October 2004

Question ZX - Rear heated screen problems.

PaulC2004 on 13 October 2004

Any help appreciated as always.

Since I've had the car (2 months) the heated rear window has never worked. I have checked all the fuses and they look fine, all of the elements in the rear window also look fine, no cracks etc. I swapped the back bit of the switch with the fog light as the switch for the rear window looked burnt at the end. I suspect that it may have been switched on for a long period previously.

Can anyone advise please ? Could it have "burnt out"?

I'll need something to keep my hands warm when I'm pushing it this winter !!

Cheers
Paul Read more

mfarrow on 14 October 2004

Hi

Yes, certainly worth a check of the wiring. How does the circuit get from the body to the boot lid? is it a wire in a black sheath that bends around all over the place when you put the lid down (like my Mk4 Escort!). If so I suspect the wire might be broken. Shouldn't be a difficult job.

Forum What do I do?

BlueDturbo on 13 October 2004

OK, the thing is I went to Spain for a week. Parked my Pug in Ibis Gatwick, taking advantage of their night in a hotel and a weeks parking. Got back to UK, found out that my G/f's mum was at deaths door and got back to London with all haste. Now I've discovered that the rear bumber on the near side has been subject to heat damage, possibly from a coach/lorry exhaust. It is basically starting to sag, ie it got v warm. I left the premises without checking for minor damage...ie it had four wheels, all windows and wasn't graffitied up (is that a word?) Anyway some advice would be good, thanks guys
Read more

Pugugly {P} on 15 October 2004

Doesn't prevent the liabilty of anoher party (bus driver etc etc) though.

Forum Letter from Telford

No Do$h on 13 October 2004

From your Backroom roving correspondent

This week I am been mostly drinking with Mark in Warwick. The hangover isn\'t my fault, it was some bloke called Gordon. Or a reaction to the tonic water.

Telford is....... interesting. Like Basingstoke but without the charm. Or Milton Keynes without the historical grandeur. It\'s just a mass of retail parks surrounded by dual carriageways, set out like huge roundabouts. Utterly lacking in any redeeming features.

Travelling is taking between 3:30 and 4:45 at present. Roll on the winter and the inevitable 6:00plus home trip.

If I think of anything interesting to add.... No, don\'t hold your breathe

:o)

No Dosh. Not David Brent at all. Read more

No Do$h on 19 October 2004

>> continuing my "No more pies for No Dosh" theme

It seems that some impostor has managed to

hack No Dosh's password

Oi! I remark that resent.

Forum Uninsured losses

mark on 13 October 2004

I am seeking advice a "letter of diminuition" if anyone can help.

Following an incident when my Passat was reversed into I am now pursuing uninsured losses following the repair. Damage was limited to replacement of a wing and part of front bumper, headlight etc.

The loss of earnings has proved straightforward but the letter of diminuition is a new on me.

Basically the other drivers insurance company has accepted that my Passat has a lesser value now it has been repaired following damage and if I can produce the above letter which outlines what the Passat was worth with no damage and what is now worth with fully repaired damage should I decide to get rid of it, then they will make an offer about the difference between the 2 figures.

The dealers I visited at the weekend in order to get a PX price were not too helpful, they dont take repaired cars in PX but would have offered x if I had not admitted the fact. However they would not put this in writing.

Does anyone know anyone who offers a service to provide these letters (business opportunity here methinks) or has anyone gone through this and can offer some tips

as always

Mark

Read more

CG on 15 October 2004

Mark, if the damage was relatively minor and was repaired by a VW repair shop or similar then you may struggle to obtain a meaningful sum for diminution of value. The principle was established some years ago but would usually relate to a high-value make/model, as opposed to the run-of-the-mill cars that most of us drive. If you really want to pursue it then your best bet is to find (Yellow Pages?) and instruct a qualified motor engineer conversant with accident damage and ask him to examine the car and to provide you with his written opinion as to whether there is a valid claim in your case and, if so, the amount he is prepared to justify. You will have to pay him, of course, but you should be able to recover his fee as part of your claim - but there is the risk that he will come up with little or nothing by way of lost value, in which case I don't think the TP insurers will want to know! You could consult a dealership, but if the matter becomes bogged down and you are heading for the Small Claims Court then I suggest that the opinion of a 'specialist' will be more persuasive than what is, in effect, a used car salesman.

Question astra door mirror change

gingerwinger on 13 October 2004

can anyone help me ?? is it possable to change from the manual door mirror to the electric mirror's. is it a case of just getting the new mirror's & mirror switch or not. its a mk3 astra. Read more

elekie&a/c doctor on 13 October 2004

If the car has electric windows,you may be lucky with wiring for mirrors,if not ;forget it!!

Forum Just Carless?

Robin Reliant on 13 October 2004

A coach driver today pleaded guilty to a charge of careless driving at Wrexham magistrates court.

Police produced a video taken from an unmarked car of him driving on the A5. He had a mobile phone in one hand and was using the other to open a window. A small child was sitting on the dashboard.

Magistrates are considering banning him.

I would have thought dangerous as opposed to careless. Read more

AngryJonny on 25 November 2004

There were plenty of Es in Wales when I used to live there. And soap bar and and even heroin too.

