It's not even 8am yet.
Having got up at 3am, I am able to confirm that big butch bikers are complete wusses at any temperature with a minus in front of it.
Mondeos need a heated steering wheel.
If it stops again for no reason when I'm driving it at 4.30am it's got to go.
The birds sitting on my patio, looking at me through the window and waiting to be fed at daybreak, know I'm a soft touch.
As I needed the car for work today and the temperature was minus 6 degrees here at 3am, Mr pda decided he wouldn't go to work on the GSX1400 but I could take him.
With arthritis I don't do cold, so I sat in the slowly warming seat of the Mondeo while he scraped the windows meticulously all round the car.
Before I'd driven out of the village my hands were refusing to do as they were told, due to the icy cold steering wheel....whatever happened to technology and why hasn't someone invented a heated one?
Having dropped him off, I got stuck behind one of our own lorries and as soon as I turned into the village from a roundabout and could get a move powerhere was no pwer atglow pluge orange glowplug light came on and I coasted to a stop on the apex of a blind bend, in the dark.
Hazards on, headlights off, tuned key and it started again straight away.
Got home, made coffee, turned up the heating and started googling for the cause of the problem to find dawn had broken and there was a row of birds waiting for fresh water muesliod.
Mixed some meusli, raisins, a couple of digestive biscuits and some cat food in a box, and together with a small watering can ventured up the garden to feed and water them.
Back to the drawing board now but I just thought some of you should know that life does go on while you sleep!
Pat
|
I feel your pain.
Sitting here freezing today as we are having a new boiler fitted. They turned up at 7:45 and the water and gas went straight off, all we've got is a puny little halogen heater that cost a tenner in the Factory Shop.
I only have a few hours work today so I'm stuck in for most of it too. What idiot has a boiler replaced this time of year?
|
>> What idiot has a boiler replaced this time of year?
>>
I could not possibly comment.
I had mine replaced last July, my temperatures are 0°C outside, 20°C inside at the moment. :-)
|
>> >> What idiot has a boiler replaced this time of year?
>> >>
>>
Our manager. Portable gas stoves dotted around the office when I went in tonight. His lordship happened to mention that the new (condensing) boiler) will not lose so much heat, much to the distress of our weighbridge clerk who uses the boiler room to have a crafty smoke before the boss comes in.
|
>> >>
>> Our manager. Portable gas stoves dotted around the office when I went in tonight. His
>> lordship happened to mention that the new (condensing) boiler) will not lose so much heat, much to the distress of our weighbridge clerk who uses the boiler room to have
>> a crafty smoke before the boss comes in.
>>
They finished by four, very efficient job and the house has finally warmed up, thank God.
|
>>very efficient job and the house has finally warmed up, thank God<<
He's in the plumbing & heating game now is he - how The Mighty have fallen!
|
>> He's in the plumbing & heating game now is he - how The Mighty have
>> fallen!
>>
His son did all right as a chippie, fitting boilers is a better earner than what he gets from those collection plates after he's ditched the washers and French francs people thorow in.
|
|
At least He had a job for life - in case Plan A didn't come off as planned.
|
|
What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world but loses his Kia Soul.
|
>> Before I'd driven out of the village my hands were refusing to do as they
>> were told, due to the icy cold steering wheel....whatever happened to technology and why hasn't
>> someone invented a heated one?
I remember the time when steering wheels didn't even have a soft covering - they were cold.
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 3 Feb 12 at 08:37
|
Y'all need to go and live in Tenerife m8 - how many blimmin times do I have to tell thee!
Look at the night time temp. never mind the day time ~ www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6297190
(sick of this effin laptop, I throw the thing b4 long!!)
|
>>powerhere was no pwer atglow pluge <<
Well isn't that just a token of how the rest of the day is going to go.
IE9 and car4play software combine to make me type gobbledegook.
For the above read complete loss of power, come to a halt with the glowplug light on!
And...if anyopne suggests a pink fluffy steering wheel cover from Halfords, don't bother!
Pat
|
Humph or Peter will be along in a minute to tell us their cars have heated steering wheels.
|
|
If it is seriously cold my steering wheel (and everything else including windows) is heated by the mains powered fan heater put in the car 20 minutes before I need it.
|
>> If it is seriously cold my steering wheel is heated
>> by the mains powered fan heater put in the car 20 minutes before I need
>> it.
>>
I take my steering wheel off and put it in the microwave for about a minute.
;-)
|
|
Crystal clear skies, not a breath of wind and -9 @ 0700 here in Stamford. Now -7 and +17 in my lounge, for those who kindly expressed interest and concern about my heating arrangements in the past!
|
Just above freezing in the balmy north east.
We were told it was going to be much colder.
