May 2009
Hello,
My 1930 Ford has a 6v battery.
But there are no markings showing which terminal is + or -
I know this is hard to believe. But there are no markings.
Is there a way of finding out which is which using a multimeter or such like?
THanks Read more
Many years ago I had a flat tyre, and could see a small wood splinter in the tyre, at the repairer the splinter could not be pulled from the tyre. On removing the tyre it became apparent that the splinter was in fact the point of an intact cricket stump which was completly inside the tyre. I had not felt an impact, and have no idea how it got there.
Yes the tyre was a write off!
Any other unusual ones? Read more
The only time I ever had a high-speed blowout - o/s rear on my VW 411, doing about 80 - there was a short period of vibration followed by the bang. The car tracked impeccably and I put it on the grass verge to change the wheel.
The tyre, a well-worn Michelin X, looked as if a large object had forced its way out through the tread, leaving a big hole with all the steel belt wires hanging out. It doesn't seem likely that had actually happened though. My guess is the belt gave way causing a bulge in the tread which quickly led to the blowout.
Several months ago my sons g/f crashed her 2 months old Mini and wrote it off. Her fault no third party involved. Insured fully comp. so not a problem. A week after the crash she got offered a new job with a company car. The insurance company have said that they will replace the crashed Mini with a brand new Mini, no cash settlement instead. So she will shortly have an unregistered Mini which she has no use for. (She cannot use it as her company car)
So what is the best way to dispose of this new Mini given that she still owes finance on the crashed one? Read more
Yes and no...........Technicaly its illegal to sell a car on which you owe finance, but I am sure that most finance cos would have no issue with you selling to a dealer and the dealer settling with the finance co direct, if fact I imagine that this happens all the time.
I see no reason why the insurance co would not make a cash settlement as I cant see that they get a massive discount on a MINI which is far greater than you or I could get through a broker. Have they actualy refused this, or is it just a case of they think they are doing the right thing by replacing the car and removing GF's hassle in buying a new one?
Citroen C3 has started cutting out, whilst driving, will normally restart but occasionally
I have had to pull over and wait a couple of minutes, power steering has also gone a
couple of times on it. Frightened to put it in the garage because each time I put it in they
tell me it needs other things doing to it as well. Have read article from ph001 who had the same problem and said it was the EGR valvle. I just want to know if I can go to a
garage and just ask them to replace the EGR valve???? Read more
it needs a code read really,guessing can be a very expensive hobby.
pipes rubbed through under air filter housing is quite common on these.
In connection with a discussion about the sorry state of many of our roads, I was silly enough to mention the use of steel mesh or netting reinforcement ?like they used to use?. But nobody had heard of reinforcing asphalt (or bitumen or whatever) with steel mesh. I am certain I can remember seeing steel mesh poking out of partially laid asphalt up through the years. I?ve googled for hours, but can?t find anything about it. Have I been dreaming or what, can anybody help here?
Read more
Steel mesh reinforcement is only ever used within the rigid (concrete) layers of pavement construction, not the flexible (bitumen) layers.
Sometimes the flexible layers can be reinforced with a geotextile (fibreglass mesh) if the new surface is being laid over an old cracked surface.
P.S. Just to confuse you: to a highway engineer the pavement includes the surface that cars drive on, not just the surface that pedestrians walk on.
SWMBO's RAV4 failed its MoT test on exhaust emissions. Print-out reads:
Fast Idle Test:
CO: max 0.300% 0.000 PASS
HC: max 200ppm 0 PASS
Lambda: 0.970 - 1.030 1.091 FAIL
Second Fast Idle Test:
CO: max 0.300% 3.093 FAIL
HC: max 200ppm 90 PASS
Lambda: 0.970 - 1.030 0.922 FAIL
Natural Idle Test:
CO: max 0.500% 3.197 FAIL
I'm a bit confused by the first fast idle test. The '0' result for both CO and HC implies a remarkably clean exhaust, though the lambda figure does imply that the engine is running lean, so perhaps a low CO reading would be expected.
I gather that the second fast idle test is only performed to give the car a 'second chance' - so why are the figures so vastly different? In particular, the lambda value now indicates a rich mixture - which might explain the high CO figure. But why should the repeat test be so vastly different to the first??
Read more
Hi BB,
That's a possibility - I'll block the tailpipe with a rag tonight and see if starts blowing a raspberry!
I still don't understand why the two fast idle tests are so different. I wasn't present at the testing, so can't say whether the car was fully up to temp or not.
A new air filter is on order - the old one was a bit, ahem, 'obscured', though only about a year old....
hi room, MOT in the morning , just wanted to know how the testers "test" the handbrake, is it so many clicks on the ratchet to see if it holds or is it a bit more technical than that? is their a rule of thumb? surely a handrake pulled up to the last tooth on the ratchet will hold more than one teetering on the first notch Read more
thanks for the info DD, mot went well apart from one panic episode, just before i went to the booked test i went to get some fuel as it was a bit low, i pulled into the petrol station and pulled the fuel flap catch inside the car and it failed to deploy....i spent 20 minutes trying to open the flap manually from inside the boot , mentioned it to the tester and he was ok with it, during the test he commented that the headlamp glass was starting to "yellow" and he advised me to soft wire brush the brake lines aft and grease them up...but chuffed to pass the MOT in a 12 year old motor ...cheers
Looking to buy one of the above shortly. Would appreciate any advise on the positives AND negatives of buying a UK Honda Shuttle as opposed to buying a Import Odyssey which appears better specced out. Any obvious drawbacks when it comes to re - selling in the future.
Also does the Odyssey command higher insurance premiums.
Would appreciate any useful comments. Thanks Read more
hi all
help required i have just had my car recoverd after being stolen 2 weeks ago,the police tell me there is no damage to the car so the insurance company are going to have the locks changed and return the car to me after i pay my excess £500
if i was to part ex my car when it is returned would it come up on any hpi check at the dealers!
{typo in header corrected} Read more
An HPI type check will probably show it as Stolen and Recovered, as this info is from the Police register, not the insurance.
I am considering buying a used Volvo V50 2.0d, either S or Sport model.
I currently run a V W Passat 1.9Tdi 100hp, which now has 167,000 miles on. I have not had a minutes trouble with the Passat. Prior to running the Passat I have run 3 Golfs, all having around 140,000 on them when I got rid and again I did not have a moments bother with any of them. So you could say that I do hold V W in high regard, but I have read differing reviews about the new Passat, hence considering a V50.
I am led to believe that the engine in the V50 is a Ford/Pug engine. Is this correct? If so is the engine any good? Will it be as reliable as the V W engine?? Is there anything in particular that I should be concerned about with the engine or the car? Is the Volvo as well built as a V W?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Read more
The pal I mentioned in my earlier post has just called. I noticed that his front tyre looked a little flat. No, he said they are low profile.
It was flat, it had a nail in it. I helped him change the wheel in a shed, it was raining cats and dogs. The spare was one of those skinny 50mph things and he wanted to drive 50 miles this evening.
What a daft idea these spacesaver wheels are, you don't even save much space.
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Sorry - the small terminal is correct.