May 2003
I've got a Fiat Marea Weekend and if we have a particularly severe frost or icy night the handbrake freezes on and it is practically impossible to release the handbrake in the morning. During snowy conditions this can be particularly dodgy as the car slides all over the place until the heat generated by the car's motion releases the brake. It can take up to ten miles until it fully releases.
Has anybody else experienced this and is there a cure? Read more
I have a new Polo S 1.4 and at speeds over about 20 mph a rumbling noise from the front of the car becomes evident. This is still present even in neutral so is not engine related. At first I thought it might be tyre noise (Firestone F-590) but it seems too heavy a noise so possibly is drive shaft related.
A Polo 1.2 which I hired for a test drive also had the same noise, which I thought was just a problem with that particular car.
Has anybody else experienced this? Read more
Mum-in-law runs a petrol auto Peugeot 306, the second she's had in the past four years. It leads a life of predominantly short journeys and economy is, frankly, appalling.
Her last 306 auto ate its cat because it was spending so much time having a rich mixture fired at it. The latest is too new for it to happen yet, but she now knows that the car probably isn't best suited to her lifestyle.
I've finally planted the thought in her mind that she should consider something different. She doesn't want anything smaller than a 306 but might consider something slightly bigger.
Her 306 is a two year-old 1.6 auto Meridian, it's spotless, cared for like a baby, and has done under 10k miles.
So, some suggestions guys and gals. It must be more economical, must be tolerant of a low miles lifestyle, must be able to take a set of golf clubs and a trolley. Still has to be an auto. I'd reckon her overall price ceiling )taking into account a trade-in) is probably up to £15k, and while she isn't after prestige she doesn't want cheap and cheerful.
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Known as win - win situation methinks.
Unless m-i-l is a rotten cook!
Some of you might remember me posting a thread a few weeks ago about the Passat 1.8S 20V I'd bought off my former employer.
I was thinking of swapping it for something else because of it's poor economy, which had seen it struggle to get more than around 280 miles out of a tankful.
Well, guess what. The mileometer is currently on 341 and the fuel warning light has yet to come on. Just how was this fantastic improvement achieved?
I turned the air con off. Read more
Spot on jud.
The loss of BHP may not be so obvious these days with even small cars having so much more power. I recall 20 years ago driving a low power car with aircon. When overtaking it was standard to just prod the aircon switch and the car responded as if it had changed down a gear and the power available was really noticeable. I think the same would apply with say an Escort sized car with bottom rated 1 litre engine.
I also seem to recall in those days small engined cars in addition had a down rated aircon because of the power required to run it sapped too much power going to the wheels.
Hi,
I'm looking into getting a car in the next few weeks.
I've got £2000 plus p/x on my car (probably about £250). I drive about 300m per week, so I need something reliable, cheap to run and will last a few years.
I've been looking at Clio/Fiesta/Punto/Micra, but I thought I'd get some advice from here first to see the pros and cons of these cars.
If anybody could give me some advice on these cars (or other ones...), then that'd be great.
Cheers
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Not sure why no one rates the ford 1.3 fiesta engines in the BR. I've known a lot of people with fiestas with these engines and have had very few problems. i learnt to drive in a high mileage 1.3 Fiesta and my instructor never seemed to have any problems. Obviously the 1.25 is much more modern and faster but i think you'd really struggle to get one under 2k. I think the main problem people have with the 1.3 is that it is much louder than the 1.25 and the older ones do sound awful but it doesn't mean they are going to die usually far form it. The engine in the 1.3 is an old design and has been used in plenty fiestas and i still see alot of them about about still going! The 1.1 will be pretty slow but if you want something faster you'll have to pay for it!! That means more petrol, insurance and higher initial cost!! Personally i doubt a 1.3 would be that bad for what you want.
how do i lower the back suspention? i can use lowering springs on the front but not on the back because they aint coil Read more
Stopped outside my local motor spares place yesterday to buy service items for my V8 90. When I got back in the car, which had been starting and running perfectly, I turned the ignition key and all the lights went out and the engine wouldn't turn.
Having checked all the obvious, tight battery leads, bang the starter motor etc the owner of the shop brought out his battery tester. It read 9.99 volts out of 12 and 8 amps out of 300+ so it was obvious the battery was well and truly shot.
Bought a new battery, fitted it and everything was hunky dory.
Has anyone else had a battery go completely kaput in such a short space of time. I'd started it from cold not 1/2 hour before.
I did put a new alternator on a couple of weeks ago when the old one siezed. Perhaps all that power going into the battery killed it. Read more
DenisO,
I only asked about the charge rate because I've known two folks this year with identical failures to yourself where the battery "failure" has been repeated a short period later with the new battery...turned out in both cases a faulty alternator had allowed the battery voltages to decay so they just gave up one day.
In both cases the fast fit/accessory shops failed to check for charge rate after fitting the new battery and it was amazing how long these new batteries lasted with minimal/no re-charge before they gave up.
It is quite likely you did just have a simple battery fault but the above scenario is worth considering.
MM
Just had a couple new tyres fitted, as the last ones were unevenly worn (i.e front right tyres 3 mm across tread 0 on inside edge)
Place I took it to didnt do tracking, so took it to the local guy down the road (charges £20) - but was closed, so went to kwikfit round the corner (also £20)
The guy there put it on the ramp, and whilst I was in the office the guy asked why I though the tracking was out. Told him that I just had a new tyres, and he went to the guy on the ramp and said something to him.
Turns out that the tracking is OK, and doesnt need adjusted (and nothing to pay for just a check - only for adjustment)
Inclined to beleive him, as he didnt charge, but confused as to why I has uneven wear on the tyres in the first place. Could there be any other reason for this? Shall I just keep a eye on wear and take it in again if it is still uneven (why should it change?)
Any advice? Read more
There are other reasons for uneven tyre wear other than tracking.
The main one being "Setback" e.g. the distance between the front and back wheels on each side. I have never seen the likes of Kwikfit check this and it willeat your tyres in no time.
Check by measuring the distance between the back of the back rim and the back of the front rim, it should be the same as the manufacturers wheelbase. A simple tape measure will do perfectly and you don´t need LAZERS or CASH!!!!
If it is out it may be due to badly fitted suspension parts and can adjusted on some cars. (The words VW and ATS spring to mind)
On others that cannot be adjusted it indicates a bent suspension component which needs replacing.
Intermittent loss of power especially whilst climbing hills.
Anyone experienced problem? or advice for such problems. OR possible cause ?
THANKS Kenn..... Read more
Looking back through the site your car is too old for it to be the notorius coil pack problem. Does the engine management warning light flick on when the car misfires?
I have just changed the N/S headlamp bulb on my Lupo diesel, a pleasant but unremarkable little car about as far removed from cutting edge F1 technology as it gets.
If VW's senior designer catches his member in his zip this weekend, there really is a God. Read more
My merc has BI-Xenon lamps and it clearly states not to
try to change the lamps yourself but to go to the
nearest M.B. dealer.
Apparently you should never have cause to change a xenon lamp on a car (unless you are also replacing most of the front-end of the car after a serious collision!). Quoting the Philips web-site "The life span of a Xenon bulb equals that of the car, which means that the bulb will not wear out under normal usage".
Follow this link for more information on Xenon lamps...
www.eur.lighting.philips.com/automotive/eur/html/p...l
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Hi Bafta,
The hotel is called Shap Wells and was used as a prisoner of war camp in WWII. Germans still come back to it on coach tours!
It still survives and is doing well.