December 2003
Panic phonecall from the wife at 3pm today - the car made a noise, the power steering went and there was some smoke...
I race into town from work (Thanks boss!) with a few tools and a tow rope.
I get into the local hospital road network and find the car parked, neatly blocking the road. Still, it was chock-a-block with nose to tail traffic so no real harm done.
Lift the bonnet and my suspiscions are confirmed. The serpentine drivebelt has disintegrated.
Lots of strands lying around the pullies. No real way of retrieving them at the roadside so it was a tow home.
Got the car into the workshop tonight and my worst fears are also confimed.....upon removal of the cambelt cover, belt strands can be seen wrapped around the crankshaft cambelt sprocket. Luckily for me, the wife had the sense to shut the engine down right away and not to attempt a restart,; I think (I hope!!!) this sensible action has avoided a cambelt slip...
When I get time to strip it out, I'll update you all. Fingers crossed.....
PS When I looked over the car the weekend before last, the belt appeared to be none the worse for wear - it was only replaced 18 month sago together with the cambelt. Looks like I'll be doing it all over again. I'll be happy aslong as there is no engine damage.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words..... Read more
Did anybody else read the report in Monday's Daily Mail regarding the bride who was going to the church riding side saddle passenger on one of those odd three wheeled motorbikes?
Her wedding dress caught up in the chain and damaged her legs so badly that they needed amputation. This is a tragic accident, but how many safety lectures do people need? Read more
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003...l
Seems she also lost her father 2 months ago ...
No doubt the safety crowd will now descend on motorbikes (and trikes) when the real lesson is don't go near exposed machinery with loose clothing.
can the varying thicknesses of head gaskets affect the engine power and or boost of the engine? Read more
yea just reassuring myself. I replaced the head on my pug 306 1.9d and replaced the gasket with the thickest 5 notch and have noticed a reduction in engine boost. Everything is working fine but i like this reassurance that it is to be expected. Thanks again.
Is the BR the most active car forum in the UK?
We already know it is the best :-) Read more
I have taken the HJ plea to heart and now look at least one of the flyers whenever I surf the site, generally one of the car manufacturers. This is concurrent with listening to a CD of Leadbelly in the computer CDRom, performing 'Goodnight Irene'. What better way to wind down.
Backroomers,
I would appreciate your views on my insurance dilemma. It?s a bit long winded but please bear with me as I really don't know what to do for the best.
I am a named driver on my Wife?s insurance (Ford Galaxy insurance of approx. £500 a year) and she is a named driver on my insurance (Ford Escort insurance cost of approx. £250 a year). We both have protected full no claims.
Between us we have had three claims over the last two years (1 mine and two for her):
1. I hit a deer and dented my bonnet (not deliberately!)
2. Rachel hit the back of a car in slow queuing traffic (no obvious damage but the driver of the car in front claimed for whiplash.
3. We woke up one morning to find the Galaxy with a large dent (£700 worth) that had been inflicted some time during the night.
I have now been involved in a motorway shunt where the driver who went into the back of me drove off before I could note his registration, so I have no one to claim from. I reckon my car has about £900 of damage (if repaired to insurance standards) but could be patched up for about £500. If I claim it could be written off as it is an M reg. Escort with 110,000 miles.
Thanks for getting this far, here comes the questions..
A. As I am a name driver on my wife?s policy will another claim by me have it have an impact on both of our policies?
B. In peoples experience would I be better off stumping up the £500 and not claiming. My policy excess is £100.
C. If I claim and the car is written off, is it usually a reasonable idea to buy back the car from the insurance company and then patch it up?
Thanks in advance for any comments.
Jon
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>>A. As I am a name driver on my wife?s policy will another claim by me have it have an impact on both of our policies?
Potentially yes. One one policy because of the claim, on the other policy because of your claims experience - bearing in mind that claim or not you are supposed to tell your insurers of the incident. If they are with the same insurance company, its less likely.
A very good guide would be your wife. What happened to the insurance premiums after your wife's two incidents ? If nothing, then you may be lucky.
>>In peoples experience would I be better off stumping up the £500 and not claiming. My policy excess is £100.
If you can get it done for £500, I'd say that was your best bet, but its marginal. Immediate cost is perhaps better to claim. The accident loading is not likely to amount to a huge amount on an Escort. However, if you were to change that Escort in the near future to something more expensive to insure, then it could hurt.
>>C. If I claim and the car is written off, is it usually a reasonable idea to buy back the car from the insurance company and then patch it up?
Not likely.
If you were dealing with the other person's insurance company, then they would have no interest in the car other than then deducting is residual value from the claim payout.
Since it is your own insurance company they are not likely to let you keep the car, if they do, they are not likely to want to insure it. As it is, a lot of insurance companies have a policy of cancelling insurance after a total-loss.
Is it the latest fashion to have out of (order air pumps )in garages ?
