One of my sons was given quite a few shares in an automotive technology research licensing company. Over the years I've never paid them much attention but having read the latest Annual R&A I'm now intrigued as to what they actually do. Apparently their main projects are Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems, Electric Power Assisted Steering and Surface Accoustic Wave technology/devices. This is probably a long shot but can anyone out there explain (in simple English) the meaning and significance of any or all of the above?

BTW - I'm not looking for advice on whether to keep/sell the shares. Read more

I'm really busy today and I don't have time to think about this carefully.

Currently I have hidden the thread. Either one of the other Moderators will get to it this afternoon or I'll do it this evening; but I need time to consider the implications of the thread before I release it again.

Sorry.

M. Read more

The air con on my 2000 W reg Mark 2 Mondeo Zetec 2000cc had stopped working so recently, when it was in for a service, I asked them to have a look at it.

They regassed it and put some sort of dye in the gas, which they said would show up if there were any leaks. When I went to collect the car they told me the aircon was working very well, and they were right, too, it was putting out a nice icy-cool blast when the temperature was set to the minimum setting.

I was informed that only time would tell whether it would continue to work, would just have to give it a try.

It seemed to work for about a month but has now, unfortunately, stopped working again. I presume this is because all the gas has been lost, but that's only a guess. I have no way of testing it, and information on the repair and testing of aircon systems seems to be very lacking. Unusually even the Haynes manual just says "Take it to a dealer" which is rare for them; they usually give, at least some basic ideas and simple tests for various car systems, even those that are very complicated, as aircon systems obviously appear to be.

So, my question is, where do I go from here? Can one see the effects of this dye, if it's coming out of, for example, the compressor bearing? If so, how long will the dye remain there for?

I have heard that aircon systems can be horrendously expensive to repair, and, if this is so, do you think I would be justified in asking the dealer for an estimate to repair the aircon system before agreeing to go ahead, even if this estimate itself is chargeable, which I would well understand? I don't mind spending, say, a couple of hundred on it to get it fixed, it is useful in the summer (and even winter to demist the windows!) but, if it were to be much more than that, I would probably just forget it and make do with the fan. After all, this is the first car I've ever owned that's had aircon fitted.

I wonder whether there's anyone else on here who has had experience of getting Ford aircon repaired, as opposed to just regassed? If so, please could I ask what was done to effect a cure, and how much did it cost?

Many Thanks,

Galaxy Read more

hi, after a bit of advice. I\'m in the market for a cheap car and last night viewed a 120k vw golf 1.8 mk2. The car on the whole seemed very good, the only issue was that selecting 1st gear was sometimes very difficult/impossibe. All other gears were fine. So before I make a decision on whether to buy this car I what to establish if the problem is either gearbox or clutch. The latter is more preferable as I can just knock of some cash and have a new one fitted. The current owner said he\'d had that problem for over a year and it hadn\'t got any worse. I also noticed that there had not been a replacment clutch yet in the service history.
Any advice much appreciated as to what is the likely problem for this type of car at this age.

Thanks Read more

OMEGA CDX 98 2.5V6 Estate

The inevitable - two central instrumentation bulbs (tacho + speedo) are now off.
Any suggestions on how to get at them to replace?

Has anyone tried different colours (permanant marker pen on the bulb glass?), or replacing bulbs with Green or blue LEDs?. (There'll need to be a 470ohm series resistor for each, and the dimmer circuit might not work if it's a straight in-line resistive dimmer unit).

Omega2

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