Scorpiorefugee

:16:

Very stimulating Kev. I'd like to comment on one or two points. First, The UK government does not have any allies (apart from a few members of the old commonwealth). There are a lot of self interested nations out there who will jump on any bandwaggon if it suits them and if they can go along for the ride without paying, or better still gain some credit and other benfits whilst putting nothing in, they might even get around to making a decision. Sadly, a lot of individuals in the UK are adopting the same attitude. The US seems to be the only nation with a sense of responsibility as shown by their intervention in the Baltic states while the rest of the UN was sitting down with it's thumb in it's bum and brain in neutral. Sadly, with the best of intention it does some bloody silly things, especially with it's choice of presidents. Second, the answer to global warming, the meaning of life and everything is that nobody knows. Much of the comments above actually relate quite well. One thing is certain. There are only a limited amount of resources and if we. and that means everybody, does not stop being irresponsibly selfish, it is all going to go badly wrong. We may not have to wait for that to happen because some great leader of one of the great nations will, with the support of some of his/her 'allies' acting along the lines previously described, will precipitate premature disaster. Third, as far as governments are concerned, we get what we elect which does at least stop anyone in this country getting into an unassailable position. Sadly, this last lot have created new standards of incompetance. They've turned surplus into growing deficit, started a war which no-one can win, alienated more of the rest of the world than any other previous government and have achieved this by managing to remove anyone from government who shows any promise by a vareity of infathomably devious means. Furthermore, they have created the myth of a growing health economy based on cheap foreign imports, cheap foreign labour and selling off what is left of the nation to pay for it. Just to prove that we are governed by idiots. Years ago we had a nationalised transport system and no-one died. I can only add that I hope that one of the many Gods out there can save us. :16: :16: :16:

El Dingo and others have commented that the fair way to tax exceesive gas guzzlers is through fuel tax even to the point of doing away with tax discs. Unfortunately there are two main problems here. The tax disc procedures are a mechanism which can be used to keep track of vehicles and keep dangerous vehicles off the road, or should be if we had enough active traffic police to make it work. The other is that owners of gas guzzlers do not, by and large, give a toss about CO2, the cost of running a vehicle or, for that matter, anyone else at all, so it will not make much difference either way. On the subject of our 'beloved' chancellor soon to be leader. I was going through my mothers finances the other day. She's pushing 88 and needs somone to look after (no, not the other way) but cannot understand where all of her money is coming from. I looked on it on the basis of how much someone on the minimum wage would have to earn to have an equivalent income including all benefits. The answer is that a typical farm worker would have to work between 80 and 85 hours a week to be in the same position and he would probably have a family to provide for as well. I think someone has lost the plot somewhere.

And thanks for taking the trouble to post this. Nice one.

I'm with Gteuk on this. We just can't continue to use up what has taken hundreds of millions of years to produce without having some effect but that program did put some very interesting facts into the discussion. However, El dingo's original point is totally valid. I never cease to recoil in horror at the way our elected "intelligent and well informed" governments seem to jump on a vareity of bandwagons just because they seem to be in fashion. Their solutions to any problems always seem to do more harm to the innocent and well intended than the actual targets. Speed bumps, speed cameras, and don't they ever think that no-one actually enjoys being in a traffic jam and wouldn't be there if there was a viable alternative? Another thing that puzzles me, although I may not have the facts right, is how using bio fuels is supposed to help. As I understand it, some of these are produced by fermentation and isn't CO2 a major by-product of fermentation?

It is often said that a low mileage car needs more attention than a high mileage model. I've always found that it just doesn't pay to trust anything a dealer says or what is in the service book. It all depends on how much you intend to use it but I'd give it a few miles to get the feel of it and get someone you trust to give it a full service at or around 12k or 12 months. Sadly, whenever I've bought a low mileage car, it has been riddled with annoying problems which are very often the cause of the low mileage. My own philosophy is rather extreme but then I do 30 - 50k p/a. I reckon on oil changes on 15 - 20K, full service and cam belt every 50 - 60K and always at my local trustworthy. That way I know nothing gets tweaked unnecessarily and I know it's done properly. I've worked on that principle for more years than I can remember and my motors always do 6 figure mileages with no breakdowns. The simple moral to that is 12 months is more important than mileage and trust is worth more than any dealer's stamp, until you sell it...... Trust your own judgement and good luck.

