February 2007
Hi
I was wondering if anyone could describe the injection timing variations of a diesel engine, or post a good link (i've looked but not found much)
I'm interested in roughly what angle BTDC the average engine /(injection pump) will inject the bulk of fuel and how this will change with speed and load. Also is the injection advanced or retarded when the engine is cold?
I assume injection will advance with increasing speed but I can't find how much by. And I have no idea about load changes (although I recall petrol ignition gets retarded with increased load)
Any info would be very useful for some lab prep work:)
Thanks
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Hi,
I'm looking for a cable that I can connect to my Ipod that will charge the ipod AND also give me a 3.5mm output from the Ipod to plug into my 'Aux in' on my car.
IE, the cable needs to charge the ipod AND also carry a signal from the Ipod to the car radio via it's 'Aux In'. I assume that the 'charge' part of the cable will be in the form of a cigarette adaptor. I would really like to hard wire this into the car rather than be permantely in the cigarette lighter if possible.
Any help appreciated. Read more
Check out the Monster range of chargers/cables. They do a car charger that includes a line-out connection which gives a much better output than the headphone socket.
You are no doubt all aware of the petition to scrap road pricing schemes that currently has over 1.6 millions signatures. From the Number 10 website, you can link to various other sites and one that attracted my attention was this one.
www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/roads/roadpricing/feasibilityst...s
Now, an interesting statement is posted below
Of course, any scheme that involves using sophisticated technology to charge up to 30 million users is inevitably going to be expensive. While we anticipate that the costs of setting up and running a national road charging scheme will fall, they will remain substantial.
J.43 However, the modelling work that we have done demonstrates that the benefits of road charging could be equally substantial, indeed, in many cases, that they could easily outweigh the admittedly large costs. For instance, a national all roads scheme could produce welfare benefits per annum of up to £12 billion. As time passes, it is likely that these benefits will grow, as traffic volumes increase and congestion worsens.
Doesn?t the last sentence suggest that rather than reduce traffic volume and congestion, the expectations are that they will increase and so will the subsequent revenue.
So, if they expect increased congestion and volume then any public statement that states road pricing is being considered to reduce the above, must be a lie.
This just confirms that road pricing is another tax cloaked in a green wrapper !
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Is it not "both countries have efficient train services at reasonable prices" that function more because they are less suburbanised, people in general live at higher densities in urban areas and public transport is not something that you use only if you are too young/old/poor.
and
that effectively it is quite hard to design a public transport system where people are for one reason or another living a long way from where they work and making journeys in a suburbanised low density landscape.
Would road pricing lead any of the Backroom to reconsider the length of their commutes if they were able to do so given that quite a few posters seem from my reading seem to be driving upwards of 50 miles to work? My experience of knowing people who live and work on the continent is that it is much more unusual to be doing long motorway or A road commutes that can only really be done by car that seem depressingly prevalent here.
I received my insurance renewal notice through the post.
I telephoned to accept and pay by credit card.
I was asked questions like "Do you still do 10,000 miles per year?" and so on.
But the thing that puzzled me is that I was asked how much my car was worth. They know what kind of car it is, and how old it is, so they will have a reasonable idea of its market value. They can hardly expect all their customers to the current market value of their cars. So why ask this question? Read more
If you think your car really is worth £1500, despite Glass's guide etc saying otherwise, then you need Agreed Value insurance. This is standard practice in the world of classic car insurance, and usually involves a statement by the owner, submission of photographs, membership of an owners club to whom reference may be made by the insurer, and quite often a limited annual mileage. If in very exceptional condition, eg if it has been expensively restored, then the insurer may ask for a specific valuation.
The difficulty comes if your car is in a half-way situation. Cheap and fairly old, but not yet "classic". You may know that yours is in above average condition , and that you have put in a lot of work keeping it in good condition, but the insurance company will not be convinced.
Logically in those circumstances, without agreed value insurance, you might expect the premium to keep falling, reflecting the continuing depreciation of the car's book value. But I bet it doesn't.
I have a 2004 Zafira DTi and have spent a couple of hours today trying to get the piston back in on the n/s rear caliper. I don't have the proper tool but managed to get the o/s piston in using long-nosed pliers and brute force. Is there a knack to it? The piston turns and I'm pushing as hard as I can. I've tried the old trick of levering against an old brake pad but fear I might damage the caliper if I do it much more. I'd rather not undo the bleed nipple as I bled the brakes a couple of months ago. Any ideas? Thanks, Read more
some car's are left hand & others right hand thread?? try both.
