May 2001
Our 2000 Golf Avantgarde has really bad vibrations - a combination of inherent body flex and the 45 series tyres fitted (factory spec). It is worse that every other one I have driven but VW dealers say it "It is not nice but probably within factory tolerances" and so VW don't want to know.
Would an underbonnet Strut Brace help reduce up the body flex? Read more
I have just had a 24,000 mile service on my 99T 2.0 Spider Lusso.
Despite covering only 22,500 miles the rear spring cup bushes on both sides have been flagged to be splitting.
No remedy has been propose under my warranty (although they are seeing to a noisy "advance variator"??? under warranty).
Is it reasonable for these bushes to split so soon? Should I push this for a warranty claim/contribution? Read more
So far, rejection from Warranty Holdings.
The dealer, who has thus far been very good, is now talking with Alfa Customer Services regarding a contribution.
What sort of level should i reasonably expect against suspension work estimated at £455? I'm not keen to pay much myself for the reason below:
The imminent arrival of Baby Ted forces the sale of the car, which is a genuine shame as we have had a fantastic year. We never went back to the dealer until the service at the end of April which led to this query.
Am now looking at a choice between an Audi A4 2.0SE and a Jaguar X-type (entry level). Neither has the appeal to me of the Spider, although both are classy cars.
I've previously posted a message about this, but I think my might have narrowed down the issues now.
I have a Mazda Xedos 6 2.0 V6 1996 60,000 miles Manual. The car has been test by Mazda who say that there's no fault. The car's engine has also been checked by a tuning company who have made a few tweaks here or there. The oil, air filter, ignition leads and throttle switch have been replaced but.....
.....everytime I'm in 1st or 2nd gear (it's occurs mostly in 2nd) and I accelerate quickly with half throttle of more, there seems a delay before the transmission "bites" and the car accelerates. Because of this delay, the car lurches forward. The car doesn't seem to be able to accelerate smoothly unless I gradually apply or I'm really gentle with the throttle. When I'm decelerating (again mostly in second) between 40mph and 20mph again there's a slightly lurching / kangaroo hopping even with my foot off the accelerator. The car doesn't seem to be able to decelerate smoothly.
The techies (Mazda and the independant car tuning company) say there's no fault with the engine. The independant car tuning company have noted that there's seems to be a bit of slack in the transmission.
Mazda have suggested:-
1. The V6 Mazdas "are a bit like that."
2. It could be a gearbox problem.
3. I'm imaging it.
4. My feet are too big.
Any ideas / solutions / suggestions would be greatly appreciated, otherwise it's going to make its next appearance in the Classifieds section of Autotrader. Read more
Thanks for providing the technical explanation!
Hello !
Does anyone know whether it is possible to uprate the 90 HP version of this engine to the 110 Hp version.
My 406 feels a little "flat" compared to previous Xantia Turbodiesel, I think there is a piece of kit availible to upgrade VW tdi engines, but don't know of one for this motor.
Cheers for any help you can give.
Alan Read more
Hey I thought there was something suspicious about the throttle response, Will check for a slack cable - mats now removed. Can you tell me more about this damper ?
I had a Rover 420 Turbo Diesel before this ( Xantia was before that ) - which was an absolute flyer in comparison so I guess I will have to get used to the Peugeot.
Whose engine do Rover use ? I thought they bought them in From PSA, and with extre weight of only 200 Kg would have expected Peugeot to be almost as quick.
Cheers
Al
A colleague poses a question about her P-reg. VW Golf GTi 8-valve. It cold-starts normally, but after running for 3-5 minutes, the engine cuts out, and she then has to wait 3-6 minutes before it will restart.
Her VAG garage replaced the ECU and speed sensor, but the fault persists.
Has anyone any ideas? Read more
My mother in law's identical Golf won't re start after short journeys without a 10 minute wait. i suspect fuel injection "flooding". Maybe this and Steve's problem are connected. The wait before re starting sounds similar. Does anyone have any idea how to cure this? Would "hotter" plugs help. She can't really help making short journeys so "drive further" would not be a helpful answer. Is there anything else one can do?
Can anyone remind me of the pros/cons of buying a secondhand car that has been brought back from the Channel Islands? I remember reading something about dealers/manufacturers using the C/Islands to offload stock, but I can't recall the ins and outs of the story. Scam or not? Read more
If anyone still looks this far back and is interested in info two decades out of date here's my contribution from beginning of the 80's:
Guernsey 5 miles by 7miles - if you're a visitor and get lost just head for the sun/moon till you hit the coast, then drive round it until you recognise something. Shouldn't take more than a few minutes.
