April 2003
Need to get some tyres for my fiat brava (165/65 R14 82T)
The mytyres.net site show the tyres as 165/65 R14 82T (possible options include matador, uniroyal 680 and firestone f590)
The Kwikfit site, makes no mention of the "load rating" 82T and just refers to size/profile/rim and speed rating.
A look at the Mytyres.net site show that there are tyres sized 165/65 R14 79T
Is the load factor rating something not used in the UK??
Any advice? Read more
I got my Rover 623 towed to a garage yesterday after a cursory inspection from an RAC man who was a little surprised that he'd seen a Honda H23 engine with a suspected blown head gasket.
The prognosis at the garage was a blown head gasket. It's a good garage and has searched for a good price on the gasket set from an extortionate £380+vat (non-Rover dealer, usual supplier) to a factored set (same manufacturer) at £90+vat. This has brought the repair down to a more reasonable £500.
Thing is, I'm really puzzled as to how on earth the gasket blew?
It's an automatic to start with, no red line driving since I've had it, not that it's easy to do that with an auto. No cheap oil on my part either; always Mobil 1. Always serviced and looked after. One of those things? Unlucky and that's that?
Any ideas? Just to cure my curiousity really. I was in the process of getting the last of the money together to sell it but I'm wondering about any CAT damage due to burning oil. Would this affect the CAT? Read more
Update:
Bazza, excellent idea. I do have another car but I'm currently stripping out the carbs and need a new float in one. The part is on order so I'm waiting for that and then the six hours of swearing, fiddling and two tubs of vaseline later, back on the road.
So I went out and got....... another Rover P6. £500 for a 44,000miles 2000TC. 6 months MOT, tax emempt, no rust, the paint job is not great, the interior is shot but excellent mechanicals, brakes, etc. It'll cause a stir at any dealership but hey, what an entrance. ;) I'll get my £500 back when I sell it as it'll be great for spares, bonnet and boot are alloy and unmolested and the engine is as strong as an ox. £25 to insure for the month which should be plenty of time.
Big smiles on the way back home, I've never driven a 2000TC but it's quite nippy.
On my current car, I'm settling up on the three hours labour I owe the garage and I'll take 500 notes for it if there's anyone there that wants it. If not, I'll ask if it'll be alright to park it up for a while and go the salvage route. Might even find a breaker that will take it. The Rover alloys alone are worth £300.
Having decided not to pay the sum requested by Volvo for a OEM reversing sensor system on my new V70, I will fit an after market system instead.
HJ's FAQ page told me that the Quanan 2030 came top in the Auto Express test, so I searched the web for more information.
The following hyperlink was the best that I found, and is a wealth of information about this model. It answered all my questions, so I share it incase it answers yours too.
www.tradingdirect.co.uk/pages/parkingsensors/parki...m
From here, press the icon on he left of the page for 'Quanan'.
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They are an excellent idea, in fact my sons best mate would wish they had them over 16 years ago, his friend works for a tyre company and he had to go out at night to a call on a wagon, on his way back he called at a late fast food shop, then he reversed to go home into a road, remember this was late at night, a stupid woman with 2 kids had decided to go out nightclubbing leaving the kids so called safely at home, oh yes they were very safe, in fact they were outside sitting on the edge of the pavement and could not be seen, yes he killed one and badly injured the other, not his fault, but his life has been shattered,its just a waste of time even trying to get him into your car, if he sees a child then he expects you to stop or go very very slow, no life is very unbearable for him, he does not drive now, what a waste of a life,so to me they are a great aid, it happened in the Beech Hill area of Wigan by the way. The mother for many years made his life a misery, screaming at him at home and at work, shameless woman, if she had been a bit decent she would not have left her kids on their own, dont worry she has had more kids.
My question concerns my 1996 Seat Toledo GTI 16v (the one with the golf gti engine)
The temperature gauge never gets much above the minimum band. The computer shows the oil temperature (when warmed up) as around 88 degrees ( I think, this may be wrong).
I have never had a car before that did not show the temperature as at the middle or upper reaches of the temperature gauge once warmed up.
Now this may be a faulty gauge, or it may be that my car runs cool. If it is the latter, is it anything to worry about? Read more
Agreed. You can also get some off-the-shelf radiator flushing stuff, which shifts a lot of gunk from the rad. Drain, refill, add flusher, drive a few miles, drain again, then refill with a antifreeze/water mix.
