August 2009
End of next month, my younger daughter starts a nine month contract teaching in Opole southern Poland. She'd like to drive there in her 2002 106. Any advice on insurance, breakdown cover, other important things would be very welcome.
Read more
Another year. Another service & MOT. Another £85.
Bought almost 2 years ago as a 6month stop gap between more 'interesting' cars, my '98 2.0 petrol is fast becoming hard to replace. It is a versatile hatch, very comfortable leather interior, nice panoramic glass roof, digital climate control. decent quality Clarion 6disc sound system, returns 36/40mpg and lives happily for hours with the repmobiles on our motorway system when so required.
It cost me £995, and apart from a precautionary belt change (£92) and 4 new Michelin Energy's last year (£300)the annual service charge is around £85 for oil, filter, labour, VAT and MOT.
I find it very strange that as someone who has been fortunate to own some wonderful cars over the past 35 years, I have come to love this car. Some time in the next 12 months it will have to go when SWMBO and I buy ourselves our promised convertible wedding present, but until then I shall just have to put up with it.
Is anyone else in the same situation? And whoever buys it had better look after it!!! Read more
Hamafar, did you ever try ebay or a breakers for the mirror?? You were ripped off for the caliper I had a mot failure due to the caliper 1 year I think it was about £75 , not bad. I have had the car 7 years its had a couple of batteries and needed a clutch this year but i dont think i ,ve done too bad,.
few weeks ago, on the motorway, the engine went completely dead.
A inspection at the Volvo garage revealed that the idler pulley had seized causing the V belt to break.
The report continues " When this happens the V belt disintegrates wrapping itself around the crankshaft pulley and also enters the cam belt casing. This causes the cam belt to slip on its pulleys, as the pulleys on the cam belt are timed to turn in synchronisation this is disturbed and fatal damage occurs internally in the engine". In short the car needs a new engine!
The car had a full service only days before this happening and the engine has less than 50.000 miles on the clock.
Any idea on what can be the cause for the idler pulley to seize?
Read more
This has been reported before on the D5. You are not alone with this issue.
Try searching on here and on the Volvo owner's club too.
Yesterday morning our local radio station had a "shock headline" piece about the number of foreign registered lorries which failed roadside inspections.
The piece said 47% checked by VOSA had serious safety issues.
As usual there was the good old Brit wagon driver saying how wonderful our system was, apparently we have 6 weekly servicing and checks to ensure the roads aren't full of UK registered death trap wagons and other countries simply don't have the checks we do.
By the end of the day this story, on the same station, suddenly contained info on the number of UK registered wagons which failed. Considering the earlier report stating how good we were in this Country at checking I was expecting the figure to be much lower than foreign failures.
It was 37%.
Considering VOSA will probably look at far more UK registered vehicles than foreign ones it didn't make us out to be much better than 'Johnny Foreigner' so why the emphasis by MPs who compiled the report?
Fact is the inspection system is obviously not good enough anywhere in the EU.
Read more
Another thing to throw into those statistics is that VOSA would be stopping all foreign registered lorries but they only target 'known offenders' with UK ones.
They have a so called traffic light system on their computers that flags every haulage company with their track record of test passes and failures and roadside check results.
If that flags up as green then you are mostly left alone on VOSA checks.
Pat
So, there I was, visiting my Aunt Kit. She makes the most sublime bacon and onion puddings in tea mugs with broken handles (don't ask) and fantastic bread pudding. Having picked up my vittals, I went to cross the road to go to the station.
I looked right, left and right again and continued to look as I crossed the (wider than average) residential street.
As I stepped off the kerb, a silver X6 thingy was turning into the road from a main road, probably over 100ft away. Now, I wasn't marching to Colonel Bogey, nor was I doing the 88 step p/m Foreign Legion march. I wasn't dawdling as I had a hot date with a bacon and onion pudding when I got home.
Under normal circumstances, I would get safely to the other side without the driver even needing to think to cover his brake pedal or decelerate. However, I did not reckon with my physical presence and temerity in crossing the road acting as a red rag to Mr X6 driver who flashed his lights, accelerated towards me and blared his horn as he actually jinked towards me.
I got to the other side and heard his shout through the open window. I think he described me as something akin to the ladies downstairs department. He was going so fast, I didn't even have time to extend him the snake wranglers five knuckle shuffle fellowship sign. Anyway, I was still thinking about my pudding. Ithere's a joke there somewhere!)
Blow me down, he only came around the block a second time to have another go. Shouting at me through his open window, his puce ugly face with spittle flecking his lips. I was quite shocked that my presence should have such an effect on a man (it usually only happens with my wife) Then he drove off.
I walked away shaking my head in wonder. What on earth possessed him? I kid you not when I say I had plenty of time to cross, there was no element at all of me jay walking or being difficult.
I dare say that had I stopped in his path he would have stopped or gone around me, but really I wasn't bothered about us being in the same space together until he decided to be a complete rear end about it all and make to wipe me up. Read more
People have been killed for divulging lesser secrets than their revered Aunts top secret boiled bacon and onion pudding recipe. My dear old Mum (bless her soul) took her recipe for perfect yorkshire pudding to the grave. The only part she told me was that you had to slam the oven door when you put the pudding in.