I have a vauxhall vectra 1998 and when I bought it it had a new battery fitted 3 months previous ,after 6 months running it packed up so bought another new one. this one has lasted 5 months and it finally succummed .
when the car is stood with the dead battery the reading across the terminals is 11.5v.... when running the reading goes to 13.7v..... when I dissconnect the teminals from the battery when it is still running the reading across the terminals is still13.7v so the alternator is still giving a reasonable output..... could it be just coincidence that I have had two dud batteries or could it be something else any help would be appreciated
Thnx............................ Read more
>>when I dissconnect the teminals from the battery when it is still running the reading across the terminals is still13.7v so the alternator is still giving a reasonable output
Seems a risky thing to do!
13.7 volts Charging voltage is ok.
Is the battery actually dead or has it just gone flat through the cars lack of use & alarm drain etc, short journeys or someother power drain?
It could be coincidence that 2 have failed but Batteries normally come with a few years warrenty and at Halfords they'll check it and give you a new one if its faulty.
Hi there
I have an X reg laguna mk1 dci 1.9 and today on the way home the turbo started whistling. By the time I got into the nearest town and pulled off from the traffic lights all hell broke loose, smoke pouring out the back, engine accelerating without the peddle pressed. I managed to get off the main road and even with the ignition key out the car was running on the oil. I managed to stop and was recovered by the AA to my local garage. There is very little oil left in the car.
Is it likely that there is engine damage and if I get a replacement turbo will this solve the problem. I keep reading about an ERV or similar. What is this and how does it relate to the turbo.
Thanks Read more
It will need a new turbo, intercooler, EGR valve and associated oil feed pipework to the turbo. If you are very lucky the engine may be OK but I wouldn't bet on it. It is vital that the turbo is a Garrett certified recon unit otherwise you will be doing it all over again.
Hi,
I've recently gone through the decision making process of a new car and have decided on an S-Max. If anybody else is looking for this sort of car and wants more specific advice on the S-Max, I have found an owners site that might be useful for you. It's at www.smaxownersclub.co.uk
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I have a Peugeot 106 1.5 diesel. The fuel gauge does not work. A mechanic fitted a new sender unit but its still not working. Is
there a fuse to power this and if so where is it located? Also could you please tell me how to replace the fuel gauge assembly?
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I have met this problem on the 106. In my case, there was a discontinuity in the flexi printed circuit behind the instrument cluster. The fuel gauge and warning light switching electronics are on a rigid plug-in board behind the fuel gauge and are connected to the vehicle wiring via the flexi pc. Unfortunately, VDO Delphi have an insane method of connecting the many zero ohm links in the circuit to the (unplated) track using non gas tight crimp clips.
The fix in my case was to solder a link wire to the flexi pc just behind the harness connector, directly to the fuel gauge sub-pc connector - this bypasses about half a dozen zero ohm links and a very torturous piece of track. This has been a permanent fix for the last 5 years or so - the fuel gauge is remarkably accurate given the non uniform profile of the fuel tank.
659.
Probably been discussed before, but I guess that the answer changes every other week, anyway..... But which is the best sat nav system, both on a budget, and / or if money is no object? How about anything with built in speed camera detectors / road angel type of system? Do they actually "detect" the cameras, or do you have to tell them where the cameras are?
If you know what I mean?
Thanks,
DrS. Read more
"Medion GPS"
Yes I have an "Aldi" one - bought it a year or so ago - it's a PNA250T (MD96800). Seemed very cheap at the time, but prices of others have fallen since.
Works perfectly well, with very few errors (it did try to send me down a cycle track once!) and is easy to use. Have used it both here and in France and added speed camera data. I also like the fact that it is "slimline" and slips into a pocket very easily when removed from car - some of the TomToms look a bit bulky for that.
However, I have no experience of using TomTom or others (apart from a rather primitive Navman PiN (which also works well after updating the firmware, but I now use that solely for MemoryMap OS 1.50000 maps when walking). TomTom may be far superior to the Aldi Medion but I can't comment on that. If you have any specific Qs on it plese post again
--
Phil
Browse
As i've mentioned previously i work with large diesel plant engines (marine and the like) the usual was 25 to 15 BTDC, i work with a large modern engine with all mechanical injection, (very high pressure) where it's down to 8 BTDC