January 2004
Happy new year everybody.
I\'ve lost half a litre of coolant in the last 2000 miles from somewhere. So I did a compression test, and all cylinders come up 160psi, within 2 psi. It\'s a mk2 Golf Gti 8v.
Can anyone tell me whether the head gasket looks sound from this, and I should look for the leak elsewhere - or that it ain\'t necessarily so?
Cheers
Rob F
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Very puzzled by photos in today's papers of the bus in which 8 people died yesterday. There's a small pic at the bottom of this article.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3361949.stm
I am amazed at how intact the vehicle is. There seems to be no frontal damage at all, and the doors and side windows are intact. Only things to note are that the windscreen is missing and the roof as been raised a bit (could have happened in the recovery). But it doesn't look to me like a bus that has been rolled at high speed.
I've seen picture of crashed cars that look 3 times worse than this bus, and everyone walked away with just a few scratches.
Odd.
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Just some background info on this one:
In KwaZulu/Natal (KZN), the province where the incident occured, there are some real tiger laws.
In SA in general, anyone in the tourist industry must have a specific drivers license for public conveyance, which is valid for only one year before a re-test. Also, this license has some really strict conditions, ie alcohol level a quarter of the otherwise legal limit etc.
In KZN, commerical vehicles, of this was one, should have a specific plate - different colour to standard plate. As the vehicle involved was Gauteng registered, this doesn't apply, unfortunately.
Too many people are setting themselves up as tourist guides, but not following the laws...
I suspect the driver is looking at a long sentence.
Happy New Year all!
Just wondering if anybody had removed the stock head unit from a 2000(w) Almera.
Any help gratefully received, I've taken masses of trim off and can't reveal the necessary screws!
Cheers
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Change of job imminent and estimated miles pa increased to 20k. Love my Legacy GLS estate on an R plate (my third subaru) but thinking to change due to 'only' averaging 32mpg on mainly fast A roads. I need a similarly sized estate that delivers 40mpg, but will anything come close from a reliability and handling point of view ? I have just invested in 12 months tax, MOT and new tyres and will have to sell the Legacy to finance its replacement(circa 4k max)
I can only think of a Primera as a suitably reliable replacement but do you BRs have any opinions for the sake of an extra 8/10mpg.
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NeilT,
Just out of interest, when you refer to your 'well set up' Montego, were you doing anything like altering springs/dampers/ride height/bushes/anti-roll bars/wheels+tyres, or just ensuring the standard components were in as-new condition??
Hi,
Yea, im definitely taking the Uni route now. Thanks for the advice everyone.
In answer to your question Lee, I did opt for the Mini in the end :D
I went for an all black mini one with quite a few extra\'s - went for sports seats, red and silver interior, 17inch s spoke alloys, air con, sports suspension, salt pack, cooper chrome pack, Cooper S steering wheel, etc..have recently added a kenwood stereo and also a Cooper S spoiler - oh, and some chromed indicator panels.
I am very pleased with the car and its great fun to drive. I have had it since May and ended up waiting 3 months for it. Below are a few links to pictures of it.
www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/chughes163/new-mini...g
www.mini2.com/gallery/personal/chughes163/mini-5.j...g
Those of you who asked about my car, thanks for taking interest. It has cost me about £14,000 in total (gulp). Being only 18, I couldnt go for a Cooper S due to insurance, plus I only wanted to spend around the 12k mark when i got the car. Since owning it I have added some bits and have spent around about 2k. I like all the extra\'s on my car and it now has about 135bhp so thats plenty of power for me - (i had the engine map modified and its great). Insurance was the main factor, but the car is only a group 5 standard, and it only went up a minute amount with the engine chip.
I have the car insured under my dads name and I am a named driver - this has kept the cost down and I pay around £600 a year.
One good thing about having the next 9 months free is that I can work full time and throw a bit more money at my car before I get in to the debts of education. Oh well, I will enjoy it while it lasts....
