December 2003
It\'s been happening for a while now - the front suspension creaks.
This happens when I go over the speed bumps in the work\'s car park - five of the things - which I cross at about 10~15mph. It also happens on the speed reduction bumps and tables on the highway.
I thought that the creak was heard mainly inside the car but I wound the windows down and get a quite loud creak from outside the car.
It doesn\'t creak on normal road surfaces and under normal driving conditions.
Any thoughts? Should I take the car to the dealer for a look? Read more
Reading the AutoExpress article on the woes of the 'new' Indicar Rover thing, and HJ's listing of the price on the new FIAT Panda - effectively putting Rover's pricing to shame, what happened to the 25/45 replacement, based on the Rover TCV concept ? I know the deal with the Chinese company Brilliant went off; didn't they outsource the production design of this car to another company that went bust or something ? How has it taken them so long to do this ?
Seems mad - Rover putting lots of effort into V8 MG's, funny Indian small cars etc - when Joe Public would like a Focus sized car !!
Anyone have that funny feeling we are seeing the last gasps of British-owned volume car production here ! Read more
It won't be here until 2005. Engineering has apparently been completed but not the exterior, as MGR are now talking to another Chinese company about cooperating on it. However, there are other things in the pipeline...
This afternoon my wife had her first bump ever in her Maestro Turbo. Coming out a supermarket carpark onto a main road she had a 4X4 in front of her waiting to pull out.
When clear he began to move out into the road. Wife began to follow and glanced to the right to ensure the road was still clear. It was and she began to follow. Unfortunately the 4X4 had stopped and she ran into the back of it at a speed of approx 5MPH. Blame obviously has to be apportioned to my wife. They got the vehicles into the carpark and I was telephoned to attend.
The headlight and indicator glass on her car was broken where she struck the bumper. The man was quite amiable and we exchanged insurance details
The 4X4 had remarkably just a pinole through the bumper presumably by a piece of glass however he said he would want the whole bumper replaced. He also said his neck was stiff?. My wife said the same about her own.
Rang my insurance company tonight and they will ring me back tomorrow with details of where to take the car for repair.
The car is insured in my name and I have just been studying the schedule. There is protected no claims and a £200.00 excess. I have just been looking at the damage to the car and could easily repair myself.
But would there be any point in doing this when the other driver will obviously be making a claim.
By luck or judgement I have never made or been involved with an insurance claim before in 46 years of driving and any advice would be gratefully received. As they will be contacting me in the morning I presume they will simply tell me where to take the car and that?s it??
alvin
Read more
Hi Alvin
I was replying to another post that questioned whether the excess applied to the third party damage, ie would you be expected to pay the first £200 of the third party damage? The answer as Mark Pointed out later is obviously no. Your insurance would stump up for that.
Also, Adrian, my advice from experience is to tell your insurance company about the stiff neck. Like you I was OK at the time of the accident but 24 hours later I was as stiff as a board! Infact it took me over a year to completely recover with a bit of final help from a physio. I had to have some manual manipulation of my neck. Not to mention the lost hours at my property renovation.
Also, more importantly, if you tell your insurance company that you may have suffered an injury, your whole claim will almost certainly be put into the hands of solicitors, assuming you have the Uninsured Loss Recovery Service extra on your policy. In my experience they are much more successful at closing the deal wrt non injury expenses than competent but overworked claims technicians.
Sorry if there are claims technicians here but it's no the people that fail but the system. My sister was rear ended and it took over a year to sort it out. Apparently the other side did everything they could to drag it out and save a few quid off their premium, even to the extent that the claims adviser suggested she go 50 50 on the liability - absolutely crazy!
The injury claim in my case was assessed by a private physician, arranged through my solicitor and paid for via the Uninsured Loss Recovery Service - so, along with some £3,500 of solicitors fees, I didn't have to pay the costs. This chap reached a justifiable assessment of my injuries and, if anything, they lasted a little longer than he predicted, so I did not feel at all guilty about unnecessarily adding to the litigation culture of the UK.
All the best to both of you.
Hugo
"Forever indebted to experience of others"
Linking to 'Driver Training' post by Vin, and HJs comments on the thread.
Cost from the IAM for the Skills for Life package is currently reduced from £85-00 to £75-00 for drivers under 26 - this includes the required books, no further charge for Observed drives, and the IAM test.
About the cost of a couple of tanks of petrol - or the cost of the flowers I pass on my way to Tesco at accident sites for young drivers.
Matt35. Read more
Bora,
I have passed your comments to the bridge - I am in the engine room - thanks.
Up to this year, we were able to use the Police skid pan but this has been closed, so it might be an idea for next year.
Matt35.
Sorry to everyone, another boring Omega question....
I am in the process of carrying out a 2 year service on an Omega 2.2L 2001my.
The service guide tells me that I have to replace the brake fluid.
The problem is that because my car has ABS,I'm a bit worried that if I do, then I might end up with air in the system that I might not be able to get out without the use of the Tech1 service tool, commonly used to actuate the ABS hydraulic actuator, whilst bleeding the system.
Does anyone have an practical experiences of brake fluid replacement on Omega?
Thanks Read more
I too have used Gunson Easy Bleed for over 10 years. ABS is no problem. I bought it as my wife and I would always argue when I asked her to sit in the car for 45 mins while the job was done.
