April 2003
I need a replacement front wing for my '95 Laguna and don't particularly fancy waiting 3 days to get my car back and paying £300 ex. VAT to the Renault body shop to do it for me.
Does anyone know of a scrap yards around Bristol that specialise in Renault where I might find one? Read more
Does anyone know any good web sites that sell Rover parts. I am thinking along the lines of eurocarparts, GSF. Thanks in advance Read more
Thanks again to everyone. The car is a 218 TD '94 so I dont want to pay Rover Main Dealer prices, the suggestions offered so far are great, especially the MG torque site. Thanks all.
They say you learn something new every day -
I had a few minutes to kill on top of a hill to the north of London this evening, so knowing how you can sometimes pick up really distant radio stations when the weather conditions are correct I had a little "surf" through Medium Wave and Long Wave on my car radio. Found a few French and German stations on Medium Wave, then went to see what's happened to Atlantic 252 on Long Wave... I couldn't understand what was being said, but after a few seconds "ALGERIE" appeared on the display! Trying a few other frequencies I found "FR INTER", "DLR" and "M CARLO". There weren't any stations broadcasting names on Medium Wave though. How long have radio station idents been broadcast on Long Wave? Even 198kHZ shows "BBC R4" after a few seconds, so it's not just the continentals. Read more
I can see your point DD, but try it, it really
is true!
D-T-D, I did try it. The only LW station my car radio will pick up without static is 198kHz. No idea of the station name as your suggestion, Re: RDS, didn't work.
right another problem has occured with this bucket they call a vectra 16v di.
when the car is cold the engine management light comes on about 10 secs after starting the car. after about 5 mins if i stop and start the car a couple of times the light usually goes out. the fault is a general glow plug error according to the plug in computer.
the car has new plugs and i've checked all the wires and given them the normal "shake" and still the light will come on.
has anybody had similar and found the problem.
cheers Read more
I replaced the antifreeze on friend\'s 5 series bmw 6 cyl. 1994.
Job done... started it up, the temp. started rising well over half way, steaming all over the engine compartment. Tried to bleed it again on those two bleeders on top of radiator and on thermostat housing, no improvement. Also noted the heater is not blowing hot air, there are 3 rubber hoses going into the bulkhead onto the heater matrix - they were hot.
Anybody these poor man in big problems please
thank you Read more
Thank you guys for the input.Eventually got it sorted squashing
the heat matrix inlet hoses for about 15 min.
thankx
I have just bought a car with a piranha alarm fitted.
The previous owner lost the keys!!!
I have the remote, it works fine, the alarm is just set to off, and i have no key! DOH!
Does anyone have know of where i can get a key from?
Havent got a clue either of what kind of alarm it is. will i need to take it off to find out?
Its square and has lots of yellow wires comming out of it!!
thanks everyone
chris
Read more
did you keep the key??!! am gonna try as many keys i can get my hands on b4 i think about getting another one!
i think this has an immobiliser too.
thanks
There is a thread in 'Discussion' asking advice about diesel automatics. Somebody wrote:
"In theory diesel engines should be better suited to automatic boxes than petrol, because of the way they deliver power and torque."
I would also have thought that high torque at low revs - like the big lazy V8s in American cars - would be ideal.
However it doesn't seem to work out like that in practice on many cars. I owned a Merc 300D(non turbo) auto and the fuel consumption was poor - much less than two 240Ds I owned. Living in Germany I questioned several Taxi drivers who had the same experience.
I also note that in the Car by Car breakdown HJ states;
"Steptronic auto increases fuel consumption of 330D by around 25%."
Obviously an Auto will normally have a slightly higher fuel consumption than a manual, but not of this magnitude.
Has anyone got a technical explanation?
Read more
The biggest difference between engine rpm and transmission input shaft speed occurs when the vehicle pulls away (due to torque converter slip). The difference gradually decreases as the vehicles speed increases. This is one main area that fuel economy is lost.
Earlier generation vehicles the torque converter clucth (if fitted) was not applied until a speed of around 45 mph was achieved.
The Mercedes car did not have a lock up clutch in their torque converters until the electronic 5 speed (722.6) unit came out around 1996.
Some later vehicles now apply the lock-up clutch at much lower speeds to try and improve fuel economy, on certain vehicles this can be in 2nd gear and at speeds of less than 20 mph.
The key operated central double/dead locking is supposed to flash the indicators twice (according to manual) to acknowledge the locking, but isn't doing so, any ideas why?
The double/dead locking is working though.
PP Read more
My two year old (just) Passats information display has packed in again. The dashboard still sounds like it's going to self destruct and the paints flaking off the front bumper. There's nothing like that peerless VW build quality!!!!!!!! Read more
Hi midlifecrisis,
My 2001MY Golf display went intermittent the day after the 12 month warranty expired (personal import). After about 6 months it died completely. As a result, the Odometer and trip (LCD display) only update after key-off. This cluster is a VDO supplied component, who have been taken over by Siemens...I have not replaced it yet, as I will need to get the secret key code out of the dealers, to be able to reprogram the new cluster. I've not yet plucked up sufficient courage to do either!
Is this the second one to fail on your vehicle? Did it just go out, or progressively degenerate?
Otherwise I've found the build quality on this Wolfsburg built car to be very good indeed.
Friends of mine have a Discovery, currently off the road (!) again owing to cooling faults. This seems to be a regular occurence, and it lets them down about every other long journey.
I gather from HJ's comments that this is pretty normal.
I thought Land-Rovers used to be rugged vehicles that would put up with abuse and third-world levels of servicing, and keep going reliably for years.
What has gone wrong with this traditional British product? Read more
"I do not expect to see "my" discos between 6K services, and the preventative maintenance is merely inspection, timing belts, greasing fluids etc etc."
So MM seeing as you are far too modest and won't blow your own trumpet, re these Fenland Landies that you maintain in your inimitable Fenmeister fashion.
Is the preventative maintenance success down to your own system and methods, or just according to the LR book. Except that, if the latter, you actually plan the time needed correctly and do the work properly where the dealers maybe just charge for it albeit half done or not at all?
Just a thought.
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PS I asked Old Badger if he would blow your trumpet for you as the riverbank has been somewhat quiet recently. However he tells me it appears Paarp Paarp! (but with only one a) is a word still not allowed by the spell checker! No further comment made sadly as it would only result in deeper water than even Landies can wade.
Browse
You could go to www.breakerlink.com which is a national mail order service for scrapyard parts. That way you'd have a good chance of getting a part in the same colour as your own, which means you *might* get away with not painting it.
Alternatively, you could get a new, pattern part from Euro Car Parts for £25.99 + VAT. In Bristol, they're at Unit 7, Abbeywood Park, Emma Chris Way, BS34 7JU tel 0117 979 2001.
I don't know if you fancy painting it yourself. The big problem with this job, whether you use pattern or scrap parts is that you're likely to need to match the paint with that on the door. Even if you manage to get a wing from a car the same colour as yours, after 8 years you'll find that the paint has probably faded in a different way and you won't get the quality of workmanship.
Why not get a few quotes from an independent bodyshop and see by how much you can reduce the price?