What's made you grumpy today?

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What's made you grumpy today?

Brother's Honda Jazz refused to start. Obviously, he had parked it nose down on a steeply sloped car park and against the kerb.

Jump leads made no difference. The starter just does nothing at all so it's a switch or wiring or maybe the motor itself.

After a huge struggle to get him facing the way out, eventually got him home with tow rope and totally soaking wet as it was ****ing down rain.
 
At last seem to have sorted the electric bootlock on friend's 2005 Clio.
Now it has rough running. Currently struggling to get simple diagnostic program to read the car. I know the ELM is fine, it works well with MES on the Panda. Will fight on.
Renault forums (not as well set out as this one) seem to suggest most likely is coils, so at least simple fix. But don't want to replace if not the cause.
And it is raining, and he's 35 miles away, so difficult to determine what tools to take.
 
At last seem to have sorted the electric bootlock on friend's 2005 Clio.
Now it has rough running. Currently struggling to get simple diagnostic program to read the car. I know the ELM is fine, it works well with MES on the Panda. Will fight on.
Renault forums (not as well set out as this one) seem to suggest most likely is coils, so at least simple fix. But don't want to replace if not the cause.
And it is raining, and he's 35 miles away, so difficult to determine what tools to take.

5 litres and a Swan..

( I owned 2 clios at once.. ) :eek:
 
Hell of a commute this morning after over night rain.

Started well when 30 seconds down the hill a Golf GTI decided to go through about max 12 inches of water at 25 mph. This of course killed it dead, which then triggered the 3 cars ahead of me to start reversing and pulling u turns tripping over each other to get away.

I'd watched him come through seen the depth and just went for it went through at walking pace absolutely no problem at all..because the air intake is at about 30 inches above the road..and the battery is in a sealed box at the same height as the dash.

This set the tone for the whole thing..people causing issues by just not opening their eyes.
 
On Friday last week, I took a back lane into Teignmouth to take my daughter to a rugby match. The main road is always jammed but was especially bad last week. Part way along the back lane I met a car coming the other way. No worries I only need to reverse 100 yards to a passing place. That's when I realised just how useless the Panda reversing light is. I could not see a thing and my 9 y/o daughter could not give me directions. I eventually got out of the way and we continued.

The driver coming towards me, said we'd need to turn around as there's a deep flooded stretch ahead. We reached it before we had found anywhere suitable for turning. However, it looked no more than 12" deep so we slowly went though. All was fine and we came out no problem. Attempting to reverse into any of the field gateways would have had us stuck in mud. Reversing in the water would have been worse still, but I really had no option.

I think my next Panda will have to be a 4x4. Meantime, I need to rig up a decent reversing light.
 
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Back from a week away on holiday last night so got up this morning to an empty fridge and no milk for the wheetabix or morning tea! Jumped in "Becky" (our trusty Panda) and she fired up first turn of the key - as I was expecting of course - Headed out towards the Ferry Road and ran into a massive traffic jam. Turns out the water people had half the road closed off and a big hole dug in the road just at the traffic lights. So a crossroads, on one of the busiest roads around us, had it's lights disabled and the junction was being controlled by temporary lights which only let one road run at a time (think they call it 4 way control?). Mrs J was suffering from severe "Tea Deprivation" symptoms by the time I got back mid morning!
 
That's when I realised just how useless the Panda reversing light is. I could not see a thing

I've never understood this.

Reversing lights:

Panda (169), barely worthy of the description, but does give some light.

Alfa 145, I assume it must be to signal to cars behind that you are reversing, because it is of no use to the driver whatsoever.

Uno, brilliant, can reverse at speed down a country lane.

Croma, like the Uno, perfect.


Why such a disparity between cars from the same manufacturer? I mean, I could understand if all fords were pants, but Fiats good, but this is just odd and has been so for decades.


Renault Super 5, was ok I think

Citroen AX, I reversed into my barn wall, 'nuff said.

Skoda Favorit, like the Uno, could actually see where I was going.


As for the Alfa, I keep a magnetic based inspection lamp in the car, stick it on the back of the roof when I need to reverse in the dark!
 
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Somewhere I have a pair of LED conical beam flood lights that would do a fine job. The only snag is where to fit them. Maybe I can get a super bright LED bulb for the original reverse light holder.

As for the Alfa, I keep a magnetic based inspection lamp in the car, stick it on the back of the roof when I need to reverse in the dark!

That's a great idea I'll have to see about that.
 
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I've never understood this.

Reversing lights:

Panda (169), barely worthy of the description, but does give some light.

Alfa 145, I assume it must be to signal to cars behind that you are reversing, because it is of no use to the driver whatsoever.

Uno, brilliant, can reverse at speed down a country lane.

Croma, like the Uno, perfect.


Why such a disparity between cars from the same manufacturer? I mean, I could understand if all fords were pants, but Fiats good, but this is just odd and has been so for decades.


Renault Super 5, was ok I think

Citroen AX, I reversed into my barn wall, 'nuff said.


If memory serves.. my 90's FIATS actually had 2 fog and 2 reversing lights..

The French cars had one of each..

Light pollution may play a part too.

Few streetlights..and no Xenons back then ;)
 
After doing a couple of triathlons, a half marathon and a 7 mile road race over the past month or so... I managed to trap a nerve in my back putting my trousers on. Then had to have a 4 hour meeting and a 4 hour drive home.

And we're going away for the weekend in the morning.

Talk about crappy timing.
 
From memory, reversing lights were initially an add-on accessory, primarily to 'see' where you were going.
Later, legislation controlled positioning and brightness, so no more front foglamps used on the rear.
Legislation later again introduced them as a warning signal. This is where it all went wrong. Until then, manufacturers fitted reversing lights to help see when reversing. Now, to comply with legislation, they can be smaller, and placed where they are of no use as a light, only as a signal. What we get now depends on the overall design of the lamps, within the shape of the car.

When space is limited, we get one rear fog and one reverse lamp. Europe often get two rear fogs and no reverse lamps.

When we were using the Corsa C (high level rear lamps) with BSM, I used to fit an additional reverse lamp below the bumper, behind the left rear wheel. Almost unseen when off, but lit the left kerb nicely for a left reverse in the winter evenings.

Rear fog lamp and brake lights can help when reversingin the dark. Hazards tend to make things worse due to their flashing being blinding rather than illuminating.

If female, reverse only a little, at an angle, touch the kerb or verge, stop, burst into tears over the steering wheel and wait for the guy facing you to reverse 200 yards to let you pass. It'll make him feel superior and enhance his day.:D
 
Button fell off trousers. Stabbed thumb while sewing it back on.
Later, went for flu jab, ouch again.

Microwave went pop.

Well at least you got all 3 things of "bad things happen in 3s" out of the way in a day.

If only it stopped there.
I need a simple microwave, actually difficult to achieve. The simplest, turn a knob and go, no longer have 'start' buttons, instead they go when the door is shut. So you must ensure the timer is at zero before shutting the door when finished. I can see that going wrong.
To get a 'start' button I have to go next step, electronic, with extra options built in. Shan't use any of them.
£40 from Argos, 12 miles away.
Brought it home, it won't sit still. Turned it over, one foot is depressed. No damage to the box, so presumably damaged at factory prior to packaging.
Back to Argos, so that's now 48 miles instead of 24, but at least I get to drive the Panda some more. They were a bit miffed that I insisted on inspection before leaving. Replacement, again no box damage, but some mishaping to the foot, but it does sit flat. Will they feed back to the manufacturer about damage, doubtful.
 
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