November 2009

Altea Ego

How have you ever manged without this

Amazon punters go mad for 'Laptop Steering Wheel Desk'

> www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/20/steering_wheel_de.../
Read more

Alby Back

My dad had a car ( might have been the Wolseley ) which had a fold down wooden veneered tray thing which held whisky tumblers and a small decanter in case a mid journey snifter was urgently required. He wouldn't have liked MacDonalds.

dieseldogg

As in
To lamp the stupid folks in front
Who sit with their foot on the brake pedal
Instead of using the handbrake, whilst sitting stationary in a queue of traffic
And lamp sods like me behind who suffer from poor night vision
The third level high intensity brake light is the absolute worst invention
Seen from my perspective Read more

tunacat

I'm with dieseldogg on this one.

I don't think my night vision is other than normal.

There's a T junction near me which has a constant uphill approach for a good quarter of a mile, and it's very busy. At rush hour you will queue the full length of it, moving a car length about every 20 seconds. (It doesn't have traffic lights, and most vehicles are turning right. Hellish on clutches too.)

Fortunately I don't have to use this stretch very often, but I can tell you, when it's dark, it is absolutely no fun at all to be behind someone all that time who never uses the handbrake.
By the time I finally get out of the junction and am moving steadily again, I find have have significant green splurges all across my vision for ooh, a minute? Which is not a tiny distance at 30 mph.
Passengers complain too, so it's not just me.

IIRC, I read that the petrol engine on the Honda Insight, in the course of its stop-start thing at traffic lights etc, will only switch off and stay off if you keep your foot on the footbrake. Argghh!!

StephenH

My daughter is looking for a smallish (for parking) "traditional" automatic to buy for about £6k. She does quite a lot of long distance motorway drives, and currently has a 9 year old Toyota Yaris, which has been excellent. We had a test drive with a 3 year old Mitsubishi Colt diesel automatic, but the auto lurched from gear to gear, ? had no torque converter unlike her current Yaris. We are now thinking of a 1.6 Nissan Note automatic, she has driven one of these as a hire car and it drove well, but she would like something a bit less "utilitarian" and more chic. She would like something a bit different, no Fords, Renaults or Peugeots? Anyone have any ideas? Read more

Bagpuss

A bit more chic?

tinyurl.com/ycmpav7

Alternatively

tinyurl.com/yed68nb


henry k

Obviously few are not aware of problems in Cumbria but Sky is reporting 1800 bridges are to be checked and several bridges and roads are closed.
The impact of the roads problem seems to be covering well beyond the headline sites.

The usual problem of rubber neckers has been reported and police ask them to desist and not travel to the area (some with canoes).
Read more

mrnikko

The situation up here in Cumbria is pretty grim especially in the west of the county.
I would suggest to any backroomers who have business in the county to check if there appointments, visits,ect are essential. The situation west of Keswick is truly shocking with the A66 the only route into the Workington, Whitehaven area and this is the only good route to Sellafield. The well used cut over Ennerdale via cold fell are poor due to deep floodwater and its raining heavily now so the situation will only get worse rather than better.
The route ig you wish to visit one side of Workington to the other is about a 30 mile diversion its A66 to Keswick, A591 to Bothel and then down the A595 to Workington.

3T

Advice / recomendations gratefully recieved - a small agument with a car park wall/high kerb has left my lovely ladys Picasso with a couple of hand sized dents and damaged paint on the drivers side sill .
Any ideas on cost and anyone used a 'smart' repairer in the Portsmouth area ? Read more

andyp

I don't think this repair would be within the scope of a smart repair to be honest. Hand sized dents in the door sill would probably be a body shop job.

Geoff Burrows

I bought my car in April when it had 55,000 on the clock and it was serviced by the garage I bought it from. As it reached 60,000 miles the warning 'Time for Service' appeared on the dashboard whenever I started the car. I thought it might stop doing this when I got past some magic mileage, but it has not yet! Can anyone advise me how I can stop this annoyance? Read more

DP

There are two procedures depending on the age of the car. Both are detailed in the Haynes manual. If anyone needs the other one and can't find it, just let me know and I will post it.

wizardsend

Hi
I've just bought this C5 exclusive SE 2.2 HDI. with AC
Have found a slight oil seepage from a small cooler / radiator next to the main radiator on the nearside front, betwixt radiator and battery, size approx 6 - 7 inches wide, same depth as radiator.
A large hose goes to it and from it.
What is this cooler?
Is it repairable?

There isn't much of a seep, but over time this has accumilated.

Thanks for your time
Read more

dieselnut

This is the intercooler.
It cools down the air after beeing compressed by the turbo.
Turbo's always leak a small amount of oil from the seals & this is blown with the air through the pipes to the intercooler.
As the oil drains to the lowest point it will seep out from the hose conexions.
Keep an eye on your oil level.
Shouldn't be a problem as long as the oil doesn't need constant topping up.

magyar

accelerating produces a sort of "clunk"-almost as though something has stuck and then frees-up. My garage can find absolutely no explanation, and other-
wise there seems to be no problem.
LEE Read more

Javalin

every time? I know the 9-5 Saab's of that era can have oil starvation issues which cause the big ends to go. No idea whether thats the problem here - could be lots of things.

Could be engine mountings? Is it an auto?

(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_9-5 ) {Moved the bracket over one as the link didn't work when it was right next to the link}

James

markengland

Can anyone confirm the size socket needed please to remove the oil filter cover on a 2002 Rover 75 2.0 CDT? Thanks, Mark. Read more

scrapmetal

36mm

Focus_Driver

My house got broken in to last night and my car keys were taken and used to drive the car away. I have 3rd party fire and theft car and buildings only house insurance. The house was properly secured and locked and the keys were in a draw in my bedroom. Would there be any complications with claiming for the theft of vehicle on my car insurance policy? If no, how much time do they allocate for the police to recover the car before they pay out? Read more

Martin Devon

Take out some form of house contents - take a large excess and the premium
will be modest. Floods/fire can clean you out.


Extremely wise words. Good for all.

Martin D