July 2004
No, not an invitation to banger racing. Merely an opportunity, in the best tradition, for those who drive brand new cars to knock those who don't.
That 5 year old fully loaded Mondeo, under 3k. That 10 year old A6 Avant for under 1k. That series II that is more rust than bucket, £500. All a waste of time & money that would be better put towards a brand new 3 series & keeping a dealer in the style to which he has become accustomed.
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I've got a pug 405 estate j reg. I order to stop the car i have to press the brake pedal right down to the bottom in order to stop the car. I've been informed thats its either the master cylinder or the brake servo. Could anyone give me any ideas in how to determine which of these thing is could be. There is fluid in the master cylinder and i've checked the servo valve for correct operation and both are fine. i don't want to buy a master cylinder, and find out its the servo, so would really like some help in how to test these parts. Many thanks. Read more
More likely the self adjuster in the rear drums have seized up. Try pulling on the handbrake, and the pump the brake pedal slowly a couple of times - how does it feel now? If it hardens up and holds pressure, the rear shoes are out of adjustment and taking a lot of fluid to pump them up. Strip and clean the rear brakes if this is the case.
Master cylinder failure usually results in the pedal being reasonably firm but sinking under constant pressure. Servo failure results in the brake pedal feeling very heavy as there is no assistance.
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RichardW
Is it illogical? It must be Citroen....
Increasingly, large bits of road in urban areas are raised to pavement level. Sort of like speed humpts but bigger. Do they mean:
a) That they are pedestrianised areas and so pedestrians should have right of way (as pedestrians seem to think - and blind people cannot feel the edge of the pavement).
b) Nothing.
c) An easier place to kill a pedestrian who has assumed it is not a bit of road.
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This link may explain some of the reasons:
www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft_roads/documents...p
www.cheshire.gov.uk/Environment/Engineering/majorp...f (Nantwich Road piece)
www.highwaysmaintenance.com/failtxt.htm
Fascinating subject this - spent at least 57 seconds reading it all up.
My brother has a friend, who is a businessman. He and his wife both drive Mercedes diesels. He recently had cause to hire a car in France and chose a Picasso HDI. He was mightily impressed by it's handling, ride and engine, and is now wondering why he bothered to spend so much money on the Mercs.
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Oh dear Oh der, all you believers in technology!!!
Of course I have the laser stuff, but I write my notes on paper. It is far too hard using a Palm and paper doesn;t corrupt or crash!!
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
I read here somewhere that DVLA were proposing to make engine changes a lot more difficult and there was some kind of survey. I have searched for this but can not find it. can someone point me in the right direction please. Regards Peter Read more
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23766
Peter,
It\'s over in Technical matters, but there seems to be a temporary glitch (well I hope it\'s temporary) as the text of the message is no longer there, but the url is.
If you click on \"Reply to this message\" on Sams post, the text will then be there.
DD
So, can you help me choose a new car.
Looking at second hand prices, only a second hand mondeo gets me "excited", since you can get a reasonable one for 9-11K, but the problem for me is its rather bad ncap scores, "unstable body", and one of the biggest reasons i want a car is really safety (call me cautious, but if i ever get in a crash and think..should have got a safer car, i'll be rather upset).
Of course ncap might beat little relation to real life.
After an extensive survey here is my list, now, really the volvo is the pick of them all, but is a lot of money for a small car, the mazda is good value, but has a lot safety rating and is a little small inside for a big guy, so my heart really at the moment goes out to the RAV 4.
The accord is an unknown from my perspective, and seems to retain value.
