Or rather bug grit.
Currently on our annual trip to Harris.
On the way up something hit the Fabia's windscreen and a foot long crack propagated across it as we drove through the Highlands and Skye last Saturday. As I suspected getting a windscreen out here and fitting it by close of play tomorrow is a logistical bridge too far and it'll have to stay as it is until we get home. They'll do it next Monday.
Today we were returning from our day's activates around Northton and Obbe. One bit of the road is being resurfaced my the technique of spraying it with tar and dumping chippings the nleaaving the cars to do what a road roller should.
Coming off that section it was apparent that we had a problem. A grating noise from the offside front. Either a wheel bearing issue or a bit of gravel somewhere.
Bearing in mind the possible need for a breakdown contractor to come from Stornoway I played safe and rang LV/Britannia. The agent was pretty good but the idea that you'd find us after about eight miles by following the main road past Tarbert and you'd see us was a bit much for him to grasp!!
Glad I called asap as the contractor was in Arnol - about 90 minutes away.
I then set about removing the wheel. That done I located and liberated a piece of road chipping caught between the inboard face of the disc and a 'backing plate' a few mm inboard.
Wheel back on, phone call to Arnol guy who'd let us know he was on his way and to LV and the job's a good un.
Chapeau to the two folks who stopped and asked if we were OK.
My son, who has inherited his mechanical knowledge via a skipped gene from my Father says:
Well that's all well and good but where are those genes when I need them
|
I had to do the exact same thing to my wife’s Beetle last week.
Phone call from her that the car is making a very bad noise. Told her to pull over and I would come and see. Definitely noise from front offside wheel.
Jack car up and wheel off and see the exact same thing as above. Except I couldn’t get to the wee stone that was jammed in.
Eventually I got a couple cable ties from the boot of my car, joined them together and then with lots of wiggling motion managed to free the stone and everything was hunky dory again.
We have red stones in our driveway and pretty sure it came from that.
Incidentally, I have Michelin Crossclimates on my own car and in the warmer times of the year, the stones jam into the softer tyre tread. Need to wiggle the wheel as I reverse out to let them fall back out.
|
We had some sort of small stoned gravel here for a while, I think I'd gone over a flower bed with it to give us a bit more parking room when we get the second car.
The gravel was forever getting picked up in the tyre treads and sprayed over the front and the sidewalk. Irritating. So we paved it over properly :-)
|
A piece of our driveway 20mm red granite chip got inside a void behind the front disc of my MG ZS a few years ago - made a horrific jangling/scraping noise as the wheel turned.
Had to take the wheel/caliper off to remove the disc and out plopped the stone.
|
Red granite chip - is that the official description Lygonos?
I knew no one would understand me if I said red chuckies!
|
>a foot long crack propagated across it as we drove through the Highlands and Skye last Saturday. >As I suspected getting a windscreen out here and fitting it by close of play tomorrow is a logistical >bridge too far and it'll have to stay as it is until we get home. They'll do it next Monday.
Windscreen crack? that's a 'get it done the week before the next mot" diary slot in chez zero.
|
>> Windscreen crack? that's a 'get it done the week before the next mot" diary slot
>> in chez zero.
Whatever it was that hit the screen did so low down on the offside. The crack is directly in the driver's field of view and 'flashes' when passing vehicles going the other way.
Given it doesn't get dark here until midnight I've not tried it after 'lighting up time' but I suspect it'll be a real distraction.
|
I was hauling down the M20 in Kent, approaching a gravel truck, when I got three bullet holes in the screen, in a perfect line, right, left and centre.
As it was line of sight, each starred, I informed the insurance co (covered with no loss of NCB) who because it was a Beeme, sent me to a fitting centre* in Aldershot,
I rocks up.
"blimey" he says "what happened here?"
"Drive by shooting" says I
"Funny that" he says "I had one the other day, with 4 holes, front and rear, from the officers mess car park". "accidental discharge they said"
|
New windscreen installed on Monday by a contractor to whom Autoglass had subbed out.
All looks good but I forgot to put my phone cradle back. I don't actually need satnav to get to Kettering Hospital where we do appointments on a Thursday but it would have been useful to know there were roadworks creating a hold up on the A508.....
|
Another minor prob with the Fabia; offside dipped beam bulb failed. Helpful light on the dash and warning on the centre screen tell me of the demised bulb an its location.
