BATTERY ISOLATER CUT OFF SWITCH

We had our battery die on us AGAIN after not driving Jeeves for a week. So as usual we called the AA out to help. This time, a young guy on a bike came out to help, he got the battery started without too much trouble but the best thing is that he told us to get this battery isolater cut off switch which would make it infinitely easier to disconnect the battery at a twist of a dial.

The isolater switch and my trusty spanner

For a very reasonable £4.99 (plus postage) we found this piece on ebay which we hope will make it much more likely to disconnect the battery. Even though we knew we should do it, we never really did. I'm about to go and install it now, so i'll write an update with the outcome.

The nice AA guy injecting some life into Jeeves

These are the simple instructions that come with the bit.

START YOUR ENGINES

So, in the previous post I was raving about the benefits of disconnecting your battery if you are planning on not driving your beloved old black cab for longer period of time (or even just a few days if you have a Jeeves). It just means there is no chance of the battery getting drained, saving you a lot of time, worry and money.

Welcome to our fool-proof tutorial on how to disconnect the battery of a Fairway Taxi.

You will need one of these;

Adjustable Spanner (Wrench)

Step 1.

Open the bonnet of your car and locate the battery.

Found it!

Step 2.
Locate the cable that you are about to disconnect. Its held on with a few bolts.

Here is the one we want 

Step 3.
Loosen the bolts carefully but forcefully. Don't be too scared to get electrocuted, but please be careful as you are dealing with electricity. Also, it can sometime be a little bit stuck so you might have to bang it a bit to get it off.

Should have done the manicure afterwards...

Step 4.
No need to actually remove the nuts from the bolt, just loosen it and pull the whole thing off. Try not to touch the bolt that you have just removed the cable from. (The one that is part of the battery) Again, its electricity which, even if its not black magic, can still hurt if you get a little chock.

Its all off now!

Step 5.
Place the cable away from the point it was attached to and you are done. Close your bonnet and enjoy some no-worry-time of a fully charged battery waiting for you when you are ready to drive.

Nice and Easy!

Remember that the central locking needs the battery so make sure you get everything out that you need and lock the car before disconnecting the battery or you will have to put it back and do it all again. If you do forget, you can simply place the end of the wire as it was, on top of the bolt from the battery, and it is connected. The nuts are just to hold the thing in place for when you are driving.

To re-connect, just place the cable back as it was and make sure to tighten the nuts. You don't want it to jump off whilst enjoying the exciting 55 miles per hours you have managed to achieve on the motorway with the turbo button...!

A job well done is a job well done, says Jacqui the Mechanic

JIM'LL FIX IT

We have had quite a few issues with our battery on poor old Jeeves. We got a new one a few months ago, as the old one didn't quite make it through the very cold winter. First everything was good, but it soon started playing up. We thought it might be the alternator, which would be quite expensive to fix, so we kept hoping it could be something else.

Black cabs, especially the older models, are made to be driven every day, so sometimes if they are not, the battery dies quite quickly. So when we went away for a month a while ago we had a friend look after Jeeves and babysit him, which he did very well. But Jeeves wouldn't have any of it, and when we came back the battery was dead again.

As our usual friendly mechanics were very busy, we went to Jim at Hackney Road Motor Engineers, who was recommended to us by a friend. The garage is on hackney road (the name might give that away), close to Cambridge Heath Station. When we walked in we realised it is actually back to back with our usual mechanics. Its good to keep it local.

The entrance on Hackney Road. Next to the bike shop disguised as a Chinese take-away

Jim's place is not a black cab garage but he does all sorts of cars. When we went, there were normal modern family ones and a couple of 1930's beautiful vintage pieces sitting side by side all being seen too with the same loving care.

The place to go

As Jeeves was completely out of juice Jim had picked him up from our street and hooked him up like a patient in an emergency room to once and for all charge his poor little battery. He was charging for one day and then left standing for two days to test if the battery would hold up.

Jim discovered that we have a light in the boot of the car, one of those that switches on when the door is open. As the general feel of Jeeves sometimes can be described as 'rustic', the boot hatch does not always reach the off-switch for the light, leaving it on and draining the battery. So Jim disconnected the light as we have no need for it anyway.

