Panda (Classic) Charmanda(er) The Panda

[Didge3]

I had a near miss today...

A man in a Peugeot 406 or something like that had broken down on a bend exiting a roundabout, it was unlit and he had no hazards on, I exited the rounabout and almost hit the back him, thankfully I missed but I slid across the road and hit a grass verge
Char' is completely fine fortunately other than having got her wheels a mid muddy...

I drove her down the road a bit and left her with hazards on and then Peugeot driver came to see if I was alright. He explained his alternator had probably died since he had no power hence breaking down and furthermore not having any hazard lights...

I helped him push his car away from the bend to prevent it happening again.

I checked Char' over when I got back and she definitely looks unscathed, the steering doesn't pull to one side either so hopefully she's got away cleanly....
I can only blame myself as I could've exited the roundabout slower

EDIT:
Visuals to make it easier to picture, blue line is me, red box is Peugeot.

 

[Panda Mo]

Glad that you and Char are both fine. The roads would be so much safer if it wasn't for all those other drivers!

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Blame the French, I would

 

[homeward]

Glad that you and Char are both fine. The roads would be so much safer if it wasn't for all those other drivers!

We were just discussing this at an IAM training session....

Personally, I don't think Didge3 did anything wrong: as the Pug was basically parked around a blind bend, just off a junction. At least you were quick-witted enough to avoid something nasty happening....

Are you sure you didn't roll Char, though...? It looks like there might be a slight dent in the roof, from here...! :devil:

 

[homeward]

Blame the French, I would

Moi, aussi...!

 

[Didge3]

Are you sure you didn't roll Char, though...? It looks like there might be a slight dent in the roof, from here...! :devil:

Uhmm.... :idea: No I think a fox sat on her or something...

 

[Didge3]

Spent the weekend in Reading.
We hit her next milestone, everything still working, she even hit indicated 80 on a flat with ease at one point, not sure what came over her
Also managed to find the warm spot on the heater, very pleasant

 

[Didge3]

I had a dream about washing Char' last night....

Ahhhh

 

[Palio]

I had a dream about washing Char' last night....

Ahhhh

Must resist, must resist......

...........

...........


.....Nnnggggg :bang:







That would be the proverbial wet dream then??!


You set em up & we'll knock em down!

 

[stu0710]

:life: I hope that you used the two bucket method.....

 

[Didge3]

Well my secret is now out after being spotted
Me and Char' have been making weekend trips to Reading, I actually filled her to the brim on Friday for the first time since the very first time I ever put petrol in her, I almost put fancy petrol in but then decided she wouldn't notice the difference what with her being 90,000miles young and having a carb

Still haven't washed her
She's been treating me awfully well though, would you believe me if I said we hit an indicated 90mph on a slight downhill (on a private airfield of course )
At a mere 5200rpm in 5th, the steering wheel vibrates quite a bit past 85, it won't be happening again....
However she does seem to cruise at 80 fairly easily on a flat now, I guess the engine is finally run in now or something

 

[Panda Mo]

Char has always been a good runner. A lovely car to drive!
I really can't believe that you haven't washed her yet! How can you be so cruel!
Go on. Do the decent thing and give her a wash and a polish!

 

[Didge3]

Char has always been a good runner. A lovely car to drive!
I really can't believe that you haven't washed her yet! How can you be so cruel!
Go on. Do the decent thing and give her a wash and a polish!

She is a lovely runner. I fear I may have to take her to a car wash of sorts
The problem with living in Uni halls is you have no outside water source and I'm not carrying a bucket (or two) full of water down 6 floors, and then a 4 minute walk to where she's parked up. She'll get a proper wash and polish the week after next when I'm back home for the weekend

 

[Panda Mo]

Pleased to hear that but please don't put her through a car wash!

 

[Didge3]

Pleased to hear that but please don't put her through a car wash!

I was thinking more the self service pressure wash in big Tesco's but I don't really like the idea of that either... She might just have to hang on another 2 weeks.

 

[blu73]

take a chamois, some cloths and some polish to the jetwash - get some polish on it and
1. it will protect it
2. it will stay cleaner for much longer
3. when it next need washing a quick spray at a jetwash and the dirt will just fall off

Make sure you get inside arches and underneath hosed down as well

 

[Didge3]

Chilly mornings, seems to bog down a lot for the first ~mile of driving.
Starts up after about 5 seconds of cranking on half choke at the moment and then she'll idle at about 1600 before moving off. That's all normal but what is odd is if you blip the throttle just after shes started she'll just shudder without the revs increasing at all, once shes been running for about 20 seconds she'll start responding to the throttle a lot better and then she's back to normal after about a mile of driving as I said

 

[Palio]

Chilly mornings, seems to bog down a lot for the first ~mile of driving.
Starts up after about 5 seconds of cranking on half choke at the moment and then she'll idle at about 1600 before moving off. That's all normal but what is odd is if you blip the throttle just after shes started she'll just shudder without the revs increasing at all, once shes been running for about 20 seconds she'll start responding to the throttle a lot better and then she's back to normal after about a mile of driving as I said

All sounds perfectly normal Didge, don't worry.

You have a car which is a pensioner in car terms (is it older than you in real terms too?).

You're not a pensioner, but I daresay if I stood you out on my drive for a night of dampness & frost, threw a cup of coffee down your throat & kicked you off down the road to run a marathon, you might be a bit grumpy too.

Your choices are:

1. Let her warm up a bit before moving off.
2. Live with it and learn to drive round any hesitancy when cold.
3. Buy a new car which might be ok until the computer says no it won't start today, or the traction control & abs can't cope with snow & throw you into a wall.

Hope that helps By the way I go for 2 because I'm impatient, but eventually have to accept number 1 as winter progresses!

 

[Didge3]

As long as its normal that's fine, I knew she'd be harder to start in the cold but I was just checking something wasn't wrong with the bogging down. I'm opting for 1 at the moment since when I drive her at the moment I'm never in a rush so I just sit and let her sort herself out for about a minute before I move off, haven't had any smoke from exhaust yet though, quite surprised

 

[blu73]

i've always been one for starting the car and then buggering off inside the house while it warms up a tad (spare key required to lock door, and cinq has removeable steering wheel too so i'm quite happy no-one will manage to take it), but thats more to do with the fact i don't want to scrap the ice off the car because i'm lazy. Been a while since i had carbs but it was, and still is, part of the course when it gets cold and you have carbs.

As a side note to that, how mad is it that a really old classic beetle has an auto choke of sorts, i was pretty surprised to find this out when i had beetles.