The AA

There I am trundling home last night from Driffield, about 30 miles
from home, and burrt starts missing, popping, farting and backfiring,
so switch from LPG to petrol, thinking it could be the LPG. No....
Petrol just as bad, and nicew flames out the back which scared a few
drivers....

Pull over into a lay by and he dies. Whip the top off, check the
dashpots on the carbs, fine, plenty of oil. Check for petrol and gas
to the carbs, fine, fuel getting there, so must be ignition fault.

HT lead from the coil nice bright spark, but at the plugs getting a
weak spark that is not firing every revolution. Dizzy cap off, all
looks fine with the cap, so check the dual points in the dizzy, Gaps
fine, and no pitting of the faces.

Phone the AA....

Some one will be with in the next 90 minutes. Great.... fewer
patrols in the evening and at night, hence the longer wait. We'll put
the vehicle down as a Series because we cant find 101 in our
database....

Chuck the kettle on the hob, and set up the TV on the inverter and
settle down.

AA Man turns up about 70 minutes later. I walk back to his vehicle
and get in, explaining the symptoms. He cannot see burrt because of
the show trailer behind him. I explain that the vehcile is the same
engine as an early Rangie, so is nice and easy despite the vehicle
unique.

He walks down, asks me to start it, agrees it is rough running. He
locates the coil instantly, and then identifies the dizzy as not being
the original one. Seems impressed with the dual points thing. Walks
bac to his truck and gets a spare condenser. Temporaily fits it to
the coil, instant improvement. Secures it with a self tapper and then
asks me to come back to fill out the paperwork.

Hands over the book for me to sign, and I notice he has written "1 ton
FC" in the model area. Ask him how he knew that it was known as the 1
ton. "I had 20 years of fixing these in the Army" 20 minutes of
chatting later he seems mightily impressed with the camper conversion
and the idea of comfort. He also shows the back boxes he is used to
fitting because he can't remember the last time he fitted a
condenser!!!!

me much impressed that he fixed it, as I thought it would be "I aint
fixing that, I'll send for a flatbed"

There are some knowledgeable AA men out there, and I cant believe I
got an ex squaddie to fix an ex MOD vehicle!!! Restored my faith in
the AA ready for the 14th June when it is renewal day!
--

Simon Isaacs

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote"
George Jean Nathan (1882-1955)

ROT13 me....

i was an AA patrol for a few years and the majority of the older boys know their stuff. the main problem with theAA these days is since being took over they are no longer a members club and now everything is performance related.i know what you are saying about losing faith but in my honest opinion theAA is still the best roadside rescue service.

yella disco said:

i was an AA patrol for a few years and the majority of the older boys know their stuff. the main problem with theAA these days is since being took over they are no longer a members club and now everything is performance related.i know what you are saying about losing faith but in my honest opinion theAA is still the best roadside rescue service.

Click to expand...

Yep I'll second that. A couple of years back I couldn't get my old hybrid to turn over (flat Battery), 25 miles from home. AA shows up, jump starts me Landy and had the decency to follow me home. Top Bloke.

Regards WP.

Burrt does seem to be quite familiar with the AA! ;-)

After loosing a condensor on my car and ending up having to sit on a
very busy road outside a police station (at the very start of the
month when i hadnt got round to buying my road tax yet) for 45 minutes
or so until i managed to get it to start (it needed to cool down and a
gap in the traffic for a rolling start), I now carry a spare!

On Mon, 15 May 2006 20:56:55 +0100, Tom Woods
<[email protected]> scribbled the following nonsense:

>Burrt does seem to be quite familiar with the AA! ;-)
>
don't all 101's?????

>After loosing a condensor on my car and ending up having to sit on a
>very busy road outside a police station (at the very start of the
>month when i hadnt got round to buying my road tax yet) for 45 minutes
>or so until i managed to get it to start (it needed to cool down and a
>gap in the traffic for a rolling start), I now carry a spare!

I used to carry ignition spares when I had the S3, but got lazy with
having diesel engine vehicles.... Have now ordered some new igintion
spares!!!!
--

Simon Isaacs

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote"
George Jean Nathan (1882-1955)

ROT13 me....

Simon Isaacs wrote:

> There are some knowledgeable AA men out there, and I cant believe I
> got an ex squaddie to fix an ex MOD vehicle!!! Restored my faith in
> the AA ready for the 14th June when it is renewal day!


I "sold", or at least caused to sell three 101s to the RAC man that came
to fix Bob last week.

Honest ! But the RAC man didn't fix mine :-(

Steve

> Restored my faith in
>the AA ready for the 14th June when it is renewal day!


I am glad someone gets a good service.


I got a call last Wednesday night from a lady customer who's Defender
had just lost all drive on an almost single track road whilst towing a
horse trailer. It was half 9 when she called me and asked if she could
have it relayed back to mine.

Because I did not want to wait up all night for her and trailer to be
recovered in, I went straight out to find her and tow her trailer in and
let the AA relay in the Defender.

As she was a woman on her own the AA sent out a patrol man who got there
before I did, which is all very good. But he stuck his head under the
car told her it could not be fixed then jumped in his van and drove off,
leaving a now hysterical woman on her own in a very dark country lane.