A general note on old black cab boot hatches; You should always double check that it is properly closed and locked as it otherwise can open while you are driving and bang into cars behind you. The hatch opens down, not up as on modern cars. We have seen it happen to others and have had a close call ourselves. So now we always double-check it when we have had it open.

However, the best thing that Jim introduced us to was the disconnection of the battery. We were about to go to Glastonbury, this being the longest drive we have done in Jeeves and having to leave him in a field for a week with the prospect of not getting home made us a little nervous. But this new exciting trick saved the day! Its super easy, and we think it is well worth knowing about so stay tuned for the next post with the instructions on how to do this.

Instead of hoping the battery will last, or relying on other cars to jump start us, we are now just disconnecting the whole thing, so there is no chance for the battery to get drained. The purr with which Jeeves started after a week of having been disconnected was positively the best sound ever. It is easily the best thing since sliced bread. In fact, sliced bread is not even close.

THE ROYAL WEDDING DAY

It was Friday 29th april, 2011 and declared a bank holiday thanks to the royal wedding.

 

We hosted a little tea and scones event at our place on Broadway Market in the morning and in the afternoon we decided to take Jeeves for a spin around town to see what was going on.

Darwin enjoying a little indulgence

Jeeves with his Royal bunting

Mia making sure the royal bunting is properly attached

First we went towards Old street and whilst we quickly checked whether the congestion charge was being upheld on this royal occasion, we drove a few times around Old Street round about. Luckily Boris had given us the day off the Congestion charge, so we decided to cruise on into town to see how far we could get before chaos ensued.

Jeeves with Jacqui

We decided to pop into Soho where some friends were having a few drinks on Old Compton street, so we joined them for a lemonade and gave Suzie who had been up all night camping to get a prime position for the wedding, a lift to Charing Cross station for her to get home. Jeeves quite enjoyed having a cab full of people and on this Royal occasion, calling out to friendly revellers on the street was more than acceptable.

Susie, Gary, Scott, Paul, Mia, Jacqui and Jeeves in Soho Square

Here we are in Soho Square where we found a nice spot for Jeeves to park by the mini Tudor house. All in all it was a very fun day out in town. A spontaneous little trip turned into a royal social afternoon.

HAPPY EASTER

Jeeves was given a spring clean recently, and that must have started something, as we receieved an image from one of the Mini-Jeeves' scattered around the world. Below you can see yet another Swedish mini-Jeeves (build by Mia's parents) going for a invigorating car wash as he is getting ready for the easter holidays.

A-peeling car wash

Mini-Jeeves then got all dolled up, to take part in the easter festivities. The tradition is that you dress up as a little witch and go around giving easter cards to people, hopefully receiving candy or maybe some lovely air-fresheners in exchange. 

Jeeves hanging out with the easter witch and some chicks

Our non-nordic readers might want to notice the snow still in the background. It might be summer here in England, but there are still pockets of snow in the north of Sweden. This trio of little people are off to Blåkulla to have a proper witches easter feast. And as they will of course travel by broom stick, Mini-Jeeves can have a little rest too.

SPRING CLEAN

Here in London there has been such an amazing summer weather lately that you could almost think it is june already. But we are still in april, and with Easter coming up we thought it was high time for a spring clean.

We drove past the garage on Kingsland Road in Hackney and got an excellent hand wash and a very thorough vacuum and clean on the inside for £10. After a moment of worrying if it might be the dirt that kept some of poor old Jeeve's parts together, we saw that the guys were doing a really good job and it was like having a new car. He has never been this clean for as long as he has lived with us!

Getting a shampooing

Jacqui stayed put in the driver seat during the wash, but I had to jump out after discovering that the passenger seat door was a little less sealed than wanted, giving me a good shower too. 

Get all that dirt off me!

We were charged the same price as a 'normal' car even thought they would have charged a bit more for a 4x4 or similar size. So we were very happy about that! One of the very helpful guys even got the 'tire-shine' out for us as a final touch.

Jacqui has been caught in the shower

JEEVES EARNING HIS KEEP

We are proud to tell you that Jeeves is no longer just another retired cab who thinks he can get away with just hanging around being fed diesel when ever he likes and going on nights out flirting with Mini Coopers. The other week we made use of him by picking up a friend from the airport. Catherine came carrying suitcases so massive even Jeeves got worried they might not fit in. But of course they did, and we even received a donation towards Jeeves' diesel habits!

Jeeves is back in the fold