Old Tin of Castrolease Graphited Grease

When doing some work on the wheel bearings of my Golf GTI MK2 I needed some grease to apply. Unfortunately I didn't have any suitable at home and the shops were shut so I checked my father's garage and found this piece of history!

Old tin of Castrolease Graphited Grease

It was a tin of Castrolease Graphited Grease which looks like it was from the 1960s or possibly 1950s. The tin shows the Castrol logo and Castrol Limited, London on the front. The rear lists the Castrol greases available:

Castrolease PH
Castrolease Underwater Grease
Castrolease Brake Cable Grease
Castrolease Graphited Grease
Castrolease LM Grease

Old tin of Castrolease Graphited Grease

Checking Age of Old Tyres UK - How find how old tyres on your car are?

If you buy an old car or set of wheels with tyres on them how can you check the age of the tyres?

Every tyre sold in the UK should have a DOT code which shows the week and year that the tyre was manufactured. So a code of 2511 would mean the tyres were made in week 25 of 2011.

If your tyres are more than 10 years old the recommendation is to replace them. Over 5 years and they should be checked for deterioration.


Checking Age of Old Tyres UK - How find how old tyres on your car are?

Tyre age codes are shown as 4 digits - 2 for the week and 2 for the year. I was initially worried that the tyres I had bought on these alloys were rather old - the date code showed 2309 so week 23 of 2009. However checking my current car I found that the tyres on that were dated 2008 so the age of the tyre wasn't really an issue at all.

Car Buying Scams - RACInstructions?

Recently came across this scam using the RAC name but clearly nothing to do with them.

Usual trick of the scammers to say they have a car at a bargain price but are out of the country or some such excuse so you need to send the money to them. Nice touch to use the RAC name for RACinstructions scam to make it more believable.

REMEMBER - do not send money for a car you've never seen!

Bank account used for the receipt of the money is as below:

Bank Name: Barclays Bank
Account number/IBAN: 23472191
Sort Code/SWIFT: 20-29-63
Beneficiary: M T Rac
Bank Address: 43 Vanbrugh Park, London SE3 7AB

Diagnose VW Golf Low Coolant Warning Dashboard - Water Leak

The dashboard warning light came on this week showing that the coolant level was too low. I topped it up but the next day the coolant light came back on again so the car was clearly leaking coolant water somewhere.

This video shows how I diagnosed the problem and which water coolant pipe was leaking. There was a puddle of water underneath the car so the coolant was leaking significantly - it may be harder to spot if the coolant water is leaking less.

The leaking hose appears to be the lower radiator pipe so I will order from VW and replace.

VW Golf MK4 TDI Coolant Leak (ARL PD150 engine) Water Level Drops

A couple of days ago when leaving work the dashboard warning light came on my VW Golf TDI showing that the coolant level was low. I added some water to top it up and drove home. Next day exactly the same thing happened so clearly there was some form of coolant leak in the system somewhere.

Having searched online there were a few options for the cause, most of them expensive such as head gasket replacement being required. Fortunately there was no sign of oil in the water and there was water under the car after a journey which gave some idea of where to look for the leak.

On closer inspection there was fresh water sitting above the gearbox and a radiator pipe (lower radiator pipe?) that looked in poor condition. I moved the pipe and a jet of water squirted out so that appears to be the culprit. Now I just need to get a replacement hose and fit it so that the pipe can be removed.

The car has done over 240,000 miles so a split radiator hose is one of those things that you expect to happen at some point as parts wear out.

Leak from VW Golf TDI - split radiator hose losing coolant

More info on tracing VW Golf coolant leaks here

Cheapest French diesel prices - How Much Does Diesel Cost in France?

The latest price of diesel varies by region of France but the current lowest diesel fuel price as of 1/8/2014 is 1.244 Euros per litre in Dordogne.

 

The cheapest diesel price in France we've seen is 1.21 Euros per litre in Poitiers which compares very well with the price of diesel in Luxembourg which was meant to be cheapest place to fill up. The photo of the sign at Intermarche shows the prices for petrol and diesel in August 2014

At the current exchange rate that we're getting on credit card transactions (1.26 Euros) this equates to a price of 96p per litre compared to £1.34 per litre in the UK. This shows how much our diesel is taxed in comparison as the base cost of fuel must be the same.

 

In Luxembourg, we filled up at Remich which cost 1.176 Euro per litre so the price of diesel in France is now very good in comparison.

 

Photo of the cheapest French diesel prices in Poitiers at Intermarche - How Much Does Diesel Cost in France?