led lights in cars

[mm0fmf]

Turbos fail on all cars. I have 2 friends who had a catastrophic fails, a Peugeot 1.6HDI which fragmented and a Ford Galaxy Diesel which had oil seal failure on the turbo and allowed the engine oil to be used as fuel. The engine revved itself to destruction and then set the body on fire. A third has just replaced the Turbo on a VW Touran as it was just about to let go (bearings) but that has done 189000 miles.

Peugeot 1.6HDIs being somewhat famed their turbos self-destructing and all the shrapnel ending up in the inlet manifold and beyond. It's nearly always oil problems that does it. The filter in the pipe to the turbo is small and gets clogged leading to oil starvation and thus a mighty ker-boom. That can be from incorrect oils being used, not being changed often enough or failing injector seals allowing exhaust back up destroying the secondary seals allowing crap into the engine oil.

There used to be a note stuck on the windscreen of Saab Turbos, the first I drove was a Saab 900 and it said you should let the engine idle for 30secs after driving before stopping it to let the turbo spin down. My old HiLux said you should leave the engine (2.5 I4 diesel turbo) idling for a minute after working it hard before stopping. In both cases this was to allow plenty of oil to get to the turbo and cool it.

This advice is no longer given in owners books, I'm assuming there is sufficient oil reservoirs in modern turbos so they can spin down without starvation. As my 3l turbo diesel has stop/start again I'm assuming there is provision for sufficient oil reserves as it could be whizzing away and you stop. Old habits die hard and on both the last two 3L turbo diesels I've owned, I've let them idle for 30secs before stopping the engine.

[Bob Eager]

I had such a heater. One cold night in early 1972, on my way from Brighton to Canterbury, I was held up at the traffic lights in Hawkhurst, in my 1952 Land Rover with an aftermarket heater. I had to get out, open the bonnet, turn the heater valve to 'on', close the bonnet, and get back in. I managed that before the lights changed (but I knew them well).

[Davey]

Unfortunately, most American cars which use that type of brake actuator need more than one push to actually engage it, so you need to raise and lower your leg several times to make it work. Useless. Then often you have to reach down to grab an umbrella handle to release it. The whole concept should be thrown out, and thankfully it is getting rarer. My last cars that I owned over there, up until 2010, all had real handbrake handles, the way God intended them.

[Max Demian]

They still used to have air vents directed to the screen. Or open the windows if the passengers are breathing too much moisture out.

[Roger Mills]

Sadly, no. Tow bars have to be attached to the built-in mounting points rather than to ad-hoc holes drilled in the bodywork. Cars not designed for towing have no built-in mounting points. End of!

That's not to say that Joe operating out of the railway arches won't find a way, but it won't be legal, and the Witters of this world will steer well clear.

[NY]

But I bet you can't apply and release it as fast and with a much coordination with other controls (eg accelerator) as you can with a handbrake with its button pressed down. A ratchet locks, and it takes significant time to pull the handle further on so you can press the button to release the lever.

[SteveW]

Many cars have the mounting points and approved towbars, but are still not permitted to tow. You may find that a diesel or petrol version of a car can tow, but the electric version cannot, either because the manufacturer has simply not bothered to put the electric version through the paperwork and testing required and has not issued it with a towing weight or because they have not done so, as they consider that the regenerative braking will be adversely affected.

In some cases, it is permitted to fit the towbar designed for the petrol or diesel model, but only to use it for a bike or disability scooter carrier and not for towing.

In at least one case, the EV version is not approved for towing in the EU or the UK, but is approved to tow 500kg in Norway and has been known to tow 2300kg elsewhere.

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

Mine uses can-bus, a single thick main supply cable, from which all trailer lighting systems are supplied, controlled via a single thin interface cable.

[NY]

Hmmm. I have a Pug 306 1.6 HDi. Maybe I should be worried that after 180,000 miles, the turbo might fail. I've had the hose from the turbo to the inlet manifold fail twice (a normally-aspirated 1.6 diesel drives like a wounded snail!) because the jubilee clip hadn't been done up properly after a garage worked on it (one occasion) or because the rubber grommet had perished (another occasion). The first time it was a few minutes' work with a screwdriver, the second time the garage had to order a grommet which cost a couple of quid and I fitted it to avoid a few minutes' labour charge being rounded up to the nearest half-hour ;-)

On the other hand, the diesel particulate filter and catalytic converter cost (together) nearly a grand when they had to be replaced at about 140,000 miles: the DPF because it had actually failed and the cat because a thread stripped on the hose between the DPF and the cat while the DPF was being removed - so much for trusting that job to a main dealer rather than my local garage.

[NY]

Even with a heater on full blast and the air-con on, it takes ages to burn off the mist and/or ice on the *inside* of the window so I can drive, and to keep it clear. Blowing ambient, very humid air onto a cold screen would not do much to demist a screen: been there when the hot/cold cable snapped in the stone-cold setting. That was a bloody cold journey. And if I turned the screen vent off the screen misted up very quickly. How could anyone think that a heater was a luxury item needed only to keep the passengers warm?

[Harry Bloomfield Esq]

I did that, using deliberately brighter LED's. Well worthwhile, the only downside is the gradual switch on, gradually dimming to off, is less gradual and flickers.

[Richard]

Hmmm... One seems to be missing the point that a motor vehicle was, at the time, a bit of a luxury item.

[Colin Bignell]

Car made before the current regulations came in may not have built-in mounting points and, in those, tow bars were often fitted, by reputable manufacturers, the way seat belts were added to my first car: by fitting plates that would spread the load over the bodywork and bolting to those. (The plates I used were those used by the manufacturer in later models, which had seat belt fixings, although seat belts were still an optional extra)

[Rod Speed]

Those stupd enough to 'design' the Morris Minor etc.

[Rod Speed]

The Morris Minor and Anglia etc never were that.

[mm0fmf]

Maybe you simply follow the service procedure and use the correct oils and change them often enough. Thus avoiding the oil starvation that kills many of the turbos.

[Sam Plusnet]

When I first got a car with auto dipping I tried it out. It was (and is) quicker on the trigger in dipping, and un-dips in much the same timescale that I would use.

[jim.gm4dhj]

amen

[Sam Plusnet]

Yep. Some of those lives saved belong to absolute bastards.

[jim.gm4dhj]

I have never had a turbo fail because I have never been stupid enough to buy a car with one....tee hee