The Don

Thats because you have ambient air going through the radiators. That doesn't prove anything, maybe that the radiator is fine (but even that can't say 100%). Check the fans and the thermostatic switch first.

Toyota did used to offer the Previa for this sector (I think sold as the Lucida in Japan), but now they only have the verso, which is a smaller vehicle. The proace is a comercial van. I've not seen a UK version of the Hiace passenger van though a few JDM imports are around. The main issue is that the UK market does not fancy forward controls that much so even vans have a bit in the front where the engine is. This is for safety I recon.

Check the fans while stationary. I'm not 100% sure about the circuit but in most cars they operate on a fail safe system. So if you disconnect the thermostatic switch the fans will start straight away. Turning the AC on will also start both fans so you can check if they are rotating properly and in the correct direction. But to check the thermostatic switch you have to leave the car on idle and wait for the car to get up to temperature and start the fans. The assumption here is that if the fans come on fine and work fine when stationary they will do so while driving too. Fans are designed to draw air from outside so they are blowing or sucking towards the engine, not away. This is so that it is fresh air being used to cool the radiators. I forgot to mention, a faulty water pump can also trigger overheating. This has to be checked by a mechanic.

Happy new year!

Your ideas are radical On the school location front, I can confidently say, not even Gota could have made that happen. Our popular public schools have powerful political lobbies and strong and long traditions, and there will be very strong resistance. And to be perfectly honest, why should they be moved? This was one of the few places where there was general social equality. In my school own school we had kids from Colombo 7, as well as from the neighbouring slums, from all sorts of different social and economic backgrounds. The only thing to unite us was the badge and the Rs.216 we paid as School Development fees. And to be honest that in itself was a great learning experience. And the facilities in these schools have been improved not by the government, but the afore mentioned lobbies, also known as old pupil associations. But it is up to the government to make sure there are enough school places to deal with the growing population and improve the facilities of schools around. Quite frankly neither has happened. The last time I remember such development taking place was during the reign of President Premadasa ironically. On the zoo, I have a similar view. Why should it be moved? Colombo is the most populous city and its residents should not need to travel outstation for recreation and in this case education. My proposal is to create business parks on the out skirts of Colombo and move some of the offices out and connect them with good public transport. This is what most major cities are doing anyway. Then city centers become spaces for retail, services, recreation, while factories, warehouses, offices are maintained in easily accessible spaces by major roadways outside the main city. I think the government offices being moved to Pelawatte is part of that plan. But on Pinnawela itself, I hope they create a space where they can make money, but end activities that was getting bad press as its a massive draw for tourists. Every British tourist I know, whose been to the country has visited this place.

So 90-95 is within acceptable range for this car. Nothing to worry about there. If it was brand new imported, it should have the correct sized radiator which should keep the temperature in check. In two cars in my family, over heating was caused by malfunctioning fans. Basically the fans worked but not at the correct rpm, and in one some of the fins were broken as well. So when there isn't an obvious cause, thats a good place to start. Also check if the fans come in on time. Even when running idle you will notice the fans come in a little after your engine hits the normal running temperature in SL. If the fans don't come on, on time, the issue is probably a faulty thermostatic switch, or faulty relay. If the overheating happens while running, the issue is most of the time faulty fans, or blocked radiator or water line. Is the car losing any coolant?

I'm not familiar with the peugeot temperature gauge but only remember that it has to be around the middle mark. Can you tell me what temperature is on around the centre mark of the temperature gauge. If the car is overheating it could be on of the following 1. Failed or failing fan, which might not be rotating at the speeds it should 2. Blocked radiator or themostatic valve as pug306xsi suggested Can you also please tell me if the car is a brand new import or was imported from the UK used? These cars also have a habit of blowing head gaskets so you need to be very careful now. I suggest take it to a peugeot specialist.

http://www.toyota.co.uk/index.json

The problem is, the car is too new for any objective input. It was recently discussed as an option instead of a kei van, but other than that there isn't much information. Seems the Wagon R uses a mild hybrid system with assistance from an electric motor, so cannot run completely on an electric charge, but the advantage is the car is probably drivable even if the hybrid system completely fails. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzuki_Wagon_R

Lankawata Jayawewa!!!

