What's made you not grumpy but not smile either today?

[StevenRB45]

Went to the Arcades with the lad...he beat me at Tekken 5 on his first go 8-3.

Took the C3 mainly to stop the battery going flat as its a 50 mile round trip and with neither me or the wife at work for a while it's been standing..after what's been a very Toyota heavy few months it feels like such a toy car. Combination of light weight, boost, entirely disconnected controls and suspension with no resistance to roll, pitch or dive makes it an adventure if you're out of practice.

Was left vaguely amazed that last year we were touring the country in it in the summer, though it does sit nice at 70 and seats are nice...it's every other situation where it's a bit eek.

 

[StevenRB45]

Today I listened to a CD in the car for the first time since February 2019 (when I removed the 6cd changer from the Mazda).

That CD was the seminal work "Charlie cooks favourite book" which my son found in the back of a book of the same name.

Not to worry though it was only 12 minutes long...so we could go back to streaming the Minecraft film soundtrack.

I miss commuting in a car alone

 

[PuntoHowTo]

Today I listened to a CD in the car for the first time since February 2019 (when I removed the 6cd changer from the Mazda).

That CD was the seminal work "Charlie cooks favourite book" which my son found in the back of a book of the same name.

Not to worry though it was only 12 minutes long...so we could go back to streaming the Minecraft film soundtrack.

I miss commuting in a car alone

My golf has a Cd player…. Literally never used it.

Actually that’s a lie, it’s really good for holding the parking ticket when you have to go though a barrier to get out of the carpark, for that purpose it’s been used a lot

 

[StevenRB45]

I'd not considered using it for that...slot above the screen is well positioned for this.

Otherwise I may leave this CD in the player for the rest of time...nice little Easter egg for the next owner .

 

[StevenRB45]

The Weirdest heckle I have ever seen of someone just going about their day...

Tesco came to deliver my shop. He was addressing the side of his van getting boxes out.

A man in an 18 year old silver base model Audi A5 slows down briefly to shout "where's the nearest Tesco!?" Before flooring the Throttle up the road.

If it's a genuine question he needs to get that faulty throttle fixed...if it was an attempt at humour or a put down then what does it mean???

Swear to god I'll wake up in the middle of night in 10 years this will come to mind and I'll still be thinking what the **** was that about?

 

[portland_bill]

The Weirdest heckle I have ever seen of someone just going about their day...

Tesco came to deliver my shop. He was addressing the side of his van getting boxes out.

A man in an 18 year old silver base model Audi A5 slows down briefly to shout "where's the nearest Tesco!?" Before flooring the Throttle up the road.

If it's a genuine question he needs to get that faulty throttle fixed...if it was an attempt at humour or a put down then what does it mean???

Swear to god I'll wake up in the middle of night in 10 years this will come to mind and I'll still be thinking what the **** was that about?

My only thought is that perhaps he was trying to suggest that you were too lazy to go fetch your own shopping. That might be the reason for a delivery, and is a perfectly valid one, choosing to pay for a service that is convenient. But no reason for anyone to judge. Nice to see he was matching the vehicle stereotype.
Personally, if it stops anyone dragging a child around a shop when I'm shopping, it can only be a good thing.

 

[StevenRB45]

My only thought is that perhaps he was trying to suggest that you were too lazy to go fetch your own shopping. That might be the reason for a delivery, and is a perfectly valid one, choosing to pay for a service that is convenient. But no reason for anyone to judge. Nice to see he was matching the vehicle stereotype.
Personally, if it stops anyone dragging a child around a shop when I'm shopping, it can only be a good thing.

It wasn't aimed in my direction seemed to be at the driver...but yes. I'd far rather spend 20 minutes on a Monday evening after the little uns are in bed time putting the shopping away than a few hours at the weekend loading the whole circus into a car, driving down to the nearest big shop, fighting for a car parking space and just generally dealing with the great unwashed when I could be doing something much less crap.

Also my local Tesco is a metro...which means it's a quarter of the size of a normal one with a 50p premium on most items. If you take evening delivery slots I'm sure it's like 5 quid a month it'd cost more in petrol to get it myself from nearest "proper" store in central Gateshead.

