April 2004
My red Citroen van is now an unattractive shade of pink, so needs cutting back. Being allergic to elbow grease I want to buy a power polisher - there seem to be two basic types
a)angle grinder-type, generally variable speed, 900-1300W
b)cheaper lower powered diy type,sold for car polishing by Halfords etc
Which do I need (for occasional use) - will the cheapy be adequate? Or do I need the power of the pro-type machine?
Many thanks
Hugh Read more
there is a cable comes from the thermo housing to the fuel pump that operates a lever with a grounding point on it. When the engine is cold, should this lever be pulled to connect the circuit? Ie with engine off and cold should I have it so it has connected the circuit then when thermo opens at normal operating temp it will release tension on the cable and shut of the cold start advance gizmo inside the pump?
Hope that makes sense. It should hopefully be the last little niggle on my car now. Read more
The cable should be tight - i.e switch closed when the engine is stone cold.
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
My wife drives a ford fiesta 1.8 diesel on an S plate 1998.
It's started to lose water and there is a slight oil leak on the head. Obviously the gasket is on it's way out!
I would like to have a go at changing the gasket. Is it a good idea or would it be best to let the experts do it? Read more
if you feel competent enough to do it give it a go.bear in mind water loss isnt always down to H/gasket.you mentioned oil leak sure it isnt from the cam cover.have you any running probs with engine ie missing ect.I only ask as some I have looked at have not had serious probs.may be wrong here though?
Can anyone tell me the brake bleeding sequence for a Puma 1.7 please? Read more
in theory if a vehicle has abs you should use a pressure bleeder. But having said that i have never known any prolems bleeding them the old fashoined way.
She spends £13,217 and 54p on a brand new Renault Megane with all the toys. Then dumps me 4 days later while I was in the process of cancelling the insurance on her previous car. Two weeks later she manages to wreck the Megane by forgetting that parked cars don't often get out of the way. Her current insurers have now refused to pay up because she forgot to cancel her previous insurance. Apparently having two policies renders both null and void !! ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
bitter ? me ?
:-)
Read more
This isn\'t the place for it. Locked now, will be deleted later.
BTW, you are wrong about the insurance.
I went to collect my vitesse today from its winter retreat. Firstly I found it was stuck in gear totally. Previously I had been leaving it with the handbrake on and having it stuck by the handbrake (I'm sure that is simpler!). I couldn't even waggle the stick! Then I tried to start it and it wouldn't start but it proceeded to remove the last remaining breath of life in the battery. But it did unstick the clutch so I could get it out of gear so a little ray of sunshine. I sent my dad off to go get another battery and some jump leads. Tried those, same thing, now we had two flat batteries. Then we went back and got a battery charger to try and push some life into the battery and discovered that the garage door lock had jammed and the car is stuck inside in the garage during the 10 minutes we left the car! No amount of door handle waggling, key waggling and booting the garage door would open it. Aarrgghh!
teabelly Read more
Console yourself with the thought that you might have got the engine running and then jammed the door lock.
After years of reliable Honda motoring I have a yen to be adventurous again and own an Alfa...
I had a 33 1.7 sportwagon once and it was a hoot - but wasn't without frustration and grief.
Now I'm too old for the f and g but I fancy a 156 sportwagon with the 5-cylinder diesel (I live in France).
Anybody know anything, good or bad, on them?
Don't hold back! Read more
A hint that I can give is to try and see
if the key will fit in the ignition either way round,
it didn't in the car I tried as the dashboard obstructed
the key due to it's shape. A minor detail, but it
shows a level of thoughtlessness that I've never seen in any
other car.
It suddenly dawned on me today why this would happen. The steering wheel is adjustable for reach and rake. I bet anything you like that the wheel was as far forward and as high as it would go, making it undrivable unless you have the build of an orang-utan.
:o))
Anyone know any places in the South west where I can teach my kids some experience on driving. I've heard that you can use abandoned airefields etc but I don't know any in this area. Read more
Oh - and you'll be needing a powerful helicopter as well.
The Mondewoe has gone, got £330 for it. The new car is a Nissan Primera 2.2 DCi S, not as basic as it first seems. I thought that as its FIRST service is at 12000 miles I would ask HJs advice on running in and oil changes. My own thoughts were change oil and filter at 2000 miles for a good mineral oil to the Nissan spec and then at 6000 change again to full synthetic for diesel engines with changes at 6000 after that. I hope that the synth will get me a couple more mpg.
"Why a Primera?" I hear you all ask. Price! We have bought it under a Private Contract Purchase plan, if we don't like it after 2 years we give it back, if we do we buy it. The finance is as follows from the lease agreement.
Cash price inc vat and RFL £10,678.76 (5K below retail)
Less deposit and first payment £652.47
Admin fee £35.00
23 Further monthly payments £217.49
Final installment if we buy £6572.38
So thats £5,654.74 over two years and poss buy it in total for £12227.12.
I looked all over for cheaper in the way of Mazda 6's, Avensis, Accord etc and this was the by far the cheapest. OK its a Nissan but hopefully it will not need a new clutch or engine in its first year of ownership.
Bill
Read more
I thought that as its FIRST service is at 12000 miles...
My own thoughts were change oil and filter at 2000 miles
for a good mineral oil to the Nissan spec and then at 6000
change again to full synthetic for diesel engines with
changes at 6000 after that.
There's been several discussions over in Technical Matters that suggest changing the oil too early on a new car (especially diesel engines) can do more harm than changing it when it is actually due at 12,000 miles or whenever.
Omega 2.5 Diesel 1995 speed sensitive power steering acting up does anybody know how this works and where the control unit (relay) is located ? Read more
The ZF Servotronic system has a electro hydraulic converter in the power steering box, this can be removed by removing it's 4 screws (one each corner of a square plate mouted in box) and withdrawn, there is a filter screen on this which may need a wash.
the control unit is behind the panel to the left of the glovebox, I think you can remove it (its a relay) by taking off the trim above the passenger's feet and reaching up behind there, second from the bottom on the left (medium sized relay?) below a bigger one, and above a smaller one, but maybe differs with models, years etc...
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I've used one of those 10 quid (up to 24 quid for same thing) orbital polishers (black, pair of handles, two covers supplied).
It worked quite well with Farcela G3 compound and 3m machine polish . I use old cotton t-shirt and a huge eleastic band over the sponge to apply and polish off the compounds.
Use care near edges and raised ridges or you'll go through to metal. Do one panel at a time. Follow up with a quality wax. Stand back and be amazed.
I'd try a small area by hand to make sure it will polish up, but getting pink back to red is usually just hard work.
Martin