Be Excellent To Each Other

My head gasket sense is tingling.

It can be that, aye. Have a look under the oil filler cap, if it's like brown creamy stuff then it might indicate the head gasket although cars which only do a lot of short journeys can show that too. It can be a tiny leak pretty much anywhere though.

Also look under the coolant filler cap (WHEN IT'S COLD) - an oil slick on top indicates the head gasket's leaking the other way.

And look underneath the car after leaving it stationary for a few days as well.

Also, check around visible hose joins - my M3 lost coolant quite spectacularly when the radiator shoulders gave, spewing coolant up the bonnet (handy indicator, that), but the replacement always seeped around the hoses, leaving crystalised green stuff.

coolant loss over a year is ok, it gets out in vapour form over that long. you are meant to check it every month...
50/50 is ok for standard concentrated antifreeze but dont mix the colours - if its blue, only add blue etc.
dont panic yet, if you lose a litre a week then its time to panic.

It was dark so I just poured some water into the expansion tank (which was a bit loose) I'll check again in the morning. If i need to redo the gasket, I will. It's no biggie, just remove everything on top of it, stick a new one in, and replace. Given the car is now up to 147,000 miles and forthe past 20,000 all I've done is kick the tyres a bit, it should be OK.

I hit a pothole last night, going home a different way, in the dark. I say pothole, from the almighty bang it was more like a quarry. Now there's a squeaking from the back left when going round left handers.

Cunt.

I think you can have words with your council about compensation.

hmmmmmm...

http://www.petroldirect.com/index.htm

"Ordering from us is safe and easy! Just enter the desired quantity of the fuel you need, and we'll package it up and send it to you in the post, first class, delivered straight through your letterbox. No hassle. No worries."

I'm sorry, what?

(s'not real)

I know what you mean...

"We sell the genuine article at Petrol Direct - real leaded petrol instead of LRP. A little bit of lead never hurt anyone."
Where do they get their facts?

Brilliant

Just got off the phone to Old Man Afterthought. He's wanting to get a bike trailer to tow behind the camper van. The thinking behind it being that whilst Mummy Afterthought has her rest in the van, he can unload a bike from it and go off elsewhere. he suspects that he V-Strom, with its 220kg wet weight won''t be the weapon of choice, so he's been having a think. After chatting to his brother, he seems to think that getting a Honda SH300i is the better solution. the reasons for this being the lower weight (162kg) and Mummy Afterthought could ride on the back. I think this is a silly idea, and a motorbike is the answer. Despite the higher weight (250kg), the lower centre of gravity of a Triumph America would be a better bet, and has a lower pillion seat, so Mummy Afterthought could get on it easier. I'm struggling to think of a better option at present, can anyone else think a bike that has a low pillion seat height, and a light weight, over 500cc that isn't a scooter? I don't think my ER5 qualifies, either.

http://www.ukbike.com/yamaha-xv-1000-virago/sn5919586/

Weight: 221 kg And comfyyyyy

I feel I should mention the new Land Rover Defender (or, to be precise, the Defender "replacement", because it's got a new name).





As a new Land Rover, it looks jolly good fun. As a Defender, it looks like an abortion.

I mean, really? You want to drive that fucker to Africa?

They should get two of them, and take the man who gave it the green light out into the desert so he's fucking miles from anywhere, put a bullet in the ECU of one of them and leave it and him behind, assuming he'll be able to fix it with some duct tape and a screwdriver, just like you could the old ones.

Here, for fairness' sake, is one with a roof.



Which kind of looks more like you'd expect, but is still full of techno-gubbins.

Gray one looks like a mini on steroids. Yellow one looks odd.

I think the yellow one looks pretty fucking awesome, and would love to have a bounce around a field in one.

But that's not the (my) point.

They very much look like Minis. I'm not entirely sure that's what you want in your Landy.

On first viewing, they're disgusting. I shall reflect and see what I think later.

