Barry

Was out getting some groceries earlier and spotted this in carrefour

The way I do it is to overlay battery voltage on a trigger from one of the coils. Shorten the time on the graph so you’re just viewing 2 engine rotations on one sheet. You will see the cranking voltage drop as each piston enters the compression stroke. Using the mark from the coil trigger as the starting point, you can apply the firing order and work out which cylinder is which according to the voltage fluctuation. When a cylinder has less compression, you will see the cranking voltage a little bit higher. Same as a traditional compression test, the injector and fuel pump fuses should be removed so you can crank without firing and you should be using WOT. Using a compression tester is definitely the way to go to get accurate pressure readings but for an initial quick diagnosis of low pressure in a cylinder, a relative compression test using the computer is a quick and easy way to confirm that there is a problem without having to remove spark plugs, coils etc. saving time and time is money in this game. Once you know there’s a problematic cylinder, if you don’t need actual pressure readings, you can skip directly to a leak down test to see if the problem is in the top, bottom or side of the cylinder.

I always use RTA taxi. Sometimes the drivers can be hit and miss though and some of their personal hygiene leaves a lot to be desired

I guess he should have called Battmobile in Dubai @battmobile you owe me a commission for this

Read my disclaimer, last paragraph. I have already acknowledged your point. This article is just a basic lesson in some things you can do with your computer. For fun and nothing else. Next thing I plan to show is relative compression testing using graph overlays if you don’t have a compression tester gauge. I’m just waiting for a suitable car. There are so many things you can do with a diagnostic computer and if you’re a bit nerdy like me, there’s a lot of fun to be had. When the fun is gone from working on cars then what’s left? Sure as hell in UAE the salary isnt the motivation for doing it

Dinner dinner dinner dinner BATMAN!

Gartrac G3. Any good petrolhead knows that the Mk2 Ford Escort is one of the most iconic rally cars of all time. When production stopped in 1981, Ford brought out the Mk3 Escort. The Mk3 was front wheel drive rather than the rwd Mk2. This didn’t appeal to the rally drivers at all. A UK company called Gartrac started buying up Mk3 shells and fitting them out with Mk2 parts, with the added bonus of an 80’stastic wide arch kit. It started life with a Pinto engine bored out to 2,200ccs with a twin cam head developed by Cosworth, but these days many have been modified and you can find them with anything from a 2.0 YB Cosworth to a 2.9 V6 Cologne. When this car came out, Ford we’re developing the RS1700T. The Gartrac lapped the Ford Boreham test track 3 seconds faster than the Ford developed car which caused Ford enough embarrassment to drop the RS1700T project. Fords answer to the Gartrac G3 was to take the engine from the RS1700T and develop the RS200 I posted above. Some change! I often wonder why Ford didn’t just go all out and build the RS200 originally instead of letting a small car modification company embarrass them. Anyway, here is the Gartrac G3. You will recognise the Mk3 shape but it has phat arches and a RWD conversion. Also has the super sexy Mk3 Capri wheels.

How does that even happen? I like to play around and experiment with things as learning but I’ve never wiped an ECU! I didn’t even know it was possible! Maybe he was trying to do a reflash?

Some of you know my situation. I got screwed by an ex employer on my visa and ended staying in UAE illegally and racking up 71k in fines. No normal person can afford that so I took advantage of the amnesty and am now a free man. Its very hard to find accurate information on this process online so here is my personal experience. I hope it can help someone. Just to add, this is only the process for Dubai, other emirates will be different. Go to Al Awir immigration centre, near the jail. If you don’t drive there are no buses to here but you can go to Rashidiya metro station and take a taxi from there. It will cost you 40-50 dhs. There are plenty of taxis waiting to take you back but they will only take individuals, sharing is not allowed. When you get to Al Awir, don’t go into the main building. There is a big tent beside, this is where you need to go. One entrance for men, one for ladies. If you have no court cases, the only thing you need is your passport. If you have existing court cases you will need to resolve them first. If you had a case but it’s now resolved, you will need a NOC from the bank/police/wherever your case was. Get it now because it can take 2 weeks to complete. Now just go inside a queue up. Some people will be picked out from the crowd and asked to come to the front. We all know how things work here so don’t get offended, just be patient, remember why you’re there. If you want to exit the country, you will need to pay 520 dhs on the day. If you want to stay in UAE, tell them you want a 6 month jobseekers visa and there will be nothing to pay right now. For jobseekers visa, the person in the immigration centre will give you a piece of paper in Arabic. My Arabic sucks. I know numbers and I can spell my name so that’s all I could make out. The rest was gobbledygook to me. Take this piece of paper to one of the Amer centres and tell them you want a 6 month jobseekers visa. I recommend the one beside Oasis mall because there’s not many people and you can get through in under 20 minutes. You will need a passport photo. Bring one with you. The nearest photo studio is in oasis mall and they will charge you minimum 55dhs for 8 photos. You will also need to pay a fee of 620 dhs which is nothing if like me you have a huge fine. Your 6 month visa will be emailed to you within 24 hours. Print it out and keep it. No need for passport stamp. If anyone is here illegally or knows anyone who is, please do something about it now. The process is simple and there is less than 4 weeks to fix the situation.

