March 2003
Just read about a BMW 7 series V8 owner who's having his engine repaired FOC by the dealer.
Spurred me on to report the good news about my tyres. Last week I just clipped the low lying and well worn plinth of a junction treatment with the O/R tyre whilst turning right and found myself with a nice big hole in the side wall of an almost new Michelin Energy 185/65 HR15 tyre. Dohhhhhh...
Anyway yesterday (MOT impending) I decided to ring around for prices on a replacement. I was recommended a dealer who offered to solve my problem for the miserly sum of £105!!
Anyway I then tried Costco who were able to offer the same tyre for just over £60 inc. VAT & fitted etc. !! :-)
Better still, I'm told Costco has a limited supply of BF Goodrich tyres in only that size for £35ish. A fitter said they're very good so my plan is to remove the other rear Michelin and use that as a spare (old spare is pretty tatty!) and buy 2 BFG tyres to fit on the rear.
Even if I can't do that for some reason I'll buy the new Michelin and and still be £40 better off.
So, some good news at last it seems - touch wood !
Anyone else out there had any good news concerning your motors ? Read more
Sorry for my ignorance, but whenever I switch on the heater fan I get all sorts of smell. This happens even if I have cool air blowing.
Smell range from egg to curry.
My car is a Carlton Diplomat , with 122,000 on the clock. Runs extremely well.
Can anybody enlighten me ?
Roadrunner
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Sounds very much like heater matrix to me. I had exactly the same a few years back on a Renault. Slightly fish&chippy smell, but not as nice. Check for dampness on or under carpets. Will slowly get worse, until rusty colours start coming through the carpet!
I nearly "went for a Burton" and placed a deposit on an RX8 at the weekend which just shows that alcohol abuse and internet access don't always mix. I am extremely tempted though and should my life continue along its current path I may well put in an order after I've had a test drive in July. I cannot think of any car current or near future I would rather spend my hard earned on right now.
Interestingly though whilst there is much information on the net regarding rotary engines (partic Japan and the US where the RX7 has been popular and sold in reasonable numbers) I cannot find a single article on how one of these engines should be run in.
Any comments people? Also the newer rotary engines seem to have a much better reliability record - can anyone comment on this? Read more
According to my local Mazda dealer the issues to which 'manwithatool' refers still pertain. The RX8 will be thirsty on petrol and expensive to maintain but, if you can afford it, you fancy a rotary engine and a handsome machine, who cares.
Got a bit of a problem with a mondeo 97 td car hesitates on light throttle settings between 1800-3000 rpm. Fault more apparant in 2/3 gears not apparant on full throttle. Car starts fine in this weather bit of a pig when frosty taking 3 attempt to get started then runs fine does not cut out.I know this is pointing to glow plugs for the starting!Only done 76k and just been serviced air/oil/pollen filters but not fuel filter apparantly they only need doing every 20k.Any advice will be appeciated as will the tel no for suppliers of bosch glowplugs Read more
Check the rubber "T" shaped hose just underneath the coil pack. It sometimes splits or just comes off. Mine slid off but was sitting on the end of the brass pipe it fits on to. This allowed it to suck air in, weakening the mixture. From cold, it used to start up then die a couple of times then it was ok until it was switched off. From hot it would then start and die once and then be OK. It would also hesitate slightly as yours does.
I've been driving the Passat for a few days now, getting to know it a little better. I like the engine, it seems to have a little more oomph than I first thought and it's refined enough to be completely inaudible when cruising.
One thing that I'm wondering about is the ride. Dual carriageways and good A-roads aren't a problem. However, on the worst of the B-roads where I live, it can be quite bouncy and floaty, like, em, cycling on a waterbed (no, I haven't). It's certainly not as tight through the corners as the Leon, and the bouncy/floaty nature of the ride makes me less confident in pushing on.
I've heard that a wallowy ride is somewhat characteristic of this car, and just wanted to know if anyone who owns one has experienced this as the norm, or if I should be concerned about the condition of the shock absorbers. I'm still within my 30-day exchange period under the Approved Used scheme, so I'll be checking with the dealer, but I want to make sure I don't get fobbed off with "Oh they're supposed to do that." Read more
Just an update - the rear shock absorbers were replaced today, obviously FOC, and I drove home on the rough back roads to give them a test run. Much, much improved handling, even at speeds of 70mph on (deserted) uneven B-roads. Interestingly enough, when going over a rise in the road followed by a dip, the front mudflaps scraped the road but the back remained clear. So I guess the front shocks might need replaced as well.
The dealership have been very courteous and are obviously not doing anything by halves - even the mechanic took me out to the car to give it a quick once over. I guess I've found a good one. Let's see how they react to the new front shock absorbers idea though!
