September 2002
can people tell me what types of things have went wrong with a ROVER 214 SEI as i have just bought one with 91,000 miles but has been constantly serviced is there any problems with them althought they get a regualr service? from chris
Brought into line with the drop down watchamcallit - all the way from 2002 - like an episode of Torchwood ! Read more
Have just laid a new gravel drive, trouble is it is sloped up to my garage and the front-wheel drive spins on the surface. Any good ideas on what to do about this, short of laying two strips of paving which I do not think will look very nice.
Regards, Malcolm. Read more
Groan...............................
1995 K11 Nissan Micra has a cold stall problem.
* Starts first time
* Idles OK
* Cuts out whilst maneuvering
* Fine once I get out on the open road.
Took it into the Nissan main dealer (twice). They checked tje diagnostics -- nothing wrong. They upped the idle speed and set the throttle sensor -- slightly better but still stalls sometimes, just a touch on the throttle sends it shooting forward and the engine is noisier!
I'm not sure that just increasing the idle speed & throttle is going to fix this.
Any ideas -- is this a auxiliary air valve problem, or a coked up throttle?
Also, the previous owner used to run out of petrol now and again -- could it be a blocked fuel filter?
Thanks
Mike Read more
Ok, i've tryed the new body didn't work was of £100, so i turn my micra in a smoke machine last week, a shot of redex in down each spark plug hole and some in the tank, I had tons of some for 10 min and now no problem and a lot of extra power and less noise no, just that the radio has given up now, well that isn't too big of a issue.
For a few months I've been looking at buying either an MGB GT or an MG Midget. I've looked at the pros and cons of both but I still can't decide which to go for. Does anyone have any experience with either model? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Read more
Congratulations Highway Star. Enjoy it!
Go mad with dinitrol 3215 rustproofing every year (much better then waxoyl, but more expensive), service it regularly and it'll hold its value.
Think about a theft deterrant too, they do get nicked. Forget crooklocks, get the sort that covers the whole steering wheel, you can get a thatcham approved one.
Good luck.
A question on behalf of my Father-in-Law, which I wonder if anyone can help with.
His 1999 Avensis 5 dr SE Liftback has just been through its 27,000 mile service and the engineer (Toyota dealer from where he bought the car as new) has said that the front discs and pads are very badly worn and will need replacing within 6 months, cost £250.
Prior to 1999, he ran a Carina for 8 years and the brakes never needed changing (the same garage serviced it regularly). A suggestion has been made by the mechanic that the problem is that his British built Avensis is made of inferior quality parts compared to the Japanese built Carina.
He is all the more disappointed because he is an 'Advanced Motorist' and pays particular attention to how he drives the car.
Does anybody have any suggestions/advice or should he just accept that he will have to pay the £250?
Thanks, Kelv.
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I would always use new pads with new discs. If you are planing to keep the car for a while keep the old pads to re-use next time they need changing.
Hi,
I have a 1999 2.0Di Vectra. Following a recent service, I notice that the oil is rather high on the dipstick once the car has sat for a while (the old Vectra oil drain 'feature' that I've read about). Anyway, I felt I needed to drain half a litre to feel more comfortable with the level (it's above max) - all well and good till I found I needed a torx bit to take the sump plug out (why oh why!!!!) - anyway, I've had to drive 50 miles this morning to get to work, I'll try and source a torx bit today, then drive 50 miles home and hopefully sort the problem this evening.
Now to my engine management light problem (the two may be related?) - after about 30 miles this morning the engine management light starts to come one, but only when I allow the engine to tick-over for longer than about 10 seconds. So normal driving is fine, pull up at a junction and the light comes one, pull away from the junction and it goes off after a second or two when the revs pick up. Anybody have any ideas on this one?
Kind regards,
Cyrill666
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Now going to reset ECU..would use Vauxhall dealer if I was
confident they could sort it but not paying for their incompetence
or educating them.
Interesting point this....
But I can't help thinking that the dealer needs to be paid for their education process when trying to find a fault.
