clubby2084

I know!. If were not supposed to eat animals, why are they made out of meat ?.

My A/C was working fine one day, then not at all the next. There was no drop off in performance, it just stopped. My compressor was leaking, no gas left, no working compressor. Do what Trev said, get it regassed and tested. Then decide what you want to do from there. Be warned, to convert my A/C to R134a gas + new compressor + bits a pieces = $1200.

This evening I managed to speak to the bloke who rented it. It has only ever used it's petrol engine since he picked it up (this can be explained by using the A/C on full). But he said that for the last day and a half the petrol engine will not turn off when the stop button is pressed. Europcar told him to take the key and walk away, this would stop the engine once the key was out of range. It didn't. He told me the Camry had been idling away all day at his work as well (he joked that at least the A/C was cold when he got back to the car). He was going to tell Europcar to shove the petrol bill as well. Since he can't turn the thing off why should he pay for all that wasted fuel. He's got a point but, knowing rental companies - good luck. It is currently in the car park and all is silent, he managed to switch it off. You might be right Nisrola, maybe the electrics got a soaking.

at 5am it was still going. At 0530am it had switched off, or been switched off. Wonder if the person who rented it would be liable if the things cooked. Jeez, I've heard of Commodores and Falcons with their "auto off" head lights not turning off and flattening batteries...

3am still going. It's getting a bit warm around this car.

Since 7pm there has been a new Toyota Camry Hybrid idling away in the car park. We don't know who owns it. It is currently 0130am and it's still going. Head lights and driving lights on, A/C on. I checked the car out, it is locked. There is a message on the dash display that say's "key not detected", so I guess it has a proximity key. Why it's still going without the key around is bizzare. I have also called the rental car company who owns it. They said they would send someone around to look at it. Waiting, waiting. So we're taking bets on how long we think it will last. I'm guessing it will run out of fuel first (full tank), but the pistons and bores will be nicely glazed. Anyone want to take a guess at this?.

If there's any left ?. I'd like 1 x white url comic sans, and 1 x white RC logo. Cheers

S*#TS me to tears that does. Years ago my mate bought a used car from a car yard and on the receipt was "Ford Torana". WTF...

:eatlead: Oh god don't get me started... It was catorgory 1 for about 5 minutes. If it's anything less than a catogory 3, go to the pub. The amount of water it dumped was impressive though.

Rang 4 insurance companies today to see if I could a better deal for insurance on the Clubby and the Rolla. They all said the same thing, "Due to current weather conditions we are unable to provide cover for your vehicles at this time". I responded, "The sky is blue, there are no clouds, the sun is out, are you saying you can't provide insurance because the weather is perfect?". Response "We can't quote because Darwin had a cyclone last week". Ah OK then. A. LAST WEEK!, not next week, not currently. B. Ferkristsake!, it was a catogory 1. I didn't notice it WAS a cyclone, and neither did my Corolla as it happily took me to work in the middle of it (crossing flooded roads, I'm so proud). C. My place of work has a huge underground carpark that is a designated Cyclone shelter, so how safe do you think my cars will be... Bloody Insurance companies, their right up there with axe murders, prostitutes and car salesmen.

I saw someone selling a turbo exhaust manifold for a 4ac on flea bay, $200. Just an idea...

Get the carb rebuilt and have them look at the jet sizes. This was the cause of the surging with my carb (the stuttering at 2000 - 3000rpm you mention). I ended up paying for a Dyno Tune. This allowed the mechanic to see exactly where the carb was (and wasn't) performing through out the rev range and under differnt loads. Wasn't cheap, cost close to $800 for bits and pieces and the tune (this did not include the cost of a carby rebuild as that had already been done previously). Holy Crap - what a difference. Expensive, but the difference is amazing. Drives like a new car.

Sorry guys this is a bit long but, I need to vent. I'm ready to lose the plot... WHAT THE F@#K are Repco putting their name to these days. I ordered new disc rotors for me AE82, "we'll call you in 5 to 7 days when they get in". That was October and I'm still waiting for that call. I ordered new thermostat and housing, "we'll call you in 5 to 7 days when they get in". That was September and guess what, I'm still waiting. Hey Repco, Autobahn DID call back, so shove ya parts. 18 months ago I rang Repco to enquire about a reco 4AC engine for my Corolla. Yep, we have one in stock, no worries. So, I book car into local Repco Service Centre. 2 weeks later mechanic tells me Repco does not have the engine in stock and will take 10 weeks to get one in (yeah it took two weeks to figure that out). It would be easier to rebuild my engine rather than get a Repco exchange. OK I say. 9 weeks later (WTF) the car is ready. In the last 18 months the rebuilt engine has constantly leaked oil (and LOTS of it) from the crank seal and rocker gasket. The engine has constantly consumed coolant, not much around 200ml a week (though it never leaves a puddle). In the past 18 months the car has been back 4 times for service and roadworthies, and every time I asked about the oil leaks and coolant loss. I've got BS every time and no result. 3 weeks ago the engine started firing on 3 cylinders at start up, checked the spark plugs and noticed #4 was wet. Engine then started using around 3 liters of coolant per week. Ah huh I thought this may explain the coolant usage. Booked car into see mechanic. Day before car was to see mechanic, it boiled. Oil in the radiator, coolant mixed with engine oil, the whole messy lot. I spoke to Repco mechanic who now tells me this is "pilot error", meaning it's my fault I didn't check the fluids. Not so I say, it's his problem because I have been complaining about this for 18 months (20 thousand kilometers) and while the engine was under warantee (12 months 20 thousand kilometers) he did nothing about it. Wonderfull thing is, mechanic called me today and tells me he's inspected the engine and it's fine. There's absolutly nothing wrong with it. "So, what about the sump full of white foamy oil", I say. "Oh", he says, "I didn't look for that, I'll check and call you tomorrow". I would love to take the car else where but seriously can't afford it. And although the engine is no longer under warantee, this tool has said he will "look after me" regarding the cost of fixing the engine (personally I think it SHOULD be fixed under warantee). I think I'm the one about to break down, not the car...