Issue #1 was that I didn't check carefully which light was out and replaced the perfectly functioning main beam first. Did same thing years ago in my Xantia so obvious failure to learn from experience.
Issue #2 is that although the dipped bulb looks accessible from under the bonnet by the simple expedient or removing a rubber cap it's not. Or at least not unless you're a double jointed midget. Skoda recognise this and helpfully provide an access flap in the wheel arch liner that can be gripped with the same tool as one uses to remove the wheel nut covers.
That was nothing like robust enough for the task and neither were my pliers.
After a deal of Mutley like cursing I gave up and asked the garage to deal with it at the service MoT it was planned for today.
|
|
Pretty sure Halfords do fitting for not very much, maybe price varies by car
|
>> Pretty sure Halfords do fitting for not very much, maybe price varies by car
If it wasn't booked in today already that would be my go to.
Garage called to say if failed MoT on front pads/discs; pads 98% worn. I knew they were low but not that low.
Rears still have about 10% left.
We're seriously considering whether we can manage with one car now I'm 100% WFH so I'll let those run a bit longer. They don't do much work as the car's never fully loaded at the back.
|
If the Fabia is like my wife's 2012 Polo then at first I thought any kind of bulb change would be impossible - then I found out that all you have to do is undo two bolts above the headlight on the front slam-panel and the whole unit slides out front ways - disconnect the wiring connector and you can access any of the bulbs away from the car.
Very simple replacement just make sure the two plastic tabs on the bottom of the unit are located correctly to main beam alignment - I sprayed some lube on them as they required a good tug to get free the first time I did it.
|
Fabia is 2016 and while I'm not sure what it shares with a Polo it's certainly not that method of changing the bulb.
One of my 'when I'm King of the world' things is that all critical bulbs in a car should be changeable at the roadside with no tools.
|
>> One of my 'when I'm King of the world' things is that all critical bulbs
>> in a car should be changeable at the roadside with no tools.
Given that most new cars are fitted with LED's, your reign may be short lived.
|
>> Pretty sure Halfords do fitting for not very much, maybe price varies by car
You'd trust some shop assistant at Halfords to change a light bulb?
|
>> You'd trust some shop assistant at Halfords to change a light bulb?
TBF they have probably changed more light bulbs than you have had hot dinners.
|
>> >> You'd trust some shop assistant at Halfords to change a light bulb?
>> TBF they have probably changed more light bulbs than you have had hot dinners.
TBF, when I get so senile i can't change a light bulb, i wouldn't trust a shop assistant at Halfords!
|
To be fair on Halfords, a few years ago I was about 300 miles from home in a suit and it was pouring and well in to the afternoon so i would have been driving at night. My main beam bulb died. I could have done it myself but it would have been a pain so the lad from Halfords got the right bulb for £7 and fitted it for £5 in about the same time that I had googled how to do it.
Bargain I thought!
|
I bought a wiper blade from them some time ago for the RAV4. The assistant asked if I wanted free fitting on the spot so I thought I'd give it a go.
After a few minutes, the lad came out to do the job. I sat in the car to keep warm. After some time for a 5 minute job, he admitted he couldn't do it. He hadn't realised it was for the rear screen and the big, heavy spare wheel and it's locked cover had to come off to get clearance for the arm.
How I chuckled...went home and did it there.
Bit miffed with Halfords recently, I use their big aerosols regularly, I did a full wing on the Jowett with grey primer, jet black and lacquer. It came out very well. Recently I bought a large white gloss for some work I'm doing on the caravan. I don't know how long they have changed things but you now have to remove the nozzle and take out an orange plastic ring under it before use. That's fine but first squirt went all over my hand instead of where I was pointing it. Not cheap at £11 ! Leave things that work alone, Mr Halford !
Ted
|
>>Recently I bought a large white gloss for some work I'm doing on the
>> caravan. I don't know how long they have changed things but you now have to
>> remove the nozzle and take out an orange plastic ring under it before use. That's
>> fine but first squirt went all over my hand instead of where I was pointing
>> it.
I suspect they do that to prevent undesirables spraying the stuff on the wall! Do you qualify Ted?
|
B****** Again - Bobby
