August 2003
R reg, Can anyone tell me why the 2 small diameter rubber pipes that go to the exhaust gas analyser (small alloy thing fitted to bulkhead) keep being blown off when I rev the engine.
Bert Read more
Hello All,
I bought a 2001 Leon Cupra 20VT from a SEAT dealer in June. It was an August 2001 one owner car and now has 15K miles. We are very pleased with it indeed but the first three tanks of fuel have only averaged 26 - 27MPG. This is on mixed driving. Some excitement sure but not continual racing. This economy seems poor to me and is worse than other owners have reported on the SeatCupra.Net site (they cite 30-32 avg). The car seems fine but I suspect something may be a little out. I wonder if anyone has any experience of these cars, has suffered poor economy (or is this the going rate??) and can suggest any possible problems. Car is due for service in a couple of weeks and if I can suggest an area to investigate it would be helpful.
Thanks in advance. Read more
I remember my Cupra to be a thirsty old beast
Does it exist?
This post was prompted by my recent attempts to discover which make and model best suited my own needs, by asking a well known motoring website via its Used Car Chooser functionality. It brought back everything from Kia wotsits to BMW blahs. Hmmm, useful, said I. I suspect my ideal car lies somewhere between the two, but how do i define ideal?
We all have different priorities when choosing a car, but if we take an 'averaged' weighting of every motorist's requirements, then we must be able to arrive at a formula for building the 'perfect' car for the 'average' motorist, whatever that means. Take an arbitrary 'average' balance of the following criteria:
o reliability
o performance
o quality
o value for money
o practicality
o image
o drivability
o economy
Is there a car which fulfils an 'average' motorist's requirement for each of these? What is it?
(For example, in terms of quality, the 'average' motorist will demand > Lada, but < Bentley). Read more
To me, the ideal car is one that costs little to run and to buy, so there's little money tied up in it, but it produces high scores for reliability, economy, comfort etc and it suits my needs.
Wife 2 kids Mortgage etc
Has to be my Xantia. Despite the fact that it's now 10 years old, its comfortable to drive, starts first time every time, economic, reliable, safe, fast for its class (130bhp) etc etc. I reckon I've got another 3 to 4 years in this one when it'll be worth pants and I'll probably give it away or break it for spares (selling them through the paper).
The only drawback is that it is not an estate, but then with the van, I don't need an estate. The odd time I have to carry anything in it, the hatchback loadspace is adequate.
H
I always thought I had a well fitting anorak when it comes to odd cars, but one has got me stumped. A friend mentioned a car he saw yesterday, and I can't think for the life of me what it might be.
Small, boxy little rag top which he reckoned looked 60's but was on a '91 'H' plate (possible late import?). Shape reminded him slightly of the Daf variomatic, but he's convinced it was either a Pug or a Renault? Also had a 'sport' badge on it somewhere apparently
Any ideas guys?
Our best guess so far is a Talbot Samba convertible which took the dealers 6 years to shift?
Gareth Read more
After careful consideration over the weekend a Nissan Figaro was favourite. We printed off a picture and showed it to him this morning. Surprise surprise, it looked rather familiar! Our spotter also proved his keen eye after he told his missus about the search and she told him it was pale blue, not brown!
Apologies for wasting your time chaps, turned out to be the first thing you suggested. He was just so insistent that it was a brown boxy Pug.
With observation like that he must be a used car salesman's dream :-)
Gareth
My 2000 (old shape) Corolla recently had a seized front brake disc - corrosion had 'welded' the pad to the disc, according to the RAC man who fixed it - which he did by sanding the disc down. Only problem now is that I think the corrosion spot is still there - the car sounds like something is clonking at the front - but isn't apparent if you rev the engine with the clutch out.
Could the noise be something else? Cheers everyone. BTW - what causes pads to rust to discs ? Read more
I have a 1999 Peugeot 306 2.0L 16v. The problem is similar to many others in these threads, but I hope someone can clarify a point. The symptoms are intermittent and two fold, firstly when the foot is taken off the accelerator the revs can drop to 500rpm, occasionally stalling, a loss of power is experienced for a few seconds, as if running on only 2 or 3 cylinders before picking up. Secondly but more rarely there is temporary loss of power during normal driving at about 2500 to 3000 rpm. Is this likely to be the stepper motor bearing in mind that the revs always drop and never rise and does this have any effect in the 2500-3000 rev range or does the problem lie with the coil pack. All help will be appreciated. Read more
I have read some posting w.r.t. the conversion of a Pierburg to Weber carburettor for Volkswagens. Has anyone experience with this conversion for the Volvo Pierburg 2B5? And with which supplier? Read more
Just an update: I installed the Weber conversion kit and it's a big improvement. Thanks for the input.
As I was casually flicking through the mryiad of home shopping channels the other morning, the thought crossed my mind as to whether any car manufacturers would ever consider selling new cars by one of these channels?
