No Check Engine would suggest it has lost sync but in that case a GEMS doesn't crank, it does nothing. Unable to Start Communications with the BeCM on a Nanocom usually means it is in alarmed state (on a pre-V36 BeCM), is the red alarm LED on top of the dash flashing? Although again, if in an alarmed state, it shouldn't crank it should give you the Engine Immobilised message on the dash. An odd one.

The French system is the fine is on a sliding scale, 89 in an 80 is over 10% above the limit so the fine jumps up accordingly. There's none of this 10%+2 like here, I got flashed by a speed camera at 91 kph (according to my sat nav) in a 90 zone although I will admit I've not heard anything more (cue a letter from France dropping through the letterbox).....

OldShep56 wrote:

The big shock Brits will get is the size of the fines!! It's not like here .......... £30 or whatever. Over there, when I was running, the fines started at €90!

I think €110 is the starting fine now. Poland is the place to get done for speeding. Their speed limit on a single carriageway is 90 kph but drops to 60 kph 200m either side of a side road joining or a pedestrian crossing. Not long after crossing the border from Germany, I was followed by an unmarked police car who clocked and video'd me at 99kph and not slowing down when going past a junction so was promptly pulled into a filling station forecourt. They showed me the video and told me I would need to pay a fine of 100 zloty I had to admit that I had no idea how much 100 zloty was in real money so asked and was told it was about 30 Euros. The first thing that passed through my mind at the time was, "about 25 quid, a bargain!". As I only had Euros and plastic they kindly pointed out that the filling station they had pulled me into had a Bureau de change so I could pay the fine in zloty at probably the worst exchange rate on the planet.....

The checks at Dover are pretty cursory anyway and are almost always intel led unless you look really suspicious. It is the checks at Calais that prevent most of the problems. When you drive in you are checked by French Immigration, then UK Border Force and finally by Port of Calais security who will insist on looking in the car and, if towing another car on a trailer as I often are, they'll want to open the car, look in the boot, under the bonnet and under the car on the trailer in case there is anyone or anything in or under the car. If security is raised for whatever reason, before you even get to French Immigration, your car will be searched by French Military. That way, everyone that gets on the ferry is likely to be legit (so the arguments that we want control of our borders back is utter bollocks, we've got control anyway). Much the same going out where French Immigration, UK police and port security will check you at Dover before you get on the boat. In theory French Customs could check you at Calais when you get off but I've never seen any checks on that side, the lanes are open and you just drive through. But what are you likely to be carrying that would interest them that wouldn't have been found at Dover?

In 2004, the EU pet passport scheme was introduced which allowed anyone to take their pets with them on holiday. We've got a small dachshund who has visited most European countries with us and has his passport. The same rules apply to countries outside the EU who are 'listed countries' who use a vet certificate instead of the passport. Animals from countries that aren't listed have to go through blood tests and quarantine. As of the end of this month, a UK issued pet passport will become scrap paper as it is an EU document but will have been issued by a non-EU country. As the UK was in the pet passport scheme, it isn't a listed country as it didn't need to be, so it will become an unlisted country. So no more taking your dog on holiday with you, no doubt the boarding kennels in the UK are rubbing their hands at this one.

We've got biometrics on a passport so why would we need it on a driving licence too? Don't forget that the majority of US Citizens don't have a passport as they never leave the confines of the US so their driving licence is an ID card rather than just something that shows you have passed your driving test.

I very much doubt there would be a check on vehicle documents at the ports, there never has been up until now. The documents weren't even checked when we pulled into Dover port driving a Russian registered Mercedes and handed the officer of the Kent Constabulary my UK passport and my partner's Latvian passport. He was curious to know the story behind it but didn't ask to see any documents. What I do think is that, in the event of a no-deal, the French will insist on an IDP and green card and it will be a nice little earner for them to stop every UK registered vehicle they see to check the documents with the resulting on the spot fine if you don't have them. What most people don't seem to realise is that the green card is also used in the event of an accident but if, for whatever reason, you don't have a green card, you should be carrying a European Accident Statement anyway (see http://cartraveldocs.com/european-accident-statement/).

The trailer regs are a bit different. In most EU countries a trailer over 750 kgs (including caravans) has it's own registration document and is subject to an MoT equivalent test, so it would display different plates to the towing vehicle. Here, to fit in with other countries regulations, a commercially used trailer must have a registration document and plate but isn't subject to an MoT and, as well as the trailer plate, displays the registration number of the towing vehicle.

When I came back through Dover in mid-December I did wonder how Customs are going to cope when/if a no-deal happens. At the moment they'll stop the odd vehicle that they don't like the look of (or have intel on). Are they going to be stopping every vehicle to see how much wine you have in the boot?

I think Chris wants to know the sizes of the actual bearings in the idlers, so he can swap for ones from a decent manufacturer rather than the no name ones fitted in an aftermarket idler pulley. I've got a spare tensioner so could measure the bearing in that once I remember where it is......

Yes, immobiliser in the BeCM security settings menu is the one that turns off passive immobilisation when set to disabled. There's also one that is EKA enabled or disabled but without knowing what it does I've never dared change it. If disabled it might mean it never asks for the EKA or it might mean it won't accept it when it's needed and I don't want to risk trying it to find out!

