Andy Spencer

In fact here is my original advert from back in August....fingers crossed he has kept it in good nick and someone can get a good buy http://www.rhocar.org/index.php?showtopic=34153

That's my old car, only sold back in August 12. It was A1 when I sold it and has not done many miles since so is likely to be a very good buy at that. Whilst I can't vouch for its current condition, and I have no connections with it or the seller, if anyone has any q's about it in general feel free to drop me a PM. The guy that bought it was a nice chap but not very mechanically minded. Its a great car and setup - if you look in the for sale section on here you'll probably dig out my advert from back then with a more detailed spec. Andy

I've found the halfords info is incorrect in some cases. If the car has a DPF you'll need a C3 spec low ash oil, almost certainly fully synthetic. However which one exactly can be very confusing, I do sympathise! Depends on whether its a long life oil or not. I now just use an ACEA C3 spec 5W30 fully synthetic in all our various modern cars, especially turbo diesels, and still change it at 'old school' intervals.

Cheers Tim...yes a Hoody heart and head for sure hence renewed membership for 2013! The comment was about taking the car into shows not myself...eg Stoneleigh....I know I'll always get a good welcome in person on the show stands. Can't imagine the guys on the gate letting a Z3 into a kit car show, but maybe (hopefully) wrong...! Perhaps I'll get some GBSC badges for it and pass it off as a new Z3 replica kit :)

Hi all Well, after a 6 month search for the right 'weekend' car having sold the Hood last summer, I've finally found exactly what I wanted. 2002 02 plate, 3 litre Sport, straight six so sounds great, lots of kit inc heated seats, Harmon kardon stereo, chrome pack, genuine 46k miles with a folder packed with history......and all for £500 LESS than the Hood's sale price. An awful lot of car for the money. Despite some divided opinions, I think it rides and handles really well, I really like the retro styling, and it will get a bit more use than the Hood hopefully. Maybe a future classic, and prices won't get any lower than the current market I suspect. See you all soon hopefully, now I'm mobile again....although suspect it won't get entry to the stand at the shows!!! Cheers Andy

I bought some of that from him for my 120d on 18k ish service intervals to do a change myself at about 9k miles, its genuine (the hologram is spot on) and had no issues at all over 9k miles, delivered next day. Will use again as an interim oil change.

Dear all Thanks for your help and advice. I've sorted the problem - a combination of Furnox F3 in the system for a few days, a reverse flush out, cleaning of all valves (inc a full dismantle and clean of mixing valve) and pump impellor now gives me a flowrate of up to 3l/min (set it down to just over 2). Floor has warmed up nicely over the weekend so much relief from the cold! Once again many thanks

Another good point - I hadn't realised this could be the case. We've been running the heating for quite long periods with the TRV's set medium to low to try and reduce internal temperature fluctuations. I've got a good hot feed to the underfloor manifold when boiler is on, but will open up some TRV's to see if I can improve flow rate through the underfloor manifold valves. Hope that I don't have to let other rooms get scorching and waste heat just to maintain flow rate in the underfloor system. Counter productive. I think I'll give the system a good flush out and clean all valves as well. Cheers for the advice.

No I haven't. Good call. Will take a look at that tonight. many thanks

Hi all We have a wet underfloor heating system in a single storey downstairs extension. 2 circuits in one large floor. 6 years old and been brilliant so far. However recently in the cold weather I've noticed its just not working too well. Read up on some common faults and bled it over the weekend (no air), checked pump working (fine) and took the mixing valve off and cleared it of crud (yes there was quite a bit in it). What's strange is that even with the two flow control valves/meters on the hot manifold fully open, I can't get any more than 1l/min flow rate through them, unless I close the mixing valve, where they jump up to about 4l/s (closed loop circuit). If I close one I can get about 1.5 to 2 l/min in the one circuit with mixing valve open. Therefore I think the issue might still be with the mixing valve. It cleaned up nicely though and seemed to flow, I also flushed out the hot central heating boiler water feed to it in a bowl until it ran clear. Unfortunately I haven't monitored flow rates historically when it was running fine and understand that about 1.5 to 2l/min is ideal. I still get a 45 deg C feed to the hot manifold and exit pipes are slightly warm, about 30 degrees, but I just don't think I'm getting adequate flow to warm the screed slab, as it doesn't feel warm to the touch as its done in previous years. Any ideas welcomed and many thanks Andy

I have a few maps you can try. PM me with your email address and I can send them to you. Don't get your hopes up too much though, they rarely work well until specifically set up on the rollers but may get you to a state of being able to idle smoothly. Beware that using unknown maps could cause some damage if pinking etc so use at your own risk. Thanks

Well went for a late 2003 Disco 2 ES Td5 7 seat Auto with 68k miles. Seems well looked after with a pile of service receipts, all old MOT's and a LR main dealer or specialist stamp in the book every year and lots of 'common fault' work done in recent times, including the rear suspension airbags and leaky sunroofs. No towbar fitted so should not have had too hard a life and rear chassis isn't too rotten like most seem to be with just a surface coating. Looks nice in black with the beige leather. Fingers crossed all goes well walking away from a 2 year old to a 9 year old car! At least you can still fix most things on them with a spanner (having tinkeritis withdrawal symptoms since the Hood went) and lots of specialists around if it does go pear shaped. Thanks to all for the advice.

