September 2003
what is the best way to mod a golf gti mk2 1988 16v engine more power the cheapest way,cheers.k jet Read more
I 'phoned my local Honda dealer yesterday to arrange a test drive of a Jazz. I asked if the 2003 model was available with the revised suspension - Backroomers will be aware of the heavy criticism Honda received re the hard suspension of the Jazz on launch.
To my surprise the salesman told me that the 2003 model was identical to the 2002 model. In fact, he told me, all the criticism was dreampt up by one motoring journalist and repeated ad nauseam by all the others. He went on to advise me that to address this 'perceived' problem Honda decided to announce that changes had been made even though the suspension on the 2003 was identical to the original car!
My understanding, from what I have read, is that Honda released a modification kit to address the criticism but this failed because it resulted in sloppy handling. Subsequently, they had to modify the actual suspension fixings to achieve a satisfactory result.
Is this balony and the salesman is right, or should I look for another dealer?
HectorG Read more
The following item from another thread is worth adding to this thread!
Forum New & Used Car of the Year - doctorchris new Fri 3 Oct 03 12:41
Honda Jazz, new or used. A bit expensive new but will hold its value well.Innovative design and a cracker to drive.
I have had a Vauxhall Astra 1996 16v estate for 10 months. I'm not sure whether the air conditioning is working properly. During the winter, it took a long time to clear condensation (friends say theirs clear the windscreen in minutes). And during the recent hot weather, it was pretty useless at cooling the car interior - so bad, in fact, that eventually we had to open the windows to get some relief from the heat. My only other experience of AC is in an American hire car, when it worked superbly at reducing extremely high Californian temperatures to chill, so I am very disappointed at the Astra's performance. Should I expect poor AC on the Astra, or is something wrong? I should add that I try to run the AC every week to keep it in order, although of course I don't know whether previous owners have done the same. Also, I don't know much about car mechanics, so would appreciate layman's answers to my query!!
Renard
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Thanks to all who gave me their advice. I will have to consult an AC specialist - looks as if I am going to have to dig into the wallet!
Regards to all
Renard
Strange problem with my Rovers steering, I thought it sounded and felt like a loose power steering belt but noise happens most when I am braking and turning at the same time! Never experienced this on any other car that I have owned with a dodgy belt! Read more
Front brake pads worn down to the acoustic wear indicator, perhaps?
i have a vreg mondeo. the aircon has just packed up and the garage says its the condenser thats gone. pipe rusted and broke apperently. does any one have an idea of the cost to repair this? someone said it could cost £700
please can someone tell it wont cost this Read more
Dave N
Once again invaluable advice.
Many thanks
Charles
I first came across this forum when looking for anwers to probelms with my omega - yes, yet another failed climate control.
Anyway, onwards to the point ---->
When driving on a straight road, I seem to have to steer to the right more than I would have expected. I've got a newish set of tyres on (Goodyear Eagles) and I've had the tracking checked (twice). Could it be just down to camber? My local garage says wider tyres (mine are 225s) are more susceptable (is that spelt right?) to this.
When I was driving in France the other week the effect was (almost) unnoticeable. Driving on the right meant the camber was the opposite way so perhaps that is the answer.
Has anyone got a full answer?
Regards
Scotty Read more
Mine didn\'t used to be like it, until I rebuilt the front end, because of all the road humps, I thought I rather get new bits before parts fail, and if they do, I will show they are not very old, and complain to the council.
I got (all genuine Vx) new strut/damper assys, strut bearings, and 4 tie -rod ends, and 4 wishbone bushes, and also the steering idler for the centre tie-rod.
After all this the dealer put the rear tyres on the front at my request, and I went and bought new back ones, the handling at speed and round twisty roads is marvellous, but at about 30mph on the worn ringroad, the car weaves about because of the two troughs worn by LGVs and PSVs.
I am getting new tyres very soon, so will be interested to see what happens, if not, I\'ll go back to an alignment place and have them undo the strut to hub bolts and do them up with the weight on the wheels (in case the dealer didn\'t) and change the toe to compensate.
