katman

Thanks VR6. Like I said, I knew what it was called but couldnt remember how to spell it. With regard to the spare wheel, my recent puncture was the first I have had for about 10 years or more. I previously had a Pug309 in which I did over 150K in 6 years without a puncture and I doubt that I would have been able to get the spare off. I was reading through the T&Cs of my Britannia Rescue cover the other day and there is a clause that allows them to charge you IF you havent got a serviceable spare wheel. I would expect you could get away with it if the spare had a puncture but a missing spare or an illegal tyre could end up costing you. Regards Keith

Hi Phil, Welcome to the KSWCC (Knackered Spare Wheel Carrier Club) Mine screwed up on me about a month ago and is currently sitting on the garage floor. I have tried to disassemble it but despite drilling all the rivets out it still refuses to come apart :lol: I think at some time in its previous life, some tyre monkey wound it up with an airgun judging by the state of the nut. Mr. Fraud wants

Thanks VR6. Its only a few screws to get a speaker out so no real hardship as you say. I'm hoping that metal grilles will be a lot more resiliant. they may dent when knocked but that can be pushed out. The awful plastic honeycomb grilles just crack :D Time for a look round me thinks :D

Shortly after I got my Galaxy, my daughter cracked the speaker grille on her door. Tonight, SWMBO has gone on her Xmas meal and is designated driver with a Galaxy full of her colleagues. Because the interior of the car was an absolute tip I gave it a good clean up today. Vacuumed all the crud out, cleaned all the windows etc and even got asked how much I wanted for cleaning out the inside of a Previa by someone who pulled into the Vacuuming bay next to me. (He seemed quite disappointed when I told him that I didnt work there and was only cleaning my own car.) So... why cant I tell the kids off anymore ? Because when I climbed into the middle row of seat I put my knee right through the speaker grille <_< I now know what my Christmas money will be going on. Some new speakers for all 4 doors and if I can figure out how to fit them I will try and put metal grilles on them. Any recommendations for reasonably priced but good sounding speakers that can be fitted WITH metal grilles. Is it possible to remove the old speakers, then refit the door cards, then fix the new speakers "over the top" ? Regards Keith

SHIT******** I just bought one 10 mins after I read greg_68 post :lol: I wouldnt worry about it. Just dont use it if a van from the Radio Authority is within 50 feet of you <_< You are seriously unlikely to cause any problems. People using illegal transmitters get caught for a number of reasons 1. They have a very powerful crappy transmitter that is spilling interference over legitimate broadcasts. 2. They have a good transmitter but are using a frequency that is already in use locally. 3. They attract the attention of the authorities with the content of their broadcasts. It then needs someone to report them and then for the RA to swing into action. This all takes time. Unless you are stuck in the traffic jam from hell you wont still be there when they investigate the problem. If you are stuck in the traffic jam from hell then they wont be able to get there anyway!!! A few years ago some mates of mine were running a pirate radio station and to protect the "studio" they used one radio link out of the the normal FM band to send the signal to a receiver and the main transmitter which was sat on top of the local multistory car park. They "forgot" to collect the transmitter one night and it was discovered by the caretaker. He called Plod who arrived on the scene and took one look at a box with wires and a car battery and thought "bomb". Bomb squad were on their way when another more intelligent plod arrived and pointed out that the amount of power required to detonate a bomb would not require a huge car battery and owing to the fact that two large aerials were also attached it was a radio transmitter. It was duly removed to the local nick. Idiot mates then "remembered" the transmitter and went back to recover it. It wasnt there so they assumed it had been stolen and went to the police station to ask if it had been handed in. After spending several hours answering questions they left without it. Thick or what!!!! Keith

A guy walks into a bar with his pet monkey. He orders a drink and while he's drinking, the monkey jumps all around the place. The monkey grabs some olives off the bar and eats them. Then he grabs some sliced limes and eats them. He then jumps onto the pool table and grabs one of the billiard balls. To everyone's amazement, he sticks it in his mouth, and somehow swallows it whole. The bartender screams at the guy, "Did you see what your monkey just did?" "No, what?" "He just ate the cue ball off my pool table... whole!" "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replied the guy, "he eats everything in sight. Sorry! I'll pay for the cue ball and stuff." The guy finishes his drink, pays his bill, pays for the stuff the monkey ate and leaves. Two weeks later the guy is in the bar again, and has his monkey with him. He orders a drink and the monkey starts running around the bar again. While the man is finishing his drink, the monkey finds a maraschino cherry on the bar. He grabs it, sticks it up his butt, pulls it out, and eats it. Then the monkey finds a peanut, and again sticks it up his butt, pulls it out, and eats it. The bartender is disgusted. "Did you see what your monkey did now?" "No, what?" replied the man. "Well, he stuck a maraschino cherry and a peanut up his butt, pulled them out, and ate them!" said the bartender. "Yeah, that doesn't surprise me," replied the guy. "He still eats everything in sight, but ever since he had to pass that cue ball, he measures everything first".

