December 2004
Our 2003 Focus 2.0 Zetec makes a rattling noise from the gearbox at idle with the clutch pedal released, mainly when cold. It appears that Ford have issued a TSB ( 04-8-1 issued May 04 ) to cover this problem. Can anyone tell me the content of the TSB and does this indicate future problems? Read more
Does anyone have any experience of buying from car supermarkets? (reliability/HPI/mileage checks etc) Is it possible to part exchange.I have seen a car(BMW 5 series old shape) that I might want to buy from carland.any suggestions most welcome
thanks
Read more
Hi everyone this is my first post on this site and i would like your views on my current car...
I own a 1994 (L) Peugeot 306 1.9 diesel (non-turbo), 3 door in miami blue. It has covered 96,200 miles, the 2 previous owners were family so i can assure its been looked after, ive owned it snce 82k and i have the oil & filter, fuel filter and air filter replaced every 6k on the dot. (im very strict about this)
Ive just had the cambelt changed at 94k and new discs pads and recently a new exhaust. If i keep up this strict 6k servicing (oil and all filters etc.) Reallistcally how many miles can you see me getting out of my engine? Say 200k or more than that? I know from prior research to keep a close eye on the coolant
as this can cause problems, and also head gasket failure is common. But no problems so far.
Thanks in advance
Rich
Cheshire Read more
My Corsa (1.7 Di, 2002) came back from its last service amonth ago with "Suspension bush coming out of bracket - fixed" on the service sheet. Since then the same bit of the car (rear passenger side) has developed a squeak everytime I go over a bump.
Anyone have any idea what is causing this, is it a 'problem' as such and what wuld be needed to fix it?
Read more
ive just bought a 1999 1.6 16v astra sxi.
its got a misfire thats hard to pin down. it feels electrical but im hopeing its sticky valves.
ive tried 2 forte gas treatments, one in the almost empty tank and one straight down the manifold via a vacuum pipe. the treatments appeared to have helped, but later roadtest proved otherwise.
ive fitted new plugs but ive got a feeling its the coilpack.
does anyone know any other tests before i buy the coil pack? Read more
im borowing a friends astra tomorrow so ill try his coil pack
Hi,
I am having a problem getting the speedo dial to work on my dash board on a 1991 ford fiesta xr2i. I originally replaced the temp guage sucessfully after a problem with it but on reassembly everything worked, all dash lights,rev counter and both fuel and temp guage but speedo does not move. I bought a new speedo cable fitted it but no success, I have now tried two whole new instrument clusters from a breakers and again speedo is the only part not working.
I think I have fitted the cable correctly it is just a push on at the instrument end but at the pinion on the transmission it needs to be tightened with a nut.
I have found the nut does not fully tighten as the cable also rotates,with the securing nut, when tightening with spanner is this right?
Any advise gratefully received.
Steveo Read more
Maybe the cable needs turning slightly. If they are not lined up to the socket. it wont go in..Try taking dash off.then turn the spindle according to position of cable. usualy if roughly right they fall in..
thats usualy the problem anyway?
--
Steve
Hello there,
There is yet another twist in the story with my Golf 2.
The computer now has no reading for the oil temp at all and there is a strange noise coming from behind the dash, but only over 30mph. It doesnt seem to be related to the smoothness of the ride (i.e something loose since the dash went back in). I'm thinking that maybe its related to the speedo cable that caused me some trouble in refitting it.
Help.. The squeeking from the dash is driving me crazy!
As for the digital temp reading, does this come from the fan switch, or from the front of the block?
Read more
Does anyone have any ideas on the digi temp sensor? (i.e how to test why its not reading?)
---------------------------------------------
JH
Over the next few weeks many of us will be on long journeys , looking for things to pass the time.
Years ago, with my kids, we used to play "pub cricket" , but with so much motorway mileage this doesn't work ..but I have come up with a game where we spot other road users ( of course only to be played by passengers !
When you are "in" you are aiming to "spot a twonk" .. identifying features in other roadusers which score points .. you have an "innings" , which would be a fixed time- say 5 minutes per person.. and if you score 100 in your innings you get a "twonk" - highest number of twonks wins.
Scoring
LIGHTS- no lights in rain , mist or darkness -10 points ; parking lights in rain, mist or darkness -5 points ; unnecessary fog lights 5 points - stupid blue lights 5 points
PLATES - unfunny messing with numerals or letters 5; ludicrous typefaces 5 points , with a bonus 5 for copperplate
BELTS - driver unbelted 5; both at front unbelted 10; children unbelted 10 , special bonus of extra 5 if child is standing between front seats and just behind handbrake
PHONES- normal handheld only 2 points , but 5 if you can prove he was texting
MANEOUVRES- 5 each for- slip road to lane 3 in one movement; overtaking within 100 yards of exiting the motorway ; top-class slipstreaming so close to the car in front it looks like it's towing you ; specila bonuses of 5 for completey unannounced lane-changing , especially if that is as the traffic is queuing for an obstruction
HOURS OF FUN Read more
LIGHTS- no lights in rain , mist or darkness -10 points
; parking lights in rain, mist or darkness -5 points ;
unnecessary fog lights 5 points - stupid blue lights 5 points
Are there extra points if the stupid blue lights are flashing at the time?? ;-)
BRoomers
My Mondeo is suffering from high speed vibration. Seat of pants rather than steering wheel and only really apparent over 70mph (sorry officer).
Had the wheel balance checked by Merityre (a step up from the major chains) and no problems found but vibration still there. Tyres/discs etc all look fine
Any suggestions?
Dan Read more
SjB
apologies for very slow thanks (Christmas/skiing hols/away with work and other delays mean the vibration went unsolved for a long time) - yoor advice helped rule out dampers.
eventually traced to a combination of bulge on tyre (missed by both merityre and yours truly until it got worse) and a damaged suspension bush.
cheers
Dan
Got my (nearly new) BMW unmarked like new 2 weeks ago.
Parked in a multi-story car park, some dork has put a one inch vertical scratch on the door.
Is this something I can fix myself? I know I can buy touch up paint from BMW or should I leave it for now, wait for some more damage and eventually take it to the local body shop? Read more
I too would phone the dealer, see who they use, they will occasionally have to do such repairs on new cars I don't doubt.
It is easy to fill a scratch with non-metallic paint and polish it flat, but metallics are virtually impossible, as the flakes lie at a different angle to the original ones.
Browse
A mate of mine has a VW Bora. Bought it at 6K three years ago. Its just got over the 100K miles and seems faultless. It goes just as well as when nearly new and no rattles. There were a few things dealt with in warranty when just bought but since then nothng apart from tyres and lightbulbs and normal servicing.
Question is how long to keep it. At over 30K miles a year anything newer will depreciate like mad - but will the VW start needing work done???