Roof all the way for me

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After an hour cleaning the EGR valve a moment of success turned to failure. After scrubbing it clean it started and ran rather well. A spin up the dual carriageway and it was back to stuttering again.

This time VCDS was behaving itself and returned 2 faults. One for the fuel pressure sensor and the other for the oxygen sensor.

My first thought was the MAF sensor but after a bit of googling I went to check the fuel pressure sensor on the common rail. It was then I spotted the cable for it was trapped a little behind the timing belt cover. The timing belt was replaced a couple of weeks ago when the high pressure fuel pump failed.

Low and behold whilst it was trapped it’s chaffed and exposed some of the wires which is causing it to short. I’m going to tape them up so they can’t short and see if this fixes it. Too dark and wet to do it now.

Fingers crossed it fixes it and I can solder them together properly

I’m currently doing about 17k a year so was hoping this wouldn’t become a problem, but sadly not. As yet i don;t know if its clogged up or an electrical issue with the unit.

I was tempted to give the manifold a bit of clean, but also worried big chunks of crap may get sucked into the cyclinders and valves

Inlet manifold seems ok as does the throttle body which has to come off to get to the EGR valve. If cleaning or new valve doesn’t work then I may take the manifold off to get it cleaned.

@ChrisYork does yours have the variable vane turbo? My BIL had a Leon which had the variable cane turbo and the actuator over time got clogged with exhaust deposits and would get stuck. This would cause it to over boost and go into limp home mode. Off and on with the key would fix it but you quite often had to do that mid way through and overtake

I did wonder about MAF sensor but its lumpy even when revving and nothing showed in VCDS when I ran a scan this morning. EGR was the only thing that was showing a problem but then it decided not to work anymore so I couldn’t run a full scan. Will give it a clean as well though

Cheers for the offer. Had a look at ECP etc but none of the cheaper ones are in stock.

Had a bit of a google and managed to get a Valeo one which is what is currently fitted for £146 from Amazon of all places. Going to see if cleaning it works first and then fit the new one if needed.

If that doesn’t work its back to deciphering VCDS to work out what the problem is

My dad has just picked up his new Ibiza with the 3 cylinder 1.0 turbo. Pulls well and performs nicely.

Aren’t these new engines (1.0 & 1.5) the first to be designed to be run with a turbo rather than taking older engines and modifying them to be turbo’d?

Storage isn’t the problem in our house. Consumption by her good lady before i get within 20ft of is.

57% off st GSF today with code XMAS57

I’ve gone Brembo pads and discs this time round due to the various offers from EuroCarParts and GSF. I went for the corrosion resistant dics and so far been very impressed. THe usual corrosion on the lip is non existant a year on.

It was mentioned above about Dust, but so far i’ve not seem much of a promblem and thats doing 20k miles per year

Had a google for them and nothing showed up.

It seems the Mrs picked up a flyer from a chap delivering in Macc the other day called Freddies Fuels. Going to give him a whirl assuming he can deliver before christmas

Cheers. Looking for bulk bags at the moment. Once the woodstore mk2 is built i’ll have space to store a full tipper load at at time.

Will have a look at the Bosley one

Not small amounts of change there!!

As above the engine in my 2002 307 was still going stronge at 136k when I sold it. The suspension on the other hand was getting rather tired and it ate lower control arms and ball joints

The industry is full of sharks

Thats an understatement. This one looked like it had been in a rally and considering the rental agreement was full to full, it dropped the first bar on the fuel guage after 30km. When i filled it up at the end of the week i did 100km+ on one bar!!

I may be getting ahead of myself, but at least they have ackonowledged they were wrong :lol:

Goldcar Scam by Dave Aspinall[/url], on Flickr

I’ve tried the shaming on twitter as well, but they just don;t care. I think now they have realised they’re in the wrong they will just ignore me.

I’m just glad i took lots of pics of the car when we collected it and dropped it off as i had a feeling something like this would happen. Especially when every panel had a serious dent vs the two they had marked on the collection sheet. #chancers

I paid credit card thankfully, but with it being £50 i wondered if i would be told to suck it up

Resin all the way. No expansion force so the block won’t crack

I’ve run a On One chunky monkey for the last couple of years in the alps and uk and found them spot on. Just put the 29er version on my segment as I couldn’t find a Magic Mary for less than what I pay for tyres on the car. Crazy money.

So far so good on gravel, mud and steep off piste loamy sections

As mentioned above i’d avoid the tram as well. i commute from macclesfield to salford quays every day. I’ve tried it on the train/tram, but the part getting from Piccadily station to salford quays takes longer than the train section and means what takes 35mins in the car become an hour and a half and the trams are rammed.
Its a shame the trams are not better value for money and more reliable and less crowded. Some of the folk i work with get the tram in the opposite direction they need and go to the end of the line so they can actually get on the trams in the morning. They can watch 4 go by before any has space on them.

Very strange. No risk of it being miss-fueled?

May sound silly, but its not just steam with it being a little chilly at the moment?

I put a set of these in my MK1 the other year. Seemed to make a bit of a difference but not a massive transformation.

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-H4-Ring-XENON-ULTIMA-Car-Headlight-Bulbs-120-Brighter-H4-Pair/321638950898?epid=1942338726&hash=item4ae32ce7f2:g:ywMAAOSwm8VUsYIV

Getting the securing rings off the lens was a PITA from memory and I had to re-adjust everything when I put them back as I’d loosened off some of the screws too much.

