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31

General Car Chat / Well that was a waste of money (Breather box)

« on: 29 June 2010, 23:11:18 »

Kept putting off doing the cam cover seals but when the heater bypass valve leaked like a sieve it made the decision to strip the plenum easier. As I didn't want the car off road for too long I bought all of the bits, including the crank ventilator box (breather box). I did not want to get held up by 'cleaning' the breather box (as shown in ABS Straight Six News) so I bought a new one.
As this box is a right pig to get at even with the plenum and bridge removed (two screws blocked by heatshield on 3.2) I just wanted to get on with it. When the pipes were removed it appeared clean inside but better safe than sorry so I removed it anyway and fitted the new one. Did the seals/spark plugs and HBV and re-assembled.etc.,etc.
Upon later inspection the breather box is spotless. I wiped off a light smear and its as good as new. You can see it is still clean inside with a torch, the small hole and large hole have absolutely no muck in them. The rubber flap is slightly stiffer than new one but otherwise it is perfect.
All of the other bits were in Trade Club but the breather is not, so it was a total waste of £91 and was obviously not the cause of my cam seals leaking :-/ :-/. On the plus side, a small oil leak lower down was traced to the oil pressure switch, which was only about £5.

There is no moral to this story, I'm just having a rant. Car has just turned 50,000 miles.

Rant over.

32

General Car Chat / MG ZT Cambelt change

« on: 22 May 2010, 20:10:45 »

After having his ST24 Mondeo stolen recently my brother-in-law urgently needed a replacement vehicle so when he came across a tidy 51 plate MG ZT he bought it with very little homework apart from seeing it was tidy and a good runner. It has done 78000 miles so age and mileage wise it is overdue a cambelt change. He got a few quotes and nearly fell over. The quotes range from £650 right up to £930. Makes my 3.2 Omega look cheap for cambelt change.

33

General Discussion Area / Opinions on Extended Warranty for TV's

« on: 15 August 2011, 12:18:23 »

As per title......

I don't normally bother with extended warranty, basing my theory on the money spent on the warranty would go towards a new product if it goes wrong and if it doesn't go wrong I have lost nothing.
However, I did take out extra cover for five years when we purchased a new 46" Samsung LCD TV about three years ago, mainly due to the high cost of the TV. I'm glad I did, as when it was fourteen months old the LCD screen packed up. It was replaced under the Comet agreement but recently the LCD screen went again. This time they replaced the complete TV with a new LED one. As the LCD one was 'written off' this effectively terminates my extra cover contract ( even though it still had 17 months still to run ).
My question is, do I take out the extended cover again with Comet ( at a cost of almost £300 for 5 years ) or do I look for alternative cover from an independant for my new LED TV?
Apart from the cost, I have no issue with Comet as they repaired/replaced the TV promptly both times.
Opinions welcomed. 

Regards
Alan

34

General Discussion Area / Advice on which PAYG Dongle

« on: 14 July 2011, 07:42:52 »

I need to buy a payg usb broadband dongle for occasional use while away from home. It will be used for online banking / paying bills etc. and the occasional bit of surfing on OOF so doesn't need to be massive in the GB department.
Have been looking at the 3 payg one but just wanted some opinions from you guys and gals.  :-/


Regards
Alan

35

General Discussion Area / Fast Yamaha FS1E in Oxford Area

« on: 21 October 2010, 18:47:27 »

I was travelling down the A40 towards Oxford today when I passed a Yamaha FS1E that seemed to be going extremely well so I slowed down to pace him. He must have been doing about 60 mph with his head down over the clocks which is well impressive for an 'old' 50cc moped.
It had the racing seat and expansion chamber and when we slowed down to about 45 mph in traffic he had enough poke to blip the throttle and raise the forks (not a wheelie).
I had a 'fizzy' as a teenager and seem to remember that it did about 50 mph on a good day.
This bike must have been played with to go so well. Possibly a donor piston/barrel set-up like they use to do with 50cc Gilera fitted with the 150cc engine bits.
Ahh, memories of our younger days.