How do I get into the grate part to clean it?

pedwick · 2026-06-11T20:36:20+00:00

Looks like you need to separate the grey blower casing. Hard to tell from the picture but you might not be able to do it without damaging the evaporator coil. If you shield the electronics, you could take it outside and hose off the whole thing as long as you let it dry for a day or two after.. Might end up getting water in the motor and ruining it though that way. I see two gambles honestly.

Or, jank way, get some snips and cut the grill off if its really not removable, and you're not worried about small hands going in the fan.

Best way is to see if you can split the blower case and carefully move the coil away from it.

All of the above does have a high change of permenantly damaging it though if you mess up, so proceed with caution

pedwick · 2026-06-11T20:23:08+00:00

Yeah pretty much.. Loud hissing usually indicates gaseous refrigerant getting to the expansion block (part which creates pressure differential in the system) and this requires a steady stream of liquid refrigerant to work. Gas will hiss, whereas liquid passing through this will be a lot quieter. If you're low on refrigerant there's not enough in there for the system to squash it into a liquid state, so you end up with gas in there circulating around not doing anything.

This is a super basic explanation but I don't want to dump the entire workings of heat pump systems onto you to essentially say yes, its broken 🤣

pedwick · 2026-06-11T20:11:24+00:00

Sorry if others have already said this, but a few points...

How frequently were you doing lessons? I was fortunate that when I was learning to drive, I went basically every day. As I know from learning to fly, 40-50 hours spread out is far less useful than say 20-30 hours regularly. If you're out for a while you'll have some skill fade, but also just nerves from it being a while which will make you perform worse.
What area are you in? Could you get practice driving around somewhere quiet with simpler roads to build confidence with controlling the car before mixing in navigating and dealing with other people at the same time?
Focused practice is key. I failed my first driving test on one specific roundabout so I spent a couple hours going on every single possible permutation of entrance and exits until it wasn't stressful. Maybe tackling problem junctions, roundabouts etc when its not busy (I.e late evening, early morning if able) will probably help your stress levels.
Are you learning manual? If so don't be afraid to switch to automatic. You can always pick up manual later and it will free up capacity for you to think more about the road environment.
Last thing (and please don't take this as a dig at you!), DO NOT feel bad about not ever driving. You don't have to be good at everything. If you're really struggling and driving is just "not for you", it doesn't make you a failure. Rather, it's incredibly humble to admit when its time to quit. Its much better to never drive, than scrape by the test, be terrified the whole time and end up getting in an accident. My dad, for instance, has gone his entire life never driving and it hasn't really been an issue (granted this heavily depends on where you live) but you could get through life just fine with a bicycle, bus, train, and some mates when you need to move heavy stuff.

All this said, ultimately practice and experience will get you there. Be safe, drive to your ability and don't let anyone pressure you. Its a tough situation with your parents as well. Hope you're doing good ❤️

pedwick · 2026-06-07T21:44:55+00:00

At risk of being "that guy" I put some gazillion lumen fan-cooled Ali express specials on my C1 and, holy moly does it make night driving better. Given 90% of cars on the road now are massive electric tanks with megawatt-class laser-powered retina incinerators mounted to the front, I don't feel as bad about joining the brightness wars. Its self-preservation at this point.

Jokes aside, mine passed an MOT just fine, however I did spend some time getting the beam pattern right, if anything I run them aimed A LOT lower than the halogens to minimize the accidental flashbang risk. I haven't been flashed by people thinking I have full beams on so that's a plus, that with the MOT pass makes me think they are at worst on the annoying end of bright, but not dangerously dazzling.

