News and stuff from Botswana
Following a rather grumpy holiday period I’m trying to be more positive this year, and as one of the ways to try and overcome this I’m going to try and write more.
I used to be quite good at creative writing (A-grades in GCSE English Language and Literature), but years of more “applied” activity have left me short of words so excuse the rambling and probably disjointed nature of the posts for now. Hopefully the quality and relevance will improve.
Well, the quality at least.
After a couple of weeks driving the Range after its overhaul I reverted to the Audi for financial reasons.
Found no cruise control (#firstworldproblem) and, more worryingly, a permanently-lit ABS warning light. Testing on a quiet stretch of road confirmed that ABS was inactive.
I did the obvious checks on brake fluid and fuses without finding anything amiss. Plugging the car into a VAG-COM Diagnostic System turned up this helpful hint:
16955 - Brake Switch (F) P0571 - 008 - Implausible Signal
At this point I also discovered the brake lights were not working (should have checked them earlier, but kind of assumed the car’s brain would tell me if they weren’t working).
Some internet research into fitting Audi/VW brake light switches established that the installation process required all manner of arcane rituals except blood sacrifice to avoid damaging the new switch. This research proved largely irrelevant as the switch supplied by Goldwagen was a newer version that doesn’t require pressing of pedals while inserting.
Some people seem to have issues with “delicate” switches that break/fail during installation – I did find that the first switch I installed didn’t work, but it seems it was a manufacturing defect rather than ham-fisted spannering. Goldwagen did replace it without any quibbling though.
As mentioned above, I am lucky enough to have a Ross-Tech VAG-COM Diagnostic System (VCDS) so I can read fault codes and get real-time data on what is happening around the car.
Interestingly the “switch” is actually two switches inside one housing, providing two outputs. The “implausible signal” reported above is caused by one switch working while the other one doesn’t.
A feature of modern cars is that you are often prevented from putting the car into gear until you press the brake pedal. This is certainly the case on my Multitronic transmission. Luckily (!) in my case the failure was only on the side that tells the car-brain to illuminate the brake lights and standby with the ABS, otherwise I wouldn’t have been going anywhere. What I did find though is that if you disconnect the brake switch entirely then you can put the car into gear and it works normally – except for lack of brake lights and ABS… (hey, it’s a bonus if *any* lights work on some vehicles round here).
Illustration of the locking lug:
And a relevant bit of the diagnostics log file:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 02: Auto Trans Labels: 01J-927-156.lbl
Part No: 01J 927 156 CL
Component: V30 01J 3.0l 5V RdW 3031
Coding: 00001
Shop #: WSC 04940
VCID: 78F5CF7258EE81FE65-5140
2 Faults Found:
17087 - Brake Switch (F)
P0703 - 35-00 - Electrical Malfunction
18265 - Load Signal
P1857 - 35-00 - Error Message from ECU
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Address 03: ABS Brakes Labels: 4B0-614-517.lbl
Part No: 4B0 614 517 G
Component: ABS/ESP front 3428
Coding: 06399
Shop #: WSC 02325
VCID: 254BD606BFDCCC160E-5140
2 Faults Found:
00526 - Brake Light Switch (F)
27-00 - Implausible Signal
18265 - Load Signal
P1857 - 35-00 - Error Message from ECU
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Quick Sunday night bundu bash out of Gaborone’s Block 7 round SSKB to the edge of Mmopane and back.
(need a new magnet for the cadence sensor)
There’s a story in today’s Mmegi (online, at least – I haven’t seen a paper edition) about discussions between the Botswana Chamber of Mines (a NGO representing various mining operations in the country) and City of Francistown Council about the possibility of disposing of chemical waste at Francistown landfill (aka Dumela Landfill as it is at the Dumela industrial area).
Chamber of Mines to utilise F/town landfill
FRANCISTOWN:Botswana Chamber of Mines (BCM) has indicated that plans are underway to use the Francistown City Council (FCC) Dumela landfill to dispose of chemicals used by its members.
The motivation for this is that the mines generate a variety of hazardous waste that is difficult to dispose of as there are few properly constructed landfill sites in Botswana.
From what I know Francistown landfill site is properly constructed: it has stormwater containment ponds, impermeable linings under the waste cells, incineration facilities and so on.
The concern is how well it is being managed.
Continue reading “Mine (Hazardous) Waste Disposal – Francistown Landfill”