August 2003
HJ's recent column mentioned running diesels at high revs to clean out various elements. Any advice on the method to adopt? Sit in the drive in neutral with throttle down and sort out the nieghbour's washing? Or as one thread had it, go through the gears up to the red line and re-surface the road behind you?
Or is there a more genteel way of going about it?
Thank you.
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A few weeks ago, I was chuffed to bits that my fully comp motorbike insurance for a 600cc machine with nigh on 100BHP had fallen to almost pocket money levels.
Now however, I am in the process of renewing insurance for the missus's car.
Same garage overnight.
Same job.
Same location.
Same usage.
Same annual mileage.
Same immobilizer and alarm.
Same physical theft prevention device.
Same relatively undesirable car to steal (306 Sedan).
Same named second driver. ;-))
Last year, she had one year introductory NCB (20%) having only just passed her driving test.
This year, the value of the car is lower, she has a claim free history, and she has two years' NCB worth 40% discount.
On opening the renewal envelope and expecting to see a suitably reduced premium, imagine my surprise therefore that her existing insurer has hiked her premium up 20%.
I then found this trend to be reflected with amazing consistency (variation is an increase of 18% to 23% from last years' premium) across the dozen or so web quotes I have made on her behalf.
Have other BR contributors found the same?
Although better in our pocket than somebody else's, the sum involved is not colossal, but it's still frustrating that with insurance being a collective pot, careful ownership does not always bring reward. Read more
Ta for that WS.
As it happens I was a CSMA for a number of years and only let it lapse when I went back to Auto Aid in Brentwood for my breakdown cover. £28 a year for full cover (but you pay for the recovery then claim it back). Tel. 01277 235 820
KB.
Looking to change the oil in my micra, can anyone recommend a good quality oil for a car that only does short trips and doesnt get used alot.
98 1.0 Micra Read more
Had the oil changed on the Volvo this weekend at my local ATS, they charged under 30 quid for 6 litres of Shell Helix Ultra fully synthetic. Better value than Kwik Fit IMO.
Over the past couple of weeks the car (1992 1.2i nova 73K) has developed a noise, which I initially thought was a wheel bearing. However on investigation it seems the differential is on it way out. I\'ve put the car on axle stands and found excessive lateral play in both drive shafts (at the gear box end), also when the car is run in gear (on the axle stands)a noticable humming noise eminates from the gearbox which increases with speed in any gaer.
Can anyone please advise what my options are, including approx costs and whether it is safe to drive the car. Bearing in mind the car is only worth a few hundred £s.
Thanks
Virgil Read more
Yep the gearbox oil level is OK, as for the inner drive shaft joints they seem fine as well, the play is evident where the drive shafts go into the gearbox i.e. after the inner driveshaft joints and it seems to be the same both side 2mm lateral (up & down) play.
Having thought about the options today, I think I'm going to go down the second hand gearbox route and fit it myself. I wiill keep you informed of progress and costs.
Thanks Hugo and M.M for your advice.
Virgil
Apart from 20BHP does anyone know what the technical differences are between the 90 & 110 BHP HDI engines?
Fullchat Read more
The 1868cc (DW8??) diesel engine I think clachnacudden mentioned is in fact not an HDi but a reworking of the old 1905cc XUD unit. It was also used in the last N/A diesel 306's. Its not direct injection but IDI. The HDi is the turbo engine, this one is the equivelent N/A unit.
Just for Mark our mod, who seemed to be extremely jealous of his semi-namesake Mark Evans - famed for his tv programs 'a car is born', 'a plane is born','a car is reborn','a racecar is born','a chopper is born' and something to do with a barn ??!! he has a new series starting on Discovery Home and Leisure that looks like a motorbike is reborn.
Sadly (except for Growler?) it loosk liek it's a heap of American junk that gets the treatment.
tinyurl.com/kasx
Mark Evans is taking on the challenge of restoring a 1942 Harley Davidson WLC motorcycle. The first project is to strip down the bike.
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Love this thread!
It seems to me that those who ride a Harley should have a natural affinity with those who drive Morgans.
That is the message to all those complete plonkers and retards that visit Devon and Cornwall year after year, enjoy the fantastic scenery and unspoilt views, then add their contribution - a bag of rubbish neatly tied up and thrown to the side of the road!
WHAT IS WRONG WITH HOLDING ONTO IT UNTIL YOU REACH YOUR HOTEL ETC??????????????
It seams that these holiday retards think that Devon and Cornwall are full of village idiots. Well they're nearly right - we get a lot of idiots in the summer months. If they want to see one, I can advise them to look in the mirror!
If you treat our counties with respect you're welcome, otherwise go and spend your holidays at your local rubbish depot. At least you can't spoil that!
H
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fag butts? i`d make them eat them. The things seem to have an extraordinary half life , some beaches seem comprised of more fag butts than sand. And the people who sling the contents of the car ash tray out of the window , well , do they honestly not mind living in a world surrounded by rubbish ? And the still lit fag ends flying out of the window and heading straight for my jacket when i`m on my bike , probably all been said before.
Are retreads false economy or great value? Read more
If we are talking remoulds here, never again. Back in my poor student days I had an old Fiesta. Literally scraping the barrel, when the two fronts needed changing I went for two remoulds. I know what make they were as well but won't elaborate here as not sure I'm allowed.
Anyway, wheel on rim and onto the balancing machine. Wouldn't balance. Kept coming up with errors on the machine. Anyway, boyo takes the wheel off the balancer and on the sidewall of the tyre "hidden" from view is a huge bulge sticking out about two inches and approx 6 inches across.
My response was literally **** that thank you very much. I decided to go with less beer for a few weeks rather than risk my life.
Perhaps this was a "one in a million" unlucky tyre but I'd never go down that route again.
Hi all,
Spotted a 1998 old shape vauxhall astra 1.6 auto for sale £2895 ono, 18000 miles on the clock? FSH etc.
Any problems with these? Read more
I would *guess* that it is the 8 valve as the
autos always seemed to be.
PROBABLY.
The 8 valve engine is
very reliable and good for vast mileages if looked after.
YEP!
It also doesn't suffer from all the cam problems and frequent
belt changes that the 16v engine does.
75000 kms belt changes on my 1.8 4-DR- I suspect a 1.6 is the same.
>>The gearbox is
also generally reliable (as opposed to the Ford CD4E) though don't expect smoking tyres away from the lights.
THE OPEL/VAUXHALL BOX IS OK IN A 4-SPEED. DOES IT HAVE THE SPORTS SHIFTER?
My only concern with this car is its very low mileage.
Has it only ever been used to pootle to a
shop 2 miles away? Won't necessarily make it a bad
buy but it might need a damn good engine rinse and
a good thrashing if so...
CAN TAKE A GOOD THRASHING!!! - ALSO, A DECENT LONG-RANGE CAR, VERY COMFORTABLE. I FIND IT HAS GOOD FUEL ECONOMY, DOESN'T CHEW TYRES, PLENTY SPACE.
My cenral locking handset has become very unreliable, and I am worried that it will stop working completly. I have replaced the battery but things are not much improved. Any advice on possible cause/fixes and/or where to find a replacements would be much apprieciated. Read more
Inside all these is a PCB, which is prone to small cracks in the copper tracks.
If you can locate the cracks it is possible to solder wire links. This is a perfectly acceptable repair in most Aerospace Applications, so there is no reason why consumer electronics shouldn't benefit.
H
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And it also seems a lot better to develop a sense of humour...
Just a suggestion.
Cheers
Rob