August 2003
drove a car last night with incredibly light steering, what components are the ones to check for causes?
thanks in advance,
steve Read more
Thread closed. Please see Vol 2. www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=2&t=16...4
I own a VW Polo SE 1.4 1996 P reg. Almost 2 years to the day that I paid £5000 for it, a lorry changed lanes on a roundabout without looking and has damaged all down the drivers side, both alloys on the drivers side and one on the passenger side from being pushed sideways. The driver has admitted liability and claims he didn\'t see me, despite the fact that he managed to hit me three times and spin me before moving off and being chased by my passenger and another motorist to get him to stop!
The garage who are doing the estimate have said it is \"too close to call\" for them to say whether they will be able to repair the car, and I\'m waiting to hear from the insurance company. I\'m worried that they will want to write the car off rather than fix it because of the cost of repairs. I\'ve been looking at various websites to get an idea of value and they all say around £2500 but I believe my car is worth about £1000 more than this, even though it has quite high mileage of 66k.
It\'s a limited edition car in metallic black with alloy wheels. Inside it is immaculate, and the bodywork on the outside is (was!) in really good condition. It has a full VW service history, and the weekend before the accident it had just had brand new front tyres, tracking and wishbones etc.
I know the insurance company is required to put me back in the position I was in before the accident, but this car is of amazing sentimental value to me as I bought it to take with me when I left home to go to uni, and I just wont be able to get another one like it. As the accident was in no way my fault, can I insist that the insurance company repairs the car?
Also, it\'s the bank holiday weekend and I\'m without a car because of an accident that wasn\'t my fault. Apparently I can only have a courtesy car where the car is repairable and they haven\'t decided yet. I phoned this morning and all the insurance company\'s systems are down, which is of no help to me! This was in no way my fault and yet the lorry driver is probably quite happily driving around again by now.
Any thoughts, advice, words of consolation??
Thanks - sorry this is a bit long!
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DD.
My wife has a 1995 Vauxhall Tigra which I suspect has been suffering with sticking valves brought on through short trips and supermarket petrol. We have been filling up with Shell/Texaco and recently Optimax which has made a big difference. I would like to complete the job by adding 'Forte gas treatment'.
Could anyone tell me were to source 'Forte gas treatment' in the Lancashire/Merseyside area? Also could you give me an idea of how much it costs?
I don't understand why it is supplied only by garages, how difficult can it be to pour it into a fuel tank. Read more
No, the K series does that all by itself ;-)
I have a \'99 1.6 Focus with and idle speed / stalling problem.
The dealer has replaced the coil pack and the idle speed control valve, both to no avail. The problem arose when the ECU was reprogammed to remove an intermittent lack of power problem, it has left it with the stalling fault. I can make it stall by changing down a gear, and raising the revs to around 1200 RPM via slipping the clutch, then, when the clutch is depressed fully the engine stalls or drops to 200 RPM and then \'saves\' itself. This may sound an odd thing to do, but it does make it regularly stall for test purposes, and this condition is occasionally encountered on the road ie. stop/start town driving. I would appreciate any help, as i feel the dealer is guessing? Will it help by disconnecting the battery to make the ECU re learn its sensors? If so, what do i need to do to put the ECU in \'learn\' mode? How long does the battery need disconnecting? How should i drive it afterwards?
Thanks for the anticipated help. Read more
Hi - I have a 1.8 Focus which had long irritated with its tendency for the engine to surge on upward gearchanges and idle at 2000 rpm in trickling traffic. Then it developed a tendency to cut out altogether at embarrassing moments, like when pulling onto roundabouts.
I was advised to have the speed sensor in the gearbox seen to - it's a well-known problem area. Ford dealer changed the errant sensor and the problem has disappeared.
Incidentally, Ford paid the bill as a goodwill gesture which just might have won them a repeat sale in a couple of years.
Hi,
Just stumbled on this site - fabulous source of information!
Anyway, I recently picked up an L-reg Astra 1.6 Automatic from my Gran, who can\'t drive any more. :(
Well, I just wanted to ask someone who might have experience with Astra autos - from a cold start it changes gears at much higher revs than usual, about 3000 RPMs to move out of first. After about 5 minutes normal driving things are fine - gears change very smoothly at low revs.
I initially thought this was due to the gearbox oil being cold, and perhaps it is, but strangely, checking the gearbox oil and removing and replacing the dipstick solves the problem for that journey.
Have tried an oil change, which has helped, but not solved the problem.
On a sidenote, I discovered something interesting on the triple function display. Pushing and holding both buttons for 5 seconds starts a self test of the display, with the bonus of showing your speed in KPH for a few seconds first. Very odd, as I wouldn\'t expect that sort of thing to be read, as this is the bog-standard screen showing date, radio and time and temp.
Finally, I\'m looking into changing the radio for a nice Blaupunkt one. I can get a display link for the Astra G and not the F. If I change the radio, will the date still show when the radio is on, or will it be blank. I also read of possible issues with the engine management computer... can someone set me straight.
Thanks very much.
