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Barry

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Everything posted by Barry

  1. Barry
    The standard price for a mechanic here is 150 per hour. I was thinking of hiring out lift time for 100 per hour. With my usual 20% carnity discount, which would leave it at 80 per hour. A full day would cost 500 for Carnity members. The garage is all set up and ready to go. We just need customers. Tell your friends, tell your family, tell your grandmother she can change her own oil and @Barry will be on standby to help. Garage hours are 8-6 sat-thurs but out of hours can be arranged.
  2. Barry
    Also this would be a 24/7 service although outside normal working hours would be slightly more
  3. Barry
    Where I come from, the majority of petrolheads work on their own car. Since I came to UAE I've realized people have nowhere to work on their own car because of rules and regulations. I'm currently working on a project but I need to gauge interest. This would enable you to come to a garage, hire a lift and work on your own car for a minimal fee, less than a mechanic would charge. The lift would be available, tools would be available for hire if you need them, diagnostic computer would also be available for hire. If you get in trouble, a fully trained technician would be available to help you out. Classes would also be offered to teach the basics. I would also offer full body shop services including paint booth with a professional body man available to help. Does this sound like something you would be interested in?
  4. Barry
    Hi Deepak. Give me a call after the weekend and I'll see about organizing the use of a lift for you. I might even make an appearance and help you 😉 With regards to painting underside components, a good scrub with a wire brush, wipe with thinners then hammerite brushed on is as good as anything. Rattle can paint looks good but it's not really a durable finish. If you want to be really flashy, you can disassemble everything and get it powder coated. This is what I used to do when I worked in the restoration business. As @derik said above though, rust isn't really an issue here in UAE. It's just surface rust, it rarely eats through things. Back home in Ireland it's a real pain in the ass. Every winter they treat the roads with salt to get rid of the ice. Salt is a major catalyst for rust. Come spring time, it's 2 months flat out welding older cars patching sills and wheel arches. As for rustproofing products, all I have ever used is Waxoyl. Bilt Hamber and Dinitrol also make alternative products but I have no experience of them. Pump it inside the chassis, sills and everywhere else. This is why vehicles have plastic rubber bungs in random places underneath, excluding the floor drains. Waxoyl is good but I don't think it would cope too well with an off-road vehicle here as the sand would scrub it off. What they used to do in the olden days is use waste oil. Brush it on thick all over the bottom of the car and the oil repels the water. It's not particularly durable, it needs to be done 2-3 times a year but it works. I can remember my grandad doing it on his Austin 1800 when I was a kid.
  5. Barry
    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/motoring/range-rover-reborn-motoring-icon-makes-return2/ Just like they done with the series land rovers, you will now be able to buy a 'new' Range Rover classic.
  6. Barry
    http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/criminals-steal-3-million-engines-12551952 £3 million of engines have been stolen from the JLR plant in Solihull, England. That's almost 15 million dirhams! The thieves drove into the plant in a stolen lorry, hitched up a trailer and were gone in under 6 minutes. After they got rid of the trailer, they came back and did it again! It must have taken a lot of planning and seriously big balls to even attempt this. I think it had to be an inside job. I wouldn't be surprised if some of them made their way here.
  7. Barry
    The first thing you'll need to do is remove the intake manifold and anything that is attached to it. Then remove the plugs from the coils. Next remove the 10mm bolts holding the coils and take the coils off and put them somewhere safe. Next remove the spark plugs with a deep 16mm socket. As the old Haynes manuals used to say, refitting is the reverse of removal. In the older models, it's possible to change the plugs without removing the manifold, it's just awkward. They changed the design in 2006 or 2007 and made it a pain in the ass. It's not overly difficult, just time consuming.
  8. Barry
    @Rahimdad credit should be given where credit is due. I have never met @treks but his advice has always been spot on. I don't know everything and I've never pretended to know everything. I am competent and 100% capable in my abilities to rebuild anything but I have no shame in admitting that I sometimes consult the workshop manual before I start a job. When you do this for a living, every day is a school day. Anyone who says they know everything is a liar. There is always some new technology coming out on the market and being a professional technician is a constant cycle of reeducation. In the next 10-20 years I guess our current trade will be almost redundant with the uprise of electric and autonomous vehicles. I have no interest in that sort of stuff. I hope to retire as a chef, not a mechanic. This was something I started doing as a hobby and got lucky making a career out of it.
  9. Barry
    My passion is old fords but as a technician, I can say that Toyota make the best cars in the world.
