Is there anyway to disable the rain sensor on my 03 Micra?

Everytime the windscreen gets even the slightest drop of water, the wipers start working at full pelt and continue to do so when the water has gone. This continues for days after and is incredibly infuriating. It can mean I have the wipers working on gloriously sunny days and people must think I'm mad!

I asked at my local dealership and they wanted to book the car in for a full electrical diagnostic test to locate the fault which I can imagine would be rather expensive so I decided to see if anyone else has experienced this problem and could help me.

My kind thanks in advance for any advice or guidance. Read more

The law of physics says friction force depends only on coefficient of friction and weight and not on surface area.

But it is often said tyre width has a contributing factors in traction.

Do wider tyres provide better traction? How does it tally with physics?

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'High-profile plans announced by Gordon Brown to ease the burden on motorists by making MOT tests less frequent have been quietly shelved, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.The about turn was performed two years after the then-Chancellor said that MOTs would move to every other year as part of a Government crack-down on bureaucracy and red-tape, and in order to reduce the cost on drivers.
In an embarrassing move, the proposals have been scrapped after officials calculated that making MOTs compulsory only every two years - rather than annually at present - would lead to a "significant increase" in deaths and injuries on the road."

www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/3724567/Two-year...l

Now isn't the bit about '"significant increase" in deaths and injuries on the road."' interesting. We are constantly told that speeding and drink driving are the biggest cause of deaths and injuries on our roads but suddenly the notion that dangerous vehicles will increase those figures is thrown in to the pot.
'Two years later, in a written ministerial statement slipped out this week by the Department for Transport, Jim Fitzpatrick, the Transport Minister, said that an analysis of the proposal had found a significant cost in human terms.
He said: "Our analysis suggests that a significant number of additional road traffic accidents would be likely if MOT test frequency was reduced.
"This is primarily because the annual MOT failure rate is already high (around 35 per cent) and if we were to reduce frequency, there is a very real risk that the number of unroadworthy cars would increase significantly. In turn, the number of road casualties would inevitably increase.'

Of course, no breakdown of the 35% failure rate is offered. Now judging by my own experiences of MOT failures, I wonder how many of those failures are down to incorrect number plates and their letter spacing, chips in the windscreen or emission readings, non of which would make a vehicle more likely to crash and kill people in my view.

The yearly MOT fee is like the TV licence fee, a tax in all but name. Who would want to throw away the opportunity to collect it every year ?
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Just bought this car and yesterday I had a problem starting it. The engine cranked over but would not fire (or tried to a tiny bit). We checked the battery voltage and it turned out to be real low (12.2v) so I bought a new battery (I bought a lead acid one but have since discovered that I can only use an expensive silver calcium one from ford). It was real cold out last night which may have had something to do with it.

Stuck the new one in this morning but did the same thing. Battery voltage was better at 12.53 but it wasn't really firing. I then tried to start with my foot fully pressed on the accelerator and after a few seconds of intermittent firing it started ok and then ran fine. It has now restarted ok since. Voltage when running was 14.7 with lights/heater/heated screen on (so as far as I can tell the battery is being charged fine).

After I google searched I found the following suggestions:

Spark plugs dirty
Fuel injection problem causing engine flooding?
Fuel pump
Cranking sensor
Coolant temp sensor

I have a feeling it is something to do with fuel, but not sure. It seems to run fine when its running other than occasional slight (up to 2000rpm) revving coming up to junctions when the clutch is depressed (perhaps completely unrelated?).

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks! Read more

My insurance company offers a discount for a fitted Cat 1 immobiliser and rather less for a fitted Cat 2.

I could not steal a car with an immobiliser, I wouldn?t know to begin, but it made me think 'is it possible?? Obviously any car can be stolen just by means of a lift, or a suspended tow, or even, given enough time by replacing components.

Are immobilisers secure, do any BR's know of the theft of an immobilised car, are aftermarket security devices worth having, if so which ones?

Just curious really, as I have not personally heard of an immobiliser fitted vehicle being taken.
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