Post a bad thing that happened in your life today

[Harry Harrison]

11 hours ago, aphperspective said:

Just when I thought I got through Christmas within a sensible budget, driving home today car lost power warning lights on dashboard indicates some sort of exhaust system fault.  Just about got home, car dead outside till Tuesday with unknown garage bill.

Sometimes those VW warning lights can be much scarier than they deserve to be, 'STOP! STOP! STOP!' when the coolant level sloshed slightly below the line is a case in point, that terrified me the first time it happened. Losing power doesn't sound good though, perhaps it went into LIMP mode, the electronics sometimes take over.

[Bryan]

13 hours ago, aphperspective said:

Just when I thought I got through Christmas within a sensible budget, driving home today car lost power warning lights on dashboard indicates some sort of exhaust system fault.  Just about got home, car dead outside till Tuesday with unknown garage bill. 😒 

 

There are times when you long for the days when you could open the bonnet and know what all of the parts were for, most of my recent motoring problems have been caused by jittery electronics or failed sensors. I recall my mate touring and having to replace an engine on the roadside with one picked up from a scrapyard.  I don't actually need electric windows, seats that adjust automatically, or Bluetooth in my car, just much better reliability, and an effective heater would do fine.

[aphperspective]

My days of scrabbling around under cars have long gone, used to change clutches, gearboxes etc no problem. Its probhably a stupid sensor, its going into the garage on Tuesday. Luckily my local one is run by a great bunch of lads. 

Thanks for the help.

Andy.

[Allan Bell]

5 hours ago, aphperspective said:

My days of scrabbling around under cars have long gone, used to change clutches, gearboxes etc no problem. Its probhably a stupid sensor, its going into the garage on Tuesday. Luckily my local one is run by a great bunch of lads. 

Thanks for the help.

Andy.

 

Catalytic convertor?  I hope not  as they are rather expensive.

 

On my diesel VW I sometimes run it in lower gear on high revs to clear the CC out.  Lovely cloud behind when I do it and if someone is right on my tail they quickly drop back.

 

Allan

 

[spacecadet]

1 minute ago, Allan Bell said:

 

Catalytic convertor?  I hope not  as they are rather expensive.

 

On my diesel VW I sometimes run it in lower gear on high revs to clear the CC out.  Lovely cloud behind when I do it and if someone is right on my tail they quickly drop back.

 

Allan

 

I think a lambda ehaust sensor fault usually just causes an NCT failure on emissions but the car still runs, inefficiently. Power loss can be an awful lot of things, mostly, if you don't do your own code reading, slightly expensive ones alas🙁

You clear the DPF, not the cat.

[aphperspective]

I did run it rather low on fuel the day before, not ran out but not far of running on fumes though, so may have just dragged a load of muck into something. No signs of nasties from the exhaust though, no black, blue or white smoke regardless of how hard I rev it. Only good news my NCT has been put back 3 months due to Covid.

Andy.

[spacecadet]

I think the crud in the bottom of the tank thing is a bit of a myth- there's a fuel filter for that sort of thing. If it's now OK I would be wanting to have a look at any stored or current fault codes. You can get software and an inexpensive connector for this or leave it to your garage if you trust them, but make sure they can actually read your car's specific codes as there are some incompatibilities about.

[aphperspective]

My local garage is very good, used them for years. I also have a main VW dealership opposite them, the difference in their prices is eye watering, anyway tomorrow will tell I shall update this post for the curious.

Andy

[gvallee]

Not really bad, but I'm surprised. Having a 5 star QC rating, I usually get one batch held into QC out of five. So far it's been about the norm. What a surprise when this morning, I had my second batch in a row stopped in QC. Good thing I wasn't trying to sneak any dodgy pic. I would have thought that during the festive period, Alamy would want less work not more!

[Chuck Nacke]

13 hours ago, spacecadet said:

I think the crud in the bottom of the tank thing is a bit of a myth- there's a fuel filter for that sort of thing. If it's now OK I would be wanting to have a look at any stored or current fault codes. You can get software and an inexpensive connector for this or leave it to your garage if you trust them, but make sure they can actually read your car's specific codes as there are some incompatibilities about.

