July 2009
Yes, I know it was the day that Apollo 11 was launched for the moon but, even more significant, it was the day I passed my bike test (or, 'motorbike', as we called them in those days).
I passed (first-time) on my Ambassador Popular with a Villiers 9E 3-speed 2-stroke engine - you don't see many of those around now! The test centre was on the Narborough Road, Leicester and it was a hot sunny day. The examiner was wearing a white shirt with his sleeves rolled up - the same as every other bloke on the Narborough Road that day and he quickly vanished in the crowd. At one point, I took a wrong turning and lost him. Fortunately, we met again and he thought me sincere enough to give me a 'pass'. Read more
Good evening all,
My fiancee picked up an '08 plate Grande Punto 1.2 Active last Saturday and, with one exception, is very happy with it.
The off-side headlight has developed a large amount of condensation in it and looks very unsightly. She took it back to the supplying dealer (a large, local multi-site, multi-franchise concern) and was told that it was perfectly normal and that the heat from the headlights will dry it out and all will be well.
Now, we might be being unfair on the dealer here, but we think that this is cock of the poppiest variety and we feel that my fiancee is being fobbed off.
I'd be grateful for your opinions and advice.
Cheers. Read more
Thanks for your advice folks. I've not done anything to the headlight that could, in any way at all, be held against us in a warranty claim. But I have driven the car this weekend with the headlights on - in total for about two hours.
The condensation has cleared a little from the headlamp part of the lens but is still very much there on the indicator part. This is not acceptable and my fiancee will be heading back to the dealer tomorrow to tell them that she wants it sorting. Well, to be strictly accurate, I'll probably be heading down there on her behalf!
Cheers.
A manufacturer's ad has appeared in our local paper citing the "Taylors" who managed 126 mpg on an economy drive. Fair enough I thought as I know specialist economy techniques can achieve some remarkable mpg figures. However the ad goes on to say "You could achieve this too and you don't need any special driving skills or additional equipment. Just a few good driving habits and the 308 HDI".
An amazing claim that I assume relies heavily on the "could". In the small print it goes on to state this as a Guiness Record. I know its only advertising "puff" but seems to stretch reasonableness somewhat! I wonder what other records I "could" achieve and what these "few good driving habits" might be.............. Read more
It would appear that numbers 5 and 18 are in conflict with each other.
Life is too short.
For about two minutes the other night on one of the channels I saw something about the somethingorother (not cannonball) run in I think California.
Heavens to betsy, what a tiresome bunch of exhibitionist airheads, poseurs and yahoos the participants seemed to be. Such an event would be on my to-avoid-at-all-costs list. Sure to upset one's digestion. Read more
Alas, AE, I do sometimes succumb to the desire to be boorish, and get myself into trouble.
And I am, of course, a bit jealous of the horseflesh on display. But not of the wish to yell meaninglessly to camera with one's tongue hanging out, if you see what I mean...
I've never felt it necessary to indicate when in a left/right turn only lane (shown by the white arrow painted on the road), but I've started to notice so many drivers now doing this that I'm not sure if I'm missing something. I've always seen it as someone who can't read the road or am I being mean and it's just drivers adopting a 'belt and braces' approach. Read more
Just because I'm in the lane that is marked with a turn left arrow doesn't mean that I will turn left. In nose to tail traffic or wet and dark conditions the markings are not visible. I tend to use the left hand lane to go straight on as it is the safer option for me. Going straight on from the right hand lane has been terrifying at times with someone attempting to ram my car on the LHS. Old age on my part I guess.
When SWMBO was driving my car the other day, she was using her indicators, but several cars were blowing their horns when she was manouvering at junctions and being very agressive towards her. She was obeying the speed limits and not driving too slowly. I checked out the indicators and brake lights several times and there is no problem. I was a passenger and was appalled at the behaviour of the other drivers.
I need to replace a drive shaft on this car so i'm going to have to drain the transmission fluid.
I understand you have to top it up through the dipstick tube?
Is this correct and how slow does this make the job?
Thanks. Read more
My BiL has had a singularly bad piece of luck. Driving his 2 year old Auris diesel with his wife and both adult children as passengers in Neasden or Wembley, he was run into by another car and the Auris written off.
He said the other car, containing an Indian family with a baby in a child seat, came round a l/h bend - r/h to my BiL of course - apparently out of control, hit the kerb on its own n/s and came across the road, hit a parked car and then crashed head-on into my BiL's car, n/s front to n/s front... 'so he was inside, on the left'.
The Auris's air bags deployed, my BiL commenting that the knee-level ones seemed to have been particularly effective in preventing injury, but his wife and daughter, sitting behind each other on the n/s of the car, were both shaken and bruised, his wife who has chronic health problems being severely shocked. He has a stiff neck and his son is apparently all right.
The other car was insured but will 'market value' get him another as-new, perfectly maintained Auris diesel? He is toying with the idea of sharing his wife's car from now on as she doesn't use it much, and both the children have their own cars, the son a motor bike as well.
He is as near-perfect a driver as anyone I know, far more disciplined and restrained than I am, a lifelong car enthusiast and long-time big biker. So: it can happen to anyone, any time. Be careful and don't doze at the wheel.
