jumbojake

dumb question for a Friday ..... in a traditional diesel, you can see the glow plugs light fire up and turn off before you would crank the engine... with the 'go button' on the IS, I have always assumed the computer does it... but on recent cold mornings it seemed to crank immediately, and then struggle to fire.

Is there anyway to hold it on glow plugs before cranking, just to give them a chance to warm things up ?

13 minutes ago, LenT said:

I have assumed that you're addressing me, Chris. Well, it's a bit of a digression but I'm happy to explain.

I should emphasise that I can only comment on Mike Brewer's TV persona.

1.  So, firstly what is a 'Wheeler Dealer'?  Well in common parlance it's someone who, while engaging in a commercial or political transaction, is prepared to employ unscrupulous, unsavoury, deceptive, amoral and even dishonest practices to achieve their ends.  Typically, the used car salesman is cited as the architype.  So it's a pejorative term - but one that Mike Brewer uses to define himself!  I would have thought that would answer your question!

2.  The premise of the show is that Brewer uses his 'skills' as a self-defined wheeler-dealer to buy cars at the lowest possible price and then resell for the highest possible price after "my mechanic" has worked to restore them to pristine condition.

In doing so he will often appear to be less than forthright with the seller and then gloat after the purchase at having bought the vehicle for 'silly money'.  I often wonder how the Seller must feel when they finally see the programme?  I do wonder if the agreement is that they will accept a low offer from Brewer - to make any eventual sale that much more attractive - with the sweetener of an 'appearance fee' to make their actual sale acceptable?

Equally, when selling he is not above claiming that he has other buyers ready to pounce, when he has already revealed that there's not actually been that much interest!  Again, do those Buyers feel themselves to be a little bit duped when they watch the programme?

Ultimately, as such factors as the costs of labour, workshop overheads and such like, were never included, it's unlikely that any project even broke even!  But of course, it didn't have too.  The buying and selling components were simply a vehicle to give Brewer a reason for being there.  In that respect I actually prefer an alternative car show called 'Car SOS',. which presents the restoration not as a commercial venture but as an altruistic endeavour.

3.  I find his attitude to Edd China patronising.  He is introduced as 'my mechanic' and often berated for not doing what he, Brewer, has instructed.  Now this may all be for dramatic effect, but it's uncomfortable viewing.

The irony is that Brewer is credited only as a Presenter; Edd China is an Associate Producer.  In the hierarchy of production companies, it's Brewer who works for China!

4.  I only speak for myself, but the buying and selling are irrelevant to me.  The real skills are demonstrated by Edd China - the diagnostics, the mechanical demonstrations, the automotive insights, the ultimate restoration - all supplied by Edd China. (Although in reality he is also aided by Paul Brackley, technical advisor for the series, and occasionally one or two other mechanics off camera).  Brewer became increasing conscious of how relatively insignificant his contribution was, and this can be seen in the later US produced shows when he would be shown, for example, changing the spark plugs or 'supervising' the machining of a cylinder head!

5.  Another reason for Brewer's 'expanded' role was because the American production company, Velocity, which had bought the show, realised that the most expensive part was the workshop section and they decided to save money by reducing it.  This is what prompted Edd China to leave.

 

I suspect you haven’t seen the show for a very long time. Edd left the show many years ago, been to the US with Ant and now back in the UK with Elvis.  
 

IMO, the first two mechanics did jobs you could DIY, and good interesting consumer telly… the new one is going beyond what a DIY could do, but still interesting.

In the real world, my IS200d was sold to me from a main  dealer, with some very sketchy repairs … I would have more trust buying off Mike Brewer that the Lexus dealer I bought my IS from!

regardless, if you just bought it and the engine light is on, they should fix it or refund... it shouldn't be your responsibility to sort out.  The rules were brought in to stop people like that trading.

Might be worth checking your pads.  I have read stories of the friction material separating from the back plate.  If they fitted new pads along with the calipers, then may have been faulty

take it back, expect a refund or repair.  Car traders have to abide to the rules, they can't just brush it off.

3 minutes ago, royoftherovers said:

Sure, it is a lot Eric, but it started me thinking.

You paid £1.60 for one litre of fuel.

Last week I paid 10 euros ( £9 ) for 10 litres of Gin

The previous week my wife paid less than half of the cost of your fill up, to Ryanair to fly 1000 miles back to U.K.

There are indeed many perspectives on the cost of fuel.

are you suggesting we should convert our cars to run on aviation fuel or Gin ?     I understand Prince Charles converted his Aston Martin to run on cheese and wine... I kind of like where this is going!

We’re in Hull this weekend, no E10 available at the pumps, and E5 was at 164.9/l …..  seems like the sky is the limit

I've got the satnav and as Zricib says it is pretty poor, I wouldn't bother... I use waze on my Iphone, much better and only cost me a £3 magnetic holder for the air vent 

from what I can see, the fuel prices there are lower, but not enough to justify the trip.. probably save £10/tank.. but as prices keep rising here who knows! 

I like in Kent and many years ago, you could fill up your tank in France, and fill your boot with groceries saving enough money to pay for the chunnel ticket and a nice meal ...although train tickets are now over £100, I wonder if it is still possible to make savings ?  I've not heard of any problems with fuel prices or food shortages in France... given what we saw at the weekend here, high prices and shortages are something we will need to get used while brexit effect takes time to settle down

well, for sure, all petrol stations got all their tanks drained ! ..  and no doubt all sorts of crap pumped out the bottom and into peoples cars.. nice and clean now!