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Hi Blue, i guess i would like to change car too, but although i've managed to save a fair bit of money over the years since i've been working since i was 16 the sensible part keeps saying "don't do it you idiot the car you've got still works and doesn't cost anything!" and i back off, even if i did change i'd only be prepared to pay around £1500 for the car and i'd never consider getting a loan or finance, main cost of cost car for me is insurance which a nasty £750 TPFT! The old nova is giving sterling service so i'll probably keep her for a bit yet, as she's got 118,000 on the clock now and doesn't show any signs of dying yet, unfortunately the bodywork will go before the engine so may use the next mot as an excuse to get a new car (not brand new though!) Like you I love cars and driving in general but am just too tight to buy a really fancy car! :-)
I recently contacted a BIG car supermarket about a number of 6 - 12 month old Ford Mondeo estates, asking specifically which of the three outlets specific cars were at.
They told me that the cars were not yet at an outlet but they sold most of their cars in transit anyway so I should put down a deposit of £300 on one that I liked the sound of and then arrange to collect later.
I asked them what would happen, if on viewing the car, I decided that I didn't want to buy because of, say, a mild ding ,scraches, or it had been danaged & repaired etc? I didn't really get an satisfactory answer which left me to beleive my deposit would be at risk.
Even when the cars arrive at the outlet, I was advised that it was likely that even then it may not be possible to see it!
I realise that they are used cars (of which I have bought many and walked away from many) but it seems here you are taking pot luck and the risk of getting one that has been hired out to 200 careless punters.
So what do you think? Do many people buy blind these days or do I worry too much?
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Agree with you all entirely, NEVER, EVER.
What I find amazing is that for a large operation to have this as normal operating practice they must have plenty of customers gullible enough to go along with them, if all their punters said no then they wouldn't be able to get away with it.
Still I suppose no one's ever managed to over estimate the great British consumer's belief in cheap=good.
Cockle
Folks,
Heard on the radio this morning (Virgin) that Ken Livingston is proposing a new charging system for all journeys made within the M25...
Unfortunately they gave no more details than that, is this old news or has anyone heard anything about this? I know about the planned extension of the congestion charging zone to the west of the current zone but hadn't heard of any plans encompassing all areas within the M25.
Mike Read more
If it is true, then it is a ludricous suggestion based more on making money than on solving congestion. To have a zone covering the entire inside of the M25 is (if you'll forgive the pun) barking.
Places round here such as Chislehurst, Petts Wood and even Orpington itself don't know what serious congestion is.
My guess is that the CC has been the victim of it's own success to such a degree that Uncle Ken has to find a way to make some money on it quick smart.
Cheers
Rob
I'm in Sheffield - I want to install a Blaupunkt DAB53 plus roof aerial into my 2002 Bora sport TDI.
I'm v concerned that the job is done professionally, without damaging trim, deactivating electrics, etc.
Does anyone have any good recommendations for installers? is it best to get your own kit and ask them just to fit, or will they get the kit at a reasonable price?
all help appreciated
thanks
John Read more
I would recommend a word with the staff at 'source' first. I've bought various bits from them and always had sound advice even if it meant that I didn't buy anything from them. They are located at a trading estate on the outskirts of Chapletown.
Source
Thorncliffe Hall Thorncliffe Park Estate
Sheffield South Yorkshire
S35 2PH
Tel: 0114 257 1550
Steve.
Hi there,
Shortly I will have the need use an A frame type car recovery trailer to transport cars on fairly long journeys (upto 500 miles per day) and I am looking for thoughts on the best towcar.
Budget is limited to around 2k as I dont really want to put massive miles on a good car and destroy it whilst towing !