You are "ABSOLUTELY" incorrect.  Specifically on older cars.  Junk does build up at the bottom of the gas tank and

I try to buy my "Petrol" at the same station.  When traveling I keep the receipts for gas I buy on the road.  Over the years

I had to replace one engine due to dirty gas.  It was paid for by the U.S. national filling station company where I bought

the gas.  Stations sometimes pump their tanks too low and sludge can end up in your tank and then your engine.  

 

I also keep my tank up above 1/4. 

 

Chuck

[Michael Ventura]

54 minutes ago, gvallee said:

Not really bad, but I'm surprised. Having a 5 star QC rating, I usually get one batch held into QC out of five. So far it's been about the norm. What a surprise when this morning, I had my second batch in a row stopped in QC. Good thing I wasn't trying to sneak any dodgy pic. I would have thought that during the festive period, Alamy would want less work not more!

I also had my last batch held up but I just assumed it may due to the holidays....tho that doesn’t really make sense.  

[Bionic]

5 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said:

You are "ABSOLUTELY" incorrect.  Specifically on older cars.  Junk does build up at the bottom of the gas tank and

I try to buy my "Petrol" at the same station.  When traveling I keep the receipts for gas I buy on the road.  Over the years

I had to replace one engine due to dirty gas.  It was paid for by the U.S. national filling station company where I bought

the gas.  Stations sometimes pump their tanks too low and sludge can end up in your tank and then your engine.  

 

I also keep my tank up above 1/4. 

 

Chuck

Unfortunately you are absolutely incorrect, speaking as a qualified mechanical engineer that is an urban myth. Where do you think the scavenge in the fuel tank is located (hint... it’s not at the top)? The fuel fed to the engine comes from the bottom of the fuel tank therefore any muck that sinks to the bottom is going there regardless of how much there is in the tank (and as SC points out there’s a filter to catch it). I personally believe this myth stems from bikes where when one is running low you switch to the reserve tank which in actuality is a separate fuel feed nearer the bottom of the tank and as a result is old fuel and carp that builds up

[meanderingemu]

1 hour ago, gvallee said:

Not really bad, but I'm surprised. Having a 5 star QC rating, I usually get one batch held into QC out of five. So far it's been about the norm. What a surprise when this morning, I had my second batch in a row stopped in QC. Good thing I wasn't trying to sneak any dodgy pic. I would have thought that during the festive period, Alamy would want less work not more!

 

 

so far i've the the two QC in a row happen twice.. First time was a shock as i think i was getting a bit too relax with it.  I like it as it reduces the chance of people abusing it....

I got in QC also today, but i had 2 sets through since last time....  

 

 

[Chuck Nacke]

3 hours ago, Bionic said:

Unfortunately you are absolutely incorrect, speaking as a qualified mechanical engineer that is an urban myth. Where do you think the scavenge in the fuel tank is located (hint... it’s not at the top)? The fuel fed to the engine comes from the bottom of the fuel tank therefore any muck that sinks to the bottom is going there regardless of how much there is in the tank (and as SC points out there’s a filter to catch it). I personally believe this myth stems from bikes where when one is running low you switch to the reserve tank which in actuality is a separate fuel feed nearer the bottom of the tank and as a result is old fuel and carp that builds up

James,

 

Well I disagree with you.  If you have anything besides gasoline in the tank of an auto, which is often the case in an older vehicle, and you run the tank down to a low

level, the foreign material can clog the fuel uptake, clog the fuel lines (filter)  It is really simple, when you have material suspended in liquid it is less of a problem then

when it consolidates in a smaller area or suspended in less liquid.  

 

 This is pointless to discuss on this forum.

 

Chuck

[Bryan]

6 hours ago, gvallee said:

Not really bad, but I'm surprised. Having a 5 star QC rating, I usually get one batch held into QC out of five. So far it's been about the norm. What a surprise when this morning, I had my second batch in a row stopped in QC. Good thing I wasn't trying to sneak any dodgy pic. I would have thought that during the festive period, Alamy would want less work not more!

Caused me a bit of concern as I have been reworking some older images given the current lack of opportunity outdoors. Dare I suggest that it's a bit like using up the dubious fuel from the bottom of the tank?  It's amazing how much better modern sensors are. I rarely have to apply noise reduction to images from my Sony a6500, but I came across a photo taken on the NEX 6 at ISO 800 which had grain akin to that seen with Tri X in days gone by. LR/PS saved the day, a heavy dose of noise reduction in the plain areas largely sorted the problem. 

