April 2004
We have the opportunity to have a motability car if we want it. I haven't looked into it a great length but it seems that for nil or small deposit I can run a car for my dla payments for three years and 45000 miles. Cars available include a new Zafira, an Almera, Megane and tantilisingly a Mazda MX5! All for no advance. Must be a catch! Read more
Looking for an MOT shop in/around Guildford not saying I want anyone silly but lets just say reasonable as opposed to picky or the £100 to fix that(which don't need fixing) mob.
Any recommendations gratefully received. Read more
Thanks for the advice guys. Just back from Deepcut Garage, car passed no problems (and no advisorys).
Nice place, friendly people and a nice looking young girl on reception to boot!
Plus a tip, the bakers up the road does a great bacon and egg roll.
Gadgets the go bing....
Have used two cars that have them. Very useful on motorways - set them for the upper limit of your preferred speed range and they stop you drifting upwards if the rest of the traffic does.
I also tested a Merc with a speed limiter - like a cruise control but in reverse as the salesman explained it. You dial in the speed you want to keep to and it intervenes via engine & brakes to keep you to that.
It was absolutley lethal. It operated via a stalk near the indicator and TWICE I knocked it while trying to indicate left. As it was set for 30mph and I was at about 45-50 each time, the sudden deceleration was alarming and not conducive to avoiding rear-end shunts.
It also incited a tendency to set it for 30 and floor the pedal - the car then pootles through the village "safely". No need to think about your speed any more....not safe, IMHO Read more
Try counting the proportion of vehicles with defective lights: only one headlight or a brake light not working for example.
You will find that about five percent (one in twenty vehicles) has one or the other u/s.
Travel at night on a rural road, what do you find: a convoy of vehicles led by one with only one headlight travelling at perhaps 20mph below the speed limit and a series of people trying to overtake.
Result: accidents.
Who do you blame: the person overtaking for misjudjudgement or the idiot who cannot be bothered to change a light bulb until the day before the annual MOT?
Hi all, I have had some problems getting my Mondeo started if, say, I have started it and moved a short distance ie getting out of the garage or driving to get petrol then restarting it.
The worse case was when I got it out the garage then left it for two days, then when I started it fired up then spluttered out. Upon re starting it took lots of cranks then I got a big puff of white smoke as it fired up. I ran it for a few minutes then tried starting it a couple of times, it was fine.
I took it out for a run and ut drove fine. Should I book it in under warranty? What would Ford look at? Is this a known problem or would Ford fob me off?
Its a 2001 manual with 16k 2L petrol.
Cheers,
Jim. Read more
The cause is the rich fuel mixture for cold starting washes the oil off the bores. This results in a lack of compression hence the engine just whirrs over without firing until sufficient oil is present to seal the bores and give compression. Now we have a situation where the bores are flooded with unburnt fuel which puts the spark out. Floor the throttle with the ignition off then crank the engine continuously, this will put it into 'clear flood' mode and away she will go eventually, just be brave and keep it churning until it runs by itself then keep it at about half throttle (2500 rpm) until it is running smoothly.
Hope that makes sense
Andrew
Simplicate and add lightness!!
Hi all,
Has anyone fitted a Kenlowe engine re-heater to a Focus?
I've previously fitted them to an Omega V6 and Megane 1.6 (8v) and am now looking at fitting one to a Focus TDdi (90 ps).
Any feedback much appreciated.
In anticipation.
Robert Read more
I have noticed that most people, when advertising their car for sale using a notice in the car make basic mistakes.
If i am in the market for a used car, and see one on (or off) the road, I want to know TWO things and two things only
1. HOW MUCH
2. CONTACT NUMBER
any thing else is IRRELEVENT (at that stage)
Why do folks insist on quoting every small detail except the two things passing motorists have time to absorb.
TIP - if you quote a price and telephone number ONLY (big letters please), anyone interested will stop and look! anything else is a waste of time! - unless you are offering services which are illegal in the UK, everyone understands the meaning of big white notice in the back of a car: you don't even need to say 'for sale'
In case you are sceptical, I was flagged down one night in Birmingham's tunnel system by a buyer because these details were all I had in the back window of a car i was selling and he understood this.
No I'm not in advertising............
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or the ad's in autotrader that say 'previous celbrity owner'. like i give a toss!
Could someone please provide me with a description of how to get the brake drums off a Mondeo?
The Haynes book describes releasing the adjuster through a hole in the back plate. The diagram is inadequate, so you can feel a spring-loaded thingy through the hole, but it doesn't release the drum, nor is there any suggestion as to whether one should try to turn it to slacken the adjuster.
I'm sure all will become clear when I get a drum off, but at present the only apparent solution involves the lead mallet, which I am reluctant to use. The handbrake is off, have I missed something?
Thanks all.
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With the handbrake off, insert a flat blade screwdriver into the hole in the backplate (grommet removed) with the blade horizontal, push the blade in and lever the screwdriver up or down. Also did you remember to remove the spring clip washers off the studs.
Has HJ sold the car by car breakdown to Top Gear online? The reviews in their "The Car Knowledge" section appear to be identical Read more
And how about Jeremy? Does he as well?
Don't know who this other "mighty" one is ;-)
Just wondered if any B.R`s have followed H.J`s advice in FAQ`s -(question 16) and had their ECU`s reconditioned rather than replaced with new OE parts and how they found the price and service from ecuexchange.biz ??? Read more
Never heard of them!
I've fitted many recon ECU's - some give problems, others don't.
Generally speaking you should be OK.
What vehicle have you got problems with?
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
Just a little practical tip, not unknown, I'm sure:
I had a persistent smear the length of the wiper blade on the windscreen of my Golf, where the left-hand blade finished its rightward travel, which became very annoying and even survived the valet's repeated deep glass cleaning. I've got rid of it simply by loading an old toothbrush with toothpaste and scrubbing the line thoroughly. Read more
Newspaper does work, also rubbing alcohol to clean the grime off the blades and the screen.
My old man used to use silver paper from his fag packet to clean up chrome as well..........
Browse
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There is no point in trying to put a stop to, in my opinion the worst kind of benefit frauds....career cripples. These are people who have made it their job to con as much as they can out of the system by faking it. Take my neighbour for example she has a motability car, which her husband uses every day to go to work in, she walks to the other side of our town to pick her grandson up and walks back to her house pushing his pushchair. Access to her house is easy with the pushchair though because the council has just fitted a new UPVC door which opens outwards and a ramp. The council has also built her an extension at the back of her house, a downstairs bedroom and bathroom, because she is too ill to walk upstairs !!! Funny that I've seen her upstairs washing her windows. I was so annoyed about this that I filmed her cleaning her mobility car and walking down the street and rang up the fraud line who said that they would look into it, but never have. I gave them my name and offered to send the video evidence but they said no thanks!!!! She's been claiming for at least 8 years and one of her kids gets carers for looking after her, so she must be getting the middle or higher rate of DLA carers allowance. Does anyone else think that this is out of order, or is it just me?