April 2003
can anybody tell me where the gearbox filler plug on my newly accquired toyota carina e 1.6 petrol is?thanx in advance. Read more
My 1997 Fiesta 1.25 occasionally smells quite strongly of petrol from the filler cap area. There are no leaks from the filler pipe or any evidence of petrol on the floor at all. I don't think that the seal on the cap is faulty because when you release the cap you get a "pssst" from it.
I am correct in thinking that the Fiesta (along with most modern "eco friendly" vehicles is supposed to collect it's unburnt petrol vapour in a canister. Then when you run the engine a valve controlled by the PCM opens to release the vapour into the inlet manifold where it is burnt and passes out through the cat as normal exhaust etc?
Suppose this valve was stuck closed and the only place for the vapour to escape was through the seal in the filler cap when the pressure was high enough (IE with a full tank that has been rattled around in hot weather).
Just a thought - anybody any experience of a similar fault?
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Hi
I've got a black 1997 Volvo S40 and when I clean and polish it I'm left with loads of smeary marks which can be seen when the sun shines directly on it.
I've seen these sort of marks on other cars as well and just wondered if anyone knows how to get rid of them?
I guess it just residue or traffic film or something. Is there anything to completely clear this off?
Cheers
Chris Read more
Just a reminder, for the 3M Handglaze you need to go to a proper car paint and body refinishers supplies place, not Halfords or similar.
KB.
My Dad's Omega Elite ('96) has a recently experienced some intermittent failures of the indicator system (including the hazard-warning system). The problem will arise and then disappear again after 10-15minutes. We have checked the fuse box - no amount of tapping or wiggling of the indicator fuse or surrounding area causes the indicators to fail. The flasher unit has been replaced and no amount of 'adjustment' around this area causes the failure.
Has anybody experienced this problem before? I suggested NOT taking it to a Vauxhall dealer as the problem is intermittent and he will no doubt be charged £60.00 labour only to be told that "intermittent failures are difficult to detect because they are intermittent... but we had a nice drive out for a couple of hours".
I just thought it might save us time if somebody has seen this before - otherwise it's out with the Haynes manual and off with the dashboard.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated. Failing that, at least the weather looks like it will hold for the job. Read more
I've been told that the central locking on my 2001 VW Passat can be programmed so that the car locks itself at speeds above 15 mph and unlocks when the ignition key is taken out. My VW dealer wasn't sure and seemed rather vague about it.
Has any one experience of doing this and/or comments and prices please? Read more
My wife's 1400cc Clio Rt Auto 1994 has an erratic Fuel Gauge. It seems to read high even when only half full. At other times it remains high on the needle until the 'Low Fuel' light comes on then it drops. I have checked the float mechanism that has differential springs top & bottom biased in the 'down position' where the resistance readings & float action is OK.
Could it be a Voltage regulator problem? If so where does one find this unit?
My thanks in anticipation
Nikki
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Problem now solved, it was the flat 300 Ohm resistance card which although intact and of the correct resistance (300 ohms) It was not making contact into two clips at the base of the tube in which the slider operates. Small packing strips have been fitted to establish a good electrical connection, tested and all is well1 How it manage to be so erratic I shall never know, but alls well that ends well. We can close this Thread
Many thanks
Nick
Back in November, I asked for advice for a new car for my mother (currently Golf mk3 VR6 which is now 10yo).
The requirements were hatchback practicality (she had and loved a Saab 900 before the VR6)
Auto - a must due to dodgy knee
Something with some grunt - doesn't have to match the VR6 but also can be more.
