Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.

13711

General Discussion Area / Re: Interview progress...

« on: 03 November 2007, 13:10:23 »

Well done,

I've done a fair amount of recruiting over the years. Having got this far the company has invested a lot of time and effort in getting to this stage so you are in a good position. They won't want to go through it all again particularly if it is a small company as the recruiters normally have other day jobs.

If you haven't met the manager you would be working for yet then maybe that is what Tuesday will be about. He or she will probably be looking to see how quickly you will be able to hit the ground and what you might be able to do about any problems they have. Then they will be able to make a case to HR about package.

good luck.

13712

General Discussion Area / Bio fuel and omega diesels

« on: 03 November 2007, 11:49:54 »

Anyone use bio fuel (bought or home made) on their diesel Omegas? Any problems?

8 years ago it was a toss up between a diesel elite or petrol. We found a petrol one first. Often wonder what would have happened if it had been the other way round. No shortage of waste oil here in Spain, people just tip it away in a corner of their olive grove - no application of hazardous substances rules! A bit of methanol or whatever and one of those barrel machines and away you go.

13713

General Discussion Area / Re: Dumb and dumber.....

« on: 31 October 2007, 12:20:43 »

I too would have concerns about fly tipping increasing as a result in the UK.

They have had pay (by weight) general rubbish collections in Australia for a while. presumably glass and other recycling is free. Do the ozzies have fly tipping problems as a result? probably not.

here in Spain they have plenty of recycling. In towns every street seems to have those large wheeled bins (about a cu metre) of differing colours (green general, blue paper, etc). people recycle effectively. In the countryside the bins are less frequent. You get morons who just dump building rubble and general waste over the edge of roads because that is what they always used to do. Thankfully it isn't as prevalent today.

Better would be to reduce the volume of useless packaging in the first place.

13714

General Discussion Area / Over the moon - ABS/Speedo back!

« on: 26 October 2007, 18:03:51 »

Well I have had a most trying couple of days changing my ABS ECU. Just come back from testing it out. So many things work again.

Speedo
Cruise control
Mileometer
MID display - average this and that functions
ABS

I will say that whoever said it was a job they wouldn't wish on anyone was not lying.

I followed Issunaz suggestions and removed the minimum of stuff- battery, top hose and moved the 3 multiplugs at the end of the battery by undoing the philips screw holding the plate to battery tray. I gently held the power steering pipe back an inch using a plastic tie. Then it was just a pfaff undoing the six screws. Special thanks to Issunaz who supplied an extended T20 Torx bit and lots of late night advice - top man. I also used a Torx "allen key" . You need lots of patience.

Had a small disaster when the pink plastic sliding plug affair snapped when I tried to gently lever it out. Thank goodness for some flat thin nose pliers I have.

Also a big thanks to forum members for advice. I just wouldn't be tackling these jobs without this forum. Bit of a saving from the "over a £1,000" quote I had back in the UK.

Next job knock sensor /lack of power.

an over joyed olive

13715

General Discussion Area / Re: What Lotions/potions/stuff for the toolbox?

« on: 24 October 2007, 17:39:05 »

 Thin gloves  -  I never used to wear gloves but I find that it reduces the amount of grazing you get and keeps your hands cleaner. The shops here sell rubber fronts and cloth backs gloves for use on olive tree work. They are washable as well. I tried the latex ones but they make your hands sweat and rip easily.

Movilat - for rubbing on your back after bending over the engine compartment all day!

13716

General Discussion Area / What Lotions/potions/stuff for the toolbox?

« on: 24 October 2007, 17:12:44 »

I have a pretty good selection of tools now including Torx sockets, keys, torque wrench and so on for my varied works on the Omega.

As I am now starting to do more jobs with inspiration from OOF I wondered what none tools stuff people would have as an ideal. Looking through my tins I have Jizer, Swarfega, copperslip (38 years old I think), tube of loctite, tube of gasket goo, WD40, tin of clean grease.

