June 2004
need another (driving) hobby - so, with son, am buying fully restored '81 Dolomite Sprint, green, lot of bills, pix of all work etc - any contacts, pse, for owners' club and best place to get insurance quote?
many thanks
EH Read more
I have a 1997 SEAT Ibiza 1.0 CLS that last year suffered a failure to the water pump at about 50,000 miles( the plastic impeller sheared - is this a common problem with this SEAT/VW engine?) The resulting overheating required repairs to the cylinder head etc. costing £1000. The engine seems to run OK now but tends to foul the plugs, in particular the one opposite the cam belt, and oil consumption is heavy - about 1-2 pints per thousand miles. There are no obvious oil leaks and a mechanic says that it is likely to be the oil control rings. Renewing the rings is hardly cost effective but it has been suggested that there is an oil additive that might help. Does anyone here have any experience of this type of product please? Or any other suggestions. Alternatively should we just live with it periodically cleaning the plugs and keep adding the oil, or is it likely to get much worse? Read more
Could be worth a try using something that gives the oil a little more viscosity like Wynn's.
Personally not had much success with the piston seal type treatments after trying one years ago on an old car with a smoky exhaust. It was a paste you put into the engine through the spark plug hole that was supposed to increase compression and reduce oil consumption. Don't think it made any difference.
Might be that the pistons got v hot and seized the piston rings causing a bit of scuffing - could be that it will improve after a few thousand miles after the scraper and oil control rings bed in again.
Changing to a spark plug that is one grade hotter might help with the fouling problem. Not recommended if you drive long distances at high speed though.
I have a 1995 Cavalier, done 150,000 miles with same family since new. Recently, when I brake I get a vibration through the steering wheel, it continues as long as my foot is on the brake pedal.
Its not severe but it is noticeable, you can see the steering wheel juddering, but it only happens when I brake.
I thought it may be warped brake discs, but any other ideas would be welcome.
And if it is warped dics, anyone know a good (cheap) place for new discs ?
Cheers Read more
Definitely replace the pads if you are renewing the disks- they wear to match the worn profile of the old disk, and won't bed properly on a new one. While you are at it, check that all the pistons are sliding and retracting properly in the calipers.
Hi all,
It's that time of year again and I thought I'd moan on about insurance but I'm going to say something you may not believe.
Ok so I'm 18 years old and in the eyes of insurers (and perhaps many of you) am a "boy racer". I can assure you I'm not but understanably, the quotes I have been getting for insurance are going to be higher than normal but on some sites I feel like collapsing in a heap on the floor!
I'm not going to name any names obviously but for my first year of owning my own car and thus being insured on it was a round about £2000 for Third Party Only. Crazy I know but it has to be paid. Second year starts at the end of this month so with 1 years no claims under my belt, you'd expect a signicant drop. I've decided, if it is possible to get Fully Comp so I can occasionally drive my dad's car but I think the only way to find this out is by ringing them up. (I did post a thread about this a few days ago) The cheapest quote I've had is £1600 fully comp which believe it or not is actually very cheap compared to last year. However, brace yourselves, one quote I've had has been the princely sum of £7,800. Needless to say I'm not going with them!
My dad made a very good point though the other day. It is a legal requirement to have insurance. Many insurers will only insure 21 year olds. He made a really good argument which I forget now but his point was, in anything else, it would be extortion or somesuch seeing as you have to have it but the number of companies willing to insure you are so few and the ones you find charge you the earth.
Sorry for the long post it just gets my back up! IMO, 7 grand for a Fiesta is a joke. £1600 is a joke but at least it's cheaper than the first year!!!
Thanks for your patience,
Adam
(A disgruntled motorist)
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PG,
Just got a quote then and 2 quotes are from sites I've tried but are 3 grand (that's nearly 2 grand more). However, given your gleaming recommendation I am going to ring them.
Thanks again
Adam
There was I, hoping for a good night's sleep tonight...
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3782789.stm
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My mortgage costs me 4.5 x my car expenses all up. I don't know if that's a good thing or not? It does however confirm what I already know - that the house is too big and before it's too late to enjoy it, I need something more sporty!
Fuel cells, chip fat, chicken poo - what will the car of the future run on?
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3782801.stm
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I once worked for a water utility who used sewage to generate methane to power the pumps that pumped the sewage.
The process also sterilized the sewage (bit like composting), the resultant slurry was high in nutrients and could be used as a raw material for fertilizer or diluted and sprayed directly onto fields. Being a closed loop system it also avoided some of the usual aromas associated with a sewage plant - they also had very large 'fragrance dispensers' for when the wind was blowing in wrong direction.
Economics will end up dictating what energy source is used, ultimately we'll end up with nuclear fusion because the R&D costs will seem insignificant compared with the alternatives.
Given our dependence on plastics, most bio-fuels will end up providing the raw material for plastics - there isn't enough agricultural land on the planet to supply enough bio-fuel for the present let alone future requirements.
I have a Peugeot 106 XN 1.1i Grad. 1993, ocassionally when I change gears (usually when engage 1st gear) and (try to) accelarate there is a (lag)lack of power, the car does not want to accelerate (sort of flat spot) for a couple of seconds even though I got the accelerater fully depressed, this lasts for about 1-4 secs then the car responds as usual, accelerating.
Does anyone know what can be causing this?
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sweet thanks guys, will give it a shot :)
With the hot weather and the windows down (air con not working at the moment!) I've noticed a squeaking from what I think is a wheel, perhaps a front one on my '99, 87k 306 HDi.
This appears to stop after a certain speed (perhaps 40mph?) and also lessens when the car has been running for a while??
Do the wheel bearings need lubricating at anytime? I can't see it as a lube-requiring item in the owner's handbook? Read more
Thanks for the advice Ross, will check out the bearing.
The A/C is stuffed because the condensor's gone. Also common on the 306, I believe... :-(
when i drive my mondy i get a misfire at about 2500 to 3000 rpm. it's ok when accelerating and it's ok at idle, it just misfires when i coast or on gentle deceleration.
it's a 2000 zetec 16v 1998 and it's 100k+ miles. the fuel economy is really good most of the time as i do motorway driving and i dont drive it hard.
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thanks, i have just had a look and i think i have found the answer, i'm going to try disconnecting the EGR valve
Last week we covered 450 kilometres in a Hertz baby Peugeot Cabriole in southern Spain.
As others may be heading for such parts in the near future, I thought I?d share my experiences. (Cost was Euro 190 for Tuesday 10.00 to Friday 10.00 including zero excess insurance.)
I enjoyed the excellent handling and the amusing roof mechanism. The 1.6 engine was acceptably lively. Both front seats were comfy and we did twice use the rear ones for short distances.
However, there were some problems:
1 Erratic electrics
2 Build quality no better than average
3 My forehead was approx 9? from the top of the front screen even with the seat right back (I?m approx 6? tall)
Overall, I did enjoy driving it (especially with the roof down), and would recommend it as a fun if expensive hire car. However I couldn?t imagine spending my own money on one due to the quality issues.
By the way, Hertz also do a 307 CC in Spain.
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Hi,
We recentley had a 307cc in where the BSi completley shut down and the roof became stuck down!!
This could have been you! (Although I would imagine the weather was nice at the time)
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two items we're looking for, in particular, are front spoiler and black carpeting
thanks again