June 2001
I have just bought a 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero from Japan - I bought it over the internet for £1100, plus £700 shipping and about £500 duty and Vat.
My problem, though, is that the previous Japanese owner was one of those people who like to personalise their cars with junk aftermarket additions.
I will be able to take out the extra speakers and the bizarre echoing horn easily enough, but I don't know how to get rid of the black film that has been stuck on the (six) rear side windows or the dark pink film that he has stuck on the rear window.
Does anybody know how this stuff can be removed? I have tried easing it off from a corner, but it doesn't pull off easily and I am going to end up spending days clearing little bits off each pane of glass if I attempt that.
Is there any chemical that destroys this stuff without spoiling the window? Will hot air from a hairdryer work without cracking the glass? Any suggestions will be gratefully received, because at the moment the inside of the wagon is dreadfully gloomy .. Read more
1990 VW Golf - big bang while driving (as if rearended) -stops.
Can only be pushed off road in reverse.
Engine restarted, will go into forward gears and drive but will not engage reverse.
Any tips apart from check gearbox and transmission? Read more
Check the gearbox linkage - you may find that the selection mechanism has worn or got out of adjustment and can't put the rods that come out of the gearbox into the right position. You may just need to get under the car and adjust the main rod - the Haynes manual tells you how.
Just a thought given my 3 kids.
Does anyone know of any 5 seat convertibles? Read more
It certainly would need 3 rear seat belts.
All the convertibles I peep in just have 2 (or do the owners just keep the middle one hidden down the back of the cushion?)
Robin
My parents have just been to France with ssome friends in a brand new Range Rover. While they were there the rear suspension collapsed, leaving them stranded. My folks came home by Eurostar but the people whose car it is decided to wait until it was fixed and drive it home (not sure what the outcome was). I've mentioned this to a few people and have heard of two other instances of this happening with the hydro-pneumatic suspension on Range Rovers (Oh how Citroen must be laughing). Not sure what the problem was with two of them, but one had a blowing exhaust which destroyed some of the pipework/seals and down she came. Luckily they were only doing ten miles an hour in a car park. But on the motorway it could have been very serious.
Might be worth putting it in the "What's bad" section of the car breakdown.
Cheers
Chris Read more
Will do.
HJ
Hi - one of your recommended car brokers 'quote to quote' no longer seems to exist. The telephone supplied by HJ on this website is out of date.
Does quote to quote still trade? Read more
Seeeeeee - told you my Golf was built at Wolfsburg. Mr Bairstow of Uffculme now Dusseldorf fame - are you there?????
The car: 1991 1 litre VW Polo. First of the MK3 model with the single point monotronic fuel injected engine.
The problem: The car always starts first turn but normally stalls at some point when the engine is cold, normally when I get to the end of the road. The car is fine once it's warmed up a bit. The car also feels a bit underpowered when cold and feels like its misfiring slightly.
Remedy?: I thought it was a fuel pressure problem and bought a 2nd hand fuel injector of a low mileage car which did help bit but hasn't cured it. I've also replaced the temperature sensor, spark plugs and HT leads. I've also checked and cleaned all of the electrical connections and they seemed fine.
One garage mentioned it could be the distributor as this adjusts the timing when the engine is cold. Thing is I don't want to put it in the garage and waste money replacing something that doesn't need replacing. One garage did a disgnostic check and there were no fault codes found.
Any advice would be welcome as I know it's a boring car(!!) but I would appreciate a few tips before I bit the bullet and let VAG get their hands on my money.
Cheers, Andy. Read more
Just to let you know my long running problem has now been solved. After reading your advice and thinking about the problem I decided to replace the fuel filter, as at my last MOT the report said there was a possible leak from it.
The filter was full of s*** and now my car runs fine (touch wood).
Dear Mod / HJ,
Just a quick question about the information gathered by the web site from the browsing public: I run a utility called McAffee Guard Dog on my pc. It warns me if any web site I visit tries to syphon off personal info or infect my pc. Quite neat really- it woofs at you! Anyway, I notice that my pc is interogated by this site every page I visit. Also, occasionally, I get a warning message that credit card information is being downloaded to an unsecure site, ie you. Of course my system blocks this, but what is the policy? Is this intentional? What info do you in fact collect? Read more
It looks as though people have done the job for me, and the questions have all been answered. (That's what I like!)
The best thing I can do now is refer you to our Terms and Conditions (click on The Small Print in the navigation bar on the left, scroll down to privacy... it's all there.
Yes, as Stephen says in one of the contris to this thread, we do set cookies, but for ethical reasons only. And No, we do not automatically harvest either personal data or credit card numbers. So the whereabouts of anyone's collection of private mpegs remains a secret between them and their hard disk, as does the size of their bank balance.
Stephen, of Khoo Systems, by the way, is the programmer who has helped me construct this site. He is a genius, so don't ever stand too close to him in case he has one of his brainstorms. But if ever anyone wants something done that is very very clever, he is your man. You'll find contact details for him in the Credits section of The Small Print page.
Has anyone any ideas on how to unseize an engine,its been standing for a long time ,was in good condition Read more
Thanks for your help and advice,I think that itmight be cheaper to get another engine.An unleaded head is over £300 and new pistons and liners are also that much
Cheers
Chris Rabson
p.s the chassis,ash frame and body,hood,etc are all good and Iwould like to keep the car
Hi
A colleague of mine was looking to buy a vehicle on jamjar.com but in between waiting to get the money and then place the order, the price quoted on their web site has risen by £1500! Is this common? Read more
What I will do if we get the Euro;
a.) Keep my job (Manufacturing)
That's it.
Everyone knows Sterling is overvalued so pretending that to devalue is a disaster is nonsense.
I purchased a pressure gauge from International Tool Co ( ITC UK )as the "Telegraph" put them as a good buy a couple of years back.
Nice quality selection of gauges etc and I am happy with mine.
Noticed there was something described as a spare tyre connector for difficult to reach spare wheels . My guess is it is a short length of hose with air connectors etc.
Anyone tried one as it seems ideal for checking hard to reach spare tyres ?
Martin Read more
Lots of twin rear wheel vehicles are fitted with Rubber extensions to the inner tyre valve. Some are also fitted with a short brass extension to the outer tyre, this bends round at almost a right angle, allowing the inward pointing valve to point outwards. Both will fit standard car valves.
Browse
Just be careful with those blades around the elements of the heated rear window