I usually use it to 'blow' out the old fluid. Then I fill up, and bleed it. Then bleed a second time. Works well. After the blow through, clean the nipple threads and put a tiny tiny smear of copper grease on them, so that in the next 2 years they will not rust in. Dont overtighten, as it is so easy to do.
If you do it manually, the secret is to close the blleed nipple when the peddle is down. This stops air being sucked back in on the peddle upstrock via the nipple threads. I didn't believe this at first, but it is true.
The sequence is open nipple...
peddle down...
close nipple...
peddle up...
open nipple...
down...
and so on.
Stand the fluid upright for a day after purchase to avoid air in suspension. Never re-use fluid. Only buy dot 4, not cheaper dot 3 fluid.
Good luck.
We have a seven seat Mitsubishi Shogun which has given 5 years/80,000 miles of fault free motoring to our family of seven. Whilst the space between the 2nd and 3rd row is adequate, the lack of height from the floor makes them uncomfortable for my children as they grow. They do however, have plenty of head room to spare and it appears geometrically possible to modify the seats to give them more height. Is there anybody who offers a modification to raise the height of the 3rd row seats in LWB 4X4s? Read more
Raise the height of the child instead of the seat by putting a booster cushion under your offspring. Much cheaper.
I was given a peugeot 405 diesel (1905cc non turbo)
. I managed to get it through its MOT ok - but it has a problem with the gearbox. It jumps out of 5th gear at speeds over 60 when you lift your foot completely off the accelerator. 5th engages fine - and it doesn't jump out of 5th at low speeds - or if you are above 60 and ease off the accelerator slightly. I suspected a worn 5th gear and took the car to a gearbox specialist - who also confirmed the box was on its way out.
The other problem I have with the car is I think that the car has already had a new gearbox and maybe the wrong type. I know that two types were fitted to the 405 - the BE1 on early cars - which had a collar on the gearstick which you lifted up to engage reverse - which was over near first - and the BE3 - which had reverse near 5th. The currently fitted box is the BE3 - later one and the car is an Oct 1990 on an 'H' reg.
The gearlever does not sit in the middle position at neutral and is slightly further forward of where it should be. There is no play in the linkage - which looks fine - and was confirmed by a gearbox specialist - who also suspected the wrong 'box was fitted and the linkage might not have been updated when the box was changed.
My question is - which gearbox should an Oct 1990 405 have fitted to it - and if it is the earlier 'box - would it be ok to replace it with the later one - if the full linkage was changed to the later type too? Read more
Many thanks for the help.
What I think I will do now is change the linkage with one I know comes from a BE3 box - from a breakers and then see where the gearlever position is.
Then if there is still a 5th gear problem - change the box for another BE3.
Astra 1.7 DTI 16v Year 2000 (Y17DT Izuzu engine)
On cold mornings the car starts without a hitch but 5-6 seconds later management light comes on. No loss of power, high or low revs or any other symptoms.
Stop the engine 10-15 minutes later, remove the key, wait 15-20 seconds, restart and all is ok and management light stays off.
It all points to a glowplug (pig to get to the connectors to test) but it starts from freezing cold on the button (brake light bulbs are both fine they are linked with low resistance circuit with glowplugs).
Trawled through the forums but this engine seems to be a bit scarce here at the moment. Any pointers would be most welcome. Read more
If the resistance of any of the glow plugs is even slightly high it will trigger a fault code which is described as a 'Glow plug general error'but unfortuneately the diagnostic system is unable to tell you which glow plug.So there is no alternative but to prise off each glow plug connector and ohm test each plug.You should see a uniformly low reading on each.They are expensive (£25 each from dealers) so you probably won't want to renew all four.The connecting plugs are easily broken unless you pull them at exactly the right angle.Lastly the plugs can be difficult to remove and have a habit of breaking off in the cylinder head(expensive to fix).Specialist job?
David Davies (Tune-Up Raglan)
My 10yr old car needed a new cat recently, though interestingly it wasn't because the matrix had collapsed or become contaminated but because the can had rotted through -- a good reason for cleaning the underbody during the winter ! Read more
< At 10 years old it might make sense to consider one of the cheaper pattern makes available, rather than getting an original replacement. >
That was my thought too, and I asked the garage to source a cheapo cat. He got one from a well-known VW aftermarket parts supplier for £210, the manufacturer's one being £259. Unfortunately the inlet flange for connecting it to the manifold was at the wrong angle, and there was no port for the lambda probe -- you're expected to drill and tap your own.
The mechanic finally lost his rag with it and sent it back to the supplier saying he would not be buying another from them. The VW one went in with no problems at all. You pays your money . . .
My R-plate A6 1.8T (petrol) seems to be guzzling the gas these days.
An 80 mile round trip to work and back home uses a quarter of a tank, and based on a 60-litre refill equates roughly to 22-24 mpg.
Could the cold weather be boosting the petrol use? Read more
Seems normal then, I just hadn't noticed it before then.
What with the Supra doing around 20mpg and the Landy at 16mpg, let's just say I'm not the Earth's greatest friend.
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Anti roll bar bushes could be worn. When they get too bad it is an MOT fail. Spray em with WD40. This wont cure the problem but will make the creaking go away for a day. To get the old ones out takes brute force with a lump hammer and bolster, smashing them up as you go, not a pleasent job.