People keep talking about carb cleaner, brake cleaner, penetrating oil as opposed to WD40 and so on.

What is your list please preferably with brand name recommendations?  

olive

13717

General Discussion Area / Re: F1 Conspiracy?

« on: 22 October 2007, 14:11:38 »

Could it be that Bernie has a remote control!

If any of it is true then we are all just being taken for mugs particularly if you pay to see a race.

olive


  

13718

General Discussion Area / Re: Caravan

« on: 09 October 2007, 15:49:55 »

Interesting thread.

Like it or not we are all heading inexorably into deep Big Brother.

There are a lot of differences here in Spain to the UK. As I have said before the EU boffins are busy trying to harmonise all these differences. God knows what the end result will actually be. Here are a few.

Vans and commercial vehicles have a six monthly MOT.
MOT centres are government run. They only do MOT's.
Modified cars in any shape or form have a hard time getting an MOT.( They rejected my Elite's 225 tyres until I produced the vehicle handbook to show that the car was produced at the factory like that)
Cars have an MOT every two years till they are ten then it is annually
Tow Bars are particularly well scrutinised at MOT.
Trailers now have log books ( same format as cars) and have VIN numbers
I don't know about caravans but farm trailers above a certain size have to have an MOT and obviously a V5. I presume caravans also have MOT's
The MOT is every bit as strict if not stricter than the UK.
The MOT valid to sticker has to be shown in the windscreen. !!!!
The vehicle documents (V5, MOT, receipt for insurance, insurance and receipt for car tax equivalent) have to be carried on board at all times. If you are stopped and don't have one or more they can and do fine you. No leeway to produce said item within five days as used to apply in Britain maybe still does.

It is a shame but today is the golden age of motoring. It is all downhill from now on. The sooner we are all engaged in tractor beams and being automatically debited money as we read/smoke/sleep whilst travelling to our destination the sooner the mandarins can rest happy in their beds.

olive

 

13719

General Discussion Area / Re: Auto gearbox thrust washer -is this the end?!

« on: 08 October 2007, 11:28:30 »

Sorry my mistake used the wrong terminology.

there are a couple of hefty taxes specific to buyers and sellers of cars here in Spain. The first is a national tax equivalent to the inland revenue and the second is to the equivalent of the local County Council.

Whenever a car changes hand these taxes have to be paid. As a result there isn't the same culture as say in the UK where people think nothing of changing their car once a year or more often. The tax even applies if you put the V5 equivalent into your childs name.

"importing" a car from say the UK where residuals are a lot lower means that the car has to be registered( V5 equivalent), have a Spanish ITV (MOT) AND the tax has to be paid. This applies to every Brit taking a car to Spain and getting Spanish plates on it. You can dodge a part of the taxes if you bring the car in at the same time as you apply for residency AND you owned it for at least six months (you may be asked to provide proof of purchase despite having a V5 with your name on it) . If you live in Spain for more than 183 days or have residency here you have to do it. The V5 costs about 120 euros including the MOT.

Of course the EU are trying to harmonise all matters to do with cars and driving but there is a lot of inertia to overcome. How about the UK falls in line and has these taxes every time a car changes ownership!!??  

olive

13720

General Discussion Area / Re: Auto gearbox thrust washer -is this the end?!

« on: 07 October 2007, 14:15:49 »

I have read the excellent "How to change the washer" guide, That holds no fears apart from perhaps where to mail order get the thrust washer and shims kit.

I am more concerned at the practicalities of getting the box off or more importantly back on! on my own. The last time I changed a gearbox was on an auto Marina many years ago.      

olive

13721

General Discussion Area / Auto gearbox thrust washer -is this the end?!

« on: 06 October 2007, 16:26:18 »

Took the two pans off the auto box and unsurprisingly in the front pan was the pieces of thrust washer. As we need the car day by day I am putting it back together but feel totally gutted. This is the third oil change in 140k, the car has been used but not thrashed.