Hello to forum, a couple of months ago I had a cambelt change on my 2.0l petrol Mondeo (143000m). Although the Ford main dealer entrusted to the job took two days to do the job(!)the car was picked up and seemed ok. A few weeks ago I noticed a scratchy type noise on startup only (Sounds like cambelt catching cover?) and the car now hesitates when first starting off in first and under acceleration. It also appears to be idling poorly compared to before. Whilst the milage is high the car has been serviced by Ford since new and has never let me down. I did change the plugs and air filter recently before setting off on a 2 week holiday to Holland but this hasn't corrected problem. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. Read more
Many thanks for advice will call Ford first thing. Cheers
Tony
{apologies if this post appears twice - the 1st *seems* to have failed - me probably}
Mk3 Golf, 1.6, '93, ABU engine, 80kmiles.
The car (my wife's) was left undriven over 6 weeks this summer (i.e. hot weather). Since then, it has sometimes stalled at low revs & refused to re-start for 30 minutes and also, quite often, refused to re-start after being switched off: again for 30 minutes. Last night I let it idle for 5 minutes - no problems - & then switched off & tried to restart after 10 seconds. No luck. It sounds completely dead, no attempt to fire. Starter is 100% o.k.
Car drives fine otherwise.
Dealer 1st step is to replace distributor - I gather the Hall sensor is common ignition culprit - but, to me, It doesn't seem to stack up too well with the symptoms. Obviously we will be £100+ down at that point....
Apparently the engine management is too old to have detailed fault code diagnostics (is that true?), but obviously still has several sensors that could be defective and stop the engine management from generating spark signals for hot starts.
Any comments would be welcome - I'm an engineer, but not an auto one.
Many thanks,
Mark.
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Mark57
I am not sure if this will help you, but my mk3 Golf GTI 8v kept stopping for no apparent reason.
I have just found a hairline crack on the inside of the HT tower of the Temic 6NO 905 104, (1996 vintage) ignition coil. Problem showed up very well in the dark after putting a small amount of water onto the coil.New coil fitted, problem cured.
Best of luck.
I have a Rover 214 and the rear washer is not working - but the associated rear wiper is. The front wiper and the washers are working - and the motor forcing the washer fluid onto the screen is working. I have tried to remove any dirt from the wiper using a pin, but have been unsuccessful. Any ideas??? Read more
May be a blockage in the pipe itself from front to rear. When it happened on my BX I detached the rubber pipe and tried blowing through it. When this didn\'t work I attached my footpump using the \"lilo\" attachment (the pointy one) and blew through the tube. A lot of green stuff came out (algae after the warm summer and little use of rear wash wipe?) and it worked perfectly. Another thing you might try is a bit of thin wire from the back of the jet after detaching the hose \'cos your pin probably only just goes into the jet and the blockage might be a bit further in. Careful if you push wire into the rubber tube that you don\'t pierce it - air is better
Commonly held wisdom is that, under high mileages, diesel cars will save you money.
Well, I have been doing some calculations for replacing my Corolla 1.4:
On 30k p.a. driving over 3 years, so the car when I sell it at the end hasn't gone over 100k, I compared a Corolla 1.4 T3 3 door to a variety of diesel mid-size hatchbacks - Corolla, Seat Leon, Golf, even Audi A2 with the 75bhp Tdi. All the diesels costed in between £11.5 - 13k from on-line brokers, the 1.4 Corolla at just under £10K.
The result - even with the superior fuel economy of the diesels, not one of them were actually cheaper to run, since even the A2 only saved £1K in 3 years - the others even less. The Corolla is at least £2k cheaper to buy than any of them. In Britain we pay 3p extra for diesel, which doesn't help.
Of course, you have to figure depreciation into this too - will a 95k 3 year diesel be worth more than a 95k petrol ? This comparison only holds if you don't want a big car - for Passat/Mondeo sized cars, diesels can get 50mpg, but the petrol versions around 35, so a better bet here clearly. If you were prepared to go to a Polo/Fabia 75bhp Tdi, or HJ's favourite Yaris diesel, the result wouldn't hold - but I wouldn't fancy doing 150 miles per day in a Yaris, thank you !
Makes you think, though... Read more
Actually - I'd love a seventh gear. About 50 mph per 1000 rpm would do.... 1400 rpm at 70 mph. Ridiculous.
I reckon the Ibiza would still be able to accelerate (abeit modestly and perhaps not too well up a long motorway gradient) though that's not what such a cruising gear would be about.
Don't forget to tell your insurers if you go ahead - they will need to know.