Could you argue that manufacturers could offer cars at a lower rate than dealers, due to few overheads? Granted, it could cheapen the brand image of some of the luxury marques and would perhaps only be of interest to the more budget end of the market, but would it work? It could certainly be a marketing opportunity for those car brands that do not have an immediate presence on the high street (e.g. KIAs, Protons, Daewoos etc).
I know. I know. I must get out more!
Cheers,
TT. Read more
I like the thinking... but can you imagine the finance risk profiles? And the APRs? Probably delivery would have to be done through a dealer unless a very long term contract was envisaged. Even jamjar and the like have some main dealer involvement at some stage.
Also, most people want to part exchange their existing car and have little or no idea of its value, so that kind of negotiation (and upselling of things like mats, paint protection, and so on) almost has to be done face to face.
This will sound unbelievably snobbish, but... the kind of person who researches a purchase on the net, knows about finance and the like, wants a good price and a convenient solution, probably has the means to follow through with the transaction, plus a half decent p/x and not a K-reg Proton they want £2500 for. This simplifies the whole negotiation process immensely.
Also, home shopping people are not known for selling goods cheap. A computer I heard about would sell in PC World for about £699 or £799; online maybe £600-£650; guide price was £1600 and it sold for £1k on the shopping channel. Their marketing is all about opportunism and high mark up, not long term infrastructure and regular goods.
I think it could work, as long as the manufacturer found the right partner who could work around all those objections.
Ford are recalling all 2003 Mondeos due to an assmbly fault which results in a direct connection between the exhaust catalyser and the ashtray inside the car. Originally this new feature came about as a result of some clever thinking by the exhaust designers using backdraught and advanced eddy technology to clear the contents of the ashtray directly into the catalyser of Duratorq-engined cars. This little-known feature was heralded by Ford of Eurpoe boss Nick Scheele as a great way to remove tobacco ash odours from the car interior leading to stronger residuals in the used Mondeo market.
As a result of Belgian assembly workers failing to understand the complex assembly instructions of the ashtray-cleaning device's non-return valve, there is apparently a way through from the exhaust system to the interior of the car. Dustbins around Genk have been filling up with the components of the vital valve as exhausted factory-workers, unable to fit the device on the assembly line, pocket the unit and dispose of it on their way home from the factory. Allegedly, providing it is given enogh incentive, a domestic mouse can easily find a way from the exhaust pipe at the rear of the car to the ashtray in the centre console. Richard Parry-Jones, head of Ford's prestigious Premier Performance Division commented as he adjusted his prototype Aston-Martin badged air freshener, "It's a complete disaster, boyo. Fortunately, the Mondeo is nothing to do with me since I took over PPD, look you".
The fault was first discovered as Ford's new Mondeo advert hit the nation's television screens recently. According to the script, the stunt-mouse was supposed to end up in the engine compartment after running along the exhast pipe, squeezing through the catalyser, climing the exhaust down-pipe, finding a cylinder with both inlet and exhaust valves open, contorting his way into and out of the cylinder head, sprinting along the inlet manifold, chewing his way through the air filter and emerging to sit on the car's radiator. However, tired of the taste of air-filter paper, the mouse took the path of least resistance through the ill-fated ashtray-cleaning device to skip across the leather interior and recline on the steering wheel.
Ford are at pains to point out that everything possible is being done to resolve the problem.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land Read more
Brilliant, Hawkeye. I think the new Golf's feature whereby the heater switches to recirculate every time you use the windscreen washer (so you don't smell the additive) comes pretty close to a real-life example of this thinking.
My daughter has my wife's old Fiesta Azura 1995 25k miles. Over the past few weeks it has begun to stall occassionally, usually but not always when cold. It takes a short break then a few churns of the starter to get it going again.
It was Ford serviced in the early spring and hasn't covered a huge amount of miles since, but isn't showing signs of the emulsion which it has previously.
Unfortunately I've never been around when it stalls to get exact circumstances, although I got there just afterwards once and agree it was difficult to start. It seems to be mainly when she is pulling away. My inclination was that it was flooded, for no good reason.
Where should I start to poke around? I think it's on the fuel side rather than electrical catastrophe, although quality of spark might be a factor I suppose. I haven't looked at anything yet. I took it for a run last weekend and it seemed to run fine to me. Read more
Well it has a rotor arm and a distributor cap, so
i assume it has points inside
Not necessarily. Because of the need to control the ignition timing in light of requirements from the engine to do with emissions, most car engines nowadays (post catalysed) time their ignition electronically and just break the connection to the coil pack electronically whenever a spark it required. A rotor arm and distributor just make sure the spark goes to the right plug.
Some engines, e.g. Fords', have a coil pack with switch between sparking two lots of two cylinders (i.e. 1+4, 2+3, 1+4, etc.) thus having a wasted spark on exhaust strokes, and no distributor. Other engines have a different coil pack for each plug, each electronically controlled seperately, but these naturally incur higher costs. Hence why a distributor and rotor are still used (one coil and a dizzy is cheaper than 2+ coils).
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Mike Farrow
Browse
All OK now, new cat fitted for £225
Bert