November 2009
tinyurl.com/y8qdebr
"Most, 4 x 4 owners that I see are pretentious arrogant idiots, whose only experience of off - roading is when they accidentally mount the kerb at our local school car park scattering six year olds like ten pins".
That is just one of the comments in reply to this tragic and very sad loss.
I live in a rural area and have witnessed these 'off road' vehicles complete with bull bars driving at speed down narrow country lanes whilst secure in their large 4X4's.
Just to provide a balanced view, here is a comment the same page from the poor lad's mother
"I know the details of the accident and the driver of the 4x4 could not have done anything and my heart goes out to her. We live in a village and 4x4 are part of life out here I used to drive one myself. Please do not use this tribute page to vent your anger his little brother is reading them for comfort."
smokie, Moderator Read more
My central locking pump got spoilt due to water that must have gotten into the casing that holds the pump in the nearside rear. I checked the tailgate light area and it was all wet. Water must be penetrating via tailgate light area. How can I solve this problem? Read more
Car parked at the kerbside in the village - piece of paper over the tax disc - "Tax applied for online" ! Read more
They're out there, checking !
They have NCP subcontracted to do this checking. They drive around using ANPR to detect offending vehicles and clamp them. And a few hours later they remove the cars. When I last saw two cars clamped in this way, the first one had gone when I drove back past 20 minutes later!
We were away for 2 weeks, and called ATS mobile to fit two new tyres to our 58 plate Avensis while we were away. We left the car and keys with my parents.
On returning, my dad said that no one turned up to fit the tyres, but inspecting the car, there are two brand new Michellins on the front with the locking wheel nuts and an invoice on the front seat. The invoice states ?Customer not present, no keys, mileage not recorded?
Now I?m confused ? how did the guy from ATS get into the car to get the wheel nuts? Did I:
A) Leave the car unlocked for 2 weeks? (I am pretty sure the car locks itself if left unlocked), or
B) Man from ATS has a way of unlocking the car without the key?
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I think that there can only be two real explanations. Either you left the car unlocked in the first place or whoever had the keys just hit the remote button to unlock the car when the ATS man showed up. In the case of the latter the ATS man would have never had to handle the keys, hence why it would state 'no keys' on the paperwork.
Hi,,can anyone tell me which warning lamp holes should have bulbs in them,,,i do realise some of them do not get used,i.e diesel glowplug lights in petrol car,,etc,,they are all numbered 1-23 and most of mine are missing,including my EML bulb which should never be missing.I think somebody has been messing about....any help would be greatly appreciated.It is a Rreg 97 astra artic 1.6 16v automatic,,,cheers in advance,,,,,Eddie Read more
all gears work perfectly,,,as i thot,,screw had fell into alternater windings causing short inside alt ,which sent voltage spike throo ecu,,with alt knackerd ,my battery drained and immobiliser kicked in and would not go off again,,can do paperclip on my model but due to no bulb,could not see any fault codes,,,,,,,all rectified now,,,new bulbs,new alt and charged batt,,,all fine and motor back on road,,(til next time,),,lol,,,cheers for all advice given chaps,,,even the slight on my model,engine,year,lol,lol,,,cheers guys,,,Eddie
Hi all, this is my first post - hope it's relevant, original, and of some interest.
I had a bit of spare time last week, so went cruising the streets of New Orleans. (Google street view).
Noticed quite a few old Volvo's, and a sad looking VW Beetle outside 1180 7th street.
A new Mini outside of 1052 Dauphine street, and an old Mini outside of 4030 Royal street.
A tidy looking SWB Landrover at 634 Louisa street and a rather untidy looking campervan at 854 4th street
I suppose spares must be available for the old european stuff, or do they 'make do and mend'
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Yes, beats the jet lag and airport misery, but the sunshine isnt so good, (or is that hot). :-)
Something I've often wondered.
Haynes (and presumably others), completely strip down and rebuild a car to produce a workshop manual. I remember on the old style of manual they had a photo of a car on the rear cover (a Montego IIRC) as a bare shell on axle stands, with all the mechanical parts, including a completely disassembled engine with pistons, crankshaft, valves, conrods etc, laid out neatly on the floor around it.
What happens to these cars afterwards? Are they rebuilt and sold on as "normal" used cars? Could one or more of us be driving around in a car that has been reduced back to its component parts and reassembled since leaving the factory? What would such a car drive like, and what would be the implications for long term reliability?
Anyone have any clues/experiences to share?
Cheers
DP
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He told me (but never substantiated)
Yes, this happens. Here's my experinece of it;
While working (a brief spell of work via an agency) for a vehicle testing company, a new model of German luxury car was hired by another German manufacturer, and brought in for evaluation.
The car was stripped to the extent necessary to instrument it to test the car's thermal management; I fitted over 200 thermocouples to the engine, the airconditioning system and the interior. The car was then testing in simulated hot and cold conditions while running on a rolling road.
After the testing, we returned the car to it's original condition, in fairness all scruples about renewing parts and fluids which needed replacing were followed, and if anything, the car went out in better condition than it had come in.
My AC needs regassing at some point but when I switch it on at present there is a rattling noise coming from the compressor.
Is this due to the refrigerant being low? I dont plan to run the AC until it is gassed to prevent damage. Read more
A rattling compressor is not a good sign.I would certainly get the gas charge checked and make sure that oil is added to the system at the same time.This may improve matters.hth
Today as I was driving to work I passed the stop line at a junction just as the lights were changing to amber; they changed to red as I was about halfway through the junction. At this point I noticed a flash from a pole mounted camera in between the two carriageways. (through my front windscreen, on the right). On later inspection I found that the camera appears to be angled towards the other side of the road (i.e. towards the oncoming traffic as I was going through the junction) and would have been taking photos of the back of oncoming vehicles.
I may be being paranoid but I'm not very familiar with traffic signal cameras - are they normally positioned so that they take a photo of the back of your car? And if it was a speed camera as well would that be the same? I'm wondering whether this camera flashed because it caught someone going the other way running a light... Read more
If you do a forum search there was a wide ranging debate about these when a member thought he'd been flashed by a camera. May be helpful.
I believe there is an issue with Teves ABS systems on 2004+ S40s, however the Bosch systems are ok, how do i identify which cars have the Bosch ABS? Read more
Open the bonnet, trace the brake lines from the master cylinder and read the label on the ABS unit.
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Made this read only. This is a tragic accident and I'm sure there will be a full investigation. Perhaps we should not speculate who was to blame, etc.
Rob (Moderator)