February 2003
Hi All,
I'm having a problem with my Peugeot 306 and engauging gear when the car is over heating. The gear change is quite heavy anyway, but becomes progressively harder and then impossible when the car warms up to about 90 degrees or so. I leave the car for about 30 seconds and then the clutch becomes loose again. I have been to a Peugeot dealer who says the clutch plate needs replacing, even though the clutch is not slipping or making funny noises. I thought it related to the clutch cable and just needed adjustment, however the clutch cable on my car is self adjusting.
Can anybody provide any ideas or help on what could be wrong? I don't want to spend 380 quid on a new clutch plate when I don't need to.
Thanx Read more
I have a 1998 Rover 400. The rear screen heater only works occasionally - click the switch and it may come on after several minutes (or hours), it may not (usually not). I think the switch and relay are okay. Is there an electronic device that sits between the switch and relay that determines when to automatically switch the thing off (after 15mins, I think)? If so, where is it and how can I test it? Any ideas?
Cheers,
John.
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As Toad of Toad Hall says in his reply, its probably
the Multi-function unit, located by the fuse-box below the steering columm,
I believe.
And hemmed in by a million wires.
Of the two rovers I've owned and the one other I have regular contact with all have had MFU issues.
I didn't dare touch mine in the old one and a scrap one will be no use because they all go wrong.
Can't really propose a viable solution - perhaps hardwiring and living without the pointless timer?
--
These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads.
Help!
My 1991 Cavalier SRi has developed a humming noise at 50mph+
To begin with it sounded like an exhaust hole, but a journey up on ramps revealed no leaks or holes.
Then i began some tests, putting the clutch in didn't get rid of the noise, so i think this removes transmission as a cause.
Any ideas?
Thanks
BCZ
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Thanks for your help today.
Consultation with Dr Haynes tonight.
Strange question I know.... but here goes..
The Cavalier 1.4 was never available with PAS, but would it be possible to use the PAS rack from a 1.6 Model and use the pump from an early Mk3 Astra 1.4 with Power Steering.... My assumption is that apart from the Astra having injection, that the engines are the same, and will have the same mounting points.
I have done a PAS conversion on a 1994 Skoda Felicia 1.3 using parts from a 1997 model, but obviously that was the a straight swap of parts from same model to same model.
Cheers
Neil T
SEAT Leon TDi 150 Read more
Mmmmmm, that sounds just like the Skoda I did, although that was my nan's car, low mileage, and it was cheaper for her to pay for new parts than buy a newer car with PAS. On that I also had to change the steering column (inc. changing the ignition switch and fitting new shere bolts), a seperate fluid resevior and a complete new Alternator, water pump assembly, plus get the crank pulley machined out as the 1997 models with PAS had a smaller bore.... It took 2 hard days and £350...... but at least her arthrias doesn't stop her driving to town, an 8 mile drive along quiet country lanes.
Neil T
SEAT Leon TDi 150
I have oil leaking (spitting )out of the dipstick hole. Could it be a blocked crankcase breather and if so how easy is it to fix. The engine is a pug 1.3 pushrod engine in a 309 which has no other symtems and goes well. Read more
Sorted; if only everything in life was so easy.
The passenger door on my 318 is very hard to open and it seems as though it has dropped. The driver door is quite stiff too.
Is this something I can fix? Is it just a case of tightening something or is it a more involved job?
Thanks
Read more
Seems sensible to finish this with the answer! A small squirt of WD40 on the door lock mechanism has solved the problem. Sometimes the answer is so simple you don't even consider it. Thanks for all of the advice.
Had nothing to do in the morning yesterday and it was dry so went along for some IAM training in Kent.
Not a very good session.
Got introduced to some new roads and some new people which was nice but the training itself wasn't entirely helpful.
I made two kamakaze overtakes. In both case I'd overtaken a single car realised I had plenty of maintained speed and made a second overtake way to close to left hand corners. Not very clever but I knew I'd done it. (You can imagine how the second one happened - after getting critisism for overtake number one I overtook everything in sight to prove I *could* overtake safely...)
The problem was after thses incidents I was marked down for everything you can extrapolate from bad overtakes.
Lack of forward vision, road positioning and a host of other stuff. On a list of 24 categories I was unnacceptable [1] on 13.
