September 2001
Whenever I take the wheels off on annual service to check brake pads etc on my wifes Maestro I always bleed some new brake fluid through each wheel nipple.
About half a dozen brake pedal depressions.
The total fluid used being about one small can of brake fluid.
I intend shortly to renew the complete brake fluid on my Vectra.
What approximately is the amount needed to completely renew it.
The haynes manual does not give a capacity.
Also is there anything different regarding bleeding with an ABS system.
The manual does give a specific which wheel in sequence to do but is there anything else to know. I have just bought a one man kit for a fiver, not pressurised but simply a container with a pipe sticking out which I presume to have a non-return valve in.
regards,
Alvin Read more
If I were the minister for transport, and lord knows I should be, and I really wanted to reduce road deaths and injuries (unlike the present lot), I'd quickly bring out 2 laws. 1. Make the wearing crash helmets in cars compulsory. I cannot think of a single reason not to, except 'vanity', and thats no excuse. It make motor racing a whole lot safer, so why not us too? Of course I would allow exemption for joy riders and thieves. 2. Compulsory driving test re-sits every 10 years or so, with a years restricted licence for those that fail, and only one shot at passing the second time. That would get my wife off the road, and I could afford a Ducati! Problem is that these acts of sanity would not produce much of an income for the exchequer, so it would not get passed by parliament. What would you do?
Regards
Mike Read more
The Growler wrote:
>
> Special lane lines would be painted on the pavement, with the
> same purpose and function as road lines, with similar laws
> and regulations. Pedestrian would also be required to carry
> battery powered indicators to show their intentions to other
> pavement-walkers and road-users.
Hey Growler,
Does this mean if some little old granny pulls out of the bakers in front of me without looking and then walks down the pavement at 1 mph in the "fast lane" am I entitled to walk as close as possible flashing a torch at the back of her head?
Can we have a trolley driving test for Sainsbury's? Aren't those new ones with the kiddie car hanging off the front a pain in the rectum.
Plus I would make it compulsory to go down to the driving school at Legoland and watch the kids in action. Its just like real roads, shows how childish we all are in our motors.
S
I keep seeing them more and more with a pipe going down to the wheel hub and then seemingly to the air valve.
Assuming that's correct, what's it for ?
And if air flow is involved how to they keep a valid seal between somthing thats spinning fast (the wheel) and something which is not (the pipe) ? Read more
Hmmmm indeed young man.
Is that what u | , . means?
I never can get that hang of it all.
what are the levels for on the citroen bx, i know that the highest level is for tyre changing, but what do the other levels do??? Read more
Only suspension at low setting is the rubber bump stops, this explains the hard ride. The exhaust to ground clearance would be measured in mm rather than inches, so it's risky. There is a school of thought that says the car should be manoeuvred and parked in low after a run to lube the driveshaft splines.
Does anybody know about the new regs which come into force next year regarding bull bars ,I believe they are to be banned on new vehicles and a year later must be removed from older vehicles ,is this correct. Read more
richard turpin wrote:
>
> Darcy,
> They are for bulls, of course....And a sense of
> invulnerability, macho whatsit, and general bird pulling
> power.(trouble is it works. So who is the dummy?)
And lets face it. If a buffalo ran out on you on the Chertsea by-pass you'd be glad of them!
I have a retired friend who is being driven insane by what appears to be a very subtle intermittant fault that all the so called expert engine tuners can not get to grips with. The car in question is a 1993 Audi 2 litre E Model.
Now the fault. Somedays he can travel 30 miles or so on the motorway at legal speed without any problems either with the engine or transmission. (it is not an automatic transmission model). On other days he may attempt the same journey and the engine will falter and lose power but at speeds of 60 to 70 mph it will not stall.
The problem occurs however if the car is on a major road at slower speeds when the cars engine will hesitate and eventually stall.
The car has been to numerous garages and engine specialists but no problems have been identified with the electronic management system even with sophisticated diaogostic equiptment.
New fuel pump and fuel filter have not effected a cure.
The car is not garaged but the problem does not seem to be influenced by the weather. Read more
Or possibly our ould friend the fuel pump relay or the earth to the fuel pump relay. A fault here never shows up on engine diagnostics because it isn't an engine fault; merely an intermittent fuel supply fault.