The only drawback is often the flusher cleans the gunk off the inside so well that it makes the radiator leak!
I left the latest poll on the board for longer than usual, because I wanted to give it the best shot. Remember, the question was about paying for membership of The Back Room (though, as I've said several times, we have no plans to introduce a charge).
The result was interesting. 60% said no, they wouldn't want to pay for membership; 39% said yes, they would.
Well, for now at any rate, that's an end to the discussion.
There's a new poll, as from today. Find it at the top level of the forum.
Martyn [Back Room moderator]
====================
mailto:webmaster@honestjohn.co.uk Read more
I left the latest poll on the board for longer than usual, because I wanted to give it the best shot. Remember, the question was about paying for membership of The Back Room (though, as I've said several times, we have no plans to introduce a charge).
The result was interesting. 60% said no, they wouldn't want to pay for membership; 39% said yes, they would.
Well, for now at any rate, that's an end to the discussion.
There's a new poll, as from today. Find it at the top level of the forum.
Martyn [Back Room moderator]
====================
mailto:webmaster@honestjohn.co.uk Read more
LOL JBJ, but not on these terms. I'll wait to see how many paying spectators Smokie drums up before considering taking the plunge ;)
HF
I know the answer is "Buyer Beware" but can Backroomers suggest what options are open to me in the following briefly described circumstances?
In December 2002 I bought a Sep 2000 car for a fair price from a main dealer. A diesel with a 2yr/12,000 mile servicing cycle. I recently checked the service record and found (Shock horror!) that it had not been serviced at all between leaving the garage new and being traded in in September 2002! It had missed a 6000 miles Warranty validation check and, according to the previous owner to whom I have spoken, was not due a service on time or mileage when he traded it in. It was under 2 yrs old and had only done 9,000 miles. The garage then ran it for 4 months, without changing ownership with DVLA, and put another 9000 miles on it without doing the servicing. It was serviced at 17,800 miles when I picked it up; the first service was thus at 2 yrs 4 months and at that mileage. The first owner was an employee of the manufacturer (bought it at a discount I suppose) and it was traded back to the supplying garage.
1. Is my 3 year warranty from manufacturer invalid?
2. Should the garage have notified change of ownership to DVLA?
3. What value have I lost by an incomplete early service history?
4. Do I have any redress against the dealer?
Comments would be welcome! I know I haven't been too clever myself but what can I do to tidy things up? Read more
Thanks for comments! The dealer declined to stamp the service book, basically because a check of the dates/mileages into the computer would reveal discrepancies. However, I rang round a couple of other dealers (same make) and they said that the 'odd' service history wouldn't bother them or affect trade-in value. I am going to get a 'big' service done early, at the right mileage in the book, and get myself off to a new start in the book. It looks as though I got a bit steamed up about not a lot!
Does anyone have an opinion on the above? I would be looking to buy a second hand one about 5 years old. Its important to me that its reliable. Before you all tell me its boring, I actually don't want to attract attention because too many cars round here get stolen!! I don't want to end up with a rust bucket (I currently have an M reg Fiesta which has rampant rusting despite plenty of anti-rust measures!). Whats also important to me is the reliability of the gear box. I have noticed that some of the smaller Fords seem to have very bad writeups about the reliability of the automatics. I have seen people recommend Japanese cars for automatics.
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Much underated car. Reliable and good value - especially if you can find one privately. I echo what Aprilia said about the Micra CVT.
So they have given us the baseball cap, chewing gum, rap music with a capital C, dicky substances etc. etc.
Is this next?
www.tinyurl.com/A7cn
Margate to Aberdeen this weekend anybody?
DVD Read more
I have to admit that I thought the Koenigg car used a turboed American V8 but having had a look at the website www.koenigsegg.se/ I now see that it has one made to measure. So I am in a similar position, what was the joint they used??
Bill
has anyone tried using the PIAA , philips, Hella super white bulb?
Manufacturer quoted input power of 55W = 110W (piaa) is this really energy savings bulb.
I assume its illuminance is better for wet driving at night. Read more
PIAAs guarantee is a quality guarantee not a "satisfaction" guarantee.
To be fair to them, they have come back to me and will allow me to purchase a pair of Platinum bulbs and return them if I'm still unimpressed. Only trouble is I'm out of work at the moment so £100 on a pair of bulbs won't go down well with SWMBO just now!!
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AJH
Thanks for that link. Very interesting site, explains all those confusing numbers and letters on the side wall of a tyre!
Pat