However, I will don the kevlar body suit and shin protectors and ask Aunt Kit. Watch this space!
as some of you might know , I LIKE my old motorcycles , one brand in particular , is the enfield , and the bullet model.
I posted this on another website , and the modern bikers , with fuel injection and elleccy ign could not grasp it:
"I thought that the replacement enfield engine was a bit sluggish , almost like a sticky ring , comp was there on k/start , but did not have a guage handy to check.
walked to petrol stn with an empty ep90 container , chap filling with diesel , asked him to put me 50p in my container,
over the last week or so I have warmed the engine up , then removed the plug , and given it a "glug" of diesel down the bore , morning after , placed a rag over the top and kicked it , a lot of sh 1 t , came out of the exaust , this was continued for about 5 nights , on morning 3 and morning 6 , i drained the sump , that should hold 30ml oil , quite a lot of crap came out ,
DIY decoke on the piston head , but more so on the rings ,
50p well spent
the bike now ticks over better and smoother , but it was fun getting rid of all that unburnt diesel! "
noe I know my old dad used to say "4 gallons and a shot of redex" , (think that was £1?)
oils have changed over the years , but this simple solution , used 20 yrs ago on old minis worked for me? Read more
cheers chris , the bike as it was with the older 350 lump
i39.tinypic.com/207ujqc.jpg
but now with 500cc power!!!
had to do a few mods to keep her fit for the 21st century ,
i43.tinypic.com/fof7d1.jpg
i40.tinypic.com/fu2vif.jpg
and using technology from modern diesel cars has solved that "wetsumping" problem , and blowing waste oil onto the chain/tyre
i41.tinypic.com/29xd6cj.jpg
tiz a one way diesel valve used to stop fuel running back in the tank overnight , it now chucks excess oil flow back into my oil tank , and vents the air/fumes on to the chain,
the ign , is a "points assist" kit from maplins (£9.99 velleman) and the points last forever ,,,
yes i live my old bikes,
alan
Hi
I have a toyota camry that runs on LPG. I understand that it runs hotter than usual. Would an oil cooler make any difference? Can you recommend any websites that let me know how I can buy one with advice on these devices.
I understand that they are more suited to cars that tow as the gear box oil gets hotter in these cases!
Thanks
Greg Read more
The LPG high temp usually only will create issues when stuck in a small traffic jam.
Best thing to do is switch it to idle on petrol in these conditions and then switch back to LPG when moving again.
I have an XK8 on LPG and although it does have an oil cooler, I always switch over when in a small jam.
I was lolling on the sofa a few minutes ago, just after lunch and mentally flipping a marble (as you do)
Well.. we did actually. At least me and my mate, but if one went over the side of the canvas cot then rat a tat tat, on the wooden floor you were in for it.
It was during one of those infant enforced sleep intervals that I looked out of the big round window in Rothwell school and considered the inter-connectivity of roads.
Other kids were asleep in the summer heat of 1952 and I was flipping the marble. The next class up were going through the alphabet. ABCD... through the thin partition to the next classroom - almost as though timed to perfection to learn before entry during our nap.
It started with the wires - telephone wires and the pole straight outside the window, visible over the cot side and the gleam of the marble - in the minds eye the glass eye of a tiger and currency in rare colour in the pre money world of friends now sleeping - mouths open, lingering like puppies in the last refuge to complete relaxation and total lunchtime refreshment until the current post retirement day.
Connected. Roads. Not just wires and for the first time the mind raced ahead - down roads beyond actually travelled, in the Aunts old sit up and beg Austin with its slow plod plod to Bridlington and the wind chapped legs of an East Coast Summer.
Read more
Thanks Avant
All the best
The fans on my wifes Golf are cutting in sporadically at all times when the temperature is normal. Are both fans water cooling fans? I am summising that there is a problem with a temperature switch...any help gratefully received. Read more
Thanks for your help, I'd done a search earlier and found that the resistors are useless and the mod seems easy.
Hi,
I have a mondeo 2.0 TDCi LX. In the last few days it has started to splutter and jump when I accelerate sharply. At the same time their is a sound of sucking air. This seems to happen just above 2000 revs.
This morning their was a cloud of blue smoke when I first stated the car up. It runs relatively smoothly when accelerating gently.
any ideas out there, any help would be much appreciated.
Read more
I had the same probs. ie Lack of power, Smoking, Hissing sound on acceleration and poor fuel economy from 46 MPG down to 34MPG.
The turbow hose was the prob, situated front ofside on engine close to the radiator.
The hose is £34 from Fords and is Apprx 2" diameter and 15" long and runs from the Exhaulst emissins regulater which is attached to the upper engine on the drivers side (right hand drive)which could couse the same problem but costs £126 exchange from Fords.
So you will check the hose first. good luck.Ron
SQ
Browse
.jpg)
Insurers that will cover you for upto 6months continual time in Europe are:
CIS
LV
Frizzell
and that's it; MoreThan do do recovery cover, but most of them don't like it if you don't have a definite return date (ie a ferry booking)
Hope that helps