 

[varesecrazy]

Wasn't sure if this Scottish garage was known to many of our older members Garage run by Tom and Helen (picured) Gillespie, In Renfrew

 

[portland_bill]

After a lot of hassle, the spark plugs in the Fabia have been changed.
Like many these days, they are deep in a tube, with a coil on top of each. Lifting the coils resulted in just stretching the boots, as they were firmly stuck to the plugs. Tried a week ago. Tried several ways to get something down the tube to lift the boots from the bottom, but not enough space. Realised that destruction of the boots was probably on the cards, so ordered new coils at £32 each.
Lifted the first one, stretched the boot, severed it with a knife. Coil out of the way, allowed some WD40 to be puored into the well created in the centre, as the remaining boot was taller than the plug. Then probed with a pick, to get between the plug and boot, to unstick it. Small pick struggled, so moved to the large pick. That eventually released the boot. One down, three to go.
With one out, inspection showed the coil can be prised off the boot, so lifted the other three coils out of the way. The spring down the middle came out easily once a little WD had been put in the centre, then in with the probe. Hard work, knees pressed against the bumper, stretching slightly, but eventually all four boots were off. The plugs, having been in there 4 years, were a little tight, but came out. New ones in, new coils on, all good and running nicely. What should have been a 30 minute job took 3 hours.
Probing the boots resulted in splits to all, so they are scrap, as expected. Apparently new boots are avialable, at around £25 each, so not cheap, especially compared with complete coils. Supposed to put silicone grease on the boots, to prevent stickiing. There did not seem to be any trace of grease on the old ones. The new ones come pre-greased, which is nice.
I'm thinking that when they were last replaced, fitter wiped off the old grease, and forgot to re-grease them before refitting.

 

[bugsymike]

Wasn't sure if this Scottish garage was known to many of our older members Garage run by Tom and Helen (picured) Gillespie, In RenfrewView attachment 466515

If it is an Esso garage, isn't that the wrong breed to "Put a Tiger in your Tank"!

 

[portland_bill]

A short journey, 8 miles each way, two failed LED lights. Not mine, on other vehicles. Not sure this is progress.
First, following a truck, with no brake light on one side. Complete lamp unit is LED, so that'll be off the road until a new lamp is sourced. That's an expensive lamp, and expensive downtime. Simple bulbs are cheap, effective, and easy to replace.
On the return journey, was followed by a Transit van. Its left daytime light was distinctly yellow. I think they change to yellow as indicators, so there's an internal issue there. That'll be a complete headlamp to fix.

 

[StevenRB45]

A short journey, 8 miles each way, two failed LED lights. Not mine, on other vehicles. Not sure this is progress.
First, following a truck, with no brake light on one side. Complete lamp unit is LED, so that'll be off the road until a new lamp is sourced. That's an expensive lamp, and expensive downtime. Simple bulbs are cheap, effective, and easy to replace.
On the return journey, was followed by a Transit van. Its left daytime light was distinctly yellow. I think they change to yellow as indicators, so there's an internal issue there. That'll be a complete headlamp to fix.

They are one of those things that's not a problem for the person speccing the car new they'll last the lease period and be warrantied.

When I was picking my car it was a consideration at 8 years old.

The majority of lights on it are incandescent, unfortunately the side lights are LED being DRLs dimmed..as are the tail lights but they are 4 piece set so you could argue it still works if one of the 2 units per side fails. Otherwise it's 3rd brake light and fog lamp. Which according to the manual should last 50,000 hours minimum. Which to be fair is 17 years of 8 hours a day.

If you're so inclined it's a consideration, if I have a parking accident/someone smashes a light and drives off I can pick up pretty much any unit including the ones containing led elements on the car for less than 200 quid, and it just bolts on and connects up.

If I'd bought the equivalent Seat Leon full LED lights all round, the front units are over 1k each they need to be coded to the car to speak to the BCM. Rears are also full LED...if a unit fails you can lose all lights on that corner of the car.

As that car gets older..a shopping trolley on a windy day could write it off. That's before you get to placing a very expensive cruise control/AEB sensor exactly where a tow ball would be if as happened to me in the Mazda years ago a transit with a tow bar reverses into you.

This is probably a factor in why insurance quotes on the Seat were getting on for double.

They've only got more complicated since so there will be circuit boards and ecus controlling the scrolling effects and the changes of colour and all that. While the lamps are themselves are very tough any water ingress in the lamp or the circuits does tend to kill them dead unlike older style lights which would take a certain amount of issues before arcing.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

