July 2003
When should this be done? The car is an R 1998 420sdi and has so far done 70k. I bought it at 47k and have no idea whether it was done at any point before then as there was no real history. I'd heard somewhere that this particular one was good for 80k or so.
I'd be looking to change it soon anyway: it's simply a question of whether I have a bit of leeway, or whether it's a "do it now" job.
Cheers,
O Read more
Which one do you reccomend and why?
Mark. Read more
I never bothered with breakdown cover until the last few years -partly because I was running an elderly Xantia and partly because my health hasn't been so good and I'm less able to grovel around underneath. (A suspension fault on a Cit can make them pretty hard to do anything with at the roadside.)
I had Britannia cover on the old Xantia - only had them out once but was most impressed. When I bought the new C5 it came with Green Flag cover.Because I still had a bit of cover left with Britannia they sent me a credit note which I could pick up when my new car cover ran out. Sure enough, I phoned them this week, they gave me my credit, also asked if I was a member of a union. This got me another 10% off. I eventually paid about £45 for the year's cover.That includes roadside assistance and transport of the car to a chosen destination.
I think I read somewhere that Britannia have very high satisfaction ratings (??)
Sorry, can't comment on Green Flag - the C5 has never missed a beat. Even the Xantia problem was relatively minor - the alarm wouldn't go off because the original (car) battery was failing - ......after 9 years!
Graeme
...hell happened there?! Read more
I must add that it seems a lot quicker now. What did DD do, I wonder?
The clutch is slipping in 4th/5th if revved too hard, on my 1.6 Golf mk2 at 83k; could anyone help with the following questions?
- Is this reasonable mileage for clutch? (Town car for first 60k, motorway for last 20k)
- The clutch pedal seems to have a very long action. Could this cause excess clutch wear if the pedal is not fully depressed to the floor for each change, even if it feels like it is changing cleanly?
- Is a clutch replacement a Haynes job (i.e. to save £200+ labour)?
- Mechanic reckons he wouldn't take it on a long trip but might be OK around town for a few weeks. Anyone got any experience re: how long a slipping clutch will last?
Thanks very much Read more
Bought my Golf with 120,000 on the clock and excessive clutch pedal travel. Hadn't had it long before slipping set in, it went for quite a while in this state then suddenly packed up completely. It didn't appear to get progressively worse just went. Consulted my Haynes and decided it wasn't worth the hassle though it could be easier than tne book makes it.
Man came and towed it away came back with pedal travel restored to civilised limits and a clutch plate that was an exhibition piece, the lining was unbelievably thin and missing in places. £240 all in.
Advice, don't go to far from home before it's fixed.
My car has recently been shuddering and then cutting out, could this be related to a faulty CAT or a faulty oxygen sensor? I suspect my CAT is faulty because the car has been giving off various smells such rotten eggs and un-burnt fuel also it sounds as though it is slightly blowing at low speeds. Read more
There is an excellent USA VW Diesel tdi web site at
www.tdiclub.com/ I haven't been able to access it for a couple of days. Have any other members of the HJ forum been able to access it lately please? Read more
Thanks to all in the BR inc HJ and Mark. Had a problem yesterday, see my post about oil changes. Reading the posts on oil and changes I decided to takle this myself, bought a filter removal tool from Halfords, filter from Rover, can of Magnatec oil and 20mins of my time, bing bang bosh, 'jobs a good un'
Thanks to all. Read more
a couple of hopefully useful tips -
Oil flows easier when hot, so its sometimes helpful to warm the engine first but beware of hot parts !
if you are on sloping ground, make sure the sump plug is at the lowest point to ease draining
used engine oil is nasty stuff - gloves and/or barrier cream is advisable
make sure you have a BIG tray to drain into - if you are working outside, engine oil will blow all over the drive in even the slightest breeze !
have fun
(now we try and post this message for the third time in fifteen minutes !)
I have to grow old - but I don't have to grow up
Hi
I'm wondering if anyone as had the below problem with their alloy wheels.
I sent my alloys off to be re-fubished as they have some kerbing on them. They did have a polished finish on the outward facing side with a lacquer cover.
I have been told by the people doing the re-furb on them that there are micro-pores in the alloy and the new lacquer is not sticking properly and there are bubbles appearing and it looks rubbish.
Their answer is to just leave the alloy bare with no lacquer protection. Is this a good idea??? or is there someone out there that could get a protective coat on them???
Thanks in advance
Carl Read more
Laquer will not stick to polished alloy, simple as that. The correct method is etching primer, colour and then laquer, done like this it will last many years. 99% of OEM wheels are like this, very few are laquer on polished alloy.
You can get away with removing laquer and not relaquering but you really need to coat the wheel with waxoyl or similar during the winter to revent salt damage. Tried it many tyears ago, lopoks foul but certainly works.
Central locking has just failed on the passenger door of my 1998 323F; the key used to unlock all four doors from either the passenger or driver door, but as of yesterday turning the key in the passenger door only unlocks that door.
Is this an easy one to fix? The car is still under warranty, but the dealer is 70 miles away so if it was fixable at home I'd rather do it myself.
Any help would be most appreciated. Read more
Bertj,
Now that you mention it, the rubber boot that covers the wires from the body to the door was off at the body end. Could be that a wire has been nipped because of this.
I've just acquired a (second-hand) Honda Civic, but it's not in 100% shape, and I'd like to get a few bits and bobs from a Breaker's Yard - particularly a better set of alloys, bits of trim and a front light assembly, as paying for new Honda spares is out of the question. I visited a couple of B. Yards over the weekend, but - nothing for my model.
As far as I can tell the Online world hasn't really made any inroads, into the Breakers business. But maybe I'm wrong. Anyone got a link to a site?
Thanks
Read more
Try Sunbury Salvage in Sunbury just off the A316/M3 I think.
Just off the A244 before walton bridge. I have found them to be pretty poor on on stock in the past - not a big enough operation. That was some time ago (5 years) may have changed
Browse
It's good for 84000 miles or 7 years, whichever occurs first.
Nerv seen one fail, either.