October 2003
Have just kerbed N/S/F alloy on my beloved new car for first time. Not serious damage, but would like to keep them looking beautiful.
Is there anything I can do to hide/repair the scratches, or do I just have to accept the inevitability of this? Read more
Tried to purchase an aerial from this site, on advice given by other HJ users and to my suprise the company have still not contacted me by phone or email. Give that I placed my order on Sunday night and it is now Weds night is this normal or shall I try to re-order the item in question? Read more
As Ashok says.
Use the website to search for your required parts, but phone them to order.
I am looking for a used car as I have mentioned here before, but due to the good weather I am enjoying cycling a 27 miles round trip to work which has delayed the buying, but I am not sure how long this will last.
So I would like to compile a list of the questions to ask over the phone about a car, and then maybe HJ could put it in the FAQs. I have looked at the FAQs and dione a search but don't think I am treading in chartered territory.
So who will start us off? Read more
Sorry Owen but there is never really such a thing as a rare car for sale so I bulk together all the "wrong address" guys into a no further interest pile.
You are right there could just be a genuine excuse, I've had to do it a couple of times myself for good reason. But overall it's not worth the brainpower of trying to suss them out...just go onto the next one.
M.M
Me again, I have a problem with my 2.0 LS vectra 1997.
The car seems to run fine except occasionally at around 3200 rpm it hesitates whilst accelerating. Could actually be misfiring, does it for about 2 seconds then seems to punch through and roars away.
Anyone ever had this before?
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Thanks, I have been struggling with idling problems for a while before this started. I pulled out the spark plugs and they were totally black. I scrubbed them with a wire brush and re-seated the HT leads.
Touch wood, the misfire hasn't happened since.
Phew
Hello Folks,
A recent premature failure of a radiator on my Citroen XM (3 yrs 35K) prompts me to consider using strictly only demineralised/distilled water for both replacement and top-up.
Does anyone know of a decent bulk source? I really do not want to buy bijou litre "battery top-up" bottles from Halfords at £££.
My Dad used to collect it in 40gal plastic drums from Castle Donington Power Station for BAC 1-11 aircraft operating out of EMA. A water-methanol mix boosted take-off power.
(Can't get any there anymore...)
rg Read more
Acidity roughly doubles for each 9 deg. C rise in terperature (the Arrhenius Equation). You've certainly got a nice acid effect in a hot engine - watch that alloy dissolve!
Alloy dissolve? Just how strong do you think diluted vinegar is? Even if you heat it up to 80-90 deg C it's still weaker than most of acid mixtures you can buy from car shops for the very purpose of flushing cooling systems?
Last night, a friend of mine had the unpleasant experience of some vandals chucking what he thinks was lighter fluid over his car and setting it alight. Fortunately, he happened to walk past his window just after it went "whump", so he was able to extinguish it pretty quickly - you may say foolishly rather than fortunately, but it was right beside the house & he just thought of avoiding a complete disaster. Anyway, I called round at lunchtime to see him & we looked at the car. From 10 feet away you can't really see anything, and what marks there are on the paintwork seem to be sort of tar/soot deposits rather than actual scorching - the little blotches seemed to come off with a warm soapy cloth & some elbow grease. He'll be washing it thoroughly today to get a better idea of whether there's any serious pitting/blistering. Unfortunately, the rear wheelarch did partly melt and shrivel, so while it didn't actually drip onto the tyre & set it alight (which would probably have meant the whole car going up), it will definitely need replacing, as it's nearly half its original size - is this possible without replacing the whole bumper? Any thoughts of whether he'll end up needing a respray, or if a T-Cut and polish might be adequate would be very welcome. Can lighter fluid have a corrosive effect on paintwork even without combusting?
Another concern I have is that the fluid was thrown onto the roof of the car at the rear and set alight as it ran down over the rear windscreen (then down over the bootlid and into the wheelarch). As I said, it was extinguished within less than a minute, but I'm concerned about the effect on the glass of the rear windscreen - I know that toughened glass, if affected by fire, will shatter into hundreds of little crystals rather than big shards. At the moment his windscreen is in one piece but I would be concerned that its integrity may have been compromised, especially as he has two young children - don't like the idea of them being showered in glass going over a speed bump. Am I right to think he should try to replace it, or just being a bit paranoid? I appreciate that it can't be seen here, but if I tap it with a fingernail it seems to "sound" more brittle than the other windows, if that makes sense. I'd be very grateful for any advice or technical input on any of the above.
