February 2005
As a secondhand buy, are they as bad as I'm reading?! Read more
The letter "Neighbourhood watch" and HJ's response in today's DT Expert Advice column hits the nail on the head: slam the untaxed and uninsured small minority, and get off the backs of the vast majority of law-abiding motorists. I am clipping it and sending it to my MP, reminding him that there are 30+ million motorists out there, 29.9 million of whom would cheer if they saw the clipping; therein are votes to be found. Read more
Have just bought a P reg car with the Honda engine. 64000 miles, burns no oil, no rattles or knocking noises, starts well.
On a daily run of 10 miles each way on 'A' roads, max speed about 50mph & mostly about 45mph it returns 30mpg. This is being driven very carefully, no hard accelerations.
Power seems quite a bit less than our previous Rover engined 1.6 manual.
Is this consumption normal for this model ?
Any ideas what it could be if you think it thirsty also please.
Thank you, Vinnie. Read more
Always interested in Honda/Rover tech threads, as we own one of each.
The 416i (manual, K series) averages around 36mpg during cold weather, dropping from an average of around 40mpg in the summer months. The Civic 1.5 (auto) average is around 39mpg in winter and gets right up to 44mpg in summer. Best ever was 49mpg. It's a much smaller car, and far lighter being a 3 door. The Rover also gets more of a hammering as it is driven shorter distances on local roads, while the Honda cruises most of its miles on the motorway.
Whilst i've never had direct experience of your particular model, I should imagine your figures are somewhere about right for this time of year. You say the car is new to you, if the previous owner only used it to the shops and back, it could be well clogged up. A few good long trips and/or an Italian tune followed by an oil change could make quite a difference.
Ed.
I am considering a holiday in Germany, would it be worthwhile planning in service to my Mercedes ML270 while there.
Considerations are obviously;
Cost as UK dealer service is very expensive in labour and parts.
Quality as UK dealers seem lacking in this department. Read more
Hi there,
I haved lived in Germany for 5 years out of the last ten, so here's my three penn'orth:
- Labour: this is the main cost for servicing, so avoid large towns. Generally, the former East Germany is cheaper....ask for a quote first - anywhere in Germany, this can be far cheaper than the UK;
- a good garage: even (nowadays: especially!) Daimler-Benz garages - including the manufacturer's branches - are very variable in quality, check with a reputable user website if poss...
- service: Ha!ha! this is a good one! do not expect customer service of any kind from a German garage. If you are offered so much as coffee, or they deal with you in English, you are probably getting ripped off big time!
- how good's your German carspeak? a good garage should put your car straight onto a lifting platform thing (my English carspeak fails here) so that you and a mechanic can discuss anything that may need doing under the car (like brakes, suspension etc.). You should avoid this if you can't communicate with the mechanic....
hth
pat
My 2003 megane has a habit of blowing side light bulbs about every 3 months. I only use toop branded makes ( usually Osram )which I buy from a reputable local independent business. On my last visit a local auto electrician told me that in his opinion this is due to spikes created by thew ECU. The local dealer confirmed that over the past couple of years his sales of bulbs had more than doubled. The car was checked at the last service and ( at the time ) no fault coud be found. Any thoughts ?
Bob G.
Read more
I'll check all the connections and clean up any earth connections before I put in new bulbs
What's the best way? Pass quickly so the least possible grit hits your car? Or pass slowly in the hope that the grit that does hit you does less damage?
When it's in the middle of a three lane carriageway, which side? Offside or nearside? Which way does the grit go? Read more
I would say DONT pass a gritter on a motorway, the damage they can do makes it not worth it and following at 40mph for a max of two junctions means you have only lost 5 or 10 mins from you journey.
I'm just in the process of swapping a 5 series touring for an X5 and need to find a way of protecting the boot whilst loading our dogs into it. With the 5 series a normal liner was fine as the dogs took a flying leap into the back with no probs. However the X5 has a split tailgate where the lower half folds down. What I want is something to protect the leading edge of this as 3 dogs scramble in , anybody got any ideas?
thanks for any suggestions Read more
You can get rubberised mat for the boot thats longer. It flaps down over the lower tailgate. As long as the dogs are trained not to jump in unless on command you can flap this down first.
which coupe would fit the following
excellent mpg
lots of room
big boot
around £12K
good saftey ie:euroncap results
only got to run it for a year.
any idea's
Read more
Pug 406 2.2 Hdi coupe?
Hi My daughters K reg Polo 1.1 has started to use/ loose coolant about 1/4 pint a week.cannot find any leaks around hoses, water pump radiator ect. oil level not increased and looks ok. took off rocker cover very clean inside apart from a very small amount of mayonaze around oil filler cap, thought this could be condensation due to short runs (8 miles per day)and cold weather just recently.Engine runs fine starts ok, runs at same temporature as always has.Noticed a lot of clean water from exhaust, but again could be condensation. So am I worying over nothing or are we heading for problems? Would a can of Bars cooling system leak preventer be the answer? any thoughts appreciated.
rustbucket Read more
1/4 pint is not much. Are you sure it's not just the overfill being lost through expansion? If you leave it for 2 weeks does it need 1/2 pint or does it still need just 1/4?
I was a fan of Barrs Leaks in my impecunious banger days, but truth to tell it was usually the beginning of the end when that went in!
Hi all,
Ok, i have a 1997 Golf 2.8 VR6 with 68,000k and im the 4th owner. The tappets seem to be quite noisy so i have decided to get these replaced however i wanted to make sure that theres not something else that might be an issue- when hitting full throttle in 2nd gear for example (it is most prominant in second) i get a loud metallic sound which is louder that the tappets- it makes about 3 taps and disappears over 4000RPM. It sounds like its coming from the drivers side.
I also occasionally get a little blue smoke- im sure this is valve stem seals as when i let it sit at 2000rpm in top for say 15 minutes or so and suddenly drop it i get a little blue smoke.
I am going to get these done at the same time as the tappets, as its pointless paying twice for labour.
My major concern is this tapping sound- could it be a piston ring sticking? It doesnt sound right unless it is just a seriously knackered tappet... Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. :-) Read more
The timing chain on the VR6 is on the gearbox (passenger)
side of the car so it wont be the chains- these
dont usually need touching until at least 100k, although i have
known 1 to go at around 90k but this was an
early OBD1 car with the early tensioner setup.
Yes, by 'back' of engine I meant the flywheel end. I was just thinking that when he puts in under load ('floors the throttle') the load side of the timing chain will go tighter and if the tensioner is a bit weak or the chain a bit stretched then it may thrash about and rattle for a moment.
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