Car Talk

[grendel]

2 hours ago, Meantime said:

What's wrong with a tin of de-icer, an ice scraper, an old credit card or leaving a cloth over the screen over night? Your screen will only defrost once the engine has started to get warm unless you have an electrically heated windscreen. The worst way to heat any engine is to just leave it idling for 5 mins to warm up. An engine is best heated under load by driving. It's also not very green to leave your engine ticking over for 5 mins wasting fuel.

I still find that the screen needs the engine to finish defrosting and to dry up any condensation inside even after I have scraped, also if you just scrape the screen doesnt warm up, so anything hitting it  in the first few miles, just freezes straight back over, tins of deicer, I have never found to work, plus there were the propellants that were bad for the ozone.

cloth over the screen, last time I tried that it got wet and then froze onto the screen, took twice as long running the car to clear it.

generally I start the car, set the blower to defrost, turn on the rear screen and mirror heaters, and then go round and scrape the ice off with a scraper, by the time I am done then the condensation on the inside is starting to clear and I am ready to go, it rarely takes more than a few minutes to get prepared, of course you can still get problems if you have to wash the screen, as no sooner does the wiper pass across it it will refreeze over (no matter how much antifreeze is in the cleaning fluid.

[ranworthbreeze]

33 minutes ago, grendel said:

I still find that the screen needs the engine to finish defrosting and to dry up any condensation inside even after I have scraped, also if you just scrape the screen doesnt warm up, so anything hitting it  in the first few miles, just freezes straight back over, tins of deicer, I have never found to work, plus there were the propellants that were bad for the ozone.

cloth over the screen, last time I tried that it got wet and then froze onto the screen, took twice as long running the car to clear it.

generally I start the car, set the blower to defrost, turn on the rear screen and mirror heaters, and then go round and scrape the ice off with a scraper, by the time I am done then the condensation on the inside is starting to clear and I am ready to go, it rarely takes more than a few minutes to get prepared, of course you can still get problems if you have to wash the screen, as no sooner does the wiper pass across it it will refreeze over (no matter how much antifreeze is in the cleaning fluid.

I always found that using de-icer that it iced up the inside of the windscreen so I have not used it for years instead I use the air conditioning setting.

 

[Mouldy]

5 hours ago, grendel said:

there is also talk in the media that if you sit defrosting your car, that can be seen as against the law and you could get a fine, so, do you get a fine while waiting for the screen to clear, or get a fine for driving off with it not yet cleared, disjointed thinking if you ask me.

Buy a Skoda!!  Mine has a heated windscreen, so no matter whether you need to push it backwards or forwards, you don’t get cold hands!!  

[oldgregg]

It's a VW group thing called 'Climate windscreen' which seems to be available across their brands.

Looks like it is as effective as the Ford system, too. I really miss the heated screen on my old Focus! It took ages for the screen on the Honda to properly clear this morning.

[Andrewcook]

On 26/11/2021 at 22:48, BroadAmbition said:

 

I've just been looking at Google and to find that Motorist can be fined for wearing the wrong footwear for the foot controls plus Clothing for the festival season how stupid can this gets with all the other things on us Motorist. 

[grendel]

to me it is the newspapers grasping at straws to sensationalise to create a reaction to make news, to my knowledge wearing unsuitable footwear has always been a possible reason for being charged with driving without due care, and if you read the article, they are saying driving while wearing an inflatable costume can be considered driving without due care too, but the way they ware reporting it makes it sound as though, if you wear a christmas jumper you will be charged, which is a plain bonkers suggestion, to me it shows that the media and newspapers have degenerated to the point where they are trying to sensationalise things that have always been considered normal.

And people wonder why i dont buy newspapers, watch news programs or listen to the news anymore, news reports nowadays seem to be a pure fabrication based upon someones idea of what a fact should be, rather than a report of factual news. they are reporting non news dressed up as a sensational fact. - for me they are not worth bothering with anymore and have passed out of usefulness.

[Bikertov]

Wearing a Christmas jumper is offensive behaviour - nothing to do with driving !

But seriously, with regards 'unsuitable' footwear surely that is not "without due car and attention" (assuming your driving is OK) ?

Maybe "failing to be in proper control of a vehicle", but I would have thought it would have to be proven 'beyond reasonable doubt'

[grendel]

exactly, so they would have had to have had reason to stop you (other than wearing an offensively cheerful jumper) in the first place.

[grendel]

I have been having issues with my new volvo, almost since day one, nothing major, just a slight dead spot around 2000 rpm when accelerating gently, well i have been doing some reading, and that lead me to look at the MAP (manifold Air pressure) sensor for a problem, last night i went out, disconnected it, wiggled the wires and reconnected it, today when i needed to use the car it was different, the dead spot had gone, a closer investigation showed a previous repair to the wiring, a new plug had been spliced to the end of the feed from the wiring loom, using what looked like (under a layer of tap) a chocolate block connector.

so armed with corless soldering iron, solder and heat shrink tubing I went out to see what could be done, once I had the tape off from around the wiresit was evident why there had been issues, two of the wires had pulled out from the chocolate block connector and were either touching or not.

resoldering the one remaining wire in the chocolate block and heatshrinking it was easy, but the other two, I had a 50/50 chance of getting it right, going by instinct on the way the wires that were loose were arranged, I soldered them up, and heatshrunk the joins, then using a bigger heatshrink i ran it over the 3 soldered joins, time to cross my fingers and test, well the car started, and ran quite well, I plugged in my diagnostic tool, and was getting live data from the MAP sensor, so i think thats fixed it, time will tell, maybe a short test drive later.

