₦airaland Forum

cecegorz: You may live to regret if you follow this quack advise by most 'unschooled' mechanics and Ladipo traders.
Sometime early this year, I noticed a thin line crack on my radiator, and it was leaking water, so I went to a mechanic who said we should go to Ladipo and buy a replacement.
Strangely they keep saying that I will have to buy a double-cell since the OEM single-cell is not good for Nigeria, and is not in the market. (the car already did 3years in Nigeria without a single engine problem)
With serious doubt in my mind, but with no option I told them to fix the double-cell. But I was observant to notice that they removed the thermostat and once I start the engine, both radiator and AC fans comes up instantly which is abnormal.
I just told them immediately to dismount it and put my old one back. Since the leak is just manageable I will be topping water in the mornings till I get OEM replacement.
The next day, I went to a Professional auto mech shop and bought brand new OEM @30k and replaced the stuff with peace of mind.
So, what these quacks just do is to condemn whatever component they don't understand in a car and put in their make-shift solution, which will perpetually make your car to misbehave.

Could you describe where this workshop is located and what brands of cars they specialize on?

hey guys,
Lets make a bet Nairaland would hit the 1 million members mark before the year runs out.

Siena: My first was a stripped out VW Golf GTI I, which was running a stroked Audi 2,1 16V on throttle bodies. Next was a VW Golf GTI II running a home-built 1,8 16V turbo. Then an Audi Coupe Quattro, running am Audi RS2-spec engine (2,2 20V turbo I5) mated to an 01E 6-speed box.

My current car is being built.

I don't know what you mean by "route."

I meant do you race on the m1 or go to a racing enthusiast' center to burn rubber.

I wanted to get a classic rover mini and tune it up a bit to use it for occasional races and drive mainly on Sundays.
Heard they go for about 4000 pounds on pistonheads now.

Siena: I run Toluene - but only during the race season, and not in my regular car.

what car do you use to race by the way? and on what route.

thought they were blocked out by the the feds.
good news still.

i'll have a big heart and ensure that the date takes place in our house.

It has been a while since i had the yellow custard because of rushing out early in the morning. But i would make it a point of duty to make a full bowl and drink it to my hearts content tomorrow. If any of you feels the same do say.

Kaduna is thriving well too, apart from the frequent bomb scares.

Beync: I've to the kitchen now, till then.
Cheers!

This your food that takes a whole day to cook. i don dey hung now...

Siena: The only reasons your engine would boil with the thermostat replaced, is if there's an underlying issue.

* Thermostat is faulty (stuck in the closed position).
* The thermostat was incorrectly fitted.
* The mechanic [b]did not bleed the system [/b]after replacement. Of course this would be better for him, as it would prove to you (the owner who dared insist he replaced it in the first place) that he was right. And of course you'd be convinced he knows his job, and wouldn't question any decisions he made with regards your car in the near future.

Points noted siena.
when he told one of his boys to reinstall the thermostat,the boy just placed the thermostat inside a valve and i asked if it wasn't supposed to sit properly before he sealed the pipe with glue, but he said there wouldn't be any issues.
Way forward now siena?

ednutoyekan: @zeusosha, congrats on your invite...just prepare very well. Maximum is 25mins, same questions as on this thread. I wish you all the best.
@ebade, just hang on dear. Everybody will definitely be contacted. I guess it's batch by batch. We just finished our medicals, but everybody will probably resume together
@captalex, congrats too. Is it interview you were invited for or documentation? I guess you just wrote ur test last Saturday.

Yes ednut, GTB said i have been invited for the essay,pre-interview and documentation stage.
and would send me a time accordingly.

I'm very Excited peeps. God knows how to surprise us sha.

zeusosha: What time is it. Cos mine na 5pm n I'm worried because of that

mine had no time on it. They said they would communicate the time correspondingly

I just received mine too, thank God o! and thank you zeusosha for reminding me to check my mail.
Now how to be best prepared for the next stage is what is left.

Beync: mmm, am preparing shredded beef, with potato chips..
just light food.

coming to your house now..

hey siena,
went back to the mechanic to put the thermostat back in.He looked really surprised but i insisted that i would like it to be put back in the car.
He put it back and replaced the pipe.
But as soon as i started the car and left it to warm-up for a while, the temperature gauge just went bizzare and got very close to the H (upper) part of the gauge.
I had to call him back to remove it again and he just smiled telling me that removal of the thermostat wouldn't harm my engine and by the time he opened the bonnet to do that, the water in the reservoir was already boiling to my surprise, which indicated that the thermostat was doing more harm than good to the radiator.

Thanks for your advice, I usually like to experiment and see that a certain thing is responsible for my cars' fault and not just to believe it as i'm told.

blackweaver: Bros this tablet has been out for over a month naa, was actually hoping you would say that it is now available in Lagos and where it can be bought

It is quite scarce in Computer village, most stall there just say 'Ehn' when you ask about it.
Can't wait till the 3g enabled version hit out shores.

how much would you let the otterbox go for ?

Siena: Do that, only if you're looking to kill your engine. New oil - new filter, no exceptions.

noted , wouldn't dare it.

