August 2004
I knew it was a stupid idea to jack it on the jacking point. OOPS The offside rear and front jacking points are collapsed and the seam has split from where the sill joins the box section.
Where can I get some good work done for a reasonable price for my old and not worth anything but still cherished Volvo?
I'm in the Harrow/Wembley area.
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One for those of you who live in glasshouses and never ever throw stones to delight at:
www.thisisbath.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?command=newPa...9 Read more
I can't understand why the penalty is the same for overstaying your time by a couple of minutes on a meter or in a car park, and parking on a double yellow in the middle of a busy high street.
Surely one "offence" is depriving the Council of a few pence revenue and the other is creating a potentially life-threatening situation.
the rear bleed valve on my car has sheared off is this an MOT failure? no brake fluid is leaking and the brakes perform fine.
the car is a 1990 Mk2 golf 1.3.
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not a cause for failure as long as the brakes test ok but wouldnt go telling them beforehand ,you could always bleed to the pipe joint if needed as if the piston/caliper is fully closed there is very little or no air in it.
Does anyone have any experiences good/bad or (sensible) opinions on the Mercedes Benz A-Class?
I've been kicking around the idea of a new/ish car for a bit and have a slight problem in that I've got a small garage with an odd approach - can't get the Clio in, for example.
I borrowed an A-Class 160Cdi Avantgarde from the local dealer today to weigh it up and see if it would fit in. Thankfully, it does go although the LWB version probably wouldn't.
The car I had was fully loaded and had, I think auto transmission (you could push it left/right and select 1,2,3,4 or D). This combined with cruise control on such a little car made it excellent to drive on both motorways and A roads. The ride was a bit choppy, but nothing compared to the run flat tyre juddering experience on our other car.
Room inside is amazing and you get a high position to see over things without everyone hating you for driving a 4x4.
My main dilemna is whether to get a newish one - good deals from dealers as they're bringing out a new model in the Autumn, or whether to get an older one from a car supermarket or buy a bargain one for £6k from somewhere and cross my fingers.
Or just keep the Clio until it gives up the ghost - after all, it's practically free motoring with it - it's old (K plate) but does the job well enough if in a slightly knackered looking way.
Any advice much appreciated as ever!
(I've checked the Car by car breakdown of course)
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Lee
MINI adventure in progress Read more
Lee
I started reading Car magazine at eight years old (almost 32 years ago and during at time when there were no rude words to protect your child from; unlike today). I grew up liking Ferraris but loving Lambos. A real 'stick that in your pipe and smoke it' car.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Honda Civic Aerodeck 2000. Heater blower/fan has ceased to function on lower two speeds. Any ideas as to why and where do I start looking? Upper (faster speeds) all OK. Thanks for any advice! Read more
Thanks Dave, only older models covered at present.
can enybody help i have a vw transporter 1989 g reg.water cooled
the warning light buzing all the time,i have try almost everything and still buzzing
any advice will help
Thanks Read more
If this subject has come up before,I apologise,but......
Has anyone on here got a radar detector,if so,what make/model,is it any good,and what did you pay for it?
The reason I ask,is because I'm thinking of getting one for my truck,but I don't want a Road Angel or similar.I know what make/model I fancy,but I want to hear other peoples opinions first before I decide.
Ken. Read more
I bought a Cheetah, complained because it seemed faulty.
They sent a new one. I've now sent them both back. On my
regular journey I pass 9 gatsos, the Cheetah picks up, at
random, 2. It's great at taffic lights, door radars, mobile
phone repeaters, trust it with a camera? No.
I have a Cheetah, yes it's not perfect and it does pickup false signals, mostly in car parks and filling stations. It does pickup Gatsos, but only those with active cameras so the 2 out of 9 on your journey are the 2 with cameras in them. That is the reason the D.O.T. want to ban them, as unlike GPS systems they only detect active cameras thereby allowing motorist to speed through inactive Gatsos (if you trust the detector?), potentially destroying the deterrence effect. At traffic lights what it is picking up (probably?) is red light cameras.
IMO the Cheetah does it's job well with some false alarms, but for £100 (last time I looked) it is far cheaper than any of the GPS systems.
Hi All,
Over the next week or so I will need to change my accelerator cable on my Mk 1 406 DT LX.
Has anyone done this and if so any major problems?
The Haynes book gives this a 2 spanner rating, but having read the 'Real meanings'....
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=19743
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Davy S.
Oops, where did that screw go!! Read more
Can't really say for the 406. But when I wanted to replace the accelerator cable on a Mk 1 306 DT, my friendly Peugeot dealer sold me the wrong cable.
I spent a long time puzzling out why this cable wouldn't fit, before giving in. In the end, I just swapped the inner wire out of the new cable into the old cable, since it was only the inner wire fraying which was causing any trouble.
A perfect repair, but £40 for just the inner wire was a bit steep!
Ian
I have three problems with a brand new 125cc Scooter (4 stroke) with automatic CVT transmission which I hope someone can help me with.
The first problem is that on one occasion, the engine stalled when turning into a junction. This happened when the engine was completely warm and it was raining. Any suggestions?
The second problem is that sometimes, when I am riding down the road and need to accelerate, I increase the throttle but only get a response a second or two later.
And finally, when starting the bike the revs are very unstable and it takes a good few minutes for it to idle at the lower revs it should. Once a few minutes is up, it will stay at the correct rpm with only a little movement.
I look forward to your responses to this one.
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This was one for my sister. I helped her buy it in London, and we are now having it set up properly (on warranty) by our local dealer in Brighton. Obviously, the cowboys in London didn't do the setting up properly, so once sorted it will be excellent. Anyway, compared to my current bike (yamaha), the Kymco is far better in terms of build quality and engineering. The engine in the kymco's are better than any other scooter I have ever ridden. They are quick, reliable, quiet and my sister has already covered 760km in one week with only the set up on the carb/ choke not done properly causing minor problems. And, it has used no oil at all. And it averages almost 90mpg compared to my 125cc's 85mpg.
I was reading HJ column in today's Telegraph and there is a letter from someone who had his driving test cancelled because the car he was taking the test in was fitted with a skinny spare following a puncture the previous day. Whilst not wanting to upstage HJ the response he gave was incorrect, but of more concern was the fact that the driving instructor didn't know the law on skinny spares.
A skinny spare wheel can only be used in an emergency and not for extended use. The wheel should be used only to get the vehicle to somewhere where a new tyre can be fitted.
A driver can be stopped and fined for using a skinny for a journey other than to get the damaged tyre replaced - a driving test would be such a situation.
The first job for the instructor should have been a trip to his local tyre fitter.
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Mind you, when the brakes fail an there's no back-up circuit
an you start getting the zillion-dollar lawsuits and your sales plummet
cos your cars are pilloried as unsafe, your shareholders will be
a bit less happy.
Stripping out unnoticed features is sound cost-saving logic. But if the
savings turn around and bite your customers later, you may come
to regret it.
So that's why they keep the backup braking system.
The point, in the end, is that the spare wheel doesn't come into that category. It is described as a get-you-home measure and is clearly different to the other four.
OK, so this frustrates some drivers in some circumstances, and rightly so. Nevertheless, it is a requirement that a car can continue despite a puncture so even if you have a full size spare wheel, once you have used it you are in any case under an obligation to repair/replace the old tyre.
Browse
Very sad, but you have to take a rational view of the economics!
She may be a much loved and faithful old girl, but I fear that her time is up. Give her a decent send off to the nearest scrappy! She will cost a few hundred pounds to put right this time, and perhaps the same again next year, she may not be structurally sound in the event of a serious shunt, and you can get a good replacement for similar money!