Things I Don't Like

[jmurray01]

I don't like seeing that my mother's "new" 1999 Toyota Avensis only had new brake pads put on the O/S...  In the previous owner's defense that side had been binding and the N/S pads still have plenty meat left, but I'm always wary of just doing one side when it comes to brakes.  That said, I did jam the brakes on pretty hard today (surprise surprise because of a Vauxhall driver!) and she didn't pull in either direction so no harm no foul as they say.

[Micro]

I don't like seeing that my mother's "new" 1999 Toyota Avensis only had new brake pads put on the O/S...  In the previous owner's defense that side had been binding and the N/S pads still have plenty meat left, but I'm always wary of just doing one side when it comes to brakes.  That said, I did jam the brakes on pretty hard today (surprise surprise because of a Vauxhall driver!) and she didn't pull in either direction so no harm no foul as they say.

I didn't think brake pads came in single sides? Mine were two pairs shrink wrapped together!

I suppose if the other side hadn't been on long then no justification to change the other side.

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[jmurray01]

Just now, Micro said:

I didn't think brake pads came in single sides? Mine were two pairs shrink wrapped together!

I suppose if the other side hadn't been on long then no justification to change the other side.

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I can't say I've ever changed any myself (don't trust myself to work on braking components!) but I thought they came in packs of 4 also.  As you say though there probably wasn't justification to touch the N/S as they still have at least 70% material left.  Once one side wears out I'll get new ones on both but to be honest with my mother's annual mileage totaling 2k there is a good chance those pads will outlive the car!

[Micro]

I can't say I've ever changed any myself (don't trust myself to work on braking components!) but I thought they came in packs of 4 also.  As you say though there probably wasn't justification to touch the N/S as they still have at least 70% material left.  Once one side wears out I'll get new ones on both but to be honest with my mother's annual mileage totaling 2k there is a good chance those pads will outlive the car!

I always said this, then decided to have a crack at it. I'll be honest, much easier than I thought and I will probably always do them from now on!

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[jmurray01]

17 minutes ago, Micro said:

I always said this, then decided to have a crack at it. I'll be honest, much easier than I thought and I will probably always do them from now on!

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Well I did try once when I had a Rover 45 but after not succeeding in getting the caliper bolts off I gave up and that one failed attempt kind of put me off ever trying again.

Mind you if I gave up on everything after one failed attempt I would never get out of bed in the morning!

[Tdci-Peter]

10 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

Well I did try once when I had a Rover 45 but after not succeeding in getting the caliper bolts off I gave up and that one failed attempt kind of put me off ever trying again.

It does depend on the car. The rear brakes on the Vectra were a pig of a job. The handbrake was a tiny drum inside the disk, and releasing the self-adjuster was an almost impossible job, poking about through a little hole. Then by sheer brilliant (not!) design, to remove the disk / drum you had to undo a hydraulic union. It had a double piston caliper, with solid pipes strapped to the trailing arm. Nightmare.

The Focus brakes are really simple, both back and front. No unions to undo or awkward hidden adjusters. You do need a wind back tool for the rear pistons, but its easy if you have this.

For the last four years or so, I have taken to removing the brakes (caliper, bracket & disk) when doing the annual service. It helps to be able to inspect. clean and apply rust preserver around the suspension parts. And the bolts do not get rusted into their threads. Also I can de-rust the disks.

On the subject of disks, I just replaced my fronts, following an MoT advisory last year. The pads were less than 50% worn, and the disk braking surfaces were good, though the rust area was creeping in a bit on one. The ventilation slot fins did look a bit badly corroded though, and I thought I was starting to notice a very slight unevenness under heavy braking. I put Mintex coated disks on, and their pads. Only £62 for the full axle set, Mintex is not a premium brand by any means. But I have to say I think the brakes are noticeably stronger and more sensitive than before. They were pretty good before, but appreciably less pedal pressure is needed now. I will also wait and see if the coating reduces the perennial problem I have with disk corrosion. The car sits outside for days quite often, the disks slowly rusting away!

[TomsFocus]

17 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said:

I would go for the warm white, 806 lumen, 9W one.

It is a couple of watts more than I ideally had in mind, and may be brighter than needed. If all 6 bulbs were fitted, it would light a big or very dark coloured room. If your existing CFLs are 9W, they are usually about 500 lumens (40W old equiv.). 800 lumens is at least 60W old equiv. But you can always leave some bulbs out. And at £1.50 ea, a lifetime a bit less than the promised 25000 hours would not be a disaster.