Thoughts so far have been:
XM 2.1 TD Estate/Saloon
Xantia TD Estate/Saloon
Volvo 850 Estate
Scorpio Estate/Saloon
Omega Estate/Saloon
Merc E200 Estate
Bmw 520 Touring
Some sort of people carrier Toyota Lucdia ?
and maybe a 4x4 eg Disco or Toyota
It needs to be my everyday car also so it must be eco too !
any help and thoughts are appreciated :-} Read more
4x4s are "good" towing vehicles because they are heavy and this makes the "outfit" stable and legal. This is the problem with an XM as I and others have pointed out - it is a brilliant towcar (as are all the hydraulic Cits) for caravans/light trailers which are very light (and flimsy - just look what happens to caravans in accidents) but the XM is just not heavy enough to be able to tow a car trailer legally because the trailer will exceed the weight of the car/towing limit and/or the train weight will exceed the manufacturers limits.
Auction at Blackbushe Today Friday 2nd January 2004.
Whilst never aspiring to the standards of our great leader I offer the following for your amusement.
Only one hall was running but was this quite crowded. I would guess the split as 40% trade 60% punters which may explain why the prices were in my opinion too high. I am not trade by the way so I could be talking nonsense.
The sale split in to three sections, a big Inchscape Retail sale, a big Motability sale and general bread and butter stuff.
The Motability and general stuff need not concern us greatly, it was mostly Peugeots/Vauxhalls/Fords chunking through at between £1,000 and £4,000 a pop but it did all seem a little overpriced to me. Worst example was a slightly scuffed R reg green Escort cabriolet with 57k on the clock, unwarranted, no history sold at £3,225 which on a cold January day was far too hot for me.
All the interesting stuff was in the Inchscape sale. As you may know all Inchscape cars are sold as seen, mileage unwarranted, but the auctioneer made great play of pulling out the service history and pointing out that all looked well on the choicer examples and for the record this is what caught my eye (all Inchscape cars):
52 reg Jaguar X type 2.5 V6 sport in black. 28k, FJSH £14,200 provisional.
V reg Mercedes C220 CDI in silver. Missed the mileage but FMBSH £7,500 provisional. This would also be my deal of the day if it sold for this amount as long as the previous owner was not Star Fleet.
R reg BMW 328i convertible in green, auto and leather. 84k FBMWSH £9,000 provisional. Very nice condition, worth the money if it sold.
S reg Jaguar XK8 4.0 in black, auto and leather. 49K FJSH. Way too expensive at £18,800 and even that was provisional!
Of the ones that sold the following looked nice:
V reg Mercedes E280 2.8 petrol in silver but manual and cloth. 82K FMBSH. A nice car for £8,950.
And my deal of the day was:
T reg BMW 520i in silver, auto and leather. 106k FBMSH but no V5 for some reason. Sold at £6,925 to whoever took it away from my envious eyes.
Close runner up was a visually identical T reg 520i but manual and cloth, 69k on the clock and away for £6,600. Still nice work if you can get it.
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I am reliably informed by a friend of mine who is in the trade that the XK8 I thought was too expensive at £18.8k, there is a similar one in a Jag dealers near him for £27k, and that I should have bought my best buy as he has seen many similar BMW 520's priced at £8.5k.
So you pays your money and you takes your choice.
Browse
Chemical analysis of the gasses present in the cooling system will show up a slight head gasket problem long before a pressure test, or compression test, does so. Even, in fact, before a cylinder starts to become "steam-cleaned".
The reson is the pressure in the cylinder in vastly greater during the combustion process than the pressure in the cooling sustem. Combustion gasses are then forced into the coolant, but only a very small volume of coolant may escape back into the cylinder when the engine is switched off.
The test involves drawing gasses from the coolant expansion tank into a container filled with a colured fluid (usually blue). Carbon Monoxide (a product of combustion) will turn the fluid green/yellow. The test is known in the trade as "cylinder block combustion test" or simply "block test". Kit may be expensive for one-off use, so suggest you try getting locla garage or mechanic to do this test for you.
Regards, Adam
Whatever is rightly done, however humble, is noble.