April 2004
Interesting article in today's Times for all you boom-boom merchants -
www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1073014,00.html Read more
I have purchased a 2004 2.7tdi
what mpg should i expect
1 solo
2 towing
3 solo using a roof box
4 solo using cruise control
all above at motorway speeds Read more
My LWB with an auto box will manage 30mpg when cruising at 70mph.
Interesting to note that the 4 speed auto box has a higher (more economical) final drive ratio than the 5 speed manual and with a mechanical lock-up when cruising this might give a better mpg figure for the auto. I consider that a roof box could knock 10% off this figure. Towing might not make much difference if you stick to legal 60mph. Cruise control should not make any diffference.
Wondering if anybody has any experience of or may have some advice on the following. On Saturday I took a car for a test drive (was a P reg Xantia) and due to a suspension fault of which the garage selling it was aware of but advised us that the car would be OK to take for a spin (they said the fault would be rectified when they placed a new MOT on it for the sale). Anyway, nearing the end of the drive which I took with my father, whilst we were just about decidng the car was good enough to buy, cruising happily (and overtaking on a slight bend)at 70mph when (this is the bits I remember) the car swerved in towards the car I was overtaking, then swerved the other way and the rest is a blur! Miraculously we both got out of the car seemingly unhurt to find the it facing the wrong way down the carriageway in the outside lane with a 20 ft dent in the barrier, stones and gravel on both sides of the carriageway and 1 x written off xantia complete with utterly destroyed, dripping with a rainbow of fluids drivers side etc etc... No other vehicles became involved but how we got out without at least a broken something or other I don't know. Anyway the policeman who dealt with it said that as the car turned out to have no current MOT (of which we were not aware, although we knew it would need the job doing to pass a new one) was liable to prosecution as it is your own responsibility to check a car has MOT before driving, as, obviously were the garage but that he'd be happy to draw a line under it, and that's the end of it apparently.
While I'm not interested in some drawn out legal affair where I end up in court for the no MOT thing etc, does anybody know where else I may stand legally with regard to their insurance etc etc? I'm sure I must have some comeback but don't know where to start. Any advice? Cheers
(By the way, aches and pains, particularly in my hands from the steering wheel duly followed as has a fear of going round bends at any more than 3 mph!) Read more
Agree. I shall lock the thread.
Demon, consider the points raised, ask yourself if you are going to be prosecuted or sued in any way and if so, get proper legal advice. If not, consider yourself fortunate and move on. Hope the comments and advice received so far have helped.
No Dosh
mailto:Alan_moderator@honestjohn.co.uk
Hi all.
just wondered if this is correct.
my mothers car, she is 63, and has been driving for 20 years,
(whether that makes a difference or not i dont know!) she has just been down to vauxhall garage. they want to charge her £48 to adjust her handbrake. they said its after the bedding in !!!!!!!!!
the car is 6 months old + has done 3000 miles. i told her not to have it done. but she is unable to park the car on a hill. (i have told her to park on flat carparks, till i get time to look at it.) i guess there is an adjustment on the rear of handbrake itself? (like on a nut and spindle?)
i understand we bought the car from manchester, (a vauxhall dealer, its a proper UK car)and we live in w.mids. but i would have thought this would come under warrenty. surely not every corsa needs handbrake adjusting every 3000 miles?? or 6 months. any ideas? Read more
The £48 charge isn't unreasonable, Vauxhall hourly rates being ITRO £60 plus nowadays.
Not saying for one moment that your Gran drives around with the handbrake partially on, but that could be a possibility.
Cables when new do stretch slightly, but saying that the rear brakes should be self adjusting - maybe a fualt in the adjusters, which until the drums are removed cannot be checked.
Yes, there is an adjustment on the cable, which is normally around the area of the rear suspension arm. IIRC, three clicks of the handbrake and the brake shoes should just be rubbing on the drums.
As regards brakes coming under warranty, the linings are classed as wear and tear items. Unless the drums or disks have physically broken, or the calipers have sheered off their mountings, you'll be lucky to be able to claim anything.
{ps, This'll get moved across to Technical Matters later today. DD}
Hello Folks,
I inherited one of these filters fitted to my 2.5 TD '97 XM.
I suspect that my Citroen indie did not change this on the last couple of services, as there are specific instructions on the filter housing, namely:
"Clean every 50K miles by soaking in K and N filter cleaner. Do not soak in petrol. Treat with K and N filter oil"
So are these things actually any better than standard in terms of air flow and effectiveness? Or would it be cheaper to replace with a standard disposable filter, rather than investing in some cleaner and oil? And from where would I buy some of this cleaner and oil?
Comments, observations, and advice most welcome!
Best wishes
rg Read more
Debated here before. If you select the Forum Search link on the right of this page, and then specify K&N in the Technical forum, you'll quickly find all the hits.
To summarise my own experience however, for the eight years that I ran my MG Metro from 1984, and nigh on 100,000 miles that I covered in this time, I used the same K&N filter, and never cleaned it. Filtration abilities appeared constant throughout, and when I took the cylinder head off at 90,000 miles, the bores were clean as a whistle. No scratching or other signs of foreign object ingress.
Why didn't I clean the filter?
Two reasons.
1) Living in the UK is not the same as living in the middle of the Sahara in terms of making the filter work.
2) With the high filtration surface area/capacity of a K&N, I was more likely to do harm than good in trying to clean it.
When I returned to my car yesterday afternoon in the supermarket car park I found a large deposit (8" dia) of guano onthe middle of the roof. When I looked closer I found that the roof has actually been dented by whatever was contained in the guano. The dents are about 6mm deep, but the paint has not cracked. Could one of the dent specialists sort this, or is it an insurance claim? Read more
RF,
"Had a Robin attack the kitchen window for hours. He was fighting the red washing up brush on the inside window sill."