6500K cool white is very white, some people would detect a blueish tone. It is rather subjective, but your Nan is well used to the warm white colour! Also it is becoming generally recommended to avoid too much blue light late at night. Some studies link it to poor sleep patterns.

I had a quick look at Screwfix, but the choice is similar, and prices a bit higher.

Thanks again, Peter.  They turned out to have a lot more choice in store!  Managed to get some 40w equivalents with frosted glass and in the warm white colour which should suit Nan best as you suggest.  They're also candle shaped rather than bulb shaped which I hope she'll appreciate...though tbf anything's better than the CFL shape!  

Although there are 6 bulbs in the living room, there are only 3 in the main light, the others are in wall lights, similar angles, but not often all used together.  We were surprised to find she had 3x 60w in the main light, though she had a bad cataract for a while over the last couple of years so maybe we decided to increase the light for that...or maybe we just didn't take any notice of the packaging! 

Hopefully I can get away with 2 'odd' ones to use in a wall light after finding this bargain in Wickes!  At 75p each I thought they were worth trying, clear glass but with an internal diffuser...  They only had 2 left though!  If she doesn't like them, I'll keep them and get her two more of the HB ones.

https://www.wickes.co.uk/Wickes-LED-Candle-Light-Bulb---5-9W-B22/p/141662 

 

16 hours ago, Micro said:

Poundland used to sell LED bulbs, may be worth looking in there.

Still have one in the hallway, 2-3 years on.

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Ah, I hadn't thought about Poundland...had to walk past it between Wickes and Home Bargains too lol!  Will know for next time...in 25 years when these ones are expected to fail...  

[Micro]

2 hours ago, Tdci-Peter said:

It does depend on the car. The rear brakes on the Vectra were a pig of a job. The handbrake was a tiny drum inside the disk, and releasing the self-adjuster was an almost impossible job, poking about through a little hole. Then by sheer brilliant (not!) design, to remove the disk / drum you had to undo a hydraulic union. It had a double piston caliper, with solid pipes strapped to the trailing arm. Nightmare.

The Focus brakes are really simple, both back and front. No unions to undo or awkward hidden adjusters. You do need a wind back tool for the rear pistons, but its easy if you have this

On the subject of disks, I just replaced my fronts, following an MoT advisory last year. The pads were less than 50% worn, and the disk braking surfaces were good, though the rust area was creeping in a bit on one. The ventilation slot fins did look a bit badly corroded though, and I thought I was starting to notice a very slight unevenness under heavy braking. I put Mintex coated disks on, and their pads. Only £62 for the full axle set, Mintex is not a premium brand by any means. But I have to say I think the brakes are noticeably stronger and more sensitive than before. They were pretty good before, but appreciably less pedal pressure is needed now. I will also wait and see if the coating reduces the perennial problem I have with disk corrosion. The car sits outside for days quite often, the disks slowly rusting away!

I only did the fronts on my Focus, the rear drums only needed greasing occasionally. Research online shows that the Focus style of caliper (with the pointy ears) doesn't rust/corrode/stick the pads quite as much as the designs with the flat ears on the pads. Used Bosch coated discs and Bosch pads and once the fluid had been changed too it was night and day vs my old brakes (which had been on the car since purchase - nearly 60,000 miles previously). Just had to take it for a drive and do a few brake applications to stop the "rubbing" sound of the coating coming off.

Will have to see how the rear brakes work on my Octavia since they're pads on the rear - think it needs a wind back tool (The workshop manual says "When resetting the piston with a piston resetting device the automatic reset in the brake caliper is destroyed." which seems quite ominous!).

[TomsFocus]

18 minutes ago, Micro said:

Will have to see how the rear brakes work on my Octavia since they're pads on the rear - think it needs a wind back tool (The workshop manual says "When resetting the piston with a piston resetting device the automatic reset in the brake caliper is destroyed." which seems quite ominous!).

Doesn't it have an electronic handbrake like the VW's and Audis?  If so, you can just reset it using VCDS.

[jmurray01]

5 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Doesn't it have an electronic handbrake like the VW's and Audis?  If so, you can just reset it using VCDS.

The electronic parking brake was the most stupid design ever by VAG, what was wrong with a normal handbrake that anybody could get into the car and use?  Why make things more complicated, more dangerous (if people don't know how it works and inadvertently park with the brakes off!) and more expensive to repair.  Well, the last one is obvious to be fair.

