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1306

General Car Chat / That Ford (Focus?) advert on TV

« on: 27 April 2011, 19:39:50 »

What is the special device that ensures traction goes to both front wheels? Mechanical LSD? Electrickery?

How do you avoid having fingers ripped off when the car auto parks?

Is the proximity braking a gimmick, safety hazard or a good idea?

1307

General Car Chat / Want something different to drive? Try a Dartz!

« on: 06 March 2011, 10:36:26 »

If you can afford a Veyron but want something with a bit of armour as well you might consider a DARTZ.

http://dartz.eu/en/dartz_site_bankz/tree259_unnamed_alias

Alright if you are Mr Hip Hop but not my cup of tea!

1308

General Car Chat / Condition of forum members Front Shockers.

« on: 10 January 2011, 20:17:15 »

Both of my two Omegas front shockers have seen better days, however whilst it is easy enough to replace the rears (which have also seen better days!), I am put off from doing the fronts as there is no way I could get the car "WIM'ed" here in Spain ANd I can live with it..

I wonder how many other forum members soldier on with less than perfect front ends because of the difficulty factors of a) doing the job and b) setting it up if need be afterwards.?

1309

General Car Chat / Might be the end of the road for my trusty Omega

« on: 04 January 2011, 15:15:22 »

I bought the car in August 99 and it has been a good car on the whole but in recent times has given some trouble. Over four years ago I "registered it" onto Spanish plates at great expense.

I recently bought a 3 litre Omega with the intention at the time of putting the engine and gearbox in mine as the bodywork is in better nick and it is fully legal on Spanish plates. However the 3 litre drives and runs so well I have decided to keep it as is. Just needs a long list of minor things sorting.

So what to do with the Spanish reg Omega?

1. Sell it as a runner. Would need an MOT to legally do that. For that it needs the exhaust quietening down, Repaired ABS ECU fitting, and a pair of new xenon bulbs fitting as one has gone. However it would still be using water (rear core plug?)
- Oh and I would be lucky to get 600 euros for it as it is RHD and someone would have to pay maybe 300 euros for government transfer taxes.

2. Scrap it. Would get nothing for it.

3. Break it and then hope I can persuade a scrapman to come and take away what is left!

Question is, is there much demand for Elite mini facelift saloon parts?. I could ship to anywhere but larger parts might be a stumbling block as I suspect in the UK people collect bigger parts. Interior is nice light cloth, light coloured rear blind and so on. Anyone in Spain want to upgrade their car? 

What to do?

1310

General Car Chat / Is my car chipped? Part One

« on: 22 December 2010, 16:38:26 »

OMG the excitement of it all. Having struggled around in a sick 2.5 for years, I now have the luxury of a smooth, powerful and responsive 3.0 with slick auto.

Now I find tucked away in the car a spare Chip and a sheet from a tuning company.

http://i724.photobucket.com/albums/ww248/Moleones/wintersday028.jpg

Now the question is this. Is the car running with the Chip or have I got it here in front of me? The rest of the sheet shows fitting instructions. including
 10. "Start the engine and drive in a "sportsy" way for about 10 miles your ECU needs this time and driving to relearn the remapped software."

the ID on the chip is 037 355721 and some really small writing Made in Singapore.

I am so excited, I may have to lie down in a dark room for a while..............

1311

General Car Chat / Vauxhall dealer parts clearance website

« on: 09 December 2010, 16:21:22 »

Anyone know the link for this? I remember looking at it a couple of years back. It is where dealers clear out stock tht maybe was ordered not needed, not collected etc

1312

General Car Chat / Chain block and tackle where to buy in Leicester

« on: 30 November 2010, 21:17:12 »

Anyone know where I could buy and take away a chain block and tackle lift like this one from a supplier in the Leicester area.
 
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SILVERLINE-1-TON-CHAIN-BLOCKS-BLOCK-AND-TACKLE-LIFTING-/320445467897?pt=UK_Lifting_Moving_Equipment&hash=item4a9c09ccf9

1313

General Car Chat / Advice please on a possible 4x4

« on: 11 November 2010, 19:07:46 »

I am thinking next year of the absolutely unthinkable. After over 11 years of running my Omega Imay change it for a 4x4. Heresy I know. Here is the scenario.

 90% of our motoring here in Spain is short journeys to the local town or a bit further afield the local Interntional airport.. The rest is very local or off road or towing a small loaded max load 1600lb trailer (unbraked). The latter we do maybe 30 times a year. Currently we use the Omega which is fine on country roads and tarmac roads but is total rubbish in the olive groves (fat tyres , too lowand mud).. One other point is that we live in the middle of nowhere and have miles  and miles of stone surface tracks we cannot exlore or use because of the Omegas low slung nature and poor traction.

