Driving standards

[njee20]

Had a hired VW Transporter I drove to the Alps last month. The engine management light came on a little north of Lyon on the way south. Obviously as it was a hire car, Google suggested that if it felt ok it was unlikely to be catastrophic, and I wasn't overly fussed by the potential demise of the vehicle we carried on regardless.

 

It stayed on the rest of the way there, plus the journey back, about 800 miles all in. No ill effects, Budget apologised when I returned it. Bit disconcerting though I must say!

[PaulCheffus]

Had a hired VW Transporter I drove to the Alps last month. The engine management light came on a little north of Lyon on the way south. Obviously as it was a hire car, Google suggested that if it felt ok it was unlikely to be catastrophic, and I wasn't overly fussed by the potential demise of the vehicle we carried on regardless.

 

It stayed on the rest of the way there, plus the journey back, about 800 miles all in. No ill effects, Budget apologised when I returned it. Bit disconcerting though I must say!

Hi

 

I had an Astra where this light came on twice on my way to Cornwall. The first time was just as I left home so took it to the dealers who replaced the glow plugs. Second time was near Taunton on the M5 and the speed was restricted to around 50 mph by the ECU. I limped the car to Taunton and called the AA who couldn't do anything. Took it to a Network Q dealer the following morning who couldn't do anything. AA breakdown truck took us to our destination in Cornwall (as they couldn't get me a hire car). Monday morning AA took the car to Truro and I got a hire car. Two days later car fixed.

 

On the way home the brake fluid light came on and I lost the use of the clutch. AA called again who topped the brake fluid up and I got home. Took it in to the local dealer who discovered an issue with how the initial problem had been corrected by the garage in Truro causing the fluid leak.

 

The car lasted around another eight months before dying out of warranty. I was faced with a £2500 bill (diesel lift pump I think had failed) so exchanged the car for another at the dealers. The car sat on their forecourt for around a month before it vanished.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

[teaky]

Hi

 

I had an Astra where this light came on twice on my way to Cornwall. The first time was just as I left home so took it to the dealers who replaced the glow plugs. Second time was near Taunton on the M5 and the speed was restricted to around 50 mph by the ECU. I limped the car to Taunton and called the AA who couldn't do anything. Took it to a Network Q dealer the following morning who couldn't do anything. AA breakdown truck took us to our destination in Cornwall (as they couldn't get me a hire car). Monday morning AA took the car to Truro and I got a hire car. Two days later car fixed.

 

On the way home the brake fluid light came on and I lost the use of the clutch. AA called again who topped the brake fluid up and I got home. Took it in to the local dealer who discovered an issue with how the initial problem had been corrected by the garage in Truro causing the fluid leak.

 

The car lasted around another eight months before dying out of warranty. I was faced with a £2500 bill (diesel lift pump I think had failed) so exchanged the car for another at the dealers. The car sat on their forecourt for around a month before it vanished.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

You see, now that would worry me.  The thought of the light coming on leading to the car vanishing a month later.

[MJI]

Auto gearbox errors are fun, when the ECU cannot work out what to do when the selector switch plays up

 

On previous cars have seen

 

Lock up 2nd

Lock up top at walking pace (the engine was pulling < 400rpm but managed it)

 

Ended up on the last one having to use a code reader to clear faults just to get to work.

 

If light comes on press tick twice

[Baby Deltic]

If one had one, one would casually drop it into the conversation, wouldn't one...? 

 

MASERATI cartoon.jpg

 

The geezer in the cartoon looks a bit like you Nidge. Is there something you're not telling us?

[108]

Luckily I never came across a jaguar owning, vegan fighter pilot, though I did come across a few Jaguar fighter pilots...

 

b00f86816348f57a68e50b31cda7e6591.jpg

Good luck to him. I would never try to land a Jaguar on a roundabout, but that's just me.

[Baby Deltic]

How often do you just tell people you drive a Maserati?! 