[BroadAmbition]

Chuffin Eck,  you only just got that fixed? It was bothering you prior to the Lads Week, I thought the garage you bought it from was supposed to be fettling this one?

Griff

[BroadAmbition]

E10:-

I called in at my mates vehicle workshop yesterday, I always enjoy going in there, they do the normal run of the mill stuff but they also build / fettle race cars, all forms of dragsters to be precise.  He was showing me one particular engine, a large V8 that was 'Mildly' tuned (By them) that was producing a staggering 1'800hp   It runs on alcohol too.  the injectors at full flow deliver 5 x Litres per minute and there are eight of them.  The supercharger is massive and the damn thing takes 120hp just to run it, but the fan blades are turning at 80'00 rpm - Wow. I should have got some photo's, I'll try to remember next time.  Anyroadup I got to asking him about additives as my Dutton Phaeton Kit Car is fitted with a 2Ltr Ford pinto,(Stage three, blueprinted etc) the valves are not hardened for unleaded, he advised me with the mileage it may be doing in the future not to bother changing the valves, he did say the rubber hoses and some internals in the carburettor (Remember those?) would need changing.  He also stated that modern cars that are now having to run on E10 - The loss of power can be gained back by advancing the timing quite safely.  Apparently the octane rating of E10 is the same but the calorific value has decreased, hence the loss of performance and increased fuel consumption, advancing the timing will cure this one

Griff

[JanetAnne]

Later Pintos came with unleaded heads Griff so it will depend on the donor car. You can normally tell by 'XX' or 'YY' stamped in the head adjacent to no4 spark plug aperture. If your lump came from a Sierra or post '82 Capri/Grenada chances are its OK. 

Rotting of components in the fuel system... we have been here before when 4 star was phased out and we all had to go onto unleaded. The modern carburettor service kits will contain appropriate components once the manufacturers catch up, some already do... just be aware of old stock.

The timing issue is interesting though. Running old engines on unleaded (95 Ron - equivalent to 2 star in old money) rather than leaded (98 Ron or 4 star) meant, in most cases, we had to retard the ignition by about 2° to prevent pinking (pre ignition). Advancing the ignition  those 2° to compensate for the loss of power from E10 puts you right back where you started with regard to pinking. 

[BroadAmbition]

Got all that - These guys really are proper experts where engine tuning is concerned, if anyone will know - they will

My pinto came out of a Ford Transit, at 10'000 mile it was reworked with a fast road/race cam with bigger inlet / exhaust valves taken up to Stage 3.  Forged pistons etc. Crank was tuftridden / fine balanced and the whole lot blueprinted.  It has presently only done about 15'000 miles on the engine.  So the stamping in this case is useless

Griff

[grendel]

8 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Chuffin Eck,  you only just got that fixed? It was bothering you prior to the Lads Week, I thought the garage you bought it from was supposed to be fettling this one?

Griff

they were unable to find the problem, despite employing a volvo master tech, they had tested all the parts as working, but neglected to check the obvious choc block repair to the wiring, I had pointed it out to them at one point, but they dismissed it as an issue- the point is i have probably done less than 500 miles since lads week due to working from home, so it had never been a top priority, but Friday we have our company christmas bash, which is a good 3 hour drive, so i was reluctant to do this with a known issue, thus a few nights research and watching some repair videos, and it was one of those that pointed me away from the new turbo and any possible hose leak, and towards the MAP sensor (basically it said to check it wasnt dirty- it wasnt, but after unplugging it and plugging it in again, I had moved the connection wires and found it working, thus my interest was drawn back to the wiring repair and the choc block  connector obvious through the tape wrapping, sure enough once i got the tape unwrapped there were 2 out of the 3 wires loose.

[Bikertov]

Very frustrating when someone has done a poor quality repair (AKA a bodge) that causes intermittent problems.

But lucky you are skilled enough to fault find and narrow down the problem, then finding and repairing said bodge properly.

[grendel]

I watch a car repair youtube channel, and his first point of call is always to check the battery, then the wiring, if there is anything that looks dodgy, thats the first place after the battry he checks, it sort of rubbed off so my intention was to remove the possible issue by replacing the choc block with a proper joint. while looking I wiggled the cable and the fault went away, so i knew that was where the issue was.

[BroadAmbition]

Diesel Additive:-

How many of us dino diesel consumers are now 'Well Chuffed' we are not having to cope with issues / extra expense of the latest E10 petrol?