I think my thermostat is gone. My car has started to heat up within 5-10 minutes of driving. when i turn the car off I am getting a strange noise coming from under the bonnet. I have seen quite a lot of oil and water spilage where i usually park.
My main problem is that i don't know where the damn thing is. I have seen pictures of where it is on other cars but none of them look the same as mine.
Does anyone know of any links that show what is what under a 93 peugeot 306.
Or if someone could scan a pic from a haynes manual and e-mail it to me I would be grateful.
richiwatts@hotmail.com
Many thanks
Richi Read more
Usually you can find the thermostat by following the top hose back from the rad to engine, and where it joins on will be the thermostat housing.
However, you say it heats up - do you mean overheats? What sort of funny noise? If you open the bonnet after you stop is the radiator hot or cold? The oil / water points to something a bit more serious than the thermostat - like the head gasket.....
Richard
Last Sat\'s Telegraph motoring section had a big ad for a gizmo that claimed to save on average 15% on your fuel consumption. From memory it was £50 and it wittered on about creating swirl effect in your fuel supply or something. Has anyone ever proved beyond all reasonable doubt that these things do/don\'t work? Read more
Not polishing prevents fuel condensing on shiny inlet ports, thus messing up the air/fuel ratio. It still a good idea to smooth the walls of the ports though to aid air flow through the ports.
Back to the EcoTEK thingy - I love it when people insist these silly devices work, it like when people think they get 10+ bhp for their cone air filter and rude-boy big bore back box - nonsense.
I have just booked my car in because I suspect that the power steering pump is about to bite the dust. It has plenty of fluid in the reservoir but makes a loud screetching when trying to apply full lock.
Being a bit clueless when it comes to cars, does anybody know what I should expect to be charged for a replacement. The car is an R reg Mondeo TD Read more
To add to Charles note - which I agree the belt sounds like it's slipping, it's not a good idea to put the steering on full lock too often and for long periods on cars fitted with power steering.
It\'s 20 years since seat-belt use was made compulsory , not that people should have needed compulsion . I have read that there\'s 90% compliance , but from my own observation I reckon it\'s quite a lot lower.
I\'ve talked with people who don\'t use their belts, who reckon it\'s a matter of their choice. But surely that\'s too simple .If you don\'t wear a seat-belt ,in many accidents your injuries will be much worse and your likelihood of survival is much lower .Now that has consequences for other people- eg your family, your work colleagues and in a general sense all of us who have to fund the health and welfare services and pay for car insurance.
How about an insurer offering a policy which applies an extra excess -say £1000 - in cases where the driver was unbelted and the consequences were thus increased?
That should either (a) encourage usage; or (b) spread the true cost of this behaviour more fairly Read more
The "we don't move until you have your seatbelt on" applies in my car too.
I agree absolutely, I even belt up my German Shepherd with a special harness when she`s in my car. I don`t fancy 50kg.of dog loose in my car. Just multiply by a few G`s and the likely result does not bear thinking about.
Hi another golf related question. On my 1984 1.3 cl golf the front wheel bearings are going, after contacting a spares company for a quote on new front bearings the guy I spoke to said that it could be easier to just by the entire \"hub ass\" and replace this, as replacing the bearings can be a bit of a pain. Has anyone ever done this, and if so is it much easier that just replacing the bearings?
Cheers
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I suppose its down to cost, but the bearings are fairly easy to replace on their own, if you know what you are doing and can put up with almost every bolt being rusted solid.
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On the Richter scale of good news this might only register a 1.3 but my trusty 1991 Volvo 940 se turbo estate just passed its MOT with flying colours. With 138k on the clock I was beginning to think its days were numbered. It's been very reliable in the 5 years I've owned it (touching wood now !!) and compared to some stories I've read here I've got off very lightly when the odd repair had been required. The MOT tester told me he'd seen loads of 740/940's over the years and they're 'bomb proof.' In fact he'd just passed another 1992 model with 250k on the clock and still going strong ! He said it'd be well worth forking out for new brakes, rear silencer, cam belt and clutch as and when these are required rather than ditching the car for a newer one and possibly inheriting more problems - better the devil you know !
Anyway, I've only done 3.2k since last MOT so I'm hoping the brakes and clutch will last a bit longer. The back box will go soon I know but I've had almost 3 years out of it and you know what those fast fit boxes are like, they usually fall apart 2 days after the 1 year warranty expires.
On the emissions side, I have used products fuel/ oil treatment and cat cleaning products which are supposed to clean the fuel system and cat, provide additional lubrication, reduce emissions and improve fuel economy. I know some of you have a dim view of this sort of product but they seems to have worked 'cos most of my mileage is short journeys of 5-10 miles only.
BTW - the MOT tester doesn't do any of the servicing so he doesn't have a vested interest.