advantages of foreign trade

there are many advantages that accrue to the nations engaged in foreign trade

there is advantages wich comes from the principle of division of labour as aplied to the various countries

foreign trade enables nation to specialize in the production of those goods in wich they have greatest advantage. this leads to the production of good under the most favorable conditions and thus increases the total wealth and welfare of the world

foreign trade enables concumer not only to engoy the products of foreign countries wich their own country could never produce ,but also to get their requirements from the cheapest markets of the world . they very fact that goods wich are imported from abroad show that their price is cheaper than the similar home products

IN MEMORIUM: Mazda 323 Astina (M), 1992

In MEMORIUM, 1992 Mazda 323 Astina (Manual). My sister's previous car.

In this blog entry, I'm reviewing my sister's Previous car, a white 1992 Mazda 323 Astina 1.6 (Manual). She owned the car from April 2003 to August 2007. My dad bought this "Kuching no. Plate" Astina from a dealer (Soon Meng Auto) which used to located at Jalan Universiti, Petaling Jaya for RM21,000 Cash.


The Mileage when we sold off the Astina stood at 217,521km.

What's so special about the car?

This car's AHEAD of its times... Firstly, it's the "Unique" Pop-up headlights, then the 60:40 split seats coupled with Hatchback body = Versatile.

Also, 4 Disc brakes (not bad for a 1990 technology), 4 power windows, Semi-bucket seats (see photo below), CD (Coefficient of Drag): 0.32 (Again, note that this is 1990 technology).


Of course, there's downside, namely the REAR HEADROOM's VERY POOR. I'm only 5 feet 9 and my head touched the "ceiling" of the car. Also, the SPARE PART'S Difficult to find (eg. Rear Brake discs mechanism). Maintenence higher than say, a Corolla SE-G. It Drinks petrol (for a Manual car).

The Suspension setup is "High-technology" 4x Independent MacPherson struts suspensions with fr and rr anti-roll bars, Like the Ford Laser TX3, the rear suspension is Ford patented "twin trapezoidal dual-linkage (TTL). The improved version is seen in Today's Ford FOCUS...

What happened over the 4 years under the hands of my sister. Let's see... 4x Absorbers changed once, tyres changed twice (front) and once (back) to Goodyear Ducaro GA, 2x battery change, 4x brake pad changed, serviced rear brake discs + rear wheel bearings, Cooling system changed TWICE (Radiator, water-pump etc...), Air-conditioning's faulty (Not cold, 4x trip to workshop), Minor Accident 3 times, twice almost at same spot, bumper "remoulded back to original shape", front nose (knocked back). Thank God the "Pop up headlight" mechanism not affected, if not $$$.

REAR BUMPER's TOUGH. At the 2nd time accident, a Proton Iswara crashed into the Bumper of our Astina, the Proton's front 1/3 gone, (bonnet became "A" shape) while the Astina's bumper just paintwork peeled off and minor scratches.

Oh! As for the fuel consumption, it averaged 8.7km/L (best 10km/L, worst 7.9km/L), . Note that this car's SOHC 16-valve Carby car (NOT Fuel injection). Also, performance: 0-100km/h in 11 seconds flat. Top speed unknown, but at 110km/h, the tachometer shows 2400rpm only. I guess it's around 180km/h.

For your information We sold it back to the same dealer we bought from in September 2007 for RM5,000 only.

Well, there's a saying a picture's worth 1000 words, here's some photos...


Nice Dashboard Layout. The Air-cond is special, comes with "Economy" mode...


Above: The engine bay. Code: B6. Cylinder 4-in-line, 1.6 SOHC 16-valve Single Carb FWD. 5 speed manual. It generates 64kw@6000rpm of max power, Torque: 125Nm@3100rpm.


Above: Unique Pop-up headlights. BELOW: Nicely sculpted Dashboard.


Before I sign off, here's a Parting shot... (Side profile)


An Original Jeff Lim's Production (My Original Work). Thanks for having the time and patience to read this...

Air Conditioner Not Working

My Peugeot 206 air conditioner failed today. When I turned on the air conditioner's switch, the blower fan did not turn, but the compressor turned. That means the switch is working fine and the blower fan is probably dead. I took out the blower fan and tested it with another 12V power supply. The blower fan works. Hmm... I thought there must be something dead between the blower fan and the switch. Looking into the blower fan compartment, I saw the resistor. I took that out and tested it with a multimeter. The resistor works. Hmm... looking closer at the wiring, I found a burned connector. Ah ha! That's the problem. Gotta fix that!

The instructions for taking them out.

Open the glove box.

Remove the cover by pulling it out.

Remove 7 screws.

Push compartment down and under the dashboard.

Locate the blower fan. Disconnect the power supply.

Rotate blower fan clockwise and pull it out.

The blower fan.

Pull out the cover and remove the dust inside.

The Peugeot 206 blower fan resistor.

Rotate the resistor to release it and pull it out gently.

The resistor with the shield removed.

The one burned pin in the connector.

Retrieve the connector from the top of the dashboard.
Remove the clock and warning lights first.

Pull the connector out.

The burned pin (front red wire) that goes to the blower fan.
The red wire behind goes to "Speed 4" on the fan speed knob.
Both red wires are actually always connected inside the blower fan resistor.
So the burned pin can be removed and the fan wire reconnected to the "Speed 4" wire.

The blower fan wire reconnected to the "Speed 4" wire with a butt splice connector.

The wires back into the connector.
Put everything back in reverse order.
The air conditioner now works normally.