I turned up five mins later, got underneath, removed broken front
propshaft put the diff lock in and sent her on her way, all in ten
mins..... OK the patrol man knew nothing about 4x4 transmissions fair
enough... but what is really bad is that she never got a call from the
AA regarding relay etc. they just left her there.
--
Marc Draper

if the woman complains about this stating the date and time and location it will be seriously investigated, she will be compensated for her misfortune and the patrol will have a riteous bollocking

On or around Tue, 16 May 2006 17:49:09 +0100, Marc Draper
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>
>I turned up five mins later, got underneath, removed broken front
>propshaft put the diff lock in and sent her on her way, all in ten
>mins..... OK the patrol man knew nothing about 4x4 transmissions fair
>enough... but what is really bad is that she never got a call from the
>AA regarding relay etc. they just left her there.

sadly, the AA has gone down the tubes since wosstheirnames bought it. I
have to admit that I took the bribe and voted for the sale, too... But then
again, at the time, it was going to provide a New Revenue Source to Improve
Things and Make The World A Better Place. heyho... cynicism spreads another
step further...

bloody sad, I call it. The AA and the RAC used to exist to serve their
members, now their both just profit-and-return driven to hell with quality
of service.

I reckon the heyday of Motoring as opposed to mere transport was probably in
the inter-war years - enormous technical advancement (for the period), and
provided you had the money (which of course not many had) you could really
enjoy driving, romance of the open road style of fing. It's fecking
frustrating having a fast car these days (and mine, by modern standards,
ain't even all that fast) as the roads are all clogged up with boring types
who simply bible from place to place, happy to sit at 40 behind a lorry and
incapable of spotting an overtaking opportunity until it jumps up and slaps
'em round the face, wherefore they miss most of 'em altogether. I honestly
believe that some people only realise they're driving on a straight bit when
they've not turned the steering wheel for more than about 15 seconds.

I used to be ultra-polite on overtaking in traffic queues, and always let
the chap in front have a chance. Nowadays, the chap in front gets about 2
or 3 seconds, and if he's not got his arse in gear by then I hammer past
both him and the lorry, if it's safe to do so, with hand poised on the horn
button for when the moron suddenly notices the road's straight and tries to
sideswipe me.

If I could choose, I reckon I'd like to go back to about 1920 or so and be
of "independent means" as they used to say and have the money to buy cars
and possibly invent new stuff like 4-wheel brakes. I would, of course, take
back with me the knowledge I have now... mebbe I'd invent the Land Rover
about 20 years early...

that or go back to about 1870 or so when engineers were really respected,
and become an engineer in the age of steam, Brunel-style. Again, I'd want a
private income, though.

seems to me that mechanical engineers are increasingly sidelined in the
modern world, and the trade, once respected, is becoming distinctly
second-class. Perhaps I'm just in the wrong country - are there any
countries still where a good general engineer is respected?


Blimey. There's a lot of maudlin crap. Result today though: inner joint
and track rod (integral) for the tranny plus water pump ditto, 42 quid inc
vat and delivery to the local tyre place where I could pick it up.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"'Tis a mad world, my masters" John Taylor (1580-1633) Western Voyage, 1

Austin Shackles wrote:

|| bloody sad, I call it. The AA and the RAC used to exist to serve
|| their members, now their both just profit-and-return driven to hell
|| with quality of service.

I've only used the RAC once in ten years. The S2a gave up the ghost near
Brighton. I called the RAC, described the problem and told them the water
pump had failed. They accepted my diagnosis (amazingly) and sent a flat bed
to recover me to Pembs. I was home before I would have been, had I made the
journey in the Series. Can't complain really.

|| distinctly second-class. Perhaps I'm just in the wrong country -
|| are there any countries still where a good general engineer is
|| respected?

Italy, where we will be in a few weeks. A country where people often have
brass name plates on their gates, especially in the towns, and where "Ing."
as a title is seen as often and as proudly as "Dott.". If you have ever
driven down the Autostrada del Sole from the French border past Genoa and on
to the South, you could not doubt the magnificence of Italian civil
engineering. The bridges, viaducts and tunnels are utterly fantastic.

(Incidentally, the signs for turnings off the autostrada which occur
immediately after the end of a tunnel warn you that the turning comes "at
the end of the tunnel". Unfortunatlely, to British eyes, this just says "A
Fine Tunnel", which it is.)

--
Rich
==============================

I don't approve of signatures, so I don't have one.

On or around Tue, 16 May 2006 18:49:22 +0100, Austin Shackles
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>bible

fecking spell checker. what's wrong with "bimble" I wanna know?
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Pereant qui ante nos nostra dixerunt"
(confound the men who have made our remarks before us.)
Aelius Donatus (4th Cent.) [St. Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes]

On 2006-05-17, Austin Shackles <[email protected]> wrote:

>>bible
>
> fecking spell checker. what's wrong with "bimble" I wanna know?

Have you got it set to U.S. dictionary? That'll change just about
every mis-spelled word to "bible", and replace "abortion" with "roast
in hell pilgrim!".

--
Blast off and strike the evil Bydo empire!

On Wed, 17 May 2006 07:42:24 +0100, Austin Shackles wrote:

>> bible
>
> fecking spell checker. what's wrong with "bimble" I wanna know?

Nothing, I read it as "bibel" anyway. B-)

--
Cheers [email protected]
Dave. pam is missing e-mail

On or around Wed, 17 May 2006 08:16:47 +0100, Ian Rawlings
<[email protected]> enlightened us thusly:

>On 2006-05-17, Austin Shackles <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>>bible
>>
>> fecking spell checker. what's wrong with "bimble" I wanna know?
>
>Have you got it set to U.S. dictionary? That'll change just about
>every mis-spelled word to "bible", and replace "abortion" with "roast
>in hell pilgrim!".

<splutter>

nah, my news dictionary has all sorts of odd words in it. it's actually
next-to-useless for most purposes, 'cos it's been taught shed.
--
Austin Shackles. www.ddol-las.net my opinions are just that
"Brevis esse laboro, Obscurus fio" (it is when I struggle to be
brief that I become obscure) Horace (65 - 8 BC) Ars Poetica, 25