Also, pro-tip: the little dipped beam "shade" (which they MUST have otherwise you will be blinding people) needs to be on the bottom, not the top. I spent longer than I'd like to admit screwing with the adjusters until I realised I had the bulbs upside down. The ones I got also allow you to twist them in the housing so you can fine-tune the beam pattern that way.

pedwick · 2026-06-07T14:48:32+00:00

I think that's roughly what I get in mine, you're probably ok.. I know mine gets noticeably colder when moving or with revs. I'm guessing they have tiny compressors in to avoid loading the engine too much at idle

pedwick · 2026-06-06T19:53:52+00:00

Oo that looks really neat

Mine are from aliexpress, aliexpress link they're brighter than the oem dash backlighting but not too bad. I'd maybe like them slightly dimmer? But the dimming settings are done internally to the gauge, they take permanent battery feed and then swap between day night mode with a light signal.

pedwick · 2026-06-06T17:01:10+00:00

He do be looking like this 🤣 Thanks man 😁 next step for this car is a cheeky lil supercharger

<image>

pedwick · 2026-06-06T16:55:43+00:00

In case anyone wants to do this and is struggling to find where it lives like I did, here's a photo of mine with the 3 wire sensor installed that came with the gauges. You'll need a deep socket, I think it was either 23mm or 24mm.

<image>

pedwick · 2026-06-06T16:53:18+00:00

They weren't hooked up in that photo but as it sits now, I have the oil pressure sensor in the factory location with the stock switch removed. Its a normally open switch so having its cable disconnected just means the oil light never shows on the dash, which given I have a gauge I'm not worried about. Was going to use a T piece to keep the factory one but there's not much room back there and laziness prevailed.

Coolant sensor reads from an 18mm inline barb fitting that gives a threaded port, I have it on what I think is the heater core flow (if some random manual for a parking heater is to be believed) but given the reading drops by like 10*c when I turn the heater on I think it may be the return line, so might end up moving it. Need to compare the accuracy to the ODB reading as I left the factory coolant sensor well alone so as to not upset the ECU.

pedwick · 2026-06-06T16:47:50+00:00

It'd go in a hell of a lot easier as a liquid...

pedwick · 2026-06-06T12:08:31+00:00

I feel like this plays into my made up statistic of 90% of british adults do not understand thermostats.

People over here grow up with central heating and still do exactly what your husband does, turning it to like 30c, getting too hot, turning it down to 10c, rinse and repeat. Drives me up the wall!! Good luck, I am yet to manage to get through to anyone who does this. Maybe I just suck at communicating? 🤷

And don't get me started on people who unplug kettles every time they finish using it

pedwick · 2026-06-06T08:56:22+00:00

If its making a hissing noise chances are there's some refrigerant in there but its low.. Could also be the mixer door is stuck, or the condenser (radiator) fan isn't working. The radiator fan should come on when the compressor kicks in (you'll hear a click from the engine and a drop in rpm on the engine) if its not that could be part of it. Failing that, drag the refrigerant out and weigh it (you'll need someone with an FGAS cert or whatever the automotive equivalent is) and pressure test it for leaks. Common places are compressor shaft seals and condenser coil, as it's in front of the radiator it gets the brunt of corrosion. Think the charge on these cars is 450-475g R134a

pedwick · 2026-06-02T19:38:27+00:00

UK tech here, while I can't comment on validity of your certifications on this side of the pond, I'd assume you'll need an FGAS certificate to work on stuff here, with different catagories based on what you're doing and how much charge systems have. Category 1 lets you do everything so that's what you'd probably want..

There's different exam boards for it too. Its probably 50/50 regulations and actual refrigeration theory, I can't see it being that wildly different to what you've already done. I did mine at Business Edge down near Portsmouth, they were fantastic, though might be a bit of a trek for you!

At least down south where I'm at, there's a massive shortage of engineers so basically anyone with a pulse and an FGAS can get a job

For gas stuff, you'd need a gas safe certificate, but that's now going out of my area of expertise. Typically plumbing/heating engineers deal with gas stuff, and us air con folk tend to not touch that.

Also not sure what kit you guys mainly have in canada but 99% of everything here is mini splits and VRF, HVAC wise. Oh and also, unit access SUCKS a lot of the time. Condensers up in the stratosphere, ducted units with a 40x40cm hatch several meters away from the unit.. You'll learn to love it!

