June 2004
Ok here goes the tale. I recently noticed that my 1996 Audi A4 110bhp TDI was loosing coolant fluid. On inspeciton I foudn that it seemed to be boiling off at the top hose to the radiator was too hot to touch, but the radiator was cold. Having searched the net I replaced the expansion cap as a starting point but no change. These weekend I replaced the thermostat and things have changed a little. Instead of the temperature gauge sticking like glue to 90degrees it now goes up when I accelerate hard but then after a while returns to 90. The radiator is hot across the top and this morning after a 60 mile run was warm in other places too. With the engine hot and running I have tried to hold shut the top line to the radiator after the T to the expansion tank in the hope of seeing water
puped into tank to confirm water pump is working but to no avail. Should I go ahead and replace water pump of does anyone else have any bright ideas, for reference the system seems to hold pressure once the car has cooled down as when I open expansion tank it goes psss and level rises in tank, plus oil is black with no milky streaks.
Any ideas would be well and truly welcome.
Thanks
Andrew
PS Does anyone also know how to stop water accumulating in batery tray? Read more
Morning all,
My 1998 phase 2 clio has 'developed' a noise on what appears to be the driver side front wheel. It is intermittent and usually occurs only after about half an hour of A/B road style journeys or an hour or so of dual carraigeway/motorway type journeys. And, bizarrely, it just dissapears after a random period of time.
The 'pitch' of the noise changes with the speed, getting more high pitched as speed increases.
After reading a few posts I've noticed noise can be 'stopped' whilst steering to the left, I think, which echos the symptoms of a worn wheel bearing?
I only posted (for the first time) to double check that this could be a wheel bearing and not simply a case of getting the WD40 out after work, before I surrender my hard earned to the garage.
Any help is much appreciated...
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Wheel bearings dont moan all the time.when they start to play up which seems to be your prob.they can go on for a long time.
depending on mileage you do.but it will get worse.It could also be diff whine but that usually is persistant.if the whine is coming from one side only intermitant would think w/bearing.would suggest both replaced if you do it.not recommended to have one only done.?
I'm in the market for a second car and it looks as though the Fiat Marea Weekend JTD estate cars represent excellent value - around £3k for a 99 - T reg. I'd like to track down a JTD 130 2.4 5 cylinder engined model and wondered whether anybody had any expereince of this engine or the 4 cylinder JTD 105 model? From what I've read, these engines appear to get a good write up and seem to be one of the more cost effective ways to get a common rail diesel. For the same sort of money, I'd be looking at the indirect injection XUD engined PSA cars (...with possible head gasket problems...?) as the HDi engined cars are out of my budget.
Am I right in thinking that the JTD engine is free of any major/recurring faults? I read somewhere that the 5 cylinder petrol engine has to be removed from the car to change the cambelt - is this also true for the JTD 130 diesel?
Any comments from owners on the longevity of the rest of the car?
Many thanks. Read more
He might be looking for its replacement .....
Yeah, but you've read these forums so you know the 'truth', he SURELY won't want another Fiat!
Hi,
I'd like people's advice on buying high mileage Mondeos (new shape). I've got a couple of ageing Fiats I would like to replace. I've got a maximum budget of £8k and that's including a part ex value of about £1500 for the two Fiats. I need two cars, an estate and a saloon.
There is a garage near me which specialises in high mileage Fords. I could buy two Mondeos, an estate (2.0 Ghia) and a saloon (2.0 Zetec) for about £8k but both cars would have done anything between 90k to 115k. The garage reckons the cars drive as though they had only done 30k.
Does anybody have any experience of high mileage Mondeos (new shape) and are the prices above fair?
Thanks for your help.
Mark Read more
Hardly bank-breaking, and hardly a reason not to buy a particular car if everything else about it is
fine.
That is true over the life of the car but the problem with buying second hand is you don't know when these big bills are going to occur. I can appreciate that even a new clutch every 80k is not much spread over the life of the car but if you buy secondhand then get hit for a clutch within six months then that's rough. Also these big bills end up as the car is getting older and owned by the less well-off, the very people who might struggle to pay for the repairs.
