craigowl

Corrado_sunderland Sometimes you surprise me. No, that's wrong - I mean often you surprise me!

Leeds? $hit! - I have been ill for about 6 weeks. Firstly had the worst 2-day flu virus for decades - fever for 36 hours. Got that after being down in Harrogate and Leeds! I was visiting my childhood haunts of 57 years ago. My throat has swollen and I have not been able to swallow certain foods without choking and have lost my voice quite a bit. Doctor has booked hospital inspection with the endoscope. I got worse just after having the "Flu jab" for pensioner age folks! Do they understand risks of these things properly, I am asking myself.

Yes, I did that when the new ecu had the car running a bit lumpy. Look up wikipedia or google. The technique worked on mine. You have to start the car first though and let it idle to working temp. disconnect the battery for about 20 mins, reconnect, turn key to 1st position for a few minutes then start and go for varied run of several miles. Cant confirm this 100% so check 1st. Dont know what you do if car wont even start 1st, though!

Don't want to be alarmist (doh!) but I have just had to replace ecu on my 1995 VR6. It was the last item in the long chain of investigation after replacing relays, etc. They are 17 years old now and expert advice indicates they are expected to fail.

My ECU failed a few weeks ago. I wasn't even looking at it! "Old electronic component" I was told, liable to die. A nuisance if you have to source another.

Nice one, Dougie, thanks.

You'd have to be soft in the head to fall for that one, Mr Scarecrow.

Yes - sod's law - the last and most expensive link in the chain. No new ones around, but you can get a used one with the correct part no. for about £70-100 on ebay, but not coming up very often when I was looking. Vince at Stealth happened to have one.

If you are in touching didtance of Linlithgow, 2 phone numbers to know are: 07836 772499 - Graham Pettigrew (Autosound Autoelectrical) Winchburgh, West Lothian. (He fitted radios/phones to Henrik Larson, Jackie MacNamara and Colin Hendry's cars - to name but a few) 01506 842709 - Tarduff Motors Ltd. Linlithgow, West Lothian. Both highly recommended. I have used them for 11 years for VR6.

Back and running! Another ECU from Vince did the trick. Autoelectrician tested and eliminated everything else. He was here about 4 times and spent quite a few hours helping me out. Thanks, too, to Colin Low at Tarduff Motors in the town. He kindly checked for fault codes after I had run the car for a while and eliminated last fault by attaching loose connector to fuel injector 1 - for no charge! - I have been a regular for years, though. So, if you are in touching distance of Linlithgow, 2 phone numbers to know are: 07836 772499 - Graham Pettigrew (Autosound Autoelectrical) Winchburgh, West Lothian. (He fitted radios/phones to Henrik Larson, Jackie MacNamara and Colin Hendry's cars - to name but a few) 01506 842709 - Tarduff Motors Ltd. Linlithgow, West Lothian. Both highly recommended.

IIRC about 5 years ago one went for about £120 - may even have been a used one.

In my book, then, these guys are cutting their own throats. I have vowed not to use them ever again - or Parcel2Go, unless it becomes widely known that they have improved.

They have agreed a refund - almost fell off my chair. Funny, as I was engaged in "live chat" emails with P2Go, my Parcelforce man came to the door to pick up parcel. Yodel - operating for Parcel2Go had the cheek to say they called on Monday at 1525 hours and did not get an answer and they left a card. They did neither. We were in all day and I was on the alert for a van - we were in the front room overlooking the road outside at that time.

Still have a parcel here that was to have been picked up on Monday, then yesterday by Yodel through Parcel2go (Bolton) who I have used for a while and with whom I have had no problem until now. I have paid for collection once then again with a smaller surcharge. Communication problems - no replies. Meltdown? A lot of negative stuff on consumer websites. I like to support businesses in the north - experiences like this give places a stigma.

If I ask nicely, is the passenger seat still available from this car?

