There's receipts in the folder for work done on the LPG system and for the price the whole system could have been replaced at least 3 times. The venturi on the OMVL mixer is a plastic insert so could have been blown out by one of the big backfires that has split the airbox into 3 pieces but someone has obviously thrown it away not realising what it was or what it was doing in the intake trunking. But it came from London, enough said. While there are cowboys everywhere there seems to be nothing but in London. Having looked through the previous MoTs, it's been tested at the same place for the last 4 years and each time has failed on a number of things that seem unlikely. I suspect they were just failing it, telling the owner it was going to cost X hundred to put it right, he just paid it and they issued a pass.
Was the fix for the mirror just a case of fitting the missing white toothed bit at the bottom or was there something else missing?
Glad our quick look at it the other night lead to it being fixed.
Yes, I had a spare mirror anyway but it was a non-memory one so only had 6 wires and not 8 like the memory one has. Got the little plastic rack out of that one and a white plastic piece that the mirror carrier pivots on and it all works now. Fiddly to do and as the teeth on the motors were a bit chewed it doesn't move completely smoothly but it moves and now points in the right direction. Took almost as long to get the glue from the duct tape the previous owner had used to hold the glass somewhere close to where it needed to be as it did to fix the mechanism.
Gilbertd wrote:
There's receipts in the folder for work done on the LPG system and for the price the whole system could have been replaced at least 3 times. The venturi on the OMVL mixer is a plastic insert so could have been blown out by one of the big backfires that has split the airbox into 3 pieces but someone has obviously thrown it away not realising what it was or what it was doing in the intake trunking. But it came from London, enough said. While there are cowboys everywhere there seems to be nothing but in London. Having looked through the previous MoTs, it's been tested at the same place for the last 4 years and each time has failed on a number of things that seem unlikely. I suspect they were just failing it, telling the owner it was going to cost X hundred to put it right, he just paid it and they issued a pass.
Theres a special breed of cowboys there I'd agree with you on that for sure.
Might be worth checking their other items sold to see if they sold the fan and other bits that appear to have gone walkies?
No, I bought the car from a Range Rover specialist who by all accounts is pretty good (RRLondon). The owner bought it in to them and asked if they were interested in buying it as he'd been quoted a huge amount for sorting out the stuff for the MoT. They weren't interested in buying but offered to sell it on his behalf.
Incidentally, I must have had it idling for well over an hour last night while trying to get the running on LPG sorted. Plugged the Nano in to find a coolant temperature of 68 degrees. Definitely need to change the stat but I'll leave that until I get a mixer and replumb the vaporiser. No point in draining and refilling it twice.
Gilbertd wrote:
Yes, I had a spare mirror anyway but it was a non-memory one so only had 6 wires and not 8 like the memory one has. Got the little plastic rack out of that one and a white plastic piece that the mirror carrier pivots on and it all works now. Fiddly to do and as the teeth on the motors were a bit chewed it doesn't move completely smoothly but it moves and now points in the right direction. Took almost as long to get the glue from the duct tape the previous owner had used to hold the glass somewhere close to where it needed to be as it did to fix the mechanism.
Do you still have the remains of that spare/old mirror? I need one of those white pieces as one of mine is snapped. I've been keeping an eye on eBay looking for a really cheap one to cannibalise but they keep going for more than I'd like to pay for such a tiny piece of plastic!
Which white bits? The small rack (think rack and pinion) that runs on the cog on the motor or the bit that it pivots on? I've got the rack that was on the original one but they are handed so that one is for the side to side movement (I found this out after getting one of them in place on the motor only to find the ball on the end was facing the wrong way). Not got the other bit that the thing pivots on as that was missing on the original mirror so I pinched the one off the spare.
Hmm, does this mean that the mirror on The Duchess should move automatically? (01 Vogue with memory seats)
Yes but only if it has been programmed to move to a different position when you select reverse. If someone has previously programmed it so the mirror position in reverse is the same as when not in reverse, it won't move. Or if neither of them move, that feature has been turned off like how it tells you in the owners handbook.
