October 2001
I hope all you knowledgeable folk out there can point me in the right direction regarding my sons AX. Please, no scrapyard addresses. The car is a 92 1.0 with 80k on the clock. No sign of any leaks, no mayo present. Overheating is pretty rapid, within 10 minutes of start up. Warning light comes on, electric fan does not kick in and although the top hose is very hot, the bottom hose remains cold. Hot coolant is then forced out of the radiator filler cap. Could it be someting as simple as a blocked radiator core or even the stat? The heater blows hot by the way, so not the heater matrix. Read more
With all cars nowadays having ECUs what do you independant garage owners or mechanics do when you need to diagnose engine or other faults.
Is there such a thing as a common diagnostic tool which can be adjusted to suit the paramaters of all cars, or do you have to take customers cars to main dealers with the manufacturers supplied equipment.
Alvin Read more
Tom
My motorcycle dealer as much as admitted that to me.
I was complaining about the fact that certain parts, such as chains and sprockets, seem to built below the specification for the rest of the machine and therefore need replacing at, say, 10,000 miles intervals.
His comment was that if those items lasted as long as the rest of the bike then they would never have any servicing work to do.
With regards to ECUs etc., what sort of twisted logic, whether from manufacturers or governments, leads to a situation that in order to improve fuel efficiency by half a mile per gallon, thereby saving the owner about a fiver over the life of the car, you add fifty quid to the cost of a new car for a piece of unreliable equipment which is going to cost another hundred quid to replace at some time during the vehicle's life.
Truly, the patients have taken over the running of the asylum.
Regards
Brian
i'm sure that those of us who only have a car to potter around town of us would not object to a battery-powered (or other low power/eco) vehicle. But why do the manufacturers assume that we want these cars to look 'wacky'?
Look at that Fiat monstrosity the ECOBASIC - what deranged mind thought that one up?
Or what about Ford's THINK? My God, it's straight off kids telly!
I know that weight has to be kept down, but really......
Come to think of it, more and more small cars now seem to be the product of 'nursery school' design. Read more
What has happened is that there are fewer ex-taxis around and therefore less need to cover up the screw holes when the roof-top sign went.
I've just run a new Toyota Celica 190 and am wondering when to change the oil
The dealer / manual say 10k miles but surely its better for the car to do it before then ( say after 2-3k ?)
The reason being as the oil coats the pistons it will get tiny slivers of metal within it which are residual from the cars build. The longer these slivers remain in the oil the worse wear it will cause the engine
I have friends in the US who cannot believe we go 10k without an oil change ? Read more
There are issues here!
If you have an old,mucky engine wot you have just bought in,say a Range Rover,just for fun,then running it gently for about 500 miles on diesel specific oil(and new filter),usually works.
At the other end of the spectrum is running in......I dont know how you do this on modern engines,I think my 170k xud is probably run in,but it doesnt use any oil yet.
meanwhile the Hdi in the citroen is as tight as a tick.
So I'm going to leave the oil in for about 12k just to get it lapped in a bit.Then we move to a b3,or preferably b4 or5 synthetic.
Even so I am not happy about oil being in the sump for more than 6 months,it not only oxidises but parts of it evaporate.
And changing oil should be part of the driving test! It really isnt one of lifes more demanding propositions.
5 litres of B3 diesel synthetic is about nine quid in Auchan Boulogne,and a really very good filter for most things is a fiver in the same place.
Thats fifteen quid ,and the best favour you can do an engine is spend fifteen quid on it every 6 months.
So IS there an issue here?
Looking through the car-by-car breakdown, I noticed that there have been reports of gearbox problems with the 98 on Accord. Can anyone shed any light on what the problem is?
Andy Read more
The same gearbox is (was) used on the reliable Rover 600. We have never had to do any work on these boxes.
David
Is £1300 a sensible asking price for a Citroen ZX Aura 1.9TD 93K with 150 000 miles and in reasonable condition (lots of reciepts, everything works) ? It is a private sale from someone who claims to have followed the HJ suggested service schedules for cars, doing most of the changes themselves.
Any comments?
Thanks
Simon Read more
where i come from you can buy a FCSH, 1994, citroen zx diesel for £895, with 72.000 miles. a 1992, zx volcane, FSH, 68.000 miles, for £795, but the best deal is this.....
1992, citroen zx, 1.9D aura, automatic, 90,000 miles, PAS, e/windows, e/sunroof, 5 door, same owner for the last 7 years, but this is the best bit - full service history, all old receipts, all old mot's, and a brand new citroen main dealer engine fitted 2000 miles ago, very good condition, and maintained regardless of cost, only £950 ono, the phone number is 0191 3883329, and its near durham.
I own a Peugeot 205 Gti 1.6 'D' Reg.. Can anyone tell me about any good resources for spare parts? For example, good dealers i might go to in the Coventry area, or clubs i could get in contact with. Cheers! Read more
try autofive.co.uk
a specialist in 205 gtis
great helpful service
mail order as well as a shop
good prices too
john
Does anyone know how to reset the service indicator on a Galaxy/Sharan 2.8 as I do my own servicing. I believe it can be done without any special equipment. Should be the same for most VW engines. Read more
I worked in a Ford main dealer till the beginning of this year . We could only reset galaxy service indicator using the F D S 2000 Ford diagnostic tool.
not much help for the d.i.y. though - sorry.
I've a Rover 623 with the H23 engine and not a hydralic tappet in sight. They tend to rattle at low revs (770 idle). A friend recommended Forte Oil Treatment and Fortifier, I know it's not one of those nasty PTFE treatments so that's a good start.
I'm usually a bit wary of these 'snake' oils but I was wondering if anyone here has used it or heard if it's any cop.
BTW: I saw Top Gear last night, comparing a Lexus to a Rover is a bit of a mismatch but I would have gone for the Rover anytime. Useless program. Thrashing the Golf TDI was irresponsible, I'm amazed they didn't cause of have an accident. They should rename the program Max D*ckheads.
Anyone seen the new X80 roadster? , apparently they're looking at outdoing the Audi TT. That'll be interesting. Good luck to 'em. Read more
This may not be relevant....
We sell a compensating stacker for magazine signatures called a Forte.
OK, sorry I spoke...
Martin.
What should I write in a receipt when selling a car - I couldn't find anything under 'selling a car privately' on the site.
'Sold as seen' is about as far as I've got.......
Piers Read more
I assume because you sign your part of the V5.
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Thermostat it was. Changed it Saturday pm and the problem is cured.
Darcy, regret I don't know history as the car is my sons and as I am always criticising his driving, he didn't tell me, his mate let it slip in conversation. The overheating had been going on for a few weeks, he just stopped until it cooled down and then carried on. The heater was certainly blowing warm air which is what confused me, hence the cry for help.
Many thanks for the help David.