J.R.

You will have no problems, the transistorised switching units (nothing "smart" about them!) are far better and more reliable than their predecessors, no more spacing of wire coils to get the audible warning working half correctly and they take so little load from the monitored circuit that they dont trigger bulb failure warnings. The only thing to be aware of is that they are powered all the time even with the ignition off, this is in case you leave parking lights or hazard warning lights on, the quiescent load of the unit will slightly reduce the time your vehicle can remain unused before restarting becomes a problem, my first one used 25ma, the latest 15ma but in any case I fit a switch to disconnect it if I know the vehicle will be left for a long time. Good luck with the fitting, power can be drawn from the accessory socket in the boot, the unit housed behind it in the rear corner close to the tail light, only two wires are needed to go to the other side for the indicator and rear light, even the latter is optional. Nothing to run to the front of the vehicle. The audible beep for the indicators changes tone when the brake or rear lights are operated, once you know that you can verify that all the trailer lights are working from the drivers seat.

My thoughts are that they are making an obscene amount of money especially as your vehicle is FWD and not 4x4 so a comparitively easy job. My own 4x4 version cost me €300 for a LUK clutch kit inc slave cylinder and DMF, fitting was done over 2 leasurely half days. There are mobile clutch fitting guys who post videos on Youtube that change these clutches in an hour or less on their back using a trolley jack and axle stands.

Autonomous pre heating or having instant heat without risking the engine start would seem to be a definite advantage of an EV. Maybe we will look back one day and laugh at the things we put up with on ICE vehicles.

The articles state "vehicle fault", a reasonable assumption would be that a fault in their vehicle started the fire. Quite how a vehicle fault accidentally starting a fire (their words) becomes a charge for criminal damage is an pertinent question. I can think of many vehicle manufacturers whose swept under the carpet vehicle faults have caused fire and loss of life who were never prosecuted.

Did anyone other than yourself say it was a fad? I've gone back through many posts and not seen the word used other than: Are you expressing "FFS" to yourself?

I do as I have a tester checked back to back with a calibrated garage one, I'm only doing so to see if there is even the slightest measurable degradation which based on my previous experience of multiple vehicles I dont expect. To explain I was a teaching assistant and benevole at a Lycée pro for motor vehicle technicians, every winter for the Téléthon we would open up the workshops to recieve the publics cars for a multi-point checkover plus wash and valet. I because of my age was tasked with driving the vehicles through the various stations manned and womanned by the students, retired people were less anxious with me driving their pride and joy than a student even though many were training to be HGV drivers. Out of the hundreds if not thousands of the vehicles I drove through only one failed the brake fluid test done on a very expensive fixed test bench, it was a poor area with very few new and well maintained vehicles. My vehicle went through as well so I could contribute so over a decade I kept a close eye on my brake fluid, after 12 years in my ownership (15 years old) it was moisture content wise slightly down on the day it left the factory still at the top of the scale but had become very dark so I flushed the system and replaced it, otherwise it would have gone to the scrapyard with the original fluid like most vehicles do. The only risk these days with the well sealed master cylinders is leaving a top up tin open on the shed shelfor to owners of MK1 Ford Galaxies (RHD only) which had not been recalled where water would drain from the scuttle onto the faulty master cylinder reservour caps, enter the brake system and sink to the front calipers. The problem were any water to be present which is only through wilfull or negligant contamination is absolutely with the fluid boiling under heavy braking having experienced it myself first hand, in the bad old days brake lines were frequently replaced after MOT failure through external rust but that also thankfully is a thing of the past. I have never ever heard of anyone replacing a brake line through internal corrosion unless it had been left open for years during a rebuild, fuel lines yes as ethanol fuels are highly hygroscopic and the tank venting and filler cap sealing not to the same degree but even that will change. Garages and mechanics will continue to replace perfectly serviceable brake fluid because its a money earner and they can play to peoples emotions.

Do you know the name of the variable so I can search for it amongst the tens of thousands on the list? I can be fairly sure that it will be a term that bares no relation to "Engine starts" or "Starter motor operations/cycles" so pointless me searching without knowing what term the dopeheads decided on that day!