I blame the media.
|
For once today I'm driving proper distance today - meeting in Leeds rather than station/train London.
Actually it would have been stand around and freeze at Milton Keynes - all lines stopped due derailment @ Bletch.
Apart from cold very pleasant. Not too much traffic and most drivers well behaved. Now stopped at Woodall - hopefully the frozen washer jet will have thawed in the sun.
|
...hopefully the frozen washer jet will have thawed in the sun...
Tsk, tsk, defective winter motoring preparations.
|
>> ...hopefully the frozen washer jet will have thawed in the sun...
>>
>> Tsk, tsk, defective winter motoring preparations.
>>
>>
>>
Must be a crappy car, no heated jets?
|
>> ...hopefully the frozen washer jet will have thawed in the sun...
>>
>> Tsk, tsk, defective winter motoring preparations.
Would love to understand why it froze!! .
Refilled dry wash bottle last night with heady mix of Aldi ready to go and 750ml of Halfords super concentrate. Pumped through and all jets fine, still ok leaving home through to joining M1 at 07:20. Wash again passing Leicester b4 08:00, pax side front jet stopped.
As suspected 20mins in sunshine and residual engine heat while holding nose and downing Starbucks finest at Woodall saw it OK for rest of day.
Grand day out really. Business was near Wetherby and done by 12:30. Through Collingham and Harewood in brilliant sun to park up near Leeds Airport and scoff sarnies while re-living my teenage plane spotting years. Then home via Sheff to meet Miss B at her Uni hall.
Wee bit of excitement Barnsley way when truck in front shed a tyre tread with collateral damage to spray guards. Stopped on hard shoulder to report. Impressed by HA operative who answered phone and took details. Advice to accelerate on shoulder b4 joining lane 1 was unnecessary but well intentioned/
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Fri 3 Feb 12 at 21:33
|
>> Humph or Peter will be along in a minute to tell us their cars have
>> heated steering wheels.
Funny you should say that... It is an option but, alas, not one fitted to my car :-(
We're in Cornwall for a couple of days... Absolutely perishing, but fantastically bright too. Car is lookin extremely frozen though; maybe one more coffee before ee go out ;-)
Peter
|
...We're in Cornwall for a couple of days...
Still piling on the miles - well done, I like to see a car that's bought to be used.
|
>> Still piling on the miles - well done, I like to see a car that's
>> bought to be used.
>>
Back now! Total miles up to 5,000; average fuel consumption (calculated) now at 40.6 mpg from new. Interestingly the on board computer appears to be less than 2% out - after the laughable optimism of Audi ones that's a surprise. Car continues to loosen up, and impress. Despite the 5 hour drive each way I don't feel like I've spent that long behind the wheel - could comfortably get back in and drive back if I had to. And since last nights supper was delicious, it's tempting !
Just over 200 miles each way for us, but south coast to corwall is a torturous drive :-( The car made light work of it though, and I can't think of a better real world car to make the journey in.
The 4 cylinder diesel noise still irritates under hard acceleration, but the 6 cylinder 350 CDI, though not much more expensive, is bound to use more fuel. The other irritation is the fuel tank size. Standard is 59 litres - tiny. In reality it means a max 450 miles before the warning light comes on; an 80 litre tank is a £100 option and if ordering again I'd definitley tick that box.
Heated seats are remarkably comfortable, though it took a while to get the driving position just right. Have ended up sitting slightly higher than I'm used to, but it works well. The other very good point in the current climate is that there must be some form of auxiliary heater - warm air comes out within a few minutes of driving off.
For those originally wondering if we'd really use all the boot space, a 3 or 4 of nights dialysis stuff and machine plus 2 overnight bags,a suit carrier and a couple of coats pretty much fills the boot below the load cover. If we'd had a smaller car stuff would have spread to the rear seats, and then probably ended up in the rear footwells ;-)
Peter
|
|
I had the same experience of Mercedes ownership ie the really quick warm up but I hadn't specified and didn't have an auxillary heater SFAIK. I got the impression that was another thermostat which restricted the coolant to just being round the cylinder head for quick heat and then opened to feed the main system. Whatever, I had warmth in 1/2 a miles and at these temperatures too!
|
>> The other very good point in the current climate is that there must be
>> some form of auxiliary heater - warm air comes out within a few minutes of
>> driving off.
>>
Think my C5 also must have something like that - for a small diesel the Climate Control starts pumping out warm air within 60-90 seconds of start up, and the air goes from warm to hot a few minutes later
|
>> Funny you should say that... It is an option but, alas, not one fitted to my car :-(
The wiring is present in my car for it. Been meaning to buy the heated washer kit for the past 4 years. Then the warmer weather comes along and I forget about it again.
|
...Been meaning to buy the heated washer kit for the past 4 years...