Starting to see some fuel arriving here in Kent, not everywhere yet, but definitely improving.. as more stations open, the queues are finally reducing

is that on Lexus UK? ... I just tried and premium edition is £36500 ? ... and I looking in the wrong place?

when the first launched the ES, the premium pack included the posh seats, with extra leg support .... is that now only available on the takumi ?

all brake discs corrode as soon as you park the car ... the car wash might have used some chemicals to increase the effect, but also powerful jets get into places water normally doesn't.   It's not clear if your problem is the pads or the handbrake shoes.. possibly the handbrake  as that was used.  The rear pads are not used very often (only by the computer if hard braking)

note sure WD40 is a wise idea... I know it is water repellent (not lubricant), but it is an oil regardless and I wouldn't want to contaminate the pads.

maybe layoff the handbrake after a carwash (we don't use it much) .. and get it serviced next time to ensure mechanism is greased up (servicing rear brakes on a hybrid are a real pain .. Lexus wanted to charge a fortune to look at ours) 

I get the same on my IS200d ..... seems to be very sensitive to the road surface and camber... it's always been like it, even before/after both front and rear brake changes.

yes, just spotted the same regarding petrol prices... if the availability of a price relates to being open, then we now have 3 of 8 stations open, the independent one that stung me £1.74 has dropped their prices to £1.45 .. so clearly things are improving.  Surprising the BP, esso and shell  stations seem to be closed most of the time.. supermarkets seem to be open the most

we've got 8 stations in town, at the most there has been 3 with fuel, always with queues... this morning it was Asda and Morrisons... no doubt it will be different ones by now.  to be fair, at 6:30 this morning, the queues are not that long, but did reach onto the main road.

Before this 'event', it seems like there is always some pumps at a local station dry at any time, more noticeable this year ... similar to lack of milk in supermartets... it use to be rare, now it's quite normal to a shortage

I agree, there is little benefit to the user at the moment, it is all about national management... currently they are really wasteful with generating based on a guess of the load, this will allow them to tune it and smooth out the demand, making power generation more efficient... but will only work if enough people have it. 

The only benefit to the user is quicker switching to profiled tariffs, but they don't really exist yet and the switching market is dead for a while anyway.

There is talk to use the car batteries as spare capacity for the grid... so when you get home at night and plug in, it might take some power from you, to cope with evening demand, then charge you up in the small hours when there is excess power in the grid .. all pretty smart and could even make you money if you sell power at peak and buy it at the low, but it's clear to see the potential shortcomings .... glitches, change in behaviour etc...  feels like 10yrs off to me

one of the features the new smart meter rollout across the UK, will be a capability to control the new breed of smart chargers (and perhaps other smart devices in the future) ... this means the decision to charge a car will be in part made by a central control ... the idea is to control spikes into the network, making more efficient use of generation ... but of course might also have more drastic measure should generation get into trouble for whatever reason

ok, sounds like it is not related to electrical load, so maybe something in the fuel or combustion area.   

Do you notice power at low revs is less than before?   when I had this, there were clouds of black smoke out the back... sadly I didn't have the batman theme tune to go with it

white smoke is usually either water vapour (head gasket)happens all the time.......  or unburnt fuel (glow plugs), noticeable at startup, but shouldn't be when engine is warm

the idle revs can move around slightly due to electrical load .... (air con, lights etc) .... if you turn off the heated seats and turn off all fans... does it stabilise?

I've neve noticed the DPF regen happen in my IS 200d, maybe it does on long runs, but not noticed any change in the car behaviour or any indicators on the dash.

Do you see any smoke out the back ?   black smoke is often a sign of pending DPF issues... I had that in my old Toyota Avensis, along with poor acceleration at low revs.

yes, I have noticed the roads much quieter than normal, and people in less of a hurry, even on the M25 near Heathrow.. a relaxed drive which is nice ... there is always an upside.

if you find the one petrol station in town with fuel, there will be a massive queue.... and for sure they will see their sales up by 400 or 500% are reported here before... if you can get it, you will sell it for sure!

I noticed waze routed me a different way to work yesterday (160mile round trip) ... didn't pass a single petrol station with fuel ... it occurred to me that's because the ones with fuel will be backing up and blocking the roads

Prices are all over the place.... seems like the smaller ones are really taking advantage of charging what they want.. so long as they advertise the price, they are breaking any rules... just taking advantage.

I’m afraid I disagree… sure there was a small spike in fuel purchase, but that should not have caused the impact we have seen…. Empty pumps for days..  People don’t queue if they already have a full tank, the queues are due to limited stations with fuel, as most are closed.

Many empty shelves at supermarkets for weeks now, and the fuel spike was triggered after BP sent a memo to the government warning they are on the edge due to lack of HGV … this is 100% due to limited supply, which was predicted before brexit vote, but ignored …and ignored again this year as many parts of the economy have been complaining as demand has been returning since COVID… it’s been in the news every week for a long time.   They said they wanted control, but are not taking control and for sure not taking responsibility… absolute disgrace.

that is interesting... I paid £1.74  for diesel today ... I have to go to work, so with limited options, I had no choice.... clearly profiteering from the petrol station, but think of all that extra tax for the government.

I agree, I think a few people filling up on Friday when they don't normally was enough to break the system .. now  they are limiting to £30 per fill but despite that there is no sign of the problem easing, just people more desperate as they cannot get to work.  

Yes, I'm in the red-light to full camp, always have been... going forward looks like that is now limited to red-light to half tank... and hope there is available fuel pump somewhere on the way! 

The green's should be using this as an opportunity to push electric... I'm surprised their voice is so quiet.