August 2007

milkyjoe

hi, my throttle cable broke yesterday (earlier post) but I've managed to get the car working with the aid of some strong wire anchored to the carb lever threaded through the bonnet into my driver window, how illegal is that to operate i only want to get the car back ( 4 miles) out of a no go area, will the old bill want a word or am I risking points if I proceed?


Tweaked subject line to clarify discussion point - PU Read more

milkyjoe

i managed to get the car back safely using the "string method" after a couple of minutes my right foot stopped trying , and once i had got the correct amount of "string" wrapped round my fingers it was almost like driving with paddle control on the steering wheel , i wouldnt recommend it tho, but after all i needed to recue the car from a fate worse than death where it was stranded

craig-pd130

Looks like a new Mondeo will be my next company car, when my B5.5 PD130 Passat retires with full honours and just one black mark -- the front suspension knuckle joint :-/

I'm going for the estate 'cos it looks nice. In the A*t*c*r road test of the estate, they comment on something called "feed forward" torque:


"The 2.0-litre diesel has a re-mapped fuel system that helps pulling away from the line smoothly. Called ?feed forward?, it provides a pre-emptive boost of torque to the engine before setting off, and seems to work well."


This is the only time I've seen this mentioned, is it just on the estate or is it on all models?

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Another John H

Probably done to make the thing a bit harder to stall.

Nsar

Got my second parking ticket in about 20 years yesterday. Reading the back of it it's £60 reduced to £30 if I pay within 14 days.

I want to appeal it as the sign saying parking for 1 hr max was totally obscured by a shop shop front next to it and no other signs were visible from where I parked.

The wording on the ticket says I can't appeal until after the 14 day period has elapsed - surely this can't be right? Read more

Nsar

Thanks, everyone for those informative answers, much appreciated.

brambobb

I have the opportunity to buy an Accord Diesel for a good price. The car has done 60k miles though and I wondered whether anyone had any experience of these engines at 100k miles and beyond as I would like to think that I could keep it for some time.


Tweak to subject line - PU

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Chris M

60K in 2.5 years in a petrol isn't high miles either. Nicely run in and your getting a fairly new car cheap.

daveyjp

When I took my test 20+ years ago examiners were not held in high esteem. I've just seen my dad who is a driving instructor and always has a tale to tell!

1 - Examiners now also 'examine' the car before going out. The new test centre my dad uses has a newly laid car park. Instructor with 4 day old Yaris parks up for someone to take an extended test (£90 BTW). Examiner walks round car and notices "bulge" in tyre and refuses to take test. "Bulge" was caused by car being parked on a piece of limestone from the car park sub base which must have 'escaped' during construction. Examiner won't allow instructor to roll car forward to show the problem. Test cancelled and examiners judgement is final with no appeal! Another £90 required.

2 - New Corsa has a speedo which can't be seen by the passenger. Some instructors have fitted a second speedo, but as this is not part of original car and has not been calibrated some examiners are refusing to take tests in new Corsas.
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bathtub tom

OK children!

I took my bike test in the winter of '65, on a '57 Panther 10/3 (Villiers 8E). Reg 420 BJO, It's still out there according to DVLC.
There was snow and slush on the ground, and the examiner was surprised to see me, as previous pupils, and some examiners, hadn't turned up.
I was doing loops around the block, getting colder and colder, although I kept seeing him out of the corner of my eye. Come the emergency stop, I could only move two frozen fingers to the front brake lever. He commented ' good idea to use reduced front braking in these dangerous conditions'. I passed!
I'd previously done an RAC/ACU training course. They did a mock test, allegedly much tougher to pass than the regular test. Part way through my mine, the examiner, who was following on another bike, passed me and pulled me over. I thought something disastrous had gone wrong. It was hot and we'd passed an ice-cream van, he wanted one!

Car

The time with my present car will becoming to the end in the not too distant future and I'am thinking of what to replace it with.

Present car is 1999 Rover 416 with 120,000 on it. Below is what I would like the replacement to have

(1) Aircon

(2) Same size boot or larger

(3) Reliable and cheap to run

(4) Diesel

(5) A bit younger in age if possible

(6) Good performance i.e same as the 416 or better

(7) I have around £600 min to £1300 to spend on top of what the rover will fetch.

I think that's it, and look forward to receiving the replies

Cheers

Ommited bit edited in for you - PU Read more

Pugugly {P}

Another Rover ?

steveo3002

ive got to check over a friends car before they do some airport runs

its a R reg BMW 323 auto...the sticker has gone that should have the correct pressures and i cannot find anything on-line

anyone know what they should be?

i *think * it has 15" wheels


Subject line tweaked to reflect car make. - PU Read more

Dynamic Dave

This any good?

www.dunloptyres.co.uk/fandp/pressureGuide/

flunky

Received this morning my CD "Transitions: Soothing Music for Crying Infants" (
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00000IKGP/ ) for my baby daughter to get her to sleep. Written on the back "WARNING: DO NOT PLAY WHILE DRIVING".

Just the thing then for our drive to Whipsnade this morning.

Only somewhat soporofic, though I decided to avoid the M1, because I was worried about delays from the roadworks, and it probably didn't aid my comprehension on our diversion through Hemel Hempstead. Satnav doesn't really handle magic roundabouts very well: it should just say "Exit on the fourth mini roundabout", but instead you got a succession of "take the second left on the roundabout, straigt ahead". In the end I managed to go round it twice before finally escaping... Noticed many drivers decided to make a dash for it, not really paying attention to give way to the right, partly because many of the drivers on the right were rather confused by it all.

Diversion on the A4146 was ok, although the road is a bit on the narrow side and got stuck behind a 20mph tractor for a couple of miles.

For some reason there was a fairly large crew of bikers on antique motorbikes at the bottom of the Whipsnade hill, not sure if they were worried about the bikes' ability to make it up.

Return route on M1 turned out to be perfectly fine, decided to divert to Wembley for dinner in the rather fine dim sum restaurant next to Wembley Stadium, inevitably somewhat slower once off the M1, but ok. Unfortunately they were closed so we ended up in Ealing for sushi.

Everywhere seems strangely quiet considering the weather, perhaps most of the country has fled abroad, but you would have thought those remaining would be keen to take advantage of the first day of summer.
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flunky

supposed to be 30 degrees tomorrow, 28 today. Off to Henley tomorrow.

dodo

Hi

I have just bought a 2002 Discovery TD5 Commercial on steel wheels. A friend has given me a set of nice alloys from a 2001 Discovery TD5 GS which fit pefectly but the nuts from the steel wheels are not suitable. Do I need nuts specifically from a Disco II with alloy wheels? Where do I get them if thats whats needed? Thanks Read more

hm

try flee bay...........plenty on there

Chris White

Hi

Going over to France soon and this is the first time I've been in the Primera.

I've never adjusted my headlamps before because I've never driven at night, but this time I need to.

Do I just need to buy one of the convertor kits form somewhere like Halfords and how do I know where to stick it?

Thanks, Chris. Read more

Chris White

Thanks Spospe