It's a Peugeot 406 saloon, blue metallic paint.
andymc Read more
Thanks for the replies, I feel a bit reassured. I should have been clearer about the wheelarch - it's the inner part of the wheelarch that's normally hidden from view unless you hunker down and look in above the wheel, or that you would see when changing the wheel. I guess if any of the fluid had managed to burn through the seals around the boot and then penetrate through to the interior it would have gone up pretty quickly after that. I spoke to my friend a little earlier this evening and he said he'd used T-Cut to remove the rest of sticky deposits, so he's happy enough with the result.
We think it was lighter fluid because the same kids sprayed it on a random passer-by and threatened to "light her up", before laughing and moving on to (by chance) my friend's car. Fortunately, the same kids were dumb enough to buy it from the CCTV-covered filling station shop down the road, so hopefully they'll be taken out of circulation for a bit fairly sharpish. Why the shop assistant felt it was okay to sell it to them is another question. Anyway, I know I'm now getting things off my chest, but I didn't intend this to be a social commentary thread, so I'll just wrap up by saying thanks again for the input, especially regarding the glass.
andymc
Some surprising bids at Enfield yesterday. A G reg Rover 216 auto in white with unwarranted miles made £360. An H reg Rover 216 GTi SOHC, in flame red and rust, with 125k miles and doors that wouldn't lock, made £310. An A reg (yes, 1983, that makes it 20 years old) Cavalier in sewage green started at £1 and went up in £1 bids....all the way to £65! One of the auctioneers remarked that he'd just lost the will to live at this point. When a G reg Cavalier 1.8 in some unremarkable colour came in, the auctioneer could see what was going on and started it at £100, it made something around £250.
What is the matter with people, they seem so desperate to buy old lumps of scrap like this? Read more
Would be nice to know what BCA charge the vendors of these cars.
It must cost close to £100 to auction these cars (entry fees/commision). Why auction a 1983 Cavalier ?
The company I work for auction all of thier P/ex's and just recently have stopped auctioning anything older that 1992 because of the low prices fetched. Now its straight to the scrapyard.
Seems criminal to me because some are half decent cars with some life left in them.
Bought a new tax disc yesterday and noticed they have changed them to incoporate more security measures presumably to prevent copying - foil inserts, new colours, barcode etc. Unfortunately the date when it expires is printed in gold! Result you can hardly see the print when the tax disc is in place.
Can the barcode be scanned to check the disc is in the correct car - i.e. stop people nicking the disc and changing the reg written on it? Read more
Quite unintentionally, the bar code on my new disc is obscured nicely by the windscreen manufacturers marking.
I agree about the poor legibility of the date in comparison to the previous design, and they call this progress?!
PP
Hye
I am hoping someone can help me with an engine problem on a Vauxhall Astra Merit 1.4. When driving there is an intermittent loss of power which is quite scary and dangerous. The car is fine while stationary. I have had the car tested firstly by the AA, who suggested I have the car Krypton tuned (no fault found), then at an advanced diagnostics center (no faults found). So far the car has had all plugs changed, all filters replaced, new distributor, rotor arm ect ect. The final repalcement was the ECU and still the fault is there. Is there anything else that can be checked please, as I am at the end of the road, so to speak? I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars, and its cost me a lot of money up to now. I hope someone can help. Read more
Thanks for all the help. Ive read the post and it sounds just like my car. Ive run it on a full tank for the past couple of days without a problem.
I am new to diesel,and was wondering whether anyone can shed any light on diesel cars.
I have a 1993 Toyota Carina E diesel,and the problem I have is when stationary and the engine is idling after warm-up,the steering wheel vibrates when its in the straight normal position,if you turn the steering wheel slightly right or left,it reduces dramatically. When the car is being driven,there is no noticeable vibration,it is only when stationary. When sitting in stationary traffic it is very annoying,and the only way to reduce it,is to touch the accelerator pedal and rev it very slightly. Have tried increasing idle speed,but then the problem I encounter is that,in the morning when the auto choke comes on,the engine seems to be revving very fast until warm up.
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You have rear engine mount about to, or has failed, thus the excessive vibration. Regards Peter
Browse
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I think you'll find most alloys fitted to production cars offer little weight advantage over steels. The alloy used is not the super light and thin magnesium as used on race cars. The alloy used is lighter per unit volume than steel but has to be much thicker to give strength as it is very brittle.
The weight saving even with the best road alloys is likely to be undone by the weight of a full tank of fuel or the weekly tesco shopping. I also doubt you'd notice any difference in normal road driving anyway.