Three and a half grand for a 27 year old Japanese cruiser? They're a bit fucking optimistic, surely?

Indeed. Bit bigger. Is this a sneak attempt to re-create the Austin Rover Maxi?

On reflection, the grey one isn't too bad. The yellow one is HORRIBLE.

People seem to drive round the outback and stuff in Land Cruisers and the like, they're full of techno-gubbins aren't they?

The first Discoverys were made out of left over bits of Austin Maestro so it's a fitting homage.

Well, they used the tail lights from the Maestro van so I guess that's sort-of true.

I'm thinking that some people have never seen a Maxi, though

I meant the style! Is that what they want? I'm sure you could get the same thing for a tenner off of Ebay...



I suspect its the white roof that does that and maybe the nasty placcy wheel arches.

the yellow one is vile.

I much prefer the yellow one.

That's a ropey picture of the grey one, hang on...



Hey, it does look like a Mini...

It does a bit, but then again I always thought Fiat Pandas looked like mini Land Rovers.

Have you seen that yellow one's wheels? It's a monstrosity that should only appear on Pimp My Ride after they've fucked about with it.

That's a concept though right, they're not seriously going to sell it?

Well, they've build a few of the DC100 (grey) and a few more of the DC100 Sport (yellow), and LR have yet to build a working concept they didn't put into production.

[edit]Except for films. Sadly we can't buy the taxi's from Judge Dredd.

Bizarrely you could buy the taxi (or some of the vehicles anyway) in Total Recall. http://www.rqriley.com/plans.html
http://www.rqriley.com/imagespln/totRecall-tc1.jpg

I'd far rather have one of those than a horrid jeep that Tim Westwood wouldn't be seen dead* in,.

Those land rovers are some of the siliest things I've seen in my life, and I've looked in mirrors.

hmm, isnt the Range Stormer a working concept? I dont remember that making it to production. unless it was the basis for the Evoque but I havent heard that...




EDIT: Oh, hang on, DUUH thats the basis for the Sport isnt it? still, I dont count it cos the sport doesnt have super-awesome scissor doors and seats made of laminated cow.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16028568

woops!

The twingo has stopped squeaking so it's either fixed itself or perhaps more likely for a french car whatever it was has fallen off. either way i can stop worrying about it.

You can solve most squeaking problems by turning up the radio.

Heh, this is the approach that I have taken for the last few months to disguise a horrible noise coming from my (I think) drivers side front wheel bearing/hub. I haven't had the chance to take it in to the garage to get it fixed but over the last few weeks it's got progressively more intrusive.

Luckily though, as I only bought the car in July, I still have a pretty decent RAC warranty that covers most big ticket items (and wheel bearings) which I've just renewed for another year for £200. Given that main dealer labour charges are over £100/hr I thought that this was a steal.

Car's booked in to the garage early Jan so finger's crossed they'll find the fault and fix it under the warranty. Then I can look forward to paying for a big service and a pair of R18 run flats.

I'm getting seriously good at changing wheel bearings. I have a great big stack of them and tend to do the front ones once every two trips*. Good job they're cheap!

*Not that it's been off my drive in months

Having a set of wheels refurbed at the moment and sprayed white, should get 'em back today hopefully.

Then in January, having the entire left and right hand side of the car resprayed so that it's all one colour again!

Not tempted to go for a full respray and a new colour?

You should have each side a different color to confuse witnesses.

It would be really annoying because my identical twin brother would always be borrowing my car without permission.

That seems like a bit of a pointless nonsense really as presumably you'll still need to somehow gain entry to the car in the first place.

I guess it's to stop people being able to drive the car away, rather than breaking in. An immobiliser then.

Thinking about it I guess the idea is that people can't steal your car even if they have the key. Don't lose your key, then

A full respray tempts me, purely to get rid of bodywork issues etc.

Wouldn't have a new colour though, white is where it's at. Gotta be white so I can stick the Castrol livery on it.