February 2003
Posted an enquiry on to 'Technical' and hope no-one minds if, just this once, I ask it here as well........."I'm familiar enough with the normal hand sprayer that screws in to a special designed can i.e. the can has a female thread about 1.5" across and the male thread of the sprayer screws in to it. However, what sort of sprayer do you use for the Underbody Seal Schutz. The can in which it's supplied has a male thread of similar size therefore you can't use the same sprayer as for normal waxoyl?"
Furthermore - what are peoples experience of Waxoyl in the long term and more specifically I'd like to do the sills and would like a permanent hard finish capable of being washed off along with the rest of the car. I believe they do a Stoneshield product that might do the job. Anyone used it?
Thanks.
KB. Read more
Help! SWMBO has returned in a panic. She just tried to fill her Seat Ibiza 2001 model up with petrol, only to find that the flap to the fuel cap would not open.
It would seem that all the central locking is working ok but not the flap. Inspection of the handbook details a manual cord to pull in case of such an event. I did this and the cord has come away in my hand!
I guess that the electro activator is not working but what do I do next please? Read more
Ok, so it was looking like the Punto from SWMBO but I keep looking at the Yaris and I know it's the better car.
Anybody able to offer real-life figures on MPG for the 1.0 and 1.3? GS upwards preferred as these have "real" tyres and roadholding, whereas the S has skinny econo-rubber.
Likewise would welcome any "real" figures for the D-4D. Have some sums to do as to whether the higher cost to buy a D-4D will be worth it. Expecting to do c.15k pa.
Have a feeling the budget my be going up.....
Ta!
No Dosh (and a loan at this rate)
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Coast test: aborted.. Too much hassle on the Congleton Buxton road (the most dangerous in UK etc)..
Still averaging over 60mpg tho by only using aircon on very hot days (2 in a row... that's summer).
I have a 1994 'L' Nissan Micra 998cc (Micra Dot) that will only start intermittently. When it doesn't work you get a 'clicking' noise from the solenoid and vibrating sound from the internal fuse box (relays I think)and the engine doesn't turn over. With the lights on they dim when you turn the key. I've put in a new battery and I've tried 2 new starter motors/solenoids (solenoid comes attached) to no avail. I tried taking all the fuses out the various fuse boxes except the ignition switch fuse (in the fuse box in front of battery)when it wasn't working and same result (this fuse has no corrosion). It doesn't seem to matter whether the engine is warm or cold.
The car has had the modified cold start wiring loom and two new prev. distributers. I've got it booked in at Nissan on Wednesday but wondered if anyone had any ideas.
Replies much appreciated.
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Well, got the car back from Nissan today and guess what the (new) battery I had put on in the first place was a dud !! I had found it difficult to believe when Nissan said it was the battery but I took it back to the supplier who confirmed it was dud.
Siecento Suite 1100 - clutch cable £11, fitting it £100 !!! Does anyone know the trick for fitting the cable end to the linkage inside the car. There is a set of cranks and pushrods which connect the pedal on the right to the cable on the left. Short of removing the entire one piece dash, I just can't see how to gain access.
I've asked Fiat dealers, who just won't tell me! Read more
It may be hard to believe but my Seicento was probably the first rhd example delivered. I can therefore claim intimate knowledge of the underside of my dashboard.
The trick is to leave the protective black metal plate off the underside of the dash - this way when the cackmobile clutch snaps you can reduce overall repair time by about ten minutes.
My clutch cable has snapped about four times and the split-pin has failed on three occasions. I have joined the legion of those adept at driving home with no clutch, with a spare cable in the boot in case I am miles from redemption. I used to quite like my little yellow car but this fault makes every journey a miserable lottery with every clutch depression a vehicular form of Buckaroo or Jenga.
Fiat have no knowledge of the Seicento clutch phenomenon - what a load of gash. Every time you go in the dealers for some tyres, wipers or anything mundane they need to order it from the warehouse but they always seem to have a pile of 20 Seicento clutch cables under the counter.... why? because five minutes after you leave another poor sap will come in ordering the same thing. Fiat's gross UK profit must be 95% supplying and fitting of Seicento clutch cables.
The last time I was in the dealers he said the part number had changed because the new cables were made stronger - indeed, the 'question mark' hook on the end seems to be a different colour. However, making one part of the clutch system stronger only moves the problem onto the next weakest part - the split pin.
This has popped off three times and I have just fixed it back in place with a new Halfords split pin and a good-sized washer. This seems to have done the trick in the short-term but rest assured I will not risk crossing the alps in my Seicento in the near or distant future.
Does anyone here have any experience with having a Subaru Legacy converted to LPG ???
I test drove an Outback recently and was very impressed with the vehicle, but I have read in many reviews, and was told by the dealer that they tend to be quite thirsty...
I would be intending to buy a used 4or 5 year old 2.5 estate or outback, automatic, and have the vehicle converted to LPG. I need the estate carrying capacity, so the LPG tank would need to be sited away from the load area (in a spare wheel well tank I assume) as I have heard some conversions have a cylinder/tank that goes in/on top of the boot/luggage area.
Has anyone on this forum had a legacy converted, and has it been successful........ what did it cost, has it been reliable, does the vehicle run well on it???
What kind of range is attainable from a spare wheel well tank, and are there other areas under the car that could take extra tanks to extend the range on LPG ?
On another note, does anyone have experience of having a Legacy maintained by an indepedndent (i.e. ordinary non main-dealer) garage) ?? Are they able to service the vehicle without specialist Subaru exquipment.