Do you have enough coolant in the system? From what I understand, during the cars normal operation the temperature remains normal But if you stop the car, and then move the switch to the on position, the temperature guage rises to critical level If you leave the car and do the same, the above does not happen Am I correct?

Guys I think these boxes have already been repaired in SL. Check with Nilwala, failing which I think Indika repaired a CVT box. Don't worry about it too much. There are lots of maka basses but there are a few who are excellent workmen as well. More often than not, most issues can be rectified.

Isn't India a little older than us as in by a couple of months, or was it the case they had the first elections after ours?

You are right. Also somethings have become an expense now which wasn't before. The available school places haven't kept up with the rise in the population, particularly in Colombo thus most parents send their kids to private school now. At the same time the situation in government hospitals have desintigrated significantly as these were ignored areas under recent successive regime. So some of the things that helped normal people keep afloat are slowly disappearing, which will only add to pressures. On a positive note, the drop in interest rates is certainly down to lowering of inflation, so there are still opportunities out there if you are to invest wisely.

Ha ha, well I'm yet to run into a limitation with the 500D itself (remembering its a crop body). The limitation has always been the lens. Either was not fast enough, does not have the focal range, did not provide a wide enough perspective and rarely not enough zoom. I must admit my usual subjects are landscapes if I'm travelling by myself rather than people, and I don't do much sport photography (fast moving objects). Tracking bolt while at full zoom was an interest afair though. On a different note, Sonly SLRs were discussed above. The Sony models I've come accross are all SLT, so they have a LCD screen and no mirror, so even when you look through the view finder, what you see is a projected image. This felt a bit weird to me, as what I saw through the sensor was always a bit brigher and unnatural than the actual, though perhaps it better represents the ultimate photograph. Does anybody else have an opinion?

Actually even with the basic bodies you can do some pretty amazing stuff Hoonigan. More than the camera, it is usually the skill and the artistry of the photographer that makes the difference. Obviously the crop takes some of the perspective out, but the basics of photography hasn't change much for many decades. A more advanced sensor will result in better quality. I don't know if you guys remember a Russian brand called Zenit. Many budding photographers started with those in the good old days. Basic, cheap as chips but allowed you to develop your skills well. I do not think there is much point trying to future proof electronics. Often they will fail before you outgrow them, and there will always be a better version next year. If you want to be a formula 1 driver, there is no point trying to buy a formula 1 car at the begining, even if your dad is a billionaire. Because until you've mastered a Go Cart, its unlikely you'll have any chance of driving a higher formula car safely Reason why I say this is I see a lot of people hung up on choice on what to buy and worrying about these things. But the key thing is to buy something and get out there and sharpening your skills. When the time comes, there will always be a buyer for your old kit. Its kind of the philosophy I have when it comes to buying electronics goods. I spend the least I need to, to get the result I need. Anything more is a waste of money. A good example is I still survive ok a 4 year old i3 Acer though I use it professionally for my work. Now I've given it an upgrade, and it does run some taxing app, and coped brilliantly. Now I've got friends who have the latest kit which cost 4 times as much as I've paid for mine, but I've made a lot of money on mine as I use it for work. Now its their money, their choice and I don't mean to judge. But there is always something else you can do with your money. Money I don't waste, I spend on other things, most recently cars

I think this is somewhat born out of the flattery BMW's usually dish out on guys with poor driving skills, making them feel like they are better drivers than they are. Sadly its a problem everywhere... I think its also a cultural issue. Over here, young Asian kids (second generation) get involved in more road rage/ aggression/ poor aggressive driving/ road race related fatalaties relative to the percentage of population (Asians being a minority of course). Ultimately I think the parents of these kids need to accept some responsibility. I hope they get their asses handed to them by their parents (if they were indeed kids).

