August 2004
Hi,
I've just acquired a 1986 'D' black BMW 318i 2 dr which has covered 167,000 (and the engine's still as sweet as the day it was new) although it's highly unlikely to get through the next MOT without a lot of work on the sills and wheel arches and so the friends of ours who have given it to me (they've had it for 12 years and spent a lot of money on it (including over £1,000 for a respray about 10 years ago) have just gone and bought a 1998 'R' 318iS coupe which was advertised in a local garage to complement the wife's 02 registered Clio Extreme as the husband had the 318i (although originally they only had the 318i)
The 318i that I've been given has 4 good tyres and is in perfect condition apart from the sills rusting through and the doors are starting to go and also the wheelarches and back bumper so as it all mounts up to more than the vehicles worth they decided to give it to me as they loved that car to bits and couldn't bear the thought of it being scrapped.
It's had a new exhaust fitted literally in the last month or so and it looks like it's had a radiator at some point and the battery looks fairly new as well and they left me a Kenwood CD player in it as well.
The only problem with it is the starter motor - sometimes you can get in and turn the key and it will turn over and fire great but other times you can get in and turn the key and the starter motor will stick in which case you have to turn the key back and try again and it usually only stuck once and possibly twice and would fire up at the third attempt and it's been like this for years ever since the wife of the friends of ours supposedly couldn't start it outside work and (we think) drove home with the starter motor engaged although we're not sure and ever since then it's been an intermittent sticking starter.
Is there anything I can do to try and repair it or can I get one for a reasonable price from a scrap yard - if possible I want to try and keep the car running until it dies and don't want the starter motor packing up completely.
Cheers
Keith
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The Business section of the local newspaper - coastal Florida - lists the top 15 selling vehicles in the area. They are:
1. Hyundai Elantra
2. Honda Accord
3. Honda Civic
4. Hyundai Sonata
5. Toyota Camry
6. Hyundai Sante Fe
7. Nissan Frontier
8. Ford Explorer
9. Toyota Corolla
10. Honda Odessey
11. Hyundai Accent
12. Mercury Grand Marquis
13. Toyota Tundra
14. Toyota Tacoma
15. Ford F-150
A pretty uninspiring selection for sure, but it does illustrate how much Japan and Korea are dominating the market. Also only one - the Mercury - standard American 'barge'.
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I incorrectly stated in the post above that Toyota sold more cars last month than DaimlerChrysler, in fact the figures I was using didn't include Mercedes-Benz and so DaimlerChrysler are still ahead of Toyota (but only by 8000 cars).
Hi,
Expanding family forces me to get into the 7-seater Mini-MPV realm.
Am thinking of going for Auto this time as I've noticed that the wife spends a lot of drive time in 3rd gear without really noticing the whining noise coming from the bonnet!
I think for me it's got to be either a Zafira 1.8 Auto (prob. Design or Elegance), or the new Toyota Corolla Verso 1.8 MMT (triptronic type transmission).
Firstly, does anybody have any views on how these cars compare - I've looked around for a head-to-head but haven't seen one.
Secondly, total cost of ownership is important to me, I expect I'll keep the car for 2 to 3 years, so am keen to see how much I will lose due to depreciation over this period. That's easy to work out for the Zafira, from historical data, but I'm not sure what kind of guesswork I could do for the Toyota.
With the Zafira I'd probably pick up a 2-yr old model. The Toyota would have to be a negotiated new model, or maybe an ex-demo.
Thanks in advance for any insight.
Cheers... h-b
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Why buy second hand ? Local VX dealer had 51 plate Design 1.8 ( needed taxing, 12 months VX Warranty)marked up @ £10995 and would not shift on that. For 3K more got a Special edition 2.0 DTI Energy Model Brand new with Air con, alloys,CD,Elec Mirrors,Darkened windows,12 months RFL, 3 Years Warranty,Metallic paint, Full tank mats and flaps
You can get a "Life" edition for £12500 but does not come with the extras as standard
Do not know anything about the Toyota But as far as i am concerned the Zafira does everything i want of it.
I intend on keeping if for 5 years plus ( or untill a big lottery win )so depreciation not a factor.
Clarkson ( Top Gear) rates the Zafira so they can't be that bad unlike the sudo 4X4 BMW X3 ( 30K to get stuck in a field great as a Chelsea Tractor!)
I have a VW MK2 Golf 1300.
Two weeks ago I put in a new radiator.
Unfortunately now the coolant temperature dial stays at zero.
