March 2003
The oil seal at the nearside drive shaft inboard end (where the drive shaft comes out of the transmission case) seems to be leaking on my 2000 VW Polo. Has anyone replaced such an oil seal - is it a reasonably competent DIY job? Or is it a trip to our local friendly VW rip-off shop?
Any comments would be appreciated.
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I inherited a G reg Mitsubishi Galant (4WDS 4WS) 2.0 DOHC from father in law (would not be my first choice) but it has served remarkably well for two & a half years recently however it left us stranded twice with an intermittent fault.
It runs fine for a variable period (5 to 20 miles) then starts to hesitate & miss (producing clouds of smoke (not steam) when it momentarily picks up) & eventually stops all together.
Leave it an half hour or so and it drives fine until it happens again. Currently I can use it to go to work & back but obviously long journeys are not worth the risk.
It feels very frustrating suspecting it's a £100 (if I'm lucky !) part but that if I can't trace it I'll have to scrap a good car. I keep my motoring costs down by maintaining &
fixing things myself but this car is too complex for me and Mr Mitsubishi is far too expensive (probably three hours of his time would exceed the car's value !)
Anyway I have been told unless it presents the fault to the garage they can't trace it anyway.
Does anyone have any ideas as to what it might be & how to eliminate the various suspect components.
I realise it's a total nail but one which is good to drive and has been V reliable until now.
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Jools,
Should be no problem running without the PCV valve. As you say, you need to blank the tube into the inlet manifold, and fit a length of pipe without the PCV valve from the r'box either open to atmosphere or, prefferably, into a vented catch tank (old screen washer bottle etc.). If your problem still occurs it does look like something more serious. Could be difficult to pin-point at kerbside, but a good rolling-road invetsigation could be helpful.
Regards, Adam
In a couple of weeks I'm going to be doing my "routine" Watford-Inverness-Watford trip. Normally we drive the 560 odd miles overnight and SWMBO and I take turns at the wheel, while the girls sleep in the back.
However due to a recent op, SWMBO will be unable to drive this time so we thought we would drive during the day and stop overnight somewhere along the M6 around J30-40 to break the journey in half(ish) and make it "part" of the holiday.
I'm looking for recommendations for a relatively in-expensive hotel/lodge, no more than 15-20 minutes from the M6 and a little bit more interesting than a service station.
Chad.R Read more
This site may be helpful.
www.smoothhound.co.uk/index.html
John R
.....but leave me out of it..
www.philstar.com/philstar/Business200303254004.htm
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There's every chance in Manila if you've got dosh, No Dosh. Dollars beats testosterone every time!
Unfortunately my new job requires an one and a half hour (each way) motorway commute which I don't think my 14 year old Saab 900 could cope with. It's started to show it's age recently and something new seems to go wrong each month so I've decided to flog it.
Anyhow, I don't want to splash the cash as the job is a short-term contract so budget is limited to about £3k. Probably opt for a diesel for economy reasons. Current thinking is a Citreon Xsara as they're fairly cheap and the local specialist is just round the corner and a dealer about a mile away. Any other suggestions? Read more
Some people are gluttons for punishment!!
I bought a car from a used car dealer a few months back (E36 BMW 1999). The dealers cheapest car was about 6k and it seems a decent place. When we test drove it the airbag light was on. I obviously mentioned it and he said it would be fixed by the time I collected it. It was.
The next day it came back on so I rang him and he said bring it down. This is 50 miles away. I took it down and a part was needed so I agreed to come back the next week for the fix. I did and it was fixed.
The light came on again the other day so I have to travel there for a third time on the chance that I'll have to come back a forth time for the fix. This is a 100 mile round trip and I'm getting annoyed!
I explained that I wasn't keen on coming back down and suggested I used my local maindealer but the dealer wasn't keen due to the costs.
My question is, at what point can I insist that I get it fixed locally due to their inability to fix the problem (at my petrol expense each time)? Or do I have to keep taking it back to him?
Thanks in advance
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I bought SWMBO's Clio from a small Renault dealer 40 miles away (it was a fairly uncommon model). Dealer pointed out a damaged foglamp, but said couldn't fix for a few days as part was not in stock. I suggested I bought part from dealer only 8 miles away and fitted it myself. Selling dealer agreed to refund cost of nearer dealer's invoice. So some will play reasonable ball if asked. Doubt you could fix airbag yourself though. :o)
hi guys.
i've got a 1995 ford escort 1.8 turbo diesel with a smoking problem. The car starts fine every time (it doesnt respond to throttle too well and will stall easily if you try to pull it away in the first 15 secs or so but after that it drives fine). the main problem is that then you stick your foot down it smokes loads. there is a proper smokescreen behind the car. the smoke is white in colour and starts at about 3000rpm. i have no idea about diesels(always had petrols before). was wondering if this could have something to do with the turbo and may just need adjusting or whether something big (and expensive) is wrong
any help greatly appreciated
cheers
rich
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Just to update you guys. I decided that I\'ve had the car far too long to have not taken anything under the bonnet apart. I took off the big black thingy behind the block (I\'m assuming its a charge cooler becasue it look like a radiator, its connected to the outlet of the turbo, before the inlet manifold). the outlet side (which is also connected to something which is connected to the EGR valve) was coated in a thick layer of black tar type stuff. cleaned all that off and put it back together. unplugged the EGR valve (the one with 4 or so rubber pipes coming off it, behind the nearside headlight). problem solved. no smoke and its like driving a different car, more power, quicker response. Job\'s a good \'un. Just wanted to put this up so if anyone else is having problems they know the solution. Cheers for the quick and informative help guys
Rich.
p.s. Was the EGR valve causing the black stuff to be on the outlet of the charge cooler or is that just a symptom of a 110000 mile car?
Circumstances change so Mrs No Dosh's Yaris is off the list for the moment, hopefully to rise again later this year or early next once the new C2 has dented prices a bit. Possibly.
Anyway, short term we are going to need to get her lovliness something to belt around in when I start my new job. The 1.25 Ghia Fiesta appeals on a number of levels, not least because it has a sporty ride, offers reasonable economy and there are quite a lot out there, so relatively affordable. The only time there will be a passenger it's likely to be mini-No Dosh, who, being all of 3 years old, takes little room.
Anyone got any views on this strategy and will £2.5k get a good un?
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Something horribly wrong with the AT site. Keeps telling me that there are no Fiestas of any price anywhere in country.
Looks like they are in demand, or the site has fallen over.
I was about to purchase a Mondeo TDCI until I came across this site. Are the problems re starting, glow plugs, misfiring, poor mpg and so on resolved or are they so bad that I ahould re-consider. Are the problems in most Mondeos or is it in a select few? I expect to do around 25,000 miles per annum so reliability is essential. I have driven a couple of these and was quite impressed with power and torque.
Sorry if this is a repeat of previous mails but I would appreciate any feedback possible. Read more
Hmmmm, still seems far too patchy for me to be risking my own money! One for the fleet customers still.
Hi
Having got to the end of my tether with my K reg ZX, too many problems to mention and a big money drain which is a shame as it is very nice to drive, I need to buy something else but I have a very narrow budget of about 2K. I want to part ex the ZX and was thinking of the following:
Astra - had MK2 one of these previously and never ever let me down but how do the Mk3 versions fare?
Ford Mondeo - heard about the costly clutch change but sounds like a good used buy
Any other ideas? Read more
So Sunderland's finest export could be what you're after?
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I've done the job on a Pug 205. The old seal easily pulls out with a screwdriver and the new one taps in squarely. However, the box need draining of oil and the suspension requires dismantling to enable the driveshaft to be pulled out. Two or three hours!