May 2004
Hello
My Astra 1.4 (H reg)has had its fuel piping cut with a stanley knife and all the fuel from my petrol tank has disappeared. The piping runs under the car on the driver side next to the brake cable.
It is obviously a robbery of petrol from my car and I was completely flabbergasterred when I spotted petrol pouring out from underneath the car.
I managed to get the car home with a friend towing me.
As a temporary repair I cut a small length of lamp cable that was slightly larger in diametre to the piping that connects the petrol tank to the engine, I then removed the 3 electrical cables inside the lamp cable... and found that it was possible then to put both ends of the cut fuel piping into the lamp cables outer sheath to make a very tight fit. I then sealed the ends with insulation tape.
The Astra's fuel piping was cut 7 days ago. I am still driving my car today since my temporary repair without any problem.
The lamp cable sheathing does not seem to be corroding to the petrol.I have however noticed that the insulation tape (on either end) has started to get sticky when touched.
There is no seemingly obvious leaking of petrol from the fuel pipe since the temporary repair.
My question is....
Would this fail the MOT?
It's due in 3 weeks.
MACK
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I wil need two new tyres on the front of my 406 soon. Currently fitted with Michelin Energy, these are about £10 per tyre more than the standard Michelins. Does anyone have any data to show whether or not these are worthwhile in terms of better fuel consumption? Or is this just another ploy to charge a higher price?? All advice would be welcome.
CG Read more
Just checked my car- i have Energy E3A all round. I have to concur, good wear rate and economy, but grip isnt great. They do give way quite smoothly though. Considering Michelin themselves claim only 5% improvement, i think i would replace with "regular" tyres when the time comes.
please can someone help me out ?? i have a 2.5 v6 cd "l" reg with 95k on the clock full mot, auto, a/c, e/w, e/s/r, heated seats, e/seats, all the usual cd stuff. i am thinking of selling this as i have seen a 2l cd fitted with lpg. would part ex or private sale be best ?? how much should i sell this for ?? Read more
...actually it's 75 or 70 can't remember I'll have to go an look, my E34 5 series was 80l though and you were certainly reminded of it at the pumps, often with >£50 for a full tank even when petrol was relatively cheap :-(
Chad.
I\'m looking at getting myself a new Mini. I can either get a regular Cooper, or stretch to a pretty poverty-spec Cooper S.
Has anyone any idea how this will affect residuals. A/C is a £700 option and I\'m concerned that not having it will make it harder to shift a few years down the line. Would I be better off giving up on the Cooper S and settling for a well spec-ed standard Cooper?
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The Chilli pack on the S gets you air-con, xenons, half-leather and big wheels etc for £1500, so not much point paying £700 for a/c alone. I think white with black roof is the best colour. If you don't need the extra power then the Cooper is fine and does much more mpg.
My Mrs's Cooper is up for sale very soon (before the bubble bursts come MOT time) it's a 51-plate a/c, chilli pack, cosmos black metallic, ASC+T, Sports suspension plus, TLC, 10k miles.
Going to give it a punt in Autotrader at £10999 and see what happens???
I have a slight problem with my scooter. It is a 2002 model Yamaha majesty 125cc 4 stroke engine with 18500 miles on the clock. I noticed engine oil seeping down the side of the engine (where the plastic cover is for the belt).
I checked the oil and it was slightly low, but nothing unusual. An AA patrol came out and found oil was entering the air filter housing, which he drained off. It seemed to be coming through the breather hose. There was about a pint of oil there.
He noticed at the end of the breather hose was a screw that comes out and drains any excess oil in the hose which seemed to have over flowed.
He suggested that the engine is worn. This cannot be the case because there is no smoke from the engine under heavy acceleration. Also, the engine oil has been changed very frequently.
This has only occurred after using the bike at high speed i.e. almost full throttle along the carriageway for about 30 miles.
Can anyone suggest what this may be, and should I be worried about this?
Your help will be appreciated.
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I have a similar tube to this on my Honda CB125 twin. Every once in a while you have to pinch the end of the tube to open it and drain out any oil.
