October 2002
I own a 1.7 zetec engined Ford Puma in which I have covered 34000 miles since I bought the car new in March 2000. It came with the standard 1 year warranty. which has since been increased on this model to three years. I recently experienced a catastrophic engine failure (whilst cruising at 50mph in top gear) while I was on business several hundred miles from home. When The vehicle was AA recovered to my local Ford dealer they told me that it seemed to have suffered a broken con-rod or big-end bolt as there were two holes in the engine block.
Has anybody suffered a similar total engine failure and how did the manufacturer deal with it if it is not under warrenty.
Read more
I've lost the (only) remote for my car- looking at a previous post on resynchronising does this mean that I can obtain any remote from a breaker and remove the battery and then resynch?
Also does my key have a transponder?
Reason I ask is that both these parts are top dollar at the dealers and I'd rather take the cheaper option if it's there
TIA Read more
The bright side is that your car doesn't have an alarm.
If it did you'd be stuck. Despite what it says in the book
if you open an alarmed Vectra via the door lock the alarm
goes off, and only the remote will stop it!
You can also shut the alarm up by putting the key in the ignition and starting the engine - Providing of course the ignition electronics recognises the imobiliser chip in the key.
Got a 97 Vectra 1.8 with 4 stud wheels.
Problem is that at the moment it has Ford alloys on which look silly and are badly scuffed.
Not really interested in forking for a new set of alloys and would be happy with steels and hubcaps.
Question is did vauxhall make 4 stud steel wheels that will fit this car in any larger size than 14 inch as I'd really like to stick some 15's on.
Also will cavalier or astra wheels fit ok as vectra wheels seem a bit thin on the ground.
TIA Read more
Be careful - having Ford wheels fitted may invalidate your insurance! Vx alloys are quite reasonable from a dealer - in many cases costing much less that aftermarket wheels!
Just listened to a slot on the news about Philadelphia where they introduced a policy of towing away/confiscating and auctioning cars belonging to people who have flouted the law e.g. by having no insurance, driving licence, outstanding fines etc.
It strikes me that we're far too lenient on persistent offenders (like car tax dodgers) in the UK and should consider a similar law here.
In Philadelphia it has led to a dramatic decrease in these offences - anyone got any views ? Read more
Maybe included in the cost of the ferry ticket.... but only for JFs.
(Opps... that should have been EXCEPTION not eception in my last post) :-(
John R
I might be wrong (yes I am occasionally ;-)) but I haven't seen any postings from MLC lately and quite miss his input.
Since I can't access any 'profiles' I'm only guessing that he's a policeman and although I know many BR's don't take too kindly to them I think this site would benefit from more contributions from police, paramedics, firemen etc.
It can only help all us drivers to get an insight into the things they have to deal with which are all too often the result of our mistakes or stupidity. Read more
I agree.
Rozzers post are some of the most informative and best thought out.
Must be all that practice writing in their note books...
--
These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
My vibrating steering wheel starts at about 65-70mph and is worse over 70mph. 4 new tyres with aparantly a wheel balancing at tyre spot (north east firm)
OK after being in the local garage they say that even though the wheels are balanced, they need a fine balancing at somewhere like tyre spot as their machine only go's upto 70mph.
Is this true, i've never heard of a "fine balancing", they say they've looked at the front of the car and found nothing else.
Am i being fobbed off or does this sound correct? Read more
i had similar, it was the tyre bulging through the tread!
What sort of equipment is required to plug into the diagnostics socket of a VW to determine why the light is flashing? Is it only available to VW franchise dealers?
Chris
Read more
I've just looked at their website:
www.gunsons.co.uk/
Click on the Computer Diagnostics link and you'll get a list of testers together with their compatibility.
Mr Straw wishes us to take the US line on Iraq (no academic matter considering the potential loss of life and the cost) but will still not reveal the simple facts.
Perhaps he is completely justified. But this is the same man who, with the support of his colleagues, avoided a charge of speeding (at 103 mph, while on private business) on the supposed defence of escaping an unspecified peril.
Read more
Well, at least it shows that a speed over the slow
limit was perfectly safe.
Yeah! The biggest lie of the 'Speed Kills' thoery is that there are vehicles (emergency vehicles in the course of their duties) who simply cannot speed because no fixed limit applies.
If speed kills these vehicles should be incapable of being involved in a fatal collision. Yet they do.
Methinks there are other factors.
--
These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
I read something about this elsewhere but here goes.
Whats with the huge panel gaps on the new Laguna ?
A manager at our company has just got one (02 Reg) and there is a fitting gap where the bonnet meets both wings. On one side you can see the gap is twice that of the other side. Also, the fit of the tailgate is shocking. The dealer has tried but failed to correct this.
He has had it 6 weeks and all sorts of things have gone wrong, elecrical and quality control seem to be the main problems.
I told him to watch out for punctures as the utterly useless tyre pressure monitors make them impossible to fix.
Utter junk in the old Renault style, god only knows why the owners all look so smug. Read more
Favourite joke ever from the old radio show:
"Why do you like the Mary Whitehouse Experience?"
Audience reply:
"Because I'm profoundly deaf and my radio looks nice".
Still makes me smile ten years on.
Apologies if that deaf thing offends anyone.
That's cheered me up a bit,
Lee.
hey
any idea how many hrs it should take to strip down and replace bearings and diff. bearings in gearbox. VW Polo 1997.....
Read more
Thanks
I will check it out with the mechanic first...otherwise if it is the bearings, I will get a reconditioned gearbox fitted. It is the same cost as changing the bearings!!
Caroline
Browse
.jpg)
Thanks Charles, but I did as you suggest, with knobs on. It is impossible to get past the bimbos at the call centre that handles the calls. They said that nobody at Ford is authorised to pay more than 60%. I even asked what they were prepared to do after I had paid my part of the bill, to persuade me to buy another Ford. After all I have had Fords for years, and still own my Capri 2.8 bought new and now with 200k miles under its wheels. There answer- we will ask you to complete a survey in due course!
hence-no more ford.