Read more
"I had a bump with 2 cars - both insured in an "East Anglian Town"."
They are now changing their name to sound like a clapped-out Vauxhall. It would be nice to think that rebranding might mean a new-look customer service policy - and a willingness to answer a phone - but I won't hold my breath.
I've been with Zurich for a few years - one small claim, dealt with very efficiently - but my broker has recommended the aforesaid as the premium is much lower. I'll go with it I think and rely on the broker to help if I have a claim.
I have a problem with a 1769cc 205 XUD (non turbo), which is losing power at higher revs. The car runs perfectly smoothly and economically at lower revs, but not so fun when going up steep hills or trying to overtake, when it stutters and judders, as if there were either fuel starvation or shortage of air. I'm getting a top speed on the motorway of about 75mph (complete with juddering), where normally one can get 85+ out of it (for testing purposes only, of course, I don't routinely thrash it as it's 15 years old).
I've renewed the air and fuel filters and made sure the crud gauze filter thing in the tank is clear, but no joy. I changed the glow plugs too as starting was poor (don't think they can have been changed since the car was new)- this has cured that problem and starting is now immediate. The old plugs were a bit sooty, so I assumed that the injectors might be grubby, and ran some STP diesel injector cleaner through- one load in the tank, the other added directly to the fuel filter. Again, no luck. Is the only possible cause the injectors? In this case I'm guessing I'll need to get them tested/ cleaned and potentially replace a dodgy one.
Or is there another possible reason?
Thanks,
Ade
{no need to repeat make/model in the subject header - the drop down menu's take care of that for you} Read more
Sounds like a fuel supply problem, if it was lack of air it would be accompanied by clouds of black smoke which you don't mention. My first suggestion would have been the fuel filter but as you have already replaced it there must be something else restricting the fuel, the most likely problem being air ingress.
The easiest way to check for this is to fit a length of clear plastic tube into the fuel line as near the input to the pump as possible, then look for air bubbles at various throttle settings. Likely places for leaks are the filter housing itself, did you change the 'O' rings? the fuel primer diaphragm or any join in the fuel pipe, if its a Bosch pump also check the leak off pipes, quite easy with a non turbo, any fuel leaking out will mean air getting in.
It's coming up to school holidays and on Saturday 25th we're off to a cottage in New Quay (Wales) for a week. We don't want to set off too early because we can't get into the cottage until 2pm and we're taking the dog.
Google maps suggests the following route: tinyurl.com/ne2qhn
which is 203 miles and 3h 46mins (we'll be stopping for breathers as required).
Any comments on the route, and what's the traffic going to be like if we set off at say 10am? Will everyone else have gone by then? :-)
F Read more
Ended up setting off some time after 11am and although M4 was busy, it kept moving OK. Only significant holdup was at the roundabout at the end of the A48 - about 20-30 mins I think.
Saw lots of speed camera warning signs on the Welsh roads around New Quay and Aberystwyth but don't remember seeing a single speed camera. Didn't do any overtaking, but didn't feel the need to - most of the time 60mph would have been too fast for the road.
Lovely cottage near the quiet beach; weather not brilliant but a lot better than what we got in Cornwall a couple of years ago. Only one trip to the emergency dentist, due to SWMBO losing a filling, and one to casualty after son badly sprained his ankle on some beach rocks. Fortunately his crutches didn't prevent us from doing too many things :-)
A few holdups on journey back mainly just due to weight of traffic I think, but overall, as 200 mile drives go, relatively straightforward and easy.
Thanks again for the comments and suggestions.
F
We're off to the IOW in a few weeks, travelling from the jcn 4 M25 area down to Portsmouth and from there to Fishbourne on the Island via WightLink ferries. I've never been there before and am wondering if anyone has any tips for the trip down to Portsmouth and/or the ferry crossing. We're hoping to get the ferry at 2pm ish on the Sunday and think we need to allow around 3 hours for the journey to Portsmouth in order to be at the port in good time. Does that sound reasonable? Anyone got any thoughts on the best route to take? TIA. Read more
No problem rustling up the £40 ferry fare but would like some sense of money
well spent when I get there. Apart from the peace and quiet what attractions are
there that I can't find bigger and better on the mainland?
I simply don't see holday destinations in terms of bigger/better. One might go for thefirst time to see what its like or on the umpteenth return to revisit childhood haunts - Freshwater BAy seems almost timeless. Little in the mainland presents so much variety of view, geology (and thus landscape) and habitation. The opportunity to go somewhere and feel you've seen most of it in a week or so ismight also count for something.
The view from the West High down beats almost anything
Browse
Good luck with the test, Pica! It's a whole lot more difficult and involved than when I took mine - but then, it has to be. When I returned to motorcycling after a break of some 20 years between 1976 and 1996, I was amazed at the increased speed and density of traffic on the roads. The gradual change in the traffic conditions hadn't been so noticeable when cocooned in a car. The biggest thing that I noticed was the massive jump in concentration required on 2 wheels. I found it very tiring though, I suppose that if you do enough motorcycling, then you could get used to it again.
I have no doubt that motorcyclists, in general, make better car drivers because they are more aware of road surface conditions and have developed better powers of anticipation.