Mr Meldrew Is Back?

[bothwell_buyer]

Just a point of reference on those battery packs bothwell, if you ever find its not lasting long on the charge one or more of those battery packs will be at the end of its life so test to find which one and bypass it. If its only one which i found on our own fork it will work ok without it and the faulty one usually keeps the rest of the pack linked after it from charging.

Good point and I hadn't thought about bypassing a cell so thanks very much !

Rather than get my multimeter dirty I could ask one of the volunteers to stick their tongue on it ??? No - just joking!

Thanks for the tip !!! :thumbsup:

[bothwell_buyer]

My very first job when leaving school, filling all sorts of bus, fork lift, vehicle batteries with battery acid. They give off hydrogen when being filled for the first time, ive seen many explode It was the 70's and nobody had heard of elfin safety in thos days :D:

King Acid Drop

Seen a few explode myself mostly while charging, not a nice sight luckily nobody injured although one time when i was at the training centre some lads were charging a tractor Battery and one of the lads was sitting in the cab and reached out to wiggle the terminal and boom, luckily the glass windscreen saved him from being showered with acid. He had no arm left in his boilersuit when he put it on the next morning and slight acid burns to the hand. To this day i always get the jitters when disconnecting a Battery after charging

I try and do the Battery connecting -disconnecting myself - especially as we have had 3 instances when the battery was connected the wrong way round ! An expensive mistake. Wisnae me of course. However I'm getting too stiff to reach the terminals on the 7 ton trucks which use a 24V system. Thank goodness the RAV battery is very accessible !!!

[Paulus17]

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

[firemac]

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

Swap them front to back, Paul. What have you got to lose?

IF the Nexens are really a soft compound then they will not give the mileage that their "economy" tag promises. Re the Duelers, they are no harder than any other premium brand. The tyre manufacturers are in hot competition with each other and consequently there isn't that much difference dynamically between them - if there was, some just wouldn't sell. It's when they are fitted to different cars that you get the differences in performance, i.e. due to varying suspension designs, density of suspension bushes, spring & damper rates, etc.

The fitter who gave you that story probably just couldn't be bothered or was under instruction from the salesman not to spend any more on the deal.

[Paulus17]

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

Swap them front to back, Paul. What have you got to lose?

IF the Nexens are really a soft compound then they will not give the mileage that their "economy" tag promises. Re the Duelers, they are no harder than any other premium brand. The tyre manufacturers are in hot competition with each other and consequently there isn't that much difference dynamically between them - if there was, some just wouldn't sell. It's when they are fitted to different cars that you get the differences in performance, i.e. due to varying suspension designs, density of suspension bushes, spring & damper rates, etc.

The fitter who gave you that story probably just couldn't be bothered or was under instruction from the salesman not to spend any more on the deal.

OK Jim.

Can i do this meself Jim,or will the new front wheels need balancing in which case the garage will have to do it??

And to be fair to the dealers Jim they did offer to swap em over for us but as i say this was after waiting over two hours for them to look at it and i'd had enough by then.

[firemac]

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

Swap them front to back, Paul. What have you got to lose?

IF the Nexens are really a soft compound then they will not give the mileage that their "economy" tag promises. Re the Duelers, they are no harder than any other premium brand. The tyre manufacturers are in hot competition with each other and consequently there isn't that much difference dynamically between them - if there was, some just wouldn't sell. It's when they are fitted to different cars that you get the differences in performance, i.e. due to varying suspension designs, density of suspension bushes, spring & damper rates, etc.

The fitter who gave you that story probably just couldn't be bothered or was under instruction from the salesman not to spend any more on the deal.

OK Jim.

Can i do this meself Jim,or will the new front wheels need balancing in which case the garage will have to do it??

And to be fair to the dealers Jim they did offer to swap em over for us but as i say this was after waiting over two hours for them to look at it and i'd had enough by then.

Hi Paul,

Yes, you can do it yourself; no need to re-balance as the wheels & tyres are manufactured to much higher tolerances these days and therefore tend to be balanced off the car (I am assuming that all 4 wheels are already balanced - if they aren't you'd know by now). On some cars or where there is a particular wheel issue, it is necessary to balance them on the car but that's pretty rare (& there aren't that many tyre depots that still have the eqpt to do it).

If you bring the spare into play, you can remove one wheel at a time, i.e. jack up o/s/f, remove wheel, replace it with spare, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/r/, remove wheel, fit o/s/f, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/f again, remove spare, fit o/s/r, tighten, lower. Once you've completed one side, check that all the wheel nuts are tight and then repeat on the other side.

It is easier if you have axle stands as you won't need to use the spare; easier again if you have a trolley jack & axle stands. But even without these, it shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

[Paulus17]

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

Swap them front to back, Paul. What have you got to lose?