Yes I believe it changed at some point to a more obvious less money grabbing system, the old one put the onus on the owner to know they had to renew it every year and to do so within a tight time frame or fines were sent out. Given that you declare the car is off the road and not will be off the road for 12 months or less it was quite obviously a money spinner, it didn't bother me in the slightest for the Caterham, I was in France and they could send as many false fines as they wanted but it freaked out my UK next door neighbour a god fearing type who opened my post for me.

Sorry, not biting.

Steering sensor recalibrates for centre position, ABS sensors recalibrate for individual wheel speeds when driving in a straight line. I don't know if it actually loses the info or its a precaution in case the battery was disconnected to work on any of these systems but it does it every time, will also do it when cranking with a discharged or failing battery.

The lock to lock is not necessary, just a short drive, my vehicles have always reset after no more than 50m from my home but which does involve some degree of left and right turning.

It was and remains not applicable to vehicles that were already off the road before the legislation came into affect, which if you think about it is the only way it could have worked. The SORN declaration happens at the end of a licensing period in lieu of renewal, the last licensing period on my Elan would have been around 1980.

When was "cost effective" ever a consideration for the Master! 😀 If he is racing now I can see why the project has stalled, he has found a regular source for his adrenaline addiction.

That makes sense now as one piston is compressing the other one has an equal and opposite decompression force, a bit like those water powered funicular carriages (or even a passenger lift) where the weight of the one going down counterbalances the one going up

I guess thats because the bottom is pretty much flat like a barge hull, no transmission tunnel, no space for exhausts, (no driveshafts?) do they continue the flat floor under the bonnet with an undertray perhaps?

They will last well beyond 60K miles without becoming restrictive unless you are driving in the Sahara. Mine get replaced when they start falling apart which usually happens before they become restrictive. Its been that way on vehicles since around 1995 when the filter housings and elements became much more voluminous to keep within emissions limits on extended service regimes, it took many years before VAG were the first manufacturer to recognise that filter replacement was not actually needed at every service, mind you if changing it was just a couple of spring clips they would still insist on doing it every service and stick up the retail price of the filters!

That looks like it put up a fight, good on you!

I enjoyed the video, I wish I had such a river crossing near me. The Toymotors and Itchipussies showed the world how it should be done, some great mastery of the bow wave, some others not so good but the Jap 4x4's are so good they tolerated it. What was the (silver?) hatchback at around 8 minutes 30 that really looked like it shoudn't have got through but did? Crazy how some drivers just plunged in despite the depth markers and no doubt having seen all the 4x4's lined up to extract and the people filming.

Dirt cheap to DIY, if not then its like anything else at a garage, should not take much time, should not cost much, should be a 100% reliable repair etc. The reality is often different. The wires are not too short but the wrong type for continual flexing, no maufacturer is going to splice in sections of more flexible wire into the loom but others seem to have mastered making a door loop that better accommodates the movements.

Immobiliser, if the spare key works (I hope you have tried it before) then the problem is the RFID chip in the non functioning key, if it doesn't (but did in the past) then probably the RFID reading coil on the steering column, from the display messages it will be the former. Key battery not needed to start vehicle. I hope now is not the time you find you bought a car with a non programmed spare key.

Less trouble than maybe a little bit of premature tyre wear is less but not a lot less and hardly worth changing a vehicle over, the hassle of doing that and the chances of ending up with something that really is trouble far outweigh having the tracking checked and some new rubber. Keep a closer eye on the tyre tread depths and pressures, that advisory really should not have come as a surprise.

Complete guff, probably a cut n paste from a 1972 Haynes manual!

No, it was recharging a partially discharged battery, I'm guessing after the jump start, if it was after a long run then I would say your battery definitely does need replacing but it sounds that way anyway. Battery suspect and not alternator.

That has made me green with envy, I really enjoyed reading about all his mods and how he managed to keep it looking very stock and unmodified, then it all seemed to come to a sudden halt, I guess life and/or other projects intervened. I would really like to know what has come of it, I do hope that its not just sitting somewhere waiting to be shown the love like my Elan S4 Coupé 😒

Sadly the battery (mis)management system will have undone all your good work in charging the battery, it will have allowed the vehicle's electrical running load to discharge the battery to around 80% SOC hence the alarm sounding after 18 days. A new battery may well increase the 18 days to ???, get the battery load tested if you can, if you know the car is going to be left you could charge it when its finally parked up, if it were me I would disconnect the shunt resistor and revert to a standard charging profile without the start/stop function, but then I hate that anyway!