 

Oh never. Maserati is so passe. I tell them I drive a Rolls, of course. When they inquire which model it is, Silver Shadow, Silver Cloud, Phantom etc, I tell them its far rarer than that, in fact it was a one off called the Rolls Canardly. 

 

Rolls down one hill, 'canardly' get up the next.

[Norm81]

It's a curious psychology around cycling, people see a cyclist and they have to get past. It's not uncommon to be overtaken by someone already braking for the line of traffic they're about to join. You do see stupid cyclists, you also see stupid pedestrians, motorcyclists, horse riders and drivers. All bar the latter are extremely vulnerable though.

I had worse than that once, sat in a line of traffic for maybe 10s as we crawled along at 5mph so hardly even pedalling. I'd taken the middle of the lane as there was no need for anyone to pass, as soon as we got moving I would move back across. Dressed in hi-viz. For no reason the car behind saw fit to pull alongside then force me to either get hit by the side of their car as they moved across or be forced into the kerb. Words of advice and "international sign language" were supplied, they drove off as if I still didn't exist!

 

Then when I'm in the car or on the bike, my biggest bugbear is other cyclists behaving badly. I had a near miss head on with another cyclist as they cycled towards me on the wrong side of the road, I was astonished.

 

Most of us ride responsibly, within the law and with a strong sense of self preservation, but sadly not all.

[PhilJ W]

Do you mean this symbol by any chance?

Untitled.png

 

 

Ah. The 'check engine' light. Well, I opened the bonnet and checked and yes the engine was still there. What more does the damn thing want from me?

Interesting as the milometer was almost exactly on the 22,500 mark. As the car is serviced annually and that represents only 2,500 miles per year I don't think I have anything to worry about. It hasn't shown since so I assume everything is ok.

Edited October 26, 2017 by PhilJ W

[royaloak]

It isn't exactly high voltage (a pair of USB phone chargers), but I can assure you that not only should I be OK, but I most definitely am OK 

I thought the jury were still out on that one?

[royaloak]

My car is a 9 year old Hyundai i10, it has fuel injection so a choke is not required. Perhaps its a legacy from other markets where the model has a different fuel management system.

As its fuel injection it cant have a choke.

 

Does it have ad blue or some other additive tank?

[royaloak]

He's leaving it a bit late to put down the wheels.

I was going to post that but thought somebody might have beaten me to it.

[royaloak]

Usually it means, turn off the engine, take out the key. Wait a couple of minutes, restart and see what happens. If stays, continue as normal. If it stays on, turn off engine & repeat, except leave for 5 minutes. If still no good, time to call for assistance.

 

Happened to me once, by the time the roadside assist got there (1/2 an hour later), it came good & never once missed a beat again. Sometimes the electronics, just gets confused.

I normally find it means the car has been driven around town too much and the EGR valve is blocked so a quick blast down the motorway/dual carriageway at about 4000 rpm (in 3rd or 4th gear to keep your licence clean) normally sorts the problem for a couple more months.

[TheQ]

My sailing companion, is a multi drop white van driver, he has huge problems with never going fast enough, for long enough, to clean the diesel particulate filter. Also causing problems with the EGR. But doesn't have time in working hours to go for a blast down the A11 to burn clean the filter...

[Enterprisingwestern]

First trip today (SWMBO to Heathrow) on the M3 since it has been "widened" to four lanes (i.e. a fourth lane where the hard shoulder should be).

 

Months of disruption and for what? The numpties that used to hog lane 2 now hog lane 3 instead.

 

Exactly the same thing happened when the M1 north of J25 was quadrupled.

I blame the architect and the builders for putting the extra lane on the wrong side of the carriageway.

 

Mike.

[PhilJ W]

As its fuel injection it cant have a choke.

 

Does it have ad blue or some other additive tank?

Its petrol so does not require ad blue.

