I havnt flushed my engine out during oil change since I read somewhere that flushing engines out with high mileage can remove hardened bits of crud,which otherwise wouldnt move,which can in turn cause blockages and problems in your engine,but Ive noticed that not doing it during oil change makes the oil turn black a lot quicker after oil change.I have 102k on my VWGolf,is there any risk in flushing an engine with this kind of mileage? Read more

BBC 2 Wednesday 7:30pm there a motoring related program, its critics choice in my listings guide.

Details from BBC web site :

Rover's Last Chance Saloon
The Money Programme investigates the controversy at the heart of MG Rover. Have the four directors of the Phoenix consortium made themselves rich at the expense of Rover cars? Can the company survive? Read more

Just to lighten the mood I wondered whether you could express great philosophical questions in terms of motoring related items? The only one I could come up with at this late hour was this:

If an italian/french car of your choice collapses in a heap in a deserted car park with no-one around does it make a noise?
teabelly Read more

Does anyone remember the strip roads? Well, for those who don?t?

When Rhodesia was first ?developed?, the first ?All Weather? roads were the strip roads. Two strips of tarmac laid directly on the ground, dirt either side and dirt between - no attempt at camber etc. They made up a single carriageway. This was the equivalent of the ?A? roads of the UK at the time. If you met somebody going the other way you took the near-side strip with your offside wheels, and he did the same on his side. If you couldn?t see over a brow you took the near-side just in case. I never measured the width, but the strips were comfortably wide enough for the tyres. Keeping them on the strips was a marvellous incentive to staying awake. I think that the speed limit was 50 mph, which was quite enough in the circumstances. This was true in the 1960s, when I was there.

When you came to a river the only warning was a sign, about A3 size, saying ?Deadly Hazard?. When you met that sign you dropped down to approx. 2 mph until you reached the brow of the rather steep slope down to the bridge. You then stopped to see if you could see the bridge above the water. The bridges over rivers were about 3 ft. above dry season water level. In the rainy season the water would rise over the bridge, and you knew that you had to go back to the nearest town or set up camp until the water level fell. You did not go down the slope unless you saw a clear bridge, only one vehicle at a time.

One story is of a farmer who stopped to look, and saw a lioness with two cubs lying on the bridge. He waited at the top as was the custom to wait for them to move on. He then observed an African gentleman of his acquaintance ride on his bike over the opposite brow. When he was over the brow he saw the animals and tried to stop. Brakes on bikes were not regarded as a priority, a steady progress was all that was desired. Stopping was generally accomplished by braking the tyre with your foot. Walking bare footed since birth gives the indigenous quite hard feet.
The lioness saw him coming and rose to her feet, alert and watching him. When he was at the entry to the bridge, with no perceptible diminishment in speed and foot almost smoking, he diverted off to the left and entered the river with a great splash. The lioness was startled and jumped off the bridge on the other side with another gtreat splash. I never learned what happened to the cubs.
Read more

yes it's me again.

ive now got this problem all the time now, these are the symptoms:

1. i can somethimes smell diesel inside the car with the engine running. ive checked the exhaust for leaks - none found.

2. ive been told that it misfiring possiably because one of my injecters has worn out or is beyond its useful life. how do i tell if its worn out & in need of replacing??

3. it now smokes on acceleration, quite a bit when its cold, but it gets less as the engine warms up, could this be related to item number 2?

4. ive had the diesel leaked fixed, it was leaking from the throtle shaft seal.

5. its now running on so called "cleaner diesel", but it was misfiring before the change, so ive ruled that out

6. ive tried changing petrol stations, no difference to misfiring or the smoke.

7. ive replaced the fuel filter & checked for water getting into the fuel. both have got no problems.

any ideas before i start shelling out money on parts that i might not need?
--
shaun the sheep
ford fiesta. 1.8d. j reg. 91'. Read more