March 2003
The high-pressure headlamp washers have packed up on my Carina commute-banger. I suspect it will be the pump and cost more than the car's worth to fix...(I just do, my life is like that!) but I can't find the pump - or indeed the fuse, which doesn't seem to be either in the footwell main fusebox or either of the ancilliary boxes under the bonnet. Any ideas anyone - apart from wiping the headlamps with a cloth, which I've thought of already?!
thanks
Neil Read more
Toad Toyota has been very carefully polished with freshly washed dusters and the best of non-abrasive polishes available to me with very good effect except that, if the light and the viewer are aligned in the right - or wrong - way, numbers of fine scratches can be made out, presumably due to application of abrasive polishes or inadequately clean cloths back in Japan or perhaps in the course of preparation by the importers. Rather than make any further attack on the metallic finish with abrasives I feel that something which would form a smooth film over the surface is indicated; old-fastioned Simoniz (Motorists wise Simoniz!) springs to my mind but it is unobtainable any more, at least around here. I have a catalogue for yacht related products which offers what appear to be pure wax polishes and this may be an answer.
However, I am hoping that someone out there may have successfully dealt with such a problem and if so, I would be grateful to learn from him or them.
Regards,
Tomo Read more
Time for a bit of a rant, apologies if this has been covered before:
Scene today on A1:
Traffic tailed back…reach sign saying one lane closing in 800yds…traffic in closing lane starting to move quicker than the other…cars prematurely moving over to open lane…still 600yds to go…slower lane drivers starting to get peeved…lorry does honourable thing and straddles both carriageways to stop queue jumpers…still 400yds to go…horns blowing…fists being waved…road rage about 8.7 on richter scale…
Why don’t drivers use BOTH lanes until they reach the traffic cones and then merge in orderly fashion:
…shorter queue…no queue jumping…no road rage…pleasant journey…
Rant complete
Splodgeface
Read more
How can "cars
prematurely move over to a open lane" or have i misunderstood
you post?
You seem to have misunderstood my post. The traffic was tailed back and we were crawling along. So my point in that situation is that moving over too early simply empties the closing lane and encourages drivers to queue-jump. Obviously if traffic had been moving at speed, moving over in good time would have been safe and sensible.
splodgeface
Thinking of buying one of these, any comments on running costs and reliability.
Many Thanks Read more
I'm having to change my wifes three door Fiesta Zetec for a five door car. (Second child arrived). I reckon on getting around £3500 for a jan 2000 1.25 zetec with 30 000 miles and FSH. I thought I'd try an auction for its replacement. ( Tewksbury )
I would like to ask those in the know what £3500 would buy. The only requirement is 5 door and no bigger than escort size. Any make/model/spec. Ideas please
MLC Read more
Doesn't anybody visit the auctions?
Hello all, I wonder if I could gather some advice.
My III series brake pedal "goes down more than usual", and now the brakes are not particularly effective.
This happened quite suddenly a few weeks ago, but with a bit of pumping comes back up again, but doesn't last more than one application of the brakes.
I have not checked the brake shoes or linings yet, as the pumping thing makes me think it might be servo related.
I should explain that it is a non-servo system, but a previous owner has added a servo, (off to one side). There appear to be two master cylinders now, the original under the fluid reservoir and another on the servo drum, and I can't tell yet which one is connected to the pedal.
Any thoughts anyone?
All help appreciated. Read more
Hello Rob
One way to check where the problem lies is to clamp all the flexible brake hoses using brake clamps.
Once all four hoses are clamped, test the brake pedal. If it still sinks then it is likely to be the servo.
Check the pipe that leads from the inlet manifold to the servo unit. Any leaks, holes will cause problems AND can cause engine running problems. If still no luck suspect the master cylinder, as fluid can leak past the seals, into the vacuum pipe and into the engine where it is burnt. You may get smoke and a change in idle speed when you press the brake pedal.
Sometimes, if the master cylinder is old, the seals can reverse causing poor pedal pressure/braking ability. This can happen if the pistons are pushed back too quickly when fitting new pads.
Does the pedal sink slightly when you switch on the engine?