A young man married a beautiful woman who had previously divorced ten husbands. On their wedding night, she told her new husband, "Please be gentle; I'm still a virgin." "What?" said the puzzled groom. "How can that be if you've been married ten times?" "Well, husband #1 was a Sales Representative; he kept telling me how great it was going to be. Husband #2 was in Software Services; he was never really sure how it was supposed to function, but he said he'd look into it and get back to me. Husband #3 was from Field Services; he said everything checked out diagnostically but he just couldn't get the system up. Husband #4 was in Telemarketing; even though he knew he had the order, he didn't know when he would be able to deliver. Husband #5 was an Engineer; he understood the basic process but wanted three years to research, implement, and design a new state-of-the-art method. Husband #6 was from Administration; he thought he knew how, but he wasn't sure whether it was his job or not. Husband #7 was in Marketing; although he had a product, he was never sure how to position it. Husband #8 was a psychiatrist; all he ever did was talk about it. Husband #9 was a gynecologist; all he did was look at it. Husband #10 was a stamp collector; all he ever did was...God, I miss him! But now that I've married you, I'm so excited!" "Good," said the husband, "but, why?" "You're with the Government. This time I KNOW I'm gonna get truly f*#%ed!

THE PICTURE ON THE NIGHTSTAND After a long night of making love this guy rolls over and was looking around, when he noticed a framed picture of another man on the night stand by the bed. Naturally, the guy began to worry. "Is this your husband?" he inquired nervously. "No, silly," she replied, snuggling up to him. "Your boyfriend then?" he asked. "No, not at all," she said, nibbling away at his ear. "Is it your dad or your brother?" he said, hoping to be reassured. "No, no, no!!!" she said. "Well, who is he then?" demanded the bewildered guy. Calmly, the girl replied, "That's me before the surgery."

Male Logic A man and his wife are in court getting a divorce. The problem was who should get custody of the child. The wife jumped up and said, "Your Honor. I brought the child into this world with pain and labor. She should be in my custody." The judge turns to the husband and says, "What do you have to say in your defense?" The man sat for a while contemplating...then slowly rose. "Your Honor, if I put a dollar in a vending machine and a Pepsi comes out, whose Pepsi is it...the machine's or mine?"

Two women friends had gone for a Girls Night Out, but had been decidedly over-enthusiastic on the Bacardi Breezers. Incredibly drunk and walking home they needed to pee. They were very near a graveyard and one of them suggested they do their business behind a headstone. One of them had nothing to wipe with so she thought she'd take off her panties and use them, then throw them away. Her friend however was wearing a rather expensive underwear set and didn't want to ruin hers but was lucky enough to salvage a large ribbon from a wreath that was on one of the graves and proceeded to wipe herself with that. They then made off for home. The next day one woman's husband phoned the other husband and said, "These damn girls nights out have got to stop. My wife came home last night without her panties." "That's nothing," said the other. "Mine came back with a card stuck between the cheeks of her butt that said 'From all of us at the Fire Station. We'll never forget you'."

ROTFLMAO :D Pedantry can be such fun!

Worst case, you wont know at all :D

I have a petrol as well and find that some pumps just try to pump fuel in far too fast, or are overly sensitive at cutting off. I now know which pumps to avoid at my local Tesco and tonight I discovered that Pump 10 is really good. Filled the tank quickly without cutting out or me having to restrict the flow. I find that the angle of the nozzle also makes a big difference and if the pump is on the wrong side of the car it can take forever to fill the tank :o Regards Keith

I *used* to LOVE Maplin. I spent thousands with them over the years having started buying from them in 1979. One of my two customer numbers is less than 12000 because I was there when they introduced them. I religiously used to sit and read through the catalogue in my lunchhour when a new catalogue was released and also having a trade account I got a free copy of the catalogue. Several years ago I didnt get my free catalogue so rang up to ask why. I was told it was because I hadnt spent enough to warrant being sent one. I informed them that if they looked back through all my previous orders they would see why I hadnt spent enough. THEY STOPPED SELLING THE COMPONENTS I WAS BUYING They werent obscure compenent either, but management at Maplin had changed and whoever was in charge decided that Maplin should be more like Tandy :) Its impossible to spend money with a company if they dont sell what you want! Regards Keith