 

Naturally a couple of these photos got stuck in QC and that was a worry, would my 5 star status be lost due to my digging through the lower reaches of my filing cabinet? 

 

But the QC gods were kind, I got to do the  keywording last night.

[sb photos]

The forum had hiccups earlier. After posting, then via edit adding another line of text, it wouldn't save. Then the forum would come and go displaying:

 

This community is temporarily unavailable

Please wait a few minutes and try again.

 

Invision status showed: Invision Network Status - All servers on line

 

Appears to be back to normal now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sb photos]

The forum had hiccups earlier. After posting, then via edit adding another line of text, it wouldn't save. Then the forum would come and go displaying:

 

This community is temporarily unavailable

Please wait a few minutes and try again.

 

Invision status showed: Invision Network Status - All servers on line

 

Appears to be back to normal now.

 

Edit: This failed save appeared 28 minutes later, very odd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by sb photos

[gvallee]

11 minutes ago, sb photos said:

The forum had hiccups earlier. After posting, then via edit adding another line of text, it wouldn't save. Then the forum would come and go displaying:

 

This community is temporarily unavailable

Please wait a few minutes and try again.

 

Invision status showed: Invision Network Status - All servers on line

 

Appears to be back to normal now.

 

Edit: This failed save appeared 28 minutes later, very odd.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yes, I got that as well. Forum was down.

[gvallee]

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

Caused me a bit of concern as I have been reworking some older images given the current lack of opportunity outdoors. Dare I suggest that it's a bit like using up the dubious fuel from the bottom of the tank?  It's amazing how much better modern sensors are. I rarely have to apply noise reduction to images from my Sony a6500, but I came across a photo taken on the NEX 6 at ISO 800 which had grain akin to that seen with Tri X in days gone by. LR/PS saved the day, a heavy dose of noise reduction in the plain areas largely sorted the problem. 

 

Naturally a couple of these photos got stuck in QC and that was a worry, would my 5 star status be lost due to my digging through the lower reaches of my filing cabinet? 

 

But the QC gods were kind, I got to do the  keywording last night.

 

Nerve racking isn't it? Luckily, recently Nikon did a stellar job of cleaning the ultra filthy sensor of my D4, so I had no worries about missing a dust bunny. 

[gvallee]

6 hours ago, meanderingemu said:

 

 

so far i've the the two QC in a row happen twice..

 

 

 

Anybody got 3 in a row?? 😂😂

[Mr Standfast]

On 27/12/2020 at 16:54, Allan Bell said:

 

Catalytic convertor?  I hope not  as they are rather expensive.

 

On my diesel VW I sometimes run it in lower gear on high revs to clear the CC out.  Lovely cloud behind when I do it and if someone is right on my tail they quickly drop back.

 

Allan

 

 

I;d have a look under the vw badge, bet it says Trabant?

 

Stay safe.

 

 

[Mr Standfast]

Just now, Mr Standfast said:

double post

 

 

 

Edited December 29, 2020 by Mr Standfast
sausage fingers

[aphperspective]

On 28/12/2020 at 11:34, aphperspective said:

My local garage is very good, used them for years. I also have a main VW dealership opposite them, the difference in their prices is eye watering, anyway tomorrow will tell I shall update this post for the curious.

Andy

The saga continues, looking like a dodgy fuel pump (its in the tank). A pressure test will tell. To be continued.😒

[spacecadet]

4 minutes ago, aphperspective said:

The saga continues, looking like a dodgy fuel pump (its in the tank). A pressure test will tell. To be continued.😒

I speak from a position of profound ignorance but that could be a diagnosis to beware of, it's often something simpler. Beware of the game of "parts darts". If the fault codes point to it fair enough- assuming the battery is OK. A low battery can throw up all sorts of spurious faults.

[Bionic]

8 hours ago, aphperspective said:

The saga continues, looking like a dodgy fuel pump (its in the tank). A pressure test will tell. To be continued.😒

I know this probably sounds a stupid suggestion (given it sounds like you’ve taken the car to be checked over) but it might be worth checking the coils. They shouldn’t affect the exhaust but on VWs they have a habit of causing a slight misfire that the emissions sensors pick up on which can put the car in to limp mode

 

edit.. if it is the coils it’s a cheap diy fix but you’ll need the codes reading ideally

Edited December 29, 2020 by Bionic