March 2004
I'm just about to service my 2002 Vectra which I got around a month ago. It has 37K on the clock and my question is this.
Is it advantageous to add Slick 50 oil treatment when I fill up with Synthetic oil or will the oil give just as good protection?
Also, I'll be changing the cam-belt/rollers and tensioner soon and I've heard to change the water pump as well as a precaution. Is this advisable or are some people just a little too worried?
Thanks in advance
Gaz Read more
over the last few years i have noticed the steady increase of blue roadside cameras, they sit about 10 feet high and face both ways on most A roads , any clues? Read more
LD, thanks for clearing that one up! Many of us are getting a bit paranoid about 'things on poles' by the roads!
We have recently moved to a slightly more suburban area from the centre of London. We have one parking space and 2 cars; my wife parks on the street. We had one neighbour asking us not to park outside his house, which is the first available parking space near us (despite him having a drive and a garage!), accusing us of deliberately parking to upset him ..... We were very polite and said that we would try and avoid parking there.
We now park a bit further down the road and the driver's door of the car has now been given (what I think is) a kick, scratching and leaving black marks on it.
Am I paranoid, or is there some parking terratorialism is going on! (We cannot park outside our place as there is garage access) I hope that this is just a genuine case of a kid on a bike, but I can't help being a bit suspicious.
Slightly concerned on this one as I thought that this street was pretty quiet and middle Englandish - any advice?
Yoby Read more
Sorry - hadn't realised how much this thread had grown!
Well, there has not really been an upshot to this. We just decided to sit tight and try not to get too excited about it. Much easier on the blood pressure! We now tend to park in different places and not one particular spot. In that way hopefully it looks like we are not 'victimising' anyone. My wife reports one more scratch, but we are trying to keep it in proportion and 'presume' the most likely explanation for this latest one is a kid on a bike! Too many other things in life to enjoy rather than getting steamed up over something like this. Great to get everyone's views on this.
Yoby
I am not sure if I have a problem with the MAf sensor on my 1996 Audi A4 1.9tdi (110) but perhaps the BR experts could tell.
Driving down the M3 and felt something go a bit strange under the bonnet - can\'t recall what it was but I know it just felt a bit wierd. After that there was very very minimal acceleration in 4th and 5th gears, diminished in 3rd but seemingly OK in 1st and 2nd. I timed (unscientifically ie looking at my watch) that on a flat stretch that it took 17 seconds to accelerate from 60-70mph in 4th!! The pedal would be flat against the floor but the revs and speed would not increase.
After I pulled off the m\'way I turned the car off for a minute and then carried on like nothing had happened.
Does this sound like the MAF or coould it be something altogether more sinister?
All advice welcomed Read more
Interesting that the 110bhp doesn't have a wastegate - the Passat I had the problem with was a '94 90bhp (non-variable geometry) TDi. (The controller was a cruciform shaped block on the engine bulkhead.)
Morning all,
I've just had to take my Golf (2001 TDI 115 6spd) into the local VW dealers for a possible warranty repair to the gearbox.
At least I hope the warranty will cover it.
On Saturday afternoon, I lost reverse gear & could only get this
back by switching off the ignition & then changing gear.
On Sunday,Reverse gear was OK but 1st & 2nd didn't work. They seemed to engage OK , but no drive. 3rd & 4th were OK. I didn't try 5th or 6th.
I managed to drive it down to the dealers in 3rd gear but their
first diagnosis was 'Sounds like the Clutch' .
Is that possible? I hadn't had any slippage before or now & the car does go into 3rd & 4th OK.
I hope it's not the clutch because that may not be covered by the warranty.
Any ideas?
Regards
Mike L Read more
The final verdict was a broken selector fork in the gearbox.
As the car's now been off the road for 2 weeks , VW UK authorised the fitting of a replacement box under warranty rather than repair.
They will pick up the bill of £2700+VAT for the gearbox, I pay £165+VAT for a new clutch (parts only).
The car is a personal import & I 'topped-up' the warranty from the original 1 year to 3 years after reading one of the letters in the HJ column back in 2001/02 when HJ advised was that this would be a good move given the potential cost of replacing major components.