Basically the only car that came up was a Golf V5, but is there anything else which might be OK which has the all important auto box? Read more
Driving back on a lovely stretch of route national from Lyon to Grenoble, France yesterday (it\'s 26C here, not that I want to rub it in or anything), I was costing downhill past a procession of lorries crawling up on the opposite side. My speed was about 100Kmh, the opposite side traffic was doing about 30kmh. All of a sudden as I turned a slight bend in the road which was blinded by trees there was a Peugeot 205 heading straight for me, he was trying to overtake the two lorries on his side of the road, but he was doing this on a steep hill, on a bend and with no chance of nipping in behind one of the lorries as they were too close. Also he was driving a 205! I slammed on the brakes but considering our joint speeds I found my self in front of the 205 in what seemed like milli seconds. \"Life flashed before my eyes.\" I pulled hard on the wheel and drove up on to the inclining verge of grass at the roadside, still doing 80Kmh or more, the 205 pulled in within millimeters of the lorries, who horned vigorously. Some how, with me on the grass embankment, the 205 traversing the white line at the roads centre, we scraped past. It was all over in a flash and I pulled back into the road again.
Needless to say, l could still here a barrage of lorry horns and other car horns as the loony probably braked hard and tried to slip in behind the lorries again. I stopped my car at the next available place and took a deep breath, laughed and realised that life can be treacherously fragile!
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Chances of that, FIF, are pretty remote. He must have really upset his maker. There are occasional incidents of 'pure luck' good or bad and that was certainly one of them. Just yesterday, I was helping a tree surgeon in our garden and the (30foot)ladder which was resting against the(80foot)tree got snagged by a heavy branch being lowered by a line. The top of the ladder got pulled off the tree trunk and commenced it's descent on to all sorts of garage/shed/fence based damage/expenditure. It was a million to one chance that the ladder could have its descent halted by the very line that was lowering the branch....but it did and remained upright and just needed lifting away from the line and back over to the trunk. Question is - what did *I* do that pleased *my* maker so much?
Regards,
KB.
Quick question of anyone who's fitted a towbar to a Mk3 Astra Estate (mines a '97).
I'm looking to wire up the electrics and have come across a handy bunch of cables running right across the back of the car under the boot floor. As the back panel (behind the bumper) is pre-marked with dimples for drilling holes for the mounting bolts and cable hole (extremely handy - some forward thinking for a change) I wondered if these cables could also feed all the socket pins?
Haynes manual has disappeared (gremlins at work in our household again - suspect small boy has "borrowed" it) so I can't check the diagrams, but I thought it might be easier than running it up into the light cluster.
Any info appreciated.
Thanks
Chris TD Read more
Charles,
Thanks for that - I'll go for the left cluster rather than the right. Just need to identify the right hand indicator though but a check in the right cluster should reveal the correct colour. The estate's got much bigger access panels so hopefully it won't be as fiddly as the hatchback for my big hands.
The Towsure bar I've got just has six bolts - four on the back panel and two underneath (one being an existing fuel tank strap bolt) - no tubes into the chassis legs. Probably the difference is due to the estate/hatchback chassis structures.
Ta
Chris TD
Hi all,
another demand for B-room expertise. I have changed the front lights on my Passat as I am about to matriculate the car in france and was required to get continental lights for driving on the right. However, they do not work, that is the bulbs are fine but there is no effect on any of the lights settings (beam, full beam, half beam). I wired them in the same way as the english lights were wired, but no luck. What could be the problem? Fuses? I will look now, but i think not!
many thanks
MG Read more
I am surprised that you have problems finding correct fitting lights for a Passat. Have you poked around any breakers yards, just as an education if nothing else?
Round here it is easy to find 'pieces detachee', 3 within 15 mins without looking, altho I think finding a whole car is probably preferable if your language skills are limited.
I dont know of the French web site for CT rules and interpretation but I will poke around and see if I can find it.
Can you find a small one man local garage who is well connected in the trade, this may be the route to a a pass!
pmh (was peter)
Browse
Perhaps I should just mention before someone else does that if the tank is completely sealed, then a partial vacuum can be created when a lot of the fuel is used and stop the engine from running.
Air does need to be drawn in then but the major flows in and out will occur due to temperature variations e.g. standing in the hot sun for hours and then going into a cold garage at night.