Andrew Pullen
Having felt vibrations through the steering wheel at high speeds I had my front two wheels balanced at a well known chain two days ago. Once on the motorway and accelerating up past 40MPH the vibrations were again evident but much worse than before right up past the speed limit getting worse and worse. I took the car to my local branch of the aforementioned chain and got them to rebalance the wheels. They said the wheels were miles off balance and re-balanced them. This didn\'t help at all and the vibrations were just as bad. Loosing my cool, I asked the manager if he would do it himnself and he did - much better but still very noticeable at high speed. It can\'t be a warped disc as the vibrations were less evident before I first had the wheels \"balanced\", unless I warped the disc straight after balance number one! The only thing I can think of is that either the chain I went to are not very good or that the previous owner of the car (BMW 318IS E30) had the wheels balanced whilst on the car to compensate for a warped disc etc. etc. Any suggestions would be very interesting as I\'m lost! Read more
Don't know how relevant but...
Last year I had 4 new tyres put on a Merc at 'a well known chain' and balanced. Result was bad vibration at about 50mph. Went to another branch and they said the balancing was way out and balanced them again.
This was a marginal improvement but the vibration was still there. I complained to head office and customer services arranged for me to go to a third (bigger) branch. This one also found the balancing out, rebalanced and everything was OK after that.
The 'chief balancer' said that the balancing machines at the other branches were quite old and needed to be calibrated quite frequently. The only way they would know when to do this was when enough people complained about their cars vibrating after just having had a balance check.
Might be worth one more visit?
Paul
Reading todays Motoring Telegraph, there's a oblique reference to the demise of the Avantime, with the closure of the plant making it.
Does anyone know for certain if it's been consigned to the great car-park in the sky? Shame if so, but then they're hardly clogging up the roads so understandable.
Lee.
Read more
Yes, it has been canned and production will end in July or thereabouts.
It's partly because sales have been pitiful (hardly surprising as the prospective residuals are scary) but because of contractual difficulties.
Matra, who used to build the old, plastic-pannelled Espace and the Avantime, has been sold to a new owner. The factory is too large to justify even the intended volume of Avantime production, and the Espace is now made out of metal. Renault doesn't have the expertise or capacity to build the car in house, so it's been consigned to the scrap heap.
To be honest, this was fairly obvious, given that the Avantime was introduced so late in the Espace platform's life. It was announced as a concept in 99 and might have made some sense as an image builder if it had gone into production then as the run would have been about 4 years. Instead, it's actually lasted less than two.
I've got a 2002 Golf V5 170 auto thats started juddering like theres a misfire if moderate acceleration is applied in 4th and 5th gears. Obviously its going to go into the garage, but does this sound like a coil pack failure on one cylinder? Do they usually give a warning before they fail? Read more
My 2001 Passat went in for a check on coils and was reported OK but dealer advised me that if a problem with coils does crop up, a warning light will show but car will still be driveable. US sites report that all US cars that could be affected are being recalled for improved coils to be fitted and I think that when supplies of coils improve, the same will happen in UK.
Pete
Has anyone driven both types of Ka to compare old with new?
My wife is thinking about changing from her '93 Clio diesel to a new Ka, and can get a better deal on the old pushrod type. I was just wondering how performance and mpg compare in the real world.
I was of the opinion that the older engine at least would be well proven, whereas the newer ohc may be yet to be ironed out so to speak.
In fact, she had a drive in a pushrod today and was quite happy with the performance. Read more
www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/index.htm?news_id=1004
Hope nobody will mind me pulling this out of the new archive. should clear up confusion for those who haven\'t read it
Andy
Ford has cleared up a bit of confusion out there by officially announcing its new 70bhp Ka engine.
Though this is derived from the ancient 1,299cc iron block pushrod lump that has powered small Fords since 1959, it has a completely new chain-driven overhead-cam light alloy cylinder head. This not only eliminates the old problem of spark plugs rusting into the head, but also gives the Ka a useful power increase, better economy and better performance.
0-60 is now down to 13.4 seconds, top speed is up to 104mph, economy improves to 43.5mpg on the combined cycle, the engine is Euro 4 emissions compliant, CO2 output is 154g/km (Band C currently £120pa VED), and insurance remains in low Group 2E.
Together with the Street Ka and Sport Ka which arrive in a few months time, this is going to win the Ka a lot of new friends.
Particularly at drivethedeal\'s price of £5,500. (Normal prices £6,495 - £9,695.)
Browse
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www.autovaux.co.uk sell quite a few Autoglym products at relatively cheap prices.