Car Talk

[grendel]

2 hours ago, Andrewcook said:

plus beware of the Car having its annual  M OT with tighter controls on Exhausts fumes coming out as it is now enforced

they can only enforce the emission standard that was set for the date your car was built, they cannot enforce more stringent controls on cars not designed to meet them, that said, when I had my MOT, the emissions were a bit high, but a new set of filters and an oil change solved that issue.

[annv]

Before a MOT check tyre pressures, screen washer bottle, wiper blades for splits, AND if only used on short runs just before or on the way to MOT give the car/van a five mile run at speed 50/60 mph this will clear the catalyst in the exhaust and give a better result, and clean the interior of ???, they need to get at all seat belt anchorage's. It's most annoying to have to move coats rugs etc. John

[Bikertov]

Good advice John.

I would add to try and clean the outside of the car too if you can - shows you care about it, and also means the MOT tester isn't working on a mud covered vehicle so they have a better working environment.

[CambridgeCabby]

Also remove any objects dangling from rear view mirror ( magic tree etc) , our youngest had a car fail a couple of years ago as they stated it obscured the vision and allegedly they are not permitted to remove a defect once it has been spotted without a retest .

suffice to say , a local garage has lost all our business since 

[WherryNice]

7 minutes ago, CambridgeCabby said:

Also remove any objects dangling from rear view mirror ( magic tree etc) , our youngest had a car fail a couple of years ago as they stated it obscured the vision and allegedly they are not permitted to remove a defect once it has been spotted without a retest .

suffice to say , a local garage has lost all our business since 

They could've removed the items before starting the test, there is even an 'advisory' notice for it on the system so I don't blame you for going elsewhere..

[BrundallNavy]

Don’t forget to remove dash cams too. 

[annv]

It's all very well to expect the operator to remove articles BUT you only get 3/4 of an hour, it's amazing how you can get behind moving things, a cleanish vehicle with clean head lights and rear lens no mud or  dog turds on the tyres, a empty interior always starts you of in a good mood, when you have to fail a vehicle for a split wiper blade it makes you wonder on the drivers ability. John

[BroadAmbition]

Don’t forget to remove dash cams too. 

Really?

I never have and never had an issue with that one

Griff

[grendel]

me neither, I do as a courtesy turn it off though. I always find that if you have done some work and there is a shiney new part somewhere they take a kinder view of it (and if you mention you have just fitted a new xyz,) they then know you know your way around a vehicle, and are less likely to try and bamboozle you.

[grendel]

recently i took my car for a new tyre, i was informed that the brakes needed doing all round, new pads and discs, and that the front control arms needed replacing as the bushes were worn out and dangerous (over £700 in work), I left with just the tyre, at the MOT a couple of months later I asked them to do the brakes (i had a shudder) didnt mention the control arms, well they did the brakes - only the front as the rears were still good, the control arms bushings didnt even get a mention in the MOT and they said it was a pity there was a judder on the front brakes, as they were still only half worn, with the MOT, Brakes and an oil and filter change i was charged £435. i knew i didnt trust the tyre place. if my friendly garage did tyres, I would get them there.

[Meantime]

It's worth noting that Euro Car Parts now have a fit for me service that uses local garages. You simply go to Euro Car Parts website and choose the brake pads, discs etc that you want and then when you get to the checkout stage there is an option to include the fit for me service. It will then bring up a list of local garages and how much they charge for fitting those parts. You then proceed through the checkout and pay Euro Car Parts for your parts. You pay the garage direct for the fitting at the pre agreed price. Euro Car Parts will then deliver your parts direct to your garage of choice in time for your time slot. For more expensive purchases you even get the option of spreading the cost over four months using Paypal interest free option.

[annv]

I had a similar one with my son in law he took his Lexus in for a service at main agent they told him he needed new pads and disc's all round £700=00 fortunately he ran me, he bought it to me on Friday night i looked at it all it needed was a set of front pads £24=00 when he took it at next service no mention of brakes. had a similar one an old customer had bought a new Volvo took it to them until they told him he needed new brakes all it needed was new front pads customer now returned us. you should always go to your local friendly helpful garage when warranty is up, they may not have a posh waiting room with free coffee but you get value for money. John

[BrundallNavy]

3 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Don’t forget to remove dash cams too. 

Really?

I never have and never had an issue with that one

Griff

They took Hele’s off the screen when she had her mot. 

[oldgregg]

4 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Don’t forget to remove dash cams too. 

Really?

I never have and never had an issue with that one

Griff

It's a relatively recent thing they've decided to enforce, but it's illegal to record an MOT test so dashcams are disconnected or removed (if it's not easily unplugged) to prevent any sneaky filming.

Mine was unplugged by the garage when going in a couple of months back.

[BroadAmbition]

Why is it that the instructions on how to cancel the dash displayed message 'Oil Change Required' are not in the owner's manual but you have to go onto Youtube to find out?

Ford state oil and filter change every 18'000 miles - Really?

I do it at ten thousand, this throws out the oil message change required.  The onboard computer reckons it's clever telling you this, it ain't that clever to self-cancel and obviously doesn't know when you have done one though

Griff

[FlyingFortress]

12 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Why is it that the instructions on how to cancel the dash displayed message 'Oil Change Required' are not in the owner's manual but you have to go onto Youtube to find out?

