March 2003
Hello
I have a problem with my 200 Mondeo estate. There is a strange humming noise coming from the back end - expecially prominent at 40 and 65 - 70. sounds like someone blowing over an empty bottle.
Took it into the Ford dealer and one of the mechanics went out and heard the noise and reckoned that it could be a wheel bearing ( 34K miles, still under Ford warranty ) The car went in to the dealer who in their wisdom, changed the rear brake pads ( because there was a TSB saying that a modified part cured a brake noise, when damp and slow moving, which was totally NOT what my car was doing ) they rang to tell me the car was fixed, that they had changed the pads, £135 thank you ! I wasn't best pleased at the bill, but if it had sorted the problem - thing is, it didn't - as soon as I drove the car down the road the noise was still there ! Personally I reckon all they did was looked through the TSB's and picked the one they thought would do the job, rather than thoroughly investigating the problem?
The car is going in tomorrow for them to look at it again -what else could it be apart from the bearing ?? it has discs on the rear but I had the wheels off and they don't bind suggesting they are not warped. They tried to charge me for 1 1/2 hours finding the problem last time ( which they obviously didn't )
In my experience, when a bearing starts to go, the inner or outer race gets a pit in it and this causes a noise - unfortunately, I think they check the bearing by rocking the wheel to see if the bearing is loose - surely you wouldn't be able to check for pitting this way ?!
I rang Ford this afternoon and a bloke said that I could possibly get the £135 back because they had " misdiagnosed" the problem ... yeah right ...
Any ideas chaps ??
cheers
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One of my colleagues wifes has lost the key to the crook lock and he is racking his brains to work out how to remove the damned thing. She has no idea where the spare is so I think he will have to remove it by force.
It is a flat bar type of lock.
Any ideas?
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About 30 years ago we were woken up by suspicious noises outside, peeped out to see someone inside my rusty old Capri. Flinging the lights on and curtains open while shouting and swearing and totally naked, the thief ran off leaving a huge bunch of keys behind.
That must be the secret, buy a Ford....
Been quoted a very good price for both new supply of a UK sourced Focus and part ex price for a Fiesta by this broker. Anyone had any dealings? Read more
If it takes ten years to decide whether or not to buy a car I hate to be waiting for an important decision or perhaps they have been waiting for a better discount on a 2003 fiesta.
I have a 1997 Vectra 2.0 auto, and experience problems with my auto box when starting off from cold. When I start the car up in the morning all warning lights go out, but as soon as I move the shift out of P the transmission warning light comes on and the car jerks as I move it through R, N, and especially into D. At this point I have very little drive in D although R seems to work OK. If I stop and restart the engine a couple of times, then move the shift, the warning light does not come on.
This only started happening last winter and did not occur during the summer, but has been a constant problem this winter. Once the car is properly warmed up the gearbox works perfectly and the light doesn't come on when moving the shift.
I have taken it to the dealer who changed the fluid, which perhaps not surprisingly, made no difference.
Before I take the car to a specialist, has anyone any ideas as what I can check myself, or is there anyone who has experienced the same fault? On the surface it appears to be temperature related? Read more
Also, if it happened the once, wil it show up on the computer at vauxhall??
I very much doubt it. As previously said, I don't *think* the gearbox ecu stores fault codes, and even if it did, I imagine it will be like the engine ecu. That being if there have been 25 or 30 clean start ups (by that I mean no more errors in 25 or 30 key turns) the codes get deleted anyway.
If it's behaving now, just carry on driving it. If it does happen again, remember that you can still use the gearbox manually to get you home / to the nearest garage.
I have recently acquired a Ford Fiesta 1.3 LX N reg (1995/96)
I have noticed some problems when changing gears.
when the engine is cold, shifting from third down to second i get a grinding/crunching noise like the clutch has not been depressed all the way, when it has.
this only happens from 3rd to 2nd, and when the engine is warm the problem disappears.
I think the owner before me changed the engine from a 1.11 to a 1.3.
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Jaytee
I'm glad my memory is still OK!
As the box doesn't get any easier when hot, then the multigrade oils are unlikely to provide a cure. However, they are a semi-synthetic, and may provide some benefits, especially if you're intending to keep the car for a while.
