Polls
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| Our Classics: Peter Simpson (Grey-haired Editor-in-Chief bloke) |
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By: Peter Simpson
MY CARS 1867 GNR Railway Station
My Rover Sterling never ceases to amaze me! Despite having been stood outside for a year, and not having been started for three months, she fired up instantly a couple of weeks ago. All I had to do was charge the battery – which had gone flat only because of the clock and automatic alarm/immobiliser, and after a good boost-up it’s holding fine.. Not only that, but when I took it for MoT it failed only on the handbrake – fully expected as basically it wasn’t working – and one non-working stoplamp! There weren’t even any advisories; these days that’s very unusual with a classic, as testers tend to want to cover their backs in case an ‘self-appointed MoT expert’ subsequently discovers something the tester ‘should have spotted’ and complains to VOSA. If it’s listed as an advisory, the tester clearly spotted it but judged that, at the time, it wasn’t a failure... You are, of course, allowed to drive an untaxed car to and from a test appointment, provided it is insured and the test has been pre-arranged – the latter is important, and make sure the testing station actually write down your details somewhere, because if you are stopped on the way, the police will almost certainly phone them to check. Back to the Sterling. To be fair, there was a bit of brake binding for the first mile or so, but a couple of ‘emergency stops’ soon had that cleared and sorted. Once there, the handbrake problem turned out to be caused by a broken nearside cable – the clue from underneath was that the operating lever on that calliper had moved right over under spring pressure. A new cable sorted things. There are, though, a couple of other issues that need addressing. Firstly, the damned alarm immobiliser is extremely reluctant to disengage – and arms automatically if the car is locked. I think the problem is fob-related –most likely the buttons need renewing and the good news is that replacements seem to be available for under £5 online; I’ve order a pair and I’ll let you know how I get on next month. The other issue – and this has emerged since the car was last used, is that sometimes the electric windows don’t close. This is a common problem on these cars – and a key reason why you rarely saw an 800 in a scrapyard with its window switch panel still in place. However I understand that the problem often isn’t actually with the switch but the vehicle wiring – I need to investigate this more too; any ideas/leads gratefully received! In my case there’s an additional slight complication; as the coupé has only two doors and thus only two opening electric windows, it requires a different switch panel from the saloons and fastbacks. Mind you, the only difference seems to be that the extra switches aren’t physically in the printed circuit board, and I do have a spare four-switch panel, so it should be possible to adapt this – again, I’ll let you know how I get on... |
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