Population: 30,000. Cars: 50,000 (mainly hire - used in the summer, most of them parked up in the winter. Sensible locals don't buy: stuck in traffic jams all summer, can practically get paid to hire a car in winter).
Knew a guy who took his test in summer - never got out of first gear. Only just managed to get round the block and back to the test centre before the test finished.
Stopped in Alderney for the weekend with a local. Took me for a drive round the island. Out of his drive, and set off along his road. Asked him how long it would take to get round. What do you mean, he said, we're home!
Perhaps things have changed.
PS Don't forget you're never more than a few miles from the sea!
Do you 'let people out' and wave 'thanks' when someone lets you out/in?
As contributors to this column I would bet that yes you do, as responsible road users, who take an interest in their cars, traffic systems, safety etc.
I think driving habits have become a pretty accurate barometer of the lowering of social politeness generally in the UK. See the proliferation of road rage.
Here's a fine example, which happened to me this morning:
Appointment at the doctor for my daughter, car park full, one parking space being vacated, driver taking ages, me waiting patiently (no pun intended), obviously going to take his place. Shiny new Beamer (middle aged suit inside) appears and drives straight in past me as I'm reversing in. Thinking he hadn't noticed (unlikely) that I was going to go into the space, I very politely told him twice that I had just let the guy out and was then going to use the space. He said he couldn't care less (words to that effect) just walked by with a smug look, my jaw hit the tarmac, as he waltzed into the surgery. We parked up the road. Waiting in reception I saw to my surprise that he wasn't a patient but one of the senior consultants! (and I wasn't using the staff car park). Too bizarre.
Struck me as the epitome of the type we see on tv moaning about young people in society, rudeness etc. You know I'd have minded less if it HAD beed a spotty yoof in a banger.
Oil the wheels, count to ten, and be good out there!
Stu. Read more
LOL!
I went there a month or so ago and there was a new roundabout with a sign explaining how to use it!
I read with great interest in the ?peugoet cam belts? topic the arguments in favor of ?a
middle aged well maintained simple diesel?. I?ve always been enthusiastic about
motoring on a small budget (bangernomics). Previously I have been swayed by the
argument that if you have a mechanical problem with an old diesel it?ll be expensive.
Although you?re more likely to have a problem with an old petrol car, it should be
much cheaper to fix and represents a safer bet.
What do other people think? Read more
I fully agree with the above remarks.Diesel technology is improving in leaps & bounds & I firmly believe that with the inevitable continual increase in fuel prices, diesel frugality & performance superiority over petrol engined counterparts will result in a significant attitude change in the motoring public.Whilst I cannot claim vast experience on older diesels, monitoring of diesel forums in both the USA & Europe reveal considerable numbers of these cars attaining prodigious mileages , sometimes with minimal servicing & care.
I require & enjoy reliable motoring with additional zest & I would be extremely
unwilling to return to a petrol engined variant.
Simon.
I'd like to replace my oil with synth, but I've been told that my g'box has no drain plug. Can anyone confirm or deny this, please?
Any views on the desirability of doing it, anyway?
(Nothing in the handbook about it)
Thanks Read more
Simple answer. Ask your Ford dealer to change the oil and hope that he does change it and not simply say he has changed it then rip you off for the cost. The reason for changing gearbox oil once early in a car's life is to get rid of all the shards of metal thrown off as the box beds in. If you don't, these shards will eventually be grounbd down into minute particles which find their way into the gearbox bearings.
HJ
I have an intermittent minor problem with my Omega (2.5V6). When I park for between half an hour and a couple of hours, I often find it takes a while on the starter to restart the car. Just to complicate the mystery, it only seems to happen when I go forward into parking spaces (i.e. rarely) and has never happened when I reverse into one. This may, of course, be an utter red herring.
Anyone got any clues? I suspect fuel vapourisation, but don't know what I can do if it is. Read more
Vin
The way these things usually work is, the fuel pump runs for 2 seconds after ignition turn on to pre-pressurise the fuel system.
There is a pressure limiting valve on the end of the fuel rail which will dump surplus fuel back into the tank via the return pipe. I would expect the rail to reach the relief pressure during the 2 seconds run. Cranking will start the pump again to replace fuel pressure lost through the operation of the injectors. The pump runs all the time the engine is running normally.
The question you need to answer is: does the pump run on ignition turn on? if it doesn't the pump relay is suspect, if it does then I would lean toward an ignition problem. The fuel pump is usually situated in the vicinity of the offside rear wheel and, especially if the car has doen a few miles, can be heard buzzing when running.
Regards
Don Cox
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A little bit. But the primary purpose of a strut brace is to stop the tops of the strut towers moving inwards during hard cornering. If you really want to strengthen the car, think in terms of a roll cage.
HJ