IF the Nexens are really a soft compound then they will not give the mileage that their "economy" tag promises. Re the Duelers, they are no harder than any other premium brand. The tyre manufacturers are in hot competition with each other and consequently there isn't that much difference dynamically between them - if there was, some just wouldn't sell. It's when they are fitted to different cars that you get the differences in performance, i.e. due to varying suspension designs, density of suspension bushes, spring & damper rates, etc.

The fitter who gave you that story probably just couldn't be bothered or was under instruction from the salesman not to spend any more on the deal.

OK Jim.

Can i do this meself Jim,or will the new front wheels need balancing in which case the garage will have to do it??

And to be fair to the dealers Jim they did offer to swap em over for us but as i say this was after waiting over two hours for them to look at it and i'd had enough by then.

Hi Paul,

Yes, you can do it yourself; no need to re-balance as the wheels & tyres are manufactured to much higher tolerances these days and therefore tend to be balanced off the car (I am assuming that all 4 wheels are already balanced - if they aren't you'd know by now). On some cars or where there is a particular wheel issue, it is necessary to balance them on the car but that's pretty rare (& there aren't that many tyre depots that still have the eqpt to do it).

If you bring the spare into play, you can remove one wheel at a time, i.e. jack up o/s/f, remove wheel, replace it with spare, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/r/, remove wheel, fit o/s/f, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/f again, remove spare, fit o/s/r, tighten, lower. Once you've completed one side, check that all the wheel nuts are tight and then repeat on the other side.

It is easier if you have axle stands as you won't need to use the spare; easier again if you have a trolley jack & axle stands. But even without these, it shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

Righty oh then Jim

Reason i asked about the balancing was because the other Rav we had when we had trouble with the valves,the garage we took it to did balance the two front wheels??

I do have a trolley jack,axels and ramps some where but they haven't been used for some years now???

[firemac]

;)

It wouldn't suprise me if there is nothing wrong..... Could be the nexen tyres?....... I advised my sister to buy some once as they were cheap....she had pirrellies previously........

Sister reported back to me these tyres are poo......so much wheel spin for them in the wet.... When I sat in the car I could hear the tyres nothing but a tyre rummbeling noise....... I think nexan tyres are rubbish even thou they look good. Didn't tell my sister that though....:-). They were safe enough for the type of car they were on..... But were very noisy.

No my young Jedi Knight

It is the bridgstones that we have on the new Rav now which could be making the noise.

The Nexens were on the other Rav which was a quieter tyre,on that Rav,as they are,so we were told,a softer compound,compared to the Bridges which are very hard,hence the possible cause of the noise??

Swap them front to back, Paul. What have you got to lose?

IF the Nexens are really a soft compound then they will not give the mileage that their "economy" tag promises. Re the Duelers, they are no harder than any other premium brand. The tyre manufacturers are in hot competition with each other and consequently there isn't that much difference dynamically between them - if there was, some just wouldn't sell. It's when they are fitted to different cars that you get the differences in performance, i.e. due to varying suspension designs, density of suspension bushes, spring & damper rates, etc.

The fitter who gave you that story probably just couldn't be bothered or was under instruction from the salesman not to spend any more on the deal.

OK Jim.

Can i do this meself Jim,or will the new front wheels need balancing in which case the garage will have to do it??

And to be fair to the dealers Jim they did offer to swap em over for us but as i say this was after waiting over two hours for them to look at it and i'd had enough by then.

Hi Paul,

Yes, you can do it yourself; no need to re-balance as the wheels & tyres are manufactured to much higher tolerances these days and therefore tend to be balanced off the car (I am assuming that all 4 wheels are already balanced - if they aren't you'd know by now). On some cars or where there is a particular wheel issue, it is necessary to balance them on the car but that's pretty rare (& there aren't that many tyre depots that still have the eqpt to do it).

If you bring the spare into play, you can remove one wheel at a time, i.e. jack up o/s/f, remove wheel, replace it with spare, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/r/, remove wheel, fit o/s/f, tighten up, lower, jack up o/s/f again, remove spare, fit o/s/r, tighten, lower. Once you've completed one side, check that all the wheel nuts are tight and then repeat on the other side.

It is easier if you have axle stands as you won't need to use the spare; easier again if you have a trolley jack & axle stands. But even without these, it shouldn't take more than an hour or two.

Righty oh then Jim

Reason i asked about the balancing was because the other Rav we had when we had trouble with the valves,the garage we took it to did balance the two front wheels??

I do have a trolley jack,axels and ramps some where but they haven't been used for some years now???

Understood, Paul. But if any of your wheels were currently out of balance you'd know; swapping them is unlikely to have any adverse balance effect (having said that, weird things do happen for no logical reasons........but hopefully you'll be OK).