And then it will only move to where you want it to automatically if the potentiometers in the mirror motor unit haven't failed, which they probably have.
Sadly they're not a replaceable item and I've yet to find a source of replacements.
Ahhh, you're talking about wing mirrors. They move to the memory location just fine. I misunderstood and thought you meant the driver's mirror which doesn't (but did on our old 5 series of similar vintage)
You had the moving rear view mirror too?
I presume you personally strung up the tit that rear ended that car?
I wish, but there were witnesses and she was already strapped into a stretcher.
I think the original owner of that car REALLY wanted an M5 touring but they weren't available so he made the nearest thing from the option list.
Damn. I must admit... if I were ever to change from my P38, it would have to be for a 540 or M5... Still have my 530D but it isn't exactly an inspiring soundtrack!
That is one of my biggest complaints about diesels. OK , so I can't stand the smell and, while they may be quick, I don't like the power delivery and driving dynamics but the main thing is the noise. When did anyone ever rev a diesel engine with a big silly grin on their face because of the noise it makes? Same goes for electric and hybrid cars. I know someone who bought a BMW i8, 350 bhp with performance to match but no soundtrack. BMW have thought about it though and you can programme the sound system to give an appropriate soundtrack.. You can even choose what car you want it to sound like. Problem is, as the owner said, only the driver hears it, you can't drop the windows and floor it through a tunnel and let everyone else have the benefit. Or is that considered anti-social and childish? In which case I'm both........ .
Gilbertd wrote:
Which white bits? The small rack (think rack and pinion) that runs on the cog on the motor or the bit that it pivots on? I've got the rack that was on the original one but they are handed so that one is for the side to side movement (I found this out after getting one of them in place on the motor only to find the ball on the end was facing the wrong way). Not got the other bit that the thing pivots on as that was missing on the original mirror so I pinched the one off the spare.
Yeah, the little toothed rack bit. The one for side to side movement on mine has snapped right by the ball joint bit.
That's the one I've got going spare...... Simple enough to change just one of them too.
Gilbertd wrote:
That is one of my biggest complaints about diesels. OK , so I can't stand the smell and, while they may be quick, I don't like the power delivery and driving dynamics but the main thing is the noise. When did anyone ever rev a diesel engine with a big silly grin on their face because of the noise it makes? Same goes for electric and hybrid cars. I know someone who bought a BMW i8, 350 bhp with performance to match but no soundtrack. BMW have thought about it though and you can programme the sound system to give an appropriate soundtrack.. You can even choose what car you want it to sound like. Problem is, as the owner said, only the driver hears it, you can't drop the windows and floor it through a tunnel and let everyone else have the benefit. Or is that considered anti-social and childish? In which case I'm both........ .
The power delivery on a modern diesel is pretty much like a petrol - even my 2002 530D has no noticeable turbo lag. 6 cylinders are nice and smooth, and aren't an offence on the ears. But that's about it - it certainly isn't fun to listen to. I love pootling about in my P38 with its lack of middle silencer - it isn't quick, but I like to think I'm providing a public service by providing the roads around here with such a nice sound.
I know they've got better, all my company vehicles for over 20 years have been diesels so I speak from experience. Modern ones do have a reasonable power delivery but still run out of puff when you try to get them to rev and a car engine with a red line at 5,000 rpm is just wrong in my opinion. I know the P38 isn't a revvy engine but it's a V8 so makes up for it, a 4 or 6 really needs to be able to be able to scream up to 7 or 8 thousand if not higher. Compare a diesel with the power delivery of a Toyota VVTi, a Honda VTec or any modern performance engine or the sound made by an Audi RS, a V8 Vantage or an AMG Merc and they really can't compare.
and they stink The VAG TDI ones seem worse, Try sitting on a motorcycle in traffic with the exhaust fumes from one of them wafting up inside your crash helmet and you'll know what I mean......
Just spied another MOT Failure on ebay Gilbert. You gonna rescue it? lol