June 2003
Giving my Passat PDI the once over check after dealer servicing at 29,000 miles , I noticed a coating of engine oil and muck where the top hose enters the intercooler and on the adjacent chassis leg.I assume that an oil mist had leaked out at the hose joint.
The vehicle is within warranty and is being returned for inspection.
Is the turbocharger failing or is it acceptable for some oil to get into the pressure side of the turbocarging circuit?
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First thing tomorrow I'm off to look at a 93,000 mile MB 300SE (1989,G)with full dealer service history and a £2150 price tag. Couldn't see it today because it was at its regular servicing dealer getting new MOT and MB exhaust fitted. Sounds like everything works, has had only Mercedes parts fitted and no major scuffs or dings, although tomorrow will tell. I've read the C-by-C breakdown comments so will be looking out for signs of gasket failure etc but is there anything else specific to these that I need to be warned of?
At 93K am I right in thinking that the next major service is 108K? The car is not for me and will be garage maintained if bought, although by a suitable specialist rather than M-B. I'll check the directory listings but any suggestions for a specialist on Tees-side will be welcomed.
Thanks in advance. Read more
Thanks to both for that. Have now bought the car which passed the checks I'd mustered. Just four new tyres (factored in to the buying price) and it's follow the three-pointed star.
Local councillor on the radio this evening has publicly stated that the council have no intention of reducing a speed limit!
Near to where I live is an upper secondary school, pupils from 14 and above, it is sited on one side of a dual carriageway A-road, all the housing is on the other side of the road; and I mean ALL the housing. When the school was built a footbridge was provided right outside the gate to cross the road and barriers provided to prevent pupils crossing the road. Some persisted on jumping these barriers so the council put up additional fences in the wide central reservation to give further discouragement.
The headteacher has been waging a campaign to get the limit reduced from 40 to 30 on this 'dangerous stretch of road', the council responded by putting up signs which flash if you exceed the limit so reminding you to slow down plus lots of signs warning of the school entrances.
Not content with this the headteacher said that only a limit reduction will be good enough and carried on his campaign.
Tonight the local councillor in charge of Transport said that the council feel they have now done more than enough, the children should use the bridge provided, at great expense; that they could not justify lowering the limit on a main route across the town; there have been no injury accidents; and that the police have said that they would not police a lower limit as it would not be justified.
He also went on to say that perhaps the school would be spending its time better if it were to educate the children to behave safely on the roads as this would benefit them everywhere and not just outside their school.
A councillor talking some sense, at last! I nearly choked on my tea!
Cockle Read more
I fear we're going off topic....
Does anyone know a way of getting melted plastic off an exhaust pipe? I got a black bin liner stuck on my exhaust pipe, in the area of the catalytic converter and it's left a sticky black residue which smells awful every time I use my car. Many thanks for any suggestions. Read more
Particularly if you give it plenty of wellie!!!
What effects does fitting wider wheels to a car have assuming the offset, overall diameter etc of the wheel are kept the same? Would it cause any extra strain/stress/wear on any parts of the car? I am thinking of going from 155 to 185/195 assuming they fit i.e offset, diameter and any rubbing on wheel arches. Read more
Sarb
I wouldn't be unduly worried about excessive wear and tear, provided you don't go too daft with the wheel sizes.
I would look around and find some OE MkII GTI alloys, which take, IIRC 185/60 14 tyres, there are loads in the classified papers. If you want the really cost-effective option and avoid the horrors of bent and porous old alloys, buy some steel GTI or MkII driver wheels, which take the same tyres.
Top tip from me though. If you want decent handling and grip, especially in the wet, buy some decent tyres. My MkII GTI had alsorts of mixed rubbish on when I bought it (about 10 years ago). I couldn't believe the difference when I fitted some Goodyear NCT2's, bought part-worn for £30/4.
I'll leave others to debate the topic of part-worns' safety, but I never had any problems.
hth
Andy
Apparently the newt lover's latest good idea is to ban licensed taxis from some bus lanes (e.g. Euston Road). The idea is that we should all use buses instead.
