June 2004
After some months of pondering over what sort of vehicle would best suit the needs of a landscaping and garden management business, 4x4s are off the agenda. The amount of times that genuine offroad ability will be needed are expected to be pretty few and far between, and there's always SHB 4x4 hire should a large enough contract present itself.
Thoughts have now turned to medium diesel vans and I thought of the Vito. I'm aware that there were issues on the V Class with regard to suspension pumps, but does this apply to the Vito? £6.5k inc VAT seems to buy a 60,000 mile 108CDi with one owner, which seems a fair amount of van for the money.
Any thoughts? Read more
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
We all know that, if coming out of a pub one-over-the-eight we should not get into our car parked on the public highway to sleep it off, as that would be drunk in charge & so we could be done for drink driving. Provided the car is in the pub carpark, we can sleep to our heart's content.
Of course, if we don't have our car keys, we can sleep in peace on the public road.
What if, prior to going to the pub, we have disconnected the battery, so that the car will not start.
What if we hide our key carefully prior to going to the pub; take only the remote control blipper; and on returning to the car 'have no key - think we've lost it.'
Does it make a difference if that key is hidden in the ashtray, or under the tree stump at the end of the road?
Does the old 'trick' of opening the car, and then throwing the keys as far from the car as we can work?
Errors in the above, comments & observations, please! Read more
Read the Road Traffic Act.
does anyone know what they are doing to the M42 in birmingham? the road works have gone on for ever! 50mph limit and not a workman insight!
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From what i saw there are gantries going up exactly like the m25 variable speed limit - and if you look you can see the unlit red circles in the gantry displays!
Monday i went m40/m42/m5/m6 going t'north not too bad, and coming home thursday i went m6/m6 toll/m42/m40 going t'south - again not bad. M6 Toll? gee what an experience - empty motorway!
My 1996 ultima when driven at a steady 3000 rpm will suddenly rise to around 3800 rpm without change of speed (70 mph). This happens usually after 30 minutes or so into a journey. It will happen on a still day (no wind) and without hills or other adverse conditions. I can get the same effect by switching off overdrive using the green button on the autoshift stick. Blipping the accelerator will generally bring the revs down to normal. Travelling at a steady but slightly lower speed (68mph)
results in perfect running. My car has a full service history with the local main Ford dealer. It is my fifth scorpio and is a low mileage car as I am now retired. 45500 on the clock. I am 2nd owner. Car supplied by my dealer for 30 years. They think there may be a problem with the elctronic Matte? Has anyone experienced this problem?
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A mate recently bought an M reg 1600 Escort with 60k miles and a FSH. Very happy with the car, but in this hot weather, the temp gauge wanders right up into the red. I had a look and it seems as though the fan doesn't kick in until the engine is too hot.
Where abouts on the block is the thermostat for this fan? I'd like to try changing it before sending him off for further investigation.
In the event of that, any suggestions for decent independant engineer in Guildford?
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Hopefully after nearly 5 years the problem has been sorted.
Forgive me, but the cynic in me thinks this is an advert. Can you confirm you have no connection with the places you're recommending.
DD. BR Moderator.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/merseyside/3806835.stm
The above news story tells of Liverpool City Council 'getting tough on abandoned cars'.
Ok. Gives the impression that if you want to get rid of your car, take it to Scouse Land. And leave it there. Read more
I dont think the cars would come from that type of approved contractor. I've followed trucks with these cars on, and they look pretty complete to me. The trucks go thru a weighbridge, dump the cars, and then get their money - end of story. I think the only componant stripping would be for spare parts. Actually, when I look at some of the cars, I surprised that they are bad enough to be pulverized.
In May 1999 I was unlucky enough to acquire 3 penalty points for speeding (41mph in a 30 mph limit!) Now that 5 years have passed without further naughtiness, I thought I might see about getting a clean licence again so had a look at the DVLA website.The procedure seems to go something like this....
1) You get yourself the approp form.
2) You get a passport size photo (to DVLA's specs!)
3) You get a professional person to sign the back of the photo
to show you've been 'certified'
4) You take this to a Post Office that has been delegated
to 'look at' identity documents.(Not all Post Offices do, so
you have either got to do a postcode search on the Post
Office website or phone and find out.)
5) Because I don't have a passport (have led a very sheltered
life!)and am not old enough to have a pension book, I will
have to take along my birth certificate.
6) Because DVLA say on their website that an (original) birth
certificate is not necessarily proof of identity, I may be
asked for some other form of identity (I kid you not!)
7) The (participating) Post Office then 'looks' at these
documents and charges me £4 for 'looking'.
8) If paid by cheque, this £4 will have to be accompanied by a
bankers card to confirm identity. (Despite the fact that you
are standing there in person, with your birth certificate
and current driving licence in your sweaty paw !!!)
9) Then you have to pay DVLA £19 for the privilege of getting
the new licence.
10)You are advised that this can take up to 3 weeks from the
date that DVLA receive the application.
Considering the fact that this is the only brush with the law I've had in 30+ years of driving the (minor) misdemeanour has cost.....
£40 fixed penalty with 3 penalty points.
5 years of confessing my guilt to insurance companies with 5 years of inflated premiums.(Probably £££s)
£19 for a replacement licence.
£4 for a Post Office to 'look' at my documents.
Cost of a passport photo.
Above all, though, UNBELIEVABLE HASSLE to get a clean driving licence again!
Wish me luck.....
Graeme Read more
And if stopped by a police sergeant, always resist the temptation to call him 'corporal'.
Hi -
Not quite sure if this belongs in Technical Matters but I\'m sure it will get moved if it does.
As you may have guessed from the apt title, I need to get rid of some rust. It\'s a tiny tiny amount and apparently a common problem on the rear of Focuses (Foci?). Anyway - what\'s the best thing to do to get rid of it - like I said, it\'s a tiny amount but there is a silver effect bar on the boot making sanding difficult. It would be great if I could post the picture on the MSN groups site but apparently I need to be okayed first.
Can someone get back to me please?
Thanks very much
Adam
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"I can't believe I'm going to Ford but after a cursory glance in Halfords and finding every gold other than mine, I think I have to. Champagne gold, moondust gold, gold gold, orangy gold, blue gold but not harvest gold."
Did you look under "beige" ??????!!!!!
Hi all
My missus has a Ford Fiesta Encore 1.3L (1998) that has been over-revving whilst depressing the clutch. This problem happens more often than not, occurring both during hard acceleration through the gears and braking from speed when approaching roundabouts. The over-revving engine can usually be brought back down to lower revs by tapping the accelerator.
We had the opposite problem around 12 months ago - in this instance we had to buy a new ISCV (cleaning the old one didnt solve the problem).
My question is this; is it likely to be the same problem, or could it be something else, maybe the throttle position sensor? Maybe a good clean of the ISCV will solve the problem?
I will be getting may hands dirty tomorrow morning on my day off... any advice before then would be most appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
M o b y
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Quick forum search reveals:-
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=21839
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=22353
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=15179
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=14256
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=1056
Some of these threads relate to other Ford engines, but I imagine it's a common fault.


Ah.
I take it that VW commercial vehicles are still built properly then, and it's just the cars that have gone west on build quality?