Ford state oil and filter change every 18'000 miles - Really?

I do it at ten thousand, this throws out the oil message change required.  The onboard computer reckons it's clever telling you this, it ain't that clever to self-cancel and obviously doesn't know when you have done one though

Griff

My last car had oil and filter change scheduled for 20k intervals.

I did it every 10k and got rid of the car shortly after it hit 250k miles as I knew there was a potential problem at 250k when the cam chain tended to let go.

Lot of miles when I did 220k of them 👍

[Karizma]

36 minutes ago, BroadAmbition said:

Why is it that the instructions on how to cancel the dash displayed message 'Oil Change Required' are not in the owner's manual but you have to go onto Youtube to find out?

Griff

I have a Mercedes c220d and needed to replace the rear brake pads - all was good until I had to push the calliper pistons in, to make room for the new pads - could I get them to retract using a G clamp - not a chance.

Went onto YouTube and hey presto - secret 'maintenance menu' accessible by pressing a few buttons in a certain order to retract the pistons automatically!

YouTube certainly better than the traditional Haynes car manual.

[floydraser]

10 hours ago, BroadAmbition said:

Why is it that the instructions on how to cancel the dash displayed message 'Oil Change Required' are not in the owner's manual but you have to go onto Youtube to find out?

I reckon you could probably learn brain surgery from Youtube; I may give it a try one day. Need to find someone with a brain to practice on though....

There is also a lot of satisfaction to be had by posting "how to" videos on there. My XC90 parking brake cable adjustment video has had 78K views and a few kind comments.

[annv]

The reason is the manufactures want you to take it to a main dealer for all maintenance items so they make it difficult for DIY and for non franchise garages, at one time different makes had the ADL socket wired differently to try and enforce this until the EU made all manufactures  wire it up the same way if they wanted to sell in the EU, if they hadn't all non franchise garages would have needed a code reader for every different make they wanted to work on. John

[oldgregg]

12 hours ago, FlyingFortress said:

My last car had oil and filter change scheduled for 20k intervals.

I did it every 10k and got rid of the car shortly after it hit 250k miles as I knew there was a potential problem at 250k when the cam chain tended to let go.

Lot of miles when I did 220k of them 👍

Yeah, it's best to ignore manufacturer service intervals and make sure it's done annually.

I remember BMW were waxing lyrical about their amazing cars that only needed an oil change every two years.

And what happened? Epic numbers of timing chain failures because they were using poor-quality chains with plastic guides and the oil was only getting changed every two years whilst in the main dealer network, and probably a lot less once the cars were older. Ironically the new 'improved' engines are no better now they've got a few miles on them.

So why do it? Simple - It pleases the fleet managers as they only run the car for around 60-80k miles and the engines should last that long, and it keeps costs low for the service plans being sold to retail customers. After that, BMW doesn't care.

If a secondhand car fails, the dealer can say "ah well cars are very complicated nowadays aren't they" and shuffle the customer towards their latest pile of tat on PCP.

[Meantime]

12 hours ago, Karizma said:

Went onto YouTube and hey presto - secret 'maintenance menu' accessible by pressing a few buttons in a certain order to retract the pistons automatically!

Any vehicle with an electric parking brake will need the rear brakes changed via a service menu to wind the brakes back in.

Also a lot of vehicles with electric parking brakes no longer have traditional wear sensors on the brake pad itself. They measure the amount of travel when the parking brake is applied to work out how worn the pads are.

[BroadAmbition]

Finally! - Got the winter rims / tyres fitted this afternoon to Trevor Transit, not a moment too soon either.  Now to take both front summer tyres for checking tomorrow for slow punctures.  I will swap over MrsG's  Q5 onto its winter rims and tyres one afternoon this week, not as urgent for her as her car is 4WD and hardly get used much

Whilst doing an oil change t'other month there I noticed that the exhaust and especially the large centre silencer box is suffering and it won't be long before either a hole or a crack develops, that's after seven years and 60'000 + miles.  As most of us know, replacement exhausts never seem to last as long as the original ones fitted when new. Seeing as this van has got to last me another four years at least a standard cheap mild steel replacement is false economy.   So I have the van booked in tomorrow at a s/steel custom pipe outfit.  They are going to make a full s/steel system, gas flowed with a rather nice twin tail pipe.  It's costing me £360 made and fitted.  The list price was £400 so I employed the Yorkshire anthem - 'How Much'?  Did the trick

Griff

[Smoggy]

If the rather nice twin tailpipes are the same bore as the rest of the system all it will do is cover the back of Trevor in exhaust soot, seen so many boy racer cars like it, the gas is happily exiting at a good speed and suddenly the pipework gets bigger, hey presto gas the slows down, same reason the silt builds on the inside of bends while the outside gets scoured.

That twin tailpipe could be a bad idea.

[BroadAmbition]

That twin tailpipe could be a bad idea.

You could be right and I'll get to know in due course

However the few Custom Transits I've seen with them fitted haven't been covered in soot on their back doors though.  The twin pipes are I suspect more for cosmetic purposes and are only about nine inches in length.  I'll take some photo's

Griff

[WherryNice]

If Trevor has a DPF then there won't be a lot of soot to get stuck to the back of him anyway, so might not be an issue:)