  10. Barry
    This is a very simple and cheap test you can do on your own car. All you need is a cheap multimeter at 40-50dhs. You can probably pick one up even cheaper online or at somewhere like dragon mart. I'm sure some of us have experienced a problem where you parked the car up in the morning and went back to it in the morning and it wouldn't start because of a flat battery. Why did this happen? It was working fine last night? You should first test the battery with a proper battery discharge tester. This is a bit more expensive than a multimeter and I appreciate that most people won't have or won't buy one. Next thing you need to check is the functionality of your alternator. You can do this with a multimeter which is one of the tools i recommend everyone should have. Set the alternator to VDC. DC volts. Measure the battery voltage across the positive and negative terminals with the engine stopped and ignition off. It should be 12 volts give or take half a volt either way. Next, start the car and measure the voltage again using the same method. Depending on the car, you should see a voltage of 13-14 volts. If you rev the engine and see a wild fluctuation the charging regulator could be fried but this is a whole other topic. Ok, now that you're sure that your battery and alternator are fine, let's find out why your battery is draining overnight. Disconnect the negative battery terminal and connect the negative wire on your multimeter to the negative terminal on the battery. Tape it on if you have to. Next connect the positive wire on your multimeter to the cars earth lead. Again, tape it on if you have to. Now turn your multimeter on. Set it to the highest possible amp setting and turn it down gradually until you get a reading on the screen. Once you see a reading, this is your battery drain. Pull the fuses out one by one and watch for the reading dropping to zero. When you pull a fuse and the reading drops, you know you have found the circuit where the problem is. Check your cars fuse diagram and see what the fuse corresponds to and you know where to start looking for the problem. **diaclaimer** I accept no liability for any harm or damage caused by following this guide. Always read your cars manual and consult a qualified mechanic before carrying out any repairs.
  11. Barry
    This is a very simple and cheap test you can do on your own car. All you need is a cheap multimeter at 40-50dhs. You can probably pick one up even cheaper online or at somewhere like dragon mart. I'm sure some of us have experienced a problem where you parked the car up in the morning and went back to it in the morning and it wouldn't start because of a flat battery. Why did this happen? It was working fine last night? You should first test the battery with a proper battery discharge tester. This is a bit more expensive than a multimeter and I appreciate that most people won't have or won't buy one. Next thing you need to check is the functionality of your alternator. You can do this with a multimeter which is one of the tools i recommend everyone should have. Set the alternator to VDC. DC volts. Measure the battery voltage across the positive and negative terminals with the engine stopped and ignition off. It should be 12 volts give or take half a volt either way. Next, start the car and measure the voltage again using the same method. Depending on the car, you should see a voltage of 13-14 volts. If you rev the engine and see a wild fluctuation the charging regulator could be fried but this is a whole other topic. Ok, now that you're sure that your battery and alternator are fine, let's find out why your battery is draining overnight. Disconnect the negative battery terminal and connect the negative wire on your multimeter to the negative terminal on the battery. Tape it on if you have to. Next connect the positive wire on your multimeter to the cars earth lead. Again, tape it on if you have to. Now turn your multimeter on. Set it to the highest possible amp setting and turn it down gradually until you get a reading on the screen. Once you see a reading, this is your battery drain. Pull the fuses out one by one and watch for the reading dropping to zero. When you pull a fuse and the reading drops, you know you have found the circuit where the problem is. Check your cars fuse diagram and see what the fuse corresponds to and you know where to start looking for the problem.
  12. Barry
    @Rahimdad, @treks is very qualified, way more experienced than me. Ill answer your question though, these jacks work on pressure. When the pressure builds up in the exhaust system and there's nowhere else for it to go, it starts building up in the combustion chamber which puts extra strain on the head gasket. It's a bit like blocked DPF or catalytic converter doing the same thing. Just to add, I have no experience of using these jacks, I'm just applying theory and common sense to it. I wonder how they work if you have 2 tailpipes running from one centre pipe. I imagine you have to block the other pipe off with bananas or something?
  13. Barry
    Hey, check out this amazing item VLX 25 pcs Professional Socket Set, 1/2 inch drive VL425E for 150.00 AED on Souq.com App. Check out more deals @souquae or download the Souq.com App. http://uae.souq.com/ae-en/-12153503/i/?utmsource=Souq This isn't bad for the price and has 2 spark plug sockets in it. Extendable ratchet is nice too. We all have to start somewhere. Check out this handy guide I wrote too,
  14. Barry
    Have you got a picture?
  15. Barry
    This looks like a useful tool for the off roaders
  16. Barry

