November 2003
Hi y'all.
just a quicky,
The front nearside headlight has blown this morning - ive got replacements ready at home to put in. Bought the new Osram Silver Super high power a while ago but never got round to changing them.
But advise please on whether its neccessaery to get a garage to adjust the headlight beam after just replacing the bulbs.
Its the H4 2 fillament type with the 3 prongs that just unclip and pop out.
I intend to replace them with the uttermost care so as not to move the reflector, so would back roomers suggest getting the allignment checked, is this likely to upset the alignment, or will it not have changed (how easy is it to knock out of place?)
The MOT was only last month and the lights were correcly alligned then.
Car is 92 Ford Escort
Incidently, isnt it annoying how the little things go wrong just AFTER an MOT/service!!!
Cheers
Dave
Oh, and yes i am going to replace both at the same time! :) Read more
I'm currently working a contract in the IT department of Social Services. We have just been discussing the merits of better ways to punish thieves, muggers, and low life in general. A finger chopped off per offence, and bringing back the stocks were the best ideas put forwards.
The guys then got onto the subject of how motorists are persecuted with fines etc, and one of the guys came up with a suggestion that I quite liked.
If you were caught speeding, or jumping a red light, you should be stopped at the scene (would obviously only work if there were more traffic police and not greed cameras) and made to hand your keys over, and be deprived the use of your car for 24 hours.
What other alternative punishments would the backroomers like to see? Read more
No opinion on speeders - but for convicted drink drivers - who i have zero respect for, for personal reasons, I think that we should program a block similar to a car size and weight that travels towards the offender - and sometimes the controller for the block will stop in plenty of time, sometimes it'll just nudge the offender, and others it makes a mess! Drastic maybe - but the offender was willing to carry out the same kind of risk for other road users when they were driving so why not put them infront of the risk too.
Don't know if anyone has made reference to this site before.
Found it interesting but off course subjective.
www.secureyourmotor.gov.uk/cars/cartheftrating1.asp
By providing your make and model the site will use RAG status to indicate the risk of theft for your motor categorised by year from 1987 to 2001.
Might be worth a look if you think you are being hit hard (relatively speaking - harder than others) for insurance.
Leon Read more
The website gives an idea of the chance of a car being stolen based on the number of cars stolen as a percentage of the number of that particular car on the road - a more common older car is more likely to get nicked. Autoexpress has details of the security ratings for all cars which is based on how easy they are to break in to and how quickly they can be hotwired and driven off. For example the smart has a low rating on the above website (very few about and who would want to nick one!), but in autoexpress it scores just one and two stars for the ease at which it can be broken in to and driven off.
www.wreckedexotics.com/newphotos/weird/weird286.sh...l
Don\'t know if I have done the link correct, and I know that there have been links to wrecked exotics recently, but as this was the subject of various threads previously, thought it might be \"good\" to see what we were discussing!
(In case I have done it wrong, its all the new Volvos and Beemers that sank to the bottom of the sea!
(link amended. See instructions in Announcements on how to post links. DD) Read more
Couple of questions. Firstly why does the air filter have a hose connecting it to the oil filler cap ? Secondly as these engines are notorious for turning the oil into mayonaise how often should I change the oil ? Is it worth using cheap oil and changing it more often to keep flushing it out ? Read more
oops, didn't carry on the sentence.
... so they should last the life of the engine.
As I have mentioned previously, I have a "51" reg Scenic dci which I am very disappointed with the engine. I know Renault Family sing the praise of its successor in the Laguna with the 120bhp and 6 speed box.
Reading on Ford's website about the C max with their diesel engine and it looks good.
Anyone have experience of both of these? Read more
Can anyone give me step by step instructions on how to remove the standard radio/cassette from a T Reg Toyota Picnic. It has the standard \"face off front\".
Do I look to slip the radio removal tools down the side once I have taken the front panel off? Someone has once told me that the actual radio is secured by a bolt behind the dashboard?
Any clues? Read more
R-F is pretty much right the best thing to do is try the tools out.It can be a pain getting them out but then it may pop out no problem.I don`t know what tool is supplied to remove it as some face off`s use a double spike on each side others use a single plate about 10 mm wide 2/3 mm thick.should not be too much of a problem though.let me know how you get on
A couple of months back I managed to "blow" the turbo on my TDI Leon. BTW - I had carried out a 30000 service myself using genuine Seat parts and castrol oil. Therefore technically voiding my warranty. Interestingly, when I complained to Seat that I would not expect a turbo to die at just over 30000 they were happy enought to carry out the repair under warranty, as long as I had the car serviced at the dealership to re-instate the warranty.
But to my question. I was considerably over the national speed limit when this happened. Power faded, I gave her a bit more juice but nothing happened, car continued to slow, dropped from 5th gear to 4th gear, no more power in 4th, loud pop followed by masses of smoke from the exhaust. I knocked the car out of gear (not clever I know) and coasted across onto the hard shoulder.
Leoness bravely towed me home and on giving the motor the once over, I noticed the oil was off the dipstick. Took a guess that the oil seals had gone on the turbo which sucked the oil out of the engine and blew it down the exhaust.....
Dealership had the car for a week they confirmed the turbo had possibly over boosted causing the seals to fail. They replaced the turbo and other parts with new ones. I asked about consequences regards other damage being caused which may only become evident with time. The Service manger stated these would be covered by warranty.
My warranty has now expired and there have been no obvious after effects. Incidentally a number of sensors were replaced during the repair, resolving an un-diagnosed fault I had complained about from new.
Have racked up another 30,000 since, car does not loose oil or behave any way strangely. Any obvious things I should be keeping an eye on as I don't intend to change this motor for a good few years yet.
Leon Read more
have a look at my contributions to
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=59...8
Time for a rant...
Ploughing my way up the M6 just north of J36 tonight, I came across a STUPID FOREIGN LORRY DRIVER in his 38T artic driving in the outside (3rd) lane of the M6.
Typically, he was trying to pass Mr 40MPH HGV in lane 2, who was overtaking Mr 39.9MPH HGV in lane 1, whilst going up a very long hill.
How damn ignorant can you get ?
How the hell can foreign lorry drivers get THAT far away from Dover without realising they aren't allowed in that lane, even IF it is their first time in the UK ?????
Oh, and he even gave me a V-sign for honking and flashing him !!!
Rant over. Read more
Can vouch for the effectiveness of this kit, I used my bluetooth kit once to report a car on fire next to my street, after one push of the button and speaking "999" into the mic I was connected to the control room. Fantastic bit of kit. :-)
Blue
I have a 3year old 42k mile ML430. I've had it a couple of weeks and the fuel consumption is worse than my previous ML430 (i.e. terrible). It smells like it is running rich all the time and even when fully warmed up the exhaust still smells 'rich' and slighly smoky. I am guessing something could be wrong with the oxygen sensor or the connections. Has anyone had anything similar? And anyone know of a MB specialist near Windsor, rather than get the MB garage to do it?
Thanks.
PB. Read more
It was the Oxygen sensor. Had to go to the MB garage in the end who seemed to spend a long time testing everything. I don't know if that was strictly necessary as apparently the ECU did show the sensor fault. Hefty bill unfortunately.
"How would you like to pay sir?"
"Through the nose please."
PB.
Browse
No, shouldn't necessary to re-align the lights. The 3 prongs will positively locate the bulbs, and the alignment is set by a number of bolts.
Take heed of the advice not to touch the bulbs, and if you do carefully clean the surface with meths to remove your fingerprints, or the bulbs may get hot spots and shatter.
RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....