August 2004
The thread on electrically operated doors has made me wonder whether there is a limit to the range of toys that can be provided for a car.
In theory, every additional toy that is fitted is something else that can go wrong. Thus, there is a trade-off, in that the car is made more desirable by the toy's presence but less desirable in that it may be less reliable and more expensive to repair.
Long ago when cars were basic, the addition of (say) a radio must have seemed unequivocally good in that the benefit was large, the risk small, and if it broke then you were no worse off. Now, the marginal benefit seems to be getting smaller, and the downside of failure might be worse - vide the electric doors (do they have a mechanical backup?).
Anyway, I wondered what toy the BR thought was most pointless, in that its benefit was minimal and the downside risk too great?
My vote is keyless entry systems. Frankly, the extra effort of having to press the plip button on the keyfob is not going to worry me, even in the rain. The risk of it not working and leaving my pride & joy unlocked or (worse!) resolutely locked would worry me more.
Any other suggestions? Read more
Whoever was enquiring about SP2, and hopefully not installed it yet, should look at Ceefax p116 where problems are reported, including a long list of programs that don't run properly/at all.
What a surprise! Read more
If you go wireless hxj, make sure you spend a little time looking at security. If you are running XP on the machines it might be worth getting devices that support the WPA system over the older WE P system.
There are plenty of guides on the net that help explain the process and most of the manuals have sections on setting up encryption.
With wireless you always need more than lock on the door so don't forget about locking down access to only your devices - this will normally be descrived as MAC address filtering.
Once you've got wireless installed, you won't know how you lived without it.
1993 1.4 peugot 306
Has had a rythmic "thumping" noise related to speed when accelerating in 2nd and 3rd gears for around 3 months.
"cracking" and creaking noise when accelerating hard and steering (i.e. 1st gear from a junction for 2 days.
Something failed yesterday when accelerating out of a junction in 1st.
Now when turning a corner under power, something "jumps", its almost as if it is jumping out of gear and then back in again, very unnnerving and probably dangerous. Car is fine accelerating in a straight line.
Got it jacked up today suspecting a CV joint, but theres no play in any of them. There is a nasty grinding noise coming from where the left (passenger) side inner CV joint connects to the differential. Not sure if it is the inner cv joint or something in the differential making the noise.
Are the wheels supposed to spin together? spinning the right wheel eventually makes the left wheel move at the same speed. Spinning the left wheel never makes the right wheel move.
However the fact it fails when turning a corner leads me to think its more likely to be an outer CV joint or the differential?
Now if the problem is with the diff or gearbox the car will probably be scrapped. If its likely to be a CV joint an exchange driveshaft assembly is £27 from GSF.
Anyone any clues? before I remove the left driveshaft? how can i tell if its broken when i take it off?
thanks in advance. Read more
Replacement transmission solved it, so if you have similar symptoms to
me then its probably your diff, apparently a weak point on
the peugeot / citroen MA5 transmission
Too right!
Just found this thread. Friend had his Xsara differential go last year, another friend has his 306 diff. go bang on Friday!
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Mike Farrow
Has anyone experienced problems with Skoda Fabia 1.4 16v having a thirst for oil. VAG say it's within "tolerances" to use virtually the length of the serrations on the dipstick in 1,000 miles. Would be interested in any feedback please. David R. Read more
>> DD, the first 1100 I owned in the sixties .... My Allegro (same engine) did, on average, 50 miles to a pint of oil. That was after I fixed the leaks where the engine joined the gearbox (mastick sealant) and replaced the gearbox oil seal where the gearstick linkage connected to. However, the only time oil smoke appeared out the exhaust was on start up and after a long period of idling. God knows where all the oil used to vanish to. None of my mates following me complained that it was burning oil.
The start and idle blue smoke indicates that some of it was finding its way past the valve stem oil seals. A design feature of the "A" series engine rather than a fault. The quantities are so small that it's not noticeable when the engine's running above idle (unless the seals are completely shot), hence those following reporting nothing odd.
Most of it would have been finding its way out via one of the myriad opportunities presented by the "gearbox in the sump" arrangement. Leaking out of the gear linkage cables was always a favourite. The standing joke on these cars was that if you didn't have a patch of oil underneath the engine after it had stood for 10 minutes, it must have run out of the stuff completely.
Dear All,
I wonder whether any of you knowledgeable people could point me in the right direction: I like the Audi A3 but am unsure about model. Specifically, I am looking at a 1.6 FSI vs. a 1.9 TDI. I am not a high-mileage driver, and it would appear that I need to do just over 15,000 miles p/a over three years to make up the difference of £770.
However, there are two other considerations here... firstly, is a good bet that the diesel will keep its value better? What Car recons there is a 1% difference which doesn't sound like much.
Secondly, which will be more expensive to service and do both run on variable service intervals (not too confident in the dealer on this one!)?
Would appreciate any comments,
Toby. Read more
Thanks for all the useful comments; looks like I have been swayed towards the 1.9 TD!
Toby.
