The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

Thank you my dear old sprint. When my expensive Audi A3 won't start because the instrument cluster has gone down the backup always will and does start. Now faced will a large bill to fix, the RAC could not get it going so a specialist auto electrician is booked in. Nothing wrong with fuel compression and spark on our sprints and away they go. Long live simple mechanics that owners can fix at ease.
Long live our triumphs of all kinds.

Yep.
I had to get rid of my Astra due to an intermittent "tps" problem. That's what all the scanners showed, RAC, Snap-On, whatever, and they were wrong. Replaced the sensors (two of them on that model) the fuel pump ecu, the main ecu and key module, lots of plug/socket connectors, cleaned and checked the egr valve, on and on.
Bit of a nuisance in the summer, but at least I knew I could jump in my 1850 and get to work safely and on time. Now the 1850 is sorned for the winter, I had to get another 'modern'.
The wife also acquired a 'new' car in February - a 19 yr-old Micra, 34000 on the clock, full history. No ac, no electric door mirrors, no power steering, no electric windows, no central locking, no thing to go wrong
K.I.S.S.

Modern cars aren't all that much different to "our" cars. There's just more electronics. You've just gotta know the pitfalls. There are owers clubs and forums out there for just about every make of car and they're useful. Bill, I'm sure your Astra could've been repaired without too much difficulty. The worst problem I had with mine was a dead ECU. A known used item fixed the problem and is still going strong to this very day. There are a lot of poor quality aftermarket parts out there so best to get OE or genuine parts (you don't always have to pay through the nose). This is more important with bits in the engine bay such as coilpacks, EGR valves and engine sensors. Also, the fault codes can be a bit misleading. The dead ECU problem I had gave a coilpack fault code when the RAC man plugged his scanner in. It took an independent Vauxhall specialist (who was recommended by a local breaker) to diagnose the problem. It was money well spent.

Yes, good old simple mechanics win for me.
My wife's Saab had alternator failure. This showed itself with the ABS light coming on and shortly afterwards power steering failure. Had it been a Triumph it would have got you home and would have just resulted in a flat battery!

Can't get better than this at 197,000 miles

Now that's what I call a clean sheet, Jod!