You hit the nail on the head there with newbies versus oldies. I love working with old school guys. You can pick up a lot of neat little tricks that they have learned in 30-40 years of working on cars. On the other hand, many of them are stuck in their comfort zones and refuse to accept that things have moved on or there may be new ways of doing things. I see this a lot in UAE in mechanics young and old. It’s a completely different mindset here and there’s a lot of pride on the line. A lot of mechanics think they know everything and can never admit to being wrong. If you show them, they are likely to tell you that you’re wrong or you don’t know anything. Ok habibi, just trying to help, you spend 4 hours with a test light instead of just plugging the computer in and finding the fault in 10 minutes. I started the process backwards learning on newer cars with ECUs so it comes naturally to me now. Then I got into classic cars. The first time I saw a set of points I was like what the heck is this? An old guy showed me how to set them up. I got it wrong the first time and the car wouldn’t start so I asked for help. The old guy told me I was stupid and fixed it in under a minute with a screwdriver. Next day a Mercedes with a common rail Diesel engine came in, one of the injectors were jammed open. He asked me to check it on the computer because he didn’t know how. I held back on asking him who’s stupid now but we were in different eras of the same boat. One thing that makes a good mechanic is constant studying. The internet is easily available for most people. Read, read, read, watch YouTube videos, join forums, there is always something to learn about some new technology coming out. The person who believes in his mind that he knows everything and will never need to read will never be a good mechanic. Sure, he’ll be ok for a couple of years until the next technology comes out, then he’ll just say cars are too complicated now, too many computers and send it to someone like me. An open mind is the most important tool any mechanic can own, way more important than a $1,500 snap on digital torque wrench bought on finance.

A good place to keep chickens too. Stick them in at night, wind the window down a bit and close the door. Totally foxproof. Does a clamshell count as a hatchback? 1.8 BDT mid mounted engine coupled to 4WD system. 444 BHP, 489 NM torque. 0-60 mph in 3.8 seconds. Runs a quarter in 11.4. That’s the homolgation model. The full fat version has a 2.1 engine, 815 BHP and does 0-60 under 2 seconds. That sounds impressive for a car now but imagine this car was doing that in 1984. A proper supercar terroriser.

I’ll have a Peugeot E-Legend please. The only way a scheme like this will work in the way intended is if REAL discounts are offered, like a 50% government subsidy. The Tesla Model S costs 287,000 dhs. Who is going to pay that for when the same money you can have a new patrol for the desert, a Camry to drive every day and 4-5 small cars for the wife and children to bash into things in the car park.

Tesla’s are more common in Dubai than they would be in RAK. If you’re out and about all day you might spot a handful. Nowhere near Camry levels of popular but they’re at the stage where it’s on the same level of chance as spotting a Ferrari now. Cant say anything about reliability as I don’t personally know anyone who owns one. Back doors are cool as heck though. Tesla seem to have the electric market covered here. I never seen a Leaf or a Zoe and they would be the most popular in Europe.

