Calmest Cop Ever Chases Mercedes UK

Is this the calmest police officer ever recorded in a pursuit. Police chase a man in Farnworth and Bolton driving a silver Mercedes. He drops his mates off, then takes the police for a ride around the area at speeds exceeding 100MPH. Not sure why he's running, but the police say he could possibly be a suspected gang member who is wanted for murder.


Fair enough, it's not the scariest or hairiest police chase the UK has ever seen, but the Navigator / co-drivers cool calm demeanor is quite funny. And the police car driver is quite impressive too, considering the pressure of a high speed chase.

Ford KA Heater Control Valve UK

One of the most common faults on Ford KA cars, other than the usual rust / welding issues, is the failure of the heater control valve. This basically controls the heating system within the car. For some people it can be a case of the valve not providing warm air in the winter months, and for others it can be the complete opposite. Providing only warm air. Which can be overbearing in the summer time. Thankfully the heater control valve is not a major problem. You don't really need to take the car to a garage as you can buy the part and fit it yourself.



The repair is fairly straight forward. And the part itself is cheap if you buy one of the cheaper priced, aftermarket examples that are widely for sale on eBay UK. But this really depends on how much you value your car. Is your KA your pride and joy? Then you'll probably want to get a genuine Ford KA valve. Lot's for sale on eBay and Amazon (Find it for sale here on Amazon UK). If your KA is just a little runaround to you, the aftermarket product will work just fine. I bought one of these myself and it worked with no problems at all.

To fit the new unit just remove the old one (see the video above for the location and what the part looks like) using a good pair grips that will be able to easily remove tight hose clips. Then just fit the new one. There isn't really anything to note or to follow, other than when you remove the broken part let the liquid drain out properly before fitting the new one. Then after fitting the new part add liquid (coolant) back into the system to top up what was lost. The video above features a Ford Fiesta, but both the KA and Fiesta require an identical part, and its even located in almost the same position.

Clarke 4000 Heavy-Duty Jump Starter

Recently I've been browsing the reviews for the Clarke 4000 Jump Start. What I see trending is that many of the people who have bought the more convenient, less hassle and much smaller mobile jump starters that claim to be able to start a tank are left disappointed because what the product claimed it could do was not entirely accurate. Don't get me wrong, there are some excellent little portable jump starters out there, but owners of big diesels and super charged / turbo petrol's have found out the hard way that the smaller models just don't have the power needed to boost their car batteries to the point of lift off.

 

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 So what they do is go for a true heavy duty jump starter like the Clarke 4000 (1500 Amp + I think a 22K mAh capacity / 38 amp hour built-in battery). This thing is packing superior firepower, and makes an excellent choice for the huge gas guzzling engines, like the big Subaru's, Audi RS3's and Jag XF's (6 litre max). And of course, lets not forget the diesels this thing can start. Anything up to a 4 litre diesel, so that includes a lot of the top cars and many SUVs. It can also start everything and anything below the 6 Litre petrol and 4 Litre diesel limits.

So even if you have a vehicle that is much smaller this is still suitable. However, because of the price (it's not cheap) you would be better of buying something a little less industrial. There are lots to choose from. In fact, that is the most saturated marketplace for these products. Some are really low in price too. There's even a few solar powered ones out there for sale. The Clarke 4000 is really for people who own big powerful cars and want something that will give them the required boost when needed. It's a great safety investment to have in the boot.

But that's where it has to stay, in the boot. This item may look fairly small in the pictures but its actually quite big. And it weights a tad shy of 20KG, so not something you can just throw in the glove box. There are a few things to note though with the Clarke 4000. One of them is make sure that you give it a charge every now and then, even if you haven't needed to use it. This is to prevent a chemical change (permanent damage) that can happen to the internal battery / power pack, where it can end up at the point of no return as far as being able to be charged is concerned.

This doesn't happen very often but beings as I've read through all the reviews on the Internet I thought I should mention it. The great thing about this product is that the battery is actually replaceable. So when the time comes when the battery is completely dead (hopefully that should take a good few years) you can buy a replacement battery and the Clarke 4000 can continue doing what it does best. Turning over big engines!

Other features worth mentioning: It also has a low battery alarm, so don't get freaked out if you hear it beeping! Just put it on charge. There's also another alert that's audible if you place the terminals on the car battery the wrong way round. So make sure you're paying attention and put them on the correct way round. 12 month warranty comes as standard.

A Solar Powered Car Jump Starter?

If you ended up here because you were brain storming ideas and just happened to think of a solar powered car jump starter, you're too late. They do already exist. But just because they are already out there for sale, that doesn't mean they are any good. By most accounts they are a bit of a letdown. The idea itself is great, because technically it can self charge. However, due to portable jump starter designers trying to make them smaller to move with the times and please consumers, the actual solar panels on these jump starters are way too small to effectively charge the battery pack from empty or even half full to any really significant level within a reasonable amount of time.

The ALLPOWER Solar Equipped Car Jumper

The solar charging should be looked at as a cool little gimmicky feature, but not one you would be able to rely on in times of need. Solar powered car jump starters are very much the same as the non-solar models, in which they are very much - charge from the mains or, if your car battery is already full of life, charged via the auxiliary socket in the car. Until there are advancements in solar technology, such as the ability to use a small panel but still suck in a lot of energy from the daylight (we're not there yet), it would be wise to steer clear of these products if your sole purpose for buying one is down to the solar charging feature.

A jump starter brand that has this feature is the ALLPOWERS range (Pictured above). They have a decent little selection of solar (iSolar) car battery chargers. They also have make chargers that are not for starting cars. However, their car range starts with the smallest capacity 400A Peak Current - 6000mAh, and goes up to a 400A with an 8000mAh battery pack capacity.

Their products are actually pretty good, and do handle the task they were made to complete, like successfully starting the car and being able to charge other items like smart phones and tablets etc.Sadly, in terms of solar capability, they also fall into the same category as the rest of the products within this line. Conclusion: Set a reminder to go off in 5 years time to tell you to do a search for new solar powered car jump starters. That should be enough time for the highly anticipated technological breakthrough needed.