If the trolley jack hasn't been used for some time it might be a good idea to renew the hydraulic fluid first as it can degrade over time. Also keep an eye out for any weeping from the seals.

Good luck. :D

[Paulus17]

Cheers Jim

I managed to get me hands on the jack and ramps but the bar is missing for the jack and i can't find the axel stands??

So depending how i feel tomorrow it will have to be the supplied scissor jack.

But on saying that we have just come back from a trip out and it didn't seem as noisey??

The noise is still there but didn't seem as deep a drone/whine :huh:

And another but we could smell gearbox oil or summat when we put the Rav back in the garage,any ideas as to why that could be??

[Davrav]

And another but we could smell gearbox oil or summat when we put the Rav back in the garage,any ideas as to why that could be??

Could just be some spilled oil from servicing that has got hot and started to burn off maybe

[firemac]

And another but we could smell gearbox oil or summat when we put the Rav back in the garage,any ideas as to why that could be??

Could just be some spilled oil from servicing that has got hot and started to burn off maybe

I'd agree with Dave's suggestion. You can also get adours lingering for a few moments in the A/C that you may have "driven through", e.g. fumes from a vehicle in front. I once thought that something was cooking under the bonnet because of an increasing smell of burning rubber. A few minutes later I came up behind a 38-tonner with a disintegrating rear tyre - smoke, fumes, etc. It had lingered over the road surface for a good few miles.

Have a look underneath before you take it out next just to satisfy yourself that there isn't a leak somewhere.

[Paulus17]

And another but we could smell gearbox oil or summat when we put the Rav back in the garage,any ideas as to why that could be??

Could just be some spilled oil from servicing that has got hot and started to burn off maybe

I'd agree with Dave's suggestion. You can also get adours lingering for a few moments in the A/C that you may have "driven through", e.g. fumes from a vehicle in front. I once thought that something was cooking under the bonnet because of an increasing smell of burning rubber. A few minutes later I came up behind a 38-tonner with a disintegrating rear tyre - smoke, fumes, etc. It had lingered over the road surface for a good few miles.

Have a look underneath before you take it out next just to satisfy yourself that there isn't a leak somewhere.

This was a strong smell when we got out the car,didn't smell it at all inside.

[Paulus17]

Well i have just been having a look best i could underneath,and can see either spilled oil or leaking oil on the bottom right hand side at the back of the engine,looks fresh to me,so perhaps this is what we are smelling??

Also noticed a round lump of metal i think it is,about 3" dia by about 1-1/2" thick, welded to the exhaust but just sticking out,not attached to anything.Any idea what this is Should it be attached to summat??

But underneath is very clean

I have also just noticed a sticker on the top right hand corner of the windscreen saying MADE IN JAPAN.Is this usually put on the Ravs??

[bothwell_buyer]

Well i have just been having a look best i could underneath,and can see either spilled oil or leaking oil on the bottom right hand side at the back of the engine,looks fresh to me,so perhaps this is what we are smelling??

Also noticed a round lump of metal i think it is,about 3" dia by about 1-1/2" thick, welded to the exhaust but just sticking out,not attached to anything.Any idea what this is Should it be attached to summat??

But underneath is very clean

I have also just noticed a sticker on the top right hand corner of the windscreen saying MADE IN JAPAN.Is this usually put on the Ravs??

Relax - if it said it was made in England then I'd panic !

On the oil bit the old trick was to lay a bit of cardboard down on the ground to allow you to monitor if its an ongoing oil leak. You can get a large bit of cardboard free of charge from a nearby bike shop or small shop - they'll be delighted to get rid of it!

[jedi134]

Why not take it back to Toyota and see how good thier customer service is in 2012

[Paulus17]

Well i have just been having a look best i could underneath,and can see either spilled oil or leaking oil on the bottom right hand side at the back of the engine,looks fresh to me,so perhaps this is what we are smelling??

Also noticed a round lump of metal i think it is,about 3" dia by about 1-1/2" thick, welded to the exhaust but just sticking out,not attached to anything.Any idea what this is Should it be attached to summat??

But underneath is very clean

I have also just noticed a sticker on the top right hand corner of the windscreen saying MADE IN JAPAN.Is this usually put on the Ravs??

Relax - if it said it was made in England then I'd panic !

On the oil bit the old trick was to lay a bit of cardboard down on the ground to allow you to monitor if its an ongoing oil leak. You can get a large bit of cardboard free of charge from a nearby bike shop or small shop - they'll be delighted to get rid of it!

Thanks BB

Well the rav hasn't been out since Saturday morning and she started up first time this morning,and there are no signs of leaks on the floor,so i reckon it must be spilled oil.

Jedi.

We will be going back soon to get the plates changed over so i could ask em then anyway