have remote central locking. However the system seems to be singlepoint but the switch on the dash has 4 wires going to it.
Can anyone help me as to how I wire the central locking output from an alarm and what is the easiest self fit alarm I could use.
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greetings, ive been trying to get hold of a decent workshop manual (as opposed to a haynes one!)for a volvo v70 without much success when i came across a company in the states selling them on cd rom format which they claim contain all the same info as the manuals available to the main dealers, (one of the benifits of the freedom of infomation act perhaps?) the cost is $26 inc shipping which if they are as good as claimed aint bad, any of you tecnocrats out there any opinions /experiance of these manuals?, many thanks andy Read more
Have a look at
tinyurl.com/4llw
Click on 21 for details of Volvo.
DVD
I should like to change the gearbox oil which I suspect has never been changed; the car is difficult to get into reverse, esp when cold, might this help? I know the engine is a 1.9 Renault, the drain plug appears to be at the bottom of the diff (square drive socket) and the filler appears to be a nylon or plastic plug facing front halfway up the gearbox. Can anyone confirm?
> Also, the handbook refers to the capacity as 3.2 litres which seems a lot.
> What is the easiest way to fill, bearing in mind access to the filler is restricted and is fitted in a vertical face of the box?
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Gearbox oil tends to come in a bottle with a bendy pipe attached, precisely so you can squirt through a hole on a vertical surface!
However, the gearbox is a sealed system, the oil shouldn't ever want changing. Have you checked the adjustment of the clutch cable? (if it's cable-operated) Or level of clutch fluid? (if hydraulic)
Is it possible the clutch plate itself is worn out? Or that the gear selector rods have become misaligned and need re-adjusting?
Recieved e-mail today trying to stop the inevitable fuel price increases, it suggested boycotting one major fuel supplier ie ESSO. suggested this was a shure winner if we all did it forcing said supplier to maintain / cut fuel prices over all over suppliers and therefore force all to keep prices down. It probably would work if we all stuck to it.But will we?
chris Read more
Humpy - this is a perfectly understandable reaction, but I can't think of any regulated situation where everybody is affected equally, partly because of loopholes or (more often) human nature. In the end, the only effective control is (for want of a better word) self-regulation. Your explanation covers all kinds of practices like the Boulogne fag-courier traffic. I wonder what will develop among those unfortunate enough to live just inside or outside the Livingstone cordon?
I have a 1996 306 D turbo and am having problems with the heater blower and heated rear window not working.
There is a wire labled BB2 which runs from the positive control unit next to the battery to the ignition switch. When I measure the voltage at the ignition switch end (Before it actually goes htrough the ignition switch) it is low, indicating a break in the wire somewhere.
Can anybody tell me where this wire BB2 is routed so I can try and find the fault.
Thanks
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The control unit is under the big plastic cover on the nearside wing. There are also several 30 amp fuses under this cover - I don't think any of these is for wire BB2, but it's worth checking them just to be sure.
BB2 passes with the cable bundle through the bulkhead and into the dashboard on the left side and emerges on the right side. So any attempt to follow it will be a bit difficult. If you read Haynes's instructions for removing the complete facia assembly, it refers to a "main facia wiring harness connector" located in the scuttle under the windscreen wiper motor. But it doesn't tell you what cables it connects.
My choice would be to run a new cable from the control box to the ignition switch, fastened to BB2 at each end. You would have to make your own route for the cable, which would be more vulnerable than the original, so you should fit a suitably large in-line fuse (10 amps?).
Ian
PS I would be interested if anyone could tell me what the control unit actually does!
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Micky Toad et al:
Yes I know, pristine gleaming bikes at the expense of a certain amount of, er, personal hygiene on the part of their owners may well be conventional wisdom. Those old leather chaps (both sorts!) can get a bit ripe after a bit of saddle time.
Not here at least, our partners are fastidious in this regard, and I quote from the Growlette Files pretty much verbatim: Babes you wanna look like an outlaw and dress like one and be a kid all over again I guess I have to deal with it. But take a shower first, OK?
I love her almost as much as my bike.
...later