Probably, if you intend leaving the existing head unit in there and use the line level output. Most people pull that out and fit a cubby in it's place. Although most people don't have a working DSP system any more which is why they are looking for and alternative.

I'd disconnect the battery too but other than that you should be OK. My third sensor is in the drivers downpipe after the original one and mounted roughly horizontal. Don't use cheapy Chinese universal sensors though unless you like changing them every 9 months or so. I've found an NTK for a Focus is cheap, easy to get hold of and the one on there has been there for over 2 years now.

I paid about the same for Boge OEM. Oddly, although both list the fronts, neither Island or LRDirect list the rears. If your old ones had no damping at all, then anything would be an improvement but the Terrafirma are supposed to live up to their name and be, errm, firmer.

Mukiwa wrote:

Every cell site is connected to GCHQ and they can access all SMS's and meta data over the phone networks.

Except for WhatsApp as it is end to end encrypted and doesn't appear anywhere on the network in a form that can be unencrypted. Which is why the security services tried to ban it......

What can't be done is listen in to your mobile phone conversations. The way GSM works is that it uses Time Division Multiplex. Each carrier is split into 10 time slots, 8 carrying speech as data and the other 2 carrying timing information. So if you were to break it down you would hear a snippet of conversation 1, a snippet of conversation 2, then 3, then 4, etc, until you get back to number 1 again. That's why music on hold sounds so bad on a mobile, because the codec is engineered for human speech as it has to fill in the gaps between slots and can't easily cope with music. CDMA and UMTS get even more complex.

The DSP system uses a single DSP amp on the boot while the non-DSP unit has individual door amps in each door. On the existing head unit there should be a DSP option (in the tone controls bit from memory), if you don't have that then you've got amps in the doors. If you have door amps there will be 5 outputs from the head unit, L&R, front and rear as well as the output for the sub. That will need attenuators or an aftermarket unit will overdrive the amps (unless you use line out level but I think that will be too low). The DSP system only has two outputs, L&R, and the fade and sub feed is all dealt with in the DSP amp. The existing head unit will have permanent and ignition switched live feeds on one of the DIN plugs that normally go into the back of the unit.

Every time I've had a cold call from a UK number from 'Raymond' (or a similar English name) but who obviously doesn't have English as a first language calling on a low bandwidth VOIP line from somewhere very distant, I've blocked the number so I don't get any more calls. I'm looking forward to unblocking them all on the 28th so I can tell them they are breaking the law and to remove my details from their database immediately.

Best have a word with Simon, he fitted it after all......

No not me although my boss currently has one. A D3, running around with the air suspension at the lowest setting (so barely above the bump stops), a transfer box in high that thinks it's in low causing more lights on the dash than Blackpool. It's also got an extra aerial on it but the plate ends in ZTT. Anyway, Ofcom would never spend money on something as frivolous as a number plate, they are too busy wasting it on far less useful things.......

They don't get a bonus but they use advisories to show that they have actually looked at the car. Let's face it, it's expected that anything over about 10 years old won't be perfect.

Seen yesterday on an L405.......

They are absolutely brilliant for towing and as for long journeys, the longest I've done in one hit was 1,350 miles from Calais to my partners parent's house in Latvia. Two drivers, only stopping to refuel the car and ourselves. That wasn't with a trailer though but I regularly do Calais to Nice with a loaded car transporter on the back. Doing the Belgium/Luxembourg border area this weekend but that's only a couple of hundred miles from getting off the ferry but towing an Ifor Williams BV126G box trailer (5m long, 2m wide and 2.5m high) to Nice in a couple of weeks time which is the closest I get to a caravan. Considering mine's now up to 355,000 miles, the old girl isn't doing too bad.

+1 on the idle control valve. That's what controls the idle speed so if it is a bit sticky it doesn't open fast enough to get the revs up. Simple enough to pull it out and give it a good clean with carb cleaner.

I've since checked the testers manual as from 20th and the emissions checks for spark ignition haven't changed. There's still the same flowchart that says if the fuel is LPG then they should do the basic test. Some vehicles are exempt though, hybrids and hydrogen vehicles being amongst them.