Hi MrT Crystals are normally pretty tight on specification. Looking at the Rapid site, the tollerance is 50ppm so 27*50 = 1350 Hz That means a 27MHz crystal could actually be anywhere from 26998650 to 27001350 which even if it were at its lowest tollerance would still be high. A 26.995 Mhz at its highest tolerance would be 26996350 so probably too great a difference. Googling for 26.995 Mhz produces lots of hits for radio controlled models. http://www.jperkinsdistribution.co.uk/deta...eneral%20spares Sorry I cant find one from my normal suppliers eg Rapid / Farnell / RS etc. If you can bear to search the Maplin website you might find one but I have a pasionate hatred of Maplin since they stopped being a top quality electronics component supplier and insted became a toyshop full of crap! Regards Keith

Hi MrT The component in question is a Quartz Crystal. Look here for a replacement http://www.rapidelectronics.co.uk/rkmain.a...72013&XPAGENO=1 If you look on the other side of it you should see the frequency marked on it something like 4.000MHz That will tell you whick one you need to buy. Hope that helps Keith

Reminds me of the old "Dads Army" episode where Corporal Jones butchers van was converted to run on gas by fitting a huge gas bag to the roof. :) :) :)

Hi Matt, Thanks for that. There were several changes over the years to make it more useful but it did its job. The version I posted today is a cut down version of the original so as such hasnt actually been tested in anger but I dont think I have broken anything. If anyone does find a problem with it then please let me know and I will try and fix it. Regards Keith

Hi Andrew, It wasnt created for obsessiveness but out of neccessity. I used to drive from Great Yarmouth to Martlesham every day and wanted to know how much it was really costing me to travel to work. The original spreadsheet also included all car cost such as servicing (at 6000 mile intervals), insurance, repairs etc. It was just habit to fill up the tank every 4 days and buy bits when needed so it was the only way to keep track of what the car was costing. It also shows if the car has developed a fault. Because the price of fuel fluctuates so much it becomes difficult to keep track but the rolling MPG figures should be fairly constant if the driving pattern remains the same. My MPG was dropping slightly year on year which I didnt worry about but just put down to the mileage of the car. I bought it with 125K on the clock and was adding 25-30K per year. I had to replace the Injector pump and injectors a couple of years ago with parts off a scrapper and after that my MPG went back up to what I was getting when I first bought the car :huh: In the seven years that I was using the car, I recon I spent 3 times as much on fuel as I did on actually buying the car!!!! Regards Keith

Indeed you did Mike :huh: It will be interesting to see if other people notice seasonal differences in MPG figures In my old Pug 309 GLD I used to average about 54mpg during BST and about 52 during GMT. I put the difference down to increased use of electricity as during the winter months all my driving was in the dark with all lights on and often wipers etc. Difference may not be as noticable on the Galaxy or may well be reversed because of using AirConditioning. Didnt have that luxury on the Pug, in fact the heater damper wouldnt fully close so you couldnt even get cool air in the summer :) It gets really scary if you look at it over a period of several years. My first tankful of diesel for the Pug cost me the grand sum of 60.9p per litre in 1999. My most expensive tankful was 93.9p, a difference of 33p per litre which sounds bad enough but when you then convert that to gallons it is a DIFFERENCE of

Hi All, I have been asked to post my Fuel Consumption spreadsheet so I am posting it as a new topic as well in case people dont see it as it is buried 10 pages deep in a thread about Aux Heaters. INSTRUCTIONS Using the spreadsheet. The top section shows the following information Min and Max price paid per litre of fuel Min and Max MPG for an individual tankful of fuel Min and Max MPG averaged over 10 tankfuls of fuel Estimated Min and Max cost for fuel in a year based on the mileage you enter into B4 Mileage remaining until next service based on Service Due mileage entered into B5 The Info about next service changes colour as a service approaches. Mileage in Column B also highlights when a service is getting close or overdue. Row 8 of the spreadsheed only needs the dat and mileage when you START using the spreadsheet. You should start with a full tank of fuel and to obtain meaningful results from this spreadsheet you need to ensure that you fill up completely. If for some reason you cant fill the tank eg Lack of money! then it wont affect the overall results as the averaging will take care of that once you return to full tanks but a couple of the reading will vary quite a bit from your average. ONLY CHANGE THE DATA IN COLUMNS A-D DO **NOT** CHANGE COLUMNS E-J or you will break the formulae !!!! Column A - Enter the date you fill up in dd/mm/yyyy format Column B - Enter the mileage Column C - Enter the cost of fuel in Pence per Litre Column D - Enter the number of litres Spreadsheet will calculate the following for you Column E - cost of that tankful Column F - distance travelled since last fillup Column G - MPG for that tankful Column H - MPG averaged over last 10 fillups Column I - Average fuel price over last 10 fillups Column J - Estimated annual cost at current average price/MPG based on the mileage you enter into B4 I have left some data in the spreadsheet in A8-B8 A9-D9 through to A24-D24 just to show how it looks. You can safely delete or just overtype that info. Hope the above makes sense and that someone finds it useful Regards Keith Fuelcost2.zip

