Xantia 1.9TD....wake up and back on the road after 10 Years

[Stickyfinger]

Well done Alasdair, nothing like a result from a bit of part scavengeing!!

With a 3-6ft "range" I find it all rather pointless really

[mickthemaverick]

Is that with a fresh battery in Alasdair? Mine went down to only working straight through the driver's door window a couple of weeks ago so I changed the battery and now it works from my seat in the lounge!!

[xantia_v6]

Being an infrared device, it is pretty much limited to line of sight...

Although I did once repair a Grundig TV (about 1975 vintage) which had a very powerful IR remote that would reflect off any shiny surfaces and I could change channels from 3 rooms away!

[Stickyfinger]

Is that with a fresh battery in Alasdair? Mine went down to only working straight through the driver's door window a couple of weeks ago so I changed the battery and now it works from my seat in the lounge!!

That maybe the problem....I will get some tomorrow and try that.

[CitroJim]

After you swap the PLIP batteries Alasdair, have a look at the IR Receiver up in roof - it lives adjacent to the sunroof motor. Unclip the cover and give the little black dome a clean inside and out - it's likely to be covered in dust by now and that can affect range. Also, give the IR Receiver LED a gentle clean.

LEDs do suffer small reductions in light output as they age and given the ages of yours, I think they can be cut a little slack. That the IR remote system is working at all is a major achievement

[Stickyfinger]

New batteries, it gave me about 2ft extra .... so still utterly pointless so why bother locking it , nobody is going to steal an old shed anyway

At least the rubber "buttons" are not sticky any more.

[myglaren]

What did you do to unsticky them Mr. Finger?
I ask because I have a Japanese carving knife that has developed a similarly sticky handle. It won't be rubber but some composite I expect, nothing that I have tried so far has cured it.

[mickthemaverick]

I use either Isopropyl Alcohol or Acetone on a microfibre cloth and rub the goo vigorously and it comes off!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08 ... =UTF8&th=1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Acetone-99-6-Q ... 117&sr=8-6

[myglaren]

Tried Isopropanol and the usual detergents. Have several solvents here including acetone but having seen the results of some of them I'm hesitant to use them on an expensive knife, don't want to ruin it.
Just remembered I have some Swarfega, will try that.

[mickthemaverick]

The original green Swarfega Gel will probably be good but I'd be wary of using the orange gritted stuff as you may scratch the handle with that, as I did on my wood chisel handle after I'd been using it to clean the valve cover gasket faces when I did the valve seals on the Subaru in the summer!!

[Stickyfinger]

Screen wash (-10 Halfords) in an Ultrasonic....it was "human grease"

[myglaren]

It's the orange stuff that I have

I'll give the screenwash a go, although it is mostly isoprop and water.
It seems to have softened rather than be greasy, although it lives on a magnetic rack beside the cooker, which made me presume that it was grease from cooking.

[CitroJim]

New batteries, it gave me about 2ft extra .... so still utterly pointless so why bother locking it

It saves an awful lot of wear on your keyholes

And do lock it - it's a very desirable car I'd be gutted if it got nicked

[Stickyfinger]

IF the rubber is breaking down there is not a lot you can do....I think a good scrub with a soft tooth bush and some hand soap/swafega (Red-with NO water) would be the way to maybe address that

[Stickyfinger]

New batteries, it gave me about 2ft extra .... so still utterly pointless so why bother locking it

It saves an awful lot of wear on your keyholes

And do lock it - it's a very desirable car I'd be gutted if it got nicked

Only to idiots like us lot here, and we are not the stealing kind.