August 2007
SWMBO's car will be three years old on 1st September.
The garage where it was serviced on 30th July, said that if it was on or after 1st August they could have MoT'd the car without any documentation and forward dated the ticket to 1st September 2008.
Is this right? Read more
Hi to you all,
We are travelling to Lorient in southern Brittany this coming Saturday the 4th.
Does any one have experiance of driving in France on what may be one of the busiest days of the year for French traffic?
Our ferry arrives in Calais at 10.30am French time.
I have printed out a ViaMichelin route which caculates the 435 mile journey to take 6hr 30mins with no breaks using mainly toll motorways.
I'm thinking a 67mph average to be on the ambitious side, we will be stopping every 2 hrs or so.
The route is Calais-Rouen-Caen-Rennes-Lorient.
Many thanks, anticipated advice gratefully received.
Regards
Graham
Read more
At the beginning of July I spent a week in Normandy, taking Dover to Calais ferry. If memory serves me right, the route was A16 , A28 A29.
The road was a "dawdle". Last time I had been in France was about 5 years ago and I loved the driving but had been more wary this year due to all the reports of speed cameras etc.
However I only saw maybe half a dozen (at the most) fixed speed cameras and these are all signed in adavance (radar control) or something similar. OK I had cruise control set for the speed limit so didn't need to pay aprticular attention for cameras but I don't think there were any mobile units and I honestly don't think I saw a single police car the whole time. In fact twhen there was an overturned Carrefour HGV on the motorway it was their equivalent of the Highways Agency who were dealing with it.
Roads were quiet, no queues at peages. All peages take credit cards, if you want a receipt for your transaction remember to press the separate button otherwise you will not receive one.
We went down to Caen, a nice big Carrefour there with everything you need. Yes, roads were a bit busier but nothing like what we are used to at home.
I used Tom Tom and it navigated me well.
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2007 Seat Altea XL 2.0 TDI (140) Stylance
2005 Skoda Fabia vrS
I was trying to think of something to say about the Minneapolis bridge collapse but having looked at the pictures on the news the best I can come up with is ' I'm glad I wasn't there' - my deepest sympathies to all involved. Read more
I believe it was a truss girder bridge and from the reports the bearings on which the bridge rested were corroded and prevented proper movement (expansion/contraction due to temperature).
All it would have neededis to overstress the tops or bottoms of the trusses over a few years until metal fatige set in ... and one sudden shock...and it could collapse along the whole length of the bridge...
It may be a coincidence that remedial work was underway at the time...
madf
I've just seen a lovely car with a really low mileage for sale with a small dealer. It is classed as disabled (though it hasn't been modifed afaik) and was on the Motability scheme. It seems a good buy but as I haven't bought a car in years (about 10 years!!) please could someone help with the following:
1. The car isn't registered in the dealer's name. It is a dealer who works from home, not one with a forecourt. He tells me it isn't in his name as otherwise he can't advertise it as "1 lady owner". He showed me the log book which had a chunk missing from it which he said had been completed by the owner to show she had sold the car to trade. Does this sound right? Need I be concerned? How do I safeguard myself to show that he is actually the owner? He said the DVLA have the piece of paper showing that the car is owned by him and that he is in the motor trade.
2. He told me that if I were to buy, he would need an insurance cover note from me so that he can get the car re-classified from disabled to normal PLG so I am able to tax it.
The chap seems very genuine but I'd welcome any thoughts/advice on this and how I can safeguard myself before coughing up with some cold hard cash!
Many thanks in advance.
Regards,
Read more
DVLA will have it recorded as being "in trade".
what is the technical word for the distance between the inside of each wheel - eg. front wheels? Read more
>>the 7ft gauge eating up twice as much land
Not at all. The loading gauges were fairly close in size.
Perhaps twice as much was an exaggeration, but more anyway. Over hundreds of miles it would mount up.
i have been using this forum for several years now and always find any questions/help i needed has been met with very helpful and friendly advice from fellow members.
just wanted to say thanks very much for the people running this forum for giving us this site in the first place.
without the site and all the info you get on here i would be going round in circles.
well done honest john for all your help and also to my fellow members.
