March 2005
Does anyone out there have any ideas why my 1994 granada wobbles / judders when i steer to the left at high speeds. It seems anything over ~50mph does it. Turning right is fine, however steering left feels as though something is going to break and i'll end up in the hard-shoulder. The car does pull to the left ( always has done). I've jacked it up; all bushes seems okay and there's no play in any of the wheels etc. Oh and it seems to fly through MOT's. 'Mechanics'have looked at it and some reckon wheel allignment but i'd rather be sure before paying for allignment only to have it redone after the real suspension fault is found. I know i seem like I'm a real skin-flint don't i? Read more
Hi,
Dose anyone know of a away to fit and make the indicators flash when you lock a MK2 Rover 400? like the newer Rover's (and most cars do). It has the normal Rover remote locking and alarm etc. I guess it needs 'just' a relay to flash the lights. But what to get or ware to fit? Many thanks.
James. Read more
Visual clue is locking buttons.on top of door trim.when they go down ie level with door trim.It is alarmed/immobilised/led starts flashing..using remote..All disarmed is buttons up.Led stays flashing untill ignition is switched on..Just in case check warning Led on dash.After 30 seconds it flashes slowly once locked
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Steve
Now that the laughter has died down...
Anyone ever taken the alternator off one of these? After nearly 3 hours I have finally got the thing loose and unbolted, but despite what Mr Haynes says, I cannot get the thing out from under the engine.
Am considering a) dropping engine at drivers side; b) removing steering pump completely (already have pipes off, radiator header tank off, air filter off, timing belt cover off); c) suicide or d) putting the thing back on and charging the battery up daily.
Needless to say, it's the daughter's car not mine. Read more
Teabelly. Thank you for the thoughts
Won't come out below as the driver's side driveshaft is in way. Removal would mean removal of drive shaft housing and unscrewing all the pins originally holding housing.
Mr Haynes says it will come out upwards.
Not on one fitted with power steering it won't.
OK, as per Haynes I now have the wheel off, inner wing shield off, cambelt cover off etc, and the alternator loose
Got the power steering pump off, but to get the long bolt clear needed to make the air pipe from turbo move over. To do this had to undo the 4 bolts on the air filter housing, and to do this needed to undo the 2 bolts holding the inlet pipes to the air filter. Decided to unbolt the power steering reservoir and move it clear, so can see better.
To lift alternator out, there is the power steering bracket in the way. Only 2 bolts, so easy.
Ah, the 2 bolts won't come out as they are shielded by the pulley to the water pump. Can get at the nuts to the pulley from below, with difficulty. Can't hold the pulley though at the same time. Son and wife not strong enough, and not willing to lie on floor to get at bolts. Stalemate.
FIAT why do you mock me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As I lie on top of engine, hurling obscenities at all things italian I note a small amount of water on top of water pump. Obviously original pump, as has those horrible clips on the pipe. I wipe off water. It reappears.
I wipe it off. It reapears. It is blue water
It is my 60/40 fill of antifreeze. It is seeping out of the joint between the front face of the water pump and the rear. Perhaps I could cure it by tightening the bolts.
Of course, the bolts are shrouded by the water pump pulley.......................
Now, if I raise the car by 700 mm I could drain the radiator and undo the driveshafts etc, lower the engine to floor, and get at everything much easier. Need to hire an engine crane.
Pehaps I could put everthing back, fill rad with Radweld, take out bulb to alternator light, and buy a house on a hill
I've read the official figures but what are people getting in the real world. Firstly for the Diesel, also for the 1.8.
My commute is a daily 50 miles, mainly on the M2/A2 with a bit of town work either end. Plus a couple of miles to & from the shops during the week.
Annual total of 10000 miles, I have use of another car.
Cheers
Tony Read more
SWMBO's only had her 1.8 zafira a couple of weeks, it manages 38-40 on longish runs ( e.g. Christchurch - lyme & back) down to 31-33 mpg on the school run ( 1 mile each way)
Has anyone here had strange creaking or rumbly noises from the rear suspension of a Vectra C . My car is well out of warranty as now it has 102,000 miles on it . Ive had new gas rear shocks replaced and yet still get a rumbly noise when turning right or left on uneven road surfaces. Sounds like someone hitting a rubber malet . Visibly everything looks fine .Also the rear suspension feels rather stiff and bangs over potholes rather than glide over them . Read more
If you had £1,000 and had to buy a 1.4L/1.3L or under, what would it be?
