December 2004
This was posted on Alfaowner a week or so back by another forum member over there. To date there has been no definitive answer given. Would you erstwhile folks care to comment?
"I just got a fine through from Ealing Council for driving in a bus lane. Took me a while to figure out what that was for as I don't drive in bus lanes and get annoyed by people who do.
After a while I remembered. The road in question is a very wide road, with the left hand side painted red in a bus lane stylee. A car had stopped in the road, indicating right. Heavy oncoming traffic and he's not going anywhere, so I drove inside him, going onto the bus lane. I pulled back after I had gone around him, total distance travelled in bus lane was about 7 metres. The guy behind me does exactly the same, so he's probably got a fine too.
Surely that's not a reason to dole out fines, its not as if I was actually driving down the bus lane, just using it to manoever.
Anyway, if I want to protest I have to wait 28 days (in which time the fine goes up from £50 to £100) and it doesn't even tell me what the procedure is.
What do you think I should do? If I protest do I have a case? Does anyone know what the letter of the law is?
There are a couple of photos on the fine, they are taken by CCTV cameras rather than from a bus (I wouldn't have pulled into the bus lane is there was a bus coming, for exactly this reason). The first pictures shows me pulling into the bus lane, the second picture shows me pulling out of the bus lane, although 95% of the vehicle is actually in the lane. The pictures are taken 5 seconds apart."
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I have a golf 1.8 which idles at 2000 rpm or above for a very long time, in cold weather it can be as long as 10 minutes. It will then return to a normal level quickly, 1000rpm, after hearing a click in engine compartment. The temp gauge looks normal, often the temp has to climb to half was before the revs return to a normal idle. Often the fan has clicked in at this point.
If the car is taken on to the motorway the temperature gauge looks normal but once you come off the motorway the revs are again 2000 rpm.
Does any one have an idea what could be causing this.
Thanks Al
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Depends on the engine and model but if fitted with the pierburg 2E2 this was noted for auto choke issues - which I think was the issue further up the thread. The autochoke uses a "waxstat" to adjust the chokeflaps and idle and I think there was a diaphragm somewhere in the gubbins (it's been a whie since I've been near a carb!) - the problem you will have is carb parts are rare now and many mechanics that knew how to rebuild/fettle carbs have retired! You can't plug a computer in to diagnose these!
Car is a late 1991 2 litre auto. Starts fine hot or cold. When cold the fast idle starts at 1100 rpm (great) but if you press the accelerator then the revs will rise and not fall below 2000rpm. (tricky with an auto!) When the engine is hot the idle hunts between 500 and 800 rpm and has a tendency to drop too low - it seems like it is going to stall but then the revs rise again. I have checked out the temperature sensor and exchanged the rotary idle valve with another unit - no improvement. Any ideas?
Steve Read more
There is a damp patch on the headlining at the back of my Focus. Can't see any problems with the rubber seals round the rear door, so I reckon that there's a problem with water leaking from the pipe that feeds the rear window washer. Probably caused by it freezing up last time ot was frosty - doesn't seem to matter how much screen wash you use, they often freeze up, especially on estates.
Can anyone advise me how to get at the pipe to have a look at it?
Thanks in advance.
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sounds similar to the golf problem which I (and many others have posted about).
The hose kept coming adrift from the nozzle on the rear wash, I made that good with cable ties and silicone sealant (Stuff I used to build my fish tanks).
Sealing this end up nice and tight seemed to increase the back pressure on another joint which was located above the quarterlight in the back passenger side panelling. This joint popped apart creating an en-suite showeing facility in the rear seating area!
PS - dont use the nice blue / green / orange coloured screenwashes - it is very difficult to remove the staining from the headcloth and panel trims.
PPS - Although the screen wash resivoir is on the drivers side under the bonnet - the hoses run along the passenger side in the golfs.
But as you are working on a Focus - this may all be irrelevent - sorry!
Leon
Not sure if this has been covered before, interesting UK journey planner. Has traffic news .
www.transportdirect.info
*Join the Edit Button party NOW* Read more
Tried it again this morning for same journey on 4 january (normal trains etc) and it's actually come up with a reasonable first suggestion, around 2 hours by bus/train/tube. Suggestion three of a nine hour excursion via Cambridge is a bit wild though!
Seems the must have present for young chavs around here (Purley) was a mini motorbike.
Have you seen one yet? Tiny little replica bike with chavvy just able to sit on it, but goes like stink (petrol, possibly castrol R as well).
I have had these go inside me at junctions, outside, jumping lights, on pavements, paying little attention, with seemingly no sense of danger and no crash helmets.
Can anyone shed any more light on these little death traps? Read more
No, missed that one. I've seen them at either Docklands Arena or the Ally Pally show a few years ago. They were letting the public have a go, but the queue was so long I didn't bother.
I am only allowed to attend bike shows now if I leave my credit cards at home.
Hi there,
Have just purchased a used 306 Hdi 90 L, so am new to it all.
Today whilst driving, i was just using the rear wiper, and then it suddenly stopped working. There was not smoke or anything. I have checked the fuses and the relay near the motor, they all seem to be fine and working properly. Do you think the problem could be the motor itself?
can it be repaired or does it simply have to be replaced?