After a lot of hassle, the spark plugs in the Fabia have been changed.
Like many these days, they are deep in a tube, with a coil on top of each. Lifting the coils resulted in just stretching the boots, as they were firmly stuck to the plugs. Tried a week ago. Tried several ways to get something down the tube to lift the boots from the bottom, but not enough space. Realised that destruction of the boots was probably on the cards, so ordered new coils at £32 each.
Lifted the first one, stretched the boot, severed it with a knife. Coil out of the way, allowed some WD40 to be puored into the well created in the centre, as the remaining boot was taller than the plug. Then probed with a pick, to get between the plug and boot, to unstick it. Small pick struggled, so moved to the large pick. That eventually released the boot. One down, three to go.
With one out, inspection showed the coil can be prised off the boot, so lifted the other three coils out of the way. The spring down the middle came out easily once a little WD had been put in the centre, then in with the probe. Hard work, knees pressed against the bumper, stretching slightly, but eventually all four boots were off. The plugs, having been in there 4 years, were a little tight, but came out. New ones in, new coils on, all good and running nicely. What should have been a 30 minute job took 3 hours.
Probing the boots resulted in splits to all, so they are scrap, as expected. Apparently new boots are avialable, at around £25 each, so not cheap, especially compared with complete coils. Supposed to put silicone grease on the boots, to prevent stickiing. There did not seem to be any trace of grease on the old ones. The new ones come pre-greased, which is nice.
I'm thinking that when they were last replaced, fitter wiped off the old grease, and forgot to re-grease them before refitting.

This is a very well known problem with them Nigel. I was aware that it's not an easy one to do so, when the Ibiza was in having it's cam belt done, I got our local indy (AVW) to do mine at the same time. He told me there's a special puller which allows a vertical pull to be applied. If you pull off line or "wiggle" them they nearly always come off the coil and stay on the plug. Apparently one way of getting the rubbers out then is to stick a compressed air gun into the end and blow air down the middle which results in the rubber expanding and being "spat" off the plug. Applying some silicon grease goes a long way to making it easier next time so you should be all right there. I've already decided that the Scala - with basically the same EA211 engine - is going to them for regular maintenance and I'm going to concentrate on getting my "kicks" looking after Becky. One of the main reasons for this decision is that my VAG-COM (VCDS) is now so out of date (needs a new interface but I'm also concerned about the "gateway" access) that the cost benefit and personal pain with my old body doesn't stack up. Becky is like a second "wife" so I just can't pass responsibility for her to anyone else!

 

[PuntoHowTo]

They are one of those things that's not a problem for the person speccing the car new they'll last the lease period and be warrantied.

When I was picking my car it was a consideration at 8 years old.

The majority of lights on it are incandescent, unfortunately the side lights are LED being DRLs dimmed..as are the tail lights but they are 4 piece set so you could argue it still works if one of the 2 units per side fails. Otherwise it's 3rd brake light and fog lamp. Which according to the manual should last 50,000 hours minimum. Which to be fair is 17 years of 8 hours a day.

If you're so inclined it's a consideration, if I have a parking accident/someone smashes a light and drives off I can pick up pretty much any unit including the ones containing led elements on the car for less than 200 quid, and it just bolts on and connects up.

If I'd bought the equivalent Seat Leon full LED lights all round, the front units are over 1k each they need to be coded to the car to speak to the BCM. Rears are also full LED...if a unit fails you can lose all lights on that corner of the car.

As that car gets older..a shopping trolley on a windy day could write it off. That's before you get to placing a very expensive cruise control/AEB sensor exactly where a tow ball would be if as happened to me in the Mazda years ago a transit with a tow bar reverses into you.

This is probably a factor in why insurance quotes on the Seat were getting on for double.

They've only got more complicated since so there will be circuit boards and ecus controlling the scrolling effects and the changes of colour and all that. While the lamps are themselves are very tough any water ingress in the lamp or the circuits does tend to kill them dead unlike older style lights which would take a certain amount of issues before arcing.

The cars I tend to see with failed LED lights are often things like older range rovers or other “premium” brands from the end of the 2000, 2008-2012. Obviously a lot of it is going to depend on age with long term vibration having a big impact on the LEDs and if they keep working.

You can get replacement LED bulbs for some lights but if, like my golf they’re all surface mount LEDs inside the cluster than a replacement may be the only option for most people.

I think there are plenty of companies popping up, offering repairs and it is possible to get the LEDs replaced but it’s clearly not going to be a similar cost to a new bulb.

While bulbs are easier to replace you also have to ask yourself, is the driver going to care? I still see plenty of cars with incandescent bulbs driving about with blown bulbs and they have in many cases been like that for a while. You know damn well they driver is getting a warning on the dash but they just carry on and ignore it, so LED or incandescent I don’t think it makes a lot of difference

 

[bugsymike]

The cars I tend to see with failed LED lights are often things like older range rovers or other “premium” brands from the end of the 2000, 2008-2012. Obviously a lot of it is going to depend on age with long term vibration having a big impact on the LEDs and if they keep working.

You can get replacement LED bulbs for some lights but if, like my golf they’re all surface mount LEDs inside the cluster than a replacement may be the only option for most people.

I think there are plenty of companies popping up, offering repairs and it is possible to get the LEDs replaced but it’s clearly not going to be a similar cost to a new bulb.

