March 2005
Brief history 98 Laguna 1.6
April 2004 - starter motor failure, replace unit.
Sep 2004 - Starter motor not working, investigation revealed wire burnt through from overheating.
Dec 2004 - failed starter motor, bench tested and found to be drawing a lot of current, had unit replaced under warranty.
Jan 2005 - failing to start, apparently loose wire on unit.
Feb 05 , appears slow to turn over engine, put this down to cold weather / old battery.
Feb 05 - sometimes struggling to turn engine over , sometimes OK
Mar 05 - as above, but then getting terrible screech as motor failes to engage. My fears are that it's taken the teeth off the ring gearor something.
I'm no expert but it is possible that something's making it harder to turn to engine over which is causing this (ie increased compression )? Car runs fine otherwise, but instinct tells me to get rid of the car asap.
Possibly a bad move, but I supplied the starter myself (Hella from GSF) for the garage to fit, which makes warranty replacemant a bit of a palaver. Read more
Hello,
I'm purchasing a new vehicle via an online retailer and am considering selling my current Passat V6 4Motion at auction. It's in excellent condition except a scuffed alloy, and a stonechip on the windscreen which is unrepairable according to autoglass. I have a few of questions which I would like your opinions on.
Should I replace the windsreen before auction?
Should I refurbish the alloy before auction?
Which sale at Blackbushe should I enter it in?
What reserve price would you suggest?
The spec is as follows:
Passat 2.8 V6 4 Motion, Petrol, Manual, Indigo Blue
Full Service history 21K Miles
May 2003
Usual spec + Rear Parking sensors, front fogs and MFSW inc cruise control. Read more
Thanks for your views cheddar.
Hi
With all these problems of blocked breather tubes caused by condensation in Fiesta engines, has anybody ever tried insulating the roker box to keep it warmer in cold weather and hence reduce condensation leading to mayonnaise?
If so did it work and what material did you use? Read more
>>i used to have an escort with that engine...i made up a little plate to partly cover the rad grille in cold weather
Should not need to if thermostat is working correctly?.
--
Steve
I dont really know what chipping is and what it would do 2 either a fiesta ST in terms of power etc. Are there any pros and cons of having it done? How much would it cost? Read more
also consider you'd invalidate the manufacturer's warranty which is worth a fair bit of dosh - especially in terms of resale.
All in all people don't often chip new cars - usually 3 year old ones that are out of warranty anyway and that have already taken a fair old depreciation hit.
Rich
Thinking of buying a 2000 model 2.0i SE, 57k on the clock.Should not expect any problems but is there any problems out there I should be careful of that are not that obvious?
Cheers
Andy Read more
Look out for little squeal off cambelt 2000/x. Mine had that prob and service technician said he`d encountered a few. More an annoyance than anything. Only cure is new belt. Mine appeared at 15k
For £6000, what's the soundest buy between a Seat Leon SE and a similar spec Focus - and what else might be worth considering of that ilk? Read more
As an early adopter of the Leon (first public Leon on the road from my Norwich dealer back in 2000)I always rave about the car.
Would still love one today, but time marches on and there are newer cars out there. But for the price, the Leon can't be beat.
Interested if anyone has experience of what is and isn't covered by Vauxhall's "Customer Option" 2nd and 3rd year warranty.
My wife's Meriva (02 reg) has delveloped a water leak at about 14 months old, resulting in a spare wheel well(!) full of water and mouldy boot floor trim. The water is coming from somewhere in the upperpart of the car.
The dealer says that the bodywork is not covered by the 2nd & 3rd year, and that we "Should have read the small print". The only small print in the warrenty booklet says that wear & tear items, soft trim and consumables are not covered, but dosn't seem to exclude anything else.
I've never had this sort of problem with Skoda, Mitsubishi or even Citroen warranties.
Thanks for any feedback! Read more
The car is under three (3) years old - it is still under the FULL manufacturers warranty regardless.
Clever wording on Vauxhall's part says the manufacturers warranty only applies for the 1st year.
* One year unlimited mileage manufacturer's warranty.
* Second and third year no-fee customer option warranty up to 60,000 miles from first registration.
My 1996 Audi A4 has just failed the MOT because the handbrake is inoperative on the driver's side back wheel. I've booked it in for investigation on Thursday, but in the meantime does anyone know what could need replacing? Is this a known problem on them? The MOT tester says it's a caliper setup.
The handbrake cable comes up way 6 inches more than it should if that helps diagnose it remotely.
Thanks for any advice Read more
Thanks ED, great advice. The garage say the caliper had seized with the handbrake in the ON position but doing nothing, and freeing up the piston(s?) cured it.
I have had an aircon pressure switch on order for my skyline with the local nissan dealer since October of last year. In their terms it says orders for imports are non refundable. Does this mean I have to wait forever for the part to arrive or lose the money I have already paid (the contract forces you to pay upfront)? I want to cancel the order and try Middlehurst nissan or an independent as I really need to get hold of this part and I am sick of waiting.
Any ideas on where I can go from here?
teabelly Read more
I thought that would probably be the case. I just wanted to make sure before insisting on a refund as companies always know when you are slightly unsure of your ground
:-)
teabelly
It will soon be all change in the S household. It's time to move on my wife's 99T Micra and I was wondering what price I could expect if sold it privately and what attitude/price I could expect from a dealer if traded for a newer machine - possibly a Pug 406 coupe from main dealer.
The Micra is a 3 door "Equation" edition which means silver metallic paint/sun roof etc. It's in good condition, done 67k and has just sailed through the MOT.
As a secondary question, it is not far off the next service and I expect the cambelt will be due then. When trading in - do dealers care about this sort of detail? When we traded our Scenic 2 years ago, it had just been serviced and cambelted but the dealer gave us the impression that we could have saved our money and not bothered.
Read more
6 months ago I sold privately my slightly older Micra and I could not believe I had so much interest. I advertised it in Autotrader in both the magazine and online. It went online about 3 days before the magazine came out and all I had were timewasters asking for my lowest price. On the morning the magazine came out, the phone went mad. The first person to call dropped everything and came and saw it. The best bit was he paid almost the full asking price. I could have sold the car 20 to 30 times. So get a careful valuation and then sell privately, I feel sure the slight amount of effort will be worth it. Do not forget to give it a wash, polish and vacuum the interior.
Browse
It is quite common to have high voltage drop between battery negative terminal and engine block on this model.Suggest you fit a new earth cable directly betwwen batt. neg.and engine.I'm sure you will notice an improvement in starter operation.