keener

Friday 2nd July, 6.30 p.m. V.tidy and v. shiney black. Amazingly shiney exhaust was duely noted too! Not sure about the dodgey shades on the driver though!

Ok, so I span my supe in to a hedge last winter on some black ice. It got repaired (eventually - parts from Japan took a while apparently) but I've since had another problem. It overheated catastrophically and had to be AA'd back to my local garage. There was basically no flow in the coolant system as the radiator was full of yellow goo and had to be cleaned out, new water pump and thermostat. £900 As the radiator and intercooler were new for the original repair I'm assuming that the coolant system would have had to have been drained to fit them. Therefor anything that was in the coolant system was the responsibility of the original repairer from the accident so they should pay for the recent overheating issue as it was the cooling system that caused the problem. BTW some investigation was done for the overheating with compression testing and it's not the head gasket leaking oil in to the coolant. They said the overheating was caused by new coolant mixing with old and that the coolant was contaminated when the car arrived with them but, as they put a new rad in surely there wouldn't have been any old coolant! Or am I wrong in assuming that the coolant system is drained when a new rad is fitted?

I had a Sigma 17-35 and it was very soft/out of focus around the edges of the frame. I bought it 'cos I wanted a (relatively) cheap wide angle to go with my 28-200. False economy it turned out to be and I bit the bullet and got the Canon 17-40L instead which is brilliant. Probably out of your budget though. The 18-55 lens that came with your camera is actually a pretty good allrounder. I'd get another one of those or a similar range wide angle. No way would I put any kind of 'wide angle' filter on a lens. It's just the worst kind of compromise and you probably wont be happy with the results. Also what's the point of putting a cheap UV filter on an expensive lens? You just reduce the light quality entering it and negate the expense of the lens in the process. Get a decent UV filter and it'd help the image quality as well as protect the lens element. I'd also advise away from doing wide angle portraits apart from your reason of getting some background in as well. Remember though that the 'head size' will be relatively small in such a group photo so you wont be able to enlarge it much later and close portraits with a wide angle distort facial features horribly.

Prob me! I was driving between shoots at various colleges all day. Hiya!

It was a fuse. The one that does the interior light as well I think he said. Anyway, replaced it and the 'bonging' I missed so much started instantly - problem solved. The chap from JFK Automotive got it within 2 mins! I guess that's what expert knowledge from installing the systems gets you! BTW JFK were great. Good service and v quick to come out to me. http://www.jfkautomotive.co.uk/index.htm Thanks for everyones advice given above as well.

OK, so I took out the battery (new in Oct 08), fully charged it, replaced it and .... nothing. Still same problems, no 'bonging', immobiliser led not lit up, radio etc works, just a click when key is turned. Any ideas?

Yup, lights, radio, lights on dash all work!

Mr AA did check the battery as the first step. It's barely a year old and is fine so we moved on from there. He also checked that the key fob was emitting a strong signal which it was so not a battery issue there either. Basically when the key is turned it just goes click which is what it does when the imobilisers kicked in so that leads me to think it's deffo the root of the problem I was confused by the clock and 'bonging' and I thought it could be a fuse that powered all of them but I don't think that was the issue. However, my limited knowledge (especially poor in electrics) means I really need an expert to check the installation so I'm searching Yellow Pages now.

I have a Cobra alarm/imobiliser which is only a couple of years old. Today I locked the car with the key-fob but when I came to unlock it I pressed the button - nothing. Tried several times but no joy - thought I'd unlock with the key and neutralise the alarm with the little press thing and the contacts inside the car but no alarm sounded. Basically the imobiliser has kicked in and car wont start. Also, randomly, the clock has stopped and there's no 'bonging' noise when door is open and keys are in ignition. Also the little red led that flashes when the imobiliser is on is not lighting up at all. I called out Mr AA but he couldn't fix it despite trying all the resets he could find in his system. The car therefore got recovered to my house but is imobilised. I need any expert advice I can get! I'm based between Banbury and Oxford in Oxfordshire - can anyone recommend an alarm specialist who can help? A mobile one would be best as the car isn't going anywhere without help! I contacted the people who installed the alarm in Newcastle (when Jurgen imported it for me) who suggested that I need the 4 digit PIN code but I can't find it anywhere. I'm not even sure I had one but I have moved house since it was fitted and that's always a nightmare. I'm hoping I can either get the code from Cobra or bypass it somehow but feel free to put me right and point me in the direction of a good expert for help! Thanks in advance!

I got an Audi S3 as a loaner while mine was being fixed. Lovely car but I'm happy with the supe but the missus wants one now!

Nope, not you - def no black bonnet!

L reg I think, I waved but didn't get noticed (gf thought I was sad as per usual). Almost as in need of a wash as mine!

I got about 320 miles on a tank full with the O2 sensor reading wrong so it was running rich. Now that's sorted I'm getting 330+ !

Service (I supplied the oil) and MOT came to £184. The diagnostic test was 1 hour and then 30 mins charged to 'remove connector & clean connections on upstream probe, re-test'.

