August 2004
My girlfriends 92 J Metro is due its MOT this week and I think it will fail on one of the rear radius arms. There is a bit of movement in it however I am not sure how much the tester will allow, does anyone know??
I have been quoted £65.00 VAT from my local garage to have it replaced, so as long as it doesnt fail on too many other things it may be worth putting thro. Is this a fair price?
Thanks Read more
I'm impressed with Honda's customer service. I had a recall notice from Honda at the beginning of July regarding my Accord diesel. There were three items that needed to be done including re-programming something on the engine. It went in about two weeks ago and took just under two hours to complete.
This evening I received a 'phone call from Honda asking if I had received the notice and had the modifications been done.
First time any car manufacturer has taken the trouble to 'phone personally and check on completion of a job. Full marks to them. Read more
I have to second that Robbie - See my recent thread about a recall on my Civic. They could not have handled it better and I got the car back valeted inside and out.
Mind you - when the wifes Yaris went in for a new clutch under warranty it was valeted and a cleaning kit was given by Toyota as a gift.
Generally a painless experience and the right attitude if they want my business next time.
Any one know where I can get a manual for this engine.it isnt the 2.0 litre as fitted to earlier models.its 1749 I think.and if anyone can tell me unit used in this car much apreciated.as all outlets have said they cannot help.thanks for any help.
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Was mech1 Read more
I think the idle should be around 850 like you say, significantly lower and you begin to get annoying resonance vibrations inside the car.
Has anyone out there changed brake pads on late shape 323 or 330 CI coupe BMW's?
Just want to know if there is any particular procedures that have to be carried out apart from the usual precautions when changing pads on an ABS equipped car, ie prevent back flow into the ABS computer/brake unit?
Thanks in advance Read more
Thanks Aprilia
Did all that but the nipples still didn't want to shift without distorting. Car belongs to a friend of mine and bought it from a non franchised BMW specialist. It had a full BMW service history before it ended up in the hands of the dealer but having looked at the state of the discs, pads and general condition of the running gear, I suspect it was long overdue for a service. Even had problems removing road wheels due to corrosion between alloy wheel and steel hub. No sign of anti-seize copper grease anywhere so it was obvious that the supplying dealer had just rubbed an oily rag over it before selling it!
Rear handbrake shoes were trashed with the lining delaminated on nearside and of course the seized nipples.
We have looked that the Zafira, Touran and Corolla but with all seats in use there is no boot space at all.
So looking at Trajet, Sharalaxy, Previa etc. Espace too expensive and too fragile. Fancy diesel with auto, SWMBO not fussed, but wants auto.
Any comments?
We are seriously considering Trajet - good prices and great warranty.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive? Read more
Alhambra, Sharan, Galaxy (Sharalaxy) are advertised as having 115 or 130 horsepower diesel engines. This is german horesepower (PS) rather than "imperial" horsepower (BHP) which work out at 113 or 128.
Potential problem is what to replace the Galaxy with, in a few years' time. Looking at things I really wouldn't want to give up, front and rear parking sensors feature very highly since they make parking the "QE2" so easy. Heated front screen is also very useful in winter even if mine is under cover at night. Trouble is, no other MPV on sale in the UK other than Sharalaxy comes with these features, not even as options. Sliding doors would also no doubt be beneficial for unloading the children in car parks and outside the house. Current Espace may have hinged doors and looks slightly odd but seems much roomier inside than the Sharalaxy - especially with the glass roof option - and has the benefit of very slim front pillars which improves safety greatly when emerging at junctions. It is also horrendously expensive.
Does the 2.2 litre diesel engine still suffer from the thrust washer failure that results in expensive bills when the engine goes bang? Anyone know.
My 1995 Subaru Turbo
Checking the water level the weekend, which was ok. I\'ve not put any water in it for a few weeks as always on monthly basis.
But something I found which I\'ve not noticed before as I\'ve not looked for it, is that there was a greasy feel to the water. The water is clear apart from the colour of the antifreeze water, no brown scum, any other and it has bubbles showing in the header tank.
Can the antifreeze used have a glycerine effect.
Any clues????? Read more
Modern antifeezes actually contain a wide range of chemicals, including waxes and oils to lubricate the waterpump and other internal components. It is normally for it to feel a little greasy. If you notice 'mayonnaise', sludge or other contaminants then that's the time to become alarmed.
I have recentley bought a 2000 (W) Reg BMW M5 Fitted with the 5.0 V8 Motor, I plan to change the oil recentley and was wondering if it was ok to use fully synthetic (Castrol GTX Magnatec) In these, or if there is a special Oil BMW Reccomend, I was told by a dealer \"Theyd get back to me\", Being a Peugeot Techinician for 20 years I dunno much else!!
Cheers for any help Read more
Cheers for the replys lads, I think ill be using Fully synthetic in the beemer with whatever BMW Reccomend
A colegue of mine had his company C5 "T" boned at traffic lights in France. the vehicle was recovered to the UK and as was not yet 12 months old with low mileage was given a new body shell by Citreon. He has now been driving it since rebuild approx 10 months, this is the crunch, road fund due at end of month,the Lease company cannot re tax it as DVLA says that it was written off in the accident.Insurance company, lease hire company and every one else involved say that they did not inform DVLA of it being written of, so who did? At the moment things are not progressing any further than everyone blaming everyone else.Interesting situation we wait to see the outcome.But it does raise the question of the situation the driver is in if stopped by police or involved in another accident as he was totally unaware of the situation ie he was driving a written off vehicle acording to the DVLA.
rustbucket Read more
There's nothing stopping a vehicle from being driven after being written off - a write off, in and of itself, only refers to the vehicle's economic repairability.
However, if the accident was serious enough to justify a re-shell then there is every chance that the vehicle's identification numbers aren't lining up, and/or the shell was scrapped and this led to the DVLA's being notified.
www.dvla.gov.uk/vehicles/regrebil.htm says what should have been done.
I know this is also in the tech section, but some of the discussion BRs may have an idea also.....
And in doing so just causes repeated postings.
Thread write locked, and any existing replies have been moved - reply in Techical Matters please.
DD. Read more
The climate control on my S80 has just started acting funny.
Last week I spotted a larger than usual puddle of condensate under the car, after it had been parked for a while.
Yesterday, on a long run, the air-con remained cold, but the force of the breeze from the vents got less and less, even though I turned the fan up manually and reduced the temp to minimum. All that happened was that the fan got very noisy, but there was no more breeze out of the vents, but out of one vent I got a jet of cold steam(?).
After the car was parked for a couple of hours, it all returned to full working order, only for the same symptoms to happen on the way home.
Any ideas?
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive? Read more
Your evaporator is freezing up, hence the reduction on airflow and the condensation when all the ice melts. It's usually just the evap thermostat, as it's this that turns the compressor off when the evaporator reaches 1 or 2*C, then switches back on at 4 or 5. I guess it could be something like a stuck relay, but that's unlikely.
Of course, in this day and age, it's probably a 2pence thermistor that feeds into 10 ecu's and requires the use of a Volvo super computor just to find out which part of the system isn't talking to another. Best bet is just to stump up the money at the dealer to have them read the values from all the sensors to see which one's duff.
Browse
Thanks - if the high pressure grease gun doesn't work I'll just get the radius-arm replaced when it wears out.