Occasionally I save images from internet sites. In the past all I have done is right click and then click "save image as" and it saves image as a JPEG with its title. Today I tried to save one and it would only let me save it as a bitmap (huge) and as "untitled". Can't seem to be able to save as a JPEG. Any suggestions as to why?
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The frog or the file transfer protocol?
Has anyone bought one of these cd players? if so are they worth the £49.99, is the radio reception good? as well as cd play back? The make is TEVION, I think there made by MEDION who make computers. Read more
thanks a lot man.... I looked over this page before, but didnt noticed it was there. Thanks once more! Medion rules :P
******* Thread now closed, please see volume 47 ********
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I know I know Cardew! You are of course completely right for Hugo's specific circumstances and neatly chose to answer the right bit of the question. The only (& insignificant) point I was trying to make was that the first question was so broadly drafted that it was more a dissertation than an exam question!
Hello!
Been meaning to ask this for a few days but Bugged has just reminded me.
I hate my seatbelt. No matter where I adjust it to, or adjust the seat, it's just not comfortable. I think it probably stems from when someone drove in the back of me, and it was the force of the seatbelt pulling me back that wrecked my right shoulder. I just can't stand it touching/cutting into my neck any more.
I am constantly having to pull the belt away from my neck and try and make it anchor somehow lower down. (I think I might finally have found something suitable for the Girls Only thread here actually, unless there are any particularly large chested blokes around!)
I can't not wear the seatbelt, and I don't want to do that stupid thing of tucking my arm through it that I've seen people do which must make it completely useless. However, while it's so uncomfortable I'm convinced it's going to do me more damage if I ever need it again, and my neck has only just recovered!
I've seen litte boy racers with little coloured cushion things on their seatbelts. Do you think this would help? Do they come in a more subtle colour than bright red or blue? Is there something similar but less trev-like I could use?
Thanks!
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I am very pleased to announce to those who do not want boy racer vesions of "Seat belt pads".
Wilkinsons sell "Seat belt pads - pack of two" for.....£1.99 yes £1.99.
Not the most obvious place to look
They come in black or black all over.
I have been hunting for plain black at a sensible price for a couple of weeks and am now very happy to fit them but......
They are going on my belts at the lower hip position on the outside / door side. This is to replace the plastic belt protectors that have split and to stop the leather seat getting rubbed.
I can now look at restoring the colour in the drivers seat.
Does anyone know anything about these offers?
I ask because it's the Astra's big day again tomorrow, and I happened to come across an ad in the local paper today with the above title.
Sounds too good to be true, in a way. What do the testers gain from it? Would they insist, for example, that any work needed would have to be carried out by them, and that then the customer would also pay the MOT fee?
So, if anyone has heard of or made use of this phenomenon, I'd be grateful to hear more.
Don't want to go to the place, which is a way away and unknown to me, completely ignorant, particularly as I hate driving to places I don't know. (I had a brief HF moment earlier where I though it would be easier to take the bus, before concluding that they'd probably want to see the car!)
Any help gratefully and desperately received.
HF Read more
11 years later?
I\'m due to change the coolant on the wifes Rover 25. I\'ve got some Halfords anti-freeze that is to BS6580 spec but the manual I\'ve got says that this spec has been replaced by OAT coolant. Can I still use the old type or will it damage the engine.
Thanks
MLC Read more
Did you flush and drain the heater?.As these engines dont have a block drain quite likely there would be a litre or so left in the block and heater. As long as the heater is working and no 'gushing' sounds from the heater and temp gauge reads normal then assume all ok. Does the Rover jollop come premixed or neat? Have you got the correct amount of antifreeze concentration i.e 2.5-3 litres in the system?
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
Browse
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I don't know about your coolant loss, but I have some advice about the water in the battery tray. I did have the same problem on my A4 and have it also on my current car, a Passat 110 TDi.
There is a drain hole in the battery tray which blocks easily, but of course it is hidden right under the battery and you need to remove the battery to clean it. Remove the wipers (mark their position on the screen to aid refitting) and the black plastic trim from the bottom of the screen. Then disconnect and unbolt the battery to remove it. Remember that if removing the battery, you need the code for the radio to reactivate it once power is restored. Also be aware that there are reports of failure of the MAF (the Mass Air Flow sensor) on disconnection of the battery. It might be prudent to find some way of keeping the power on whilst moving the battery.