Stll looking for the simple solution, Biscuit could have had a good point. 90 in fourth is pushing it a bit.... Combine that with lilledaz's info and I think the old advice... "If it hurts, stop doing it." may be appropriate. ;)

John, This is probably not a lot of help but my S reg has done this 3 times now over several thousand miles. In each case simply switching off and restarting has cured the problem so I have to ask if you are sure that resetiing the fault code cured it or was it simply the fact that you stopped and restarted. If so, the fault code may mean little. With mine, the first time it seemed to be a combinaton of low water level and steep hill and the last time, yesterday actually, it seemed to happen after a long spell in very slow traffic. I suppose my only suggestion is to check all fluids and temperatures before looking for anything more serious. I believe that there is a 'fall back' operating mode which is engaged if a fault is detected so, with a bit of luck, it ain't too serious. Ron.

I'm with delboyt on this. I've had Avons on my front wheels for 18 months and are now due for replacement after 45K miles. They are quiet and I've never had a nervous moment with them. I've just been quoted

Hi Whitty, Mine are all diesels so I'm not over worried about lambda sensors and rough petrol but I must complement you on a brilliantly useful post. Thanks and a belated welcome to the 'club' Ron.

...... 7........8........9..........10. That's better thank you. :)

And on the subject of that air conditioning panel, why couldn't they have simply used 4 rotary controls instead of all of those $

The only trouble with water is tha :D t you need plenty of it and you do need to dry/let it dry well or you can get Electolysis action and all of the copper from the positive connections migrates to the negative ones (or vice versa - can't remember now and can't be bothered to work it out) and then you get just a few pins of each chip disappearing. :lol: :lol: :D :D :D On a similar subject, I've bought SH cars in the past where some enthusiastic valeting dep't has doused all of the plastic with loads of chemical 'cleaners' leaving an unpleasant mess. I always start by washing the whole lot down with white spirit and finishing off with loads of soapy water. Leaves it looking like new without polish and the need to wash your hands when you get out. I'd rather have it clean than shiny any day. :D ;) ;) :D

Hi Eldingo. Sorry mate, the drinks are water based and contact cleaner is spirit based. Water is the only way to be sure. I've done it hundreds of times in the past. Ron.

Just one last word about speed. To me, it seems a good deal more lively now we're back on the old version. Ron.

Bros????? Who or what was that? :lol: MSDOS or DOS. Actually, not much good on its own but at least it didn't consume resourses just for the sale of it. I spent my time using RPG and Cobol on IBM main and midrange. 25 users with subsecond response times on something around the power of an old BBC home computer. Now that was efficiency and it could run for a year at a time without restarting. And without having to reach for a damned mouse every few seconds, those users could really bash data. Still there's progress for you. :( Ron

Hi Glen, Your sacrifice is much appreciated. As an ex mainframe programmer I am eternally annoyed at the way in which pc packages and tools are rigged in such a way as to cause maximum usage of resource without allowing simple and hardware efficient solutions to requirements, but then it is only a glorified games machine. :( :lol: :lol: I gave up when someone showed me a device that used thousands of times more power, works at half the speed and failed several times a day and told me that it was the way forward. :( I expect that everyone has heard about microsoft inventing a super car that outdid everything else on the market but had one annoying fault. It would break down several times a day and the only way to get it started was to tow it back to the beginning and start again. (Apologies to all who are sick of that but it's the only thing that keeps me sane.) Whatever happened to DOS? ;) Ron.

I am not sure if I'm halucinating or just overtired but this now looks as when I first logged on about 18 months ago. I have no idea what you've done or why but I am pleased to see Galaxy Technical back at the top of the list. I haven't even noticed anything else that has been going on because it doesn't interest me at all but that bit is great! Thanks Glen.

