October 2002
Does anyone know how to remove the front wing off a mark1 mondeo? It appears to be of the bolt on type but my Haynes manual does not give the procedure for doing this. Unfortunately I managed to scrape the gate reversing out of my drive and its dented quite badly...so I think the only option is to replace the whole wing...thanks :o) Read more
Hi all,
I've recently noticed a viabration from the steering wheel of my 1994 Granada Scorpio when braking lightly at high speed. (50 to 80) Feels similar to when the wheels are out of balance, but had 4 new tyres fitted, with balancing. First thoughts are that the discs are warped / track rod bushes worn. Could anyone back this up or suggest any alternatives?
Thanks
Nick C Read more
That is why we are told not to keep our foot on the brake pedal during driving lessons...
I am buying a nearly new car being offered by a leasing/contract company. I believe it was a rental company car from the prev company owner shown on the V5 doc.
Can I check that the leasing company has proper ownership of the car to sell - HPI said it cannot tell me who the actual owner is. Also how do I know whether there is any finance on the car?
I'm hoping that as its being sold by a motor company then I have some more protection than buying private in this regard. Any comments would be helpful before I give up my cash! Read more
Pal of mine bought an ex rental fleet (Hertz, IIRC) Omega at 14,000 miles. He's now three years on, 40,000 or so miles further on and has never had a problem at any time, despite the car only having had one service while in his hands.
The belt failed on my Zafira 1.8 Ecotec engine a few days ago at 57000 miles. After being towed into the local garage I was surprised to find the change interval had been cut earlier this year from 80k to 40k miles. Car had a full service history but not since 20k at a franchised dealer. And no-one else mentioned it, so I never had the opportunity to have it changed. Speaking to Vauxhall they accept that "the current service schedule can be confusing" Although the Vauxhall dealer is keen to mail me special sales offers, MOT reminders etc. they say "it would be impossible" to tell customers that their cambelt is prone to snapping before time.
They're offering a 50% contribution towards the £1000 repair cost to the cylinder head. It's a start but I don't think good enough. Despite the part not being warranted, it is clearly made to last a particular length of time. Failure at less than 3/4 of that design life would seem to me to be rather more than bad luck. Read more
Gareth
Had same failure on my Astra. After lengthy negotion I managed to get a 30% contribution for my vehicle with the following profile:
Astra 1.6 16V Registered May 1997
Failure at 71,000 Miles
Belt and tensioners changed by Vx dealer at 26,500 miles.
Belt failed after covering 44500 miles/2.5 years.
Non Vx service history after 40,000 miles but supplied photocopy of service history booklet.
Repair carried out at non Vx Garage.
Argument strategy - Non communication of the change interval from 80K/8 years to 40K/4 years.
Hope this helps
Charles
Does anyone know of a source of the 5 year antifreeze now specified by PSA? Mine is due for renewal, but I am totally fed up of being ripped off by PSA for parts which they don't make. (eg. Dayco timing belt in PSA box over £30). I don't want to wreck a perfectly good diesel engine.
Any comments much appreciated.
Read more
My wife has a 9 year old Peugeot 106 diesel with the 1.4 litre aluminium engine with steel liners. We owned it from new and after warranty I have serviced it.
I use a 50% mix of Halfords coolant conditioner and change every 5 years or when I have to drain the system (to replace a hose). No engine problems at all (touch wood).
It has only covered 36k miles (!) and no gasket/head problems but my sister in law had one and after 4 years she had head gasket problems.. but then it was garage maintained and driven hard and unloved.
If the system is drained and refilled with the original coolant you can end uo with the worst of all worlds - weakend mixture and extra oxygen in the system. Also systems have to be bled to get rid of airlocks..now what chance that the average garage in a hurry will part fill the system, bleed it, fill again, bleed it, squueeze hoses to expel air, run it, bleed it again... Well that's what you should do to make sure there is no trapped air.
Trapped air = localised hot spots = failures in the future.
Given the incompetence of most garages and their total lack of quality control (they should monitor complaints by mechanic and model.. most don't) chances are none of the above happens.
4 year old Polo 2nd Electric Window failed. Any other Polo owners out there experienced the same problems? Read more
Yes. Mine is a 2001. Ended up replacing switch in driver door for both windows. £5 part, £70 labour from local Auto Electrician. All working great now.
Also, a friend had a 2002 Polo. Same problem and solution. They also noticed there is a channel and water can works its way down the wiring. The effect is to dirty the wiring/switch....
Sampled a Mistubishi L200 DIESEL Crew-cab pick-up today with an LPG Conversion....
I was initially sceptical, (How can it work??) but left it very impressed.
It is a simple conversion, with a regulator attached to the throttle linkage and a simple 25mm mixer in the air inlet ppipe, pre-turbo. The rest of the system is very similar to a petrol installation.
Performance was impressive, being able to switch between LPG and diesel on the move - the performance increase when running on LPG was immediatley apparrent. Noise was no different, if a little quieter.
The diesel fuelling is apparently dialled back and LPG is fed in, resulting in a real dual-fuel vehicle with a terrific range.
The exhaust has a slightly 'odd' smell to it, but nothing that I couldn't live with..
MG-Rover Questions? forums.mg-rover.org/ Read more
People have been adding LPG to diesels for a number of years now, especially in US tractor pull type events. The gas acts as a catalyst, helping the diesel to burn more effectively, thereby creating more power. The limit to the power is the exhaust gas temperature, which should be kept below 1200 degF, which is the melting point of pistons/rings. Ideally it should be kept to below 1000 degF. Unlike petrol engines, diesels can't be run too lean, so the more you can get in there, the better. If you increase the size of the intercooler, you can bring down the EGT, on a roughly 1 deg for 1 deg basis.
What is Krypton tuning? Does it have any place with modern ECU controlled cars, multi point fuel injection and lambda sensors etc?
Thanks
Ben Read more
Bah! Ignore the [b] bits, OK?
MG-Rover Questions? forums.mg-rover.org/
Having just bought a nice newish car which has a built-in computer that amongst other things, tells me the MPG of a trip, I was just wondering how accurate these things are?
I haven't got around to doing a real comparison to the old-fashioned way yet, so the thought occurred to me that knowing how computer thingies can sometimes get over excited, could this one too?
So far it is indicating what was advertised for the car on average, but has anyone tried comparing?
Just a thought.
Tar.
Richard Read more
How does it know how much you filled up with or if you have done at all? It'll only have a fuel flow meter on the tank outlet side, and (as many have shown) isn't generally that accurate.
My car has the same set up as your Citroen. I must admit it would be great if the car did have extra sensors that could determine the fuel economy between fill-ups....
Anyone see the report on dodgy diesel ?
One shot showed a fuel pump selling diesel suspiciously cheaply,i.e. 72.9 p per litre.
I`ve just filled up on the A414 with diesel 4 or 5 or 6 pence per litre cheaper than "normal". It was wearing Shell logos everywhere so I should be safe.Shouldn`t I ??????? Read more
This subject was discussed at some length in this thread: www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=81...8
I've tried to put as much factual information as I could in there.
It was supposed to be a little tongue in cheek! But it gives you some idea of how complicated they make these things now.
I worked in a bodyshop in 93/4, I was allowed to work on simple cars like Metros, Mk1 Astras and Sierras, but I was kept away from Mk3 Cavaliers, Mk1 Mondeos and the like for a long time because they were considered to need specialist, experienced attention, and because the build tolerances were so much tighter that a minor error would become glaringly obvious when it was all put back together.
A bodyshop should be able to repair it unless you've really done it well, you'll be surprised at just how much you can hide with a bit of filler!