July 2004
Dropped my megane of for its MOT last monday, running pretty much perfectly apart from slightly spongy feeling brakes. MOT failed because the brake compensator was jammed and emmisions were too rich. To rectify the emissions they replaced the O2 sensor.
Since collecting the car I've had to top up the radiator twice in 7 days (never had to do this in 7 years), returned to the garage today to get them to rectify what I felt they must have broke (pipe burst\loose). Now they are telling me it needs a new Cylnder Head Gasket.
The are refusing to take any responsibility for it, my arguement is that it was fine when i gave them it or the should have noticed during the MOT (do they not check oil etc??). Any advice would be appreciated. Read more
Remember me? Used to post some time ago..
Being VERY VERY HAPPY, I just wanted to share my feelings with you and say Hello! Hope you're all well!
HELLAS! EUROPEAN CHAMPION!
Vagelis.
PS: Dear Mods, I know this is very distantly related to motoring, but... Read more
And that will do I think.
Congrats again.
Mark.
I'm off tomorrow to look at a Corsa for my daughter. It's a 2001 Y 1.2 Comfort 3 door, 37,000 miles, a nice metallic blue, one owner, FSH network Q car at a Vauxhall main dealer.
What do backroomers think would be a reasonable price for this for a straight cash purchase?
Thanks for your help! Read more
Seems a lot of money for a old corsa considering a new Getz is £6000 with 3 years servicing, New Charade's are £5500 & Panda's can be had for under £6000.
Hi,
I wish to check/set the idle/mixture on the Escort and bought a Digital Engine Analyzer to monitor the rpm. Looking at the instructions it seems this can only be used on "conventional engines" as one lead connects to the battery neg and the other to the coil neg. How can I use this, if at all, on the escort. It warns not to be used on engines with electronic ignition systems. I noticed that there is a covered plug,2 terminals, within the loom in the right side of the scuttle.Is this for checking the ignition? I hope I have not wasted my money.I know there is a wealth of knowledge/experience out there, please help.
Many thanks
Martin Read more
Electronic Ignition systems have much higher output voltages than conventional systems. I did however manage to get a tacho from an older escort working in my car.
The coil pack on this engine is round the back nearest the timing chain cover. The coils are fed by the black wire, and the outputs are the Green striped wires. The tacho on the dash taps into one of the green striped wires. Don't disconnect either of these unless you want major misfire! The ignition module shorts either of the two green wires whenever it wants the plugs to spark!
My best bet would be to do what the tacho does, and tap into one of the green wires. But, as I say, the voltages might be too high for the poor analyser.
Regards
Mike Farrow
Hi Folks
I\'m starting a new topic in desperation. Both of our cars and one of the grandparents\' cars now have nice little handprints on them thanks to one of my littl\'uns and some sun cream.
I\'ve tried pretty much everything I can think of and these prints just persist.
Has anyone encountered this and found a solution (literally!)?
I\'m sure it can\'t be permanent. Surely sun cream isn\'t as bad for your paint finish as bird carp?
Thanks for any help with this one.
Mike
Read more
No Dosh had some sun cream spilt on his upholstery recently. One of the suggestions was to use Tesco\'s Window Cleaning spray to remove it. Just a thought.
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=23211
Does anyone know how the cams are driven on the following two Merc engines please:
1997 C180
1998 E320 (V6)
Very grateful for any info! Read more
Thanks folks - very helpful.
Where would Ferrari MoCo be without F1? Read more
So Ken introduces that tax to prevent unwanted trafic from London, then comes out and says there are no place for 4x4s?
Then the next month he welcomes a street full of F1 cars who have no space for passengers, do about 3 gallons to the mile? Maybe cos they are so low he thinks they could share the bus lane by going under the busses?
I wonder if any BR-ers can help me with a tricky legal problem.
I bought a VW Polo new from a garage in the midlands in April 03.
The battery doesnt hold its charge for more than a week, which means that although I drive it regularly for 6000 miles a year it is regularly dead, sometimes only 3 or 4 days after its been driven. The manual says that it should hold charge for up to 4 weeks and its never been left anything like that long. It is also on it's second battery, which has made no difference and the altenator is apparently OK.
I am now based in the south-east and have taken the car several times to my local VW dealer who has tried various things without success and now just says he has done all he can and I will just have to lump it or words to that effect. VW Assistance breakdown service have also attended on numerous occasions
Now, as I understand it, I will have to enforce my legal rights through the dealer who supplied it, who is now 120 miles away.
My question is if I try to sue the original dealer for compensation, will the evidence I have accumulated through my local dealer be admissible, or will I have to give the midlands dealer his 3 attempts at repair? The latter scenario is obviously not very practical and I am keen to avoid it.
Any comments / ideas most welcome.
CF.
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thanks for the tips T - I'll check that out....
Hi,
Changed the cam belt and tensioner on my old (1989) Escort (1.4 CVH) over the weekend. The Haynes manual says to push the tensioner over far enough that it is "just" possible to twist the long run of the belt through 90degrees.
I put a 22mm spanner (about a foot long) between the engine mount and the edge of the tensioner, and leant on it until the spanner was visibly bending. Tightened the tensioner bolts, and it's still possible to twist the belt through 90deg without too much effort. The belt isn't slack or coming off the pulleys anywhere though. It's managed 45 miles so far so it does work.
Question is - is there a better way of increasing the tension, apart from befriending a bouncer? And does it need to be that tight?
Thanks,
Mark Read more
Thanks all for the replies. I checked it again last night and I'm actually pretty happy that it's tight enough and not too tight. Maybe it's settled in a bit.
As suggested, it turns through 90deg without too much force and then doesn't go much further at all without quite a bit of force.
Still don't understand why I needed so much force to position the tensioner, but there we go. I checked and it wasn't at the end of its movement - far from it in fact.
As for whining, it's a lot quieter than it was before. (It used to be quiet, starting whining when the belt was last changed (due to an old tensioner I presume) and is now once again quiet.)
The kit wasn't QH - but I can't remember the name now.
Thanks for the advice folks!
-Mark
Whilst the brakes on my 2004 CRV work well the pedal feels spongy as if they need bleeding. Is this normal ? Read more
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That's Renault reliability for you!
Think yourself lucky you don't own a Rover........
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