Sorry I'm late with the well wishes but, hope you had a great day mate. How many consecutive 21st's is this one ?. Happy birthday... :party:

LOL - yeah Katherine is a great place to drive through, quickly. Should have warned you about that one. Honest, it's the only place on the planet you can smell before you see it. If the world needed an enima, Katherine is where they'd stick the tube... And another good first impression of our "drunk and abusive" er, wildlife. Welcome to Darwin, thanks for the story and the pic's.

I think they could use your Corolla as one of the pistons !.

To ship my Corolla from Brisbane to Darwin cost me $1800, to ship it from Darwin to Brisbane $400. WTF. Trucks go back empty so, they take anything for next to nothing. Loving this thread, good read. Hope the Rona gets here in one piece. Any pics of the drive up?.

Thanks to everone who gave suggestions to fix my digital TV issues. The coax cable is about 14 months old, as is the antenna and mast amplifyer. However, the antenna is at the back of the house and the lounge and TV is at the front. Meaning, it's a LONG coax cable from the back to the front of house. That could be one potential reason and something to look into. I used to live on Brisbanes southside (Logan Central) and my HD TV used a rabbit ear antenna, it was great, only dropping out during storms. I "upgraded" to a cheap antenna from Dick Smith, zip tied it to the side of the house and it never dropped out. But honestly, this just seems to be another one of those second class services Darwin is subject to. You would think that as Darwin is flat, there are no mountains to get in the way, that reception would be easy.

I can agree with both Hiro and Prosbo. A better aerial doesn't help when you live in the tropics and get daily storms, for 6 months of the year. During the dry season it's great, during the wet it's crap. When a tropical low or cyclone is hanging about and there's constant cloud cover - no digital TV. We also experience the same problem with Austar (Foxtel). Of course, Austar are happy to continue to charge for a service that can be out for hours (or days) on end. In an area like Darwin where the cyclone warnings are updated hourly on free to air TV, reception at a time like this is crucial (OK listen to the radio. My father is deaf, what does he do?). While the reception IS better on bright sunny days, it fails in too many other area's. That line between reception and nothing at all is too fine. Must do better...

LOL... Smells like fish, tastes like chicken ?.

I can confirm the same price for Darwin, around the 80cpl mark. Darwin even has a port that ships LPG to Asia. The place is swimming in LPG. Years ago (Ok in the mid 90's) I had a Rambler Matador that ran on LPG, cost $12 bucks to fill. Today it would cost around $45. As for ULP, we're currently paying 132.9 for ULP, 142.9 for 95 PULP and 158.9 for 98 PULP (only available through BP). Even though some of the tankers sail from Singapore straight past Darwin on the way down the west coast, to deliver fuel back by road.

I had a similar problem with my 4AC. Temp gauge was around half way, sometimes higher. But I knew the car was not overheating. I replaced the temperature sensor. This is what tells the dash gauge how hot the engine is. It was faulty and was giving a false reading. Cost me about $20 or $25 from Repco. Problem solved. Temp gauge now sits around the quarter mark.

I have a mate who works in a wreckers. After a few cases of knock of drinks on a Friday arvo they have bet's over how long an engine will last without water/coolant. Start up wreck, rev engine to around 2000 to 3000rpm and wait until it stops. Apparently, Corolla engines are some of the most robust. Either lasting until boredom sets in, or not stopping at all. But who here didn't know that...

Not at a wreckers. When I was 16 I used a 2 liter plastic milk container as a make shift fuel tank in my first car. A rather, um, fetching (make that fluorescent) orange Mazda 808 wagon. I used a small piece of fuel line from the fuel pump, placed into the milk container and zip tied to the inner guard of the engine bay. Worked well too, drove the car home the 7 kays from where I was, with out any fires (probably just as well as I didn't have a fire extinguisher handy). My next door neighbor, a mechanic, had a fit when he saw what I had done. The milk container had started to distort from the fuel and heat and, was just minutes away from breaking and spraying fuel all over a nicely warmed engine. Ahhh. When your 16 and bullet proof. Would I do this now ? - HELL NO.

Bit hard to say if it's been in a accident from photo shown. I'd probably just try and adjust the locking mechenism in the boot. Maybe it has had a shunt and the lock hasn't been adjusted properly. Either the lock inside the boot has two screws to undo and adjust, or the striker on the boot lid can be adjusted.