Diary of an Ordinary Van

[winterheating]

this is a good thread but needs more pics go on treat us m8y

At last - by popular demand! Well, both of my readers asked.

The Ordinary Van on site:



The van in front is a Transit ...



Nothing out of the ordinary, I think you'll agree.

Note the rear step bumper: this is a mandatory upgrade with the parking distance sensor.

I wouldn't have ordered it on its own but now it's there I have found the step to be useful in its own right while I'm hopping in and out. It has a good 'tread' on it so it is not slippery when wet. The parking sensor is useful too, and it does respond to less solid items such as shrubs. With a large solid object, the beeping starts at about six feet (1.8m) and becomes a continuous tone at about 16 inches (400mm). It is an adjunct to (but not a substitute for) careful use of mirrors and/or looking out of the window.

make that 3 readers now

[Vee4]

make that 3 readers now

And MrMPuk makes four?

Quite a flurry of comments there, but let's go through them:

I do like your Tom Tom mount, I just stick mine to the bottom right of the windscreen.

It was simple to do and has proved effective. In the Ordinary Van (other Mk7 variants are available), it sits quite happily without needing to be fixed in any way.

Isn't the MK7 Quickclear a huge improvement on the MK5 one?

It is better but of course it's new and none of the embedded wires has broken yet. I don't know if there is any difference in the number and spacing of the wires - anyone care to count?

My early MK7 Transit doesn't have BTCS or ESP, but I've never had any problems in the snow, although my van is always laden, which I think helps.

From my reading of the catalogues when I was drawing up the specification for the OV, all 2009 (panel van) models have ABS, BTCS and ESP:

viewtopic.php?p=460519#p460519
viewtopic.php?p=437602#p437602

No doubt there are many other combinations for earlier Mk7 and Mk6, depending on whether it was standard or an option which was/wasn't ordered.

My understanding is that on the Ordinary Van, the three systems operate independently, although they share the ABS modulator as primary method of control, with engine torque control as a secondary mechanism in the case of ESP and BTCS. Their operational status is thus:

ABS: always on
BTCS: always on, even if ESP switched off. The ESP warning lamp on the dash (car with wheel tracks) will flash if it cuts in.
ESP: can be turned off if vehicle speed is below 60km/h (37mph), reactivates automatically above that speed. The ESP warning lamp will flash when the system is operating.

The Owner's Handbook warns: "ESP does not relieve you of your responsibility to drive with due care and attention." I am in full agreement with that, so I will give myself a good telling off if I ever see the ESP warning lamp. I should rely on my own ESP (extra-sensory perception)! The BTCS will be useful in icy conditions in the winter and on wet grass in the summer - the Mk5 was 'difficult' in such conditions.

I have put the GoClaws in the OV, in case of extreme 'difficulty', but I haven't had chance for the dress rehearsal of fitting them which I had planned. I will do a report on that in a future entry.

GoClaws have been mentioned on this Forum before. There is a UK distributor: http://www.vancomfort.co.uk

Would have thought your tdci will often become twitchy at the front even driving steady - does it?

Perhaps the greatest difference between the OV and the Mk5 is the difference between FWD and RWD. With modern vehicles, that is more or less user-transparent (some drivers may not know which they have), until the going gets tough. I can't say yet if it's twitchy, although the PAS does make it easier to 'throw' into a turn compared with the Mk5. At one of my customers' premises I note that the temporary drivers tend to take out the sides of the vans which I attribute to their forgetting about the extra length and the PAS making it deceptively easy to swing the van round a corner. So far, the OV has seemed very stable - I think the front anti-roll bar may help, compared with the Mk5.

Did I cover everything?

[Vee4]

Today's topic: Frozen windscreen washers

Driving up the M1 the other night, and the outside temperature was registering -5°C. The washers stopped working and I guessed that the fluid reservoir or the jets had frozen. I pulled in to Watford Gap and topped up with concentrated fluid, but of course it was too late. Next day, I waited until the ambient temperature had risen above freezing point and pumped the fresh fluid through.

I suspect that the dealer topped up with a weak solution after the repair of the Ordinary Van's only fault so far:

viewtopic.php?p=458722#p458722

I preferred the Mk5 washer switch where you could pump fluid without actuating the wipers, for situations such as this.

[winterheating]

the mk6 you can just have just washers also, i've had to use the washers to defrost the ice to release the wipers sometimes

my ST24 is great at winter, heated mirrors, front and back windscreens, the heaters get hot super fast aswell, 2mins and all is clear.