Sometimes I think the best way to deal with these difficult to trace faults is to wait untill the defective part completely fails, a bit inconvienient though.
One of my colleagues had a 2.0 DI company Vectra. The fleet company spent £2000 on the car and the engine management light still persisted, exactly as described above, with the ignition needing to be turned on and off before the car would have any power. The fleet company gave up on the car and replaced it.
I've always understood that petroleum jelly/vaseline is the best protection for battery terminals, but why not ordinary grease??
I presume there is a technical reason. Read more
Looking through the AA website, I see they recommend using either petroleum jelly or grease.
So I presume its not so technical after all.
Thanks for all the input to those who responded.
Opinions and advice wanted please: -
As I am now the proud (sometimes!) father of 3 children under 8, I need to choose a more practical form of transport - for 5 plus the huge amount of luggage that they generate!
I have never been a fan of the larger MPVs (i.e. the Galaxy, Espace types) - partly due to the fact that they look like vans, but also because they have little luggage carrying capacity when the 3rd row of seats is being used.
Therefore, I am leanign towards a large used estate car, that is sufficiently wide to fit 2 child seats, plus a 3rd child across the back seat. Does anyone know which car has the widest back seat (together with a 3-point belt in the middle)?
I have sat in the back of a Fiat Multipla (a taxi in Milan) with 2 other adults, and was most impressed by the space available (certainly much better than the Picasso in my opinion), but I would prefer something a little more mainstream in appearance!
My current favourite is a 3 or 4 year old Omega estate - any opinions on this? And is a 3 year old car with 90,000 miles a better bet than a 5 year old car with 40,000 miles?
Any help very gratefully received.
Rick Read more
How about a Peugeot 307sw?
Looks like an estate with 5 MPV style rear seats.
I regularly carry 4 adults, a 4 year old and 8 year old without any problems.
The passengers love the glass roof too.
I was in South Molton Street yesterday and noticed that all the motorbikes and mopeds were parked on the pavement with their number plates covered by white paper stuck on with tape. Clearly these people would not ride on the roads like this so I assume they have fixed these covers on after they have parked up. They would obviously be quite easy to remove so my question is, is there a law that says that parking attendants can not touch the bikes and therefore can not determine the plate number in order to issue a ticket? Plus presumably bikes can be towed away the same as cars so if the attendants can not determine the plate number would they not just call for a tow? Read more
Surely speeding must be transportation be definition?
The much-vaunted Micheldever Tyres certainly offer keen prices and a clean, pleasant environment. But what is it they do in the alignment bay that turns a £30 tyre into a £60 bill? A red light flashes, and the (very relaxed) technician walks about a bit and moves the car a bit, and the queue builds up outside, but what is really happening? Do we need to pay for this? I'd feel happier if I could be assured that something REALLY IMPORTANT is going on!
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With a conventionally sprung car, if the wheels are tracked up with the car empty, as soon as the driver gets in, the alignment changes, the same goes for any changes in weight - so much for precision alignment.
The only cars which dont suffer from this problem are those with self levelling suspension, primaraly Citroen hydropnumatic. I have tracked the wheels up on CXs, BX, and XMs for the last 20 years or more using nothing more than a length of threaded rod slid inside a length of steel electrical conduit tube. It takes only a few minuets to do and produces accurate enough tracking to give me evenly worn front tyres lasting in excess of 30k miles on the XM.
Admittedly, it would not be easy to do this with the vehicle on the ground, I have a 'half' ramp which allows me to get the car to waist height, I can then sit on a box which permits me to comfortably see and adjust the steering.
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If rover had continued with the honda engine they would probably of still been in business today!. Basically the K series engine & its relibility tarnished a middle of the road product
Check out reliability of Rover 75 1800 petrol H/gasket failures continually MGf's Freelander 1800 headgaskets Rover 200-400 1400's headgasket failures alway's top of the list alway's K series engine. Cooling system design was poor which mostly caused the major failures.
as for all the other bits they wear out like any other car but window mechasims & ECU's were higher on the list than other manufactures