Funnisest of the lot was the 'appearence' section. I actually failed to meet test standards. It seems I'm too ugly for my IAM test. ;-)
So I'm a little miffed. I suspect they give folks bad marks deliberately in early runs to be able to show they've improved people but someone with less experience and thinner skin than me could be seriously put off.
Ironically my mirror work was comended despite the fact I know it's a failing of mine.
To cap it off the instructor made two test failing faults. Didn't have the nerve to mention it...
All my other runs have been ok-ish (not perfect - I'm only human, well reptile) but Kamakaze overtakes have been mentioned before. (But without extrapolating from that that just about every area of my riding is shakey)
So all in all a positive experience but I don't feel I learned anything this time. Although normally I don't learn much. If I do something wrong I tend to know it before I've done it - just can't resist the temptation...
Incidently one thing I was told was definately wrong:
NSL 60 past parked cars (off th eroad but doors could be swung into the carriageway) and a concealed junction. I eased off to 50 and positioned the bike 1 foot right of the centre line.
I was told I could have moved to the extreme right of the other carriageway and maintained speed.
I say b*ll*cks. An extra 4 feet right wouldn't have made enough difference to pagger past a concealed entrance and parked cars at top whack. I could see the cars were empty but anything could have come out of the entrance and a moron could easly have stepped from behind the cars.
Still a good larf.
[1] Not just failing to meet test standard actually unacceptable.
--
These are my own opinions, and not necessarily those of all Toads. Read more
Guys, thanks for the advice. I've had a look at the Chelmsford site and have read & hopefully! digested PYADT, haven't got Roadcraft yet. I'll wait until I meet my observer to get the report so no need to email a copy. I did get my sister to comment on my driving on the way to and from work but she soon got bored of that!! For now I'm concentrating on improving my worst habits - steering badly, poor mirror use & driving on auto-pilot.
Thanks
Mike.
If everything goes according to plan later this year I will become one of the backroom's occaisional foreign correspondents from Spain. Now the question is do I drive my UK car down to the Costa Blanca via the car ferry or do I buy a LHD banger to keep in Spain? Used cars hold their value more than in the UK so a LHD Spanish banger will cost more than in the UK. The other alternative is to buy a LHD car in another,cheaper, EU country and import it into Spain with all the administration costs involved. Anybody in the backroom been there done that before? Read more
Trevor. yes please could you get me the rates for long term airport storage? It would save me time having to find out the details and would help me make up my mind what to do. I was also thinking of buying a LHD car in another EU country because of the firm prices of S/H cars in Spain.
Chap asks whether he should change his oil more often than every 9k. Says that his American friends change every 2k.
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2105-577548,00.ht...l
"...with some manufacturers warranting engines up to 100,000 miles, you can bet that their servicing schedules have the best interests of the engine at heart."
Truly shocking. Read more
Nortones2
Depends how long you wish to keep the car. Most service schedules are geared to fleet use where the cars get long runs and are sold on after, say, 80k miles. They are probably OK 'till then, and this gives minimum cost of ownership.
However, there have been instances quoted here of the cam chain failing on 2.2 vectras (20k service intervals), at much lower mileages - believed due to lubrication problems. Micras are apparently also prone to similar problems. So, for private use, it seems sensible to adopt a much more conservative approach, such as the 6 months/6k you suggest, whatever the usage. Oil changes are cheap compared to engine rebuilds.
Regards
John S
Does anyone know the status of the Patrols at the Dartford River Crossing?
I know that they are not Police, but their white Land-Rovers carry blue lights.
Do they have the power to stop vehicles and enforce traffic laws? Read more
Oops, best be a bit more careful then!
Browse
In a sense, I had the opposite problem - a gearchange which was most difficult when the engine was cold (ie in freezing temperatures) and got better as everything warmed up.
My clutch pedal was also heavy to press (is this what you mean when you say "the gear change is quite heavy"?)
Solution to the heavy clutch pedal was a new clutch cable - very effective.
Solution to the difficult gearchange was to oil the gearchange linkage. Though one day I need to do a better job on this and dismantle the gearchange linkage and grease it instead of just oiling it.
Of course, your problem might be something else - but I hope not.
Ian