Wild camping - a man after my own heart. Good luck - it isnt as easy to find places as it used to be. Snooty areas like St Andrews and northeast Fife (landed gentry) wont take kindly to "that sort of thing". Plenty of formal camp sites, though. Maybe a farmer will let you camp in one of his fields if you ask nicely and dont tell him you come from a place near Greenock. (Kidding!) ---------- Post added at 11:45 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:40 AM ---------- As you seem interested in aviation, Jamie, here is link to my flickr site - Lancaster at Prestwick airshow when I worked there. Some others from shows there too. Best wishes Iain

As a boy growing up nearby in Dundee, I went 2 or three times in the early 1960s. I remember Hawker Hunters, followed by Javelins then Lightnings as the state of the art fighters regularly flying over the city 1955-64. My first place of work, before being detatched, was in the tower at Leuchars when I was 19 in 1964. All conversation had to stop when the Javelins or Lightnings took off. Really nerve-wracking for a youngster if you were on the phone at the time and unfamiliar with the work. The racket was ear-splitting. I concluded that the Lightning, in particular, was "all engine" and everything else was merely add ons. Before that, whilst at school, the most awesome visit - never to be forgotten - was to the airshow in the early 1960s, when the Cold War was at its height, and our three "V-Bombers" were there. We, the spectators, were cordoned off, only a few tens of metres it seemed, from the aircraft as they took off. Imagine that these days. The ultimate noise and power came from the Victor as the engines were spooled up - the most incredible sensation and noise of sheer power made the ground tremble - and all your innards! Unforgettable and never to be experienced again, though I spent another 9 years at airfields both civil and military. As a small boy in Leeds in the early 1950s, I looked up to the sky and saw an, at that time unfamiliar large triangular shaped aircraft, flying - probably towards Yeadon. I now know that was the Vulcan. Someone on an aviation forum said the new Vulcan (probably) flew over the Avro factory at Yeadon to honour the workers there. Don't know if that is true, but it sounds likely. Can still remember that exciting "aviation moment" after about 60 years. Oh...and I remember going to a place as an even smaller boy with my father to see a Lancaster that toured the UK in large sections on long trucks and was assembled to show us what we won the war with. A bit triumphalist, but post-austerity Britain was a gloomy place for adults in those days.

Thanks dr_mat. Yes we had fault code 546 (data line fault) or something similarly vague. I have spoken to the legendary Vince at Stealth (what a nice guy) and have sent the ecu to him to get the immobiliser castrated. Apparently my car has the factory immobiliser, plus the Laserline one the sparks fitted 11 years ago when I had the pesky alarm removed. Dont really understand what happens next. My head needs an ecu replacement.

Nobody? This is like the time I upset the cannibals - gave me the cold shoulder.

Bump for post #22 Questions. Some of you guys will be able to answer theez, pleez!

I ended up using a trickle charger. Never a problem for 11 years - same battery! A lot of people have trouble with VR6 battery going flat after a fortnight if car unused. Endless speculation to cause - from boot light remaining on to idiosyncratic behaviour, possibly due to factory immobiliser. Many a good battery has been scrapped because of this, I suspect.

http://www.ecutechnologies.co.uk/index.php Any one know of their work? Does Vince do the same thing?

Found when browsing - they will test your ecu for about £45. Comments re doing that welcome, too. Dont want car immo deleted as it has to be insured by prospective buyer. Peter Remmington Auto-Tec Diagnostics Unit 7 Austin Fields Industrial Estate King's Lynn Norfolk PE30 1PH Workshop 01553 782929 Mobile 07816 424847

After 2 visits to my car by the autoelectrician, he has narrowed it down to (i) immobiliser (have ordered one from eBay) (ii)ecu He is muttering something about how the local VAG garage will not give him the "7-figure code", despite him having done jobs for them for years. It is under new less-friendly management (familiar story?). He says the best thing would be if I could get (with correct part numbers) ecu, immobiliser, barrel halo and keys. Purple Tom had them a year ago, but he has not answered my PM as yet. Anyone know him? I cant get my head round how that business of sending the ecu to Vince at Stealth for immo delete works. Does that sound like a good option?

Tom, you have PM, Iain