Hiya guys,
I've had my '86 car for about 2 years now and when I first got it, I had the A/C gassed by a bloke using a 'direct drop-in' gas R416A I think, which I've found out is 134a+some butane to move the oil around. It worked great for about 18 months, but now I've no gas left.
I've since read nasty stories about how these gases can muck up your system so I've decided to take the plunge and go for a conversion. Do you know if a kit is available for the Volvo 360 as well as any new parts that might be needed. The dealer will only do the compressor as an exchange item. The acummulator/drier and the evaporator and condensor are no longer available from Volvo.
Thanks in advance. Read more
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I am thinking about buying a car at Blackbushe auction on Monday. Does anybody have any idea how much it would cost to have it transported to the south coast (Bournemouth), or alternative suggestions on how to get it home. I am not willing to take the risk of driving it uninsured, which it would be as I doubt it will be taxed. Read more
BCA charge for delivery according to distance. They undercharged me delivering from Preston to Wokingham (they charged for Workington!) and it was somewhere around £200 IIRC. Easiest is to call them and ask, or go to the window when you get there and ask.
I've used their delivery twice, and it's always been pretty prompt. The downside is, of course, that you don't get any opportunity to drive the car at all on day of purchase, so if you find a problem it is too late to do anything about it, under the limited rights which you have under certain auctions.
Having said that, I have never experienced a problem. Depends to some degree what you are buying, and which auction.
Hi, maybe someone could help with a problem l have with a 405 l've just bought, theres an annoying clicking sound coming from under the glove box, under the glovebox is the heater fan which l removed to find it continues to run slowly, even though the switch is in the off position! the clicking noise is coming from the unit that opens and closes the vent flap, it sounds like the unit is also continuously running, the car is fitted with air conditioning, is there any sensors that control this unit? if anyone could help could you let me know.
Many thanks, Duggie
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Thanks for your help, job for tomorrow,
{Rest of post & smutty comments deleted. DD}
Following on from the oil thrower question, the two manuals I have differ when it comes to setting the valve timing using the crank and cam wheels and timing chain.
Haynes says the dimple marks on both gear wheels must remain opposite each other with the crank is set at 12 oclock (TDC) and the cam at 2 oclock.
The MGB restoration guide says a staright edge placed across the dimples should pass across the centre of the nose of both the crank and camshaft.
With the dimples exactly opposite the straight edge misses the cam (which ends up at 3 oclock) and with the straight edge passing across the crank both dimple marks and the cam, the dimples are one cog apart (when viewed from the front).
Any advice greatfully recieved, unfortunately I forgot most of this stuff 20 years ago......... Read more
The dimples should line up with the straight edge across the centre of the crank and cam shaft. However if the head has been skimmed then there will be miss alignment as the free lenght of chain is fixed but the shafts have closer together. From memory the free length is on the right ( tensioner on right ) so with Crank at TDC the cam dimple will be slightly anti clockwise of the mark. ( to the right at the straight edge. ) Regards Peter
Despite 4 visits to both to our local independant mechanics, and the Vauxhall main dealership, no-one has been able to determine why our 16V M reg Astra is mis-firing on Cylinder One. The coil has been changed, leads plugs etc swapped from cylinder to cylinder, but always it is Cylinder One that is at fault. Oddly, it fires perfectly when the engine first starts, but after 10 to 15 seconds the problems start. Any ideas anyone? Read more
how about checking the simple stuff first????
does it use any water - oil. how much fuel does it use - try using injector cleaner.
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When I replaced the fuel pipes on my old Astra (admittedly older than yours - Y Reg) the pipes that ran the length of the car from rear to front were metal, I only had to replace a short pipe from the tank to the metal one at the back, and another short one from the bulkhead to the carb at the front. The longest pipes I had to replace were the ones going to the breather/cut off valve in the rear wheel arch to the top of the tank.
If it's non injection (which I guess it is) then you won't need the high pressure pipes, which are more expensive.