January 2004
Me in cynical mode again (yes, yet again I know) but are wing mirror repeater type indicators of any real benefit or is their apparently growing popularity amongst car makers a way to extract more money from customers ? Having had a car fail an MOT for a repeater which "wasn't orange enough" some years ago and knowing how common it is for wing mirrors to get knocked/damaged I can't help thinking that a lot of people are going to find they have to replace entire costly wing mirror units rather than simply pop down to Halfords for a new 'stick on' glass. Of course you pays your money and you takes your choice but if all cars are going to be built this way, sooner or later we won't have a choice. Read more
Hello all,
My heater fan has stopped working on my 97 passat. Fuse ok.
I believe that it is probably a loose connection somewhere as it has come on for a couple of seconds, then gone off again.
Does anyone know where the heater fan is located and a possible cause of this problem?
Has anyone else had this problem?
Many Thanks. Read more
Probably faulty fan motor .v.common problem on passat/A4.Easy to access behind glove box ,only minus point is the price-over £200!!Also good idea to check pollen filter ,they get blocked v.quickly & cause motor to overheat.(located next to battery under plastic cover)
The wheels on my old jetta are 6J 14" (4 stud). Does the 'J' stand for the PCD of the wheel bolt holes? I.e. can I fit any other 6J 4 stud wheels to it?
Many thanks Read more
The the 6 defines the width (in inches) and the J defines the shape of the cross section of the wheel rim - the area where the tyre sits. It does not define the PCD of the bolt holes, wheel offset or anything else, so you can't assume another 6J wheel will fit. J is one of the most common sections,but there are others.
Regards
John S
Hi
Thought I'd start a new thread as my reply would be lost among the MINI insurance stuff. Can't mail you as your profile is hidden...
The silver indicator vents are available from MINI Spares (carmad links to it on his thread) and also on eBay - usually they're there for £40 or sometimes in an auction - do a search for BMW MINI on eBay.co.uk
e.g.
cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2452...6
HTH,
--
Lee
MINI adventure in progress Read more
Hi there,
I'm still looking for a Mondeo. I've found a 2000V 2.0 Ghia X for £2995 on Autotrader, with 90,000 miles. I was assuming the price was down to the mileage - although the miles dont bother me, I'm sure not many people would buy a V plate car with that many miles on it. I've tried valuing the car using What Car?'s mileage adjusted valuations, and they place it at £3300 Dealer (Which this car is), £2800 private and £1500 trade (Which I assume is auction rate as well as tradein price).
However, I'm not quite sure I trust it, as it also reckons a 50k 1998R 2.0 Ghia X is worth a staggering £4100 Dealer, £3500 Private and £2500 trade. Why would a 2 year newer car be worth £1000 less simply becuase of another 40k?
Does anyone know if the What Car? values are spot on or not? How much would you say a 2000V with 90k on the clock would be worth a) At a dealer and b) At a BCA auction?
The other thing I'm thinking is whether it would be worth going for, even if its in decent condition and at a decent price. I've currently got Joe Dowd from Auctioncarbuyer on the lookout for a nice Ghia X at auction for me, although they are pretty thin on the ground through auction as well as in the Autotrader (At least what I've found anyway).
If this 2000V I've found is a decent car, would you recommend I go for that, or hang on and see what I get from auction? Am I likely to get a better/equivilent car at a much better price that way?
Thanks :) Read more
I make three of us young un's [uns?] in favour of Mondeos! Looking at buying one in a few months, gunna hopefully stretch to the just old new shape [P reg] 1.8GLX or something.
My dad has 2.0Ghia, v nice car, not broke down in 3/4 years, since he bought it and it's an L reg!
Big up the Mondeo, bo!
Kev
Many moons ago, my father taught me that when removing or refitting a car battery, always disconnect the positive lead second, and reconnect it first.
The reason?
If, whilst swinging the spanner round to do/undo terminal posts you touch the bodywork or engine, no short circuit will be completed. Think about it, and he's right.
I gave this advice to a friend at the weekend, whose car has a poorly accessible battery. A few minutes later, when, with cold and numb fingers, the ratchet handle was dropped, and free-wheeled down to touch against the bulkhead whilst still connected to the positive post, he was somewhat grateful not to have an exploding battery, or fire, on his hands!
Just thought I'd pass the trick on. Read more
Thanks Hawkeye - I knew it wasn't as simple as just undoing the terminals and letting them dangle.
I like the Marigold glove - easy to forget that with the back-up supply connected, the positive terminal is still live.