Has the temperature sensor (fixed on thermostat housing) become faulty?
Is it a coinsidence that it has become faulty after a radiator change or is there more to it?
I have removed & replaced the sensor to release any possible trapped air?
The radiator and thermostat works fine.
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Was that meant to be funny?
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Was mech1
Hi
I have a R reg Mondeo, which the remote has stopped working.
The batteries were changed two months ago and it was working fine.
The remote has two buttons on it and a red led.
There seems to be many differnt ways to program the remote back in, I am not having much luck with them.
The only way I can make the led next to the clock to stay on is buy turning the ignition on and off serval times
Any ideas?
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Have sorted this now. I unplugged the unit in the drivers footwell for 30 mins, then the remote started to work again, there is a blue, green and grey connection i unplugged
What would he drive if he had a wife and 3 kids?
I need something cool and alternative Read more
Hi,
I've noticed my '82 Granada pulls to the left when braking, particularly under hard braking at higher speeds. The shocks are new all round, I have put new cylinders and shoes on the rear recently and the front discs and pads are in good condition with minimal wear, although I do not know how old they are. Any ideas? Tyre wear seems normal, however my steering wheel seems to be turned to the right slightly when driving in a straight line, but I had the tracking checked when I had new front tyres fitted earlier this year and it was ok.
Thanks for any assistance.
Richard Read more
That would refer to left hand side is working.ie near side caliper is ok.right hand side has the prob.would suggest that off side checked out.tracking wont come into it.if the off/side caliper is causing prob.will need both calipers replacing.plus pads.
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Was mech1
Talking of the C reg Nissan Silvia 1.8 turbo auto, which I was on another thread, I wonder if anyone has an explanation for this.
Cruising down the motorway at roughly 80 in reasonably light traffic. In outside lane, plenty of room to the car in front. BMW in front brakes hard for no apparent reason then continues on, I react and brake hard (as you do) and then carry on.
About 1 mile later (so maybe not connected) the wheel starts to wobble violently, kind of left to right, so bad that I am having trouble controlling the car. Assume that I have blown a tyre which is what it feels like.
Head over to the hard shoulder get out, tyres fine, no visible signs of any problem. Decide not safe to stay where I am so decide to drive gently to the next exit (about 2 miles) and call AA.
Drive away gently, wheel wobbling furiously as before, wobble subsides. Pull off motorway drive around a bit, all fine, get back on motorway and complete journey of a further 30 miles. No further problems.
Have a good look round when get home, no signs that anything untoward.
Ideas about what happened? Read more
I had a similar experience as a Passenger on the A46 near Coventry, though on a slightly larger scale: a double-decker bus (Volvo/Alexander Olympian btw)! Driver got it onto the hard shoulder, had a look around it, and drove off again!
Had pioneer cd installed few years ago in my citroen xsara s reg. Works fine but lately keeps muting and mute displays on screen of stereo. Weird because dont have mute button on the stereo at all. feeling loose wire on connector on back to blame, how easy to fix any auto electricians out there, how much looking at to fix ££££££££ Read more
Well how do you know the loose wire is to blame? It might be have been intentionally left off if for example you don't have a mobile phone in your car.
If you are sure it is to blame because when you touch it the sound comes on, then fine.
Don't know how much will cost to fix by professional. Anythings easy when you know how. If it obviously has come loose this wire you just take out stereo, take out the bracket which holds the stereo and you use a soldering iron to re attach the wire to it's home. If not possible you may have to use a small screwdriver to unhook the connector from the black plastic block, open up the connector and insert wire (plastic stripped off) then crimp the connector up again and re insert into the plastic block.
It's not really something which can be successfully described in text, you either know how to do things like this or you don't.
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was kev_is_here
Pesky roof mounted aerial has broken off. Antenna screws into roof mounted stud. I definitely need new stud, and probably new antenna too. Any advice on difficulty of (a) sourcing parts and (b) tackling job.... (b) looks very messy with having to take acres of trim off in the cabin....
Thanks
Mike Read more
Great. Just like you said. Job done. thanks
Browse
Have you carried out continuity checks on the feeds to the solenoid and the motor itself? Also check the earth straps for corrosion or security. If everything looks good then, (if you can get to it), remove starter motor and check the condition of the drive pinion teeth and check that it moves smoothly forward on the shaft. There is a one way clutch and a course thread machined into the shaft that makes the pinion throw forward when the solenoid is energised. A build up of crud can cause engagement problems.