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196

General Car Chat / Re: So what have you done to your car today?

« on: 18 April 2020, 08:47:22 »

SWMBO has been taking the Mazda a couple of miles every few days to get shopping or medication since lockdown started.

It only just managed to turn over this morning so I tucked it up in the garage with a drip feed of electricity to top up its (tiny) battery.

197

General Car Chat / Re: BMW Engines

« on: 18 April 2020, 02:09:05 »

My old 1999 E39 530d had a fairly basic 3 litre straight 6 diesel, but it pulled and sounded like Deltic train engine and was fairly economical as well. 

160+bhp when people people used to get excited about 120... Plus all that luverly straight six torque

I thought the Deltic was a 2 stroke.

.......so probably sounded more like a Wartburg Knight.

Yep.. An 18 cylinder one.

with 36 pistons and 3 crankshafts ;-)

198

General Discussion Area / Re: 42 years since THHGTTG first broadcast on R4.

« on: 14 March 2020, 09:37:21 »

...and its still rubbish! 

I was a teenager when it came out and quite enjoyed it - probably best to stick with the memory rather than revisit it then

199

General Discussion Area / 42 years since THHGTTG first broadcast on R4.

« on: 14 March 2020, 09:10:42 »

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2bcFfMt6rGLTPpbG0yLwPw0/42-douglas-adams-quotes-to-live-by?fbclid=IwAR2YsEcD6nKeWjuwXmpkYJsObBONGtypsHSxz2SWrVhU0_F_Pnwct9mW3AI

The hitchikers guide to the galaxy first broadcast on March 8th 1978, the TV series in 1981. Douglas Adams died about 20 years ago

where do the years go?

200

General Discussion Area / Re: Thanks Marks and Spencer.

« on: 14 March 2020, 08:51:21 »

This morning we received a £100 gift card from M&S. They thanked us for being valued customers and to show their appreciation............

Rarely if ever shop there.

I suppose I should contact them to tell them they have made an error. .....or perhaps not.

Are you sure Opti that you haven’t taken out life insurance with Royal London?

They are giving away £100 vouchers for M&S (along with other £100 gifts)

Or - maybe someone else has taken out life insurance for you.

Stay safe.......

201

General Car Chat / Re: H7 bulb

« on: 07 March 2020, 08:12:33 »

despite the Interweb praising various nightbreaker super duper H7 'bulbs' I found the difference barely noticeable when I tried them in my now deceased 451 Smart. The somewhat extra cost over a 'normal' named brand H7 wasn't worth it IMHO

If you are comparing good quality branded halogen with the nightbreakers then you may not see much benefit. When I have swapped out old unknown halogens and fitted nightbreakers there has been a marked improvement.

Also - Halogens are very sensitive to voltage - if you have some poor electrical connections or an alternator that is dying you lose significant light output.

202

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Re: LED Headlight

« on: 29 February 2020, 09:54:56 »

The D2S HID lamps do lose output as they age. Fitting new ones may help (if they are good ones)(not Chinese fakes).

The plastic lenses go yellow in the sun. You can polish the lenses to remove the yellow surface layer..

The Omega only has HID dip beam. High beam is halogen. I found that it helped when I fitted 'bright white' halogen lamps to high beam to get a closer match to the colour of the dip beam.

203

General Discussion Area / Re: Chromium Edge

« on: 26 January 2020, 05:22:51 »

I have noticed that it thinks this site is not secure

There's no SSL here, that's why - everything you send and receive is in clear text and could be read by anyone able to intercept your traffic. Of course, it's mostly just posts, so nothing to worry about - except your password, of course, but you don't use the same password everywhere, do you..

is that using the https version of the site?

204

Omega General Help / Re: Strange sreering behaviour

« on: 20 January 2020, 04:20:01 »

When going around a bend at pace car turns in then kind of slides or pulls it self half way around corner (turns again with no more input) as if something is loose or moved underneath front end and you need to quickly adjust steering.

Terrified me other day. 

Gonna get it jacked up as assess all joints this week but has anyone else had anything similar.


Tyre all all good 1 year old dunlop sport max rt2
Wishbones droplinks steering arms tied rod centre bar and idler arm all new in past 12 months.

loose front subframe bolts or totally fubar wishbone bushes might do it.

205

Omega Electrical and Audio Help / Re: Red battery warning light and no instruments

« on: 28 December 2019, 16:21:35 »

Here's a definitive list of circuits to check:

S2 Light switch.
S7 Reversing lamp switch.
Instrument cluster.
MK engine cooling - relay box blower M28
MK engine cooling - radiator blower M4
MK engine cooling - cooling/aircon relays: coolant pump, coolant pump timer, radiator blower M11/M12/M54/M4/M28, aircon compressor, fan management.
Telephone.
Warning buzzer.
TID/MID.
Aircon.
Electronic Climate Control.
Car Level Control - control unit/sensor (same unit connected mechanically to the right hand trailing arm).
Glove box light.
Headlight levelling.
Interior lamp (all).
Sun roof.
Window lifters.
Exterior mirrors.
Seat heating.
Seat/mirror memory control relay (under driver seat).

Does this fuse also power the auxiliary sockets? A recurring issue is small children dropping pennies into the rear aux socket.

206

Omega General Help / Re: What would cause high CO emissions on a 1995 2ltr

« on: 17 December 2019, 19:24:34 »

Forgot to mention - the thermostat should remain fully closed until the engine gets up to temperature.

Start the engine (from cold) and try holding the top hose - it should remain cold until the engine reaches close to the marked thermostat temperature.

If it gets warm before the engine reaches 92 degrees then fit a new stat. Everything else is a diversion if the stat is opening too early.

207

Omega General Help / Re: What would cause high CO emissions on a 1995 2ltr

« on: 17 December 2019, 03:33:49 »

The fans come on because the radiator is hot. The radiator is hot because the thermostat is open. It doesn't follow that the engine is fully up to temperature because you might have a faulty thermostat.

If the ECU is switching to open loop when the fans come on then it points to a faulty thermostat

The dash gauge over-reads on the pre facelift IIRC so I would trust the CTS over the gauge.You might have a faulty CTS but you can do a quick sanity check be seeing what it reads when the engine is cold.

.

208

General Car Chat / Re: Just picked up my courtesy car

« on: 07 December 2019, 22:56:33 »

Just took it on the dual carriageway and let the 73 horses loose. It was at 55 before I knew it.

I think my viva had an SE badge
56bhp from the 4 cyl pushrod engine,  front disk brakes, heater and front seat belts. It might even have had a rear screen heater. Never did work out whet counted as 'special equipment'. Can't remember if it had a radio 

209

Omega General Help / Re: ELM OBD11 scanner app for android recommendation?

« on: 25 November 2019, 19:21:49 »

I used scanmyopel on my 2.6 and 3.2.

Try the free/trial version to see if it works for you (then stump up £7 for the full verion if it can talk to your 2.2)

210

General Car Chat / Re: How does Astra power steering work?

« on: 23 November 2019, 09:51:57 »

Lots of cars prevent heavy electrical loads (eg the rear screen heater) from operating until the alternator gives an OK signal

Does the Astra H do this with the power steering? Was the difficulty starting caused by a tired battery ? and did the steering come to life once the alternator had put a bit of charge back into the battery?