August 2008
Heading South yesterday late afternoon, hit crawling traffic from J27 to J19. Added an hour to our journey. Every gantry showed 40mph. The info boards just stated queue ahead. No information or how far the jam extended. If I knew how far, I would have diverted.
We passed a gantry showing 60mph so we thought right thats it. The traffic sped up. Then slowed down to the next gantry showing 40mph again. And many others after. When the traffic started moving past J19 the road was clear. If there had been a hold up it was gone.
Surely the muppets in the control centre should have turned the signs back off. All it did was create a concertina effect for many miles. It was the 40mph signs that created the congestion. Moving along past the North bound carriageway after we got going again the same was happening on that carriageway. In my mirror I could see 40mph flashing signs and again causing congestion. We didn't see anything to warrant the slow down.
I understand they are used to handle traffic flow but I feel it has the opposite effect in causing it. If there is an accident or other emergency then so be it, but I wonder if over zealous operators have a bit of fun with traffic control that suits them and not us.
If there is no obstruction to any lane get the traffic moving. Even the local radio reported that they had no idea what was causing the congestion. They offered "weight" of traffic. NO I screamed in frustration, its those gantries and the morons operating them. Read more
Can someone please help me identify the 'ingoing' fuel line to the engine under the bonnet of a ford focus 1.6 TDCi?
The 'in' and 'out' line are near identical and close together and I can't see any labelling to help me. So if you know which one is the 'in' line to the engine - perhaps you have picture or diagram I can look at - I'd really appreciate it.
Thanks. Read more
Oh no; not the dreaded magnets again...
The feed line should have a priming bulb in it IIRC.
I made a rare trip to a bus/Coach station at the weekend, Pool Meadow in Coventry, from where I caught a coach to Stansted. Several large signs at the main entrance announced "Taxis and private cars uninsured in this area: Do not enter." This intrigued me. Is it actually possible to designate an area of private land where insurance is invalid? Would a hapless coach passenger being rammed by a runaway joyrider be unable to claim for any injuries? Could my parents post a sign and unilaterally declare the drive to their house an insurance-free zone?
I'm quite sure the signs are effectively meaningless. Meaningless but far preferable to the usual threats of clamping, towing, fines and the like in most other places these days.
Incidentally, if anyone from Coventry City Council is reading this, a drop-off zone for car passsengers at the coach station - like the ones airports have - would actually be useful, as coach passengers arriving by car don't generally relish a half mile walk through a dimly-lit city centre, CCTV cameras or not. Read more
The most common exclusion for places is "airside at an airfield" My policy doesn't mention bus stations!
Hi all,
anyone seen this? Tonight, our '06 C-Max's standard 6000CD stereo is displaying the word "PHONE". Otherwise, its unresponsive. There's no phone connected to it, btw, and the button with the telephone symbol doesn't seem to be jammed or damaged.
tt Read more
Never heard of it but have you tried just disconnecting the battery for a bit?
If that fixes it all you should need to do is re-enter the code (if you still need to do that on a ford?!).
-Mork
hi everyone the speedometer (probably not correct term) on my car randomly when driving at higher speed i will be going at 70 and them all of a sudden it will bounce to 40 30 etc can anyone suggest a solution thanks in advance Read more
I had this problem on my Toyota HiAce van.
I could be driving along at say 30 or 40 and the speedo would jump up to 70 or so.
It did this for quite a while and then the inner speedo cable snapped. I think it was getting stuck and twisting, then as it caught up it caused the flicking.
A new cable solved the problem.
Hello,
The air con on my van has failed today. I first noticed a hissing noise after turning off engine and apon inspection i noticed that two of the hoses from the compressor were touching. One has worn through and was leaking oil the other seems ok.
Could i still use the van until i can get it fixed?. I know it shoudnt be run without gas and oil. Do i need to do more than simply not turn on the air con switch on the dash or do i need to remove fuses etc? Read more
Thanks, I hadnt thought of that... have to wait till tomorrow now thou. Im hoping that as it was still hissing when i stopped it hasnt done any serious damage.
hi there can any one help me? i have a 2002 307 that broke down one day and after new hp pump, presure regulator, lp pump, ecu test still wont drive more than a mile without breaking down
slt - was the p0230 an error code ? Read more
Running-on suggests a fuel regulator fault or a rail pressure sensor fault.