By the way, I assume you've identified the level/filler plug on the front of the box - it needs an 8mm or 5/16 inch allen key. Make sure the car is level as the gearchange quality is made worse if they are overfilled.
Regards
John S
I'm about to buy my first trailer, for occasional moving of rubbish and bits of furniture.
I just got a tow bar fitted, 110 quid for my Ford Focus with single electrics.
I'm looking in the local adtrader, some trailers are braked and some not.
What kind of brakes are we talking about ?
How do they work, and do they require maintenance ?
Are they only required for heavy work ?
Does single electrics support braked trailers ?
Thanks Read more
Thanks for all the advise, much appreciated.
I got myself a second hand unbraked 7ft x 4.5ft for 150 quid.
I'm well pleased, it works fine, and easy to drive with as long as i don't have to reverse.
I have been wondering what is the most economical car on the market in real life. I have heard the robin reliant can do 81 MPG at a constant 55mph. Can anyone beat this? Read more
Since the thread has been resurrected, thought i should update my figures. Rolling average crept up to 42mpg, best was 49mpg. Which i think is pretty good for an auto. Thank you Honda.
I have a 20 month old Halfords HCB063 "heavy duty" battery in my 1999 Golf GTI (the VW battery lasted 30 months).
After parking the car for 4 days there's only enough in the battery to turnover the engine for a fraction of a second.
The car lives on a daily diet of two 14 mile, 1/2 hour runs a day. The battery voltage is 14.4V with the engine idling and 12.4 V with the engine off. The measured standby current drawn is 0.15 amps. Halfords won't give me a new battery as their battery tester says the battery is OK.
any ideas ?? Read more
Common culprit is the boot light, fold down seats to see if its still on with boot shut. cant remember the wattage of these bulbs. .15A X 12V= 1.8W thats quite a heavy drain...
My old Polo started making some intermittent tapping noises from the rocker cover after I did an oil change and used (for the first time ever) a non-VW oil filter. It was a Sunday and my VW garage was shut so I popped down to the local branch of a well known car assessory shop and got one of their filters. The catalogue said it was suitable so I bought it.
When I mentioned this tapping to the VW garage, they said that it is probably one or more of the hydraulic valves not holding its pressure, not an uncommon problem on higher mileage VW\'s apparently. I was due to book it in for some new valves and the garage spotted the non-VW filter and suggested I change it.
Well I did and the tapping has gone away.
I think there are two interesting outcomes from this story:
Firstly I have a very honest local garage.
Secondly how can a shop claim their oil filter is a replacement when it clearly isn\'t as good as the genuine part? It wasn\'t very much cheaper either! Read more
This is basically the reply I received from a product manager
at Halfords ..... (snip)
Excellent work, Peter!
I had avoided Halford's filters in the past 'just in case' but am now happy to use them so long as they are no smaller than the OEMs. (Size *does* matter in filters as in other things!)
I am considering getting the underside of my car waxoyled because I noticed some surface rust on one of the seams.
I understand that a garage can do this with a professional air-gun opposed to me applying it by brush/aerosol.
Which would be best? Read more
I previously used the waxoyl underbody seal on the wheel
arches. Is this still a good idea?
Speaking from experience, I found that Tetroseal was far superior to the waxoyl underseal compound. After only 1 year I found that I had to totally reapply underseal to the wheelarches as the waxoyl stuff had virtually vanished. Tetroseal was still going strong after 3 years.
Would I be better to get the box sections etc done
professionally and apply sealant to the wheel arches myself?
You can buy a waxoyl pressure pump kit, but I found that the nozzle in the end of the gun was for ever clogging up.
Where would I find Tetroseal?
I last bought some from my local motorist centre. It's manufactured by CarPlan, if that's any help.
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Grommitt, Not a Ford lover, but here's a general suggestion. If you have a problem with a rolling bearing, it will run hot under load.
Remove both rear wheel trims, and load the back with as many bricks as you can. Take the car for a good fast drive avoiding the use of the brakes. Stop and feel both rear hubs in the centre. They should be equally slightly warm, but if you have a hot one, you know where the problem is.
Regards, 659.