Forum Crazy moments

CM on 13 October 2004

I witnessed possibly the 2nd most dangerous bit of driving in my life (and the worst for 15 years) at about 8pm on Friday on the M40.

I was in fast moving traffic in the outside lane and my machine was saying that I was doing 93mph when i looked in my rear view mirror to briefly see a motorcycle squeeze between me at about 120mph and the car I was overtaking before disappearing into the distance at about 130-140mph to do the same thing with the next set of cars.

Maybe the rider does not realise that bikes at night on a motorway blend in quite well with all the other lights.

Crazy and is anything really that important to take such a risk? Read more

THe Growler on 21 October 2004

And the second craziest...

At a busy traffic light controlled crossroads, once. Lights go red, cars stop. Third or 4th car in line slows, then changes mind - pulls out, overtakes line of stopped cars - goes through red light on wrong side of road, turns right forcing cars crossing on green light from left and right to do emergency stop.

LOL.

I see this 10-12 times a day on a 40 minutes ride into the city where I live. In the rushhour often everyone com[pletely ignore traffic lights and there are so many vehicles that you couldn't nick 'em all anyway.

Mostly taxis, BMW's or large 4X4's with no licence plates and blacked out windows (for which read "I'm too important to bother with mere road regulations".

The local saying is the red signal light "is for reference only".

The fine if you get caught is aptly named. Not "failing to observe a red light or anything so pedestrian as that (and they fail to observe it too...)" but "failing to BEAT the red light".
Nobody pays the fine anyway, just "negotiate".

The procedure is simple really. Offender does a quick check to see if enforcers are hanging round the intersection. If not do, it. If they are, check if one has a motorbike, then stop when waved down (unless your motorbike is faster than his). Then proceed to negotiate. If no licence to confiscate (a goodly % of the population) the enforcer will get out his pliers and try to confiscate the front licence plate. However the cognoscenti will have rounded off the bolt heads to avoid same and invested in those plastic box covers designed to prevent licence plate theft.

Question Rover 416 R reg stalling problem

courrierdave on 13 October 2004

Does anyone have any ideas on my Rover 416 k series engined rover its a 1997 on a R plate with 91.000 miles. It was stood for 3 weeks earlier in the year when I restarted the car it started fine but after 20 seconds cut out I restarted it the engine then ran lumpy and keeps cutting out when returning to tickover. There is no missfire on revving the engine and no smoke. I have changed plugs leads e.t.c but nothing makes any difference. Read more

courrierdave on 18 October 2004

Thanks for the reply I will have a look at the things you suggested. the car starts first turn of the key everytime but tickover is lumpy you can rev the car and would never know that anything is wrong but when returning to tickover the cars tickover will be between 500 and 1000 rpm and more often than not will stall.
This happened after the car was stood for 3 weeks whilst I was on holiday when I returned to the car it started first turn of the key I left it ticking over for 20 to 30 seconds (tickover perfect) it then stalled when I restarted the car there was this fault I have just been driving around the fault but now the mot is due and I have to get it fixed

Question VW golf MK2

golfer04 on 13 October 2004

Carburettor problem.

I have a 1990 MK2 1.6 golf driver. I am having trouble starting the car in the morning. Although I pull manual choke out is does not accelerate the revs of the engine. I have to start the car and then use accelerator to keep the engine reving until it idles itself. I have checked the carburettor and the choke flap works but for some reasons doesn't have any impact on idle speed. Other clues are that the car seems to lack a bit of power. The car if fitted with a K&N filter and my son has drilled holes in the air cover holding the filter. On looking at top of carburettor is seems to have alot of oil sitting in it. There is oil sitting on manifold (underneath filter casing) and the K&N filter looks extremely oily. I don't know whether any of these mean anything. Read more

golfer04 on 24 October 2004

thanks for replying. Yes you were right the carb does have a manual choke. I've sorted it now thank you, it was a loose nut associated with the manual choke cable. The carb is a pierberg E2.

Forum The Old Crocks run

helicopter on 13 October 2004

I just realised that the Veteran Cars London to Brighton Run is nearly here again - I believe it is first Sunday (7th) in November.

For anyone who has not seen it I can recommend it as the best free car show in the world, not just for the old motors on the run but also for the exotica driven by the enthusiasts following the cars.I will guarantee a long list for the 'unusual sightings 'thread

A warm coat ,a flask of coffee , some bacon sarnies and stand near any slight upward slope on the A23 and you will have a wonderful day out. The hotel carparks around Gatwick are a good viewpoint as the drivers stop to warm up and do running repairs.

Anybody else in the backroom taking part or watching from the sidelines? Read more

Sofa Spud on 14 October 2004

>>Just imagine in 2100 any car built today would qualify.. hmmm

The Brighton Run qualifying date is fixed at cars built before 1905.

Now there's 16 years' worth of centenarian motoring history, spanning the period 1888 to 1904. It would be interesting to see a new annual motoring occasion to celebrate the cars built exactly one hundred years ago - e.g. next year it would be cars built in 1905 (the oldest cars not eligible for the Brighton run, appropriately), the following year cars built in 1906. The event could be linked with an annual exhibition 'Motoring One Hundred Years Ago'.

Cheers, Sofa Spud