How long can I expect the car to continue functioning without the thrust washer?

I guess the solution would be to put an AR35 box in but the cost of getting one to Spain and the difficulties on my own of replacing it are a problem. If I lived in Britain I think I would sell it/break it for parts and buy another without this and other issues. The problem is that although cars are cheaper in the UK than Spain you have to pay a hefty import tax based on a book value (ours would be around £2100 pounds so tax of  £357!)

Perhaps I ought to bite the bullet and buy something like a Vitara and end my relationship with Vauxhall!!??  

Perhaps a gearbox party?

Perhaps someone on here is selling a decent similar pre facelift Omega that I could use mine for spare parts for!

Where is that beer.

olive   :-?  

13722

General Discussion Area / Re: Can I mention F1?

« on: 05 October 2007, 22:51:07 »

I shall be setting my alarm clock for half an hour before I go to bed in an effort to watch it live this weekend. If that fails and it probably will after a day of knuckle bashing on the car on Saturday followed by copious quantities of amber anasthetic then I will just take out the mains fuse till the repeat mid day. That will kill all contact with the outside world including the phone.

   olive

13723

General Discussion Area / Re: Brake disc retaining screw's!!

« on: 22 September 2007, 12:56:28 »

Impact driver is the way.

 If you can't get one and need to do the job in a hurry then grip an expendable screw driver with a pair of mole grips and at the same time as pressing it into the screw head whack the screwdriver and turn it.

Not an engineering or purists solution but it works.

olive

13724

General Discussion Area / Re: R.I.P. the Pub

« on: 23 September 2007, 13:50:18 »

Of course all this is a product of the Greed and PC cultures. One of the many reasons why I chose to leave Britain.

Things aren't all rosy in Spain by any means but rural petrol stations are still very evident and up until about 12 months ago the price of fuel was very much the same everywhere. No wondering if you could make it to Asda at Fosse Park or pay 10p a litre more at some struggling rural station!. Supermarkets here sell everything at much the same price as competitors. Very little evidence of the two for price of one type offers to get punters in. The exception is the largest supermarket business in Spain called Coviran. They have a few regularly changing offers and ONLY have small supermarkets ( bit like the old Co ops) in villages. Their prices are very similar to the big chains which seem to be foreign owned and only have a presence in the bigger towns and cities. Mrs Spaniard shops most days for stuff not once a week. Now why couldn't the Co-op in Britain have done that instead of squeezing prices up and up.?

Restaurants and bars do a good trade with reasonable prices. Life seems geared for people as opposed to making as much money from people as possible.

The down side is that customer service tends to be non existent. I go to the local surprisingly well equipped independent parts and accessories type place. "Have you got the sump gaskets for an automatic Omega? No. Could you get them? Spanish shrug - probably means no ( or take it to the Opel dealer to get them to do the job). Most businesses seem not to care whether their customers come back or not because they are making enough to survive nicely.

Spain had the EU directive on smoking like everywhere else. Bars and the like interpreted the rules. My nearest bar hasn't enough space to have smoking and no smoking areas so they balloted the regulars who of course all smoke. Outcome no change.

Give it ten years when the Spanish too will be paying huge taxes to fund the East European countries then it will all start to change.

olive    

13725

General Discussion Area / Re: Bloody mice again

« on: 14 September 2007, 17:33:13 »

We had the same problem here. We looked at other options but didn't want anything pet unfriendly, dangerous to children or the other option of poisoned creatures crawling off somewhere to suffer, die and stink. What we settled on is a simple, easy to use but effective, durable enclosed wooden trap. End of mouse problem. It is actually two traps - a sort of his and hers!
 
I don't know how to post a photo on here.

We have just bought a two berth rat version for the mother in law (no gags pls) for £9.50 equivalent. The mice ones are cheaper.

If anyone is interested in either send me a PM and I'll get some info on Post and Packing and a price for the mice ones.

If you don't kill them they multiply and they come back if you release them nearby.

olive