If so, how much would it cost?
cheers,
Paul Read more
How many wires feed into the wiper motor? I don't know your model specifics, but I would have thought it would need two, one feed from the ignition, and another from the wiper switch.
Hi all
The rear silencer on my Mk2 GTI has started to get a little noisy, and so I'm about to replace it. I've always taken my car into exhaust centres when things like this come up, but the prices are beyond a joke - £100 or more just for the rear silencer. It used to be around £30 for my old Nova. I've never changed an exhaust myself before, but seeing as the rear silencer can be reached without getting the car up in the air I thought I'd try it.
My question is, is it worth going for a genuine VW part or are there any other suppliers who are worth a look? I don't want a bit of tin that will only last a short while, and as I'm fitting it myself I don't mind paying a little extra for some quality parts.
Also, is there anything to watch out for when changing the exhaust?
Cheers
Matt Read more
I picked up a stainless scorpion full syste w/twin exit for mine for only £90. Doesn't sound too max power and is fit and forget.
Ok, here's the problem. We need to find a motor which will impress clients - give them the feeling that this guy is doing well therefore worth paying £*!@?? per hour. But:
- it needs to handle and move well because I like that
- it needs to seat four adults in reasonable comfort
- it needs to take a family of four plus luggage at the weekend although it doesn't need to fit them all in for a holiday (the X5 does that)
- At present trends, the 3 series will be two a penny by the time I need to replace (2007ish!). Therefore clients will not bat an eyelid at one, so we need something a bit more interesting/rare.
- No VAG group cars (see the thread which started this)
- Needs to be used even on bitter cold February Monday mornings, so no Ferraris (too hard work) and no Alfas (it needs to start ;-D )
- Manual petrol preferred but will consider auto diesel
- Price limit is £30-35k.
I'll be genuinely interested to see what is suggested! Read more
Except the colour!
What would backroomers consider to be the car that has been the most ahead of its time when launched? What I am thinking about here is general all-round competency or a speciific attribute that effectively made all of it's competitors obsolete overnight.
My list:
Bentley R-Type Continental - 120 mph cruising in a World used to 60.
Mercedes 300 SL - Possibly the World's first supercar. First car to have fuel injection as standard.
Maclaren F1 - could anyone imagine that a supercar could be so much quicker than any of the previous supercars?
Jaguar XJ6 series one - Better than any other car of it's time in all areas except build quality and space.
Jaguar E-type and XK120 - Beautiful looks and real performance and at half the costs their exotic rivals.
I would sadly rule out the Citroen DS because its design and engineering were not a strong influence on other carmakers.
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Doesn't it boggle anyone else's mind? 1957??? Titanium! Stealth technology!!! 1*9*5*7*??
This is definitely off topic, I guess, but I think you may be talking about the Lockheed Starfighter - an aircraft I had the hots to fly when I was in the Canadian Airforce. It was known as the widowmaker and almost every pilot in the force knew someone who had died in one. Apparently it was on the drawing boards in 1953. The Canadian version was the fastest, around 1750 knots or mph, I don't remember, this speed determined by the strength of the horizontal stabilizer which carried an enormous download at speed as the centre of lift moved aft on the symetrical double convex airfoils. The wings had leading edges so sharp they had to have felt lined metal u-channel protectors on the ground for safety. They had leading edge slats and "boundary layer conrol" ("BLC") consisting of multiple holes on the upper wing surface which provided high pressure air bled from the compressor at low speeds to trick the airflow into thinking the wing was thicker. The wings were about 8' long, chord was 6' at the root, 4' at the tip and were 3" thick. The skin was titanium and all parts of the interior not occupied by hydraulics for the flaps, slats and airlerons and plumbing for the BLC were filled with Titanium honeycomb bonded to the skin with, I think, adhesive. Tha aircraft weighed 25,000 lb and these wings had to support around 187,000 lb each at 15 Gs. The 'plane was rated at 9.33 G max, but I'm presuming a 50 percent safety margin. At high altitudes the optimum gliding speed, should you be so reckless as to attempt a dead stick landing, was supersonic.
I heard of one story where a Starfighter with a malfunctioning radar altimeter was flying a mission over Germany and the pilot could not avoid flying through a cable which was attached to the back end of a crane being used in a high rise construction project and secured to the ground in place of a counterweight. The cable was steel and around 1" thick I guess. The boom of the crane collapsed and the plane made it back to the base with a fist sized gouge in the leading edge.
In spite of all the above, the Caaannadian designed AVRO Arrow was a much more spectacular aircraft, only 3 years later, and designed by an incredible team of engineers, average age 25, many from England. It was deemed obsolete in terms only of its intended rôle and was spirited away and cut up for scrap immediately after its first couple of (sensationally successful) test flights. No intact examples remain, although it is rumoured that one was heard leaving the base late at night and flew to a (still) secret destination!
Please excuse the length of this post
Russell
{upsidedown style of replying corrected. If you must quote the persons message to which your're replying to, then please do so BEFORE you start writing your reply. DD}
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