I have a Ford Escort 1.8 si built Sept 1995.
Until recently the headlights have been fine. Suddenly (after a car wash) the dipped headlight on both sides stopped working.I have checked fuses, relays and connector on both bulbs and can find nothing wrong.

Please can anyone help with this nagging problem.....
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Hi folks,

My Bro who barely knows how to open the bonnet of his car has asked me to look at a couple of things on his 206 XSi which he thinks are not as they should be.

I have found a couple of things and would like advice from the Techs as well as other 206 Owners.

1. The drivers side headlight is held in place by two rather flimsy pieces of plastic which are screwed to the metal panel which runs along the front of the car above the headlights. The "brackets" are an integral part of the headlamp unit and both have fractured causing the headlamp to drop forward and downward by about 5mm. There is now a lateral movement in the headlamp unit of around 10mm, which could cause the headlight flickering effect I have often seen in oncoming traffic. The car is out of warranty, but are peugeot replacing these on request as they are in my opinion under engineered. The car has never suffered any impact frontal or otherwise, from looking at the passenger side unit, I think I could snap both the mountings just using the force it takes to replace the dust cover on the headlamp assembly.

2. The oil temperature indicator (not coolant temp - coming to that in a minute) never moves onto the scale despite once upon a time sitting at the horizontal position. Peugeot have allegedly checked this guage and report that all is well. It does activate to indicate oil level as it should at startup - but nothing in terms of temp. I therefore assume the guage to be fine but the sender unit knackered.

3. The coolant temperature guage is graduated at 50, 70, 90, one further marking then the red area. 90 is the vertical position where every car i have ever owned or driven sits at full operating temp. The needle did previously reach this position but now will not move beyond 70 unless the car is sitting in traffic. The fan does not activate until the needle approaches the mark after 90 which leads me to believe 90 should be the normal full operating temperature position. The in car heater does produce heat. After 15 minutes of running the engine was warm to touch but the top hose was not warm. Could this be a stat problem?? Peugeot have allegedly also checked out this fault and reported all is well. when asked why the courtesy car's needle sat in the 90 position, the service manager told my bro all cars are different!

The car has been to three separate Pug dealerships. One replaced the engine management unit because he claimed it had silicone in it which could be causing the problem - Really dont understand why they would do that or even think that - but the problems still exist and two other dealers have allegedly checked them out and found no faults. Looks like wee bro wants his big bro to have a go at sorting them.

your advice before the spanners come out, as always would be appreciated.

Leon
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I have a 2002 Passat PD130 with 90K miles. It is running fine and driving as it should in all respects except one.
As I pull away from a standstill there is a brief puff of blue smoke, just visible in the mirror. If this was a petrol car, as all my cars have been until this one, you would say it was classic valve-stem oil seals, but I know that the diesel inlet pressure does not work that way...
Anyway what I need to know is should I be budgeting for a replacement turbo or is there some other cause ?
I have done 3K miles since purchase and it has not used any measurable quantity of oil and is returning high 40's mpg.
Thanks.
Alec
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I was just poking about on the British Pathe website, where you can download loads of archive video and photographic material for free. It's low quality, but perfectly adequate. (if you choose to pay you can have it in a higher quality).

If you have any interest in a 17 minute film about the Austin Cambridge made in 1954 - it's charming - then go to

www.britishpathe.com/advanced_search.php

and put 2721.02 in the film id box. It's called "I am a car".

Obviously it takes a while to download - very much broadband users only, and it is a bit of a fiddle to get it, what with adding it to baskets for zero pounds and putting in your address etc, but once done, it's well worth it.

Hope the film or indeed the site is of interest to someone anyway. I enjoyed it a lot! Apologies if this has been posted before - I didn't find it on a forum search. Read more

My 1999T Focus's air-conditioning has stopped working. Just before the winter it was still capable of freezing my fingers off, but it now seems to have no cooling effect at all.

Throughout the winter I have switched on the air-con once a week for about 10 minutes (as seems to be recommended).

When I switch it on I here the 'clunk' of the air-con pump engaging, the revs drop slightly and the engine note changes, so it seems to be working mechanically. I also feel quite a bit of vibration through the car when it's on - whether that is because the idle speed has dropped or the there is a problem with the pump, I don't know.

Anyone any idea what could be wrong, or more importantly, how much it is likely to cost to fix?

This year it is due for a major service, a new battery, probably a new rear silencer (it's looking somewhat rusty), so I'm wondering whether to bother and just trade it in for a new one. Read more