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Topics - shyboy

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1
General Car Chat / End of a long love affair.
« on: 09 March 2021, 14:23:50 »

Very reluctantly, I've had to sell on my pride and joy, (Y reg. 3.2l Elite saloon in rare silver), through not being physically capable of wielding spanners and clambering over and under any more due to arthritis and spinal stenosis problems.
It only went on Saturday and I miss it already. It had been "sorned" for the last 9 months, and my younger son listed it on ebay for me with a starting price of £700, and it sold for a final bid of £1040. I was quite chuffed with that. Because of Covid 19 restrictions the purchaser couldn't arrange for it to be trailored away for 6 weeks, but it's gone now and the money's in the bank.
He apparently has 4 other Omegas, and rang today in ecstasy because it sailed through an MOT "with flying colours and is a fantastic car".
I'm now starting the grieving process and looking for something to fill the large gap on the property frontage.
Hey ho! Such is life beyond eighty.

2
General Car Chat / mazda 6 stop/start battery charging
« on: 01 February 2021, 19:20:54 »
I have a standard C-tek MXS 5.0 battery charger which does a good job on the Omega lead acid battery. I've always been in the practice of disconnecting both pos. and neg leads and leaving the battery in the car for convenience.
I want to do the same with my Mazda stop/start battery, but wonder whether disconnecting it will require re-setting things other than possibly the radio and one touch windows. C-tek state that this charger can be used without disconnecting the battery, but the Mazda manual doesn't make things clear. I'm assuming a dedicated stop/start charger isn't really necessary.
Can anyone offer an expert opinion, please?
Cheers.

3
General Car Chat / fuel degradation
« on: 02 January 2021, 09:41:21 »
What happens to cause fuel to lose its potency with age and how long does it take on average?

4
General Discussion Area / JamesV6CDX
« on: 24 December 2020, 11:45:45 »
James,
Your inbox is full.
Bill.

5
General Car Chat / Volvo S40 1.8l
« on: 19 March 2019, 13:01:55 »
I've been offered an S40 on an 04 plate with genuine 38k miles for under 500 quid. It needs a minor prang sorting on the driver's door and has rust scabs above the rear screen, but I don't know anything else about it at this stage, except that the MOT history isn't bad, and the deceased driver was a "careful" driver.
Can anyone offer a knowledgable opinion about this car's pedigree, as a possible replacement for a 3.2 Omega?

6
General Car Chat / Crankshaft locking for pulley removal.
« on: 01 February 2019, 17:53:20 »
Following on from Raywilb's seal replacement topic, has anyone tried or does anyone know anything about the unconventional method of stuffing rope in the piston bore to prevent crankshaft movement.
Provided the piston was at bdc coming up to compression stroke to ensure all valves are closed to eliminate possible bending, would this work? Youtube videos and comments seem to suggest that it does.
I would still prefer the bolt on type of tool which NickW would no doubt cobble up in a few minutes, but we lesser mortals have to consider all "easier" methods.

7
Omega General Help / vent housing cleaning
« on: 12 November 2018, 11:09:22 »
Am I correct in believing that the vent housing is behind the 1,3,5 bank on the driver's side and not the passenger side as stated in Fuse 19's excellent guide, or am I missing something basic?
Would appreciate confirmation, please.
Cheers,
Bill.

8
General Car Chat / VW 2.0l Passat DTI DSG
« on: 19 August 2018, 11:24:49 »
Thinking of buying one of these about 4/5 years old as a replacement for the 3.2 Omega when I can eventually decide to let it go.
As I've now had to accept that arthritis etc. means that my spanner wielding days are over, except for light stuff, I will have to have major servicing done by my favourite independent garage as and when required.
As you might expect, my first consideration is the usual cambelt/water pump conundrum, (closely followed by Direct Shift Gearbox). Initial investigation online suggests 80k/4years being the current opinion amongst Passat owners, seemingly having been reduced from 120k for all the usual reasons. Does anyone have any different opinions on this, and is there any good reason why these figures are higher than the usual Omega recommendations.
I may end up with a vehicle with say 50k on the clock, which would tempt me to factor in the cost of cambelt/water pump work anyway, for piece of mind, as this will probably be my last car purchase before the grim reaper calls.  ;D

9
General Discussion Area / Windows update
« on: 20 May 2018, 16:03:12 »
Help!
After being pestered to install a latest Windows update on my main computer I set the ball rolling last evening when I could allow it the time to install.
Following various screen instructions this morning, most of which I now can't remember, I have been left with a blank black screen with just a moving cursor, which does nothing else, and no way of moving on.
Can anyone suggest a course of action before this computer ignoramus calls in professional help?
I'm having to use an old, slow laptop for this post.
Any help would be appreciated.

