January 2003
The best price I've found on a new Mini Cooper is with Motafile, a broker supplying UK main dealer cars, offering £300 off the list price.
Has anyone used them before to purchase a new car, or who has any experience from going through them?
Apparently they usually get mentioned in WhatCar when comparing cheapest UK sourced cars, but only with a tel no! Read more
Does anybody know where I can buy brake light bulbs with coloured glass to go behind clear lenses? They must be available somewhere as my car came with them (aftermarket not dealer fitted before you ask).
Cheers
Frank Read more
Just a thought - I probably spend more time here than I should, and thus often have the screen you're looking at on my monitor.
Since Stephen added the whizz-bang floating HJ menu on the right, regardless of where I am in the website, I get the menu in the same place.
Will I end up with a be-trilby-ied, avaitor glasses shadow screen burn? We should all be a bit more careful....
:-)
Lee. Read more
I think the Pope may be Catholic - not absolutely sure tho.
I would like to see the thread continue, perhaps under another name. Cannot honestly think of one at moment but give me some time.
Happy Motoring Phil I
What's with the latest trend of ready mixed screenwash?
Personally I prefer to buy the concentrated stuff and mix it myself. I "used" to be able to buy a 5 litre container of concentrated jollop for around £4 and be able to make up around 50 litres of screenwash from it. Shopping around recently, 5 litres of ready mixed stuff costs around £3 (£5 at motorway service stations)
1. Buying concentrated solution is a lot cheaper than buying it ready mixed.
2. You are paying water rates twice by buying the ready mixed stuff.
3. The ready mixed stuff appears only to give protection down to -7 deg c. A few nights ago the temp was down to -8 deg c, add to that the wind chill factor and the temp was a lot lower.
Rant over, where can I buy concentrated screenwash for a reasonable price? (Excluding Halfords as previous experience of using their stuff stains the paintwork) Read more
Very stupid HFy type question - what's wrong with a bit
of washing up liquid in a bucket of water? I always
thought that was ok - obviously not, but why?
1. The mixture would freeze in cold conditions.
2. You'd have a hard job topping up your washer bottle under the bonnet if you were to use just a bucket.
3. WUL contains quite powerful chemicals and could strip any protection (polish/wax) from your paintwork.
4. I said ironing, not washing up :o)
Having just read HJ's news on the discounts on various Mazdas, and the especially reasonable price for the RX-8, I wonder if Backroomers can think of any other manufacturer which has had a year like the rejuvenated Mazda.
In the last 12 months they have launched the Mazda6, arguably the most beautiful 3 box saloon since, err, the Xedos. The RX-8 is a totally innovative car for around £20k.
What makes the achievement even greater, in my biased opinion, is that the cars before were so dull that ditchwater could have sued. 12 months ago the company's line up was made up of the MX5, and a number of dull yet reliable machines.
Meanwhile, other car companies have been busy besmirching their once good names by launching or updating basically pointless SUVs.
Whatever happened to the heroes?
Read more
Having done some work for the VM in question I know that sales they are on the up. Zoom Zoom!!
Between 1997 and 2001 sales had dropped 50% mainly due to stronger competition. I'm glad to see the tide turning with some even better products coming through even though there was nothing inherently wrong with the previous models.
hi , i posted a topic a few weeks back about my cavalier hessitating on a low fuel tank, i had since been through every option and its not fixed, although i have heard of something called a charcoal canister whish evaporates fuel.
can somebody tell me where this is located as the diaphram might have gone or the purge valve.
i have no idea even if it has one.
Cavalier sri, 2.0 8 valve, j plate, 91 (change over year), Read more
This problem of hesitation on the 20NE engine with Motronic 4.1 or 1.5 fuel injection is often easily cured.
On the side of the Air Flow Sensor is a screw which when new would've had a black or blue tamper proof cap over it. This is the CO potentiometer. Turning the screw clockwise increases the CO pot voltage, and the engine will run richer. Use a voltmeter into the CO pot wire on the 5 pin AFS plug, (sorry can't remember which terminal it is off hand) and earth. If the voltage reads about 2.5V it is too low, increase it to about 3V - 3.5V.
Beware though if you increase it too far, you will go outside the ECUs parameters and it will recognise this as a fault and store a trouble code. The ECU will then be in Limp Home Mode, the engine management lamp will be on, and it will restore the CO pot voltage to it's default setting, thus you will have your hesitation problem back. Setting the CO pot to 3V - 3.5V should cure your hesitation and cause no other problems.