The CC3 supposedly has heated jets.
Doesn't stop them freezing, unless there's super strength anti-freeze in the bottle.
In which case they probably wouldn't freeze, heated or not.
|
>> The CC3 supposedly has heated jets.
>> Doesn't stop them freezing, unless there's super strength anti-freeze in the bottle.
>> In which case they probably wouldn't freeze, heated or not.
Doesn't matter about how strong the mixture is in the bottle. At the jets it freezes because the alcohol has evaporated. Heated jets help stop the mixture from freezing.
|
Fill the bottle with cheap vodka, as my brother used to do when he was in the RAF in Germany.
|
Off to work now to see if the Mondeo stops on me again.
I shall use my de-icing tactics this time.
I'm sure Humph is familiar with them.
Get in car, start it up, put on front and rear screen heater, direct fan to side windows and light a fag and enjoy 5 minutes peace!
Pat
|
>> why hasn't someone invented a heated one?
Some cars have heated steering wheels as an option. My brother's X3 has one and Range Rovers have had them as options for years. Not sure if any mainstream brands other than BMW does them.
This morning I wish I had the missed off item on my car - it should have come with a heated windscreen but I took it without to avoid another 3-4 month wait. But I see the revised one comes with the option of a parking heater (remote controlled or timer) - this was not an option in the UK before but pricey at £1090!
My first car had a cold steering wheel - a plastic one. Now that was painful to hold in the cold. But I don't have arthritis so my sympathy's to Pat for the pain this morning.
|
...But I see the revised one comes with the option of a parking heater (remote controlled or timer)...
There's stuff about one of those in the CC3's handbook, so it was obviously an option in some markets.
|
|
Cars used in our mild maritime climate do not need all the cold weather kit (and tyres) fitted in colder climates.
|
|
I bought premixed washer fluid a couple of days ago (accidentally, normally buy the unmixed stuff). It is supposed to work down to -20C. Yesterday morning after the car had stood outside all night in a hotel carpark in deepest Bavaria, the washer fluid had frozen. No frost to chip off the windows though.
|
>> No frost to chip off the windows though.
>>
When the outside air temperature is very low, any frost which might have formed at some time on a windscreen gradually sublimates (sublimes?) from the screen and deposits itself somewhere else which is colder than the screen.
I've no doubt that some other member can give a more scientific explanation. Where's Number_Cruncher? He's nowhere to be found when you need him!
Last edited by: L'escargot on Fri 3 Feb 12 at 14:49
|
>> >> No frost to chip off the windows though.
>> >>
>>
>> When the outside air temperature is very low, any frost which might have formed at
>> some time on a windscreen gradually sublimates (sublimes?) from the screen and deposits itself somewhere
>> else which is colder than the screen.
>>
>> I've no doubt that some other member can give a more scientific explanation. Where's Number_Cruncher?
>> He's nowhere to be found when you need him!
So whats happened when EVERYTHING is frost covered including the windscreen, roof, bonnet, grass, ground, etc etc....
|
>> It is supposed to work down to -20C. Yesterday morning after the car had
>> stood outside all night in a hotel carpark in deepest Bavaria, the washer fluid had
>> frozen. No frost to chip off the windows though.
>>
If you live in these sort of places (Austria in my case), you soon learn not to dilute it at all when it's going to be really cold - despite what it says on the the washer fluid container, the water nearly always seems to freeze. And it might well have got to silly low temperatures given the current icy conditions. I heard that even a couple of weeks ago they recorded -30°C in a high Bavarian valley.
|
Gloves!
Yes! - Pink fluffy driving ones!
|
"Having dropped him off, I got stuck behind one of our own lorries and as soon as I turned into the village from a roundabout and could get a move powerhere was no pwer atglow pluge orange glowplug light came on and I coasted to a stop on the apex of a blind bend, in the dark.
Hazards on, headlights off, tuned key and it started again straight away."
Sorry to have to say this Pat but i think that you are starting to enjoy the joys of owning a Ford diesel that is out of warranty !
|
"a Ford diesel that is out of warranty !"
My experience was that they are programmed to self destruct at 36 months. Never again!
|
...My experience...
About 80,000 trouble-free miles from the last one, and 36,000 trouble-free miles from the current one.
Last edited by: Iffy on Fri 3 Feb 12 at 15:44
|
|
Logically i know you shouldn't take one bad experience to put you off a brand and my previous experience of Ford was good but with other makes available I don't want to take a chance with Ford again. The CMAX was a disaster I don't want to repeat
|
...Logically i know you shouldn't take one bad experience to put you off a brand...
