November 2011 - The MX5 Story

At the end of September my lovely MX5 broke down. Twice before it had refused to start and by coincidence it was outside the same shopping centre near where we live.

In Manchester there is a huge shopping centre called the Trafford Centre and it became notorious for car owners being unable to disengage their car alarms and immobilisers after they had been parked there for a time. It turned out that the microwave alarm system at the Centre was interfering with the "blippers" and would not allow the signal to reach the controllers on the cars. I suspected the same failing so I had the garage remove my immobiliser, thinking it was faulty, and the car was returned to me seemingly OK to drive.

The next day it broke down again whilst I was driving it but I was lucky enough to be able to pull into a parking area before it finally gave up the ghost.

The garage worked on it some more, got it running again, and called me to collect it. This time it wouldn't start outside their premises. They told me after more investigation that their diagnostic machine reported a faulty wiring loom and the cost of this would be €800 plus labour. The total cost was to be a whopping €1200. Because they weren't Mazda specialists however they asked if they could take the car to the large Mazda garage in a nearby town for them to examine it as they did not want me to lay out all this money if they were wrong.

The Mazda engineers agreed with the original diagnosis but could not find a wiring loom anywhere. They did however charge me €200 for the privilege of them examining the car. I tried with my own contacts in England and after some searching they said that this part was not available in Europe.

I have a friend here in Spain who, whilst not a mechanic, used to work in a garage in England and he was most surprised at the suggestion of a new wiring loom as he had never heard of one being replaced except under extreme circumstances. So we had the dead car returned home and called upon the services of an Auto Electrician. We were now working on the principle that he could probably rebuild or repair the wiring if that indeed was the problem.

He also had never replaced a wiring loom apart from ones which had either burned out due to an engine fire, or on engines which had been left for so long that the wires had deteriorated and "rotted".

After examining the car for half an hour, getting it started, the engine running first on four cylinders, then on two, he narrowed the probable cause down to one of the coils even though the two garages who had previously had the car had dismissed this idea. I therefore ordered two brand new coils from MX5parts.co.uk and the electrician fitted them two weeks later when they arrived from the UK. The car started first time and has been OK since. His charge was a very reasonable €80 and the parts cost me €230.

The car had been off the road from the end of September until the Auto Electrician finally repaired it in late November. The entire brain power of two garages had been defeated due to lack of proper thought. Had they been able to get a wiring loom, I would have been €1200 poorer and the car would still have been unmoveable.

I think the motto is "Put not your trust in electronic diagnostic machines, think about it now and then".

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October 2011 - The U3A Gala Evening

Kathie and I returned from our extended holiday in the UK to find that we had both been invited to join the Committee of Torrevieja U3A.

In some ways we felt honoured as we had been members only for a year and in another way I was wondering how much involvement and time we would have to donate. The Chairman spoke to us both and I felt reassured when he said that full membership would not take place until the AGM in January 2012 so that gave us time to decide if it really was for us.

We therefore attended our first meeting in early October and were immediately welcomed into the group. It was an important time to join as preparations were being finalised for the 5th Anniversary Gala Evening towards the end of the month.

Things were a little hectic but we set-to and printed 250 Presentation Programmes for the big night. The dress code for the evening was "smart" but as none of my suits or jackets would currently fit me due to too much of the good life I was panicking a bit until a friend offered me a light coloured jacket which fit perfectly and was just right for the occasion.

Finally the evening arrived and togged out in our finest we travelled to the Palacio del Musica in the centre of Torrevieja where, as Committee Members, we were to help with the preparations, man the doors etc. before we could take our places in the auditorium.

Our Gala Guests included Lloyd Milen, the British Vice Consul in Alicante, Rosario Martínez Chazarra - Councillor for Foreigners, Inmaculada Montesinos Pérez - Councillor for the Third Age, and Graham Knight - Director of the Foreign Residents Office. Unfortunately the British Consul could not attend as his wife had unexpectedly been admitted to hospital in anticipation of an imminent birth.

The evening began with the promised Cava and Cake reception followed by a toast given by Lloyd wishing the U3A success and congratulating us on our fifth anniversary. Shortly after that we adjourned to the Theatre where our Chairman Bob Hill gave a speech of welcome to everybody before introducing Lloyd Milen, who gave an interesting and amusing address touching on what the Consular presence in Spain can do for us.

Rosario and Inmaculada then spoke for a short time about how Torrevieja welcomes all the different nationalities who have chosen to make their homes in this part of Spain.

After a short refreshment interval La Orquesta de Aspirantes (the young people of the Symphony Orchestra, still learning their craft) took to the stage and entertained us royally with a selection of popular classic numbers ranging from “The Arrival of the Queen of Sheba” to “Pirates of the Caribbean”.

Two of our committee members then gave a vote of thanks to the Vice Consul Lloyd Milen, the U3A Members for their continued support, our Chairman Bob Hill, the Ayuntamiento and Graham Knight, and the Conductor and Members of the Orchestra, before we had two rousing choruses of “Land of Hope and Glory” for which the Orchestra received a long standing-ovation. We were finally treated to an encore of “Pirates” and I think audience and orchestra were very happy with both performance and reception.

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