Handyman

I second that!

I always thought of the Saints as a family club and thought of Nigel as one of that family. But sad to say that feeling is now completely destroyed for me and it will never be the same again. we might at some time be a " top four " club but if it means acting in this way to achieve it then I would rather support a club that is struggling but have that warm "we are all in it together" family feeling. Nigel certainly fostered that, and I can't see anyone filling his shoes and inspiring us all in the way only he could. I am sad and disgusted at the way he has been treated, and can only wish him well for the future.

Sorry. Slight mistake there. I should have said the ac (alternating current) system, single and three phase.

Yes, Pittstop. When getting one of our cars mot'd I was told that it needed a new clutch. They didn't know that I was a mechanic of many years experience. Four hard years of driving later and it is now just beginning to show the need of a new one. Moral of the story? don't believe all that you are told. If you don't know about cars, get three opinions from unrelated sources.

EGR valves do seem to have this problem. The last one I did was on a Corsa. Just drained out a bit of coolant, took it off and found it carboned up and stuck. Cleaned by careful scraping and with carb cleaner, checked the action and refitted with a new gasket, topped up the coolant and the light on the dash went out and stayed out to this day.

I have never and would never buy a new car. Be brave enough to buy a pristine car (30-40 thousand mies) of your choice privately with one condition, pay for a competent check before buying, AA etc (I don't need to, but if you are not technically up on cars it is a must) I have, in the past bought some brilliant condition cars for my relatives and others, and they have been delighted with them.

Just a rethink on your comment. If your engine only overheated slightly it may not have been damaged, topping up with coolant to the correct level may have cured the problem, but keep an eye out for the reason that the water level went down in the first place. Things like the water pump shaft seal leaking very slightly, or the water bottle/radiator pressure cap leaking and of course water hoses and connections. It only takes a small leak over time to drop the coolant down to dangerous levels. Antifreeze seems to leak more easily than pure water. Looking out for the antifreeze colour sometimes makes it easier to find the leak. When you are looking for leaks, don't forget that sometimes they occur inside of the car(if the heater matrix is within the passenger compartment)

If the water level goes down far enough the warning light sensor will be in air instead of water and the warning light may not come on even when the engine is overheating. ( I had a case just like that some years ago)

Don't worry, you are so much better than a few on here !!!

If it is overheating due to a partly blown gasket or a cracked head it won't last till then. However there is a remedy that will cure the problem and not be expensive, but you sound as if you don't really want to know about that.

I think you mean "Braking"

You can buy pad backing material that sometimes comes in a sheet that you cut out to the pad shape or already in the shape of your particular cars pads.(not to be confused with the metal backing shims) This changes the resonant frequency of the pad and so usually cures the noise. In some cases this does not work. Sometimes changing the pad material helps, Get advice from someone like the local Ferodo agents (Kimber Friction), NOT ordinary spares outlets, speak to their technical staff.(which may not be on the counter)

Seconded!

Just be aware that even with the mains plug out there may be one or two charged capacitors inside the machine that could still give you a nasty shock. Also various makes of machines have differing suspension systems and balance weights. For example, cheap machines usually have a lump of concrete to stabilise them (this can start to disintegrate on old machines) Miele on the other hand have precision cast iron circular weights attached to the drum. I have just completely stripped and rebuilt a Miele dryer which now works perfectly, after working flawlessly for about 15 years before breaking down for the first time. The quality is there if you can afford it. The only snag is that Miele will not supply workshop manuals so you have to learn as you go. It can sometimes be very frustrating, but also rewarding because it saves a fortune not having to bring in their engineer to rip you off to the tune of hundreds of pounds.

Well said!

It would keep the visiting yobbo's out of the town. (Not that most football fans aren't decent folk) I'm talking about the horrible minority that we don't want rampaging through our streets. They would be straight off and on the trains and hopefully cause little trouble. The local service that does the circular route via Romsey and Chandlers Ford could be a great boon for our fans if it could stop at the Stadium halt on matchdays.

I would think that the only answer would be another carefully made up exhaust. I have NO idea what it should look like but if it is a car with a largish engine perhaps something like the exhaust on the old Rover Coupe or 3 litre might do if able to make fit. I just happen to have a few new/old stock exhaust boxes including the Rover ones which I would gladly donate to the cause. They have a bit of surface rust but have never been used. They would certainly quieten the engine down. By the way BTF you know me, thanks again for the stairlift. Just for general interest I have one or two original mini ones, and old fords like the 105e and i think a couple of old vauxhall ones as well, but of course these would be too small for the old car BTF is talking about. The bits that might do would not go straight on but would need someone that is handy with an oxyacetylene torch for perhaps resetting bends and making connections. but it might not be that bad to do, not having seen the car(underneath) I am just quoting the worst case scenario.

Don't know if its legal or not, but there is no reason for an old car to be noisy. Some older models like the Morris 1000 used to resonate a bit on over run but I always put that down to the very narrow tail pipes fitted as standard and the way it was suspended on those cars. It may be that the car mentioned has been fitted with a made up exhaust due to lack of spares, the trouble is that designing an exhaust system is quite a difficult and precise undertaking and home made ones are rarely as efficient and as quiet as the original.

You are very welcome Sir. I did think about about potential carb faults after posting, but seemingly you don't need anymore help in that direction.

A sharp stuttering sounds more like an ignition fault to me. Carb faults give different results. Years of experience have taught me how to instinctively recognise the difference, but I'm confounded at the moment as to how to describe the differences on here. I have known faults to be caused by "servicing". One thing comes to mind. If this happens under hard acceleration then it could quite possibly be an HT leak to earth which may not occur under more moderate throttle openings. Replacing the plugs on the service could have disturbed the HT leads and perhaps allowed one or other of them to short out somewhere on the engine. It is more difficult for the plug to fire under more extreme conditions so there is a greater tendency for the HT to short through a dodgy, weak, or corroded connection, not to mention dampness. So you see that if the ignition system is a bit below par, all sorts of firing problems can occur. If the ignition system appears to be basically sound, then another thing to check would be the coil output. This can be suspect because the coil demand rises with the pressure rise in the engine, again due to the afore mentioned extreme conditions in the cylinders. More voltage is required to fire the plugs and sometimes the demand rises above the coil output. This often happens with old plugs, garages change them and temporarily cure the "fault" (as new plugs have a lower voltage demand in all conditions) only for it to come back again later, because in fact it was a coil fault all of the time. Sorry if this post seems a bit disjointed, but I am thinking on my feet about knowledge that I haven't had to use in a long time. I hope that it is helpful.

Sorry, not familiar enough with those to give a knowledgeable opinion.

I predicted to myself that we would win 5 to 1 but dare not post it on here as I thought I might get laughed at, nearly right though. Perhaps I should have bet on Saints getting 5 goals!

Too much information !!!

Thanks for the timely warning. Arn't there some good people on here!