While bulbs are easier to replace you also have to ask yourself, is the driver going to care? I still see plenty of cars with incandescent bulbs driving about with blown bulbs and they have in many cases been like that for a while. You know damn well they driver is getting a warning on the dash but they just carry on and ignore it, so LED or incandescent I don’t think it makes a lot of difference

Roughly ten years ago I helped my mate rebuild his car carrying trailer (the deal included free use)and replaced all the lights with basic LED trailer lights behind steel protection, soldered all the joints and heat shrink tubed, them it has been all over the Country and abroad, still all working well.

 

[StevenRB45]

I'd say I'm not concerned about service life, given the cars are probably used what 10 hours a week between them. The Citroën is still on every single incandescent bulb it came with nevermind the LEDs.

Even if they last half the projected service life it's far longer than the metal of the floor and sills is gonna last.

The vast majority of these things will be emitters soldered on to a PCB. So you're looking at cracking the light open without breaking it, identifying the broken components and sourcing and refitting whatever has broken then making it water tight again. That's not user serviceable to most people.

As said a specialist can probably do it...but you then need to have a spare car or have already bought another unit to fit defeating the point somewhat.

To me it's the hanging very expensive things where they are likely to get broken...or in the case of many VW group cars stolen to order that's a bit daft along with the cost of putting that right.

There's an element of Cost benefit for me, what does having a scrolling indicator do? **** all. How much will it cost to fix compared to a bulb? Lots.

 

[portland_bill]

I think my old vacuum cleaner might be about to die.
Bought new in 1979, it served as the only vac until 1989, when it was relegated to teh garage, for car and DIY work. So whilst since then it has worked less often, it has been asked to pick up heavier stuff, although all collected in the paper bag.
Working in the Doblo this morning, the motor started to vary in tone, and speed, but completed the task. On turning it off, as the motor spun down, there was a definite rumble from the bearings.
Now starts the research into 'what shop vac?".

 

[bugsymike]

I think my old vacuum cleaner might be about to die.
Bought new in 1979, it served as the only vac until 1989, when it was relegated to teh garage, for car and DIY work. So whilst since then it has worked less often, it has been asked to pick up heavier stuff, although all collected in the paper bag.
Working in the Doblo this morning, the motor started to vary in tone, and speed, but completed the task. On turning it off, as the motor spun down, there was a definite rumble from the bearings.
Now starts the research into 'what shop vac?".

My old frost free 50/50 fridge freezer is going that way, I thought I had got a reprieve but, freezer is working well but fridge is showing +5 degrees regardless of settings. Found a similar model Hotpoint but delivery is 7 days away and nothing local at fair price.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

I think my old vacuum cleaner might be about to die.
Bought new in 1979, it served as the only vac until 1989, when it was relegated to teh garage, for car and DIY work. So whilst since then it has worked less often, it has been asked to pick up heavier stuff, although all collected in the paper bag.
Working in the Doblo this morning, the motor started to vary in tone, and speed, but completed the task. On turning it off, as the motor spun down, there was a definite rumble from the bearings.
Now starts the research into 'what shop vac?".

We had an Electrolux upright vacuum - the type with a rotating beater bar - which we bought not long after we got married. Over the years many parts have been repaired and it's served us well. About two years ago it's motor gave in - rather spectacularly with sparks and smoke! Went round to our commercial spare parts place (it's like a motor factor but for domestic appliances) He knows me quite well by now as I buy stuff for all our electrical stuff there - and he said it was time to jack it in and buy a new one, of course he was right. He also sells new machines to the public and trade so I asked him what to buy and he said "absolutely no contest, buy a "Henry" (Numatic). My boy has one and is very complimentary about it - which I mentioned, Yes, said the man, they are very basic but they just work and are very cheap, and easy, to repair. In the end I bought one of their commercial versions A VNP180 https://arrowcounty.com/numatic-professional-vacuum He gave me "trade price" on it too which was very nice of him. Yes it is very basic with no beater bar, but OMG, it REALLY SUCKS! being a "tow behind" with a hose, it's a bit different to the old machine but now I'm used to it I'm delighted with it and it's quite easy to carry around, much easier than the old Electrolux - easy to use on the vehicles too. I'd take a look at one if you get the chance. By the way, I do all the hoovering as Mrs J has back problems so i know what I'm talking about here.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

.
Now starts the research into 'what shop vac?".

just get a cheap used Henry from Facebook marketplace if you have Facebook.

Not only will it outlast you and survive a nuclear holocaust but it also is perfect for keeping in the garage and for cleaning cars. Mine is now over 20 years old. Still works fine, has been dropped, hit by a car, fallen down the stairs. And been used on all manner of things such as brick rubble and plaster dust, which would blow up any other average Hoover