Main dealer servcing seems expensive for these cars, especially for the cam-belt change..... is this do-able by an ordinary garage ?
The main dealer said indepedndent servcing shouldn't be problem, as the only difference the cars have is the 4WD system just has more universal joints of the type other cars have, and checking these shouldn't be beyond any garage....is this true ?!
Can anyone make any general comments about living with a legacy.. all of the reviews I have read have said p[ositive things, except for the fuel consumption.
Many thanks,
The Mad Scientist....
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Not a Lgeacy but a Forrester. It has a Tartarini Etagas system fitted. On the whole I am satisfied with it. I spoke to Subaru before having the conversion done and they were positive although there is a possibility of Valve recession. I use FlashLube upper cylinder lubricant to avoid that.
The performance is very good, I cannot tell the difference between petrol and gas. The car starts on petrol and switches automatically to gas when the evaporator has warmed up to 15 deg C. The evaporator is plumbed into the heater circuit. The tank is a donut in the spare wheeel well and gives a usable capacity of 48 litres. There are larger tanks without a hole in the middle now. Consumption is about 20% higher on LPG as the fuel. The caloric value of LPG is the same as petrol weight for weight but not litre for litre. Petrol is heavier.
There are 2 problems. It stalls when you pull away from a stop if the engine is not fully warmed up. I think that this is a problem with the Tartarini controller map not covering the idle revs. The default mapping is not good enough when the engine is not hot. I get around this by switching back to petrol if there is a traffic jam close to home.
The other problem is that the 2 closest LPG suppliers have stopped selling LPG. I now have to make 20 mile round trip to fill up so check your nearest supplier is staying in business. The next nearest supplier thinks he will have to stop selling as he has had his planning application refused. If your nearest supplier is a BP garage you need backup because their pumps are somewhat unreliable and take ages to get fixed. The one on the eastbound M4 at Reading was U/S for 4 months last year. You can check for you nearest supplier at www.lpga.co.uk/refueling_stations2.htm
I hope this helps,
Nev
Hello all
My brother recently bought a Rover 416 Si N reg with 37,000 genuine miles on it.
The problem which has me stumped is that water and white smoke (steam?)seems to come from the exhaust even when the car is fully warmed up. The temp gauge always reads normal.
This car stood for about 3-4 months before he bought it so I intially thought damp has gotten into the exhaust and it would burn itself out, however this is not the case.
Next I thought of the head gasket, but the car has used no water and does not need to be topped up !
Where is this water coming from ? any help would be nice.
TIA Read more
I can't speak for other cars but the tiny hole I put in the back box of a p6 made no difference to the noise. Mind you, it was the last box on a 3 box system,
A hypothetical question:
If the service/warranty document states that a first service should be carried out at 12,500 miles or 12 months, whichever comes first, how much leaway is there? In other words, if the mileage went over the 12,500 miles before the 12 months was up, how much 'extra' mileage could one clock up without invalidating the warranty?
Thanks,
Tony Read more
Tony44,
It is written down, at least for myself, in the Ford Extended Warranty documents for the second and third year of the warranty.
I have a feeling it isn't actually mentioned in the handbook or service, though, for some strange reason.
Hi everyone, i was hopefully going to buy a 1998 S Registration Vauxhall Omega 2.5 V6 CDX Estate with 42,000 miles on the clock, 2 owners, and FULL SERVICE HISTORY for £6700 on Saturday, and NOW i am petrified !! i have read most of the points on here, and i just dont know what to do, it`s my FIRST luxury motor, i play in a band and travel up and down the country, so i needed a big estate to get all my keyboards etc in, shoudl i still buy it ? because i dont know what to do now, i know the fuel costs will be higher (obviously) than my 1995 Peugeot 405 Turbo Diesil GLX estate. but what the heck, i am only intendind to use it 3 days a week to cover about 400 miles, I NEED ALL YOUR ADVICE PLEASE !!
thanks very much
Wayne from Oxfordshire Read more
Had my 96 Omega for nearly a year now and have to agree with u with the exception of parts prices.
Lovely to drive but have spent £1500 on servicing/repairs inc new engine in 1 year! which as u point out on a 18.5k is pretty poor.
Having said that when it goes it's a beauty, just dreading November's MOT!
As far as I am aware, having the SRS airbag warning light showing is NOT an MOT failure.
[A] I am pretty sure the SRS light was showing last time my car [1] passed its MOT and,
[B] I cannot find anything about SRS airbag lights on www.ukmot.com.
Please correct me if I am wrong.
The SRS warning light is, of course, not to be confused with the ABS warning light, which IS an MOT failure if showing.
[1] 1994 G-wagon. Every year or so the light comes on and, despite twice having been in to main MB dealers for expensive diagnosis, they cannot find what is causing the problem nor replicate the error. Just a £35 reset - a total pain really and I wish I could extinguish the light myself. It is obviously an extremely intermittant problem and at this stage not worth replacing parts without being able to pinpoint the faulty component.
CMark Read more
You're right UncleR. Having the light on means that the airbag system is de-activated. Taking the bulb out doesn't change this fact.
Resetting the light means that the SRS is waiting to save your face in the event of a big full frontal crash.
Billy
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Anti-Waxoyl, due to poor penetration and very limited creep, and persistent clogging of the cheapo hand pump sprayer. Didn't have a compressor
Pro sunflower oil, thinned as necessary with diesel and optionally mixed with motor oil to slow setting....