I live in Poole Dorset, B.P Out of order 4 months ,so try another garage ,B.P again (o.o.o), Texaco (o.o.o) Shell (o.o.o) .
Then 4 miles later Tesco to the rescue and it was free!.
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"Many stations where I live have a little lady or two in uniform shirt,hot pants and trainers who wheel out a contraption like a Calor gas cylinder on a trolley and go round the tyres doing the needful while the tank is filling up"
My, what a disgustingly low-brow affair!
I think the company which supplied recon. 'nozzles' for the compressors is no longer in business, so when the bozzle/gun get stolen or damaged, that's it.
Watched a bit of 5th Gear yesterday where they tested the BMW M3 and the new M3 something-else on a track.
Two questions:
What does thrashing it round a test track tell us about a car (any car) when 99.9% of the time it will be used on public roads at lower speed? (No BMW driver remarks needed!)
What is the point of reviewing a car that is a limited edition and completely sold out?
Genuine question, if just a bit girly. Read more
I suspect that it is just about "entertainment" and "good" television as people have said above. If you want to find out about "everyday motoring" or whether the new Fiesta is better than the new Clio etc then perhaps this website or a motoring magazine like What Car is the best way to do it. I have to say that I spend a lot longer each week reading all the opinions on this site than I do watching Clarkson etc on TV! I love the Honest John column in the Sat Telegraph but I don't reckon it would make "good" TV. I'm off to bed now - got a book to finish that is far better than the film that's on TV!
I will cut to the chase as some of this was covered in a previous post.
Rear drivers wing and passenger door was scraped on my Scenic. Put it through Esure's authorised repairer.
Got it back a couple of weeks ago.
I noticed on Saturday that although they seem to have feathered it well towards the front of the car ie. I can't see a difference between passenger and driver door, there seems to be a big difference going back the way. The rear wing seems to now be a very distinctly different shade of silver from the painted bumper and the bootlid, which wraps round to meet the wing.
From a previous car repair, on a bright red Clio, I know that the standard seems to be if the difference is visible in "God's light".
Should I expect that the paintwork be "feathered" to the back as well? And onto the plastic bumper?
Or is that just the joy of metallic paint and insurance jobs! I know Pologirl had a running discussion on this, were there any particulars with regard to the paint?
Any advice appreciated.
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It does hit me in the face though maybe I am unconsciously looking for it?
Think I will try another paint place at the weekend and get their opinion.
Thanks for replies so far.
I am after an Alternator for my 2.4i LWB Frontera.
I am having big problems getting one.
Does anyone know if there is another model that can be fitted onto this car, or where I can get hold of one.
Thanks
Mark Read more
Mark,
You might have a 70amp or 90amp fitted at present, should be a Bosch.
I don't think anyone but Vauxhall/Opel fitted either of the two types and the cars you can look for to get a match are...
70a:
1978-82 Vauxhall Royale 2.8/3.0
1984-94 2.5 Vauxhall Senator
1989-94 Vauxhall Carlton 3.0
90a:
1984-87 Vauxhall Senator 2.5/3.0
1987-94 Vauxhall Senator 3.0 24v
1989-93 Vauxhall Carlton 3.0 24v
1984-86 Vauxhall Carlton 2.2
1988-95 Vauxhall Carlton 2.0
Hope that helps. Of course I agree a repair/rebuild by an auto elec guy may be best.
M.M
Like others I mutter that they shouldn't be on the road when encountering some old dear or a man in a hat pottering along at 25mph.
Now I notice that my mother, aged 81, is hardly able to drive competently. She is probably not actually dangerous, yet, just a slow-moving traffic hazzard. Apart from not being able to reverse, her most serious failing is an inability to change down from 3rd to 2nd, I think because of the wrist movement. Her tactic when forced to is to pull into the side of the road and start again.
Should I report her to somebody? DVLA? Doctor? Police? She and my father, who doesn't drive, are totally dependent on the car for their one short shopping trip a week, so being forced off the road would be a major blow to their independence.
Is there an anonamous mechanism for these cases, or will she immediately guess I am to blame and cut me out of her will?
Sorry, this sounds flippant, but is a serious dilema really.
What would you do? Read more
My dad voluntarily gave up his license at 80, because he felt that he may no longer be up to scratch on the road.
Browse
All sorted.
The belt timing had slipped 3 teeth. I feared engine damage.
I had nothing to loose but to refit the belf correctly.
I did so and gingerly turned the key, expecting the worst. The engine burbled into life on all four cylinders....wow!
So, a new belt and tensioner kit (Quinton Hazel - £51+VAT - half the price of Audi parts, plus the tensioner was the EXACT same make as an OE tensioner!), a new auxiliary belt tensioner (£65+VAT) and a new 'fan' belt and all was well.
Needless to say, I'm a happy man.
Well done to Wife for having the sense to shut the engine off at the first sign of trouble, almost certainly avoiding mucho ££££ and hours repairing the engine.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....