Siena: Yours is the Camry, with the coolant gauge seldom reaching midway on the scale, right?

Yes siena it is, would attach a pic of the removed thermostat
and the radiator coolant i use as soon as i can shrink the images.

Siena:
Put your thermostat back, and get your electric fan back the way it should be - i.e switching on when the coolant temperature rises. This has been stressed over and over and over again on Nairaland, but all advice falls on deaf ears.

Your coolant loss is not related to your thermostat missing, or your direct-drive fan. You either have an external leak, or an internal one (blown head gasket, or cracked block / head.

#JusticeforAluu4

But The Mechanic insists that the overboiling of the water in the radiator is because of the thermostat in the 99 camry.

zoogy2007: I have been driving the same camry for 4 years now with the single cell radiator and i have never experienced any temperature issues.If your car was made in the US then please don listen to anybody. Use your radiator the way it came and always ensure that the two cooling fans are always functional. Have a good day.

Mine is american(daytime running lights) and came with a leaky one-cell radiator that was why i went all out to buy and install a double-celled one.

Siena: Yes. The thermostat is mandatory in any petrol or diesel automobile engine. Get it replaced, or watch your engine die a slow, but sure death.

Thanks siena, would do that.

Sam Milla: Toyota camrys are toys. Try one german engin, especially the BMWs. You will see the differences.
I used to travel to Lagos with my Mitsubishi Lancer vboot because its a newer car. 2006. Then i tried my BMW e36 one day. Since then, if i want to go anywhere up to 300km, i will take the German machine. The control, the balance, the speed, everything is just amazing.
And it is a manual shaltung.

Sam the fact that you managed to land a 3rd-hand bmw doesn't give you the right to bash my ride,
I chose it and bought it because of the purpose i needed it to serve, which it has effortlessly done.
I used to drive a bmw 7 series that my Dad owned a few years back ,but now no one goes near that car because it could stop at anytime on the road and start flashing the emergency light.So i Know how bmws perform.
Lets see the resale value of your aproko bmw 5 yrs down the line when it packs-up, if people won't be offering you pitty-change.

Ikenna351: SMH for you. Seriously, i pity you.

What you did to your car was an abuse to the highest level. Who told you the temp guage needle below the middle of the guage is a good thing for the engine?

You just signed a death warrant for that poor engine, with your own hand & money. A double cell brillant one indeed!

Ikenna.

save the pity for yourself ikenna, if your contribution was to intimidate me you just failed.
that's why i always direct my questions to people like siena that are cool headed and not engrossed in their own naivety.

@siena do i go back to the mechanic and tell him to reinstall the thermostat he removed in order to fix this problem?

Staying at home is not really the issue,
finding something constructive to do to occupy ones time with is the issue.
Like someone said, You could go into the farming/poultry business with some of the money you saved from your NYSC year or better yet They could spend this time reading on all those topics/subjects they missed out during uni days when they had to go out clubbing or having fun.
You could also try your hand at developing things(applications,media,writing) you never know you might find what really interests you thorough this.
All other positive suggestions are welcome.

Could someone give us a breakdown of the plane our dear president uses?
and i heard he gets piloted by Vice air marshals of the Nigerian Airforce.

Fhemmmy: Nice one you have there, sir.
Buying alone is 269$ Canadian, Shipping and Clearing is another 45$$ for playbooks and that gives us 314$$ . . . 52,124 Naira . . . It will be fair for me to make some money too, and also have to worry how to bring my money back to Canada . . . so at the end of the day, this will land to you in Lagos at a cost of Only . . . 60K

Very detailed and thorough explanation, would be hoping to get one of these too, when money comes.

joboy834: The pay is 50k. U re to resume 7.30am and close by 5pm from monday to friday. There's also a class group with some little finance contributions. Infact ur first 4 months will be hectic [color=#000000]n jst pray dt after d skool, u aint thrown to marketting unit.[/color]

Here i was thinking I would be able to choose what department i would be able to best fit in.

Guys in GTB IT Department,
what does your daily work routine look like?,
and how did you "get there".Convince HR or interviewers that you would be essential to that post?
And is the pay better than our marketing peeps?

hey siena,
Was driving yesterday and noticed my temperature gauge didnt even get to the halfway mark, even when I had the Ac on.
I had the thermostat removed when i installed the new double-cell radiator because the mechanic said it was causing the water in the radiator to boil too quickly. Does an under-cooled engine pose any risks and threats to the life span of the car.

A snapshot of my dashboard.

when we were little my dad would allow us to start our brand new peugeot 504 in the Base and revv the hell out of engine for good measure, then he would turn the AC on and allow us enjoy it for a while before taking us to school.
I only learnt how to drive a year ago. I enrolled in a driving school where we used a 5 series bmw to learn, i always enjoyed coming back from trip, we would have to peform perfect braking,a case where the car should stop without jerking.
1st week was gear one, by 2nd week boying were tearing gear 3.
Now i tear lagos roads as if my bedroom na express. heheh
I would have learnt much earlier but i went to boarding school all through.