So next year I  am considering a manual one of the following with a budget of say up to £3000 Uk or 4000 euros The difference being the cost of changing onto Spanish plates. Economy, cost of running, reliability are key factors.

Suzuki Vitara diesel manual

Land Rover Discovery Diesel  (300 engine 94 onwards)

Vauxhal  Frontera  diesel

Which and model  (or alternative ) would you recomend and why please?  Diesel In Spain is still cheaper than unleaded. This really woud be a leap into the total unknown!!

1314

General Car Chat / Cheap new QH estate rear shocks.

« on: 11 November 2010, 15:09:29 »

Just spotted these on the Bay of E. Item number 360318012714


£5 each plus postage. 4 available in total 

1315

General Car Chat / Bad tyre day

« on: 09 November 2010, 20:11:03 »

Argh I have just discovered that NONE of my  tyres (except the spare on a steel) are legal.

Here is the story. My car is a 2.5 and as such can have either V or W rated tyres in the UK.I think W was mandatory on 3.0l l. As the price was very little different I always fitted W's while I was a "millionaire" in Britain.

When I changed the car over to a "Spanish" one the test engineer made the V5 equivalent up with 195 H rating or optional 225 with W because that is what was fitted.

No problem. Last set of 4 tyres I fitted were V. And they got through the last two MOTs here like that. I needed new tyres. Visited the same tyre spot about 40 miles away. He asked for the log book when I asked for V and he said no must be W. So I had a pair of W on the back and thought I will chnage the fronts IF the MOT tester spots they are only V rated.

Today I had a look at the rears and they are Z rated (still only the same price I paid for the V rated tryes. (must be Korean or Chinese I suspect!) Cant see the garage "changing them for W's. at their expense

Rumour has it the state run MOT testing stations have been given incentives to fail more cars.....

So next MOT in the new year, only the factory spare is actually correctly rated. Am I bovvered? 

1316

General Car Chat / Another worth a punt 3.2 Omega LPG Estate

« on: 04 November 2010, 19:16:18 »

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Omega-Elite-2-5-V6-LPG-Non-runner-breaking-repair-/180581443471?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item2a0b7e278f

Currently at no money (£100) with less than a day to go. Duff engine but  Includes two other engines! You will need a trailer or two.

1317

General Car Chat / What wheels are these on an Omega?

« on: 23 October 2010, 18:00:01 »

I saw one here in Spain the other day. Inevitably it was a diesel (manual).

The wheels it had on were same as this UK car. What were they std fitment to?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1995-VauxhallOmega-3-0-V6-Spares-repairs-/180570166907?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item2a0ad2167b

1318

General Car Chat / Tyre balancing problem

« on: 18 September 2010, 11:29:25 »

I had a pair of tryes for the omega the other day.

As ever I watched the guy at work in particular the balancing.  He rejected one tyre as he was unable to balance it! I asked him if it happened often e.g. 1 in a hundred to which he replied no very rarely maybe one in a thousand. He said it might be alright on someone elses wheel.

The readings were 13.5 and 10.5 (which mean nothing to me). He let the air out and moved it around the rim and he still couldn't do the job.

The next tyre he tried came up 20 and 10.

Anyone else had that happen?

1319

General Car Chat / ABS ECU change takes me full circle!

« on: 09 September 2010, 14:06:51 »

When I joined OOF, not long after its creation, the first real job I tackled was changing my ABS ECU. I bought a secondhand unit off MartinP and it worked fine until recently. I conciously sourced another S/H unit as opposed to refurb from another forum members Lincs Robert (thanks for the speedy despatch).

Fitted it today and yesterday (mostly that day was spent tackling the pink clip which was broken).

The job was fairly straightforward otherwise though I did curse having put all 6 bolts back in. ( I can hear Dbug laughing right now) My new £20 47 piece 1/4 inch drive socket set helped a lot. All I removed was:
the battery, loosened the three multi plug assembly from battery tray, undid the clip from around the power steering reservoir and of course the coolant  top hose. I just don't see the point of taking anything else off.

Today I am a very happy bunny. Since the first ABS ECU I have

changed the gearbox twice(with help thank goodness)
changed the cats
new exhaust
changed the passenger side manifold gasket
rear discs, pads and shoes,
HBV twice
Cambelt and tensioners
DIS pack twice
plug leads
cleaned breathers twice

So I am now wondering what will go next on the cycle apart from my back!

1320

General Car Chat / Alternative UK ECU testing and repair company

« on: 31 August 2010, 14:42:17 »

BBA Reman didn't answer my query (admittedly the period included but not exclusively a bank holiday weekend). Maybe they couldn't decide which office should deal with me. I found this outfit in the UK and they did answer me today but in the meantime I have got a S/h ABS ECU from a forum member.

Here is the companies link if anyone is interested in ECU testing and or repair.

http://www.ecutesting.com/how_we_test_ecus.html