Hi,
I am interested in buying a used car. i have found one which is cheap but has cat c on its register. is it a good idea to buy this car? Apparently the reason for the Cat C is that is was stolen and recovered after the insurance company paid out compensation. Also what does cat c on the register mean for insurance. would this increase the insurance premium on the car.
Thank you for your help in advance.
Read more
You're far better of paying a main dealer to do a half hour check on the vehicle roadworthiness. They are far more likely to pick out faults than the rescue organisations.
--
I read often, only post occasionally
SWMBO is going for a screen test for a pilot programme. I'm sworn to secrecy so can't say much but it's a practical/design type programme related to her profession. She was selected as she has helped with other programmes but purely giving technical advice to the camera crew making sure what they were shooting was following the script.
This will be her first, has anyone taken a TV screen test before, or know what the likely scenario is? Would like to be well prepared obviously, to give her a good shot at it. A website perhaps? Or first-hand knowledge would be great.
My email address is also in my profile if you prefer to contact me 'off air'.
Cheers,
Stu Read more
I'll send it to Dulwich. Before I do, does anybody else
want it ?
Yes please.
Hiya, just wondering if anyone could clarify a query for me.
I was under the impression that to pass the MOT your sidelights had to operate whilst the ignition is turned off, but someone recently told me that this is not the case. Which is correct?
Got an old MOT failure I am trying to restore but this is one of the items noted on the failure sheet. Hate electrics and dont want to struggle to fix them if they dont need to be fixed. They work perfectly well when the ignition is turned on.
Thanks
Read more
Like this on the old Mark 1 Punto also
I think it has more to do with making sure you
don't accidentally leave the lights on. My 405 has an
alarm to indicate the lights are on if the door is
opened. My 309 hasn't, and I have flattened the battery.
The FIAT system makes sure it is a conscious decision to
leave the sidelights on.
>>I would rather have a flat battery than be UNconcious due to someone ramming me cos I turned the ignition off in the dark.
If they were so concerned about the battery then why have the dash lights on when only parking lights are wanted?
Hi,
I have a 1990 205 Gti 1.9. It has a full stainless exhaust with 4 into 1 tubular manifold and a K&N 57i induction kit. Other than that the engine is standard.
The problem I am having is that with no warning, it will cut out and wont restart. When it 1st happened, I thought I'd broken a timing belt, but after checking the belt, then spark then fuel, the car misteriously started again. But this didn't last long, a couple of minutes running and it had cut out again. I discovered that when it cuts out and wont restart, if you pull the power from the fuel pump and crank the engine, after about 6 turns or so, it starts, reconnect the pump and the car will run, but not very happily.
I've had it into a garage and they cant work it out, the fuel mixture is all over the place. They suggested replacing the fuel pump and/or airflow meter.
So far I have cleaned the K&N and replaced the fuel filter, fuel pump and airflow meter, all to no avail. I also discovered that the vacuum advance pipe from the distributer was off, and I thought hey presto, but on replacing it, it still cuts out.
When the car is left for any time, it starts no problem, but would seem as soon as it warms up at all, the mixture becomes too rich and the engine is flooding. The smell of petrol out of the exhaust when it is playing up is unbelievable.
This has been going on for about 5 weeks now, and I am soon to be bald from all the hair pulling this is causing me, so any help or suggestions will be received greatfully. :-) Read more
Felling a wee bit daft, turned out to be the coil lead, corroded onto the dizzy cap. I replaced the cap, arm and leads, and all seems to be well. I've to take it to the garage tomorrow to get the mixture re-set. I guess I didn't look there cause of the fact that it restarted after removing the fuel pump power and showed a spark with a plug against the block.
Any way, thank you all for your suggestions, they were all very much appreciated. :-)
Hi all,
A friend of mine bought a nearly new car from a well known franchised dealer networks approved used scheme about 2 years ago - it was about a year old at the time.
The warranty on this vehicle expired a few months ago (2-3), and recently the car developed a fault with the ECU. The dealer charged my friend £600 to replace the ECU, and the manufacturer contributed 20% of the cost.
There is probably nothing more to this, but as the now just over 3 year old car had average mileage and a full service history, I can't help thinking its very unreasonable for such an expensive fault to develop so soon. My friend also had to pay about £400 to have an air conditioning fault with the car repaired as well, and that was barely a month after the warranty ran out. In the last few months since the warranty expired on this very well maintained, average mileage recent model car, its cost almost £1000 in repair bills!
This got me thinking about the Sale of Goods Act which states that goods must be fit for purpose, or something like that, for a reasonable period of time.
Does this cover cars, and if so, what is a 'reasonable' period of time? Should my friend have expected more than a 20% contribution? Apparently, the fault seems quite common on this particular engine - a 1.8 - becuase my friends brother's car also had the same ECU fault, luckily within the warranty period.
Cheers. Read more
Which brand are you thinking of, Aprilia? As I've also found ECU faults to be suprisingly common - 2 in the family of my friends (Both same engine but in different cars), and one from someone else I know..
Browse
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"windscreen washer fluid low signal is an irritating moving graphic"
Probably the same as on mine, which I initially interpreted as overheating! Much embarrassment at the Audi garage when their mechanic patiently explained that it wasn't a picture of steam coming out the top of a radiator...