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Post by alf on Jul 8, 2020 15:42:21 GMT
It's not very manly for a car nut to admit this, but I'll give you a laugh. During lockdown I have had all 3 cars on a charger for a few days each at some point (an old Optimate really aimed at conditioning not full charging, but it gets there in the end) . Today I went to put it on the Jag for a couple of days ahead of the Germany trip and realised - when I moved a first aid kit I had stashed under the boot floor - that during lockdown I have merrily been charging the smaller, stop start battery not the main one  No wonder it was reluctant to let me use the compressor to put more air in the tyres the other day, constantly requiring me to switch the ignition or engine back on and moaning about low battery power..... It has driven fine, mind. Not very impressive anyway - I just put the charger on the first set of contacts and obviously battery-like thing I saw when peeling back the boot floor... Anyone else like to admit anything??? |
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Post by michael on Jul 8, 2020 15:51:43 GMT
Anyone else like to admit anything??? The first time I called the AA when I got the Discovery was to have them put the spare tyre on. They said they were 40 minutes away which gave me time to walk into town, have a coffee and buy what it was I needed. I simply couldn't be bothered to do it myself. Why have a dog etc. |
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Post by michael on Jul 8, 2020 15:58:27 GMT
I have another. When I filled the car for the first time in lockdown I started filling the car and it kept clicking off, I only managed to get about £15 in and usually it's £50. I marched into the shop and had the guy come out to check the pump was working and it did the same think but he also managed to spill fuel down the side of the car. He offered a rollover wash free as an apology but I said I'd rather use the spray gun which was out of order due to infection control. While he was setting that up to get it ready again for my use I realised the car was still two thirds full when I started and the reason it was clicking off was because I'd brimmed it. I made my excuses and drove off.
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Post by PG on Jul 8, 2020 18:54:08 GMT
Last winter our tractor was exceptionally hard to start in cold weather, the battery struggling to turn the engine over. I suspected that I needed a new battery, but as a stopgap I used to parallel another battery using jump leads to give more oomph. Except one time I connected the second battery reverse polarity. I was really puzzled why the jump leads melted and caught fire.....
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Post by Big Blue on Jul 8, 2020 21:45:53 GMT
I keep going to the passenger side of the MINI to drive it because the Gorilla is LHD. This is then compounded by me reaching for the gear selector with my right hand when I find my way into the driver's seat.
I also recently sloshed black filth all over the garage when I removed the expansion chamber from the NSR, forgetting that the reason I was removing it was rich-running so of course it was filled with black filth. Garage stank of petrol for about three days.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 9, 2020 13:27:05 GMT
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Post by alf on Jul 9, 2020 19:07:01 GMT
Its still changing - obviously had some way to go! On the other hand it’s good to know it can sit almost 3 months and still start instantly....
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Post by Blarno on Jul 9, 2020 21:55:06 GMT
I only involve the AA if I absolutely can't fix it myself, like when the transfer case on my Mi16 shit a brick on a Bradford car park and I had to get back to Cheshire.
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Post by LandieMark on Jul 9, 2020 22:15:23 GMT
Noticed a leak of grease from the axle of the Defender where the swivel ball bolts to the axle tube.
Those bolts were loctited in place, but I guess I didn't clean them properly before reinstalling. I'm glad it didn't fail as the whole hub including wheel and half shaft could have left the vehicle.
They are a bit of a pain as they are 12 sided bolts and due to access you have to use a ring spanner as you can't get a socket on them. I did the two spanner trick to do them up FT with high strength loctite this time.
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Post by Bob Sacamano v2.0 on Jul 10, 2020 7:24:04 GMT
I couldn't call the AA to change a wheel for me. I wouldn't be able to look the mechanic in the face and would have to hand my testicles back to The Man Shop.
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Post by Big Blue on Jul 10, 2020 8:37:23 GMT
I couldn't call the AA to change a wheel for me. I wouldn't be able to look the mechanic in the face and would have to hand my testicles back to The Man Shop. This. W2.1 blew a tyre on a kerb a few years back: I was the one she called, not the AA. Mind you on a Land Rover I'd probably think twice. |
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Post by Alex on Jul 11, 2020 8:02:51 GMT
I couldn't call the AA to change a wheel for me. I wouldn't be able to look the mechanic in the face and would have to hand my testicles back to The Man Shop. Depends on the situation. I would on the motorway as it's safer to have an emergency vehicle present to help truck drivers spot you before they stray across into the hard shoulder. The last time I had the RAC out was on the M6 when my Insignia got a puncture and had shredded itself by the time I got over to the hard shoulder. No can of tyre gunk was ever going to get me moving again! |
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Post by ChrisM on Jul 11, 2020 11:30:25 GMT
The only time I can say I had a real issue was when I went to change the thermostat and temperature sensors (there were 2 of them on the thermostat housing) on my old Rover 820. The thermostat cover was secured by 3 bolts. 2 came out without any issue but the third bolt refused to come out and jammed, maybe rusted in place. I called the breakdown service I belonged to at the time (IIRC it was Britannia) and they came out and removed the entire thermostat housing from the block, taking it away to their workshop to extract the stuck bolt. I had to go there the next day to recover the bits, then order replacement parts from the nearest Rover dealer, to go with the bits I already had for what was supposed to have been a simple job. Fortunately I had access to another car. Changing the alternator a few years later was probably simpler, as was changing the radiator when that sprung a leak
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Post by Deleted on Jul 11, 2020 17:43:41 GMT
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Post by Alex on Jul 12, 2020 11:27:00 GMT
I changed a tyre on the hard shoulder once and got a 'well done for doing it yourself' from a highway patrol officer that stopped. It was on the passenger side, though, otherwise I'd have bottled it! Passenger side is a maybe but the Insignia was drivers side. It was quite scary watching the Rac guy putting on a space saver with his bum sticking out into lane 1! |
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Post by Roadsterstu on Jul 15, 2020 9:02:09 GMT
I couldn't call the AA to change a wheel for me. I wouldn't be able to look the mechanic in the face and would have to hand my testicles back to The Man Shop. Depends on the situation. I would on the motorway as it's safer to have an emergency vehicle present to help truck drivers spot you before they stray across into the hard shoulder. The last time I had the RAC out was on the M6 when my Insignia got a puncture and had shredded itself by the time I got over to the hard shoulder. No can of tyre gunk was ever going to get me moving again! I'd rather change it asap and get off the hard shoulder quick, rather than wait for the AA. |
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Post by Alex on Jul 17, 2020 19:50:53 GMT
Not on the drivers side I wouldn't!
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No wonder it was reluctant to let me use the compressor to put more air in the tyres the other day, constantly requiring me to switch the ignition or engine back on and moaning about low battery power..... It has driven fine, mind. 