HJ
A while back I posted on here about a problem I was having with my VW Polo as it has a tendency to run rough when cold. I had a few replies but alas the problem still won't go away.
My problem is that when cold the engine will idle roughly and when I pull away there is a lack of power and if I have to stop within the first couple of minutes of driving it will probably stall. The only thing I can compare it to is driving a car with a manual choke and not having the choke out fully. My car has fuel injection so there's not a lot I can do reagrding the choke!!
I've done all the obvious things like new HT leads, spark plugs, fuel filter and temperature sensor but the problem persists. It's more noticable on a cold morning as during the summer it's been not too bad most mornings. The car's fine once it's warmed up a little but it's an annoying problem all the same. Any ideas what I can check? Is it worth replacing the sensor on the catalyst?
It's a 1991 1 litre with SPI. Any suggestions greatly appreciated.
Many thanks, Andy. Read more
Hi,
I have a 1993 Golf with Single Point Injection with exactly the same problem as Andy's Golf except, being automatic gearbox, my car stalls more easily. Would you think this might ne caused by the manifold heater on the Golf also, or could it be something else? Replacing the Central control unit (engine management system) sounds expensive.
After the thread on the new Shell petrol (which I am not going to use from last experience). I decided to see how the motorcycle would do on 97 Octane unleaded rather than the 95 I normally use. The bike normally does about 40.5 mpg, after one tank full I have 41.2 mpg. Not enough miles yet to get a good result I know, but with the price difference of 8p I need to get 44.5 mpg to make it worth it. Anyway filled up with premium again tonight, tank down to its last ltr., so it should be a reasonable test over the next 180 miles or so. It doesnt even seem any smoother. I will let you know what happens.
I know 40mpg from a bike seems lousy, but it seems to do around about that from around town upto 120/130. After that it falls off lowest about 32mpg speeds over 125-155. One of Motorcyle mags had less than 30 in France on a looney trip.
Bill Read more
Michael,
Good point, I havn't a clue, but being as its the model before injection I suspect not, I will look into it and let you know.
Bill
Much to the annoyance of the local Mertrux dealer, we learned that I had saved about seven thousand on a 416 CDI purchased from the MB dealer in Brugge. This was an accurate comparision as I could make, using MB option codes etc. Simple and easy to do - infact the only grief was the ineptitude of the staff at my local Vehicle Registry Office not knowing their stuff properly!
The power is incredible (160hp) - restricted to 100mph, but gives the impression of being able to do another 10 or 20 mph. Dealer happy to derestrict but I'm not going to...
Acheiving between 25 and 34 to the gallon, depending on load/aircon travelling at 75mph. Vehicle has six speed Sprintshift (MB version of Tiptronic), which helps with economy apparenty. Makes for very relaxing and comfortable driving - can recommend!
About servicing - MB have being drumming 6,000 intervals into light commercial owners for so long before the appearance of the Sprinter it is hard to believe these new cdi engines will last on 15,000 between changes. My last one got to 350,000m on original clutch/motor/transmission and only four sets of pads. I know the technology is derived from heavy trucks like Actros which do 100,000km intervals - but 15,000? The oil rep assures me it's fine... any thoughts please? Is this just part of a greater strategy to improve spares sales?!
Cheers,
Simon Howes Read more
This frequent oil changing is obviously correct in theory, and like others on this site I do it too. I just wonder why cars generally pack up because of rust/blocked or broken pipes/rotten electrics etc etc rather than worn out bearings/liners.
I'd like to pose a serious question regarding Grey Imports. I have heard lots of anecdotal revelations such as a lot of the sports cars have been used for street racing, Petrol in Japan is 100 octane, Jap cars aren't rustproofed etc etc. From experience I have found that some of the exotica have indeed been extensively modified in the engine dept and fault finding can be a little tricky sometimes but what really is the score? Are these cars every bit as good as the "genuine" article?? Read more
I guess the real purpose of these new regulations is to stop the less rich from getting something that will go a bit - another nail in the coffin of motoring - but just out of curiosity, what is the excuse?
Alvin,
Suggest you ask your local Vauxhall dealer for a price to do a fluid change.
Upto a few years ago it was suggested that the fluid was changed every year and is now every two years.
You might just be pleasantly surprised at the price and effectively "derisk" the process of playing with the brakes and ABS.
Hope this helps .........
Robert