August 2003

Murray

Hi,
Ive just fitted a new reverse switch to my 92 Astra Merit 1.4 petrol. I unscrewed the old one, screwed in the new one, connected the lead and then the car wouldnt start! I then put the old one back in and the car still wont start - am I just unlucky and something else is wrong, or am I forgetting to do something as I really dont know that much about cars!

Thanks for any feedback.

Murray
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Dizzy {P}

I doubt if there is anything in the starting system that is protected by a fuse but couldn't think of anything else that might be common to the reversing switch and the failure to start.

DD's suggestion about accidentally disturbing an ignition system connection seems much more likely.

ajit

Am thinking of replacing the inadequate 6in speakers on the rear shelf of my Honda Civic saloon with a pair of 6X9 speakers. My query is whether these can be replaced without cutting the shelf out and adding a spacer instead. The shop that I visited said this can be done but I was under the impression that one needs to cut the parcel shelf to accomodate these. Can anyone advise me or point me to a website that will answer this. Many thanks Read more

Andrew-T

Good grief - after nearly 18 years !! The OP won't be looking for help now, I guess.

Question peugeot 406 hdi
kyle richmond

Anyone had any problems with the fuel pumps in the tank because it is believed to be the cause of a like rattle between 2000 to 3000rpm on hard acceleration, the car has had this diagnosis, has anyone came across this problem and by replacing the tank fuel pump did it cure the problem, any ideas Read more

DL

Low pressure tank pumps on the HDi cause non-starts......not heard of rattles yet!

Forum C2
SteveH42

The C2 as mentioned in the news at the moment has caught my interest. However, I can't find any real info about the. The Car-by-car has very little on it, and the suggested prices there (starting at £5500) are far lower than those quoted in the news item. The Citroen site is absolutely useless - you have to look in concept cars to even find it mentioned and there are no concrete details. Can anyone point me at a site that has some technical details, equipment levels etc?

The car itself looks like a bit of a mixture between a Corolla, a Yaris and a Punto. Only question mark in my mind would be the legendary Citroen unreliability... (Although reports on here seem to suggest that's getting better?) Read more

bartycrouch

I know they have dropped the prices before the launch, but I wonder how long it will be until it gets the full "NO VAT" discount?

Definitely a car to watch out for after the initial launch hype though.

fitz

Along similar lines to one of the other current threads. Can anyone inentify the following old car, I have seen two in the last year and they are beautiful,

Medium sized sleek cabriolet.
Looked at least 25 years old.
The ones I saw were pale blue with white detail and a nice browny-orange.
And the best clue of all they had Kharma written in diagonal silver letters across the boot.


Thanks for any help.
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Kuang

Hehe :)

Could it be the lurvely Karmann Ghia Cabriolet with a bit of fiddling on the name badge? :)

www.motorbase.com/pictures/Volkswagen/std_VWKarmen...g

Question Lumpy Skoda
Mike200

The engine in my grandfathers old 1993 Skoda Favorit has started acting very strangely. Here goes the story...

Filled it up monday just gone, and yesterday (friday) he started it and a very strong vibration was going all the way through the car. Also a strong smell of petrol could be smelt, but stronger towards the back of the car.

I had a look at it today. When it started it was running very erratically, and almost died, but my grandfather kept his foot on the throttle to keep it alive. I noticed lots of air in the fuel filter, but by the time the engine warmed up, it was almost gone and was running near enough, normally. I then prodded the throttle, and the engine bogged down in itself, and almost died again.It recovered, but again, there was a really stong smell of petrol, more noticable towards the rear of the car. At the rear of the car, the exhaust was acting strangly too. It was exhausting normally, just "Phutting" every now and again, and when it did, the exhaust swung quite away, as if it were releasing quite a high pressure.

I am having trouble putting this together. My mind keeps straying towards a fuel leak, fuel coming out (smell), air getting in (rough running) but why would the exhaust be acting strangely?
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Mike200

That is correct, and I think you were right, it was missing on one cylinder. A new set of plugs and a new fuel filter have been fitted and the car is running like normal again, but thanks for your response.

Marcos{P}

A while back I posted a question about the chipping of diesel engines and had loads of very good links and advice from you lot but now it's crunch time.
I have been waiting for these chipping companys to design a chip for the new W211 E320 CDI and a couple have finally done it.
Power increases seem quite good, 204bhp raised to 265bhp and torque up 100 to 600Nm.
Now everyone seemed to say that mpg got better and the flexibility of the engine got a lot better.
My question before I order is are these upgrades safe. Do you think the power upgrade could damage the engine in any way and how would the warranty be affected. The car will be a year old in November so I really dont want to affect the warranty but my dealer seems to think that if I went ahead and had it upgraded it would affect the warranty. Read more

oldtoffee

andymc

My insurance company wouldn't insure me if I had a Power Box fitted to my Picasso HDi taking it from 90 to 110 bhp. My premium is £370. I found Adrian Flux would cover me for £570. Thats £200 a year for the next 3 to 4 years. Liverpool and Victoria quoted £360 with the Power Box fitted.

Forum Tyres
bugged {P}

The Beetle is coming close to needing all 4 tyres replacing,
I was told you can order and have them delivered to you over the internet? Has anyone had any experience with this???

The next bit is, if I do order them via the internet and get them cheaper etc etc, where can i get them fitted and how much should I be looking to pay???

Any help would be appreciated as i hate buying tyres.


Oh p.s, I would prefer a harder tyre than the continentals that are on it now as they are knackered in 22k miles,
and no i have not been driving like a looney ;-) Read more

bugged {P}

thanks for that everyone will have a look this week!

NitroBurner

I applaud everything I read encouraging more disciplined, relaxed & forgiving driving - even if it is getting more difficult to drive in this manner - and honestly believe most of the guys n gals reading the sensible advice given on this web site will take it to heart & hopefully improve their driving standards, but is it all in vain?

Most of the lunatics out there only see driving as a means to an end & wouldn't read any driving advice even if it came with a ten pound note attatched to it!

If only fixed site cameras could differentiate between speeding & dangerous driving, then maybe we'd all have a little more faith in the laws of the road...

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matt35 {P}

8 ball,

Well spotted!

'5th: There are loads of good drivers out there. You just don't notice them because they don't cause any trouble.'

Matt35.

Hugo {P}

Anyone care to share their experiences on this subject?

My most recent experience was my Pug 309 SRi, which was the victim of a hard rear end smash at 14 years old in 2001 and therefore written off, 80K miles.

Insurance valuation £600, which I received in full. I was going to sell it in a few months anyway.

Salvage value £0

Cost to get rid would have been £25 + VAT.

After advertising it for spares/breaking in the paper, I managed the following

Alloy wheels with poor but legal tyres £65
Windscreen for another car to get thru MOT £15
Salvaged battery, radio, bulbs, fuses etc
Rest of car taken for gearbox and other bits by garage £45

Total revenue to me £125

Earlier experience - A mini bought for £15 off a contact and dismantled in a street in Leicester, just to get rid of it!

Engine, box, driver's door £50
Bonnet £15
Passenger door £10
Boot £5
Daimler Mk 2 wheel and tyre on back seat (don't ask me why) £10
Other bits removed and boxed £10 the lot
Shell and wheels (tyres no good) removed FOC by breakers.

Total Revenue to me £100

Although it's getting harder to get rid of cars now, I would be interested to hear how people have managed it.

H


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Hugo {P}

When we went to the Eden Project last week, we saw loads of cars used as canvasses for pop art style paintings.

There was even a double decker bus painted up!

Looking at them it seems that they first remove the engine and box and then let loose on it with a spray gun. They didn't look out of place.

H