Top 5
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mazsa 6 2.0 TS 4d Auto Petrol 16100 1999/4 139 10.7 (good discounts, can be got for 2K less)
volvo 1.8 SE 4d Geartronic Petrol 19608 1798/4 125 (very safe, low depreciation)
rav 4 2.0 XT3 3d Auto Petrol 18245 1998/4 148 (safest, fun, low depreceation)
mondeo 2.0 LX 4d Auto Petrol 16865 1999/4 142 11.0 (great car, fast depreceation)
accord 2.0i VTEC SE 4d Auto Petrol 17513 1998/4 152 10.3 (seems like a good one also)
Others
a4 1.8 T Limited Edition 4d Multitronic Petrol 21445 1781/4 160 8.3
mazda 3 1.6 TS 4d Activematic Petrol 13800 1598/4 103 12.0
C180K Classic 4d Auto Petrol 21469 1796/4 143 9.6
new golf 1.6 S FSI 5d Auto Petrol 15525 1598/4 113 10.7
passat 1.8T 20V S 4d Tip Auto Petrol 17355 1781/4 150 10.2
crv 2.0 i-VTEC SE 5d Auto Petrol 17813 1998/4 148 11.5 Read more
Policemen always say that they drive Volvo's because of the accident damage they see.
Not quite sure which Volvo you are referring to? Is it the old S40 (didn't do Geartronic) or the new one (do they do a 1.8?).
The Mercedes is also very safe, but not as reliable as you would think. The most reliable will be the Accord.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
My Mondeo II which I have only had for a few days has been dripping on the drive. I soon found it was pink so not engine oil.
I have tracked it to the " Power steering fluid cooler".
There is a nice black oily patch on the front of the radiator on the opposite end to the pipe connectors.
I have read up on it via Haynes and it seems a simple job to do.
I obviously want the dealer (100+ miles away) to pay for it but have yet to approach them.
The cooler is a very simple looking item. Can it easily be refurbished /exchanged or is a case of a new one.
I have yet to explore costs of parts or labour. Any ideas?
If I take on the task this will be my first time attempting a job on power steering.
Haynes says, of course, plug the hoses (Do I use a plastic cork or what?) also explains the bleeding process!!!
Any tips would be helpful.
I favour removing the bumper for ease of access and to be able to properly clean the gunge off the main radiator. I guess Gunk would do the job provided it is used gently with a paint brush and then gently rinsed off. Read more
Recently had a secondhand engine put into 1994 Mondeo diesel after previous engine went kaput on the way to work after only having the car for a couple of months (smoked like Bet Lynch, RAC guy and two garages all said it was byebye engine). Story went incredibly similar to the recent post about the Peugeot 406TD. Car is now starting and running as it was originally, but is idling jumpily when the engine gets warm and I've noticed puffs of bluey white smoke kicking out the back while it's doing this. Doesn't seem to smoke when driving, not so that you can see in the mirror at least, even when I've tried giving it a kicking. It's not really thick smoke but it's there and wasn't before and I'm sure it shouldn't be now! Got a two month warranty on the new engine but as I work all week and the fitters don't work Saturdays I would love to be told that it's something I can sort myself. Would've thought any teething problem with the new engine would've passed by now as I've done 400 miles in it since it was returned to me last Wednesday. Any advice much appreciated! Read more
Hi
I have a friend who is looking for a Seat Ibiza 1.4 as a first car. Having checked the Car-by-Car breakdown I noted an issue about the exhaust on these models. It states that "If exhaust blows don't buy because replacement exhaust cost a fortune as subframe needs to be detached to fit it". This is useful information but my query is does anyone know approximately what the cost of a replacement exhaust would be i.e. what is "a fortune"?
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The day before I went on a short trip, the "water level" indicator on the car facia showed that the coolant level required topping up. It's a simple DIY job which takes about 10 minutes.
Yesterday, just before I had completed the 80 mile journey, the "water level" indicator came on again. Once I had parked-up, I noticed a quantity of coolant on the driveway. Closer inspection revealed that the coolant was escaping from around the filler cap. Obviously, after I had adjusted the water level, I had not tightened the filler cap properly. This is partly due to its cunning design. It has rounded horns in the clockwise direction to prevent overtightening. However, this also makes it extremely difficult to screw the thing down tight by hand and produce a good seal.
If the tightness of the filler cap is crucial to the cooling system (which it is!), I'm puzzled why BMW make the cap so difficult to grip.
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Browse
And now back to £2.
Looks like a little bit of attempted shilling going on there...