Thanks - if its a Disco 2 will be a Td5 auto, and will probably get it properly ECU remapped by Td5 Alive or Dynachip, very good write ups on the LR forums. Just got to find one that hasn't got a rotten chassis now - a 2003 80k miler last weekend had finger sized holes in the rear outriggers and under boot floor. A proper professional Waxoyl treatment probably a good investment as well. Shoguns £1-2k cheaper the Disco's but just don't seem to have the appeal and following and spare parts / repair network. Cherokee probably worth a look. They don't do 7 seaters but have only used them a couple of times in the Santa Fe - useful as the kids grow up and ferrying friends about though. Cheers all

Thanks all, very useful. Range Rover out, now down to Disco 2 (likely candidate) or Shogun. Then onto the Hood replacement at some point (maybe after knocking garage down and rebuilding with bedroom above!) Cheers

Hi all Thinking of selling our fab 2010 Santa Fe (still with 2.5 years warranty) to release some capital towards an extension on the house. Need a fairly dependable 4x4 that can tow a twin axle van and get up our steepish drive and in / out of the village when snowy, get 3 child seats across the back and a buggy, dog and the rest in the boot. 7 seats as we have now a bonus. Got it down to a 2004 ish Mitsi Shogun or a Disco 2 - the D2 appeals in so many ways more than the Mitsi but are they as bad as their reptation makes out? Seems like all 4x4's of that era have their issues and at least with the Disco you can work on them at home, there's also a wealth of specialists on every corner that know them inside out. Looked at a few, varying condition, frightening amount of chassis rot for 8/9 year old cars. Am also tempted with a 2004 one owner, FLRSH 99k mile Range Rover TD6 for £9.5k in Derby - heart says yes, head says no! Renowned for gearbox, front diff and steering rack issues. Any advice / experience appreciated. Cheers Andy

Despite the poor reputation I ran a raceline rail for nearly 7 years on a zetec, couple of 3mm holes in the stat to aid the warm up cycle and stat opening, never leaked or any issues whatsoever.

Original post updated to reflect current availability...........

Already done....have offered to pay for first years membership for him and we're just sorting details now.....

More pics

Hi all As the 2B went to a new owner this morning, and didn't want to store many spares, I'm having a clear out. As a point of thanks to the many on here that have helped me over the years, I'm not going to ask any money for the items - they are all free and first come first served, with a priority given to full RHOCAR paid up members (if that's allowed under the rules). All I ask is that they are collected, either personally or via a Hoody convoy as I haven't got time to do lots of small parcel posting. Also please take to use or keep as spares, not to sell on. I'm also close to Donnington (near Ashby in a village called Newton Burgoland) so easy pick up if you are going there. So here goes: Sierra rear wheel bearing kit (one side but new nuts for both sides included) Type 9 gear lever inc Sierra 5 speed gear knob - TAKEN Brand New R Hood tank sender and pick up - TAKEN New sealed beam Lucas headlight Set of Sierra rear drive shafts (2 litre push in type) - OK but CV boots gone, includes hubs Set of driveshaft seals for push in type diff New roll of exhaust manifold wrap - TAKEN Clutch cable heat shield sleeve (protects from heat on pinto engined cars) - TAKEN Exhaust bobbin Mountney steering wheel horn ring Pinto engine mounts (not Sierra, from Mk 3 Cortina I think) - TAKEN 2 litre Sierra rear drums (inc back plates, slave cylinders, brake shoes, would suggest need a refurb before use) 2 Sierra track rod end rubber boots (now MOT failure and the RH ones perish quickly, easy swap) Either PM me or drop me a text on 07747 191961 if interested. Thanks Andy

Now sold......off to a new life near Sheffield as of a couple of hours ago.....and hopefully another club member in a few days.... Now have a garage space that needs filling ..... shopping time!

I've just had a similar experience with the guy from France, seemed genuine but in the end it didn't work out, although never lost anything other than a few emails and a bit of time. Be prepared for that. Much easier to do a UK sale - mine's gone today to a guy in Sheffield.

That's a shame. As per previous post I'd have thought a resourceful recovery company could have found one to fit, even temporarily. A trawl at a local friendly motor factors would have probably come up trumps. As long as the 2 end fitments are the same, length should be able to be overcome. Guess by now you are on the back of the truck. Good luck. Andy

Well funnily enough this nearly happened to me Friday. Took the car to work Thurs and Fri last week, about 100 miles each day, (nearly half its annual mileage for last 2 years in 2 days, shameful!) and started to notice a bit of clutch judder in 1st and reverse when engine / drivetrain hot. Clutch pedal felt strange so had a look at pedal box Friday at work and cable was nearly broken (lots of strands!) near pedal. Got home and had a spare so fitted it, pretty much same procedure (although not super spec), took me about an hour, quite easy with front up on ramps. Modified angle slightly from pedal end to stop it happening again. Took car out after and incredibly different, much smoother and no judder. Glad it happened to me before its sold.....