You've got about as far as you can on this one with the means at your disposal - take it to a diagnostic specialists like Bosch or LSUK to find out why that feed is dropping out.
Hi,
I'm looking for some advice on this car.
I'm planning to buy a 1.6 petrol V reg Astra estate with 32,000 miles on the clock from a dealer. Is this a reliable car? or are they prone to expensive problems compared to a similar focus etc?
It has a service history but appears to have gone a couple of years between services due to the low miles- is this a problem.
Also any tips on things to look for before i buy it?
Any thoughts greatly appreciated,
Mike.
Read more
catsdad
You've got an X16SZR - and all the typical reasons never to buy one.
This is what happened in a nutshell.
The main Nano factory was built in state of West Bengal. The communist state government (they are in power in only 2 Indian states) forcibly took away lands from poor farmers (by providing them a much lower than market value compensation) and gifted to Tatas at a far cheaper rate of what Tatas had to pay if they had built the factory in other states. (They did it to win popularity of voters as West Bengal is lagging behind other more industrialized Indian states)
Now, the displaced farmers, with the aid of opposition leader in the state, has started a violent protest against Tata and communist government.
Tata has threaten to pull out of Bengal if government can't reach a compromise with opposition party within next 2 weeks.
However, it does not mean that Nano manufacturing will stop as they already set up other plants in other Indian states but it may increase the cost of Nano as Tata already invested a lot in Bengal factory and relocation will bite their profits.
Some links
tinyurl.com/5bgk8z
tinyurl.com/6ycjpf
tinyurl.com/66jxmp
Read more
Two parts to this story
Material cost - Tata's will be challenged by this. Their suppliers have been strung by other manufacturers like suzuki who want an explanation on how similar components will be charged a lot less in the Nano. My guess is that Tata will make money by licencing production.
Although I admire Ratan Tata, am actually relieved as the car will add to already congested Indian cities.
To the second point - the Agitation
It is claimed that the farmers have got a raw deal - but how raw is the deal and what is fair compensation? The mad lady heading the TMC (the party leading the demo) will not disclose and will not come to the negotiating table. It has come to a point where all parties are going to lose. Tata lose its investment, TMC get rubbed in it and the capitalist Marxists get portrayed as lame ducks
It is election year coming up, so the centre will not decisively rock the boat as the TMC is an undesirable ally of the Congress Party.
This should wake up all stakeholders when it comes to land acquisition. Things have not always been fair. Some planned economic zones are taking more land that would be required. Compensation is not always fair - a meagre amount and a "promise" of future employment. If a definate industrial plan is in place, that's fine.
When I visit one of our companies units located in such a zone in Chengdu, China, the farmers received a little compensation to get by and were then given apartments and/or job opportunities. They make a decent income form the rent.
Bottom line - A fair compensation and a fair future based on realistic fundementals
I being looking at picking up a 12 month old new shape 320d m sport couple. I being looking at the auction route and hopefully will pick up an ex management car if not one of 1 year olds coming off lease.
I went to blackbushe and found a number of 08 plate cars going through with delivery miles. Now maybe I am cynical but is there anything wrong with these cars and is there an increase risk associated with purchasing them.
I hear horror stories of these cars being returned cars with defects or cars that have been damaged on the transporter and never recorded on the hpi.
So do you guys have any advice as I saw a lovely a5 coming up, but don't know how to proceed. I have also heard that sometimes Audi will bid up the price of their cars at auctions such as the TT's and the A5's. Is that actually true?
Thanks can for any help,
Cheers
Steven Read more
The car you refer to is being sold by Lex Contracts so is most likely a cancelled fleet/lease order the supplier would not take back.
You can probably expect some online bidding for that one.
Browse
It's simply volume of traffic, made much worse if there are minor accidents. The fact that large numbers of drivers ignore the advisory limits does not help. Enforceable varaiable limits as on the M25 and M42 make for much smoother running.
French motorways are usually praised for being free flowing but we expereinced exactly the same symptoms as scribe on a grossly overtrafficed A7 on Sunday 10 August. Only sorted out by the 40 min queue for the tolls south of Lyon.