The supe failed MOT recently on emissions as it was running way too rich. The garage did a diagnostic test which said the O2 sensor was reading incorrectly so the connections were sorted out (apparently it's fairly common they read wrong as they get so hot the connections fail) and it read correctly which totally solved the ECU making it run rich and it passed! Yay! Anyway, the main point of this post was to say that Graeme at Ernigrip at Enstone Airfield near Chipping Norton (I know - wierd name for a garage!) was really helpful and I wanted to let you all know which garage it was. He also said that the diagnostic machine they use was primarily for imports and it identifies problems almost as well as main dealers can. The local main Subaru dealer wont touch imports (apparently) so they get loads of them in as well. It sounds like a good bit of kit and the info might be useful for any other owners.

Many thanks for the advice! He was looking at the belt as wanted to check the plugs so the cover came off and he saw the belt too. Basically he was investigating all the options for it running too rich. After the diagnostic was run it pointed to the O2 sensor reading incorrectly so he sorted out the connections which solved the issue! Briliant - no big bill for me!! Re the cam belt tensioner he did say that it prob wont be a prob as it's not making any noises but to keep an eye on it. To be honest I'll prob get it changed (and a new belt too I guess) as I don't want it letting go and giving me a hhuuuuugggeee bill!

Hi all, bit of advice for a mechanical novice please! I've just serviced and MOT'd the supe and it failed on the dreaded emissions. After doing a diagnostic they sorted out the connections on the lambda sensor which sorted it right out. However, the mechanic who did it said he spotted a mark on the cam belt (which was changed a year ago at about 55,000miles) that suggested the tensioner wasn't quite right and might not have been changed with the belt. Should it be usual for a garage to change the tensioner as a matter of course when doing the cam belt? I didn't ask them to change it (as I didn't know anything about it) and would like to know if I can go over and throw a strop at them or not! As I understand it it's pretty major if the tensioner breaks. Therefore should I get it changed if it looks like a problem now?

Sunday p.m. in carpark of B&Q/Matalan in Cowley. White, lowered, aftermarket wheels and exhaust. Looked nice but in need of a clean! (just like mine )

Just a few I like - can't decide on just 1 to post! http://www.skydiveelsinore.com/space_posters/images/Earthrise_Poster_main.gif

Yup, graemec and ark have it right. This pdf should cover everything you need to know. Just be aware of reproducing logos that may be copyrighted too! http://www.thecameraclub.co.uk/download/Copyright/ABCDofcopyright.pdf

There's always the good old strip naked and attach to any traffic sign/pole nearby with clingfilm. Things to do to the car: Collect as many of the little paper circles out of hole punches as you can and pour them in the dash air vents. With the car off turn all the fans on full so when it's started they all come out. He'll be picking them up for ages!! Or maybe just rub cat food or cheese on anything that gets hot under the hood. On the wedding day find out where they're staying on the wedding night and, if possible, cancel the room. We did this for a friend with the hotel totally playing along too - aparently it was a classic moment! We did pay for a bottle of champagne for them as a 'sorry' though! Another one for the wedding night - get loads of alarm clocks and set them to go off at 30min intervals and just hide them all over their room. All the above should be used with caution and depend upon the sense of humour of all involved!!

That'll be me. (probably) Reg is ****AGR so close enough! Slightly ashamed I've been spotted as it's in dire need of a clean.

The newest Nikons are stunning and I'd change all my Canon gear if I could afford to! Having said that I'm talking about the top pro models which might be out of budget. The Canon 5D Mk2 is amazing with a full frame sensor and HD movie capability - that's what I'd go for camera-wise. If you get a Canon go for the L series for your wideangle lens. Fantastic quality. Similarly if you get a Nikon get a Nikon lens. I've had a couple of Sigmas early in my career and they were crap. V soft on the edges. I couldn't give my clients the images they were so bad. As a general comment from my pro friends I'd say Canon wideangles are better than Nikon wideangles (especially the L series lenses) but Nikon flash guns are better than Canon ones. That might help depending on what you shoot most. Posts above are correct that the lens quality is paramount but a decent body like the 5d Mk2 will last you a lifetime whereas a comsumer model like the 450d or 500d will seem limited fairly quickly if you're serious about your photography.

There's a porn star who had an extra boob made so she had 3 in a row - real or fake though, not sure but I've seen a pic! I would try and find it but wouldn't post it here as it's very NWS obviously! If that's who Ann S are aiming at though I sould imagine it's a fairly small market! LOL!

I had the exact same thing happen with an item I sold on ebay. The buyer gave me the wrong address then blamed me for her not getting it! It had a return address but has not come back to me after several weeks. She opened a PayPal dispute and, as it was a low cost item, it was sent normal mail - not tracked - so I could only supply proof of posting rather than proof of delivery. Therefor,as you've experienced, PayPal ruled in her favour and she got her refund. I had a go at PayPal and said it's ridiculous that she could have received the item (for all I know) and got her money back. They agreed and told me that that actually happens fairly often!! Nothing I could do except make sure all items are tracked in the future. However, I did file an 'Unpaid item' claim against her through Ebay. She of course denied it but, as the seller, it's up to me if I leave it or not. Of course I'll leave it unless she can prove she hasn't got the item I sent her!