Forget contact cleanes and all fancy stuff. What you need is water and plenty of it. Try a soft brush from the front first if you like but, if you've already done the business with the WD derivatives, you may have to get more involved. Remove the radio from the power and open out as much as you can and use a soft pait brush with water and a little, and I do mean a little, fairy liquid, Rinse and allow to dry. Repeat with the Air con unit as far as possible. If it has got inside, you may have to go there to. Sticky drinks contain acid and that can dissolve copper print and contacts. It may work now, but in a few weeks........ I've had situations where a sticky drink has dissolved all of the legs off an i.c. and found it floating around in the bottom. You do have to ask "which imbecile is responsible fot the layout?" Hope you get it sorted. Ron

I have done this myself. I've found, if you a keep it wet/damp and keep at it it does keep improving. My missus did it with 2 litres of gloss paint - not so easy. We lived with it for years and eventually wore through the paint and down to carpet. Is that an option? :D

Many years ago, I knew a chap who was a magnet for anything that was going to go wrong. It was great having him around 'cos we all knew that if anything was going to go wrong, it was him that was always going to get it. I now believe that you fulfill the same function for this site and that you do it totally unaided. You must be our collective guardian angel in your own special way and with apparent good humour. Keep it up for as long as you can gel. We do appreciate it. :D :D :D Ron.

You could get some support and pursue them on the basis of asking them what they have to hide or what are they ashamed of. Whose club is it anyway? It can't do much without the support of it's members. Personally, I would have nothing to do with a club where everything was not open.

It is not for me to stand in the way of progress but I do have an opinion which some others may share. I joined the site because I bought an ageing Gal, to be joined by a second shortly afterwards, and was impressed by the standard of response I got from the regular devotees such as Seatkid, Johnb80 Masked Marauder and many others, all of whom gave good technical advice. If I were looking for improvements, it would be in ease of use and speed of response. More power helps stop the deterioration of the latter but I cannot see how making it necessary to trawl through at least two extra tiers of options helps either. I am only interested in Technical and General discussion topics and, personally, can see no reason why these should not sit side by side at the first level, along with a small no of other options for what is becoming a maze of assorted non motoring topics for people with far more time on their hands than I have. Also, the range of topics is now so large that, in many cases there is too much choice as to where to put anything. Sadly, I have to say that on my occasional visits I seem to see lots of well intended but not always very helpful comments and many serious queries go unanswered. Perhaps this is evolution, but that happens for a reason. I do appreciate the difficulty of maitaining this site and I, for one, have been and remain grateful for your efforts and if any of the above seems to be a critisism, then I apologise. Ron.

First question, which did you notice first, knocking or light and was the demise over a short period or instantaneous. Your inital 'flat' battery could have been caused by continually trying to start a siezed engine. Did it turn over at all? You can test the engine, either by trying to pull it round with the alternator belt or' easier' drop it into 5th and roll it forwards, or backwards if easier. Easy on a slope or may need two on the level. Your spare battery would be flat if you'd left it on the shelf for a year or more, why was it a spare? If you wanted to keep it, charge it every 3 months - it shouldn't need much. If it won't hold it's charge over that period - sling it! If you're jammed, it could have been oil starvation. But. if it was very sudden, dropped valve or cam drive failure is more likely, it makes one hell of a mess and you're searching breaker's yards I'm afraid. I hope this is helpful and, with luck, totally irrelevant. Ron

Calm down, It's only an MOT and it's just about due anyway. You don't want to leave it until the last minute and you've got less than a fortnight. Take a deep breath and book it in, preferably to wherever you did it last time. If they're any good, they'll apreciate repeat business and find your old expiry date and act acordingly. If they're not much good, you'll need all the time you can get to find someone who is. At the very worst, you might loose a few days of overlap. At the best, you'll give yourself the most avilable time to sort any problems. Good luck. I've got my fingers crossed..... Ron.