Regards
Mike L
can you change the timing chain on a 1995 1.3 ohv fiesta without dropping the engine??? Read more
h9jpk
Timing chain wear and tensioner failure isn't uncommon on these engines, although the tensioners are better than the earlier engines from which this was derived.
Last time I changed a similar timing chain it was on the earlier in line engine in an Escort, and it was reasonably straightforward. The only problem was that you had to drop the sump a little at the front to get the crankshaft sprocket off, which has risk of damage to the gasket. It will be more fiddly with the reduced access of the transverse engine.
Regards
John S
This evening at heathrow Terminal 1, one of our finest (of whom I have the highest regard) was giving out tickets. He was not wearing a hat, was he in uniform within the meaning of the act?
In addition, his yellow jacket was undone, it was not at all clear that it was a police uniform.
Does any of this make any difference to anything at all?
Don drbe Read more
In case anyone's feeling particularly in need of new reading
www.landor.co.uk/parkingreview/
Hi
What's has bugged me for a while now is why do, particularly newer cars, smell of windscreen washer when you operate the jets. Presumable it's because the cabin air intake is right at the base of the windscreen, where all the fluid can seep down and evaporate into the car. My mk4 Escort has it's air intake further forward in the bonnet, as do a lot of other older cars.
My question is, did the car manufacturers consider the comfort of the car occupants when they decided to move the air intake to right at the bottom of the windscreen to cut costs? Or have they a contractual agreement with manufacturers of 'lemon fresh' and 'alpine air' washer fluid? Read more
For those who don't like the smell, look around for that clothes peg that used to hold the choke out in the old days and place on the nose before operating the washers. Works every time.
******* Thread now closed, please see volume 39 ********
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=21548
In this thread you may ask any question for which you need help, advice, suggestions or whatever.
It does not need to be motoring related. In fact, in this thread it should not be.
No Questions About PC\'s. They now go in another Thread.
No politics
No Speeding, speed cameras, traffic calming
No arguments or slanging matches
Nothing which I think is not following the spirit of the thread
Nothing that risks the future of this site (please see the small print for details www.honestjohn.co.uk/credits/index.htm )
Any of the above will be deleted. If the thread becomes difficult to maintain it will simply be removed.
However, as has been said a couple of times, there is a wealth of knowledge in here, much of which is not motoring related, but most of which is useful.
This is Volume 38. Previous Volumes will not be deleted,
A list of previous volumes can be found here:-
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Read more
DD, don\'t mind if you delete this but just wanted to say thanks to the guys who helped solve the above problem at tail end of Vol 38. Unfortunately it is now closed and I can\'t reply to them.
Phone now working again!
{Moved here for obvious reasons. DD}
Hi
Can anybody help me with the reccomended time/mileage for replacing the timing belt on a 1.4 8v corsa (1996 P). Vauxhall service want £235 for changing the belt but they say that the tensioner will have to be replaced as it is not wort changing the belt without a new tensioner. I contacted the spares department and asked for a price for a belt and a tensioner and the storeman was surprised i was asking for a tensioner, he said and i quote " thats unusual 8v tensioners dont go wrong, not like the 16v", so my question is do i need to change the tensioner? thanks for your help. Read more
Last time I had one of these done on the similar 1.2 8v at a Vauxhall dealer, the total cost of a service plus a cambelt change was well under £200, and that included a new alternator belt while they had it in pieces - can't remember exactly as the bill went with the car to the next owner. To be fair thay had a special offer on the service (£99.99), and as I recall the cam belt cost about £15 - £17. I assumed they would change the tensioner (being used to the 16v engines), but they didn't. When I asked why they said they checked it, and that they didn't give the problems that the tensioners on the 16v engines do. It was the first belt change, the car did low mileage and I wasn't planning to keep it so I didn't worry.
The recommended interval is 40k miles or 4 years, by the way.
Regards
John S
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A gearbox oil has three very important functions. It must lubricate the bearings, not break down under the pressure between engaged gear teeth and allow sufficient friction between the syncromesh cones to avoid crash changes.
Adding any unapproved stuff to gearbox oil is likely to have a harmful effect on at least one of these functions. Please don't even think about it!