Anyroadup, I came across this particular additive t'other month and thought I would give it a go.  Wow, it really does make the engine more responsive and pull much stronger due to the increased cetane rating.  It claims other normal benefits from an additive too.  For me it's the extra mpg I'm after, now having got used to driving with less downward pressure on the Stbd pedal this should give me a return more than the cost of the stuff.  A while back I was due on a long run down to 'B.A' from home (160 miles) and needed to fill up prior to departure.  I decided to fill up with the enhanced more expensive diesel from the forecourt pumps, did I notice any difference? did I notice any improved performance - Did I eckers like so I won't be using that again any time soon.  Having played around with my trusty calculator, the cost of this additive, the amount I need to administer on every fill up, it works out far cheaper than the forecourt more expensive diesel and at least I can feel the difference.

I've now got to wondering if it'll make a noticeable difference to the onboard Betas performance.  Flat out the Beta runs at 2'550 - 2'600 rpm (In deeper water) as we are slightly over-propped.  I'm gonna try it, if it improves the top end rpm then it goes without saying that we should as a result use less diesel throughout the range to achieve the same rpm.  We'll see

Griff

 

[Smoggy]

4 hours ago, grendel said:

despite employing a volvo master tech, they had tested all the parts as working,

You mean a bloke that plugged a machine in that said it was all good, he just knew how to work the maching and nowt about the engine.

Scanners are pointless unless a fault is actually happening but intermittants are the worst and need mk1 eyeballs adding to the equation preferably linked directly to a mk1 brain).

[grendel]

when they had it the fault was anything but intermittent, i can clearly remember pointing to the repair and saying, could it be this, to be told that it couldnt. i do wonderif the volvo dealership over the road would have managed a diagnosis and repair though.

[FairTmiddlin]

3 hours ago, grendel said:

 i do wonder if the volvo dealership over the road would have managed a diagnosis and repair though.

Yes and the quote to fix what took you under an hour. Would have entailed lots of parts ordered and your car held at ransom for about 3 weeks, whilst someone undid two plugs and replaced half the wiring loom.

Problem is nowadays main dealers don't repair they just replace. We don't train Engineers nowadays, just parts fitters.

[SteveO]

When a sensor went on my CRV, I was told that it would cost me £125 for the dealer to plug the car into the diagnostic computer, plus the cost of the replacement sensor. I pointed out that the car was under warranty and had the fix done free of charge. 

My worst experience was when the combined satnav/radio/reversing camera screen stopped working. I took it into Honda, just out of warranty, to be told by a straight-faced "service" manager that a repair was not possible, but they could fit a new unit for me for £8000!!!! When I picked myself off the floor and regained the power of speech, I said there must be a cheaper way and the guy then offered a reconditioned unit with a 3 month guarantee for £4000.  I then asked them to contact Honda, as the unit was only just over 3 years old, to see if they would help with the replacement cost. Eventually after many phone calls I was told to bring the car in and they would remove the unit and send it back to the manufacturer to see if it could be mended. After driving about with a 10 inch square hole in the dashboard for a couple of weeks, the dealer called to advise that the unit had been repaired and that the cost would be £200. The problem had been a "faulty rotary actuator" which I decoded as the on/off/volume ****. Needless to say, I moved the car on a few weeks later and no longer drive a Honda. 

[Andrewcook]

Hi Steve O having a foreign Car Honda is not my cup of tea Motor Bikes are ok to have.  I like British Car that is Ford's as I've got a Ford Eco Sports 1.1with all the Rear view Camera and Sat Nav  mind you having Six gears that takes me a bit of time getting used too.

 

[andyg]

4 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

Hi Steve O having a foreign Car Honda is not my cup of tea Motor Bikes are ok to have.  I like British Car that is Ford's as I've got a Ford Eco Sports 1.1with all the Rear view Camera and Sat Nav  mind you having Six gears that takes me a bit of time getting used too.

 

Andrew I think there's no such thing as a mass produced British built car anymore. The two biggest by volume cars assembled in this country are Japanese and German. The majority of cars Ford sell here in the UK are built elsewhere ( Europe) and shipped thro the tunnel. Ford's Dagenham plant is 5 minutes away from my work. Apart from the engine stamping and developement plant its just one big railway siding nowdays

[ChrisB]

4 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

Hi Steve O having a foreign Car Honda is not my cup of tea Motor Bikes are ok to have.  I like British Car that is Ford's as I've got a Ford Eco Sports 1.1with all the Rear view Camera and Sat Nav  mind you having Six gears that takes me a bit of time getting used too.

 

The Ecosport is not British Andrew  up until end 2017 the UK cars were built in India then the MK2 facelift saw EU cars production move to Romania. Ford have decided to stop producing cars in India completely but continue Ecosport production in Brazil for the American market.

[Bikertov]

4 hours ago, andyg said:

Ford's Dagenham plant is 5 minutes away from my work. Apart from the engine stamping and developement plant its just one big railway siding nowdays

I remember back in the early 80's organising an apprentice factory visit to Ford Dagenham. It was a massive place - they used to make Sierra's there at the times, along with the engine plant.