David. Read more
only thing still puzzling me is why it would drive so
wonderfully perfect after removing and reinserting the
dipstick.
Maybe it's because of those couple of extra minutes it takes to check the gearbox oil instead of just driving off that allows the engine to warm up enough to keep the ecu happy.
Finally - kickdown - how many gears is it supposed to
drop? At 40MPH it'll drop from third to first, and
almost redline before it then changes to second.
Perfectly normal. Both my previous Cavalier, my current Vectra, and my Dad's auto Astra do the same.
I'm currently trying to work out whether its worth changing the cambelt on my 1998 38K Miles 1.25 Fiesta Zetec. Generally in the past I've worked on the 4 years/40K rule, but various Ford dealers are adamant that 10 years/100K is the interval.
Is it just me or is that a huge gap? And it seems a little strange that the 1.4 Zetec has an official interval of 5 years/80K - which my car falls into on the age range anyway.
I know its safer to err on the side of caution but I'm also not in a hurry to spend 100 quid or more on a job that genuinely doesnt need doing for another 3 years or so! (this car only does 8k miles a year)
My Focus is just about to hit 40k, unfortunately Ford are very clear on that one, 4 years/40K! So thats another 140 quid!
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I'm convinced! I'm getting it done next week.
I normally change timing belts myself but with this Fiesta you need a few extra tools to do it properly and its not worth buying them/renting them as the garage has quoted 70 quid to fit one,plus 30 for the belt.
Which doesn't seem to bad for a modern(ie transverse!) engine.
My old Omega had many(many,many) faults, but changing the timing belt took me only 1/2 hour - the benefit of a longitudinally mounted 4 cylinder engine!
Next its my 1.8 Focus. Which looks even trickier for the cambelt change as you apparently have to almost remove the camshaft sprockets.
I'm just about to opt out of Company Car and haven't had my own insurance for at least 10 years.
Anyone got ACTUAL experience on this subject - if so, who are YOU insured with and did they give you equivalent no-claims discount?
I've had no accidents or claims in that time - nearly half a million miles driven in 10 years. Read more
Hi,
I came out of a company scheme at the end of 2001 after having a company car since 1977 (you're right, I don't look old enough!!).
The company's insurers did a 'search' and produced a letter confirming my clean claims record going up to 5 years ago. I insured with Privilege (very good and very competitive for clean records and middle aged drivers). Get the letter quick though as thy don' hang around chasing for proof of NCD.
Best deision I made for a long time not giving the tax man a big wedge every month. And I'll have an asset of my own when everyone else is handing the keys back in a couple of years time.
Good luck.
Whats the lowest speed anyones been caught at.
I just got a ticket for 79 mph on a motorway, is this normal? Read more
I've had cars speed up behind me on motorways around Manchester and get too close to for comfort. On getting the chance to pull over to let them pass I've seen, in small red lettering on the back of the car, the words "Police Driver Under Training".
I guess that they do have to train somewhere.
I've got a 2002 A4 2.5TDI Avant Quattro (180bhp) and am considering chipping it.
I've contacted a number of tuning shops and have been quoted power hikes of between 25 and 42 bhp. In addition the torque goes from 273 lb ft for the standard car to between 310 and 340 lb ft in the modified car.
I guess the extra torque is the killer (the S4 develops 344bhp but only 300 lb ft). Is the extra torque especially at the 340 lbft end of things going to overstress the engine and/or transmission. I've heard that other cars which have been chipped sometimes slip their clutch. Or will restraint in 1st and 2nd gears be enough. What is the design tolerance built into these cars? (PS it is a manual)
Any thoughs appreciated. Read more
When did the V6 TDi engine come out? Early '98?
Those early engines gave problems with oil leaks, according to an Audi Technician who lives locally. This was his advice when I was looking for one.
I agree, the 180 V6 TDi should be OK, as it is a later model.
HI my neighbour's Clio 1.2 MPI won't start I wanted to check the fuel cut off switch and cannot decide if it is reset or not.
Does anyone know how this "feels" if it needs reseting I have pushed down on the rubber top but it does not click or move much.
The reason I suspect this is she had a similar problem two weeks ago and a friendly mechanic fiddled in that area.
I could take it out and put a meter on but I am not sure of number of contacts and open closed state.
Any ideas most welcome.
David Read more
These inertia cut-offs have 3 terminals but not all companies use the third one to trigger things like automatically switching on hazard lights.
They used to be made in the UK and I used to work for the Co that made them. They are exceptionally reliable; in the 4 years I worked for the Co, we never had a single one fail due to manufacturing fault - a number were returned in a semi-destroyed state due to bad handling by "mechanics" and "automotive electricians" and most returns were of the no-fault-found variety. There are a number of problems due to them not being fitted correctly in vehicles, and also of problems with the mating connector on the vehicle wiring loom. The switch iteslf however is basically 100% perfect.
Browse
Was going to mention the same fault/car there! Common fault, leads to finger-light PAS, it's possible to 'spin' the steering wheel lock-to-lock.
Need more info on the car..