May 2007
A taxi driver could lose his income after council officials refused to renew a licence for his classic car, because it is too old. Bob Coles drives passengers in Bath in his 25-year-old Mercedes LWB.
But the 54-year-old father-of-two was told his private hire licence would not be renewed in October as the vehicle was more than seven years old. A council spokesman said the decision had been taken on grounds of the vehicle's age and high mileage.
Despite having clocked 134,000 miles the car was deemed in excellent condition by Bath and North East Somerset Council's licensing officer last year.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/6677345.stm
134,000 miles is not excessive for a cab! Read more
Hey Guys and Girls,
Bit of a puzzler! I was braking hard up to some traffic lights on a 60Mph road when my engine died with a short grinding sound. The engine did not restart and i thought it sounded like a cambelt break. But when i took of the oil filler cap, i could see the inlet camshaft rotating. Is it possible that the exhaust camshaft has stopped rotating even though the inlet is still going? I'm pretty sure the grinding sound means bent valves right?
If i could have your thoughts and comments, they would be much appreciated!!
Cheers
Jon Read more
Screwloose -
Hey. Yeah the engine whines the same as if there are no spark plugs present. Like very little resistance so the Starter motor runs a little quicker. I'll get back to you in the week concerning the comp. test.
Thanks
Jon
Went to go shopping today in my mark 4 s reg Astra 1.8 cd model its only done 82k miles with fsh and when i turn the corner the power steering deceided not to work! Heavy or what! Anyway I stopped the car turn off ignition ect then went to restart and now works fine again!!?? I thought the belt had come off but wheres the belt and what could have done this?? Something silly or a major problem?
Thanks for any input
( lady driver by the way )
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As well as what's already been said, re: alternator, don't rule out the battery.
ps, I've amended the Shouting! DD.
Hi all,
It is insurance renewal in July and lookign to get the cheapest quote possible. Here is my scenario
3 points obtained in October 2002
By my reckoning the points are eligle to come off in 4 years time - October 2006
But
You have to declare them on insurance for 5 years - October 2007
So I if renew insurance in July and declare no points, that means I would be lying for 3 months.
I know its wrong
Question is - Would any of you do it and would I be Ok with it if I didnt have a bump? Read more
Insurance Companies have access to DVLA database.
have just dug the Blackbird out of the shed to prepare it for a French trip in early June (8 of us from work for 3 days).... found that a creature has made itself a nest in the shed, amongst the tank bag and back pack, which had fallen off a shelf onto the front mudguard and then floor, causing minor scraches, that should polish out......not sure what the creature is, but whatever it was is it eats snails apparently and carps too much and too big to be a mouse.......am guessing rat...(came up through the hole in the floor that the ground anchor sits in concrete that prevents thieving North Londonites from having the bike)... and easily disposed of the stuffed newspaper filling i'd naively tried to prevent this.
so had to clean carp off the bike gear and the floor of the shed, not a good start........then as i'm bent right over spotted world's most enormous spider (maybe slight exaggeration) and being severely arachnophobic had mini heart attack.
Then had to move two big boxes of SWMBO school books back into the house, where 6 months ago we'd had a row, cos there is nowhere to put them.......despite the fact that my garage is now 2/3rds of its starting size as i built an office for her to house all the school type stuff... which is why the bike is in the garden shed, no doubt invalidating the insurance, hence the ground anchor, 2metal chains, disc lock, security light and alarm wired direclty into house via underground cable.
then it's the bike........started quite well.........had started it 2 weeks ago for 1st time in 4 months, having disconnected the battery rather than use an optimiser, which ruined the battery last year.
Wheeled it from back garden to front drive, intending to clean and polish it.......doesn't really need it as dust cover has done the job, but i like it to look 'proper'.........and then it started raining
....marvellous, now have to ride it to local bike shop in the rain for the new front tyre to be fitted, which should be interesting on the way back...(daren't leave the one on there, which is well legal, cos last time i did that i came back with a Dunlop Kojak, praying it wouldn't rain on the journey)
then there was the kit check.......took over half an hour to find the insurance as it was filed elsewhere than somewhere i would have filed it, rang them only to find i didn't need to, was already automatically covered.....AA cost 24 quid for 3 days, which seemed a bit steep, but maybe i'm not keeping up with the times.
which just left the leathers...and therein lay the big problem.........increasing girth versus bike leathers bought over 3 years ago......my opinion is they'll do.....when SWMBO stopped laughing, she reluctantly agreed they'd do......but i suspect the prosepct of me splashing out 200 readies for a new set is part of her thought process
stressed is not the word........hope i calm down enough to enjoy the trip
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Nothing like French A roads Wp... What you call motoring. No need to hurry at all. You still make good time. Aaaah!