[trigger]

this is a good thread but needs more pics go on treat us m8y

At last - by popular demand! Well, both of my readers asked.

The Ordinary Van on site:



The van in front is a Transit ...



Nothing out of the ordinary, I think you'll agree.

Note the rear step bumper: this is a mandatory upgrade with the parking distance sensor.

I wouldn't have ordered it on its own but now it's there I have found the step to be useful in its own right while I'm hopping in and out. It has a good 'tread' on it so it is not slippery when wet. The parking sensor is useful too, and it does respond to less solid items such as shrubs. With a large solid object, the beeping starts at about six feet (1.8m) and becomes a continuous tone at about 16 inches (400mm). It is an adjunct to (but not a substitute for) careful use of mirrors and/or looking out of the window.

make that 3 readers now

Is that your Vivaro behind it as well?

[Vee4]

Is that your Vivaro behind it as well?

You can't see enough to tell, but it's a Trafic. It belongs to my customer. I was never that keen on the Trafic although I like the Master series. I'm a one van man and it has to be a Transit.

[ake]

Isn't the MK7 Quickclear a huge improvement on the MK5 one?

It is better but of course it's new and none of the embedded wires has broken yet. I don't know if there is any difference in the number and spacing of the wires - anyone care to count?

I haven't counted the wires, but they are closer on the MK7, also the MK7 is split into 2 circuits, Near side and off side, and in total it draws around 55-60 amps, whereas the MK 5 Screen was all one circuit (with more wires on the passenger side - obviously for the european market) and they only draw around 25-30 amps

[Vee4]

MK 5 Screen was all one circuit (with more wires on the passenger side - obviously for the european market)

In 12 years, I didn't notice that! Mine did clear more quickly on the left side.

MK7 is split into 2 circuits, near side and off side, and in total it draws around 55-60 amps

That's at least 720 watts so it should be good! In the morning, I'll take a couple of slices of bread with me and see if I can toast them for my breakfast.

[ake]

What does annoy me tho, Is that my Mondeo has a heated screen, and heated washer jets, why don't we get them on the Transit

[Vee4]

heated washer jets, why don't we get them on the Transit?

I was thinking that the other night! viewtopic.php?p=498564#p498564

For my money (and it was a few grand), Ford should have put the Mk7 washer jets directly on the wiper arms where they are found on many other commercials. There is always a part of the screen that the conventional fixed jets don't reach. On the Mk5 it was lower left, on the Ordinary Van it is lower right!

Marmalade or strawberry jam on your toast?

[ake]

Just butter on my toast Moo and 2 in the tea tho

[Luke]

just route the washer jet pipe round the top hose a few times - bingo heated washer jets

[Vee4]

Diary of an Ordinary Van - what does it all mean?

I couldn't let his tercentenary pass without tipping my tricorne hat to Dr Samuel Johnson, best known for his Dictionary of the English Language, which was first published in 1755.

I had to go to an 1836 edition to find the first entry for 'van' in the modern sense. By courtesy of Google Books' digitisation project:

Diary

of an
Ordinary

Van


The text of the original edition is fascinating, as Dr Johnson includes examples of use from other writers. I had to type this in as it was taken by OCR from the original page. Let's hope that accidents won't be included, and that Bacon is proved wrong:

DI'ARY. n.s. [diarium. Lat.] An account
of the transactions, accidents, and ob-
servations of everyday ; a journal.

In sea-voyages, where there is nothing to be seen
but sky and sea, men make diaries; but, in land-
travel, wherein so much is to be observed, they
omit it. Bacon.

I go on in my intended diary. Tatler.

Samuel Johnson Tercentenary 2009 website: http://www.johnson2009.org/index.html

PDF of the 1785 edition. It's only 'Vol. I' - imagine doing that without a word processor:

http://www.archive.org/details/dictiona ... 01johnuoft

Test your knowledge of Dr Johnson's dictionary:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/quiz/20 ... onary-quiz

Improve your vocabulary with some of Dr Johnson's quotations (he was un-PC before PC was invented, e.g. "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel"):

http://www.samueljohnson.com/index.html

[Vee4]

This seems like a good time to thank Diary readers and contributors for their help and encouragement during 2009. Greatest thanks must go to the Administrators, Moderators and Sponsors for making the Forum possible and giving the members access to such a great resource.


The van in front is a Transit ... so much more than a carriage on springs to convey goods.

Best wishes to all for a Happy Christmas and a Prosperous New Year!

Vee4.

PS: Look out for the end-of-year review - coming soon (the end of the year, that is).

[madmark]

great thread keep it up!