 

I normally find it means the car has been driven around town too much and the EGR valve is blocked so a quick blast down the motorway/dual carriageway at about 4000 rpm (in 3rd or 4th gear to keep your licence clean) normally sorts the problem for a couple more months.

Possibly the reason, at least 90% of the time it is only shopping trips. Since then it has had a quick blast down the A12 that should have cleared the cobwebs.

[PatB]

I normally find it means the car has been driven around town too much and the EGR valve is blocked so a quick blast down the motorway/dual carriageway at about 4000 rpm (in 3rd or 4th gear to keep your licence clean) normally sorts the problem for a couple more months.

 

 

My sailing companion, is a multi drop white van driver, he has huge problems with never going fast enough, for long enough, to clean the diesel particulate filter. Also causing problems with the EGR. But doesn't have time in working hours to go for a blast down the A11 to burn clean the filter...

 

Long ago, I had a CZ250 Twin Sport (who said the Czechs have no sense of humour  ?) motorcycle, whose primitive, piston-ported two-stroke engine tended to chuck an awful lot of unburned oil down the exhausts. On one occasion, after I'd been riding it around Bristol for a couple of months of cold weather and without getting out of town much, I had occasion to give it a good thrash down the Keynsham bypass. Dad was following some considerable distance behind and later reported that it was rather like seeing the contrail of a high altitude aircraft. That is, a huge and well defined cloud (blue rather than white in this case), several miles long and tapering down to a barely discernible dot at its leading end .

 

My, but it went like a rocket  (relatively speaking) after that run .

Edited October 27, 2017 by PatB

[peanuts]

Long ago, I had a CZ250 Twin Sport (who said the Czechs have no sense of humour  ?) motorcycle, whose primitive, piston-ported two-stroke engine tended to chuck an awful lot of unburned oil down the exhausts. On one occasion, after I'd been riding it around Bristol for a couple of months of cold weather and without getting out of town much, I had occasion to give it a good thrash down the Keynsham bypass. Dad was following some considerable distance behind and later reported that it was rather like seeing the contrail of a high altitude aircraft. That is, a huge and well defined cloud (blue rather than white in this case), several miles long and tapering down to a barely discernible dot at its leading end .

 

My, but it went like a rocket  (relatively speaking) after that run .

afterburner ?

[Jonboy]

Whereas in cities they have streetlights so cycles don't actually need lights...apparently...

 

(OK so the majority of cyclists I see after dark do have lights...but I find it surprising how many don't, especially the ones dressed in black... And I'd have thought that Deliveroo cyclists would spend enough time on their bikes that they might feel it a worthwhile investment).

I have fitted various attachments to bikes for some of the ladies in our office recently. It has been surprising how little space there is for a mudguard, light and reflector on a ladies mountain bike saddle post, unless you spend out on higher end saddle mounted lights etc.

[JDW]

I have fitted various attachments to bikes for some of the ladies in our office recently. It has been surprising how little space there is for a mudguard, light and reflector on a ladies mountain bike saddle post, unless you spend out on higher end saddle mounted lights etc.

True, especially for larger things like mudguards, but there are lots of small lights available that have a rubber strap attached just wrap around the post and hook onto themselves, maybe not as good as some of the "proper" lights but visible and better than nothing.  I have two each of red and white, they take seconds to attach, cost a few pounds each, and can easily be taken off when you leave the bike parked up. 

As for the reflector, why do so many bikes not even have one of those, they are legal requirements and are there when the bike is sold, is there a lucrative trade in stolen reflectors?  Obviously not, because no one has one, but at some point, on so many bikes, someone has gone to the trouble to expressly remove it... Why?!?!?!

[ejstubbs]

I have fitted various attachments to bikes for some of the ladies in our office recently. It has been surprising how little space there is for a mudguard, light and reflector on a ladies mountain bike saddle post, unless you spend out on higher end saddle mounted lights etc.

 

Sounds to me like the bike might actually be a size too big for her, if there's that little of the seatpost showing.  (Or she has her saddle too low, which seems to be more common among female than male commuter cyclists.)

