“Could hardly ask a breakdown firm to move a broken car to one place and then come out again and move it to another place.”

I did just this. When my P38’s crank position sensor went AWOL on home from work one Friday evening I had no idea why the engine had just cut out and wouldn’t restart. Green Flag came out and couldn’t diagnose/fix the problem at the roadside so the recovery truck was summoned. Normally I would have this recovered to my Indy but it was late, Indy shut for weekend and his yard secured behind locked gates and nowhere to park outside. I asked if I could be recovered home that evening and could they then come back out on Monday morning and transport the vehicle from home to the Indy. They did this without quibble.

I’ve had good and bad service from both the AA and RAC although it was all a long time ago. Apart from this they are just so expensive and a complete pain at renewal time. Of colleagues, friends and family/relations this seems to be the biggest gripe with both of them.

I have been with Green Flag for years and have called them out on three occasions each of which they have dealt with efficiently using local contractors. Note that they do two types of cover - Personal and Vehicle. Personal only covers vehicles under 16 years old, Vehicle covers any vehicle age so make sure you select the right cover.

Spec for the P38 is an 069 battery - 70Ah and ~600CCA. Positive terminal on front left (back right when fitted). The battery tray can take large batteries so L x W isn’t that important but H <= 225mm. I would treat this as a minimum spec. Batteries with positive terminal front right can fit but may have problems getting the positive cable to reach the terminal if the battery is very wide but that shouldn’t be a problem if you’ve already had a MF31-1000 fit.

Normally the bigger the Ah & CCA the better but the relatively low compression ratio of the V8 means that It spins over quite easily so CCA is not overly critical for an engine in rude health. Same for Ah is the alternator is in rude health. Standard as opposed to AGM is also not that critical.

Currently I have a ‘bog standard’ Halfords’ Calcium HCB072 battery (which is pretty much the minimum spec above) fitted that has just passed its 5th birthday in the vehicle and hasn’t put a foot wrong in all that time. It was procured in an ‘emergency’ but has done really well. I have also had good service from Yuasa 5000 series batteries (in other vehicles) which seem to be reasonable vfm and can be had with relatively high Ah and CCA.

Unfortunately my history with Varta and Exide batteries has never been good!

Although there isn’t much to the reservoir tank mine suffered a leak in the weld where the neck of the airline tube housing was welded into the main tank body. Took ages to find as I put soapy water all over the collet and air pipe, and the drain plug, but not around the weld on the neck! Eventually I did and, hey presto, the tell tale bubbles - only a very slight leak but a leak all the same.

I didn’t have a welder at the time and my current diy home MIG welder isn’t up to the job on that thickness of metal anyway. It was more expensive to pay someone to weld it up and test it than buy and refurbish a second hand one off the bay of e. It looked pretty ropey when I received the eBay offering but it was just surface rust and cleaned up really well, was treated with rust prevention and then given three coats of Hammerite. Looked like new.

Ha ha, yes the automatic mode for leaving roundabouts had crossed my mind as well. Mine only does this ‘trick’ on initially turning right, it doesn’t do it when initially indicating and turning left. I realise it’s a first world problem, I just wondered if it was a common ‘fault’ with a simple diy fix.

I have a slight problem in that my indicator stalk, when self cancelling after a turn, cancels but then continues on to start indicating the opposite way - it shoots through the centre position. Now it only does this when the ambient temperature is cool/cold. During the summer it doesn’t do it but now we are entering Autumn it’s started doing it again. Is this a common problem with an easy fix or should I start looking for a replacement stalk?

When I replaced all my cruise control vacuum tubing I bought it on eBay from a supplier called pc_industries. Quick service and good quality.

The last vestiges of the icons on my steering wheel controls had finally disappeared so they had to be replaced:

There are plenty of suppliers on the bay of e. I use the reinforced silicon rubber hoses (they have the material webbing down the middle) for both for vacuum as well as coolant hoses. If you search for E10 resistant or compatible fuel hose there are plenty on-line - Google is your friend.

Forget the request, the piccies have appeared in my post. Must have taken some time to get through the ether to the server!!!

What's the secret?

