May 2004
Can anyone please comment on whether a Vauxhall Corsa with an automatic gearbox is likely to be any good in terms of performance, economy, reliablilty etc. The prospective car will be low mileage (<10000 miles), under a year old, and between £7000 to £7500 for a Design or Elegance trim on a late 2003/ early 2004 plate. It's the 1.4 auto, not the easytronic BTW. Has anyone driven or owned one and care to let me know what they are like? I recently read the article comparing the Polo, Fiesta and Micra in WC and they said the Micra was the best, although HJ mentioned that it was not so good. They said the Polo is too slow and I believe the Fiesta is too dear at £11000+. I may go for an Astra instead but that would be quite a basic 1.6 old shape model of the same age
Anyone have any thoughts on what is best?
Cheers
Paulie Read more
Can someone please tell me where the engine block coolant drain plug is located on a 1995 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.7TD (Isuzu Engine)?
The Haynes workshop manual only gives the location of the drain plug by a badly drawn diagram which bears no resemblance to any part of the engine block !
Thank you.
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Anyone recommend a good one. My relationship with my Audi gets worse. Just got her back after a tonne of auto-box hassle and now one of the cats has gone. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH Can't wait to sell it but need to fix the cat at lowest poss price. Read more
Didn't notice that!
Does anybody else have an issue with this bit of the highway code?
" When turning at a cross roads where an oncoming vehicle is also turning right, there is a choice of two methods
turn right side to right side; keep the other vehicle on your right and turn behind it. This is generally the safest method as you have a clear view of any approaching traffic when completing your turn
left side to left side, turning in front of each other. This can block your view of oncoming vehicles, so take extra care.
Road layout, markings or how the other vehicle is positioned can determine which course should be taken."
This only works if both drivers take the same decision. If one tries to go round the back as the other tries to cross in front an accident can easily occur. Its time this advice in the highway code was changed.
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This is one of the things that really gets up my
nose. I always turn in fromt of the other vehicle but
the number of times that you get into the situation where
one lane is all set to turn in front of each
other (so not to impede each other) when some turnip tries
to turn behind the first car bringing everything to a standstill
(this mostly happens at traffic lights).
This illustrates my point. If there is only one oncoming vehicle turning I always try to turn behind it, because it does give better visibility. However, the other driver often fails to understand what I am doing, and pulls into my path, causing us both to stop.
When there are queues in both directions trying to turn I try to pass near side to near side, as this does improve the flow.
I will happily change to always turning nearside to nearside if the highway code is amended to make this the correct practise. It is the sitting-on-the-fence attitude in the highway code which is the cause of the problem.
In Sweden (elsewhere too but not UK afaik: HJ?) you can now buy a Ford Focus Flexifuel.
Basically its powered by unleaded petrol and/or ethanol. As far as I understand there is just the one filler cap, put in what you like in any quantity / proportion you like and the engine management system figures out the mix and reacts accordingly.
Not got my greasy paws on one yet but just a matter of time. Will report back when that little matter is fixed.
Distribution infrastructure for ethanol not that developed yet and mainly in the south of the country.
www.fordbilar.com/etanolbilar.htm which contains a link to the emissions table.
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This sounds like an improvement over LPG conversions, where you end up with nowhere to put your spare tyre.
I read somewhere once that, having and using, a/c causes an increase in petrol consumption in the order of 12%.Can anyone confirm or otherwise this as I've told all my friends with a/c it's costing them 50p a gallon. I declined this gizmo in Cyprus and never really missed it. In this country? You must be kidding.
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Sometimes I use it as a speed controller
on long downhill stretches, I put the car in 5th and
switch on the aircon, depending on the hill the speed settles
at around 40-50 MPH.
I'll have to try this one. Having got a Focus which has very little engine braking when in 5th, I either (or both) have to resort to engaging a lower gear or have to brake all the way down a twisty hill that I regularly go down. (Rural Lincolnshire may be generally flat but it also includes the Lincolnshire Wolds.)
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L'escargot by name, but not by nature.
The engine has spat out the rocker cover gasket just under the filler neck, I have replaced it and stopped the oil leak but the crank case is presureising which is evident when removing the oil filler cap.
Where is the Breather pipe located on the engine?
Anything else I should be looking for?
Many Thanks
G Read more
There is lots of advice on this site re cam cover gaskets.
In my case both sides had gone but the drivers side was worse with oil leaking on to exhaust manifold. Probably worth checking whether you have any oil in the spark plug recesses on the drivers side - if so drivers side may also have gone.
When everything was off I cleaned out plastic tray which sits on top of inlet manifold. I think one of the breather pipes is a small bore one on the drivers side going into the back of the plastic tray. It was blocked in my case. I also cleaned one on the passenger side but this wasnt so bad. You can reach the one on the drivers side with everything in situ not so sure about the passenger side.
Hope this is helpful.
Ps Haynes manual may help
CV gaiters seem to get stiff and 'dried out' in time due to heat, light and general exposure to the elements. They then crack or split. I'm trying to preserve mine by regularly spraying the gaiters with a rubber/nylon lubricant aerosol. I wonder if other members have tried similar preventative measures? Read more
Yeah, but they generally last at least 10 years / 100,000 miles, and only cost about £30 to replace at your friendly backstreet. Hardly a bank breaker! I'd be more worried about the lubricant reacting with the rubber or attracting grit and causing premature failure.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
Friend wants to buy a 1.6 Focus, not too old (3 year) ... via Ford's Direct web site the prices seem awfully high - what's the best place to buy one ?! Read more
Currently showing 491 available in Auction View, link to our left! Should find one in there, you like.
They do seem to sell well, fetching a good price - but theres always another one along in a minute!!
VB
A good mate of mine popped round last week to show my his spotless imported Toyota Previa. He was proudly telling me about the impressive list of gadgets/gizmos and then his tone changed as he mentioned the rear parking sensors. Apparently whilst manoeurvring the alarm sounded and he checked in the mirror to see a lamp post about a foot to the side of the tailgate. Thinking he had plenty of room he carried on, ignoring the sounder, until.....
...... CRUNCH!! He'd reversed straight into a short but sturdy metal post.
Thoroughly hacked off he went round to check the damage and found a neat vertical dent in the
tailgate and to make matters worse a severely cracked "Previa" 'reflector panel' (can't think of another way of describing it sadly) which is going to be very hard to replace. What a nightmare!
So be warned people if your parking sensor bleeps and you can't see anything amiss, get out and have a look before proceeding. Read more
RF Think you've partially made my point that car makers often put things on cars that are more complex than they need to be and certainly far more expensive for US to replace with a higher profit margin for the makers. So, the strip is cheap to buy and simple to fit but why use it when you can install a more flashy looking unit (which as someone else mentioned has an obvious 'pose' factor) which costs you a bit more but which with your inflated profit margin is going to cost the punter several times more to replace?
Car makers know most people love gadgets and will pay through the nose for them. The more visible these gadgets are the better - no pose factor if nobody can see how many gizmo's your car's equipped with.
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oh dear - I always thought that one thing V'hall DID get right was its auto design, and think I recall someone (Aprilia?) saying tt GM auto boxes were amongst the best ... I had 5 Cavalier autos and never had a prob over 16 years.