 

Fitting proper, SKS-style mudguards rather than the crudbuster type MTB mudguard that mounts on the seatpost is preferable for commuting IMO.  Proper mudguards are readily available in sizes to fit MTBs.  They provide more protection against road spray (which is the main thing you want for commuting) both for the rider - because they come all the way down to the bottom bracket at the front - and for following cyclists.  They don't take up any space on the seatpost, and commonly have a reflector fitted as well.  That leaves the whole of the exposed seatpost for lights.  Clearance round a normal MTB tyre may look a little tight but you don't need a fat, knobbly tyre for commuting - in fact it's probably just going to slow you down and make the ride harder work than if you had, say, a slightly narrower profile semi-slick.

 

It's also perfectly OK to fit the rear light on the offside seat stay.  When I were a lad bikes often had brackets, or braze-ons to take a bracket, on the offside seat stay for precisely this purpose.  But even modern lights can usually be finagled to mount there.  You could even use the cheap wee strap-on ones that JDW mentions (currently available from Aldi FWIW) to make a row of lights all the way down the seat stay!

 

All the above suggestions rather assume that it's a hardtail MTB.  If a full susser then, well, commuting on one of those is just daft IMO.

Edited October 28, 2017 by ejstubbs

[royaloak]

Long ago, I had a CZ250 Twin Sport (who said the Czechs have no sense of humour  ?) motorcycle, whose primitive, piston-ported two-stroke engine tended to chuck an awful lot of unburned oil down the exhausts. On one occasion, after I'd been riding it around Bristol for a couple of months of cold weather and without getting out of town much, I had occasion to give it a good thrash down the Keynsham bypass. Dad was following some considerable distance behind and later reported that it was rather like seeing the contrail of a high altitude aircraft. That is, a huge and well defined cloud (blue rather than white in this case), several miles long and tapering down to a barely discernible dot at its leading end .

 

My, but it went like a rocket  (relatively speaking) after that run .

Why was I expecting that post to finish with a flame out the exhaust?

[kevinlms]

Here's one that they should throw away the key.

 

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/the-anatomy-of-a-hitrun-how-police-tracked-a-killer-bikie-20171102-gzd9vd.html

[jonny777]

Well, after a trip along the A47 I have had to add another place to my towns/cities list with the worst driving habits in the UK. Originally, they were Maidstone, Cardiff and Worcester; but Peterborough has now been included. 

 

There were cars racing past me that must have been doing 80mph on an urban dual carriage way with junctions seemingly every few hundred yards. People were driving faster on the 2-lane A47 than they were on the 3-lane A1(M). 

 

Purely my own subjective list based on (almost) 50 years of driving experience, you understand. 

[MJI]

Well, after a trip along the A47 I have had to add another place to my towns/cities list with the worst driving habits in the UK. Originally, they were Maidstone, Cardiff and Worcester; but Peterborough has now been included. 

 

There were cars racing past me that must have been doing 80mph on an urban dual carriage way with junctions seemingly every few hundred yards. People were driving faster on the 2-lane A47 than they were on the 3-lane A1(M). 

 

Purely my own subjective list based on (almost) 50 years of driving experience, you understand. 

 

Worcesters biggest problem are road changes done by village idiots.

 

Moving roundabouts from

left lane, left and straight over

right lane, right only

 

to

 

left lane, left only

right lane, straight over and right

 

Refusal to use turn right arrows, but straight over arrow sending drivers down the wrong way.

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/8856263.BALLOT/

 

Bad slip roads

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/letters/read/11822089.Whittington_roundabout_is_a_death_trap_with_the_slip_road/

http://www.malverngazette.co.uk/news/11527706.Criticism_over_delays_in_tackling_Worcester_s_infamous_Whittington_island/

 

Bad junctions

http://www.worcesternews.co.uk/news/13330334.New_safety_work__within_days__at_Ketch_roundabout_/

 

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