February 2005
Travelers by rail. Using a local road to park in without any yellow lines.without them knowing. Had their vehicle removed while yellow lines were being installed.Said vehicles were then replaced on the yellow lines..Came back to find parking tickets on them..on some several..I heard this on local radio..But missed the details.I cannot see this being Legal?
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Steve Read more
think about it.............................
we are told that the most damage is caused to our cars by the 1st few seconds of the engine turning over...the oil all sinks to the bottom of the sump,,and relies on the engine being turned over,to get the crankshaft moving,,which in turn,sets off the oil pump....which then sorts out the oil supply...
so why not do this.............
,
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have an electric pump,,or a smaller electric pump to aid the main pump.....
if we put the key in and turned it to the second position ,,the pump would then start....give it a second,,,,which we should do anyway,,,,,read your manuals...about the ignition check...
if we waited a second or two,,the oil would already be flowing!!!!!!!!
voila oil flowing b4 the engine can damage itself...
is this tooo obvious??
or is it a way of the makers NOT making the cars last longer??
is this a stupid idea,,,,or just too easy for the car makers to understand??? Read more
'Block Heaters' are readily available in the US, Canada and parts of nothern Europe. Just a simple heating element that screws into the water jacket. Put it on a time-switch.
To be honest, I think we seldom get weather in the UK that's cold enough to warrant these measures - and with thinner oils its not really necessary anyway.
The ABS on SWMBO's P-registered Mondeo seems to have expired. It was locking the front wheels under moderate braking and making a strange noise. Then it had an (unrelated) puncture. Then the ABS warning light then came on. Not a good day.
I haven't looked at it yet, but assume it will prove to be beyond my abilities. I would probably be ab;e to check that the wheel sensors are producing a voltage. Since others must have suffered ABS problems, are there any recommended diagnosis/fix routes, recommended ABS brake specialists or any other remedies other than a main dealer? This is in the Essex/East London area. All suggestions gratefully received. Read more
It is possible the fault is with one sensor. For a simple DIY check - disconnect each sensor and measure the resistance of each. They should read about 1000 ohms. If one is faulty it will either exhibit a very high (open circuit) or very low (short circuit) reading.
Also check the air gap from the sensor head to stator ring. If this is excessive then adjustment is required.
Also check battery / alternator voltage.
Check all wiring connections (including fuse).
Advice if anyone can please, it's difficult to explain to a garage!! My 2001 Peugeot 306 is suffering in the fact that for ages now, when it is started up after being parked for a while, unless i keep the revs up for around 5 mins the car will stall. If i start it without depressing the accelerator it will just conk out. Now I have noticed that the car is becoming harder to start intermittantly, either when it is cold or whether it is warm, but eventually after 5 mins of ticking over it does start - highly embaressing when you stop for a pint of milk at a packed petrol garage. i have also noticed sometimes that the speedo needle and the rev counter needle both fly over to point to the right, and the digital display reads 9999 and there is what looks like a clock (square box, with a line going in at a corner).
I know the above sounds really difficult, but try explaining it to Peugeot - they think i've gone mad.....
luckily, I am under warranty for most of the things, as it was extended and I argue the point until they agree to not charge me, but i have no idea what the problem might be and how hefty it might be should it not be covered somewhere...! Read more
hi there
this unfortunatly is quite common on 1.4 306's with sagem sl96 injection systems and it is caused by interference from the coil pack blowing the idle output stage of the engine ecu it can also affect the instrument panel . the cure is a new coil pack (make sure its electrofil not sagem make and either a new ecu (approx£400) or get the old one repaired (approx £100) make sure you fit the coil before starting the engine with a good ecu.(when checking fault codes will bring up permanent fault with idle regulator.hope this helps
regards
paul (peugeot master tech)
I have recently brought a BMW 530d(2002) automatic with 76000 miles on the clock-I have never driven a diesel or an automatic before. The car is fantastic to drive,however on pressure on the accelerator(not neceesary full pressure) it kind of propels forwards with a sudden thrust-as if it has been given a massive push from behind.Is this how it is meant to be and represents diesel/automatic drive or is there something I need to be worried about? This never happened with the petrol cars I have drive where acceleration is a smooth and steady process.Any thoughts will be gratefully accepted.
nand Read more
Some modern high performance turbodiesels have watercooled centre bearings so thsi is no longer applicable, I have no idea whetehr this is true of the 530D, but worth investigating if you own one.