    TV boxes in UAE

    Barry posted a topic in Off-topic

    At the minute I'm using iPad and a lightning to hdmi converter connected to the tv to watch movies etc. It works ok but I'd like a smaller and more permanent solution which I could leave connected. I looked into the option of getting a raspberry pi 3 and building a box but on investigation I can buy a ready built android box on Souq.com for half the price it would cost me to build it. What boxes are people using and what software? Is VPN required on the box and can it be installed and run easily or is it too slow? Ideally, I want the full works with all movies, live tv etc. and if it was airplay compatible it would be very awesome. If anyone has any information I'd be grateful.
  17. Barry
    Dash cams are now legal in UAE, http://www.khaleejtimes.com/dash-cameras-legal-in-uae The most important thing to do is stay calm. Dont let them goad you into driving faster, stick to a speed you're comfortable with. Sorry mr police man, I had another car up my ass isn't an excuse that will get you off with a speeding fine. If you can, pull to the right and let the idiot past. Don't get too close to the car in front either. It's bad enough if you happen to get rear ended but it's even worse getting sandwiched. There's a chance you won't walk away from it. There is also the temptation to brake test them but just remember that if they're already up your ass over the speed limit and flashing their lights, there's a chance that they're not a particularly well adjusted or civilized human being and you could end up with a broken jaw next time the traffic flow stops. For some reason, certain people turn into big assholes when they get behind the wheel.
  18. Barry
    http://www.euroncap.com/en/results/ford/mustang/26063 i have to say I'm pretty shocked at this. I didn't think it was possible for a car to score so low these days.
  19. Barry
    I had forgotten the name of them. Color tune plugs. I've only ever actually seen one person using them and he was a proper old school mechanic who had been working for over 40 years.
  20. Barry
    I have a huge box of adapters but 99% of the time I just use one one Bluetooth adaptor. It's standard odb shape with 16 pins but has some trick circuitry inside that allows it to adapt to read almost anything. Generally, I only need a different adapter for older cars like BMW and Mercedes that have a different plug shape but nowadays it's all standardized. I'm using Launch X-431 Pro software on android which is basically a copy of the dealer software and gives me full scan and programming capability. As long as I stay on top of the updates, if the main dealer can do it, I can also do it. I can remember using some of the older snap on diagnostic systems where you had to change different 'keys' in the the adapter in order to read the ecu. Things have come only really fast, even in the past 2 years. As for some garages not being able to read some cars, that's the difference in spending 50dhs on a generic code reader and spending 9000dhs on the proper tool for the job. One thing I've seen a lot of is 'mechanics' scanning for fault codes and blindly changing parts to make the problem go away without any real understanding of what the code means or how the system works. For example, a code will come up for airflow meter. They will fit a new one at 6-700 without even have taking any readings to see what is actually going on. The problem could have been a loose hose clip but they just fitted a 700dhs airflow meter which didn't fix the problem, 'because that's what the computer said'. There's a lot of guys here who call themselves 'full mechanic' when realistically all they are good for is changing oil and brake pads. I spend a lot of my time teaching and training and honestly, it can be frustrating sometimes. A lot of it spent trying to undo bad habits and false information that has been taught by people who shouldn't be working on anything bigger than a Honda 50. Anyway, I digress, initial computer diagnostic scan will always be free with me for carnity members.
  21. Barry
    @brandan 600 bhp from a 3.5 is nothing really. You could extract that from a 2.0 with proper tuning techniques. You'll need a big turbo but it is doable. If you guys are ordering food I'll have masala dosa please.
  22. Barry
    I watched the videos behind the design of this cylinder head and found it very interesting. Does anyone remember glass spark plugs that used to let you see the color of the flame inside the combustion chamber? They were used for tuning purposes.
  23. Barry
    Honestly, this is new to me and not something I know much about although I believe the decreased reliability would come from the much higher strain on internal engine components.
  24. Barry
    I'd also like to add, if it isn't a scam, how come there isn't 3k, 5k, 10k changes all around the world? Why does it only happen in UAE and parts of America? Why does the rest of the world stick to manufacturer recommended service schedules?
  25. Barry
    @taqir because they want your money. Pure and simple. When I joined my current garage, a lady from one of the above mentioned companies visited me and asked why would anyone use oil from one of the other above mentioned companies because it was crap. The oil in the car came from one of the local oil companies. I won't name it but it was a blue jar with orange logo. Engine sludge isn't a thing where I come from, it just doesn't happen. I have never seen it until I came here. People look after their cars according to manufacturers specification. I am 100% confident in what I say and am happy to stand by it. Service centre intervals mean nothing. It's made up bullshit. Use whatever oil your vehicle manufacturer recommends and change it when they recommend.
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