I have a 2 month old TDCi that intermittantly is difficult to start.
When the problem occurs the engine cranks but does not fire.There is a beeping sound from under the bonnet and the glow plug dash light flashes.
At first when the problem arose the engine would fire on the second attempt but it now takes 3/4 attempts.
The main agent say they can find nothing wrong but, patently, there is.
It makes no difference if the engine has been used for a short /long run nor if the engine is warm /cold.
Can any of you clever people suggest a cause and a solution?
(The car otherwise is very impressive and at 50+ mpg average over the last 7000 miles I have no other complaints.) Read more

I purchased, in December 2000, an 8-month old Vauxhall Vectra SRi, factory LPG conversion, with 13,000 miles on the clock. After about 7 months and a further 12,000 miles, the performance on LPG deteriorated rapidly until the car would no longer drive on gas at all, but was fine on petrol. The local main Vauxhall dealer could find no obvious problem but replaced the LPG distributor under warranty with no quibbles and this appeared to cure the problem... until now. After a further 24,000 miles the same fault has developed with exactly the same consequences. If LPG is such a clean fuel, why should the fuel distributor become blocked and, if the cause of the fouling is carbon deposits as suggested by the garage, why isn't the petrol performance affected as well? The only other suggestion I have had is that there is a small air leak in the LPG fuel system causing the fuel mixture to be too lean to support combustion. Any suggestions, or have any of your other readers had similar problems with LPG? Read more

I have recently bought a used C-class, C220. There are three buttons between the fan speed and directional knobs which I do not know what they do.

The bottom one I made out is air recirculation.

The middle one has "EC" written on it.

The top one I have no idea.

Can anyone help please?

Thanks,
Garrison Read more

Hi,

My Girlfriends ZX 1.9D has got a problem that no one yet has been able to answer, I've writen to Diesel Car Magazine, and asked on ZX-Yahoo group, and still no luck. It's quite a long drawn out problem, so here goes.

Car details:-

Citroen ZX 1.9D Elation, 1996N, 60k miles, Lucus type Fuel pump.

Checked/Diagnostics:-

New Air filter, new fuel filter inc water drained, new cam belt inc. timing checked, Always starts first time after glow light has gone out. doesn't smoke any more than my Leon TDi.

Problem:-

Her father bought the car for her in November last year with 48,000 miles on the clock. I got in and noticed it was as flat and anything, only accelerating if full throttle was used, even then, holding 70mph was alot of effort. The other problem was flat spots, it had one at about 3000rpm, and another at 4200rpm, which in higher gears, it wouldn't have enough power to pass 4200rpm. A stopwatch checked 0-60 on a slight decline measured 19 seconds. I checked the airfilter, and straight away bought a new one because it was filthy. This didn't make any difference.

Next, a new Fuel filter wa fitted and water drained, this made a slight improvment, but still needed full throttle. I then checked that the throttle was opening fully on the pump, it was, but only when the peddle was pushed down hard into the carpet pile. It did how ever reduce the flat spots.

I then told her dad that the cam belt shoulf have been replaced at 48K (was now 55k), and that maybe the timing was out on the pump. He finanally got someone to do it, which showed up a water pump problem (needed new one due to leek). This improved things again very slightly. The flat spot has now gone, but there are still 2 other strange things that happen sometimes. 0-60 check again is now better on same stretch of road at about 15 seconds, although it still struggles 85-90mph.

1. Some times it will appare to surge, it has happened at 30mph and at 70mph, only for 1-3 seconds, then goes back to normal. This normally happens while cruising. To add to that, if you dip the clutch while this happens the revs go up and stick at 2500-3500 for a few seconds.

2. Sometimes it losses power, normally after going round a left hand bend, 2 particular places on the A1 from my house in Hertfordshire to hers in Derbyshire it does it every time. 1 is under full throttle coming round a left bend off the roundabout. It feels like its cutting out, then picks up and goes. The second, more serious nearly caused someone to T-bone me while driving it. After cruising at 40mph round a 180 degree slip road, dip the clutch, then either as you power on again it cut (halfway onto the particular roundabout), or, if its busy, it cuts before you get there...but always under power in 2nd/3rd gear.

I have compared this with my girlfriends uncles 1994 ZX 1.9D Aura which is "alot" more lively at part throttle...I think his has a Bosch system. It also still stuggles up hills even in 2nd gear, where a Pug 106 1.0 will steam off ahead.

Any ideas?? One thought is a broken plastic fin on the Lucus fuel pump, or air ingresion??
Neil T
SEAT Leon TDi 150 Read more

Can somebody explain to me what the difference is between wheel tracking and wheel alignment, or are they infact the same thing?

Additionally does a wheel alignment procedure include realigning the steering wheel with the road wheels, or is that another procedure again?

I recently had a pair of new tyres fitted to my Focus to replace those on the front, then had the front and rear wheels switched to put the fresh rubber at the back, and didn't get the tracking etc checked at the same time. Subsequently my steering wheel is slightly misaligned with the road wheels, something that really annoys me! Read more