Now I'm not a particularly heavy user of taxis, but I do use them for client visits when the tube is inconvenient, too hot or when I have a lot to carry. The pace of modern life means that, during the week, the bus is rarely a serious contender.
Is this class war or just blinkered stupidity? Read more
Interesting that someone should mention that bunny huggers should favour bus lanes. If they slow cars, then they cause increased pollution.
Course in a city like London, to travel from the outskirts to the centre, the best way is public transport.
The latest NewScientist contains an article on the latest test flights of the Moller Sky Car....seems to be going relatively successfully. Estimated cost of the first production models:
US$500,000
One small problem to fix, it will require eight 650cc Wankel engines to provide redundancy in case one fails!
The major remaining issue seems to be air traffic control
regards
Ian Read more
Looking round the site I guess I'm not the first to experience problems with a Pierburg 2E2...
My Scirocco (GTII, 1990) has had a rather lumpy tickover for a while but has otherwise been ruuning fine. Suddenly (overnight) though, it's refusing to tick over at all.
Can't see anything obvious (split hoses, missing vacuum pipes, birds nesting in the airbox....). Took a look at the '3-position unit' - seems to be moving in and out OK, so I don't think it's that (could be wrong mind).
Basically, just wondering if anyone's experienced the same thing, and/or has any ideas for fixing it.
Thanks a lot.
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P.S. and thansk to the rest of you who replied - much appreciated.
The cars' a 306 xrdt (1.9 td) '94 with 85k,
It's used daily on a 60 mile round journey on m'ways & dual carriegeways.
It's been running ok except this morning when I accelerated hard in 3rd up a hill past a slower vehicle, it pulled ok but for the next 3 to 4 miles it was chucking out white smoke as I drove at a steady 60.
This cleared then the rest of the journey seemed ok although I did keep to a very steady speed,
Am I likely to have blown something or was it just clearing it's lungs so to speak, I don't normally push the revs above 3000 or so as I let the torque do the work.
Any thoughts anyone - keep it in layman's terms, my mechanical knowledge is about 1 spanner rated.
Thanks
Ian Read more
Chaps,
Thanks for your feedback, I've had the oil & filter changed, the oil was dirty as expected but didn't look contaminated, I've bled the fuel filter in case of any water in there, I also changed the air filter, I was billed for a new air filter at the last service 5 months back, but I think the one I took out has seen a lot longer service than that!! it was very clogged up,
Anyway I've given it a bit of welly in 3rd up some of the local hills and it seems to have kicked the smoking habit,
Thanks again for your collective advice, when you're running a car on a shoestring budget it's reassuring to have a knowledge base like this one to turn to.
Ian
"Audi - the car for people who'd really like an Mitsubishi EVO, but might feel a bit embarassed in one at the golf club..."
Nsar having come up with this little gem on a different thread made me laugh and wonder whether there are unstated age limits for cars.
The Evo and the Impreza for example - too young and you attract plod who think that you must have nicked it co's you probably couldn't afford the insurance.
On the other hand - I think anyone over 50 looks wrong in one!
Having said that, to drive a Jag XK8 I think it helps if you ARE over 50 and the under 35s look out of place!
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Good for you! At least a Xantia isn't as old-manny as my corolla!
My uncle (a right tuff-nut) drove around in a 'beige' Skoda Estelle a couple of years back! Nothing says "watch out pentioner driving" than beige with a brown roof! mmmmm!
Then again I learnt how to drive on an old airfield in it when I was 12. Fantastic. I'm gradually working my way up, at this rate when I'm 70 i'll have a blacked out Corsa with a massive sub. yee haa.
:-)
Browse
I never had the intercooler cleaned out. Oil still drips from the pipework and I wipe it occasionally. The various sites show how to do it but it involves removing the body work.
I suspect the cooling efficiency has droppped, the mpg being around 42 mpg overall.However the actual performance is fine. Mileage is now 96,000.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.