September 2002
I'm thinking of getting a new shape Astra 1.6. I know the 8 valve has less power, but do they have the same cambelt problems as the 16 valve, and if they do go bang is it new valves etc. Also are they more or less reliable. Thanks in advance.
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I have noticed that the brake lights, on my 2002 RAV4 still work with the ignition off. Does anyone know if this is mormal.
The brake lights on all my previous cars only operated with the ignition on. Read more
This is normal on all cars these days.
I'm on the verge of tearing my hair out with this one so any help would really be appreciated!
I have a 2002 (Old style) Fiesta with about 3,500 miles on. I noticed that the front nearside was wearing a bit too heavily around the outside edge so I had the alignment checked at ATS who said it was 2 degrees out. One wheel was reading 5 and the other 7. They fixed this and the car was driving fine, but now the steering wheel was off-centre, I had to turn it to the left slightly to make the car go straight, when it was on-centre the car went to the right.
Now, after a few visits, and swapping the wheels around, and checking the pressures, they have gradually adjusted the wheels to the left, they are now reading 9 and 8.5 (my understanding is that the further to the left the wheel points, the higher the reading) The car is still driving to the right if I have the wheel on-centre, and the steering feels a bit more woolly around the centre point.
Sorry that this is sooo long, but I thought I'd better give as much info as possible. Does anyone have any idea what else the problem could be, and how to fix it? I've tried everything that I can think of and am getting sick of it now. :( Read more
Alvin,
Very interesting. It seems many new cars are coming out of the factory with incorrect wheel alignment. My Girlfriends Micra and Grandfathers Focus were both way out from new.
Once the tyres have worn unevenly they NEVER correct themselves. The rear tyres can have an effect on the pulling to one side but the effect is far greater at the front as you have discovered.
"Only slight feathering" is enough to have a significant effect on the handling of the car.
Relative got camera'd in a company car.
Rozzers contacted the lease company, lease company contacted relatives company.
Relatives company returned details to lease company.
This was well over a month ago. Relative has heard *nothing* officially at all. He only knows because the transport manager menitoned it in passing.
How long before he can relax? Isn't he supposed to get an NIP within 2 weeks?
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Parp, Parp!
Note: All Toad posts come with an implied smiley. Read more
Family having a whip round?
Maybe - but you really think a bribe will work?
;-)
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Parp, Parp!
Note: All Toad posts come with an implied smiley.
I need some advice on which model of E-Class to order. I am going for diesel and want plenty of power but I am not sure which engine to go for.
My choices are a 270cdi or a 320cdi.
The 270 seems quite pokey and works out quite a bit cheaper than the 320 but does anyone think it is worth paying the extra for the 320.
Also I need to know if the air-matic suspension is worth the extra expense or not.
Thanks Read more
Thanks for the advice.
My main problemis that I would like to upgrade the wheels but in the pricel list is says that to do this I must have either the sports suspension fitted or the Air-matic. Unfortunately the sports suspension is very hard and the roads in this country seem to be getting worse so that seems a bad idea.
Do you know of any reason why I have to change from the standard suspension if I have the wider wheels?
Gonna do the shims on the Divvy 6 if it rains this weekend.
First question relates to the feeler gauge. Is it true that when using more than one feeler gauge 'leaf' to make up a thickness that you add a bit for luck? How much? Any other feeler gauge accuracy tips?
Second to the valve lifting tool. It's a wedge to lever the tappit down and a strip of metal to hold the valve open. Do these vary between car and bike engines or can I jut buy one from my local motorfactor?
Thirdly whats the procedure where a clearence is *very* close to being out of tolerance. Leave it for next time?
Any general tips on measuring clearences? (Obviously I've got the haynes manual)
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Parp, Parp!
Note: All Toad posts come with an implied smiley. Read more
You are lucky if the divvi uses a valve lifting tool,
Wasn't luck - I deliberately bought a bike with shims in easy[1] reach!
Next time I'm gonna get a bandit 12 with lock nuts to adjust clearences. You don't even need to take the carbs off.
[1] For values of easy that include f**king difficult.
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Parp, Parp!
Note: All Toad posts come with an implied smiley.
Followed a vehicle the other day which had a "Dogs in Transit" sticker in the rear window. I know that my vehicle recognition skills are not brilliant but I could have sworn that it was a Volvo ~ or do Volvos look like Transits when visibility is less than perfect ? Read more
sticker in
>> the rear window
Saw one that said "Psychopathic driver on board". Mmmm....where can I get me one of those ? Might make the tailgaters hang back a bit ~ or maybe not ! Found that a manufacturer's genuine-accessory one-piece towbar helps ~ and certainly does a lot of damage to the front of the offending vehicle if one should happen to ram you from behind.
