September 2003
I've got a Golf GTI Mk 4, last week the AirBag warning light came on at start up as usual but didn't go off. I've been to VW who did a diagnostic check which showed a sporadic fault in the drivers seat airbag. The guy who did the check said it is probably the connector under the seat making a dodgy connection, give a week and see what happens.
A week later the warning light is still on. I was going to remove the seat and check the connection but was worried about the airbag going off. Has anyone done this, had this problem or got any ideas of how to go about it?
Cheers Read more
I see that advice on C5s doesn?t crop up all that often on this board but I live in hope.
After printing out the last reply I got on here it got my dealer thinking in the right direction and he actually did manage to improve the dodgy pickup and the rough downshift on my ?03 C5 auto. Unfortunately he left the settings of the automatic ?parking? wing mirrors in a state. They don?t now swing 90 deg. in to the body on remote locking, or if they do it?s hit and miss. Neither does the passenger side mirror swing down on reversing anymore.
So, can anybody help me to get my mirrors working properly again, are the two functions connected? i.e. parking and adjustment when reversing.
I really don?t want to let my local dealer loose on the car again yet.
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Thanks Graeme, and everybody else who's answered, for all your feedback. I'm in touch with the Yahoo group now so here's hoping.
Bill
Hi recently hired a ford focus TDCI. A number of observations. Car had very little low end torque and thus had to work the gearbox, certainly found the car struggled when in 4 th gear at 30mph. Relatively poor mpg as well average of 42mpg.
Second the a/c sytem seemed quite weak, it works better when the car is on the move, is this just the laws of physics at work!!!
Over to you guys. Read more
I had one of these for three days. Ghia Estate. Have to say I agree with both posters above re performance. It was a little lacking in torque low down in the rev range, but when it came it was in spades! A fabulously sporty diesel lump and great for blasting down country roads. However the flow of air was a bit feeble, it was noisy (road noise mainly) and not a relaxed cruiser. so reluctantly it went back with a couple of regrets but no loss.
Does anyone have any experience using this oil?
I' m using Mobil 1 0W-40 in my 1997 Mondeo 2.0 SI at the moment but just wondered...
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Unfortunately 40 degree days are a bit of a rarity in the UK! Otherwise I'm sure more people would run their Zetecs on 10W40, still not that I'd recommend it, afterall, once the engine has been running for 10 minutes the oil will be at the same temperature whether you're in the UK or in Greece. I'd rather stick with what is known not to cause problems personally...
What do the Ford dealers use in Greece? I would have thought they would still use the recommended 5W30...
Blue
The busiest section of the A224 Orpington by pass used to be 2 lanes in each direction and was busy but not often awful. A year or two ago the powers that be decided to put in cycle lanes despite there being very wide pavements either side of the road largely unused by pedestrians (semi-industrial area) but more often by cyclists. This effectively reduced the carriageway down to one in lane at key points resulting in daily massive congestion due to tailbacks blocking exits/junctions.
Now however the council has decided to put in a bus lane and rather than further erode the space available for cars, they appear to be using some of the considerable unused space in the central reservation and pavements. If so, this would appear to be a very rare example of common sense breaking out! Buses should be able to move more freely and the space available for cars will not be reduced - in fact it looks as though 2 lanes may be restored :-)
It'll be interesting to see how things develop and I'll post an update if I remember when the work's complete in a few months (can't help thinking it could've been done much quicker if they'd had more than 2 navvies working every other day but that's another issue isn't it!).
Anyway, we all knock the planners and engineers but do you have any examples of common sense breaking out in your area ? Read more
My favourite piece of local planning is a roundabout that features a three-lane approach (with no indication of which lane to use depending on intended direction), three lanes around the roundabout itself, and one-lane exits.....
I have a new Civic Type-R shortly to be delivered. It's the first brand new car I've ever bought and I want to look after it well. How carefully does it need to be run in? One piece of advice suggested keeping it to 4000 revs for the first 1000 miles and then increasing it by 500 revs for every 1000 miles driven. However, with an average 10,000 miles driven in a year, it would take me about 9 months before I could completely use the car's full potential.