Which is why I suggest holding down the vent and actually filling right to the brim... Also Keith, maybe you'd like to share your spreadsheet?? Mike OK. Here goes. I have edited my existing spreadsheet as there was stuff in there that wasnt for sharing :D Using the spreadsheet. The top section shows the following information Min and Max price paid per litre of fuel Min and Max MPG for an individual tankful of fuel Min and Max MPG averaged over 10 tankfuls of fuel Estimated Min and Max cost for fuel in a year based on the mileage you enter into B4 Mileage remaining until next service based on Service Due mileage entered into B5 The Info about next service changes colour as a service approaches. Mileage in Column B also highlights when a service is getting close or overdue. Row 8 of the spreadsheed only needs the dat and mileage when you START using the spreadsheet. You should start with a full tank of fuel and to obtain meaningful results from this spreadsheet you need to ensure that you fill up completely. If for some reason you cant fill the tank eg Lack of money! then it wont affect the overall results as the averaging will take care of that once you return to full tanks but a couple of the reading will vary quite a bit from your average. ONLY CHANGE THE DATA IN COLUMNS A-D DO **NOT** CHANGE COLUMNS E-J or you will break the formulae !!!! Column A - Enter the date you fill up in dd/mm/yyyy format Column B - Enter the mileage Column C - Enter the cost of fuel in Pence per Litre Column D - Enter the number of litres Spreadsheet will calculate the following for you Column E - cost of that tankful Column F - distance travelled since last fillup Column G - MPG for that tankful Column H - MPG averaged over last 10 fillups Column I - Average fuel price over last 10 fillups Column J - Estimated annual cost at current average price/MPG based on the mileage you enter into B4 I have left some data in the spreadsheet in A8-B8 A9-D9 through to A24-D24 just to show how it looks. You can safely delete or just overtype that info. Hope the above makes sense and that someone finds it useful :D Regards Keith Fuelcost2.zip

Fair enough :D Not without an awful lot of siver paper wraped round it :D I wish there were "proper" 12V sockets in cars instead of those awful cigar lighter plugs. Upset the kids several times when we accidently knocked the lead to the DVD player and caused the movie to start from the beginning again. The plug didnt come out but moved just enough to lose contact :D Regards Keith

If possible use the same pump every time you fill up and also average over several tankfuls. I used to accurately monitor fuel consumption of my old PUG 309 and although I tried to use the same pump every time it wasnt always possible. My spreadsheet calculated the MPG for each tankful and also showed a running average over the last 10 tankfuls. Running average was always between 52 and 54 mpg but individual tankfuls would sometimes be anywhere between 43 and 62 mpg which I put down to different pumps cutting out at differing levels as the car was basically doing the same 105 mile round trip every day. Regards Keith

That always used to be the case but some time ago batteries changed. A 50AH battery in theory has a capacity of 50 amp-hours which could be 50 amps for 1 hour 25 amps for 2 hours 1 amp for 50 hours but many modern batteries dont work like that. They will say something like 50AH @ 20 hour rate which means it will sustain a drain of 2.5amps for 20 hours but if you try to draw 25 amps you probably wont get the two hours you could once have expected. Changing technology had enabled car batteries to be able to deliver very high currents for short periods of time and this is marked on the battery as the amount of current is can supply for 3 minutes. By this time the battery is well and truely flat. This enables car manufacturers to supply smaller and cheaper batteries which 99% of the time will be fine, as long as you dont leave the lights on! You can still get batteries that will last a long time. They are called "Leisure Batteries" and are intended to Caravans, Motorhomes, Boats etc but they cost a lot more than the el cheapo car batteries currently being sold Regards Keith