November 2001
Took my wifes maestro turbo diesel for its MOT yesterday and it failed due to the bottom suspension swivel on the N/S having excessive play.
Set to this morning to replace. You have to remove the bottom suspension arm complete with the offending ball joint swivel. This is riveted in place incidentally by three rivets which have to be drilled and ground out.
The replacement kit contains three nuts and bolts to replace the rivets.
After replacing and torquing up the suspension arm as per Mr Haynes manual everything was done.
However the steering wheel which was perfectly aligned is now out of line by a quarter of a turn approximately. I have studied the book but can not see any reason why this should be so. The track rod ends haven't been touched...the swivel joint was exactly the same so my concern is how can this be so as I have done nothing to affect alignement.
Would anyone have an explanation and how to rectify.
Thanks,
Alvin Read more
the government is holding an inquiry into speed enforcement issues, and are inviting you all to write in!
www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/tlgrpnt15.htm
The Transport, Local Government and the Regions Committee has decided to undertake an inquiry into the nature and effects of illegal and inappropriate road traffic speed in the UK.
The Committee will wish to consider:
The role of illegal and inappropriate speed in respect of:
causing crashes, and the severity of accidents; reducing the quality of life in urban areas;
and the consequences of illegal and inappropriate speed for urban design.
The availability and reliability of research on
the consequences of, and reasons for, illegal and inappropriate speed, and in particular, the reasons for the very high pedestrian casualty rate;
The extent to which the problems associated with speed should be tackled by:
better enforcement; road re-design and traffic calming; road re-classification; physical measures to separate pedestrians and cars (e.g. barriers); technology (e.g. through Intelligent Speed Adaptation and car designs which promote pedestrian protection); education to improve drivers? and motor cyclists? behaviour and pedestrian and cyclist awareness; changes to speed limits; and what specific policies should be implemented.
The extent to which relevant bodies are taking the right actions
Whether local authorities, DTLR, the Highways Agency, the police and Home Office are providing a co-ordinated approach to speed management, and what they should do Whether the sentences imposed by magistrates and judges on those convicted of speeding offences have in all cases been appropriate and what other approaches ought to be considered Whether motor manufacturers, the national press, TV programmes about motoring and advertisers have shown an appropriate attitude to speed, and how they should change
The role of speed management strategies
Witnesses are invited to submit memoranda to the Committee before Tuesday January 8. Memoranda should consist of up to six A4 pages on computer disk in either ASCII, Word or Word Perfect 8 with a single additional hard copy. Witnesses without access to a computer are respectfully requested to take particular care that submissions are legible. Witnesses who wish their memoranda to be treated in confidence should contact the Committee Clerk in advance. Read more
Look, is this going to help get speed limits raised?
We've been suffering with ever decreasing limits now for sometime. the safety argument is rubbish. We need bigger roads, anf higher limits. And to keep pedestrians OFF the road. Whats the problem here?
Hi
My 1989 18 Mondeo Turbo Diesel has failed the "Exhaust Analyzer" test for it`s MOT.
I`ve been told to take it on a long run , driving it at high revs to "clear the exhaust out".
I understand the reasoning behind this , but should I be trying/changing/adjusting anything else to get it to pass?
Thanks
Chas Read more
It is 35 second oil. Put "35 second" and 'oil' into a Google web search and see what it comes up with.
Isnt tommorrow the day LAC is fully cured after receiving medical care. I am looking forward to notice the change in character! Read more
yes miss.
To all who have contributed with me moaning on about the hydraulics unit, my BMW dealer has offered to match the import quote out of a good will gesture so at least it will save me in the region of £111.00.
Thanks for all the info provided. Read more
Have you thought about contacting a BMW garage in Germany, France or Spain - should be able to get the addresses from your owners manual. They might be able to courier the part to you and will in my experience cost a lot less
Dave
Just read that the police are going to offer rewards to anyone who shops a drink driver, could be as much as 500 pounds.
Now I'm all for removing the drunk drivers from the roads, but where is all this heading? Will I be able to phone the council when I find someone in a car park with an expired parking ticket?
What does everyone think to this?
There's more detail at :
news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/england/newsid_168200...m
(You can select the above address, then copy and paste it into your browser) Read more
Didn't they do this last year? Can't remember if there was a reward or not but I'm sure there was publicity for 'shopping' drink-drivers.
To all Eurocarparts do not sell the required SMG pump for the BMW anyone recommend anyone else? Read more
get in touch with trading standards to see if the company has had any complaints.
oh dear ive just scraped the pain off the side of my car...
anyone know a good paint shop in or near reading ? Read more
richard price wrote:
>
> Further to the last the web site does not seem to be working
> at the moment copied this from a SMART repair directory.
According to last week's Bristol Evening Post there may be a good reason why the web-site is down (and those are Bristol phone nos Richard has given you).
Sorry to start a new thread, but this deserves to be read, not buried at the end of an old thread.
If you see a dirty diesel, either HGV or PSV, note its reg number, vehicle type, location and time (all with the one hand that's not using the mobile) then when you've stopped, call the government's Dirty Diesel Hotline, telephone 020 8665 0885.
Unfortunately, "All their operators were busy", so I couldn't ask what they do. Their message says leave those details and they will "action" it. Might be worth a try.
V Read more
DanJ
I am glad that you brought that up, because I typed it in then chickened out and deleted it.
How many of the green brigade sit in their communes three or more kids, increasing the country's population by at least 50% in a generation?.
Do they think that their 3 or more replacements are going to live in the same space and use only the same resources as the 2 of them do?.
Can anyone suggest where to get my front shocks for my 1990 Subaru Justy. It seems that Subaru parts are expensive and I've never bought parts from a main dealer if I could avoid doing so regardless of the make of vehicle.
Would it be a good idea to try people such as Kwik Fit even though I have a very good mechanic who will fit parts I supply. Is there a German and Swedish equivalent for Japanese cars? Read more
Tom
Your local Yellow Pages
Motor Factors
Ring around and enquire
Good luck
DVD
Browse
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Chris,
Yep, tend to agree, even a maestro is preferable to a bus {many made by Leyland {Leyland/Daf}, once part of BL, which eventually became the MG / Rover of today.
I speak from experience having owned the Maestro's larger brother - the Montego - serious rust problems at first MoT.
Rover 213 and 216 from late 80s to early 90 were totally appalling on corrosion.
How many early 90s Montegos / Maestros are still on the road - not many - lots of similar Ford, Vauxhall, VW, Audi, still going. Basically anything German, French and indeed Swedish {Volvo, Saab}.
As we have such wet conditions and use so much salt in the winter, BL / Rover should have been world leaders in preventing corrosion decades ago. Look at Volvo and Saab and the weather in Scandinavia.
BL's plan of building cars to last only 5 years, hoping that customers would buy another, seriously backfired on them and on the British tax payer.
I used to buy Austin / Rover cars out of some sense of misguided patriotism, but no more. Give me German, French or Swedish.
Tom