October 2005
My ebay banger which set me back 160 quid went on a motorway cruise the other day. Got 42mpg cruising at average of 70mph.
I struggled to believe the figure since the engine has done 200,000 miles in 11 years. I just thought that a 1.6 engine would be pretty worn out after so much use. Read more
Dont worry Alistair im gonna apply waxoyl soon for this winter!
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Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)
The courtesy lights do not come on when you open the doors or boot - neither the bulb or the fuse have blown - any thoughts on how to get it responding?
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No it is the courtesy light at both fron at bacjk which have a three position switch for on, off and on with doors open position - it is this last position taht they do not respond.
As a follow up to a recent thread regarding warranty and servicing by franchise dealerships and various links to the subject of the European Union's abolition of the block exemption rule, here's the latest on the subject:
tinyurl.com/92umf
The new legislation came into effect on Saturday.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by Read more
Not necessarily good news, as the article mentions, it may lead to smaller businesses going under.
Last night I was following a bus that stopped on what appeared to be the approach to a zebra crossing.
Inspection 'on the fly' appeared to show that a bus stop with a half width bay was positioned on the approach to the crossing, within the traditional Zig-zag distance. The Zig zags at the pavement side had been shortened to approx 5?m, whilst the centre of the road zigzags extended the normal length. The crossing had an island in the centre of the road, effectively narrowing the road to the point where overtaking would be only possible by a bike or a slow moving vehicle.
I did not attempt to overtake, much to the annoyance of the car behind me.
The questions are
is the bus actually allowed to stop here?
are you entitled to overtake a stationary vehicle that is parked in this position?
This is a busy urban enviroment, is it a new traffic slowing move (I hesitate to say calming), or a subtle revenue generation opportunity, with a bib waiting concealed behind the stationary bus.
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pmh (was peter)
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Regardess of the law, I would make a judgement on wether or not to overtake on visibility grouds. I have often had buses in front stop for minutes on end at vacant bus stopes purely as they are running early.
i refuse to be held up and will always overtake if i can do it safely (and without a plod folowing behind).
Paul
60 miles of the M1 each day for my commute, and so I ponder motorway congestion sometimes. Does anyone know what causes it?
I don't mean having 3 lanes of traffic nose to tail and doing 60mph, that's to be expected at peak times. I mean stationary traffic or 3 lanes doing 10mph for a mile or more.
Is it all down to the ripple effect of someone pulling into an overtaking lane and the guy behind having to brake? The one behind him has to brake harder as he hasn't seen it until a bit later etc etc until everyone's stopped?
Is it because of people dawdling in the middle lane and everyone has to go around them?
How can it be cured? Read more
Just had another look. Even with no vehicles on the on ramp, congestion is caused by trucks being slower than cars and in the outside lane.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
I've noticed over the last 4 or 5 days that every filling station I've passed has had queues. The local shell station closed unexpectedly yesterday afternoon, stating problems with the pumps. The local Tesco had half its pumps out of action and those that were running were only operating at a fraction of their usual speed. Texaco around the corner also has half the pumps out. Further afield and the story is repeated at another Shell, an Esso and a Sainsbury filling station.
Prices are around 90.9 for unleaded and 93.9 for diesel at all these stations.
So is there now a shortage as a result of Katrina et al and are the suppliers and retailers keeping quiet about it to prevent repeats of the pitiful scenes we say the other week?
As an aside, both cars were on the amber light yesterday so the better part of £120 of my hard-earned got divvied up between the retailer (very little), the oil company (some) and Gordon (lots). Bless 'im.
And by bless I mean curse. Read more
our local texaco was closed for a day last week.
I've cross threaded a PAS pipe union whilst replacing a corroded pipe on a late model Frontera. Its where the pipe enters the casting on top of the rack. Theres now fluid seeping from the threaded area - is there anything I can seal the thread with to stop the seeping bearing in mind the casting where the union screws into will be wet with power steering fluid? Read more
as long as you have not done any major damage to
the threads just slacken it of and seal it with plumbers
thread tape
If you mean PTFE do not use it for this,it will dissolve into a gungy mess in no time.I would suggest undoing the union and using a tap and die to realign the threads.
Hi there,
Just a last chnace to save my new purchase, a 1988 730i. Died with an electrical fault last week and has been in the garage - they replaced the cranshaft sensor and then got it running, although then the oil warning light popped up. They switched it off then to check the level and then it wouldn't start again. That lot cost me £200 quid and I still have a non running car. Would really like to get it running again if possible but am not great with electrics. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!
Many thanks, have a nice relaxing Sunday night before the horrors of the working week!
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check the camshaft position sensor as well,,if this fails,,then the car wont shaft at all
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www.storme.co.uk
Hello,
It looks like part of my alternator is not functioning properly, but I may need to replace the whole part. Since my car is now quite old (13 years), will a reconditioned alternator be sufficient? If so, will a garage even fit one or will I have to buy new? Any advice much appreciated (probably going to ring my local garage tomorrow to have it looked at).
Thanks,
Antony Read more
With most warantees you only get the balance, unless something has failed very early on in the period, when they may just start you off again with a new one.
Otherwise they would virtually be giving alternators for life (your's) as each failed mysteriously one week short of the waranty period.
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Yes