406oc.co.uk

The MoT came and went last Thursday, with not a word said about the bodywork. Consequently, a very disreputable-looking but actually quite well maintained 406 will continue to potter around the Cornish lanes for at least another year (barring accidents) and probably as long as we are still allowed t...

Thank you both for your replies. This problem eventually solved itself. I found on eBay a Sasic part, reference 4522852, described as 'Gear control rod' ( Biellette changement de vitesses in the maker's French). Having checked the vendor's applicability list against the one on Sasic's own website (w...

Last week a ball-joint in the gear-change linkage on my 2001 90HDi saloon fell apart in the middle of the road. An AA mechanic improvised a repair but emphasised that it was only a short-term solution. I am hoping to find the necessary part[s] myself so as to minimise the time the car spends in the ...

Y682_door_03.jpg Y682_door_01.jpg [attachment=1]Some time ago a person whom I cannot characterise in civilised language, charging round a blind corner, forced me to impale my left-hand rear door on the bumper of a Land-Rover, with the mournful result shown in the attached images. The door is actual...

Since I last wrote, another squirt of WD40 has at last found the right spot and the passenger-side lock, which had seemed to be utterly dead, has returned to perfect normality. The conversion kit (£24.95 from Amazon) remains in reserve.

Oliver Mundy.

Thank you! I must confess that I had no idea that there were such things as aftermarket remote-locking conversions available. I have now ordered a kit. As my electrical knowledge is hopelessly stuck in the 1950s (the era of two-fuse systems, rubber-sheathed bullet-connectors and one-page wiring diag...

My 2001 HDI90 saloon has a single key of the transponder (non-remote) type. Some time ago the driver's-door lock stopped working (it will not turn either way), so that I had to rely on the passenger-door lock; this too has had its problems, but until lately a squirt of WD40has always revived it.With...

Thank you both for your suggestions. I had re-set the date and time on the multi-function display. In fact, however, there is no mystery - and no hope. On removing the head unit I found that the green circuit-board behind the front panel was cracked across one corner, with the result that at least s...

Last July I wrote about the curious behaviour of my RD2 Clarion radio, which had no working on/off switch and which occasionally refused to stop playing when the ignition was switched off. Lately it has gone to the opposite extreme. I had to take the battery out for charging after the auxiliary belt...

Less of a panic than I thought. I have been able to order a transponder key from the local (Penryn, Cornwall) branch of Hawkins on the strength of the registration number alone, without needing the VIN. I still have to decide what to do with the car during the week or so that may intervene before th...

A few weeks ago I posted an enquiry about obtaining an additional (non-remote) key. This problem has suddenly moved into another dimension, since while shopping yesterday I lost the key - the only one I have. The car is stranded in an unlit and unsupervised car-park, waiting to be clamped, vandalise...

Thanks to all those who have offered suggestions. I have been away for a week and am only now able to catch up with correspondence. I shall probably treat myself to a transponder key as a new-year present.

Oliver Mundy.

My problem here is that I have got one car, one key and one working front-door lock. The car is needed five or six days a week, so that I cannot send the key away for repair. The key itself is comprehensively disembowelled and can only be used in the locks themselves. Until now I have not felt the l...

Good lord! :shock: Does he leap off with a scream of "Banzai!"? We used to have a cat that climbed the wallpaper when I was a kid... If not, it is only because I never stay within his arc of fire long enough; I have lived with Siamese and near-Siamese before. Apart from that, you have read his char...

I introduced three of our current five cats in the Pug Pictures section a few months ago (see 'Another good plain workhorse'). Here is another, Plato the black half-Siamese, at one of his favourite tricks.

Oliver Mundy.