THANKS AND HOPE TO SEE THIS FORUM RUNNING FOR MANY YEARS TO COME.
GARY Read more
Id like to add my appreciation to Honest John's website as well.
Id also like to add my appreciation to the Mods..especially Dynamic Dave.
The reason for this is because we had a small falling out a while back ..and a few choice things were said.
Since then,,,IMO he has answered theposts in a different manner(imo) and has been more,,,um "human"
Well what im trying to say is they have a hard job looking after everyone and all the different opinions..And it is hard not to be over hard on people that they may not like..So thx to all mods..but from me, most of all Dave
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sometimes a little bit too much opinion....but its only because i care !!!
I've been offered one for just over grand - it ticks a few boxes as a second bike. I've owned one before and I know it's shortcomings. It comes taxed and tested, I can insure it for peanuts. Mrs PU is passively against it. The home it comes from is a caring one and has been extensively re-built. I love the reversed Comstar wheels............put me off it. Read more
>fronts feel a bit "wooden"
If it's a stainless disc, it won't feel of anything when it rains (but at least it won't lock up...).
I don't know if cast iron replacements are available, but I'd get one if they are!
Sounds fun, though.
Hi does anyone know where the central locking control unit is on my '92 216Sli. According to the Haynes manual it should be inside the passenger door, but I couldn't find it.
Also I am breaking my expired '93 216GSi to save some parts for the '92 - I took the exhaust system off and noticed that the rear box is larger on the '92. Is this just cosmetic or would the smaller '93 box fit on the '92 without causing the engine any problems. The middle box was slightly different too, one being a bomb shape, the other more angular, but basically the same volume.
Great cars these, recommend them to anybody, I've been driving them for the last 8 years - no problems apart from age related rubber joint replacements Read more
Yes, I've taken the igniter unit off. I've never had one go on me but looking through the service history from the previous owner it failed at 60k
Hi all
Does anyone know of (or is) a mechanic in the Stockport area who'd be willing to go and inspect an old-style Mini that I've seen for sale and phone me with a condition report?
I can't get there in the next few days and the only other alternative I can think of is the (pricey) RAC inspection service. Open to any other suggestions though!
Thanks very much
Dan Read more
Cannot promise they can help but they're your typical honest small garage.
Last couple of days, the Mondeo has started "chugging" at idle when the engine is hot. It got particularly bad tonight after enduring a 6 mile jam on the way home.
The idle speed is an indicated 900 RPM as it always has been, but it's possible to feel a "jiggling" sensation through the car when ticking over. If I lift the bonnet, the engine is visibly rocking back and forth on its mounts at a frequency of perhaps 4-5 times a second, and the exhaust note is "chugging" in time with these engine movements. If I pick the engine up off idle with the accelerator, it smooths out and seems fine. I've just been out to the car now it's cooled, turned the key, and its fired up with a completely smooth idle again (well, by Endura-DE standards). Certainly, the idle has always been completely even, and standing behind the car, the exhaust note has always been perfectly even.
The car is starting normally, not smoky, still doing mid 40's MPG, and seems to drive just as before. Any ideas?
Cheers
DP
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04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
Tweaked subject line, to avoid going down a TDCi blind alley ! - PU Read more
>>Can post photos of the pump...
The reason I asked was to see if the governor was mechanical or hydraulic as opposed to being electronic.
I think the longer bodied Lucas CAV pumps are fitted with mechanical governor, (although I could be completely wrong), and there's quite a linkage between the rotating weights and the valve which controls the metering pressure, and hence fuel flow. Any slack in this linkage, and the engine will hunt when it's relying on the govenor to control tickover.
Before getting too close to condemning the pump, is there any electronics controlling this engine?
Number_Cruncher
Browse
Mine is 3 years old on September 1. I took it for a MOT this morning. The tester didn't want to see my reg doc, he simply tapped in the VIN and reg number into the system and 40 minutes later I was £50 worse off but had a crisp first MOT ticket which expires on 1 September 08.