March 2002
i have a rover 400 series car which is 5year old and the cylinder head has blown and when i rang a garage to see if i could book it in they would not take me on saying they have 4 cars( rovers ) already in waiting to do .
at the time my car went two other people that i work for said that they had the same problem with their rovers .
is it a design fault with the k series engine and if it is can we get compansation for the work that has been done on the car. Read more
Hi,
My Omega ('98) has developed an irritating click in the steering over the last few weeks. It dosn't do it all the time and is more of a feeling through the wheel. Initially I thought it was caused by a worn suspension bush but had all these changed today when I had new shocks fitted. Despite being worn, the bush (all 4 in the front suspension) change hasn't made any differencen - to this problem anyway.
So, I guess the next thing to suspect is one of the many ball joints in the steering linkage mechanism - of which the Haynes manual shows quite a few.
My question is, how do I go about pinning down which joint is at fault? Changing all of them will be expensive and a big hammer to crack a nut - although you are supposed to get the tracking etc. done after changing any steering component so I'm after opinions from those of you in the trade/in the know about these things.
Please don't get me wrong, its not a major clunk - just something that is irritating me and I'd rather wasn't there - just like income tax really.
In anticipation .......... Robert Read more
My wifes old Carlton does the same thing, but I'm pretty certain it is the steering lock mechanism clicking. I've had it all apart because the thought of it locking up horrified me, but cannot see anything wrong. It's been like it for 3 years now.
Mike
Does anyone know where to buy a decent chamois leather. Not the paper thin hankie size ones in Halfords etc.
How much does a full size one cost? £40?
Thanks Read more
I've have good results from Pittards chamois;also the Auto-Glym plastic water scraper-can't remember what it's called is very good-I thought it was a gimmick till I saw one being used.
my Wife's Micra is used mainly for journeys of less than five miles. Although she ran the car for six years without any problems, during the past few weeks the engine rev's have dropped when at rest at ATS or junctions, cutting out completely on a round-a-bout on one occasion. When idling in park, over a period of two minutes + when warm, the engine rev's drop, then increase dramatically without any pressure being applied to the accelerator. My local non-Nissan mechanic is at a loss. After changing the fuel filter without any appreciable improvement, he is understandably reluctant to progress further without an indication of where the problem lies. have you heard of similar symptoms? My mechanic has a hunch it may be due to electrical problems relating to the CTV gearbox. Read more
Needs the fault codes read in the first instance. Suspect possible problems with the EGR valve inside the throttle body or the airflow sensor itself. Unfortunately I have never had a problem with an auto.....
My mother wants to sell two motors
1. 95' Golf 1.9 diesel (not turbo)
2. 96' Daihatsu Fourtrak 2.8tdi swb commercial
and buy one motor to do both jobs ie
carry 5 or 6 people
tow 3.5 tonne farm trailer occasionally
Reliability and Running Costs are the most important factors
My initial thoughts are
Dahatsu Fourtrak car
Landrover 90 Station Wagen
my mother fancies a jeep 2.5td but it may struggle to tow 3-3.5 tonnes.
any other ideas????
Alternatively - could she install windows and additional seats into the Commercial Fourtak - would she have to repay the VAT? Read more
Land Rover 90 County 7 seater station wagons are regarded as a car and VAT is not normally reclaimable. The hard top, canvas top and pick-up versions are treated as commercial vehicles and VAT can be reclaimed as these. The problem area is with hardtop 90s which have been fitted with side windows and rear seats, which they did not originally have. Strictly speaking these are cars and VAT is not recoverable on them, but I seem to remember there is a concession in place for vehicles converted beyond a certain age.
I have seen one or two 110 Station Wagons sold + VAT, but in most cases VAT is included in selling price (i.e. not recoverable). There doesn't seem to be any pattern to this.
David W wrote: "poorly loaded trailers, trailers with duff brakes, trailers with daft tyre mixes at a variety of pressures down to 12psi etc etc"
Which pretty much describes every farm trailer I have ever seen. I agree that a SWB Landie will cope fine with a decent trailer, correctly loaded, but there is less margin for error. I think the short wheelbase and lighter weight makes the combination more likely to weave. I used to regularly tow a very unruly ex BT single axle trailer, loaded to around 2 tons, behind a SWB, and even when the load was perfectly balanced, you could still feel it trying to push the back end of the Landie around at anything above 30 mph. When I bought a 110, towing the same trailer you couldn't even tell it was there.
