February 2002
One or two of you may remember my short thread on this a couple of months back. At the time it appeared that the problem occurred at about 3000 rpm, but the recent spell of high winds have revealed that it may be caused by just that - a combination of road speed with a strong wind from a certain direction. It's clearly in the loom somewhere, probably at the rear of the front wing between the engine compartment and the A-pillar. Time for a few experiments .. .. Read more
Perusal of this site over the past few weeks has revealed a healthy interest in prolonging engine life by use of a particular brand of oil, careful running in, additives, changing oil more frequently than the manufacturers recommendations etc.
I have run 3 cars over 100,000 miles with just standard servicing, and a good friend of mine runs a taxi business where his self employed drivers run their standard family saloons with astronomical mileages on the clock.
Over the last 20 years, in our joint experience, virtually all expense on repairs has been for items not affected by how well the engine was lubricated. Suspension, brake systems, steering and so on.
I am from a generation that remembers grinding in valves, re-bores, decokes and when 20K from an engine without attention was a subject of interest in the pub. I wonder if our experience in our early motoring years has given some of us a fixation about engines wearing out and our concern is misplaced.
Alfred Read more
Alfred,
Give up and join us in the monastry, you wont convince those who know better than them whot makes the cars.
The earth is flat!
Heavier than air machines cant fly!
Sir Alex Ferguson is ready to retire
Tell them they are spot on and buy shares in oil companies.
Why does HJ call the BBC the BPC, clearly I am missing something?
Should the back room not have a glossary, Ladas are slow, Martyn, BPC and others keep on croping up.
Alex Read more
Yamaha Makes Maximum Velocity.
(Does it, bikers PLEASE debate, for a bit of relief.)
My Volvo 940 GLE Nov 1991, is clearly over 10 years old.
National Breakdown no longer cover cars over 10 year old for Europe.
As with all big Sweedish Volovs {not the Dutch ones} its in first class condition bodily and has only covered 90 odd thousand miles.
I intened to keep it for at least another couple of years, anyone know of best European cover deals?
Also anyone know if any insurance companies { insurance, not breakdown cover} that do discount schemes for cars of this age, on limited mileage ?
Ta
Alex Read more
Correct, Direct Line now takes up to 16 years old. After that I believe there are "classic" schemes.
Also, on insurance, I was able to swap Toad onto my classic policy with Aon, although only"M", perhaps because Supras are out of production (certainly they are "classic" vehicles, of course!). Perhaps a Volvo could qualify?
Nankangs off, P-zeros on, by the way.
Looking for at new cars this evening I had a look at the Trade Sales site.
They have, in stock, a Mercedes S600 Pulman Stretch Limo for only £249,999.00(two hundred and forty nine thousand nine hundred and ninety nine pounds) plus £51 and RFL. I would have snapped it up but it is in Black which is so much last years colour.
Seriously can this be real? Would a firm like Trade Sales buy a car like that on spec and hope a buyer looking for a cut price car would just come along and buy it?
HJ is there an explanation?
Len Read more
LAS, I'm a poor student too, but this is no place for violin music.
Mark.
we're advised to run the aircon at intervals during the winter just to get rid of bugs in the system which can cause a smell. But if its cold outside, will the aircon cut in and achieve the objective, please, folks? Despite doing what I've been told, the car still sometimes smells of old socks. Read more
If all else fails.........try a change of socks.........
I need to replace the front tyres on my Golf. Currently have Firestone-F-580's.
(175/70R13 82T) Are these good tyres? In the same league as Michelin Energy or Continental Eco?
Any recommendations gratefully received!
Thanks
Andrew Read more
A couple of years ago Falmouth tyre services,on The Moor,found me some Michelin energies with supposed moulding marks,185/65/14 for fifty quid each.
40000 miles later the old 405 turboD wagon hasnt finished eating them.
Ask around,could save you money,and the defects are invisible.
last Thursday 31 jan 02 i bought a ford focus estate (may 99 T reg, 45000 miles, uk supplied, £6600) from a local garage (ex ford agent). I had it inspected (Green Flag) no major faults found (just exhausts + couple of minor things). I drove it home and parked it on drive. The next time the car was used (a day later) it would not engage any gears other than 1st and second. The gearleaver would not move over to any other position. The supplying garage have collected the car and have now sent the gearbox off to a specialist gearbox company to be repaired. I have asked for my money back but the garage are repairing the car and say it will be ready in a couple of days time. I dont know them but they seem a reasonable bunch (no longer ford dealers). Should i insist on a refund. If not is there anything major that should be checked by the garage before i have the vehicle back and will it be unreliable in the future? Could this gearbox problem have damaged any other part of the engine. If it is selectors(?) or something like that could it have damaged the gearbox elsewhere??
Many thanks for any help
rob Read more
If the box is repaired competently and as you say G/Flag said the rest was OK you should relax and enjoy your Focus.
Just how much teneder loving care should a car need?
My 1995 Passat needs its service soon and i was wondering if it might be worth changing the main fluids (break, clutch, PAS, engine oil) all at once as some of these have not been changed in a while? Will over-service be of any real good, is it worth considering other small service points anually or every 5-10 thousand miles. Lastly, can over-servicing cause problems? Read more
Check your service books, the brake & pas fluid should be changed every 3 years or 36 000 miles - it is not a mammoth task, just a question of bleeding the system until all the old fluid is out and replaced.
Oil change every 4000 miles - 3 times a year will keep the engine in good shape.
Have you looked inside the air cleaner yet ?
Where can I find accurate reliable kitcar information on the web?Martin Wells Read more
i am not kidding, madabout-kitcars.com IS the best kitcar website ever, it has cars for sale, you can see a full list of manufacturers and EVEN go straight to the manufacturers websites. it has reviews of the cars, average build times, and average costs.
Browse
Chattering on it's own is OK, however if you are trying to listen to the radio and the idle chit chat continues then that's plain bad manners ;-)
Eleanor