Here's another bit of live-wiring trickery. How to undo the thick live wire to the starter motor, eg for replacement, while maintaining back-up voltage? Wrap the spanner in a rag (glove even better) and then pop the live cable up an old radiator hose.
www.channel4.com/apps26/4car/jsp/main.jsp?lnk=211&...6
After recent troubles, I guess a quick cash fix had to be found, but wonder if this really is the slippery slope, at least for UK production. For a company that from personal experience brings the excellent 75/ZT (and though not from personal experience, the apparently fantastic V8 versions of the latter) that would be a shame (even if balanced by the apparently woeful City Rover).
Read more
Probaly they are setting up in India like everybody else.
After all they are already part of the way there with the new exciting City Rover.
Hello again folks
My 1989 Golf 1.6 GTD is comimg up for it's MoT and will need a rear wheel bearing and possibly rear shocks. Obviously, prices vary from garage to garage but I'd appreciate a ball park figure for how much this work may cost.
I'm in Orpington if that helps with the pricing.
Thanks in anticipation
Rob
PS - In case you're wondering, I'm reluctant to contact a local garage without having a vague idea of how much it should cost. If that makes sense! Read more
Thanks, all, for your help.
Sadly Ben, I don't know what I'm doing! Basic servicing is just about my limit. Many thanks for the offer of the bits. I'm a little worried that putting 16v dampers on may be classed as a 'modification' by my insurance company though.
mech1 - well, well, well. Another BackRoomer in sunny Orpington, eh? I'll mail you later on, as you may still be able assist!
Thanks again
Rob
Hi to Forum, my assistant at work has a 1.4 fiesta (poss. 1999/2000 model). She surprised me today by saying that for the last 6 months she has been struggling with her Fiesta but was too embarrassed to ask for advice!. Basically the gear stick doesn't follow the standard shift pattern and is very floppy. It can be put into each gear without any trouble - she has gotten used to it now - but she is thinking os selling it soon and would like to have it sorted out. It reminded me of a problem I had years ago with my Talbot Solara which had about fifty selector rods and springs and all sorts of ball joints to get the damn thing through the gears - one day one of the balljoints popped out of a socket and I could only get a certain gear/ The Fiesta only appears to have a rod and some form of stabiliser shft/rod so this can not be the problem here - can the problem be cured as a DIY job (ie replace gear shaft rod(s) or is it a gearbox problem best left to Uncle Henry (Ford) - amusingly my work colleague has just admitted that she has a mechanic uncle called Uncle Henry! Thanks in advance. Read more
ah! read the question before responding!
Having travelled many times to the Czech Republic in the past six years, it struck me over our Christmas holiday trip how much the mix of metal has changed in that time, and with this, a shift of attitude towards car ownership. Originally, nearly every car in SWMBO\'s backwater home town was a beat up, ancient, rear engined Skoda, the odd Favorit or Lada, or one of the few Japs on the road. Average age? A lot.
Now, in her town alone, there are any number of Threes and Fives, just about any VAG offering you care to name (including a W12 six litre A8 as well as the expected Fabias and Octavias), the odd Merc, more and more Hondas and Nissans, and a few Volvo XC70s. Korean Cheapies are moving in on traditional Skoda territory, though Ford is conspicuous by almost total absence.
Domestic building infrastructure still has a drab, neglected air to it, (though a fortune is being spent on public buildings it seems) and whatever has brought relative personal wealth in advance of EU membership has been massively spent on cars. If anything, this is showing signs of increasing at an even faster rate in the future, and a straw poll of friends shows most motors to be imported second hand up to four years old from Germany.
The roads are still usually empty, and the main ones are of good quality, though for how long now on either count? Connex run the local bus company though, and Tescos are springing up everywhere, so it is becoming more like home from home each time we go, even without congestion and worn out roads!
Shifting the goal posts a little, you might expect Prague to be in advance of the rest of the country, which it is, but even so I was amazed at the number of new model stretched Seven Series Beemers (all with totally blacked out windows and my-rims-are-bigger-diameter-than-yours attitude), top spec new Merc 600s, and even Porsche Cayennes (not a single one of which was a non turbo) yesterday.
Out of interest (and without comments about our inept Government\'s attempts to get us off the road in the UK!), has any other Backroomer seen such a motoring shift first hand in any other part of the world, in recent times? Read more
Hi again SjB - same story in Slovakia which as you know is still a bit behind the Czech Republic after they split away taking all the good stuff with them (well that's Mrs V's version of the facts anyway:-)).
On honeymoon saw loads of nice cars in Bratislava, The Tatras Mountains and even Banska Bystrica as well as the obligatory Tesco's. I know from the in-laws that some people are doing very well but most are not and prices are going up almost as fast as the new buildings! Still very good value for money for us though.
Browse
And Citroen DS's had them at roof level - just at the back, I grant you, but indicators were fairly new themselves in those days.