Hope it helps.
Hello all:
This is the most bizzarre car glitch I have ever had. I hope you don't all think I'm mad!
There is a sound, which seems to come from the passenger side front of the car. It is tuneful - musical notes rather than a noise - and sounds not unlike the aforementioned strange TV-beings' "eh-oh". As in the "eh-oh" there are two distinct pitches following each other, the higher one of the pair always first, for a second or two, a short burst of the lower tone, then nothing.
The sound first appeared one morning on my journey to work, about 400 yds from home, when I first reached about 50 mph, going down a hill. At first the sounds occurred at the same time and place intermittently, then every time. The second time I hit 50 mph in the journey I would hear nothing and didn't hear the noise again until the following morning.
Now I might get the sounds the first twice I hit 50 mph(ish). And I'm starting to hear the sounds on my return as well.
I don't understand!
Has anyone got any ideas before I call an exorcist?
Andy Read more
>>Oh no indeed, hope you're not in the tubbycustard now.
Tubbycustard?? this is a new one to me!!
Are you happy that the noise is the cap venting?
Well ... changing the cap got rid of the noise, albeit very temporarily, so that makes me think that it is. I also did a very short run without the cap and heard nothing. But then I got worried that I might cause problems and put it back on. Is there any harm in running without the cap as a test?
If it were me, and I wanted to prove it, I'd
attach/tee in a temp small bore hose to the cooling system
and run it to a pressure gauge in the car. Watching
that as you drive may well tell you what is going
on.
Sounds like it might be helpful. I'll lok at the possibilities, but I don't want to risk airlocking.
Failing that you need to get a garage to test this
system out, you don't want to risk overheating trouble on an
expensive diesel engine.
Indeed not!!
If you think it might be something else completely different making
the noise then over to a better tubby expert methinks.
Any more ideas folks??!!
MM
thanks again
Andy
Has onyone had trouble with a VW Dealer or in fact and dealer crushing your sells by listing the vehicle. I recently had some work done and they admit they list the vehicle by the sills but deny it was them that crushed both front sills. Thanks Read more
I had exactly the same problem with my wife's Mk3 Golf estate. The main VW dealer crushed both sills on the inside at the front. On the same service they also overfilled the engine oil by over a litre (not a good thing to do on a diesel that only takes less than 5 litres) and replaced the brake fluid by filling the master cylinder to the top - yes all the way to the top so that it leaked out of the top. Then when they came to the house to resolve the brake fluid overfill the method employed was to stuff a rag in the top of the master cylinder to soak up the excess - then squeeze it into a jar. Excess brake fluid on the inner wing was washed off with a little water from a garden centre water bottle.
The car went back to the dealer for the sills to be inspected - they collected and delivered the car. When I looked underneath the sills had been pulled back into shape. The dealer then told me that they had found nothing wrong and it must be me that is an idiot (and the MOT tester who first saw it a week after the service at the VW dealer).
I ended up talking to the MD at the VW dealer who told me that he trusted his service manager implicitly - ie I must be either lying or an idiot.
I would not mind if they had apologised but to cover up and then lie to me was beyond belief for a main dealer. VW customer services were not really interested (after saying they were) and coupled with another conversation with VW when they told me "this is how we do it, we are VW, we are not Mercedes, we are not interested in customer or competitor feedback" I decided that life was too short and the best solution was to sell the car - which we did. Shame actually because the car was good but the dealer was abysmal and VW is so so arrogant.
VAG never again.
I think that my TD is having a lack of power but am not sure if this is my imagination or not.
Under acceleration, the turbo whistle sounds like it is stuttering rather than one continuous whistle. As someone who is technologically-challenged is this normal or not?
In the past the MAF sensor has been replaced and a hole in a vacuum pipe (?) has been replaced. Any information or thoughts would be appreciated before going to the dealer (who has checked the MAF and says seems to be OK). Read more
Thinking of buying a used car for £4,000 and want to have
it treated with Diamondbrite polish due to dust particles
sticking to paintwork where I work.
Where can I get the polish done and how much does it cost?
Done a search on the internet still awaiting a reply from
a car valeting company. Read more
Have to agree with Drivethru. I've stuck with this approach for the last 4 or 5 years and even found I could remove exterior gloss paint splashes without resorting to excessive scrubbing.
Mind you, an ex girlfriend once used a brillo pad to remove bird mess from her renault 5. Not to be recommended.
No Dosh - but then who has?
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My Christmas pudding came in a nice transparent red wrapper...