Most of you know that I’m not really doing much mechanic work now but I still like to keep a finger in (fnarrr) and do bits and pieces. I’ll try to post more stuff like this when I’m doing car work but it won’t be a regular feature. This is the easy way to find a leak in an air suspension system without getting your hands dirty. The first thing you need is some diagnostic software and a bit of basic knowledge how to use it outside of just scanning and clearing DTCs. This method should be possible with all modern diagnostic software excluding cheap code readers etc. You need to enter the suspension system, read the codes and make a note of them then clear them. Clearing them can temporarily enable a disabled system allowing you to carry out tests if you work fast. The codes I got were, 01583-Leak detected in system 01577-Switch off due to excessive temperature 01583 is pretty self explanatory, it means the system has detected that the air pressure is dropping somewhere, ie an air leak. 01577 is a symptom of the air leak. It’s important to remember that not every fault code is the main fault, it can be caused by something else which is where a lot of people go wrong. Because of the air leak, the compressor is running for an extended period of time, causing it to overheat and switch off. This could be misinterpreted as a faulty compressor or relay but we will carry out the full diagnostic process rather than fire the parts cannon. FIFT- Fix It First Time Now we’re going to find out where the leak is. Enter the live data function and select compressor relay status and absolute height of all 4 shock absorbers. I have only selected the front shock absorbers because I already know the fault is in the front and am showing for demonstration purposes. Now, select graph mode and overlay all parameters in one sheet. It should look like this, You can see from the legend that the dark blue line is compressor on/off status, purple is left front height and light blue is right front height. Unless you are sure the problem is in the front, you should also have selected height for both rear shock absorbers and will have 2 extra lines. Notice how when the compressor is in the on state, both shock absorbers raise but the front right never reaches the same level as the left. When the compressor switches off, both shock absorbers start to drop. The front left drops slightly and levels off. The front right drops massively and continues to drop until it reaches the lower limit. The compressor switches on again just before 120s and the cycle begins again. We can see from this that the problem lies in the front right corner so 75% of the manual diagnostic work has been eliminated. I already know the problem is a leaking airbag because the one on the other side has already been replaced, but you will want to get a spray bottle filled with soapy water and start spraying it all around the air suspension components on the front right corner when the system is running. Wherever you see bubbles, that’s where you have an air leak. This is easier to do if you have a 4 post lift where you can raise the car but still have the wheels grounded. I’m lying on the ground on a piece of carpet which makes it more difficult to access and see components. A couple of final warnings. Never jack up a car with air suspension without first putting it in jacking mode. This can play havoc with the calibration settings and cause you problems when set the car back down. Never open any part of the suspension system without first venting the system. Your computer should have a function to do this somewhere in actuations or special functions. The danger of something pressurized flying off and hitting you is real. Slackening a pipe to let the pressure out of the system isn’t a good thing to do. When you loosen a nut on a pipe, you have less threads holding it in place. The pressure can easily overcome the lesser amount of threads, strip them and blow the fitting off. If it doesn’t hit you between the eyes, you’re left with 2 damaged threads which will be difficult to repair. Even if it does hit you between the eyes, you still have to repair the damaged threads you caused after you go to the hospital to get stitches. One last thing before anyone says it, I know you can use your eyes to find the problem. This is just an exercise in some of the things you can do with your computer.

I thought if I turned them inside out after the third day nobody would notice

Picked up a 50” Samsung in Carrefour for 1250.

Here you go @desertdude a cute little Fiat 126 to cheer up a grumpy old man

Ford Fiesta RS Turbo. Sure a lot of people here will write it off but a 1.6 Fiesta that could do 0-60 in 7 seconds in the 90s is nothing to be sniffed at. A proper hatchback hero. Expensive as hell to buy now. People laugh but Fiesta STs are the car to invest in now. History has proven it.

What’s a camel cut? Random guess, it’s cutting the bottom of the front bumper off to increase the approach angle.

Yeah but you live in the Middle East and have done for a long time. Nice dry climate. Try owning one in Ireland where it constantly rains and they put salt on the roads for 3-4 months of the year. I can make any engine run for 30 years but it’s sad watching the body and chassis of a good car falling apart. I guess the only good thing is that it taught me how to weld. My disco started to eat through at the rear doors where the arch part is. Then the bottom of the doors started falling apart. It’s possible to weld aluminium but it’s not like steel where you grind the bad part away and add new metal. When aluminium corrodes, the whole panel turns to a white powder, aluminium oxide. I’d love to see a build thread on Bid Red. One thing this site is lacking is proper build threads

Wow crazy. I remember the first time I posted on here. I was trawling through the uae car forums looking for a place to fit in and make friends and chat to some like minded people. I settled into carnity and this is what I found. I’ve met so many good people and made a lot of close friends along the way. May your God(s) bless you all. If you don’t have a God then may you have the best of luck. I wish Carnity all the best and look forward to seeing you grow and go from strength to strength.

2 memes for the price of one

There used to be a saying at home. Drugs are for mugs, mugs are for tea, tea is for me! Im sure some amateur mechanics can relate

Late 2016 Pajeros should have CarPlay capability. The earlier 2016 ones didn’t and will need the headunit changed if you want it. If I was you I’d speak to Al Habtoor and ask if your car is supposed to have it. If it is and it’s not working, it should be covered under warranty. There have been cases of faulty units. If you just don’t have it, you might be able to pick up a later model head unit in saa’ja scrap area. There are some people selling aftermarket Android units in dragon mart in the 1,200-1,400 price range.

It should just be a matter of plugging your phone in and switching CarPlay manually on or plugging it in and asking Siri to switch it on.