July 2003
Well done Ben - I see from the classifieds you sold the motor yesterday. Did you get a good price for it? Where did you advertise it? Was it an easy sale in the end?
Do let us know!
H Read more
BMW E34 On-Board Computer (OBC) Eprom Coding Plug Problem !
I have a 1995 BMW 520SEi 24v.
I have recently Retro-fitted an On-Board Computer (OBC) into my vehicle (which does not have Check Control in the Instrument Cluster).
The problem i have is after i fitted the OBC i had to disconnect the battery for another job and on reconnection of the battery the OBC now displays "PPPP" which means the OBC doesn't recognise what vehicle it's in.
I know this is an error with the Eprom Coding Plug in the back of the OBC (which store's the vehicle's details) which has probably been erased maybe due to a power spike on reconnection of the battery.
The OBC Type is a Type IV.
There are TWO types of OBC IV, one is for a 518, 520 and the second is for a 525 upwards.
The OBC for the 518, 520 has the Green Coding Plug in the back of the OBC instead of being in Intrument Cluster.
Does anyone know how to re-program the Eprom Coding Plug IC with my vehicle's details ?
Thanks for any Help !!
Read more
WOW, thanks for the detailed reply Peter. I have a 525 tds and I am contemplating doing the same as you.
I have a vauxhall astra(1999) and have just switched the radio/cassette player for the radio/cd player. After entering the code the radio has now gone into safe mode! Can this be disengaged? Read more
All you need is proof of ownership and reg/chassis number (take V5 with you and probably a utility bill / passport) to any Vauxhall dealer who will sell you a new Pass Card with the code on it for about £30. This assumes radio is the original one in the car. Otherwise you are over to using someone like this: http://www.dndservices.co.uk/ They will probably want serial number that's on the radio chassis and only visible once radio is removed from dash.
The French government has just awarded Ford a contract for 6,000 motorway patrol cars;a contract for 4,760 lesser vehicles and vans has been split between the three French manufacturers. Read more
8.5% of the market sounds huge in France.
Given that PSA and Renault have something like 60% between them, 8.5% is a stunning showing - over a fifth of all imported cars.
hi
has anyone ever changed the bushes on the front wishbones of a 98 mondeo?
The garage tells me that they have collapsed!! but i looked at them and they just have a little bit of splitting, they where replaced 30,000 miles ago, the garage also tell me that my anti roll bar tie rods have movement in them, i would have thought that they were suppose to have movement !!
i looked in the haynes manual and it makes the wishbones look like a big job, i know the bolt under the transmission has been reversed from last time they were done, and i have heard that it is best to buy new wishbones with bushes and lower ball joint included, but looking at the car i would have thought you could just release the balljoint and then take the bolts out of the bushes and pull the wishbone out. or am i missing something?
the garage wants 110 for the tie rods and 155 for the bushes !! Read more
If they werent genuine Ford suspension arms no surprise they have failed so soon especially if a lot of traffic calming is encountered. As for reversing the bolt under the gearbox, dont do it!! It saves time and hassle but there have been well documented issues where the gearbox has come into contact with the spear end of the bolt with predictable consequences!
Andrew
Simplicate and add lightness!
Nissan Micra K11 96N.
The glove box refuses to close.
I found that a bit of plastic on the back of glove box cover had sheared off. I superglued this bit back on.
After rummaging in the glove box I am now left with:
2 x 1/2 inch metal parts
1 x spring (but I'm not sure if this is from the glove box mechanism! Could have been in the glove box for years.)
Any ideas where the metal parts go -- on the glove box cover or on the locking mechanism part under the dash? The Haynes manual doesn't cover this.
Mike Read more
Luckily I've not had these circumstances apply, but I've heard different things from different people and wondered if anyone can give a fairly definitive answer.
Basically, will the AA or RAC recover your car if it is rendered immovable in an accident, or unsafe to drive?
A friend at work says the only reason he gets cover is for this eventuality, but another friend says that she had to pay for towing and storage costs after an accident.
I'd always assumed they would recover the car as they always bandy words like recovery and rescue around, but thinking about it, the service they sell is *Breakdown* recovery. So, what is the situation? Read more
This only refers to bikes.
A year or so ago, there was an article in Motor Cycle News (weekly bike paper) where someone was charged by the RAC to recover a bike after an accident. When I read this, I wrote to the RAC and they confirmed that if I was coverered by comprehensive insurance then they would charge me, expecting me to reclaim this from my insurers.
As covering this possibility is one of the main reasons for joining, I wasn't happy and cancelled my cover. I looked at other 'suppliers' and they all had similar clauses.
I see the clause is still there on their web site:-
* What is not covered:
* Towing provided following an accident, fire, theft or act of vandalism, or other incident normally covered by a policy of motor insurance. If you call us for assistance following such an incident you will be liable to pay us for the costs of removal. (Subject to the terms of your insurance policy, you can then reclaim these costs through your insurance)
Just a note for anyone in kent/se london who needs a new key fob or an existing one reprogrammed. I bought a new key fob for a mondeo i sold today from Locks n\' tools in dartford. They supplied a new fob, swapped the chip over, and programed the car to recognise the key for £35 all in. Telling the car to accept the key turned out to just be a case of twisting the key in the lock a certain number of times, then pressing the button on the key fobe.
I only had one key for the car. I was told by ford i would need a second master made up etc etc. They would have charged me 170 VAT.
If you have no working remote fobs the above named place said they could also make up a master key from scratch for about £70 (prices varies slightly depending whether the car has a two or three key system).
Just thought i remembered a thread where others had had a similar problem.
Decided to buy a new key fob for mondeo i was selling. Approached ford, they wanted 170 VAT for a new key fobe programmed to the car saying i had to have a extra keys made up, despite the battery in my key still having some charge in it, and all parts of the system working except Read more
Remember the Tricolor freighter that sank in the Channel with almost 3000 new cars on board? Apparently three other ships have hit it already, so it's not before time that salvage is about to begin, by cutting it in to nine sections, each then being raised individually:
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/3088233.stm
Looking at the photographs, and letting the scale of it sink in for a minute, methinks it's going to be quite a task. Read more
That says a lot for modern rustproofing, they look pretty good all things considered!
Blue
Don't tell Sean, I think they've built a Fiat Stilo by mistake.
www.channel4.com/apps26/4car/jsp/main.jsp?lnk=220&...g
Actually it looks very promising, though hardly revolutionary as far as I can see. Read more
Sorry Sean, I know you worked on the car and it was just a gentle wind up.
I wasn't actually born when the first Fiesta appeared, but there you go... I do remember the launch campaign for the Mk IV Golf though, which said that it may not look different, but it was new, honest. Certainly I'm not so shallow as to dismiss a car purely on the way it looks.
I'm no fan of the Stilo and in a way, it's not surprising that the Golf looks so similar to it, given the need to make it taller and more spacious and Fiat's rather derivative styling.
Browse
My Mother-in-Law bought a Golf a few years back from a dealer.
I checked it over before she bought it and I could see that parts had been resprayed (small overspray on rubber, subtley different colour under rubber etc.)
She had an inspection by a motoring organisation who declared that the car had not be resprayed.
Sometime later the paint peeled off...