September 2004
I have just had my Toyota Carina 2.0i (1992 model) with 20,000 miles converted to LPG. The car in question is mechanically sound.
The system installed was a carburetor type installation and the car is now dual fuel with the ability to run on petrol and gas.
I am having three problems with the car on gas (which does not occur on petrol)
1. The L.E.D switch keeps flashing red with the green light constantly on although the tank is completely full. The unit near the tank has been replaced but this is still happening. The red only flashed when increasing acceleration, but then happily stays green only when driving constantly at the same speed.
2. The car stalled on gas on three occassions in neutral whilst in traffic. This was with no clutch or gearbox action and the revs go down and the car just died. It restarts fine. This happens if the car is fully warm (after 10 miles plus) and when cold.
This seems to be more of an occurance down hill. However, with normal acceleration this is fine.
3. The gas is doing about 15 mpg, when I usually achieve between 32-39mpg on petrol. It is thus using more than double the amount it should.
I hope that someone can help me with the above.
Many thanks
GREG Read more
Hi, I was wondering if anyone could help. I have 306, I was driving home and I heard a bit of a clunking sound so pulled over switch the engine off and then tried to restart the car, ever since the car won't start. I though it may be the cam belt, so I took the oil cap off and there is definate movement from the top of the engine when it turns over.
The engine turns over fine it just never fires, can anyone shed some light on the situation.
Thanks
Joe Read more
Id suggest either the cambelt tensioner has failed allowing the belt to become loose and hop a few teeth or a drive key on the camshaft or crankshaft has failed allowing the alignment to slip with consequential damage to valves guids and possibly pistons.
Check cam and crank alignment first. A haynes book should show how better than I can explain here.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
My uncle recently had a break in to his 1995 Astra Merit (M Reg) and had the steering wheel (with air bag and power steering) stolen, they also damaged the steering column. The insurance company are likely to write it off as the repair to steering wheel/column will be around £1300+VAT.
I have a 1992 (J Reg) Astra 1.4 (without air bag or power steering) that I was going to scrap.
Would the steering wheel & column from my car be compatible with my uncle's one? If they are, is it ok to fit a steering wheel without air bag to a car that originally had one?? Read more
You may recall this advice on fighter tactics proffered in the film "Battle of Britain". Now we are once again in the season of mists, mellow fruitfulness and low sun it has echoes for today?s motorists.
My trip to work involves emerging from a very minor road onto a less minor road at the top of a blind summit. There are ample warning signs and SLOW's in the less minor road. View to left (east) this morning straight into sun. Nothing evident and start to emerge; yeeeaow PAAAARP, BMW comes blatting out of the sun at NSL and a bit, missed, just.
OK mate if you are reading this think on. If all you can see in your rear view mirror is sun anybody looking towards you might just have trouble seeing. Tomorrow it might be the bin cart and two feet further forward. Hooting your horn and gesticulating won't help then.
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At this time of the year (and the equivalent time in Spring) the sun is at a low angle during rush hours.
Plus after the summer windscreens have build up a film of dirt.
It's worth remembering that if the sun is behind you and therefore you have good vision, it's directly into the eyes of oncoming drivers and they're practically blind.
Hi guys,
I'm being packed off to Uni in Leeds next week and I need some advice regarding my car. I have a Citroen Xsara (1.9TD) and am not sure what to do with it over the next 3 years.
I normally live in Devon, but the car will be living in my grandparent's garage in Rochdale, about 30 miles from the uni, so I can get to mountain bike competitions in the North West in my free time. (assuming I get any!)
I foresee it being driven approximately 50-100 miles twice a month (if that) and then about a 600 mile round trip at Christmas / Easter. The rest of the time it'll be turned off in the garage, in neutral with the wheels chocked and handbrake off.
What should I be doing to look after it? I'm getting it serviced next week (the 70k service is tiny, just an oil change and level checks) and new brake pads and front tyres put on.
Cam belt isn't due for another 10k or 1 year according to local Citroen dealership, so nothing to worry about there.
How should I be driving it when I do take it out? Read more
I'd get some silica gel sachets and put them in the car to try to dry it out. Pop them in your grandparents oven for an hour or so when you go to visit to recharge them.
7dayshop.com sell them in packs of 10 (I'd put about 20-30 in something large like a car).
Does the garage attract mice? My friend lost his boot mat and wiring loom to them!
Hi All,
I bought a Honda Prelude this sunday just gone (5th).
It was advertised (trade ad) in Auto Trader as 'excellent condition throughout' and had done 95,000 miles. Upon inspection of the vehicle all seemed to be in good order as far as I could tell.
I pointed out some respray work on the right hand side of the car and was told that was because someone had keyed it - sounded plausible to me, so I went ahead with the purchase and drove the car away.
About half a mile down the road it suddenly registered that the odometer reading of the car did not correspond to the value advertised - in fact it read just over 105,000 miles. Call me stupid maybe, but I hadn't noticed this when I had looked the car over as I took it as read that the car would match the detail advertised.