Could we please have a purge of po-faced er, what's the word, just as well I forget, in this country, the elements who try to hamper traffic flow everywhere?
Is it illegal to call for their, you know, violent death at a steady pace until the others see the point?
I'm a new car owner...lots of questions please help!
I bought a secondhand Honda Jazz in July 2006 from Honda Dealer and got a 12 months warranty.
I am looking to book for a Service before the warranty runs out, but I heard that dealer service are very expensive (not sure how much at Honda), if I go else where (Kwik Fit or Nationwide Autocentres, or anywhere else you would recommend?), would I still get the warranty parts free of charge??
Or I have to go to Honda dealer only, for the free parts?
In particularly I'm concern on the Clutch being squeaky when lifted up slowly and the air-con not as cold as it should be (despite they recharged it at the beginning), would those be covered in Warranty? Does anyone know?
The MOT is due on 19/6/2007 anyway, so am I right in thinking to book for a "Service + MOT"?
"Interim Service + MOT", or is it worth to go for the "Full Service + MOT" since I only get it checked once a year?
Any suggestion and recommendation are more than welcome!! Thank you!
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Squeaky clutch - on Honda's normally just lubrication spray required - 5 minute job.
Aircon - Is it actually working? Do you hear the normal clunks and slight drop in revs when turned on?
The light coming on does not always mean it is actually working. Aircon always works better when the internal recirc. button is pressed.
An aircon specialist is often gives better diagnosis than some dealers. Normally charge £30 - £50 for a pressure test/diagnosis.
Saying that Honda aircon systems are not as good as others.
Can I fit a SEFI injection manifold to a CFI head Read more
Hi,
Some info please. Car needs front discs. Had a look and brake set up looks pretty similar to most modern designs.
Question is when I remove the caliper is the disc then free to be removed or is any special tool required.?
This will decide whether I do it myself or not.
Many thanks
willyb Read more
Many thanks, thats what it looked like. You never know though.
Did my nephew's mondeo recently and after much swearing and banging gave them one last soaking in wd40 and eventually got them off.
willyb
i have a clicking noise coming from the front passenger area which i think is coming from the airbag?it does not make any sound when there is no power i have checked to make sure its not the car radio and windows
now if i turn the switch on the side off the dashbord will that shut off the power off to the airbag ? Read more
As the noise is coming from front passenger area, and if your car has air conditioning, I'm confident this will be the problem.
This happened on my 406, so I disconnected the brown plug that has three wires going into it that operates the flap (valve). This stopped the noise and have never noticed any difference to how effective the A/C or heating is. You will have to take out the glove box to do this, and hopefully you will be able to contort your body suitably so that your hand can reach the appropriate plug, which I think is described in the other thread, but is difficult to identify and a pig to get at, but not impossible.
In my opinion, not worth the expense or trouble of repairing.
Reggie
I have a Mk3 Golf GTi 2.0 8v, recently I encountered the infamous cutting out and stalling problems that seem to affect these cars.
Although it would appear that this problem has ceased (crankshaft/engine speed sensor replaced), during its time in the local garage whilst the auto electrican was trying to establish the intial fault he replaced the distributor. This was the only item that they couldn't purchase and then return if it didn't correct the car.
Well since I've had the car back I've noticed that when going thru the gears mainly 2nd - 3rd it hesitates and feels lumpy on acceleration, also if it hits 5k revs the limiter cuts in, thing is I can't remember if this happened before it went to the garage or is this not uncommon?
Screwloose if your out there can you help or anybody else that has had similar probs.
I must stress that the cutting out/stalling is not the problem..........yet touch wood!
Paul T
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My AGG engine distributor does not change the engine timing if swung a small amount, it only distributes the spark to the correct plug. As your distributor has been touched, check that the rotor nose is facing and centered on the distributor TDC notch on it's body when the flywheel is at TDC. Also check the condition of your plug leads.
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Important:
In BATH, the place in question here, a HORSE AND OPEN CARRIAGE is used as a taxi around the city centre during the tourist season. It even has a hackney carriage plate on the back.
The carriage, of course, might not be old - it could be a replica, and the horse might be quite young too, but surely this is unfair. A Chrysley 300C is used as a taxi in Bath too, as an aside.