Hi, just noticed that there is a rattling noise sounding a little like a knackered old engine coming from behind the front passenger light whenever the lights are turned on.
I opened bonnet expecting a relay to have gone but found the annoying rattle appears to be coming from a plug behind the light a big black plastic oval type thing.
Too dark now to see any further, can anyone help? Read more
Disconnected no more annoying ratte, bizarrely one side was already disconnected!
Hi,
Does anyone have any information on the problem of the oil pump drive retaining bolt working loose on this engine? Have heard of a few engine failures due to this problem. Does anybody know the cause of the problem? Is it due to an assembly process error, i.e. lack of thread lock on the bolt, or not torqued properly? Is there a modified bolt?
Sounds fairly similar to the problem that Land Rover had with the TD5 engine.
Does anyone know what Vauxhalls policy is on replacing engines which have suffered from this?
I have a 3yr old Astra with this engine and am slightly worried by the prospect of this failure occurring.
Also, what is the timing belt change interval on this engine?
Many thanks,
Chris.
Read more
Can you mix synthetic with non synthetic?
Can you mix semi synthetic with non synthetic?
Can you mix semi synthetic with synthetic?
What is semi synthetic if it not a mixture of synthetic and normal oil?
I could have done with the info yesterday as I had to top up a gearbox in an old car and only had a litre of semi synthtic in the garage. I was concerned about using it so had to hunt around to get some ordinary oil. Thanks. Read more
Indeed it's a fascinating subject and one that I personally enjoy talking about.
ALL oils thin/lose viscosity (shear) with use.
It's the rate of shear that's important and this is where Group IV and V basestocks are better. The primary reasons for shear in a multigrade are the Viscosity Improvers that are added.
These are polymers that are temperature sensitive which uncoil with heat to assist the oil in "fighting" the thinning effect caused by the higher temperatures.
Unfortunately it's these that shear and therfore lose their ability to "fight back" for want of a less technical term.
So all that being said, these VI improvers not only vary in quality but also vary in the amount added to the base oil and therefore, less is better and higher quality is better.
The wider the range a multigrade covers (10w-60 compared to say 5w-40 = 50 vs 35) the more of these VI Improvers need to be added and therefore the more prone the oil is to viscosity loss (shear) with use.
The reason that Group IV and V synthetics are better is because they require little or none of these VI Improvers to operate as they are more thermally stable to start with.
The main reason for this is that they are not refined to remove impurities they are actually built by chemists in laboratories specifically to fit an application. This means that they have molecules of a uniform size as opposed to various sizes.
As to the question of them being worthwhile, well they are certainly superior lubricants but it depends on the application and the frequency of oil changes you require.
These oils last longer and cost more and are always adviseable in stressed applications where they will outperform and out live their petroleum cousins by a large margin.
Cheers
Simon
My daughters 1998 1.0 Corsa has developed stiff steering in one direction. I have been told this is probably the electric steering unit.
Q1 Is this a very big job to DIY? Any special tools Required?
Q2 Is it worth trying to obtain a steering unit from a breakers, as I here this is a very expensive part.
Thanks in advance Read more
No, the dash does not need to come out but you will need to remove the lower trim and column shroud.
I can probably get some information on removing the system if it is of help but will need to e-mail to you.
Anyone know if there is a Honda Car Forum, I can find plenty of Honda Bike forums but not for cars. Thanks Peter Read more
Sigh...
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The report said that Mr Tether's car was pushed, so I assumed that this meant forward or backward, albeit to the end of it's tether.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.