January 2004
I got my primera last april full service on purchase previously was show car for local nissan dealer, its now on 87,000 so i'm thinking shall i give it a small service now (oil,filter,sparkplugs) or wait until end april when it needs mot and give it a full service with engine tune? Read more
Does Honest John look a bit retro in the top LH picture? I used to trade cars in auctions in the Seventies and he looks like a typical dealer of that time. Would you buy a used car from this man? :) Read more
I\'ve removed all other replies to this thread, and it has been write locked to prevent further comments.
I know most of you posted in good humour, but don\'t bite the hand that feeds you - or in this particular case, don\'t mock the bloke who provides a free forum for you.
--
Dynamic Dave
Back Room Moderator
Basic replace-the-front-brakes question for my Corolla 2000:
Where would HJ readers get a complete front discs & pads replaced?
* Manufacturers dealer
* Kwik-Fit etc
* or buy manufacturers parts myself, and get local service place to fit ?
Are there any drawbacks to using \'non\' Toyota brakes parts ? Read more
Note that this can be a problem with main dealers too. The fitters are often on commission ( mate's lad who's a fitter at the local Vauxhall agents picks up a few £k a year through 'selling' parts)
Hi
First post on here. Wife has a 97 306 meridian which has developed a strange voltage problem. Essentially the interior instruments brighten with increasing RPM and vice versa. Temp gauge has also become voltage dependant, with increasing loads, (lights,heaterblower) causing it to rise. I assumed this was the alternator voltage reg but a test at the battery sees 14.5v stable with the engine running. Switching on absolutely everything shows no fluctuation in voltage with it dropping a tad to around 14.3V. Therefore what I want to know is, is there another voltage regulator withing the car? Or am I missing something.
Matt Read more
If that is not you prob then measure the voltage on the Instrument panel fuse to see if it is the same as the battery voltage, It may be you have a low voltage in this fault mode and the brightening is only when the voltage comes up to its proper voltage Cheers.
It seems most people are using these the wrong way round, ie. with the pointy end forward. Apparently a strong vacuum is formed behind the flat back end if the wedge is pointing forward. However flipping the box so that the thin end is at the back, allows the slipstreamed air to taper off nicely, creating less drag overall.
The opposite of what you might expect at first glance.
Of course you may prefer to keep the thin end forward to avoid people pointing and laughing "look Daddy, they've got their top box on back-to-front."
Anyone else heard this? (or been brave enough to try it!).
Stu.
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Quite right, HE. Interesting link, too - thanks.
"For those who remember the Alfasud and Citroen GS.."
I do indeed, having owned both. I had the estate GS which was regularly used to ferry daughter (and all her worldly goods) to and from University, and it went just as fast fully laden as when empty. The suspension helped, of course, but it was amazingly slippery for a relatively small car.
2 days ago I was sat in Manila Airport carpark with the engine running, waiting for a friend to come in from Brunei, cold San Miguel in hand, aircon on full blast (34 C out there), reading the paper and having a jolly good laugh at the idiocy of the campaigns for the upcoming Presidential elections, when the aircon started to blow warm. I fiddled with it, turned the engine on and off, no joy. This is a 2 month old car and I\'m thinking \"warranty claim already?
After a few minutes of all this the announcement the plane had landed came over, so I got out the steering wheel lock in readiness to go to the terminal and, in order to fit it, had to straighten the steering wheel. Instantly the aircon came back nice and icy.
Now then, the assumption is because I had parked with my front wheels off centre the power steering had been at work, ergo not enough horsepower to drive the aircon. Therefore the question is, is it not a good idea to park on idle with the front wheels other than straight in the sense the power steering is working to no result? I\'ve had more air-conned cars over the years than my secretary used to get ladders in her tights and I haven\'t come across this one before.
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Is this the new Ford, Big G?
If so, I'd feel a return visit to the attractive young
lady at the dealership would be in order to demonstrate the
"feature"?
:o)
Terry
Any excuse, I suppose. I don't get the feeling it's any kind of fault, but that it's somehow a feature. Rest of the time it blasts icy air, which is a good job since the San Miguel holders are situated right in front of the centre air outlet. I will try it on GRowlette's (she's got similar model slightly older) when she returns from her needlework classes....I'm driving up country this weekend and an a/c-less car is not an option at this time of year.
VW are introducing a new entry level diesel to the Golf. A 2 litre non turbo unit with 75PS output (2.0 SDi). Why should they choose this over the 1.4 turbo unit which has the same output, far superior torque and lower emissions? Is it purely cost? Read more
The guy from VW (Paul?) posted just before Xmas saying look out for something big coming from VW around Easter time with their diesels. Surely this wasn't it?
www.iht.com/articles/124902.html
"Subaru car is becoming a 'truck' to sidestep U.S. fuel rules"
Only in America - the Outback is to become a 'truck', so it can continue to be nice & polluting ! Bit like all those double-cab truck things that are sprouting up everywhere over here - since they're trucks as far as the VAT man is concerned they're cheaper to run than your Mr Farmers Off-Road vehicle - nice to know where your tax goes !
:-)) Read more
>> Taxman makes rules, any sensible man in the street plans
legitimate
>> avoidance. Logical evolutionary event. Crew cabs make excellent sense, especially
with
>> 4WD and BULL_bars....
>>
And a nice big V8 burbling away under the hood/bonnet/front bit.
The bigger the better! No substitute for cubes.
Don't you just hate it when somebody thinks that they know everything there is to know, or at least more than the layman, about a subject, just because they work in a related field?
I've had an arguement with a friend who doesn't know the first thing about Porsches of the 70's and 80's, about the engine of the much maligned 924. As us back roomers know, it is a direct transplant of the VW lt van engine, however as my friend works (selling advertising) for a small specialist motorsports magazine, he thinks he by right knows better than me... "They wouldn't just take the same engine... it'd be a modified version... it's a SIMILAR engine, or BASED ON the van engine but not identical" etc. I repeat the only Porsche this guy could recognise in the street is the 911.
Guy's who's right here? I'm asserting that it is exactly the same engine in both vehicles - the torque used for pulling a van was hoped to equate to enough power to pull the birds with a 'poor mans Porsche' and they hooked it up in the 924 'as is' - am I right or not? Read more
Ha! Ha! this all reminds me of when i went with a freind to collect some door handles & locks for his 83 924 in total it came to just under £300 the dearest being the rear as it passes throught he rear glass,anyway as we were struggling to fit the 2 front one's another freind happens along and points out that he has 2 locks for a Lt that would fit . I laughed as my mate was bickering with the smug parts assisant to get his money back ,but no .He said "i'm sorry sir we can't refund on special order parts" ...Phew i did'nt know those old Lt*** i mean 924's could go that quick on the way back.....with the "new" locks tinkling in the back OoopS!
After posting on the 'I have a question thread' [important email virus bit at the bottom, advise people to read] I got the above error message? Have I hacked into a secret world of HonestJohn? Or should I just go to bed? ;-)
Kev [Going back to uni tomorrow, so au revoir for a while] Read more
It was a trick - I lied - You can never escape the revenge of the helicopter.....
Browse
I have done mant times what Stokie says, after the first service (10K ish) when the engine has bedded in I have done interim oil and filter changes on my cars, ie Fiat Coupe service interval 12k, extras change done at 6k, Golf service interval 10k, extra change at 5k.... Use a manufacturers filter and sump plug and the same oil and torque the sump plug up properly and warranty will be unaffected, and you end up with a longer lasting engine for minimal effort/cost.