September 2002
Hello All,
I'd appreciate some techies input on this problem please.
The car is a '98 Ka3 and has just developed an air con problem. Until recently it was perfect but it ain't getting cold any more!
When I turn on the a/c, the orange light comes on on the button and I can hear the compressor kicking in (or trying to). Then after a couple of seconds I can hear another click and it goes off again. This cycle then continues every 10 seconds or so. Click On Click Off etc..The orange light on the switch remains on all the time. When I turn the a/c off the cycle stops of course.
Any ideas? Could it be a relay or something like that. In my Cavalier, the aircon won't even start if the system is not gassed, so I am guessing that it is probably another problem...
Any advice would be gratefully received as if I can buy a replacement switch or whatever this might stop the sharks at Ford from ripping me off.
Thanks in advance
CavV6 and cavWeb fan.
www.cavweb.co.uk Read more
A brief summary of what made my blood boil today:
After booking an mot with our local VW dealer via the VW customer care line, we arrived at 8am to be told there was no record of our appointment. Begrudgingly the woman said she would 'fit us in' and instead of picking the car up at 11am we would have to leave it all day.
We turn up at 4:30 and are told by 5pm that my girlfriends 1998 1.6S VW Approved used car which we have had 6 months and driven 2500miles in had failed on three points:
1> Buldging brake pipe
2> Split brake servo vacuum hose
3> Broken exhaust bracket
The woman was not particularly sympathetic as she delivered the new and explained how the car was too dangerous to drive. She explained we shouldn't take the car home as it was unsafe, and also because she would have to charge another £39.95 for a restest. As the dealer is 45mins away from home we called my girlfriends dad to collect us.
I explained that the car was only 6 months into the VW Approved Used car warranty and as such they can pick up the repair bill (except of course for the exhaust bracket). The woman repeatedly asked the name of the warranty company as she didnt seem to know what a VW Approved Used car was and the cover that accompanies it.
Rather fed up we left the car as it was too late to anything and headed home. Today, monday, my girlfriend received a call from the dealer telling her she needed a new exhaust centre section at £91.95 + vat + 1 hour labour totalling £139.95. As this was more than the exhaust bracket that the MOT tester had claimed she told them she needed to speak to me before approving it. The dealer however 'needed' to know within 5-10mins, and as my girlfriend was in such a panic and not being able to get a hold of me she told them to go ahead if the box was indeed in need of replacement. The work she was told, would be completed by Wednesday night.
s**s law though, I called her as soon as she put the phone down and was taken aback by the cost of the work. I contacted the dealer and asked why the box needed replaced and why exactly the bracker could not be repaired or replaced. The girl put me on hold and came back with the 'Sorry but you need a centre section sir' I asked if it was unfit to be repaired or corroded to such an extent that the bracket was unable to repaired, and she replied yes.
A tad unconvinced I headed to the dealer to discover the car in the workshop with a new exhaust and the mechanic replacing the hoses. The young lad, pleasant enough showed me the original centre section which is in damn good condition, bar the surface rust, and a clean cut where the bracket had came off. Somewhat taken aback by the need to spend £150 to pass the MOT i asked the lad if he would spend that on a new box, to which he sensibly replied no, he would have the bracket repaired and the healthy box reinstalled, but as the work was paid for by the warranty company we shouldn't be bothered. Except the work isn't being paid by them as it's an exhaust and as per usual they are not covered!
I approached the guy in the office, asked the cost of the box (£139.95) and asked why this was necessary when the bracket could be re-attached in 5 minutes and 10p worth of welding rod reinstating the almost perfect box sat along side the car. He was having none of it as apparently they dont have a welder, and my girlfriend and approved the work that had taken place. Argument over he offered to put the old box back in at a cost of 2 hours labour. He then told us it would cost £39.95 for the MOT , £39.95 for the retest and the warranty would cover the other repairs.
The only reason we went to a VW dealer was to benefit from supposedly superior after sales care! hah!
Not only that, tonight i searched the Vehicle Inspectorates web site and found that i was well within my rights to take the car, have it repaired locally (which my local independant garage would do for a couple quid - ie replacing the bracket) and return by the end of the next working day to be re-tested at no extra cost! So for the sake of a few quid I am, or my girlfriend is £140 out of pocket!
Am i wrong in thinking I should take my complaint further? Read more
I may only be a student but I still find I have a busy life, spending hours servicing the car and crawling around underneath it whilst it is precariously balanced on blocks of wood is not my idea of fun! I would rather pay my local main dealers £120 to do the service and then i can spend a couple of hours cleaning and polishing it instead, much better! :)
I've recently bought a new (to me) car and my curiousity has been spiked by the remains of a small "sticky pad" in each corner of the front numberplate.
Anyone have any idea what Mr Careful Previous-Owner has been up to, and whether there could be any connection to the manual for a radar detector I found in the service book folder?
