April 2004
Hi all.
I have been looking at insurance, (done a search on here, latest i could find was jan 2003)
I want to insure me and the wife on two cars.
Wanted to know the best, cheapest company.
i think esure are ok, always happy to talk, but direct line, i couldnt understand the girl i spoke 2 2day, when i asked her to speak up, she was really rude, like she couldnt be bothered to talk to me, kept saying "is that it?"
like the look of sainsburys, esure, norwich union, and frizzel(with liverpool/victoria now?) what about More than?
has anybody got any ideas has how to insure which car with who first? shall i insure saab cabriolet with the wife as main driver and me as second, and the rav4 d4d me as main and wife as second? both with same company or different companys?
itrs weird, cos i have come out of compay car after 8 years.
any advice greatly received :-) Read more
I was motoring through the Cotswolds in the early 1980s, in a company Cortina. You know the sort, disc brakes but no servo. The weather was too beautiful, apple blossom everywhere; quite delightful. Red light ahead, so I start to pull up behind the car in front; suddenly realise that it is towing a sailing dingy with mast horizontal and pointing my way. There was a rag tied to the tip, and it was heading for ME. Those brakes were good, provided you put sufficient boot behind them, and I did. The Cortina stopped ?on a dime?, with a great noise. It must have shaken the people in front as much as it did me.
I theorise that the subtended angle of the vehicle in front gives an indication of the distance therefrom. With the dingy being lower than the car I got quite the wrong impression.
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Quite right. I believe we judge distance by using the vertical subtended angle, not the horizontal. That is why it is so easy to walk into a washing line.
It sounds like a very dangerous way of carrying the mast. The usual way is stepped in or on the back of the dinghy, and resting on a tall Y-piece on the front of the trailer so that the mast projects upwards and over the roof of the car.
On reversing SWMBO's 306 Sedan out of the garage this morning, I noticed a small puddle (2" dia) of liquid on the floor. Dipping forefinger in it and wiping against thumb gave a slimy sensation, though it wasn't oil. A quick touch of the tongue confirmed antifreeze.
Five minutes later, up on axle stands, and I found the source to be adjacent to an allen bolt on more or less the same level as the crank pulley centre, and slightly behind. Above this is a plastic blister moulding that Haynes confirms to be the water pump.
Question to any XU7 expert BRers, please: Is this the first sign of impending internal doom to the water pump (in wish case I will replace it), or is it likely to last like this for eons yet? May be the gaskets simply become brittle with time and heat cycling?
The car has covered 25k miles in ten years, and right now I could do without the hassle of a Pug to fix! (I have a new kitchen to install instead!)
Cheers! Read more
Thanks All for the advice along the way, but it's Crinkly Dave who gets the Gold Star!
The fault was indeed simply that the input shaft seal was failing. Looked like it's been doing it slightly for a while, though the coolant reservoir had never needed a top-up.
Hi guys
I decided to clean my car today for the first time in ages - it must have been at least two months. I lifted up the driving mats and noticed a damp patch in the driver footwell. I then lifted up the carpet and noticed quite a bit of dampness, the foamy protection stuff was quite sodden.
Any ideas? is this a common Fiesta problem? I seem to remember reading something about this some time ago... all the plugs in the floor appear to be ok... where is this coming from??!
TIA
Moby. Read more
If you have got a sun roof that can be wound to tilt or to slide back. Check the drain holes and pipes because they tend to block, then the water goes into the car leaking from the sun roof which ever side is blocked.
3 year old
Nissan Almera 1.5
Toyota Corolla 1.4 vvti
Frankly the Almera is a bit better looking and I've seen examples with 20k miles for £4500 ! Seems like a bargain to me. The toyotas all seem to be around the 40-60k mile mark. Hate the shape of the 5 door ones too. Are the Almera engines renault sourced ?