Although it can now be locked and unlocked with the key without the need for the EKA, it is still possible that you will be locked out with intermittent microswitches in the latch. For instance, if the CDL switch works and the keyswitch doesn't, then you unlock it and it only detects a change of state on the CDL and not the keyswitch, so it thinks you have smashed a window and unlocked it by pulling up the button. If it thinks that, it won't turn off the immobiliser and you'll be back in the state you were before. So it is pretty vital that you get the latch switches working. If you can get the fob working then it doesn't matter as much as the signal from the fob does the work not the mechanical switches. Ordinarily I would suggest getting in touch with Marty to get one of his refurbed latches with new switches but he seems to be away a lot at the moment (any idea where he is Sloth? Last I saw of him he was in Canada) so that may not be an option.

Otherwise you could do what I did with mine. I found my keyswitch was intermittent when the fob wouldn't work and I tried to use the key to unlock. Fortunately I could enter the EKA with the Nano, re-sync the fob and carry on but I knew I had to do something about the latch switches. The latches are the same as the MGF and just as expensive however, Rimmers seem to have a glut of LH latches for LHD MGFs which they are flogging off cheap. I bought one of those, took it apart and removed the microswitches, locking motor and superlocking motor and fitted them into my RH, RHD latch. So I've got brand new switches and motors in the original latch. The MGF one you need is this https://rimmerbros.com/Item--i-FQJ102292PMA

If you are being paid to tow it, then it is being used for commercial purposes. In the same way as you would then need to have a tachograph fitted and adhere to the rules that go with it. For that reason every car I take over to France or bring back is registered in my name or I have paperwork showing I've just bought it so my journey is personal and not commercial. Easy and cheap enough to register a trailer if you feel you need to and you get an extra plate for the trailer with a letter and 7 numbers. If you look you'll see them on lots of HGV trailers these days.

Is the lead you are using a specific EAS lead or a OBD lead? EAS uses different pins to OBD so you have to have a lead made for the job. The first video on this page http://www.rswsolutions.com/index.php/p38a-eas-unlock-videos shows how to make your own and which pins you need to use. USB to serial adapters are a bit of a bodge but if you have one using the FTDI chipset, it will usually work. Have a look at the Properties and see what chipset it is using. You can't go directly from USB to RS232 as the voltages are different. One thing I have found is that I had to change the baud rate for the serial connection from the default 9600 to 4800 for a serial cable to connect.

You've only just realised the possible ramifications of lots of misguided people voting for something they had little information on and even less understanding? There has to be ifs and buts depending on what sort of deal is negotiated. If there is no deal not only does it remove all the concessions we get as a member of the EU, but also all those that were agreed many years ago. Back in the 1940's an agreement was reached with the Schengen countries that a UK driving licence was valid over there but that will be removed so we may have to get an IDP to drive on the other side of the Channel (come to that, they may decide we need to apply for a visa to enter Europe, who knows?). The same goes for the green card, we'll need one of those too. Come to that, we'll also be back to the dark ages of no more than 200 cigarettes and 4 litres of wine when coming back to the UK. However, if there is a deal, what concessions we keep will depend on the exact terms of the deal.

Nice one, just ordered 4 as well.

BrianH wrote:

Good quality Britpart is that even a thing?

He thought it was so insisted on using nothing but. When I bought the Classic it did need a few bits and pieces doing to it and half of them involved replacing Britpart bits with real ones.......

Mahle, nothing but. When I bought my Classic it would take a good 20 seconds at idle after standing overnight for the oil pressure light to go out. Previous owner told me that he'd changed the oil and filter regularly and always used a good quality Britpart filter. Put a Mahle in and the light went out immediately and, upon investigation found that the Britpart didn't have any sort of non-return valve so the filter was having to be filled from empty every time it was started.

I've never even seen a factory roof rack......

The last one I sent to Clarion had a duff screen and all they had were what they described as Grade B screens and a very limited stock of those too. The only other company that does anything with them is GB4x4 but they only send them to Clarion anyway.

It is done automatically if you send a unit to Clarion for repair, as is adding a line in, but no idea if it can be done otherwise. Try contacting Clarion and seeing if they will tell you (or how much they would charge to do it for you) http://www.clarion-service.co.uk/cs/Repair.html

No, the diesel isn't GEMS. There's 3 different engine licences, GEMS (petrol up to 98), Thor/Motronic (petrol from 99) and EDC (diesel) but that only affects whether you can connect to the engine or not, you can still connect to all the other systems. I maintain a diesel in France and although my Nanocom only has the GEMS licence, I was still able to enter the EKA, turn off passive immobilisation, check the operation of the door latch switches and read and clear faults on the ABS and the HEVAC. So doing what needs doing on yours won't be a problem no matter what licence the Nano has.

The tank tapers at the front so with the front lowered there's plenty of space between the top of the tank and the underside if the car. I did the fuel lines on the SE I used to have (return line had rusted through) with the EAS on high and a jack under the towbar to stop it lowering. Filler hose is just a big thick hose with a hose clip but like any hose that has been in place for 20 years, it'll have stuck but once freed off comes off easily enough.

If you've not got the GEMS licence it doesn't matter for this purpose. When you switch it on, you select P38, then GEMS so it is set to talk to a GEMS car. It won't connect to the engine but it will connect to all the other systems and it will only show systems that a GEMS will have. With ignition off, go to BeCM, Utilities, type the EKA into the box and hit the button. It will think about it for a couple of seconds then the other doors should unlock (unless both front doors are already unlocked), you'll get a message to say the code has been sent and it will be possible to start it. You can check the microswitches from the BeCM, Inputs page but from the fact that he can enter the EKA sometimes suggests that either the CDL switch or the keyswitch is intermittent so it may appear to be working when you check it but won't work all the time.