[Tdci-Peter]

2 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

Why make things more complicated, more dangerous

This happened to a friend of mine with an electric handbrake:

His car is the object under the jetty!

See: https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/17006911.car-slips-into-water-while-waiting-for-sandbanks-ferry

Brand new Honda HRV. Stupid electric handbrake is an item that is way, way, down on my shopping list!

[TimST2]

I dunno,..

The electronic handbrake is really well integrated into our Mercedes GLC's auto system to the point where you never manually use it. I believe there is a switch somewhere below the steering wheel or in the drivers footwell, but it's clearly designed never to be touched in normal driving.

I also really like the hill start assist on my Fiesta ST - no need to use the handbrake for hill starts if you don't want to 

[TimST2]

You know how nobody likes it when people drive around in the dark with no lights on, and also how people pull out in front of you in a 60 limit, forcing you to brake and then crawl up the road at 30 behind them? Well I had both this morning at the same time - a black (!) BMW taxi pulled out of a lay-by in the dark - no indicating, no lights, no attempt to accelerate 

[TomsFocus]

12 hours ago, jmurray01 said:

The electronic parking brake was the most stupid design ever by VAG, what was wrong with a normal handbrake that anybody could get into the car and use?  Why make things more complicated, more dangerous (if people don't know how it works and inadvertently park with the brakes off!) and more expensive to repair.  Well, the last one is obvious to be fair.

It's mainly to give you more room in the cabin.  Conventional handbrake lever has to be mounted in the middle and takes up a lot of unnecessary space...where a tiny button can be mounted anywhere and takes up no space at all.  I dare say the motors will wear out later in the cars life, but I've had to replace no end of snapped cables on the old 306s which was a right pain without a ramp so I'm not against electronic handbrakes myself...not that I've had one yet!  

[Micro]

Doesn't it have an electronic handbrake like the VW's and Audis?  If so, you can just reset it using VCDS.

Nope, bog standard handbrake with a combi caliper (don't believe it's the drum inside disc type).

I'm not fond of the electronic ones...

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[TomsFocus]

7 minutes ago, Micro said:

Nope, bog standard handbrake with a combi caliper (don't believe it's the drum inside disc type).

I'm not fond of the electronic ones...

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Oh, not sure why there would be any issue turning the piston back in then!  

[zain611]

First we had a thunderstorm (forgotten its name) and now another one coming on Thursday with a nice exotic name. Also have a 5 day a week timetable I have to get used to 

[Lenny]

Lorenzo 😅 

Wouldn't mind getting killed by that one 

 

[TomsFocus]

5 hours ago, Lenny said:

Lorenzo 😅 

Wouldn't mind getting killed by that one 

 

Wasn't Lorenzo the cop in Die Hard 2?

 

[Lenny]

14 hours ago, TomsFocus said:

Wasn't Lorenzo the cop in Die Hard 2?

 

Should phone up the Italian embassy every time they need a name for a Storm 😅

[zain611]

Need some help guys. I've noticed my touchpad left click button has stopped working on my computer 😤. Really appreciate any help. Seems I can't select something by double tapping the touch pad also

Last thing I did was clean the keyboard with wipes so don't know if the liquid from that might of went under the button. 

[TomsFocus]

I don't like the new VW logo...   I don't mind the thinning of the letters, but why does the W no longer touch the bottom of the circle?  It would've taken an extra 5 seconds on Paint to make it fit properly!   I also don't like the 3D removal, but I do understand that a 2D image works better in our modern screen based world.

 

[TomsFocus]

12 hours ago, zain611 said:

Need some help guys. I've noticed my touchpad left click button has stopped working on my computer 😤. Really appreciate any help. Seems I can't select something by double tapping the touch pad also

Last thing I did was clean the keyboard with wipes so don't know if the liquid from that might of went under the button. 

Does it work now?  Might just have needed to dry out!  I've anti-bac'd my keyboard many times without issue lol.  The usual issue I have is crumbs getting stuck under keys!

[Micro]

Does it work now?  Might just have needed to dry out!  I've anti-bac'd my keyboard many times without issue lol.  The usual issue I have is crumbs getting stuck under keys!

Aye it might think you're holding on the left button hence not being about to double tap. Let it dry and see if it improves!

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[zain611]

I used compressed air on the sides and it sadly hasn't helped. Might look at getting a new one later. 

Managed to get around it. Found a spare mouse and that manages to work now. Able to select things.