Nothing wromg with the car. I'm just curious. Read more
When you get the log book back, look the previous owner up in the phone book (if not ex directory) and ask him!! He might also want his manual back. Use it as a bargaining tool. Manual returned for info on numb plate.
Hello
Iv got a Seat Ibiza with a 17oocc Diesel engine with a lack of fuel problem,the car didnt break down ,I used it one day then when I tried to start it the next day it wouldnt start.its defenitly lack of fuel.
I cant, after having a quick look, find a pump other than the injector pump.
though the fuel filter has a bleed screw, so my thinking is if the only pump
is the injector pump then surely opening the bleed screw would just suck air
in.
There is an access point to the top of the tank under the back seat but it
only looks like the sender unit.
Does anyone know what the valve on top of the fuel is for, its about three
inches hich with a sort of platic funnel.
The biggest problem is no one prints a manual for this so Im a bit stuck.
Any ideas
Cheers
Charlie
Read more
Any suggests why this vehicle 7 months old should have on starting from cold a tappett noise? Read more
They would say that,I to have a RAV4, 6 months old with 3000 miles on the clock, it does not have this problem.
I will however be changing the oil and filter soon, as I do not like leaving oil changes for a whole year as stated in the handbook.
I have found to my cost in the past main agents are not to be trusted!
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear. Laughed so much, me hernia popped again. Can I sue?
Help, i've got a 406 and recently had some remould tyres on as i was thick with cars, but i have now learn't my lessons. Over 60 upto 70 i had vibrations through my steering wheel. It started a few months ago, 1 month ago i needed new pads and discs, still had the problem, got wheels balanced still had the problem.
On the weekend i was told i had one distorted tyre, i bit the bullet and got 4 new tyres, 2 capitols on the front (made by continental), and 2 lassa's on the back (made by bridgestone i believe), so £180 for all 4 so they weren't cheap, and obviously got all 4 wheels balanced, done at tyrespot. But i still get a shakey wheel it ususally goes for 5 secs and comes back for 5 secs constantly. plus tracking is spot on.
So has the wheel balancing not been done correctly or are tyres pressures involved or is something else wrong?
A car like this shouldn't have these problems. Read more
Andy,
Not saying these tyres are rubbish, but they are aimed at a budget market. Lassa for example are usually made in Turkey by a factory that Bridgestone have invested in. I have seen some poorly moulded Lassa's with obvious tread imperfections.
Regarding a high mileage car the problem often comes because the car's are sold with quite a few lurking faults that appear in the first 6-12 months of ownership. If the cars are bought cheap then put through a workshop straight away to bring them up to standard they usually are fine.
As an example I've just assisted with the purchase of a similar vehicle. Despite it being on a retail site with a full years MOT is was outstanding a major service, the ECU controlled idle speed was all over the place, the front discs and pads shot, radiator about to fail etc.
As all these faults have been brought to the new owners attention and they were happy with the low price we have completed/planned all this work so it is budgeted for. Had they just bought the thing and started running it with the idea all was well they would have been in for some expensive shocks.
David W
Can anybody help please my remote will only work
some times i have had a new battery fitted but still
it wont work all the time can anybody tell me were i can get the chip checked out please Read more
I have had two Airbag failures (fault light on) - Drivers Steering Wheel and Drivers Side Impact - both occurred after the car had been left standing in the sun for a couple of hours and both required expensive replacements.
Anybody had similar problems?
156 2.0 TS - registered October 1999 - UK Spec
Read more
Could someone please remind me of the age at which car tyres should be replaced assuming tread wear is otherwise still legal.
I know caravans have to have them replaced after a certain time period.
I have two Dunlops on the back of my quattro which were on the car from new, (M reg) they just don't seem to wear at all!
Does the compound harden? Would this compromise handling? Could this be why I've almost lost the rear end twice this month, whilst cruising gently (30-40mph) around bends.
I took them to a fast fit place recently, who to my surprise said they were ok, I had assumed that they would have jumped at the chance of a double sale.
Or is there another reason for the two rather serene slides. Nothing dramatic, dry conditions, easily corrected, steady throttle...all the more worrying therefore as was behaving myself.
Stu. Read more
Micheldever Tyres today:
2 x 205/60R15 Michelin Pilot Primacy 91V @ £54.00
Courteous and very efficient service ... what a difference!
Thanks to HJ for the recommendation, and to posts here of course.
Stu.
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2 possibilities. Either the low pressure switch is faulty (unlikely), or you have sprung a leak and are now low on gas. The system works differently to your cavalier, as it has a pressure cycling switch to turn the compressor on and off, and low gas causes this to cycle constantly (prior to stopping completely). Your cav had a temp switch on the evaporator to do the cycling.
Get the pressures checked, and this will tell you if it's low gas or faulty switch. You'll probsbly have to get it gassed and dye added, then take it back a few weeks later to look for the leak.