August 2022
On motorway trips, from time to time one comes across messages on the matrix signs like, 'Obstruction reported' or 'Pedestrians in road', often with a speed restriction if it's a smart motorway. Now, I'm not bothered by having to slow down for a while, but I've never actually seen an obstruction or the mythical pedestrians. Does anyone know how these alleged obstructions, etc., get reported and by whom, and how it is decided to clear the warnings and restrictions? Read more
If the cost of electricity goes as high as predicted then EV’s will become too expensive for the average driver. If you cannot charge at home and have to rely on public charges the cost will be even more. The main reason for buying an EV was cheaper running costs which negated the initial purchase price. I appreciate that EV’s are cheaper to service as there do not require oil changes etc. I own an electric Mini but will soon wish I had kept my ICE and run it into the ground! Read more
Is it my maths or does that work out to £20k per charger??
Someone's making some dough!
So my car was parked outside my home when it was crashed into I wasn’t in the vehicle at the time.the driver of the other vehicle fled the scene but vehicle was left at scene. The vehicle is insured to a woman. So the police have said the woman claims she sold the vehicle a few days before and gave a name and address but the name and address given is not correct no person by that name has ever lived at the address. Just wondering where I stand with it all are the other party’s insurance liable to pay even if she claims she sold it a few days before the accident. also insurance wasn’t cancelled till a few days after the accident Read more
As a above.
Whichever company insured the vehicle at the time is liable, regardless of the registered keeper situation. It's why when you sell a car you should cancel the insurance immediately....
Research done, sale spotted, inspection and test drive “arranged”. It’s taxed, says it has full service history, and the MOT site is reporting clear passes and no advisables.
What should the owner be asked? Read more
Is the seller the owner or keeper, and is the car for sale at its registered address ? Any tales of being sold for a friend or relative may be genuine, but need explanation.
I would only buy a relatively cheap car privately - say under £3K. Cars worth more commonly sell through the trade, so one asks why not this one ? Again, very plausible, but then there is the question of how payment is made.
Not sure this will go down too well with Cyclists
... Read more
This clip appeared in the news recently in Spain, showing an impatient cyclist repeatedly trying to overtake a car and finally managing to do it on a right hand bend (read: left hand bend for UK) with an extremely limited view. And surprise surprise he came a cropper. €500 fine, cuts and bruises and let's hope lesson learnt. The Mossos d'esquadra (Catalan police) posted the clip as a salutary lesson - we hope!
twitter.com/mossos/status/1566802814143168513
On the rare occasions when I've encountered a cyclist going hell for leather to overtake me in my car, I've always wondered what exactly they're trying to prove. I never hold them up - once they're showing signs of going for it, I ease off the throttle and even go as close to the nearside as I can as I would with a car tearing past) and soon enough I'm naturally overtaking them on an uphill stretch (obviously legally and safely, 1.5 metre separation etc.) and the cat and mouse game continues. Bizarre.
Hi all. I have a 2006 Kia Sorento 2.5XT. I have my phone (Motorola e7i) on a clip on one of the air vents. The problem I have is that when the phone is in standby or sleep mode it keeps waking up and showing the lock screen. This isn't a problem during the day but at night it can be a bit distracting. At first I wondered if it could be power supply fluctuations but it does the same if it isn't charging. It does the same no matter which vent it's clipped onto but doesn't if it's left on the passenger seat. It happens at least once every minute. Short of turning the phone off which means no music I'm a bit puzzled as to what to do.
... Read more
Ctrl-alt-Del fixes many a PC issue
Have you tried switching the phone off completely....
So this is to save on CO2 output! Well if the E10 is less fuel efficient then we're going to have to use more fuel for equivalent mileage thereby increasing CO2 output!! The mind reels at this false 'green' move.
Also, how is the biofuel produced? Is it from good agricultural land that should be growing crops or from the likes of palm oil which destroys tropical forests including those occupied by the orang-utan ? Read more
The government estimates that this change could help reduce CO2 emissions by up to 750,000 tons per year, the equivalent of removing 350,000 cars from the road. This highlights the potential environmental benefits of using E10 gasoline. Have fun playing splatoon 3!
Three weeks ago engine started 'rattling'. Took to my local garage. Roadside guess it was the timing chain. It was. Well, the guides.
All was replaced. Guides, chains, oil, filters. £1300. Yep. £1300. ... Read more
Anything is possible. You’ll need to get an independent engineer to investigate if you need to go further.
The crankshaft sprocket has worn both on the back face allowing movement of the crank sensor wheel and the alternator pulley towards the engine block as they are attached to the sprocket front face. This is a design issue with the crankshaft and sprocket which was later improved by using a conventional spline shaft and keyway. You probably also have poor acceleration, fuel economy, hot exhaust, overheating, and possible ignition missfire problems that have got progressively worst as the sprocket has worn over time resulting in rotational movement on the crankshaft and resulting bad valve and ignition timing. My car is Kia Picanto Mk1 1.1L 2009 which has the Hyundai engine G4HG common to the Hyundai Getz. As the crankshaft as well as the sprocket is worn I have filled the wear void with feeler gauge superglued to the shaft and then grinded down to size using a dremel as access was limited. I also considered using Loctite660 but was not necessary as the new sprocket fitted tightly. I note some people have added material to the crankshaft with welding and then grinded down to shape. Either way the new sprocket needs to fit tightly on the shaft or the wear will repeat again. In fact it may be necessary to replace the sprocket every 3 years but as the car has already done 55,000miles and the sprocket only costs £16 from Hyundai I can live with that. I have found that Kia are double the price of Hyundai for the same spares and I decided to replace the bolt and crank sensor wheel;-
Sprocket 23120-02570 + Bolt 23127-02530 + Sensor wheel 23141-02610 was £23.39 incl VAT from Hyundai.
Moved here as more useful here.
This is really just an observation, but I'd be interested in the views of others.
I don't have an EV yet, but having watched many reviews on EVs and sat in a few, I have noticed there seems to be no consistency regarding the motor switching, not sure if that is the right term.
With ICE cars, you basically get either a gearstick controlling either a manual or auto gearbox, I know some US cars in the 60s had pushbutton selectors, but the majority of cars have a gearstick, either on the floor or on the steering column.
With EV cars there seems to be a wide variety of options, rotary knobs, flipper switches, push buttons to choose between 'forward / neutral / reverse'. In one case I noticed you have a flip switch that you push forward for reverse and pull back for forward, which hardly seems intuitive.
While I am sure most people will manage, I can foresee numerous 'incidents' caused by drivers new to EVs pressing the wrong button or pedal. Read more
"IIRC Messerchmit and Bond three-wheelers reversed the (2-stroke) engines so had all gears in reverse."
I can't speak for the Bond, but the Messerschmitt KR200 indeed did so. To engage reverse you had to stop the engine and restart it, and all gears were available....
Browse
After typhoon Morakot there were matrix signs lying on the carriageways, but I dunno if the survivors warned about them, since here The Matrix is in Chinese.
Might have involved too much Loss of Face