May 2004
I'm considering selling my car soon, and am wondering if it is advisable to get the engine (and bay) steanm cleaned. The engine is currently covered with a thin layer of absolutely dry 'road dust' - no hints of oil egress anywhere. I had thought that this might be a good selling point, indicating that I'm not trying to hide anything - but equally some folks might be swayed by a nice shiny engine bay! Apart from aesthetics, are there also problems with electrical nasties arising from high pressure cleaning?
So, should I go ahead and steam clean? The car is a Volvo S80 in (as far as I know) perfect order - mechanically, externally and internally.
Thanks Read more
Does anyone have or know where I can get a wiring diagram for the 6000cd ford stereo. I want to input from an MP3 player into the ford unit which says cd changer compatible on it.
cheers Read more
yes it does have an AUX button on the radio. It doesn't have a CD changer fitted but it does support one according to the manual, so I guess it has the wiring loom. I'm not sure where the CD changer is normally located. do you have any info about the rear connector?
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I remember seeing a Philips 21" set a while back that was doing this, and it turned out that the power supply had started to drift and wasn't pushing out enough juice. I couldn't work out the intermittent behaviour as you'd imagine the drain would be more or less constant with no user intervention, but getting the supply replaced seemed to fix the problem.
Had an interesting experience with our C5 today and I wondered if anyone else had encountered anything similar.
For some weeks we have had a problem with the near side front door locking mechanism. The door wouldn't unlock with the remote control but would unlock with the key. At first it was an intermittent problem but then it wouldn't work at all. It had been like this for three weeks at least and today it was taken to the local Citroen dealership, to undergo a diagnostic check to identify the problem.
They reported that no fault could be identified and the door was unlocking with the remote control. Is it possible that the diagnostic check equipment cured the problem? The remote control definitely wasn't unlocking the door yesterday.
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My car has started locking by itself everytime I shut the driver side door. Any ideas??
Hi,
I got up this morning with an extremely fuzzy head, couldn't think straight at all. I go into my P Reg Peugeot 106 (with the annoying immobiliser keypad), turned the electrics on and proceded to enter the wrong code 3 times in a row and it's locked me out.
Is there any way of resetting the keypad so I can enter the right code?
Cheers.
{made use of drop down menus} Read more
You're a star and truly dynamic Dave! I had visions of me getting stranded in the middle of nowhere on one of my birdwatching trips. I feel safe again now.
Thanks very much for your help
Hi all,
I'm new to this forum, so please bear with me if this has been asked before.
The 406 1.9TD is making an awful rattle on tick over, settles down above about 1200RPM. I orginally thought it was the timing belt tensioner bearings, but on closer inspection it seems to be the auxillary belt automatic tensioner pulley - the bearings are shot. I can actually see the pully jumping about as it ticks over and chatters. They Heynes manual does not show how to change this. I loosened the bolt that I think is holding it to the block. Although the pulley assembly can now be moved away from the block, it springs back. Any ideas? Also the bolt that I slackened off is too long to come out. Can this be changed with the engine in situ? It has air conditioning, if that makes a difference to the job.
Many thanks. Read more
hi
i have 2.0L HDI A/C, would this be the same as you describe?, when you talk about belt is that the cambelt.
something on the drivers side is rattling but at 1000rpm it goes, i wonder if it is this pulley
thanks johnny boy
Hello all...
Took a brief break from the books yesterday to give Polo some much needed tlc before people start to believe I actually chose black alloys...and he's leaking!
The boot is soaking on the driver's side, but I can't see where it's come in from. It's the not the rear wash as that has leaked before and is now so well attached there's no hope of it ever leaking again, and it's not coming in through the obvious places around the lights either. The spare wheel is sitting in it's own puddle at the moment, and I almost think the water is coming up from below, rather than in from above, but that would be stupid, wouldn't it?
Now, at the front... twice now when I've first got in the car after some rain, I've driven around a corner and heard water running across from driver's side to passenger side, and then a sizzle, like it's hit the speaker or something. The first time coincided with a damp footwell on the passenger side, but since then, nothing. What could this be, and could it be anything to do with the fact that right in the bottom corner of the windscreen on the passenger side there is a tiny patch of what looks like white condensation, but wont clean off as it appears to be in the glass?
Sorry for all the questions - need to know most importantly about the windscreen I suppose... if it needs fixing?
Thanks!
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Another good clearing implement is a length of that white plastic-coated stretchy wire used to hang net curtains and suchlike. May need to wrap the sharp end in plastic tape.
I\'ve been thinking about getting myself a new car for the motorway commute to work.
I\'d been thinking about the Skoda Octavia diesel, in either hatchback or estate format.
Motorpoint (www.motorpoint.co.uk) have the 1.9 TDi Ambiente 5dr hatchback from £9,999 and the estate from £10,299 with delivery mileage. Other online brokers seem to be talking more in the region of £12,000 to £13,000 for these models.
So, on the face of it, it looks a cracking deal. My worry is, when a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is?
I noticed the following quote on their website:
\"Same Vehicles, Different Price
Our new vehicles are sourced from mainland Europe and Ireland (as is the stock at some offical dealers). Each and every car is right-hand drive, display speeds in mph and built to a European specification which conforms to UK standards. To guarantee this, an official Certificate of Conformity is supplied with each vehicle.\"
Does this mean the cars are produced to an inferior spec? Or are they effectively the same car I\'d be getting from a Skoda dealer? Read more
I agree with LongDriver. Somehow people seem to think that Euro-spec cars are inferior and never to be trusted...They go ok for the Europeans don\'t they? They have no greater chance of breaking down...
Yes, there are disadvantages but, at the discount Motorpoint is offering, you\'ve got to ask whether you want two extra knobs, and one more year\'s guarantee instead of a £5k discount...
I know what I prefer...
Splodgeface
drove past the local aircon service place and they have a sign out "DIY aircon topup" from £7.00
Turns out it is a can of 134a with a screw adapter to "topup" the coolant.
I always through that the gas was added by weight rather than pressure, so unless you remove what is already in - how would you know how much gas to add? or do this kits just work on the pressure within the circuit?
lastly - if aircon is regassed, does oil also need to be added at the same time (or a product such as leak stop) or will the oil still be in the system? Read more
These are known in the US trade as 'Death kits'.
Without vacuming the system or adding the correct amount by weight and monitoring the high side pressure, you'll kill the system. Not too bad I guess, until it takes the belt with it, along with the alternator, PAS etc.
A by-product of too much gas, or an obstruction, and a mixture with air, is extremely high pressures. Sometimes these pressures can rise quicker than the HP cutout can operate, the result is a system that blows up in your face. There can be 4 or 500psi in there. If you connect the can to the high pressure side in error, then the system pressure is higher than the burst pressure of the can. Result, the can blows up in your hand.
Basically, don't mess about with high pressure systems when you don't know what you're doing. There's a saying about things blowing up in your face, and with a/c systems they literally can.
Hi, i have a Ford Fiesta 1.1 M Reg car.
I recently changed the steering rack, when i drove the car next, i noticed the airbag light was flashing on the dash. I needed to have the tracking done, so wilst i was at the garage i asked about the airbag, the guy told me to take the battery off for a an hour, and that should reset the airbag. I unhooked the battery for about a day. Its still flashing. Any ideas?
Thanks
Emlyn Read more
Many thanks, looks like the problem and managed to locate a specialist chap near to home who confirmed the same. He will arrive with the clockspring and fit next Tuesday, much cheaper than Ford's. rcr
Don't agree, bloke. Seeing a car 'as is' it is easy to tell what will come up nicely and what won't. Abnormal cleaning can be bad news.