Gordon installed a Captcha a while ago to stop the automated spam but it seems that the latest ones aren't sent by bots but actual people. Whenever I delete one I send Gordon a PM with the username, title and time so he can dig into the details and see if he can identify the source and prevent any future occurrences. As you say, we've got a lot of registered users that have never posted anything but some are legit but simply lurkers while others haven't been able to log back in since the Captcha was installed.

Interestingly, I took a P38 in for MoT this morning. Belongs to a mate and is a 4.6 GEMS fitted with a Prins LPG system. My usual tester was fully booked with dodgy diesels hoping to get a pass before the 20th so I decided to give a fairly new place at the other end of my village a try. Had heard lots of good things about them and I was pretty sure there wasn't a lot wrong with the car anyway. Told the tester it was running on LPG and he replied that in that case, it doesn't need an emissions test doing. Not at all. Knew what he was doing, knew about the ABS light only going out once it was rollingand knew that he had to test the brake with the deccelerometer too. Passed with nothing more than advisories for slightly worn rear discs. I'll be going back there for sure.

Not sure if the emissions was his interpretation of the rules or that is another of the changes but it's good news either way.

I noticed that, any visible smoke is a fail. About time too......

Thanks to Dave for posting that the CPS is similar to that used on a Mini. For the last few weeks I've been helping a mate who's wife has a P reg Mini as a weekend toy. It hasn't been running right for a while but it was mainly a hesitation when you opened the throttle and it seemed to get worse as it got hot. It's one of the later ones with MEMS single point fuel injection and everyone was blaming that. It had been running OK until there was a leak from the throttle body heater so that was bypassed but as it also houses the coolant temperature sensor for the injection the thermostat housing was drilled and tapped and the sensor moved to there. As it got worse when hot, we concluded this was the problem and it wasn't detecting that it was hot. Testing the sender resistance hot and cold showed that was OK, as was the wiring to the ECU. There's naff all information on the injected Mini about but I found a forum thread where vacuum leaks were being blamed for rough running. Checked those and found one had melted into two on the exhaust and others had split ends. Ordered a complete set, fitted them and while the idle was nice and smooth and with a meter on the lambda sensor we could see it responding correctly as soon as the throttle was opened, lambda went fully rich and it still ran like a dog. The more we touched it the worse it seemed to get, even taking the air filter off and putting it back on made it even worse. This was starting to make no sense at all.

Then Dave posted about using a Mini CPS and I started to think. This thing was showing the exact same symptoms as a P38 does when it is failing but it hadn't even occurred to me that it would have one. Checked and found it hides underneath the starter motor so phoned my mate last night. An hour later he sent me a picture of a CPS with a bent tip and a liberal coating of metal filings. Looks like we've found the problem. having had everything from the inlet manifold outwards off, stripped, cleaned, made sure there's no air leaks, new vacuum pipes, new fuel filter, checked the fuel rail pressure and even tried a new ignition coil, it was nothing to do with any of them. Once MiniSpares deliver a new CPS it should go like the clappers! As long as the reluctor ring hasn't been damaged that is.

It does come on with errors but only if they are serious ones likely to cause damage, minor ones don't bring it on. Unlike the US spec ones that come on if someone farts within 100m and it detects the unburnt methane.

Even a Range Rover Classic going back to 1988 has an EML (Engine Management Light), CEL (Check Engine Light) or MIL (Malfunction Indicator Light) depending on what you want to call it, so that isn't a problem. The only time it doesn't light is when the BeCM and EMC have lost sync and it isn't going to start then so it couldn't be tested anyway.

As it is one of the few things that can stop a car dead in it's tracks, I replaced mine when the rebuilt engine went in about 60,000 miles ago. The old one was still working fine and I keep it in the boot just in case. The one I got was a Lucas too but from Island 4x4. However, there are 3 different ones, up to '97 (early GEMS), '98 (later GEMS) and from '99 onwards (Thor). The early one and the Thor one both have a flying lead with a plug on the end whereas the later GEMS just has a socket on the sensor itself. No idea which option the BL Mini, Metro, etc uses.