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3 year old
Nissan Almera 1.5
Toyota Corolla 1.4 vvti
Frankly the Almera is a bit better looking and I've seen
examples with 20k miles for £4500 ! Seems like a
bargain to me. The toyotas all seem to be around
the 40-60k mile mark. Hate the shape of the 5
door ones too. Are the Almera engines renault sourced ?
I had a 1.4vvti corolla for three years from new and sold it to my mum last year. It is an effortless car to drive, frugal (40mpg), cheap to service (3yrs cost £250). It has plenty of room, I agree with you about the looks, Toyota have problems designing cars that appeal to western tastes. The 1.4 is quick enough the car is only to be driven sensibly, try and go round a roundabout quickly in the wet and you will know what I mean, in fact thinking about it avoid going round roundabouts quickly in the wet!
Driving home to London from Manchester yesterday heard what I thought was road noise. Switched off radio to hear low pitched noise similar to child trying to play first notes on a recorder or a bit like wind coming under the bonnet! It was intermittent then was accompanied by a squeaking noise coming from front passenger side of car. Was driving at 70 mph at time and tried lowering speed - no difference. Noises continued to come and go then began to be less frequent and eventually stopped. Does anyone have any ideas or should I take straight to garage? Read more
Thanks, will bear that in mind.
I run a 1997 Audi A4 1.9 TDI.It starts first turn,runs brilliantly with plenty of poke and economy.However on starting from cold and driving a few miles as soon as the heater starts blowing warm air onto the windscreen a problem ensues.When going round a bend the windscreen gives sharp cracking noises.These noises sound almost like a stone hitting your screen at speed.Once the car is warm though all is quiet again.Has anyone any idea about the cause or a possible cure? Read more
It'll be the dash creaking, pretty much 'standard' on A4's.
I have just fitted a nokia car kit [3410] into my 2000my focus. The kit is working correctly except, when I dail in a number with the radio on I can hear feedback through the stereo speakers.
Once the call is connected the radio mutes, the feedback stops and the call is fine, I end the call and the radio comes back on.
The car kit has a seperate speaker - Has anyone any ideas why this is happening?? The wiring for the car kit is simply red permenant live, blue ignition live, black earth, yellow mute taken from back of radio. The fault occurs whenever the radio is switched on (either tuner or CD).
Thanks Read more
If this is a pulsing buzzing kind of sound (and as said happens every 7 - 10 minutes) this is indeed the RF energy being transmitted to the radio. Its probably going in on the "mute" line. Toddle down to your car audio shop and get an "in line choke" sometimes called an "rf suppresor" and put this in the mute line
Why all of a sudden are bus lanes being renamed no car lanes?
And what does this mean exactly? Can any vehicle other than a car use one? Where I live the only drivers that seem to use them are bus (obviously) and taxi drivers - but most taxis are cars! Read more
I was allowed to drive my Alfa 156 in the "no car" lane as it was, in fact, a dog.
Mattster
Boycott shoddy build and reliability.
I have just parted, reluctantly,with a 1993 vento TD which had a heavy clutch. I'm told that this is typical for the diesel but was this true of the later (but still mk3)diesel golf/vento models say 97/98? alternatively has anyone experience of which petrol versions had light clutch actions? All remarks gratefully received.
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From GSF parts list I see that the diesel has the same clutch cable as my car. I have a petrol MK3 golf 8v 2L GTI which has a standard medium weight clutch. However I have found that the self adj cable can stick and become heavy, which also leaves pressure on the push rod and therefore wears out the centre of the pressure plate. Mine holed out at 90000 miles. I used to push multi grease into the self adj section of the cable and this helped a lot.I now use a manual adj cable from a mk2 golf cl 1.6L. I had to change over the bulkhead cable gaiters with the help of WD40 and fit an extra rubber washer at the gearbox end. I only have 1/4" freeplay to work with, any more and the over the centre spring at the clutch pedal will hold the clutch pedal down.I am now very happy with this setup but one must keep an eye on the freeplay.
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