10
Omega General Help / Crank pulley removal
« on: 03 May 2018, 16:23:41 »
What are the forum approved methods for locking the crankshaft on a 3.2l auto, prior to pulley bolt removal.
I've dismissed the idea of utilising the water pump housing as too risky from the damage point of view.
The Haynes manual suggests a home made 'lever' tool bolted to the pulley bolt holes. Anyone had success with this method? Does it not obstruct access too much?
Any experiences appreciated.

11
General Discussion Area / Honesty does exist.
« on: 05 April 2018, 20:35:51 »
I'm feeling quite uplifted by this.
Last Friday my daughter-in-law took two of her daughters and grandchildren for a short family break in a cottage in Yorkshire, which they use every year, and made a stop at one of the motorway service stations en route. On arriving at the destination she suddenly realised that she didn't have her purse, containing £200 cash, but thankfully no credit cards or other critical stuff.
She rang the service station immediately, giving as much detail of her movements as possible, but as expected they had no information, and she wrote it off as irrevocably lost, and despite my son's philosophical approach to this she was obviously very upset.
She returned home yesterday in time to fly today for another pre-arranged short break to stay with friends in Spain with her husband, and they arrived there an hour ago.
My grand daughter has just rung to tell us that the service station have telephoned their home to report that the purse has been found, with its contents intact, and she's got the pleasant job of texting her Mum in Spain to give her the news.
We don't yet know how it was discovered, but obviously one or more people have displayed great honesty here.
It is so nice to know that these people do still exist, and it's really bucked me up. :y


12
General Discussion Area / Horizontal murphy bed
« on: 15 February 2018, 17:06:52 »
I'm thinking of building one to provide space saving guest accommodation and wonder if anyone has experience of this.
I don't need plans as such, and can source timber materials OK, but most of the mechanical parts seem to emanate from the States. There is a London firm advertising  online, which looks interesting, but has anyone found any others which I should look at. Or has any genius designed his own from component parts?

13
General Discussion Area / Lidl customer service
« on: 09 February 2018, 10:41:51 »
On 1/10/2015 I bought a 'special offer' Ultimate Speed car battery charger from Lidl which did a great job charging various types of battery until it stopped working a few days ago. The cost was only £13.99 so my initial thought was to dump it and forget it.
However, the warranty period was 3 years from date of purchase so I went through the process for making a claim and what a pleasant surprise it was.
I rang the 0871 service number in the product manual and after giving full details from the receipt, and name and address etc. was given a freephone no. to ring to have the call transferred to the German manufacturer. Less than 5 minutes later the issue was settled without any fuss by their agreeing to send out a brand new replacement item, on condition that I retained the faulty original for 6 months, so that it might be reclaimed by the manufacturer if they want to investigate the possibility of a defective batch.
If the replacement arrives in 4 or 5 days as promised, I call that excellent customer service, and it reinforces my high opinion of Lidl as a company to buy from with confidence.

14
Omega General Help / Heated O2 Sensors
« on: 26 October 2017, 11:33:44 »
I'm currently trying to sort out fuel trim issues on a 3.2l, acquiring knowledge and information from some very good (and some not so good) Youtube videos, and a cheap but seemingly good code reader which gives live data.
The O2 sensor No. 1 on bank 2 and its heater circuit seem to be non-working but I realise that further investigation is necessary before a new one is thrown in.
There is a wide range of sensor prices on-line, ranging from Circa £30 to £120, and I'm wondering if anyone can suggest what the best buy might be. Is there any advantage to be gained by spending top money?
Are both Sensors 1 and 2 the same?
Cheers,
Bill.

15
Omega General Help / Live data on cheap code reader
« on: 10 August 2017, 11:28:40 »
My Autel AL 319 reader gives me good info. on stored and pending codes and seems to give good live data also.
I haven't got a clue how to interpret a lot of this however., and hope someone can clarify a couple of things.
On Live data, I get a MAF reading at tickover, (varying between 645 and 675 rpm approx.), of .57lb/s. This doesn't change with increased throttle settings.Should this figure remain unchanged and is that reading normal? I haven't done a driving cycle with the reader attached because the cover can't be closed with the reader in its socket above the footwell and it wouldn't be safe.
There is a reading for Fuel 1 and Fuel 2, which I presume is because of the LPG set-up. Fuel 1 Reads 'clr' (? clear), but fuel 2 reads 'fault', presumably because it is identifying that the LPG system is currently not working. Am I right in this assumption, please?
Is there anywhere I can find a means of learning what all the other 'gobbledegook' readings mean?
Thanks.


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