June 2004
I will likely need to do a head swap / new engine on my Camry soon so recommendations for Toyota specialists in the Thames Valley / North Hampshire area (Slough to Basingstoke)would be gratefully received.
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Im going to replace the standard radio in my 306. I have got the replacement facia plate but am unsure how to remove the standard radio.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Also the heater blower works but no air is coming out of any vents... is this a common problem? Am i going to have to strip the dash?
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simple, look along thebottom of the radio's facia. There is 2 slightly indented flat pieces. difficult to spot until you look for them. Just push a couple of small flat screwdrivers in there, it will release the clips and you can pull the radio out.
i have a mk2 golf which i just rebuilt the front suspension, as we all know its wise to have the tracking and camber reset
while i dont mind paying £15-30 to get the tracking done i find £60-80 for tracking and camber a touch pricey
anyone do their own with a digi spirit level ...my main concern is finding a dead level surface Read more
Steveo30
Mk2 Golf diy camber change is very easy using the eccentric hub to strut mounting bolt for adjustment. I park the car on a flat surface, bluetac a plumbline from the wheelarch to run down through the centre of the road wheel.I them measure the difference from the plumbline to the top and bottom of the wheel rim and make adjustments as required. I then track the car using a driveover SPQR tracker.
Best of luck.
Why are rear view mirrors so small?
Every car I have driven has a mirror that does not cover the rear window.
On the cars that I own, I am forced to buy a clip-on mirror, fixed to the standard one, so that I can have a good view to the rear.
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Precisely the point I was making...:-)
Friend of mines cavalier snaped its cam belt today. Is this engine safe like the 1.6? or will it have bent valves etc? Read more
One of the reasons its advisable to have cambelt changed before man/rec time.is because engine runs whilst stuck in traffic jams idling at a junction and idling after start up.belt is flexing all the time engine running.it doesnt have to run up the miles to wear.
i have a 94 cavalier gls 2.0 abs etc., i've had the brakes checked out and a lot of it replaced, disks/pads all round, front caliper, rear handbrake shoes/cable and according to the mechanic, everything else is fine..
Dispite this, i'm getting hard feedback through the brake pedal and audiable "twanging", i can't think of a better word.. Brake goes hard and twangs up and down upon braking and basically stops the brakes working properly..
As it doesn't happen all the time, i've had it to the garage on several occasions and they can't find anything wrong with it.. Basically, i can't drive it at the moment, and no one can fix it..
Any idea's before i go and trade it in for something i can trust to brake.
Thanks Read more
Servo vacuum comes directly from inlet manifold not air filter.
Has anyone found the large lumps of plastic at the sides of the front seats hard to climb over?
Is there any model which does not have the lumps? Can I order a Touran with Passat style seats? Read more
The new VW 2.0 TDi engine is a vast improvement on the old 1.9 TDi that I had in my Ford Galaxy. The main benefit is that it doesn't run out of puff just as things are getting interesting but stays on the money right until the red line. I think this is because of the new 16 valve design. The Touran has a far lower centre of gravity than the Galaxy and multi-link suspension which means it goes round corners like my old Nissan Primera. In other words, I think it combines the driving abilities of a good saloon with the passenger carrying ability of a small bus!
I mostly travel on the motorway and have found the Touran to be an excellent cruiser, particularly when assisted by the Sat Nav.
The main reason for choosing a Touran is that you need or might need to carry at least 4 passengers in comfort (and safety). If you only need to carry 3 passengers, you should definitely look at the Honda Accord CDTi which is a similar cost.
Hi,
The 2 Front tyres on my 1992 Ford Escort are wearing unevenly.
And not at the same rate either.
The front offside (drivers side) has plenty of tread left that is visible, but the inside(nearest the engine) of the tyre is almost bald.
Its the same for the nearside (passenger). The pasenger side is also wearing on the other side(kerb side) though not to the same extent (but almost to the tread depth marker, hence why i woul like to know why)
Had the tracking checked bout 6 months ago as the nearside was wearing on both edges (the tyre was the same pressure as all the others) and this turned out to be A OK.
Front wishbones were replaced a few months ago and since then ive noticed the wear on both inside edges, could this be a factor?
Worth noting over the last few months ive been doing weekly 250mile notorway trips with just myself in the car - would this unbalance it enough to cause the abnormal wear?
Wanted something to tell the garage before just turning up.
Cheers,
Dave. Read more
Dave
First ensure the tracking was reset after the front wishbones were replaced. If it was set on worn units it would need correcting when they were replaced. One person motorway use shouldn't cause problems.
I had persistent problems with a '95 Escort which, from new, destroyed one front tyre edge in a couple of thousand miles.
After 3 worn out tyres and several attempts at simple tracking checks, which allegedly showed no problem, and a lot of complaining the dealer finally sent it out for a full 4 wheel alignment - amazingly a Ford main dealer didn't have the capability for this. This highlighted several alignment problems, which were allegedly corrected. Unfortunately I don't know the result as I sold it soon after in disgust - that wasn't the only problem I'd had!
Regards
john S
Hi all,
Brief history of events on my pug 306:
1.Replaced both wishbones
2.Involved in minor accident very next day (cosmetic damage to headlights, grill and bonnet. bumper and wings still in perfect allignment.
3.Insurance write-off, paid up, fixed it myself, passed the DVLA VIC check, car back on road!
However, I noticed that the steering had a slight pull to the right when going straight. If I were to let go of the steering wheel, I estimate it would change lanes in approx 10 sec at 50mph (not that I'd do that on the motorway). Anyway, I was obviously concerned so I had the wheel alignment checked and adjusted (one wheel was off by 1 degree, I have a printout with old and new measurements).
Situation has since vastly improved, but a minor pull is still there (would probably change lanes in about 20 secs).
What could be the possible causes. I will re-check tyre-pressure, and If I get the chance will swap nsf and osf wheels, to see how that affects it (just incase one wheel is out of round due to excessive toe in/out wear).
By the way, if I brake and let go of the the sterring wheel, it does NOT pull to one side.
Any other ideas on possible causes, or things to try?
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Just to put a final end to this thread.
I finally got around to replacing both front tyres with new, and all is well, steering is now damn straight. Must have been an out of shape tyre.
Thanks for all the suggestions.
In the sub-£3,000 region, cars seem to me to go for good prices on eBay. I have a feeling that often they go for better prices than those advertised by private sellers on Autotrader.
Given the certainty of a quick sale, and the apparent near-certainty of a better price than a trade-in, why do more people not sell their cars on ebay.
Lots of cars seem to be advertised with no reserve, and they all seem to reach sensible prices. I imagine there are sufficient dealers/home traders buying on ebay to ensure that cars will never go for well below (some sort of) market value. In fact, it must be the nearest that you can get to a 'perfect' market. (The theoretical market when, broadly, there are sufficient buyers & sellers for the market to be completely liquid, and for all sales to reach correct selling prices. Read more
I'll second virtually everything Hugo says, except the ?buy it now?
pricing strategy. On the other hand, I suppose, it is really
horses for courses. Anyway this is what I did.
CJay
Yes I agree 40% on top of the starting bid of £10 is a bit much, but in my case we were talking an extra £95.
Maybe in retrospec the Buy it Now price should have been closer to the bid price. But I was happy with the end result and that's what maters at the end of the day I suppose.
This is the second vehicle I have sold over e bay and the one thing I have been struck with is the buyers' keeness to close the deal.
H
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Cheers - chimes with the advice I have subsequently got - Messrs API Engines seem to be the better bet so will go with them and a recommended local indepedent.