Handyman

A warning to the "big" clubs, don't mess with the Don (Cortese)

Well then, keep him till he is!

Why do the big clubs want him now? Is it because he would be worth much more later on? Keep him for as long as possible and make them pay through the nose if they want him!

Why is that? Not saying you are wrong, but people tend make statements on here without qualification or explanation, and that leads to all sorts of rumours that may or may not be true and perhaps cause problems where there are none. I would like to know in detail why common rail diesels can't use (clean) vegetable oil. Although I have been a mechanic for a long time, I am not familiar with common rail diesels and would like to add to my knowledge about them.

You could buy a reasonable d i y mig welder for about £100. Do the job yourself (Mig welding isn't difficult, especially on something as thick as an exhaust) and save the £40, AND you still have the welder!

Don't you remember when Saints briefly topped the Premiership. As Bing Crosby famously said:" you must be one of the newer fellers"

Renault Laguna. Beautiful car,excellent diesel, but oh dear, wern't the early ones troublesome. Don't know how the later ones fair for reliability, but they cruise well.

Sorry, that last item in my post above should read "+60" and not 69

Why buy a new battery without knowing if one is needed ? You are right of course to reccommend checking the plugs. Also, perished or leaking HT leads are a common cause of poor starting in damp and wintery weather. If the vehicle is old enough to have a distributor with points, then it is good policy to fit new ones, making sure that they are correctly gapped. As for the battery, due to various reasons, winter places the greatest strain on it. A heavy duty battery test (takes seconds to do) will prove beyond doubt whether the battery is ok or not. A defective cell will show up at once. If the battery shows ok on that test and accepts a full charge, there is no need to go to the expense of buying a new one.

Saunders don't make piston rings, but they will have a supplier. A lot,if not all of the local specialists seem to have gone long ago, Wellworthy, Godfrey Holmes, Moores Pistons, to name but three, but I am sure that a supplier exists. Perhaps Europarts might help. Before ordering get the specs right, the exact engine, the bore size or oversize ie, standard, +20 40 or 69 thou, as the case may be.

All of that technical stuff comes down to this: The particular disc/pad combination resonates (vibrates) in the audible range. This is usually when braking gently, but not always. The tendency to fit the cheapest replacement parts sometimes results in those parts coming from different manufacturers and although a perfect fit, may not always be compatable ie, there are different materials used in discs and there are many different friction materials used in pads/shoes. If the overall braking is ok ie, the pedal pressure feels right for the amount of braking effort with no fade after extended use (going down long steep hills with a load) so that your only problem is squeal then you need to have some non metallic shims (made for the purpose) fitted behind the pads. This should take the resonance out of the audible range. Failing that, replace the discs and pads with a set of a decent brand ie, Ferodo, Mintex etc. Hope that might be of some help.

Exactly. If you must eat, why not take your own?

Wow! That brought back wonderfull memories. It was a joy to see that so familiar place again. I nearly always stood at the fence on the first bend and I remember having to pull myself up at each race to see over it. Towards the end the same fence was waist high to me, So you can see how long I was a supporter. Tuesday night was always speedway night and nothing took preference over that.

Try putting the word "Ekranoplan" into your browser,You might be more than slightly surprised at what you see.

Barry Briggs, Bob and Tom Oakly, Peter Vandenburg, Cyril Roger, George Bason, Bert Croucher, Bjorn Knuttson, Cecil Bailey, Alf Kaines, Alf Bottoms, to name but a few. I saw them all from about 1947 and not with my dad!

Never say never, but it doesn't look too hopeful.

Third best goal difference!

Joint 4th best goal difference in league 1

You should be ashamed of yourself and of what you did. Just like a couple of former unmentionable saints players that stole money from some innocent girls in Portsmouth. You are a disgrace to the name of Saints Football club and to Southampton. The fact that you seem to be proud of your actions makes it even worse, if thats possible.

Well done Miffy! Loading fans off and on trains just a few feet from the ground would help to put a stop to the unpleasant behavior of braindead morons that call themselves football fans but in reality just use a gathering of people to cause trouble because they like doing it.

Sorry, I can only advise, and i'm limited by your (understandable) inability to describe the symptoms exactly. If you don't mind paying i'm sure there must be a reliable garage/mechanic in your area. From your description it could even be intermittent fuel starvation, so you see from my end it sounds a bit ambigous. I was just trying to save you paying out unnecessarily on what might have been something very simple. Funny thing is, I had the same thing happen with one of my vehicles and it turned out to be a tank of bad petrol. It may have had some water in it, although I didn't bother to really check that out. Suffice it to say that it was the only time that I filled up at other than my usual supplier! Best of luck with the problem, I hope it gets sorted for you soon.

You say that it won't idle. Is it misfiring before it cuts out? Checking plugs and leads for condition and leakage might be helpful although I wouldn't rule out carb trouble even if there is no smell under the bonnet. I can usually identify whether it is an electrical or fuel problem by the way that it misfires or cuts out, but I can't do that in this case obviously. Usually an electrical fault causes an abrupt or erratic stall, whereas fuel problems seem to cause a soft petering out stall, with the engine trying to run backwards on occasion. Sorry if that sounds odd but when you just have a "feel" for these things born of years of experience it is hard to put it into words. by the way,I only have one post left for today.

Not really enough info to be precise. But first be aware of a possible fire hazard. Are you sure that the petrol smell is only coming from the exhaust? It may be coming from under the bonnet. In this case the most common cause a too high fuel level in the float chamber so that the carb floods. This usually comes about due to the float needle valve leaking so that it does not control the fuel level as it should. The most common reasons are a very worn needle valve or often a tiny bit of dirt on the needle or seating. Less common are things like the float setting out of adjustment, or (not often) even a punctured float. There are other things like an overpressuring fuel pump etc, but I don't want to confuse you and reccommend that you check the float needle valve first and if in doubt just replace it, although you may have to readjust the float/fuel level after fitting a new one. Please remember that in extreme cases fuel can spill over the hot parts of the engine when the engine is not running or even when running slowly.

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