I have my own web site space which I've pointed to but the pictures are not showing?

Herewith Rangie in all its glory:

It’s a Clarke (Machine Mart) blast cabinet attached to an AirMaster compressor. Just set the compressor output at 80psi and, quite literally, away you go with the supplied nozzles with the cabinet. However, the choice of material to blast with will make a difference so a bit of experimenting is needed but it’s hardly onerous to screw another nozzle on and have a go. I am currently using Sealey Glass Shot Blasting Beads. They are quite aggressive as most of what I clean is hard metal car components that don’t need a nice smooth finish. There are a multitude of lesser ‘soda’ type materials that are somewhat less aggressive for a better finish.

Apropos of nothing in particular I have brass door hinges around the house and they always tarnish and during redecoration I like to clean them. Used to be a complete PITA but the blast cabinet brings them up nice and shiny with next to no effort. I also now lacquer them before refitting to keep the shine more permanent.

You don’t need 20cfm on a small blast cabinet. Mine requires just 5cfm at 80psi to run adequately. Indeed the blast cabinet is not to be run at more than 80psi. My small compressor can supply ~8cfm at 80psi and it’s absolutely fine for small jobs.

Having just been in Halfords for some automotive lotions and potions I can report that the Halford’s part number is HFX363

I don’t know the part number but they are readily available standard studs that even Halfords stock - well that’s where I bought mine from some years ago now though.

For the small stuff I use a Clarkes (rubbish) wash tank that works pretty well. For small but serious stuff I use a (rubbish) Clarkes blast tank which also works pretty well connected to a (rubbish) AirMaster compressor which also works pretty well. For the really big stuff I use a (rubbish) Simac steam cleaner that also works really well. The drive then gets all the crud washed off it with the (rubbish) Karcher pressure washer that, wait for it, works really well. Brake cleaner is used as the final rinse for ‘sensitive’ stuff. Meths is used for stubborn interior stains before the application of proprietary cleaners (smells so much better than turps, white spirit or petrol).

These are all cheap, some would say value for money, items that do the job. Sure, if I was using them every day as part of my employment I would use stuff of better quality and, of course, more expensive. However, for home DIY this cheap stuff is perfectly adequate and not so rubbish as some would have you believe and makes jobs a lot, lot easier.

I also use citrus degreaser in the wash tank as it can be disposed of very easily and legally and isn’t a fire risk unlike some of the exotic potions one can use.

PS: I am allowed to use the kitchen dishwasher for cleaning of the EAS valve block body parts when I refurbish them and an oven for drying them!

If the system has achieved its required height and all valves are closed then if a leak occurs at an air bag on the move above 5mph then how does the system try and adjust? There should be no loss of pressure in the reservoir once refilled or in the valve block. The only signal to the ECU will be from the relevant height sensor and I’m sure the system will try and adjust! If this is the case then why will it not try and adjust with normal suspension movement?

Update : Having gone through the EAS system with a fine toothcomb I cannot find any leaks and if there is one it can only occur when on the move so almost impossible to find. I cannot find enough detailed information about the frequency the ECU actually monitors the height sensors when on the move and makes adjustments so trying to ascertain what is a reasonable duty cycle for the compressor has also defeated me. The only information for the compressor running are the pressures that it cuts in and out at. Therefore I think it reasonable to assume that the system must regularly monitor the suspension geometry and correct it as necessary when on the move - after all in a leaking system it will 'dance' when stationary with the engine running! It follows that with suspension movement then the readings on the height sensors will continually adjust and the system will try to correct by allowing air in and out of the air springs when on the move and, thus, the pressure in the system will drop and the compressor turned on to replace the used air. In other words the few seconds running of the compressor at intervals when on the move is probably quite normal.

I have also ascertained that there is nothing amiss with the compressor - it just vibrates more when the going get a bit tougher at higher back pressure which is to be expected. I also ascertained that the reason it sounds more noisy since I recently rebuilt the valve block is that, and I'm a bit embarrassed to admit this, I put the domed washers back in the wrong way round! I have removed/replaced the compressor many times and never got it wrong before. Now it's installed properly I can't tell when its running.