Drove back to the dealer less than 10 mins after driving the car away but I found it to be locked and closed with no-one about. (it *was* a Sunday evening at 6 'o clock - maybe he wanted to get home to his dinner.)
Called the dealer's mobile as soon as I arrived home (maybe 30 mins later?) and told the woman on the phone about the mileage discrepancy - I was told there was 'nothing they could do about it'.
Later that evening looked through the paperwork that came with the car + found an invoice detailing some insurance work. Turns out the car was resprayed because of accident damage, not because it was keyed.
Telephoned the dealer on Monday (6th) and pointed out both the mileage discrepancy and the fact that he had mislead me as to the reason for the respray and told him I would like to bring the car back. He became very belligerent and told me that it was down to me to check the mileage before I drove the car away and that I was obviously happy with the car otherwise why did I buy it? He said he wouldn't take the car back and that if I wanted to take it further I should take him to court and that he would 'see me in court'.
What are my rights as a consumer? Have I been 'conned' or is it my own stupid fault? How can I go about getting a refund?
To recap :
1995 M reg Honda Prelude 2.0 Silver
Price Paid £2400
- the mileage was advertised as 95,000 - it has actually done 105,000
- I was told the respray was due to the car having been keyed - I now have reason to believe this was actually because of accident damage.
- I can now smell an oil/petrol smell - particularly at low speeds - I didn't smell this when I test drove the car
- Receipts - I have a receipt for the Debit card part of the transaction (£1500), but even though I asked them to they wouldn't put the cash on the receipt (£900) - I have since written the £900 on my receipt, but of course it won't be on their duplicate copy.
Any advice gratefully received....
Thanks
Dan
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Whenever I have trouble with a garage (always mechanics, as I've never bought a car from a dealer) I report it to Trading Standards. They do nothing if they get a single complaint, so I don't feel guilty getting the guy into trouble if it really was just a one-off. But if they start getting a few complains coming in about the same place, they might think about investigating.
What T.S. can actually do is another matter - I don't think they have much clout and the motor industry is notorious for having a large number of crooked people. (And lots of good, honest ones too, but still too many rip-off merchants.)
-M.
Has any one come across excessive wind noise around the doors at 45mph plus?
My brother in law is trying to get his sorted under warranty.
The usual initial response- they all do that sir.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty. Read more
Recently picked up an eight month old Mondeo at an auction. It was an ex Hertz car and "sold as seen". Very pleased with it.
However, on reading the service history I notice the car had been serviced after 7 months with 14,300 miles on the clock. I assume it should have been serviced at 12-13,000 miles. Will the warranty still be valid. I haven't approached a Ford dealer yet, just wanted some info in advance.
Grateful for advice.
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I hope you have more luck than I did.The difference with a Ford 3 year waarranty is that the 1st year is from Ford the other 2 years are from the dealers.
The garage that I bought my 6 month old Mondeo from had won awards for their customer \"service\"(deleted of deleted).I certainly did do not get anything that I would call customer service.
As for Ford customer service they are very goood at answering the phone and letters. But getting them to do anything is another matter.
I did enjoy driving the car but owning it was another matter.
As soon as the new engine was fitted I traded it in for a Toyota.
Best of luck.
{dealer name removed. DD}
I have seen, driven, and fallen in love with an SD1.
It's a series 1, 3.5 v8 manual for £1500. It's a bit tatty internally, but the body is in very good form, especially for an SD1. I can just about afford it and the insurance. Fuel shouldn't be too bad as it would be a fun car, not an everyday.
Trouble is, Mrs O will go mad.....
Anyone know of a series 2 that I can go and have a look at? There seems to be a dearth of them in the for sale pages at the moment.
Thanks,
O Read more
Thanks for all this. I'm off to look at a couple on Monday - long round trip, but worth it, I hope.I've also been looking at an XJS, but I think an SD1 would probably be the way into classic motoring, rather than going straight for the big beasts with Joe Lucas Prince of darkness electrics.
We'll see what happens on Monday!
O
I'm thinking of upgrading to a second hand Elise sometime in the next few months, (probably a Sports Tourer or Race Tech as these two are both group 17 insurance as opposed to group 20.) I was going to go for a Mk2 model, can anyone afford me the benefit of their experience in what to look out for in used models or point out any pitfalls I might not have thought of...? Much obliged. Read more
And it was a thread about the Lotus Elise, not Ford headlights. You need to start a new thread in the Technical section if you want some advice about adjustment of headlights.
Thanks for your excellent advise Aprilia. I took the vehicle back to the installer and told them the problems and they carried out exactly what you said to do as above. I have now covered an extra 1000 miles and it is now running very well and is averaging 29mpg on gas, which makes it the equivelent to almost 60mpg.
Anyway, this conversion was carried out in Poland at a cost of £300 (inc. a 60 litre tank) which means I have had a successful installation at a very cheap price.
It is also worth noting that I have found NO difference in performance from petrol. I drove from Poland on the German Autobahns and even at high speed there was no difference even with four adult passengers and a heavily loaded car with a lot of luggage. Furthermore, the emissions are only 10% that of the emissions on fuel.