I think if you are starting off in photography, a full frame is wasted on you. The argument might not always hold for lenses. There is a Canon outlet shop you can buy Canon refurbished cameras at very reasonable prices. I bought a 500D at around £300 many years ago with a Canon warranty and the kit lens. Still works well, while I learn the intricacies of photography. I'll upgrade once I've learned a bit more, but for the moment it suffices. The main issue I have is I only have 2 lenses. The 18-55 kit lens and a 70-300 Tamron Zoom lense without image stabilizer, which still worked ok even at maximum zoom when I took it to the Olympics. But I still don't think I've extracted the best out of even my crop body, and still playing around with different settings The Tamron lens is pretty recent. I read the reviews and the results are encouraging. Clearly it does not have the sharpness of the L series and it does deform a bit at the extreme ends, but its a compromise, and intended for general purpose photpgraphy. At a recent work shop, I was told I should probably get a 50mm fixed focal length camera (if thats the correct term, I mean non zoom). What do you think about that?

Peri What is a good general purpse lens to have on your camera when you are travelling and can't take a whole lens bag with you? I often take my 18-55 but to be honest sometimes need better zoom when you are a tourist, but I can't justify taking my 70-300 which is rather bulky. While its a compromise, I thought of something like this http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/reviews/lenses/tamron-16-300mm-f3-5-6-3-di-ii-vc-pzd-macro-review This is general purpose photography, not particularly arty but more a chronicle of a trip.

Funny how colour blindness is not an issue, while that prevents you from getting a driving license in the UK...

Not just Qatar, the legal systems of many Gulf states are like that. The law enforcement is very authorative, rude, take arbitary decisions and the whole system is open to abuse of power. There is very little consideration for rights of the accused and innocent until proven guilty. I've been told of arbitary deporations from countries like Kuwait, Europeans who work there as teachers, and I remember the attitude of the border guards in Dubai, who were just plain rude to travelers and it kind of put me off transiting through there. Until the last regime played some dirty games, our judiciary, particular at higher courts was excellent and well respected. Inefficient yes, but justice is usually served.

Ha ha sadly my dad suffered the same fate as many others. His salary did not keep up with inflation, but they were just lucky to have gotten some of the big spends out of the way when they could. Some of his friends had more foresight and bought acres of agricultural land and now are millionaires. My dad bought a car and a colour TV (in the early 80s) and both would have bought him an acre of land each He now reminds his kids that we are his pension pot Just joking, he still works hard, just the way he likes it. Became self employed a decade ago. Best decision he made he says.

Its a worrying statistic isn't it? The vehicle I used for comparison is a base model Nissan Vanette, and the time was mid 1990s (I went to look for these vehicles myself, hence why I remember). Now my father was not a rich man by any means. He had a mortgage to pay, household bills, Elocution classes for kids, etc (thankfully both my sister and myself didn't take tution till we did our A/Ls and in my case it was a waste of money anyway ). We lived a comfortable but certainly not luxurious life. We bought the land we live now in 1988 at just over 100K for 10p. The mortgages taken (and there were two) probably added up to about 500K to build the house... I mean not to offend people, but while people seem to be able to afford fancy cars, overseas holidays etc, it sometimes seem to me that wage growth hasn't kept up with inflation..... I think some things have become more affordable as the rupee seems to have held reasonably well against foreign currencies in the last decade. The pound for example has constantly fluctuated between 180-240 LKR (yesterday it was 197).

The Auris replaced the Corolla in European markets. We actually don't get the Corolla at all anymore. The Vitz hybrid is what Toyota went with in European markets again rather than introducing the Aqua or Prius C. Maybe they were banking on the popularity of the Vitz brand. Toyota doesn't really offer much variety when it comes to modesl in the UK. For non comercial vehicles, we get 1. The Prius 2. The Auris 3. The Yaris (technically the Vitz) 4. The Rav 4 5. The GT86 6. The Aygo (City car category) 7. The Avensis (medium sized sedan I guess) 8. The Land Cruiser and Land Cruiser Prado 9. The Verso a 7 seater based on the Corolla/Auris platform I think 10. The Hilux 11. The ProAce which looks like a passenger van of sorts, not very popular I've not seen a passenger version of the Hiace, and they do import the Dyna truck as well in various specifications.

I'm genuinely curious. What is considered a high income in SL thesedays? I ask because I remember my father earning 25K a month and being able to buy a unregistered van at about 400K or 16 times his salary. But one of those now cost close to 5 million so...........