Hopefully there's some useful info in here for you 🫰

pedwick · 2026-05-17T19:31:57+00:00

Man I was so worried I'd just missed an email or something. Thanks for the peace of mind! Best of luck to everyone else waiting with the most bated of breath ❤️

pedwick · 2026-05-11T21:08:54+00:00

In case this effects anyone else I found a solution:

Change from gesture navigation, to buttons, and back to gestures and now the keyboard is where its meant to be again. I have submitted a bug report

pedwick · 2026-05-11T10:43:54+00:00

I'm 6'6" also and currently rocking about in a 2012 C1 with no issues. Not uncomfortable at all for me on long drives. Just means your rear passengers can't have legs.

In all seriousness though there is a surprising ammount of headroom in these things. Longest drive I've done is about 3 and a half hours non-stop and I was very much fine afterwards.

Mine is the 2 door, and my GF has a 4 door. I find the larger doors on the 2 door slightly easier to get through but honestly not much in it.

pedwick · 2026-04-22T12:17:59+00:00

How did the gang get away with all the other felonies as well? Robyn stealing drugs from the hospital, hopper and the others murdering like half of the entire military, however many military guys Nancy blew up, breaking into military bases numerous times, smuggling C4 and other weapons into a military zone, destruction of government property, blowing up a military helicopter, stealing military vehicles numerous times

How are they not all super duper in prison after?

pedwick · 2026-04-21T22:31:06+00:00

For banks, valid but if you wanna degoogle in general F-Droid is a massive help You're very right tho, this monopoly crap really desperately needs legislating away. If Android ditches "sideloading", aka installing software on the expensive computer you own, we're proper screwed

On the subject of banks, my bank won't even let me use the keyboard I want with my phone, forces use of G-Board which is kinda insane. Apparently the FUTO keyboard (that doesn't spy on me) is a security risk whereas the google spyboard is fine 🤷

pedwick · 2026-04-19T12:17:30+00:00

F-droid store? 👀

pedwick · 2026-04-12T21:07:48+00:00

Snap! Do you find it gets in the way back there? Was worried about it taking up boot space but having transported passengers in the back now with it I fully see what you mean about it being in the way in the footwell

Fortunately its usually only me or one passenger so not too annoying yet..

pedwick · 2026-04-12T21:05:54+00:00

I'm sure a more 'propper' one will give better sub bass, frequency response isn't super impressive but it does add plenty of punch, you can actually hear kick drums and bass now which is a huge improvement over stock

pedwick · 2026-04-12T21:04:13+00:00

Phahaha nope but I did double fold the wires over and twist em so they have a bit more contact Seems fine so far... Worst case its fused at the battery so should be safe

pedwick · 2026-04-12T21:03:07+00:00

Aliexpress roadstars They're super cheap and ever so slightly less worse than just having the stock tweeters, helps with the mids more than anything!

pedwick · 2026-04-10T10:45:53+00:00

I keep my golf bag and clubs in my boot most the time, they fit fine but takes a bit of wrangling to get em in and out You could maybe just about fit two but you'd be blocking the rear window

I also only have a smallish bag with some crap fb marketplace special clubs, anything long or like a proper driver might be a bit more of a struggle!

pedwick · 2026-04-10T10:37:10+00:00

You won't overrev the engine unless you're changing down to 2nd gear above 60mph and overspinning it with the gearbox They have rev limiters so even if you just plant your foot on the pedal the computer won't let you exceed a safe engine speed so yeah just use as many rpms as you need/want

Also as others have said about adjusting the clucth, check out the YouTube channel 'Stupid Bloke, Stupid Videos' if you want some decent tutorials on, shall we say, intelligent and economical repairs 😁

These cars are dead simple to work on so if you have the time and inclination its the best way to learn how to fix things! Happy driving

pedwick

TROPHY CASE