October 2001
having had 3 Audi cars (2- 80's and 1 A4) I am thinking of buying a new A4 TDI, can anyone tell me why I should be paying £1200 more to aquire a 130 bhp version rather than order the 100 bhp one?
I do not feel that a couple of seconds extra to get to 62mph is worth £1200 plus paying for the extra insurance group.
Comments appreciated Read more
See thread below on Helicoil for background.
The car cost me 700 quid 12,000 miles ago so a bodge solution to get me going for the life of one plug would be a fine solution - I can replace the head in my own time then.
1) If the rusty plugs are a sign of knackered head gasket then I'm better off replacing the head. If I do it myself this is cheap. I'm a little daunted by the job though.
2) I couldn't get a (self made) tap in at all last night so I'm wondering if the aliminium itself may have melted making tapping the thread again impossible.
3) Most people who know their stuff say helicoil in situ is v. v. risky and often innefective. Costs 45 quid.
So I can either spend 45 quid and hope for the best. Or replace the head. Cure every potential problem but risk screwing it up big style through my own mistakes.
Can a head gasket really leak for 12,000 & 15 months miles without giving the car any symptoms/overheating problems at all??? It's been a plug ruster from day one. If I could be sure the gasket was OK I'd happily risk the helicoil. Read more
David W wrote:
>
> That'll be quite worn by now then!
Yes, M&S vouchers do lose their gloss with time!
My wife has an N reg Fiat Uno 1700 Diesel and it is getting through a set of glow plugs every couple of months/2000 miles. Can anyone explain why as it is getting very expensive. I have checked that the power goes off to the plugs after a few seconds but where do I go from here? Read more
Pete,
Thanks for the info.
I too test for resistance first and then remove the glowplugs and test on a good battery (like Simon). Sometimes this will show up a plug that'll look OK for resistance but isn't glowing properly.
Your mileage at 55,000 is a little low for poor injectors, but you may consider having them exchanged or serviced at a diesel fuel injection centre. They are not DIY serviceable I'm afraid.
Another point to consider is that injection pump triming can eat glowplugs if it is out. On a modern car the usual reason is to make a mistake in timing when the cambelt is replaced.
Any possibility of this in your case?
On the glowplug brand you should be OK with Champion but NGK and Beru are said to be better.
Some food for thought there.
David
Since I bought the Rover 414 it's had a manky thread on the fourth plug.
Last night the moment I've been dreading occured and that cylinder stopped firing.
Changing the plugs was the last straw for the thread and after getting it in as best I could I fired it into the bonnet. ;-(
So I now need an in situ solution 'cos I don't want to take the head off.
To complicate matters I worried that the plug wasn't properly located before and that I've melted the aliminum head closing up the plug hole. (I cant get the plug more than half a centimetre in)
1) Is helicoiling the solution?
2) Can anyone recomend a place near Horley, Surrey that will do it.
3) Can anyone recomend a mobile spanner man with a van that would do it at my home address.
4) Can anyone explain the process? I'm assured it can be done in situ but surely the old thread would need to be drilled? Read more
I guess what i'm trying to say is - take the head off!
Good luck with whatever you try.
Martin.
My Son's Nissan Prairie (1990) has a speedo which sometimes works but, mainly, wavers all over the place before settling down to some sort of speed indication. Could anyone kindly advise re this problem and where I should start on a repair ? I assume that the speedo is electronic as I cannot trace a drive cable. Where might the drive/pick up be for this type of speedo (auto gearbox)? Also, is the drive, at the speedo head, a magnetic disc which drags the needle round and could this be where the fault lies ? Any advice would be most welcome. Read more
Thanks Nick & John for your comments.
Front near suspension arm. Mondeo 1996. Cut the bolt and replace arm and insert bolt the other way from the original to save time. Just as safe I am being told, but quicker and therefore cheaper labour.
Sounds stupid and dangerous to me, there must be a reason for the way it is.
Any ideas folks?
Thanks Read more
How very cretinous,but we have come to expect no less from FMC.
Masters of cynical marketing and the fabled £600,000 door trim redesign(20 years ago,too!).
And all for what?
A drop of Loctite?
give me strength!
Hi,
I am thinking about buying a Citroen AX Diesel and would like any comments/advice any common problems and owner experiences of this model.
Many thanks,
Ian Read more
Hi,
Thanks again for all your suggestions and comments.
I have been talking to a neighbour who owns a Peugeot 405 diesel ex-taxi and has said that they are much stronger and durable his has over 300K miles on the clock. He has worked for a taxi firm as a mechanic.
I think this could be the answer!
Regards Ian.
Can anyone confirm that a manufacturers warranty would not be invalidated by work carried out that was not done by a main dealer but by a reputable garage and at the times specifed in the handbook.
many thanks
dominic Read more
Amazingly,since I can service most cars with a hangover,in the rain,with minimal tools,and without even a handbook,I consider that having a car serviced by a dealer in its warranty period to be a very good idea.HJ elucidated the reasons.
What gets right up my snout is paying more than three quid a litre for oil,and paying for time that is not actually spent on the service.
If I'm going to pay for an hours work then I want an hours work done,or pay for the time actually spent.
Even I can service a car in the time the manufacturer allocates,and I'm checking a great deal more than the mechanic ever does...
And,yes,I do know how hard it is to make money in the motor trade,its one of the reasons I'm not IN the motor trade,anymore!
I would have put this in the "Endangered Species" thread, but since Martyn *still* hasn't sorted this place out...
Car accident today in Rio, nothing unusual there but it involved an pristine looking Chevette and a Ford Consul.
Well, it interested me... Read more
Martyn can't "sort this place out" until he gets the money to do so. How much he gets and indeed whether he gets anything at all depends on how much money the site can generate and whether it can generate any money at all. I am holding a meeting with my business partners responsible for this next week.
HJ
My stepmother has an unmarked '99 T-plate Daewoo Nexia with 12.5K miles on it which she thinks is too big (!). She would like to change it for a Toyota Yaris now that the free servicing Daewoo Deal is about to run out. My opinion is that at 12.5K miles, it's barely done a tenth of its potential mileage, and would be worth buttons against a Yaris, it being flavour of the month and a current model. Being a "better the devil you know" sort of chap, I've recommended that she keep it, form a relationship with a friendly local garage and run it for another 3-4 years. I've read the car-by-car stuff about changing the brake fluid.
Any comments from the Back Room? Read more
Thanks for your input guys. I wonder if I'm going to get sweet-talked into changing the brake fluid with the famous Gunson Eezibleed?
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At 55 I have probably lost the combative zeal of my youth,and it has to be said that both my wife and daughter regularly shave half an hour off my Charlwood to Helston run time.
Yet I still cannot understand why people want to run slow noisy underpowered vehicles when power has never been cheaper.
If you dont occasionally think your vehicle is underpowered then I put it to you that you are a moving chicane.
You are causing road rage and accidents,you are being inconsiderate to other drivers and you have more spare time than is good for you.
Get a job!
I am, for instance, currently considering how much power my Hdi 110 citroen xsara wagon needs.
With just me in it it might be just ok as it is,but it doesnt exactly terrify me.
However,with the aircon flat out in the South of France,two tricycles on the roof,a boot full of processed grape juice,and a need to be home in 24 hours.....
Dont think we can do it on less than about 140 of the finest drays and about 230 good old foot pounds.
Yeah,youre right,we CAN do it ,but with much too much effort.
And I've just discovered that,being a wagon,the bloody thing weighs more than my trusty 405 wagon.
I thought theyd stopped using lead.....