March 2008
I'm going op north tomorrow AM. We're leaving NW London at 7:00am and I'll be going up the M40 to avoid the horrible roadworks on the M1. When I get to Birmingham way at about 9-10am, I can either go M42 north & M6, or M42 north M6 toll.
Without expecting a crystal ball, is it usually bisy at that sort of time? With a £150 fuel bill for the round trip due to my very economical car, I'd rather not spunk another 5er if it would only make a few mins difference to the journey... Read more
I once had a 2.0 litre 406 coupe that was so low geared it ran in 5th at 4000rpm when the road speed was 80mph; it was noisy.
Does anyone know if the 2.2 litre petrol was any better? Thanks for all replies. Read more
Just had an e-mail to tell me that the tax on my bike is about to expire - brilliant idea ! Read more
Probably a learning curve from the contractor.....
The Contractor might be cleverer than you think!
One e-mail 3 weeks before the end of the month and another say 1 week to go.
After all there is virtually no cost - they will have a script / report writer to extract all RFL reminders due for the end of the month. The 2nd report/script will be the same but with 1 x extra line to onit those who have already renewed.
Apparently the M1 car share lane from Luton towards London will never open as it can't be operated safely.
tinyurl.com/3xxamk (Link to London Standard Moddies discretion on clickability)
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It was never designed to open. It was designed to get approval for the extra lane, which will be a waste of time anyway.
How could it ever have possibly worked? Do you have it as the inside lane (i.e. nearest the central reservation) or the outside lane.
If you chose the inner lane as the HOVL, then although the traffic will be running faster than the traffic jams in the other three lanes, it will still run at the speed of the slowest driver in the lane. Unfortunately this won't be the 80+ that some drivers want to do. So there would be the usual tailgating, flashing lights, and then dangerous undertaking via the traffic jams in the inner three lanes. And then when you get to the junction you want, you have to cut across three lanes of traffic jam to get off. Of course the drivers in the inner three lanes would be delighted to let the the 'queue jumpers' through.
If you chose the outside lane, you would have the slow moving inner thee lanes trying to cut across the faster moving HOVL to get off. You would need to have a queue of ambulances and fire engines stationed at every exit to deal with all the accidents.
And to top it all off, even assuming that you planned on policing it, how are you supposed to detect that a MPV with black glass in the rear, with a driver and no front seat passenger doesn't have a kid in a car seat in the back.
It was all a con to keep the 'greenies' happy until the building work got underway.
Do they work on UK cars?
There are some great deals to be had from the USA but are they fully compatible. I have head that the radio frequency's are different so tthey don't work!
Any experience?
Cheers Andy. Read more
Can I just ask?
Anyone bought Alpine stereo's from Hong Kong? Are they ok?
I have just had a new engine, clutch, thermo and manifold on my Mondeo (£1600 cost) but just picked it up and the car is intermittently jumping when putting my foot down. It only happens when the car is cruising and I try and accelerate - the cars electrics have been set up at a cost of £80 so not sure what this can be?
Plugs? Read more
Hi all
Im not sure if this is the right place to post so I hope you will hear me out :)
Ive got a 1.6 zetec s focus which ive recently bought it?s done just over 100k
Today I had the clutch replaced as it was well and truly knackered but after getting the car back there is a distinct high pitched whining noise the garage are claiming is the gear box and that will have to be replaced to ..
To be fair I hadn?t noticed such a noise coming from it before I had the clutch done
Any ideas?
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I had a new front section of exhaust put on my 214 on Wednesday (was the bit from the manifold to the cat) as the flexi bit was blowing.
Anyway, around 5 miles after driving off and out of town, I had to use the brakes at more than 10mph and I got a funny noise that sounds like a horrible groaning noise and the steering wheel shaking when braking.
It doesnt do it all of the time but if you brake any more than lightly the noise is there and at higher speeds sounds like a vey bad droan/heavy vibration. Also if you brake heavy from 5mph or so it groans/grates everytime.
Also at speeds of more than 65 and turning left on motorways where the steering is only just off centre, there is what feels and sounds like the wheel is loose.
I have had the wheel off (sorry its the drivers side, should have said earlier) and nothing is loose - all brake pads are there, wheel tight and no movement in the suspension. Pads and disks were fitted in December and done 6,000 miles.
finally, I have heard what I am assuming the exhaust moving and hitting the bottom of the car on rumble strips approaching a 30 etc but the exhaust doesnt appear to be loose either.
I have done 600 miles over yesterday and today on mainly motorway and its got no better or worse. Will take it back to the exhaust place but its quite a bit out of my way and dont want fobbing off when I get there that they didnt do it - but its too much of a coincidence I think!
Any ideas really appreciated as to what it might be? and whether you think its exhaust related?
{year of manufacturer picked up from your profile and added to header} Read more
hi I have a mondeo st24 1999 and nearly every time i apply the brakes and am virtually stopped a noise from the front like apump comes on for about 2 seconds does anyone have any ideas of how to cure this
{year & engine details added to the subject header. Obviously being Friday the 3 separate reminders asking for you to do this have gone home early which is why you probably didn't see them!} Read more
The ABS thinks that a wheel's locking because it's losing signal from a speed sensor at low speed.
Get it plugged-in and watch the wheel-speed data as you slow - the one that drops out is the corner to inspect carefuly. Could be a wheel bearing, an air-gap, a wiring break, or a loose reluctor ring; eyeball it and check.
Just sold the Mondeo on Ebay for £655! To a very pleasant Polish chap who is flying in tomorrow evening to pick it up and take it back to Poland. He has excellent feedback and got straight in touch, so seems to be serious.
I know it's a cheap car, but it's still £650 on a car he hasn't seen or driven, and is collecting in the pitch dark. Seems crazy to me! Doesn't know the VIN number, so won't be doing any checks on it either.
I've described the car honestly, it's straight and legally mine, and I'm not ripping him off, but he doesn't know that. The only explanation I can come up with is that an 8 yr old diesel Mondeo must be worth a few quid in Poland.
Cheers
DP
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You have obviously never been to Estonia!
Beware, you will NOT get in without your original V5. A photocopy will not suffice. British and Dutch embassies tell me that many tourists get stopped at the border (resulting in panic calls to the embassies for help.)
I had to show my V5 when I went to Finland, too.
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We occassionally use it. In recent years a sort of secret code is flashed up on the motorway signs. e.g. J14 (or whatever) 28 miles, 31 minutes. Which means its clear and moving a bit slower than 60 mph. It never fails. We then judge which to use.
Of course what we really want to see is 'public road fine, don't bother with the private'; or 'public road solid, if you use private it is good for you and good for those on the congested public road'.
Alas, I suspect such simple information would hurt the private profits, and an agreement was made not to put off drivers using the private road because they can't take a chance.