I've the 1.8 Peugeot engine in my Turbo Rover 218 & I'm about to change the timing belt - do I need to change the tensioner as a matter of course?

Also, I want to deal with a noisy tappet. Some folks tell me they are hydraulic whereas my Haynes say I'm in for hours of measuring and shim replacements. Any advice please, such as do I just ignore the rattles and avoid a difficult job?! Read more

Although the thorny subject of 'undertaking' has been tackled many a time and oft on this forum, what are peoples' views on when traffic can be deemed to be "moving in queues"?

I commute up and down the A14 between Huntingdon and Cambridge and am reasonably content to live 'life in the slow lane', having reached the conclusion that using lane 2 (of 2) gains an extra 1mph average speed at the expense of serious risk to life and limb :-(

At peak times, the traffic flow assumes three modes: a)stationary, b)both lanes full and moving at roughly the same speed c) nose-to-tail traffic in lane 2 - moving at 40-50mph - passing lorries in lane 1 spaced ¼ of a mile apart.

So, when traffic is moving as in b), I assume that it's moving 'in queues' and that therefore drifting ahead in lane 1 is OK. Seems fair enough.

My question is: what about c)?? If you go tootling past on the inside for ¼ of a mile, are you asking for trouble? Is this strictly speaking an offence in itself, quite apart from the danger involved? Is the real problem the drivers in lane 1 not closing up sufficiently, or drivers in lane 2 not moving back promptly (afraid of being 'boxed in'?)?

This happens very frequently, and must effectively reduce the road capacity by 30-40% - exacerbating an already acute congestion problem. Read more

Re, 89/90 Polo 1.0 with Bosch Mono-Jetronic SPI system.
Can anyone please advise the Bosch part number of the ECU on this vehicle ?
Thank you, Pete, petel@clara.co.uk Read more

Venue - sister-in-law’s. Present - me, older sister and sister-in-law. Subject of discussion – how to get from sister-in-law’s to another sister’s house some 20 minutes drive away. Object of a rather heated discussion – which was the easiest route to said sister’s abode.

I didn’t involve myself in the ¾ hour debate as I can’t read maps (responsibility for which I place entirely on the shoulders of Sister Dominic at the Convent who so castigated me for showing on a contour map a river flowing uphill that I suffer permanent retardation where all matters geographical are concerned. I am now of the ilk that tends to go three times around roundabouts, exits and then knocks at the first available house and asks “which the right road to where-ever”. I know that I can get from ‘here to there’ and back again but am never sure how to get to ‘there from there’.

Agreement as to route not having been decided, sister and I thought that that we would wing it (3 times around a roundabout etc) etc. and began our little sojourn. Within two minutes of leaving the house three oncoming vehicles flashed me. Checked that I had my headlights were on (it was just coming up to dusk). Everything seemed A-OK. Two more cars flashed me. Decided to turn into a side street, park and take stock.

I kicked all four tyres. They seemed alright – not obviously flat. Checked lights were on – yup, no problem. Bit of a worry as to reason for being flashed as nothing obviously wrong. Decided to retrace steps to brother. Phoned him on mobile and asked him to stay out front to watch for my approach to see if he could spot anything. Pulled up at his house. Wound window down – him grinning like a Cheshire cat. “Your full beam is on”. “Eh, says I, can’t be”. It was then that I realised that I didn’t even know how to turn on/off the full beam. He checked the beam. He was right. Showed me how to turn the beam on and off. Much laughter all round. Stress levels now high. Decided to abort trip and return to accompanying sister’s house and relax with a couple of stiff wines that necessitated an overnight stay.

On later sober reflection as to why I hadn’t known something so elementary as to how to put on/cancel the full beam I can only conclude that up that point I haven’t had to use that function on my current car. Perhaps the ‘I’ll learn it when I need to’ syndrome came into play. I still don’t know how the lights came to be on main beam in the first place.

Whilst there may never be a dull moment, there is ALWAYS a D’oh moment and I am usually the one experiencing it.

I surely can’t be unique in this regard tho’, can I ?



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My son is thinking of buying an Omega with the 2.2 chain cam engine to cover approx 35k miles yearly.
With all the recent adverse press reports(JD Power & Auto Express) on G.M. reliability, I would appreciate any comments from backroomers with experience of this model. I have looked on H.J`s car x car breakdown for this model which gives a conflicting picture - came 3rd from top in the Which 2002 survey and 8th from the bottom in the Auto Express 2002 report.
Any comments and advice would be much appreciated. Read more