How much of a difference does it make? What would other people recommend? Should I also give it an oil change (a fairly expensive one) every 6 months?
As an aside, how damaged (if at all) are the ex-demonstrator models, which have obviously been given a good pasting from birth? Read more
A friend of mine works in an Audi garage, a new Audi came in the owner complaining of oil use, they had tried several things but couldn't cure it, after he left the head mechanic said it was the drivers own fault because he drove the car so gently that the piston rings etc weren't bedded in, and reckoned that the engine would always use oil and probably wouldn't last long.
Hello,
Took my Cavalier in to a garage to have some paint re done on warranty, drivers door with it being blown in to the wing. On picking up the car and geting it home central locking does not work. Drivers side door will only lock with the key all others stayed open. Checked the fuse, ok, locked all the doors manually and tried to open them from the drivers side, only drivers door locking/unlocking. Took it back to the garage as the petrol filler cap is staying locked, when the bloke at the garage was trying it I could feel the locking pulse through the boot lid opening button, and I could hear it "having a go" at the fuel filler cap but again no unlocking, i noticed that when he tried to open the passenger door from inside it had actually deadlocked itself.
I also noticed that the lock had been greased but not by myself, had the usual "was it working when you brought it in" etc etc, anyone any ideas?
Cheers
Ellis
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Well done. It's always nice to have a thread concluded with an answer to how the problem was rectified.
The introduction of asbestos free brake linings is a commonly given as a reason why brake discs now have a significantly shorter life than before.
The thought that went through my mind was, assuming that clutch linings would also now be asbestos free, what effect has this had on flywheel wear (and cost at clutch replacement time)?
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Yes, they are all asbestos free, and have been for quite a while. Asbestos one are not as good, and are more prone to judder and unrefined takeup characteristics.
There are many lining types used, I guess they all have their pros and cons, they vary from looking like cork, to string and PVS with brass turnings mixed in, to kevlar and gret ceramic looking stuff, I bet they all have different characteristics.
Cars and Car Conversions the magazine is apparently going to fold as IPC media has decided it isn't financially viable. I'm gutted as it is the only serious tuning mag on the market that isn't written for the intellectually challenged with permanently illuminated fog lights and suspension lowered so far they bottom out driving over a pencil.
teabelly Read more
More dumbing down, then. No one ever lost money underestimating public taste, sadly...
Can anyone help.
I have a 1995 Rover 420 GSI, using the mems engine management system.
The has just failed it\'s mot due to emission being well over the top like a base idle CO 2 being 9.9%
Now I found a useful site on the web giving sensor values, for this system.
Check Coolant Temp sens, OK 2.5K ohms when hot.
Lambada senors valur 0.8 v and rising, not the usual up and down between 0.2 & 0.8V.
But the odd I found was the throttle postion sensor, supply voltage 5v, at idle it should be 0.5, but it was 4.5v, and at full throttle was only 4.8v.
so I disconnected the sensor wire to the ECU and found I had the same value, checked the device on ohms and the resistance does change.
But I remember some years ago having a MG EFI montego and these used to suffer from blowing the earth pin inside the ECU, normally this was easy to repair, (I use to be a TV & Video Technician so I have all the skills with the soldering iron), I wondered if this ECU suffers from the same problems, I know the Montego one could be done buy using a battery charger.
The montego suffered very similar problems, very high fuel consumption, erratic idle etc and same again the sensor voltage were all floating.
Any help would be welcome.
Regards
Ken
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HI Dave
Thanks for your help.
Turned to be the TPS sensor, check ECU buy putting a Potentiometer in and vary this until I got a 0.5V value for idle, if you do this and then turn it (not connected to the throttle body) you can here the management system change the fuelling and timing.
Stripped down the TPS and found it to be contaminated with water, and this has taken one of the tracks that lead to the carbon film resistive tracks. Remade this with some conductive paint, resealed the unit, refitted and got a 0.6v for idle and 4.6 for full throttle, will now take for MOT.
Regards
Ken
A word of warning, insurance companies may reduce pay out on thier polices after an accident if air bags are not maintained,just as they do with poorly maintained cars ie bald tyres and such like.