Bet you were happy the Robin had only one front wheel?
Matt35.
Today we celebrate 10 years of democracy, and the masses are off to the polls! I was in the queue at 7, whipped in and out in 15 minutes, and then came to work.
Due to the nature of things, our beloved leaders ensure that voting day is a holiday... THIS on top of the four days off we've just ahd for easter ... Now, emerging nations SHOULD really be doing as much as possible to get their manufacturing base on track, and productivity just might be a good idea ...
I digress - the fact that nobody is working today means that the roads are empty! A morning commute which would normally take an hour, in stop-start traffic (well, not for me - I roll over, go back to bed, and leave an hour later) whizzed past in a storming 15 minutes today. From front door to the office is dual carriage way, and three-laner freeway all the way! And today, ALL the lights were green for me in the fiddly bits round town!
Tore up the N1 at about 100mph (naughty boy) with a bloke behind me in a Gti Golf equally happy with the empty tarmac... screamed through the 'difficult' section near the harbour at speeds which would attract a large fine had anyone been watching! Just the sort of thing to set me up for a day at work (someone has to do it - see 'productivity' above) Aaah, the joys of driving!
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There is SOME homour in the situation. As well as election posters obscuring the lamposts, there are aslo several others, for pop concerts etc. While driving last week, I saw a poster of one of the local politicos (who has the nickname 'kortbroek' - literally 'short trousers' - because of his youthful approach) which had been over-postered, obscuring his name and party, by a poster advertising the band Limp Bizkit. Interesting juxtaposition!
I have a Ford Mondeo Ghia X and this features an electric driver seat which needs an infinite amount of adjusting to get into the right position for me. Then my wife gets in and totally changes everything when she goes to the SPAR down the road 5 minutes away! Does anyone know if Ford or anyone else can retro fit those useful memory buttons that store each drivers seat position preferences?
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Does the Ghia x not have this feature as standard? was it an option on the extras list for the Mondeo? either way its going to be expensive, doubly so if its not a Mondeo option as it will have to be sourced from the Jaguar parts bin, may even require a whole seat!
We have just emerged from Holy Week (Easter to you) in this intensely Catholic archipelago of 7,107 islands. Traditionally this involves a mass exodus to the provinces on the Thursday to reunite with families and leaves a blessedly traffic-free city for Good Friday and Black Saturday. Doing 160kph down Ayala Avenue (Manila's Oxford Street but a lot smarter) is a real possibility, indeed I speak from experience.
The brand new resurfaced North expressway (thank you Leighton Asia) carried 186,000 vehicles on Thursday. On Good Friday almost none, thus it was our 3 Harleys cruised its length at 170kph while cops on their KMX 125's and in their Nissan pickups waved feebly at us but could never catch us (regular limit is 100kph max, 60kph min).
But to the point of the post: Lovely holiday signs by the roadside: interestingly in this country of 600 languages and dialects -- all in English (or sort of)
Remember someone is waiting for you at home
Tailgating is discourteous (58 million drivers must have no manners then)
Drive now, text later (but my mistress is asking where I am, my wife is in the back and if I don't text her back she's gonna call me and I am in the proverbial)
Keep your eyes on the road and your hands upon the wheels (sic)
(might involve a few contortions and whoever conceived that must surely own The Doors' Greatest Hits)
Don't throw your litters (visions of multiple kittens being ejected from AUV's)
Drink a lot in hot weather (well I'll subscribe to that)
Check your breaks regularly (lost me there)
Speed may thrill but speed may kill
Do not drink while you are driving (wot, not even water?)
Switch off your car TV (huh?)
Leave your guns at home (a bit late if you've already brought them, Whoops I've got that Glock 9mm in my glovebox and I don't have a licence for it)
Your wife and babies are your responsibility (indeed and if only I'd figured that one years ago before 20/20 vision set in)
Signal when changing lanes (this practice is unheard of and the more expensive the car the less likely the driver knows what that lever on the left is for)
God be with you (driving among you guys, I can only echo that sentiment from the heart...especially when Growlette takes the wheel......)
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas. Love the place.
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>>>>If you drink, go public" - Honk Kong
LOL, can't you just picture Nathan Road (or worse Causeway Bay on a Sat afternoon) filled with rollicking drunks?!
I always chuckled at that sign in all Hong Kong elevators --"when there is a fire do not use the lift" The "when" bit, i mean.
But to motoring. I used to drive daily down Tai Hang Road from Cavendish Heights to Harbour Road Wan Chai by the Convention Centre, where my office was. As you know the flyovers and roads round the Island are cleverly designed and constantly merging and I always liked the HK "zipper" method, where one gave way to another in the heavy traffic so you all kept moving. Even the notorious HK taxi drivers observed it and you always gave the rotual wave when they let you in. Here you'd die waiting if you were polite so you just charge in with a thickness of one paint skin to spare while the so and so behind blares his horn and you hope he doesn't have a gun. I had a big Toyota Crown so that had a bit of presence. Managed to drive 2 years without a licence and got away with it.
MY transit 2 litre ohc van with Tartarini LPG conversion has saved me loadsa money over the past year. It is fast, quiet and does 5 miles per litre @37.9p ish. It has however recently developed a wish to run faster on LPG than on petrol. It starts and runs fine but when it is on gas the revs dont drop back fully to tickover which means a bit more braking ! If I switch off the gas the revs drop to normal as soon as the petrol takes over. The throttle linkage is OK - its a gas thing I think. Anybody had a similar problem or any ideas please? Read more
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If so, my opening gambit would be:
"Waiter - a whisky, and pronto!"
"Righto - one Whisky and Pronto coming up!"
Oz (as was)