GamithUK Posted January 27, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2012 When was the battery replaced? It's probably just knackered and needs a new one, mine went without any warning at all! I only got it a little while ago so I don't know. It's a Unipart one so is that likely to be the original (ie 10 years old)? As for the alarm I'm not sure it actually has one. The manual only refers to a 'doors secure' light or some such. When locking it the side lights flash twice, but so far I can't see any internal sensors or anything. Considering the rain and cold we have had I wouldn't be too surprised to find that water has got into the tow bar electrics or something, or it could be a bad earth or similar. Also the majority of our journeys are pretty short, so it's hard on the battery - though the BX had the same life and didn't have a problem. It's on charge now since we want to use it 9am thing tomorrow - a 3-hour top-up tonight and another hour or so tomorrow should give it enough juice (I don't want to leave the battery charger connected all night), and hopefully we'll be Ok. Looks as though I will have to try and find a proper connection for the solar charger, it seems impossible to get a connection that actually goes to the battery. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted February 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Started fine this morning with no charging required. :-) Especially pleased since I had started it 3 or 4 times during the week - running for only a minute or two - to see how it degraded during the week. This behaviour does the battery no favours at all, so obviously it's not in too bad a state. So I hope that the run out to Stevenage and back must have cleared whatever the problem was, possibly just the rain getting into the wrong place. There is no obvious production date on the battery, which is a shame, so have no idea how old it is. Now I'm just waiting for the autobox warning light to come on so that I can try my £15 ODB reader and see what it might need. In the mean time I'm waiting for the predicted snow. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 4, 2012 Report Share Posted February 4, 2012 Result and i don't think you need to wait to long for the snow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 6, 2012 Report Share Posted February 6, 2012 Now I'm just waiting for the autobox warning light to come on so that I can try my £15 ODB reader and see what it might need. Where did you get this from mate as I've been thinking of getting one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Now I'm just waiting for the autobox warning light to come on so that I can try my £15 ODB reader and see what it might need. Where did you get this from mate as I've been thinking of getting one? The one I got was one of these which seems to be pretty cheap - maybe too cheap (heh here is one cheaper!). You plug it in, turn the car 'on' but don't start the engine, then press the left button and it will scan to see what protocols the vehicle supports (the ebay listing when I got mine ). It will then show if any codes are found. It gave me the vehicle number (what-zit called the chassis number??) so it does at least seem to work. Any codes it finds get presented as something like 'P0171' and there is a booklet to explain what the code refers to, though the explanations aren't that helpful unless you are REALLY into car diagnostics, so you'll be back to google in no time to find out what the explanation means :-) There are more expensive ones, and ones that collect live data but you really get what you pay for - if I was doing it seriously I'd probably get a cheap toughbook , diagnostice cable and software. If you have a VAG car (Volkswagen, Audi, Seat/Skoda) then you need different variants, and you need a petrol car 2002 or newer, or a diesel 2004 or newer, though I'm sure your mileage may vary :-) ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 7, 2012 Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Not convinced with the first two.... You need loads of cable connections unless you are going model type specific. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted February 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2012 Not convinced with the first two.... You need loads of cable connections unless you are going model type specific. Sorry? these are designed to fit modern cars with ODB2 connections, which should all be the same after 2002 (2004 for diesels) so the connector should all be the same. I certainly take the point that the extreme cheapness of the devices can't be a good thing and won't do as good a job as a proper garage bit of kit, but then they are designed with people like me in mind, ie to let me find out what an issue might be and give me a chance to fix it, or to take it to a garage and give me a chance to not get charged for a new gearbox when it just needs a earth strap renewing or something. I know there is a wide range of different options, there are bluetooth ODB plugs so you don't need cables, and apparantly someone is developing a HUD which plugs into the ODB socket. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 So are you going to get one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted February 8, 2012 Report Share Posted February 8, 2012 The one I got was one of these which seems to be pretty cheap - maybe too cheap (heh here is one cheaper!). Looks similar to the one Tony used on mine when I had the Mondeo, that was the type I was looking at getting just to get the codes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted February 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2012 Looks similar to the one Tony used on mine when I had the Mondeo, that was the type I was looking at getting just to get the codes. For less than £20 I thought that even if it was a scam it's wasn't too much to lose, and if it worked then I would find out if it was worth spending more money on getting one with more features. To be honest the next 'break-point' is around £60 where you get a text display of the problem, so you don't need the manual, after that you're looking at spending a lot more. My issue at the moment is that my error light sin't coming on any more, so until it does I can't test the thing properly. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Just got my tax renewal - £245 for 12 months! I suppose not having needed to buy it for 3 years it's come as a surprise, but for a 1.6 it seems rather steep. Is there any way to find out what my particular cars CO2 rating should be based on actual testing? the road tax doc states that it's 190 G/KM (obviously big grams!) and the last MoT test has some basic readings: Fast Idle: CO = 0.01 (max allowed-0.20) HC = 9 (max allowed-200) Lambda = 1.003 (min allowed-0.970, max allowed-1.030) Natural Idle: CO = 0.01 (max allowed-0.30) Also does anyone know if it's possible to challenge the rate, ie if a vehicle is better than what the manufacturers states? ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Have a look on Parkers but being an auto it will be more, I found that out with the Civic. Depending on the model I think that's right - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/road-...ate-1999/20904/ My Corolla 1.8 (189bhp) is £245 a year though!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Have a look on Parkers but being an auto it will be more, I found that out with the Civic. Depending on the model I think that's right - http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/advice/road-...ate-1999/20904/ My Corolla 1.8 (189bhp) is £245 a year though!! The scenic is 110bhp - not exactly a powerhouse. I suppose it's another cheap way of raising money for plan bailoutUK ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 Our 1.6 Civic Auto is £190 a year (£25 more than a manual) so yours is alot!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 The road tax band is based on whatever CO2 emissions level is printed on your V5, which is manufacturer spec. And although I don't know for sure, I'm almost positive that you can't dispute it. It's obviously a scam this whole thing, but the fact it's a 1.6 doesn't mean it can't be 190g/km. Some engines are just really inefficient, and Renault don't have a reputation for great engines. My Lexus is exactly the same - 2ltr, 153bhp, yet 231g/km and 20mpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted March 7, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 .. I'm almost positive that you can't dispute it. I thought that would probably be the case - can you imagine the market for special tuning for testing purposes, then another tune to put back the horses! To be fair the Renault engine is Ok -it's not it's fault that it's tied to an auto box and a high body. I suspect that I would have been better off with a 2litre Picasso, ouch maybe not - that would be £260 pa! ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 7, 2012 Report Share Posted March 7, 2012 Tax (or VED) is too expensive whatever the car now, unless you have a little eco one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parthiban Posted March 8, 2012 Report Share Posted March 8, 2012 I don't really think road tax is necessarily too high, I just disagree with its link to CO2 emissions (it isn't an environmental tax) and also with the substantial hike for high emission cars. Mainly because they do it not to deter people from buying high emission cars, but rather because they know they will still be bought and it's a great money spinner. It's just another tax on "success" which this country seems ever happy to promote Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted March 25, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 Just paid for a year online - at least it's now recorded so the police database will updated straight away, and since the MoT and insurance are checked electronically it's pretty painless, aside from the amount anyway - still could be worse if I had got a picasso it would be more. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted March 25, 2012 Report Share Posted March 25, 2012 It's still expensive for the kind of car you have though! Mind you, at least it's not over £400!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 It's still expensive for the kind of car you have though! Mind you, at least it's not over £400!! Ok - MoT time.... Remembered when I still had a little over a week to go, so took a day off and booked it into MoTStop in Watford (which I would recommended for anyone interested - they just do MoTs) which happens to have a GSF right next door. It passed first time - not even an advisory on anything. There was a word of advice over a non-failure item, which is a stabiliser bar for the rear suspension - basically it just holds up a part of the rear ABS system, it's not structural or anything. The bar was rusted through in places. A new part was obtained same day for £20 from the local Renault dealer and has been hanging around til today when a combination of no rain and no work meant I was able to fit it. Or at least I could fit it on the side where the 19mm nut would undo - on the other side the bolt it was attached to started rotating with the nut :-( So.. long story short I ended up taking a fair bit of the offside rear internal trim off the car to get at the head of the bolt - after that saga was successful it was easy to take off the old bar, swap over the plastic fitting for the ABS thing and then re-fit. Didn't need my ramps either. So at the moment, aside from the autobox occasional going into limp mode the scenic has been good - not the most exciting car in the world, but it does the job it's been bought to do. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Result... MOT time is "will we eat this week or not " type of time..... The Nylock nuts on the drop-link really p**ses me off since the link is a redundant component, so "WHY" does it need a Nylock Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Result... MOT time is "will we eat this week or not " type of time..... Yep - it was also the 'have I been scammed' test, though after getting it looked over at Renault and getting it geo-checked at a well known establishment I was at least confident that it wasn't a cut'n'shut or accident write-off. Every MoT is a little worrying though, normally it's a make or break as to how much to spend on a replacement or repairs. I feel that so far I'm being lucky in that the car had one previous owner that looked after it, so hopefully it's really only the autobox I need to worry about, and that I can live with. If you wanted to expand your services then I could really do with a trust-worthy autobox repair place :-) The Nylock nuts on the drop-link really p**ses me off since the link is a redundant component, so "WHY" does it need a Nylock I always thought it was to stop it rotating loose, I'm sure they used to use castle nuts & split pins. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Posted May 26, 2012 Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 "I always thought it was to stop it rotating loose, I'm sure they used to use castle nuts & split pins" Exactly... Notice how the new links come without new nuts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GamithUK Posted May 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2012 Exactly... Notice how the new links come without new nuts Not really, no - I spend must of my life behind a keyboard rather than in a parts shop or under a vehicle. :-) When I was 19 however it was a totally different story, keeping a Hunter and then Citroen GS's on the road meant a lot of time spent fixing replacement bits to my car. ttfn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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