mjt

'Fraid not. I suspect I'm not in your league so my code would probably not be especially interesting anyway

Well it finally stopped raining and I got the job done. I found moving the trim panels made life much easier. After figuring out how to remove the load cover it was easy to unclip the rear of the support panel. Then, after disconnecting the boot light and accessory socket, I was able to move it away far enough to see what I was doing and get a pair of pliers in. I also unclipped the top of the tailgate surround trim and pulled the side trim away to get better access to the lower of the two nuts. Here's a few photos. I did all this because the yellow on the bulb had degraded as shown and the car's due for an MOT in 10 days.

It's an educational version of the 8-bit Microchip PIC microprocessor. It has a built-in loader so all that's needed fror programming is a special USB cable with a standard 3.5mm jack plug. That means it can be programmed in-circuit. The development software is free. It uses a form of compiled BASIC so pretty simple to learn. There's a family of chips with varying degrees of functionality but I'm sure it could do what you want quite easily in a 16-bit DIL package. See here. I've also used Arduino for a more demanding project and chose it because I was already familiar with the C language. Just made my own shield board to piggy-back on it.

I daresay that's true but it's equally awkward for them. And yes, they can charge for the unreasonably long time it takes them to do it but that doesn't help them avoid lacerated fingers or dropping the thumbnuts into inaccessible spaces. The access panel could easily have been made larger, it's just sh*t lazy design.

It's not just my massive hands, it's old age with the attendant lack of flexibility and a height of 6' 2". I'm just not built for working in confined spaces. Seriously, though, one of the nuts looks really high up, I had to use a mirror to see it. Even the one that is visible is not in a position where I could get a screwdriver or pliers on it. It's an incredibly poorly thought out design and I refuse to believe it couldn't have been manufactured with easier access without affecting build efficiency.

I've been trying to change the driver's side rear indicator bulb on my Mk3 estate. As far as I can see I'm going to need to remove the load cover support panel under the rear quarter light to get to the upper of the two thumb nuts holding the light unit (there's no way I can get my large hands through the opening in the boot trim). To do that I need to remove the load cover and I can't see how its held in place. My Haynes doesn't mention this simple and obvious step, it's worse than useless (in my experience it never tells you the things you really need to know and the modern ones are getting worse in that respect). Edit: Ok, I've found it in the Owner's Manual. I had tried pushing the ends inwards but they didn't seem to want to budge. I'll have a go at prising with a screwdriver. Why do manufacturers make these simple tasks so bl**dy difficult these days?

You don't need anything as complex as an Arduino for something like that. A PICaxe would be quite adequate.

Would it be possible to print the "third rate html manual" to a pdf file? I guess not if you have to click on a link to get each page.

I happened to be browsing my Haynes manual just yesterday to see when my Mk3 is due for a belt change. It's only done around 39,000 miles but is 8 years old. The Haynes quotes replacement at 10 years. When I read through the procedure for changing it I was horrified at the complexity of the job. I wouldn't have been contemplating doing it myself anyway as advancing years means I have to delegate major work to a garage but the cost of this job must be astronomical. I'm considering whether to just get rid before it needs doing. I won't be buying another Ford if so.

I would have been very suspicious of that and I would have made fitting a new battery a condition of buying the car. Batteries get badly sulphated if allowed to go flat and don't really recover full capacity. The chances are that's the original battery and 9 years old so time for a new one anyway.

I have managed to remove that style of clip in the past using a very thin flat blade screwdriver such as a jewellers type and carefully prising up the legs individually. It needs patience and reasonable access but can be done.

If the key battery was failing you should get a warning on the display and you should still be able to start by inserting the fob into the space normally occupied by the ignition lock (I'm assuming the Fiesta will be the same as the Focus). What "usual things" have you checked? Have you tested the battery voltage with and without the engine running?

Screenwash additive is a wonderful culture medium

I've got a Mk3 estate and my seat bases hinge forward like Tom's.