If the CC3 acted up badly I'd be very tempted to replace it with something other than another Ford.
|
>> Sorry to have to say this Pat but i think that you are starting to
>> enjoy the joys of owning a Ford diesel that is out of warranty !
At least it's got a heated seat. The heaters in diesels take an age to warm up in winter.
Gloves are the answer with a cold steering wheel. Fleece with a grippy palm otherwise you won't get enough purchase on the wheel. I keep a pair in the car.
|
Told you to LPG the CRV, proper car that, but you listened to the Cheshire siren urging you to go Mondeo..about the same time he got rid of his....reluctantly he reckoned...pah he should have been a politician.
You try and help 'em but they just won't have it, old time truckers must be about the most obstinate creatures ever put on the earth, those semi paddy ones are ok though..;)
Good pair of rigger gloves would do the trick, useful grip for when the power steering freezes up too.
|
Pfft - I've gone out in -10 to -15c and never once wished for a heated steering wheel - just make sure it's leather and not a solid PVC jobby.
Then again, I don't suffer from Raynaud's.
|
Used to be a geezer on this forum, drove one of those Mitsubishi Estates, anyway - he reckons to throw a fan heater in the car for 20 mins or so and it will defrost the windows AND heat the car up as well,
He's right! - that's what I've done since the ice age returned to Britain, and it works a treat.
|
|
Bet he's a retired geezer - 20minutes waiting for a car to warm up is 19 minutes I could still be in my scratcher ;-)
|
>> 20minutes waiting for a car to warm up is 19 minutes I could still be in my scratcher ;-)<<
Bet you've got a garage anyway - a double at least :)
First time I've been without a garage in 8 years, got wroom for one, but it wouldn't look right here,
I put the small Belling fan heater in the car's foot-well (am lucky in having 13amp plug outside) and I leave it in there while I'm doing other things that y'all do in the morning, so it's no big deal really.
|
What a bunch of wusses.
I went running at 7am at -8C - (measured in our greenhouse)..
I still have to find where I dropped some spherical frozen objects - perhaps where I saw the brass monkeys..
|
|
You wont get far running in your greenhouse, unless you've got a treadmill in there of course.
|
...You wont get far running in your greenhouse...
True, but it will give his plants a laugh.
|
|
Probably got runners growing in there.
|
>> You wont get far running in your greenhouse, unless you've got a treadmill in there
>> of course.
He wont get far with a treadmill either.
|
|
But he might sprout wings...
|
>>Sorry to have to say this Pat but i think that you are starting to enjoy the joys of owning a Ford diesel that is out of warranty ! <<
Well I certainly was!
But not anymore....on the journey home last night it died on me every time I put my foot down even slightly but started up again straight away.
The orange glow plug light flashes most of the time and I got home at 8.30pm last night and had to go again this morning at 5am so it behaved exactly the same again.
It's now with Ian at out Indy having a thorough diagnostic check done.
I'm googling for good tow cars with low MPG and heated seats!
Pat
|
Noooo, reliable but booring!
and thirsty:)
Pat
|
|
Seriously my old CRV diesel used to pull around 42mpg. No bad for a big beast. The X1's only just as economical, but possibly 'cos I drive it quicker.
|
What's the news on the Mondeo Pat? Mine's had a couple of minor "senior moments" lately, but then it is knocking on for 130,000 miles now and nothing's fallen off it yet. It's coming up for a year in my hands and I still haven't written an initial review of it!
I've found a very local to me, independent garage to do my required ECU update for 30 quid +VAT*, it was going to go in yesterday but I ran late so it's rebooked for Monday. Should sort out the under-fuelling when hot starting.
Still loving the heated 'screen though :)
*Mandela wants £80 plus to do an update, with vague mumblings about diagnostic checks on top.
|
|
Pat my heart bleeds for you.>:)
|
Well, it got worse Dave!
The diagnostics brought up a couple of fault codes both relating to injectors and fuel pump but Lee (our Indy) decided to re-code (is that the correct term) the injectors and on the way home it ran perfectly.
It's booked in next Saturday morning to have the EGR valve cleaned out and the thermostats done to cure the cold running which could well have sooted up the EGR.
With this snow Ian needs it each day for work as going on the GSX is not an option and that makes it a problem at the moment.
I had intended to sit him down last night with a nice meal and a bottle of red and try some wman maths on him....even that didn't work:(
We didn't get that far, he turned his laptop on when he got home to research alternative cars and promptly got the 'System-check' virus on it.
I spent two hours trying to sort it out and gave up as it's the wrong end of the day for me so that's todays job, then we may have time to talk about it!
Pat
Last edited by: pda on Sun 5 Feb 12 at 06:25
|
What a morning! - Robin O'Reliant