I was chatting to a neighbour this morning who was prepping a couple of his vehicles for a show this weekend (he's a classic VW fan). He was wearing surgical gloves to polish the engine bay of a combi (Ian will know what I mean).
He told me that he'd been using them ever since reading an article where a guy had lost a finger after car polish entered an open cut while polishing his car.
I know that petroleum distillates can cause dermatitis etc. etc. but a quick web search didn't pick up any reference to the lost-finger case.
Is this another urban legend or has anyone else seen believable reports ?
Kevin... Read more
Don't spill the Polish stuff on the bodywork.
Macedonian Tikfesh can melt plastics.
I have central locking on my 1994 1.4 Rt Renault Clio - it operates the 2 front doors and the rear hatch simoultaneously.
It now no longer unlocks or locks the rear hatch when activated, but works fine still on the front doors. I therefore have to lock/unlock the rear hatch manually.
What is the likely cause? Is the locking powered by a motor that may have burnt out? If so, presumably this is located next to the lock in the rear hatch? Anyone know approximate cost supplied and fitted for a replacement???
Thanks for your help,
CB Read more
Each lock has a servo-motor connected by a stiff wire to the normal lock barrel, and driven from the driver's door lock, either by the key or the remote. Your failure may be in the slave motor, in the wiring or in the master lock. You can probably find a replacement motor in your local Renault dismantler's for about £15-20 at a guess. Fitting it will require some expertise in removing the trim, but not difficult. If the problem is in the loom, then the best of luck. Andrew T
Hi all,
Probably a stupid/ unnessecary question, but anyway. I have a new car, and want it to look its best, so I wash it quite frequently. But, whenever I leave it to dry or even shamois leather it dry, I get left with sort of dusty marks where the water has dried and left deposits. How do I stop this happening short of drying the car with a hairdrier??!
Thanks,
Giles Read more
Washing in or just after rain is a good method. You can always tell the car-washed cars by the scratches, especially on metallic finishes.
I've been driving a hired Vauxhall Corsa for the past 2 weeks. I've got no choice if I want to get to work. It's not a bad car, except for the fact it's cursed!!! Yep, the bonnet attracts things to it. A few stones have hit it on the motorway. Car's keep pulling out in front of me as if on purpose. Pedestrians keep trying to step out in front of me. I could sort of understand this, as it is a small Vauxhall, so maybe they think it'll disintegrate if it hits them. But animals don't know anything about cars. And on the way to work today a pheasant ran in front of the car and got splatted. And two rabbits and a few birds got splatted on the way back. I honestly don't know how many animals I killed with this car today. Cats also seem to be attracted to the car, although I haven't hit one yet. At this rate I'll have a job cleaning the blood off the front when I give it back. Does anybody have any sage words of advice? Read more
The Chinese would say it had bad feng shui
My postal addresss is:3,Torr Rise,Tarporley,Cheshire CW6 OUD.
Dear Honest John,
I would like to buy a TD4 Freelander through either Virgin or perhaps Trade Sales in Slough.
1.Would I get the lowest price using this route?
2.What would be the disadvantages?
3.Would my local Landrover garage carry out any warranty work if required?
Having heard of problems in dealling with buying direct from outside the UK,I was a little wary of using this route.
Regards,
Paul Irving. Read more
Well, having read all this, I can count myself as very lucky I guess -
We run 3 Freelanders (a TDI (old L-series engine), a TD4 and a 1.8i) - the older two (not TD4) have both covered in excess of 85k miles with NO problems, bits dropping off, warranty claims or anything and these wagons are abused big time by my colleges!
The only complaints we have are the lack of storage in the front of the cabin (at least compared to our discovery) and a lack of power in the 1.8 (obvious really) which is compensated for by short gearing so it gets a bit noisy at high speed. The petrol averages about 32mpg whilst the two diesels always return over 42mpg. Usage is mostly on-road all over the country with occasional off-road work when filming for clients.
To summarise: They are not all bad and the newest ones (w-reg on) definitely feel better built.
Browse
.jpg)
Andrew
Yes, all a check like this could achieve is to ensure a bolt had not let go significantly. The thing with stretch bolts, unlike normal 'elastic' bolts, is that a torque wrench doesn't give the correct bolt load. It's used to give an initial 'nip' of the joint, but then the bolt is tightened a specified angle, and the bolt itself yields. The yield point is set by clever material choice and heat treatment, to give a precise load. This cannot be checked again without completely loosening the bolt and following the tightening sequence which (a) shouldn't be necessary (as you've found), (b) would be a bad idea for gasket sealing (c) can't be repeated indefinitely or the bolt will fail.
Regards
john