(Wouldn't recommend this type of towbar for actually towing with, however ~ you can't adjust the height of the ball. Excellent rear-end protection, though.)
Our local county council is determined to force through a park and ride scheme near where I live. Now I am in favour of well designed park and ride schemes, but this one's a real pigs ear.
The plan relies on a complex set of traffic lights being installed on a roundabout on the A12 trunk road. The public meeting I attended last night was of the unaminous opinion that gridlock would ensue for miles around as soon as the lights were activated. Now the council say that the consulting firm they hired has run a computer simulation and that everything will be fine. The meeting felt that if the consultants had bothered to get in a car and drive round the area over a period of time they would see that their computer simulation is rubbish.
My cynical view is that a computer simulation can be fudged to give the answers the client wants.
OK, here comes the question. Have any backroomers had any experience of a full set of traffic lights being installed on a busy trunk road roundabout? Did gridlock ensue or is it working like a dream?
Phew! Long post for me. Read more
Apparently a lot of these actually drive out of town to the park and ride, then bus the whole way back in, rather than queuing for six buses that turn up together full!
Did anyone here an item on radio 2 yesterday about a car that has been developed (In France, I think) that runs on compressed air? Apparantly it can refilled by the air compressor at any garage in two minutes and has a range of 150 miles with a top speed of 69 mph. It can also be filled overnight on a domestic compressor of the type used to inflate air-beds, etc. The engine is said to be scheduled for production sometime next year.
I checked the date and it definately wasn't April 1st. If true, how the hell would they put a tax on that?
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L'escargot wrote:
>>... *As you get older you realise that you are becoming increasingly full of useless information !!
No, no, no! Useless information is excellent and the main benefit of age - did you know for example there's more plastic flamingoes in the world than real ones? They don't teach you that sort of thing at school! ;-)
Lee.
I cannot believe that I am adding to the plethora of Omega threads......
The Boss has got an Omega Auto. 1999 I think it is.
Anyway, when one first starts an Omega the display panel says something along the lines of "Brakelight Check" which disappears as soon as you press and release the brake pedal.
Also, as normal, the auto selector (gear shift) has a little lever which one has to pull up in order to change from P to D or to R.
When one wishes to take it out of park it is neccessary to put your foot on the footbrake to release the little lift-up lever allowing the selector/gear stick/whatever to move.
Now, here's the issue...
Twice today the car has refused to release the gear lever, and also has not extinguished the "Brakelight Check" message. Clearly the car believes the brakes are not being pressed and so is not performing the brakelight check, nro releasing the gear lever.
Hammering away at the brake pedal for a few moments eventually causes the check light to go out and the gear lever to be released.
Sure as fate it is going to get worse.
I am guessing that there is an electrical switch on the brake pedal which is not reacting to the pedal being pressed. Am I right ?
David W will be grateful if you can solve this for me, because otherwise I am taking a bottle of Chilean wine and driving up to visit him and persuading him to crawl all over the car and fix it while I wind up his daughters and drink the wine with his wife!!!
You'll also save me from a clump around the ear for not getting it fixed sooner. Read more
Well, as its built in Germany and has an English engine I supose that the Caddy is actually an Omega!
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When the cambelt lets go, the 8v and 16v have similar problems in that the head needs to be removed to inspect the damage.
The 16v will certainly bend, fatally, several valves but this will also, probably, damage the cylinder head. Although a non-Vauxhall reconditioned head is £300, a genuine Vauxhall unit is well into 4 figures.
On the 8v, the valves may survive but the cylinder head may still be damaged and need replacement.
Vauxhall now recommend cambelt replacement at 40,000 for ALL models, regardless or original recommendation when new. However, it is the idler pulleys which cause the problem and some garages don't inspect or replace them when changing the cambelt or repairing a belt failure; thus repeating the cambelt failure just after the 3 month warranty has expired.
To choose between Astra 1.6, 8v and 16v, choose the engine which suits your needs and then change cambelt every 40,000 miles together with any pulleys which are suspect.
Ironically, all newly developed 16v engines from GM/Vauxhall/Opel/Saab are fitted with chain-drive camshafts as the cheapest way to eliminate these cambelt problems, and no, cambelted engines cannot be converted to chain-drive!