I need something like this so any help would be much appreciated.
Regards,
Dave Read more
Well there is the obvious Astra and Escort - a grand will pick a fairly decent example, as they're common parts aren't a problem and their both easy to work on.
Pug 306 and Citreon ZX both have 1.4 varients and can be picked up for less than £1000.
If your considering Japanese then a nissan sunny or almera will probably fit the bill.
a skoda felicia or a seat ibiza or two other possibilities.
Looking for any advice regarding the high idle speed on my Wife's Rover 25.It is 2001 registered.It idles around the 1500 rpm mark.This happens even if the car's engine is at operating temp. Read more
Ok - not strictly motoring but seeing as I forgot, I figured the mods could imdulge me whilst I remind you.
BST is here! Yippee!
Motoring link....er......my car has a clock in it.
:-)
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Adam Read more
It's Monday afternoon and I still haven't changed any clocks apart from the PC which does it itself :-)
My lack of effort though resulted in a phonecall at what I thought was 9:15 from someone I was suppose to be meeting (to change oil on his car [motoring :-)]) at 10:00. Oops!
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Mike Farrow
Today a funny thing happened.
Whilst reversing Land Rover and trailer into the drive, the trailer detached itself and parked itself in the drive!
No damage or injury fortunately but I want to get to the bottom of this.
I thought that with these modern ball hitch arrangement this couldn't happen. The ball on the vehicle is a 50mm dia and undamaged and the mechanism on the trailer (that looks like it was on a caravan at some stage) seems to work OK.
Could a replacement of the trailer hitch be due?
Oh, and does anyone know the correct connections for the trailer electrics? the cable ripped out of the plug and needs reconnecting.
Thanks
Hugo Read more
Did the emergency brakes come on when the trailer detached from the car?
Just thought I'd share something.
Last weekend, I serviced SWMBO's 32k miles 1995 306 1.8 SR Sedan.
The car has always driven well, but equally the idle has always been a little on the lumpy side, and slight pinking has usually occurred on gently accelerating from medium revs with a light throttle. These symptoms have persisted through several services - including the original, and one set of new, non V-groove, Champion plugs - since we purchased the car three years ago. When I took the plugs out this time, I checked them carefully, and prounounced them to be in perfect nick. In fact, they looked so 'right', that I nearly put them back in...
However, I decided to stick to the Pug schedule, and simply because the Champion plugs were out of stock, fitted NGK (which I always used to use) plugs, but this time, V-groove.
We haven't put enough miles under the wheels to get a feeling for fuel consumption, but the idle lumpiness has completely gone, and so has the light throttle pinking. Mid range torque also appears to be more ample than before. I know plugs need a sharp edge for the spark to propagate easily, but I'd always dismissed V-groove plugs as a marketing ploy to get punters to part with more dosh. Hmmm. Wish I'd fitted them three years ago, now!
Read more
Thats nice to know because I am always questioning the development of such gizmos. When I replaced the plugs etc. on my own PUG 205 GTi - I questioned the wisdom of putting in 'Bosch Super 4' or 'Iridium' or even the 'V Groove' type of plugs. In the end I opted to save the cash and bought the OE Champion basic standard set of plugs.
Maybe next time I'll look at the V Groove twice - and since then I have ahd to replace the HT leads, cap, rotor etc as well, so with the upgraded HT leads and new cap etc. premium plugs might make a differnece. Thanks for feeding that into the system.
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As has been suggested, check the tyres first.
As for compliance bushes, they are just rubber bushes with built in 'play'. Something like a solid rubber bush with holes in it to allow controlled movement of the related component. The idea was / is to alter various suspension and steering angles to suit the prevailing conditions. Under cruising conditions the bush will be neutral, under braking or acceleration the bush will deform enough to alter the relevant angles, thus improving roadholding.
Some 70 - 80's Fords had them fitted on the rear axle and they were forever wearing out. A well known 'mod' in those days was to fit a solid, non compliant bush, nobody noticed the difference in roadholding, and the solid bushes wore out just as quickly anyway.