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My Expert 2.0 Hdi Mk I must have left the factory in 99, first registered in the UK in Jan 2000. It has windows all round, two individual front seats, a triple bench in the back (folds down/lifts out as one unit) and no third row of seats. It's fully lined, including a headlining and moulded plastic side panels on the rear quarters/wheel arches (even including an ashtray). It has four inertia reel seat belts and a lap belt in the centre of the rear bench. The rear floor is covered with a fully fitted rubber mat which appears to be original equipment, as it matches the one in the front. There are no visible redundant fixing holes.
The V5 lists it as a minibus, and the 'number of seats' field is left blank. The DVLA definition of a minibus is a vehicle with nine or more seats, and mine has five. I need to get this corrected because it puts me in the wrong bracket on congestion/clean air penalty websites, as I just discovered £60 later after traversing Bradford at 9am one icy morning ('cars' are exempt). I believe the van left the factory as a 5 seater, and was incorrectly registered from the start. My question to the forum is, does anyone know how this configuration would have been described straight out of the showroom? Combi? Estate car? I'm trying to gather evidence for my submission to the DVLA - ideally a scan of an original sales brochure or similar would be ideal. Thanks for reading...
My 25-year-old rear light clusters were developing mouldy-caravan syndrome - the indicators were feebly trying to flash every bulb in both clusters, and when I put the brakes on the warning light for the rear foglights would come on too, especially in the damp. Experience tells me this points to a faulty earth connection, but my first attempts didn’t solve it.
I began to suspect the connector plugs on the bulb-holder units - on both sides, the earth pin was discoloured and cleaning efforts didn’t help. Eventually, I drilled out one of the plastic rivets holding the earthing strip (there are four round each bulb) and replaced it with a flat-headed M4 set screw, with nuts on the back to connect a short flylead. The other end was earthed under the head of a self-tapper in the back of the housing. Suddenly, good, bright, separate rear lights again!
I realised that in certain rare circumstances that earth pin would be carrying close to 10 amps, and over the years corrosion had taken its toll (to draw that much current, you’d have to be idling, with the gears in reverse, your feet on the brake and the clutch, the hazard flashers on, headlamps and rear fog lamps. Admittedly, the full whack doesn’t happen very often).
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