I’ve used slate slabs on one from the Cheshire Demolition. Bought rough slabs then cut to size with a cheap diamond blade. Cost about £20 for all the slate you see plus another piece

Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com

Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com

For the other we used reclaimed quart tiles that I cleaned up with a diamond cup wheel and wire brush. 20p each per tile

Generated from my Apple iPhone using tools.rackonly.com

I’ve ridden with glasses on ever since I got glasses about 30 years ago. For rain I just carry a micro fibre cloth to help clean them. Biggest challenge I have is when I get a proper sweat on in summer and it drips onto the lenses. I started wearing a halo band to channel the sweat that made a huge improvement.
I’ve tried expensive lenses with coatings but they wear after time and the lenses looked fogged up. I just tend to order my lenses online and put into cheapies Oakley frames from the likes of glasses123 or another place in Edinburgh.

Nothing but positive comments for James. He serviced and got to work my old 55’s that no one else would touch. Not sure if he still does but after it had been serviced he’d put on the invoice all the settings for the fork to suit your weight bike and riding style. Made everything after that really simple

Yodel just delivered my new seatpost from CRC/Wiggle today with no issue. They tried yesterday when i wasn;t in and as per the email then sent, they tried again today and it was delivered. So far so good

Just got 20ltrs of four seasons screen wash from GSF for £7 delivered. Just wait for their mid or weekend discount code that knocks ~56% off list price

Interesting:

Kingspan style PUR foam is twice as effective per thickness as glass fibre

How important is it to get a tight fit around the outside to stop air leakage? For example if i cut it to fit and wedged it in but left a 20mm gap at one end, would this ruin the insulation gains?

My roof is far from straight (like the rest of the house) so though rockwool would be easier to get to the edges than trying to cut lots of random bits of solid foam to fill the gaps

I was pondering this exact question this morning as i realized our utility room that has a poly-carbonate roof was rather brass monkeys.

I was wondering about the kingspan stuff until i looked at the price. I’m contemplating whether to throw some rockwool up there and pin it back with some battons. This way i can still remove it in summer once it gets warm as it does let in a lot of light.

Either that, or i propperly re-roof it with a properly insulated and slated roof

Just had an email from them and they’ve credited me the 10% so it means the 170mm reverb was £169

Just had a reply from CRC asking for a screenshot of my membership dashboard on BC so they can apply the discount retrospectively. I might get my 10% after all :)

Thanks for the offer guys, but i’ll let someone else take it.

Just noticed on the BC page, it now says can’t be used with Blackfriday deals “Discount not applicable on top of Black Friday deals”

Also says can’t be used with other vouchers, but may still work “Your discount voucher cannot be used in conjunction with another discount voucher or offer”

T&C’s here https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/membership/article/20141218-Chain-Reaction-10–off-for-Britsh-Cycling-Members-0

Just remember to log in before you apply the code. They “accidentally on purpose” seem to forget you’ve added it once you log in, and then you can’t add it again. Just learnt the hard way :oops: whilst buying a new reverb

Just got myself a segment and found it climbs rather well now the shock works properly in climb mode. Don’t get me wrong it bobs a lot more than the Specialized and Cubes I’ve previously ridden but it’s far from horrific. You just learn to be a bit smoother on the pedals!, :lol:

As above, trail running shoes are best, but make sure they match her running style etc. I bought some cheap Addidas ones to do the occasional cross country run. After 10km they pretty much ruined my knees so i got rid. Moved to some Nike ones with a neutral fit and i’ve had no issues.

Looks like either pretty much everything has sold or they’ve taken the bulk of the stock offline

Its a cracking ride and fair ply for riding off the top of Sty head in the wet. its challenging enough in the dry. When we did it, we started by Buttermere so by the time we got up the road to honister we were too knackered to attempt to climb up through the quarry and do the techy decent off the otherside.

One for another day

Lakes Summer 2015 by Dave Aspinall[/url], on Flickr

This is Tinkerbell aka Stinkerbell. She behaves more like a dog than a cat and enjoys having her belly rubbed. She farts worse than a dog and tries to steal food off your plate.

She’s getting an old lady now (13) so spends 90% of her day in bed and generally doesn’t get up till about 4 in the afternoon for a little stroll in the garden to s**t in the newest flowers that have been planted then returns to bed.

tinkerbell1 by Dave Aspinall[/url], on Flickr

tinkerbell2 by Dave Aspinall[/url], on Flickr

I lived in Dublin for 2 years and it was awesome. If you don;t mind walking you can do a load on foot.

As mentioned above, hop-on-off bus is well worth it. Guiness Storehouse is a good one for a rainy day as its all indoors and a pint at the top is well deservered.

My favourite pubs for a Guiness in order of choice :lol:
1. John Kavanagh aka Grave Diggers on the edge of Glasnevin Cemetry Drumcondra
2. Stags Head – Dame Lane (over the road from Temple Bar
3. The Cobblestone – Smithfield

The Temple Bar in Temple bar whilst pricy is still good fun. Also prices go up after midnight so get your pints in before then.

Train to Howth for Seafood is another good little trip.

You won’t be short of things to do

I’m no cat expert as ours is more like a dog, but have you tried different cat litter. Perhaps he doesn’t like the smell of it? We’re using the natural based one from B&M. Seems to keep the wee smell down well