I have a problem with my S reg micra, if I turn the interior fan to speed (4) it works fine but the lower speeds will not work. I have air con and if I turn the switch to (1) or any of the lower speeds the air con light will illuminate and I can hear the pump kick in but no fan movement. I assume there must be some type of resistor which reduces the fan voltage and reduce the fan speed but is that located on the fan? Read more

BMW 318i J-plate
Hi, i accidentally put car wash into the radiator instead of anti-freeze. Silly thing really as they were both the same colour but now that the engine started to overheat on the way back from the airport we had to stop every 5 minutes, bleed the drain valve, let out as much gass bubbles as possible, let it cool down then repeat the process 5-10 times before getting home!

It seems to me it was an air lock as one side of the radiator felt hot and the other cold, but when bled both the pipes became the same temperature... is this just a simple \"drain, clean-out with water, then top-up and refill process?\"... is it difficult as replacing a starter motor on the same car just as i did last week?

Any tip/advice would be gratefull, thanks in advance! Read more

Taken me a week to get round to posting this, but....

An open letter to the driver of the silver BMW estate.

Last Friday, when I was going down the M3 (north of Winchester) in fast moving but heavy traffic, you came up behind the car behind me in a very aggressive manner and flashed him mercilessly out of your way.

Then, despite the fact that I was moving at a speed at which I was making good progress (as I think the term is), you accelerated as hard as you could until you had to brake to prevent yourself hitting me. You were so close I couldn't see your front number plate. Then, you started flashing me. As my only route of escape would have been to sideswipe the car in the left lane (remember it is a two lane section), I hesitated in front of you for at least 30 seconds.

I thought you might burn out your headlinghts at that point, but I didn't respond or react. To be honest I was desperate to get out of your way.

I managed to move over, and you went up to the car in front of me and repeated your trick. At that point, traffic was beginning to slow for the Winchester turn off. Now I can't claim to have had a perfect view, but the chap in front seemed to be taking the mickey out of you a little by not letting you through. Not great driving, but understandable, given you were bullying.

And so the journey wore on; eventually you squeezed past him, then aggressively swung from lane to lane in the traffic round Twyford Down. As the fraffic opened up, I could see you driving 3-4 feet behind every car you came up to.

Now, I'm not claiming to be a perfect driver by any means, but I have to say, your driving was abominable.

I thought you might like to know that when we reached Southampton, I checked how far in front of me you were. 18 seconds. Over what I have subsequently checked is around 13 miles.

Was it worth the stress for you?
Was it worth the stress you caused those around you (including your wife[?])?
Was it worth the anger?
Was it worth the risk?
Was it worth the wear and tear to your car?
Was it worth the extra congestion you caused in the traffic jam?

I wish I could see you personally to ask these questions and hear you justify the answers on the basis of 18 seconds.

V Read more

Some months ago there was a TV programme featuring some villagers who were using radar speed guns to record motorists speeding through their village. Can't remember where it was but IIRC the guns had been issued by the police who stated they would issue cautions to speeding motorists.

There was also a case of a disqualified driver who was jailed for continuing to drive. The conviction was based on the video evidence of a member of the public. Again if IIRC the member of the public was the father of the lad who was killed by the dangerous driving of the aforementioned disqualified driver.

This was raised in a radio programme when someone, claiming to be an off-duty policeman, was advocating that the public should report all traffic offences they witness to the police. He argued that most of us would not hesitate to report a serious offence like a hit and run driver; so why not lesser offences?

Well few of us would condemn the father with the video camera, perhaps we are less convinced about the speed gun toting villagers. Parking offences?? Nah

So where do we draw the line?
Read more

Oh this car is really starting to get to me - its now developed another fault, possibly electrical. Basically, it ran fine for a few weeks then the airbag warning light lit, petrol & temp gauges re-set themselves to zero, CD player stopped working but as soon as they all went wrong it all started working again.

Month or so has now passed with no problems, until today.

First thing I noticed was the clock on the CD player was blank - its usually lit with the time. Got to our destination and halfway back when the airbag light came on as before, temp & fuel gauges re-set.

Bit further down the road the engine warning light flickered on and off and the engine started to run a bit roughly - however this was all for only a few seconds and car started running perfectly normally again, but the airbag light stayed on and fuel & temp gauges were still on zero.

Any suggestions before I pop to the garage for another huge bill.

Thanks Read more