March 2005
And the best wheel trim cleaner on the market for getting rid of brake dust which looks like its been there for 9 years, and what can only be described as nicotine stain yellow is...... ?
(I know I could just buy new ones, but these are the original Rover ones which i'd like to clean up if possible) Read more
Hello can anyone give me any advice on what to do in this situation?
Last week my car was making some excess noise from the front of the engine which I suspected was the cam belt. Sure enough they thought the cam belt needed replacing but they also found there was hardly any water in the reservoir (I'd last checked a few weeks before and it was fine) so suspected a problem there too. I left the car with them and they replaced the cam belt and also the water pump as they said all the bearings had gone and this had contributed to the problem.
Anyhow it came to £120 vat so I thought it seemed a reasonable price and the car was running fine. A couple of nights later I was out and accidentally left the lights on for a couple of hours, when I returned to the car the electrics were absolutely dead which was unusual as I've left them on all day before and it's been fine. Anyhow after a jump lead start I set off home but could hear a lot of screeching from the fan belt chain so took it back to the garage the next day and they tightened it up and the problem was solved.
All was fine over the weekend, did about 120 miles of motorway driving no problems although occasionally I did hear what sounded as if the plastic cam belt cover was coming into contact with the chain so planned to go back and get it looked at when the garage opened after easter.
Yesterday morning I decided to go on a walk before taking the car to the garage and drove a short distance to a local place, all was fine until I set off on the journey home, there was a loud noise coming from the engine (just after I'd driven up a short steep bank) and it started getting louder and louder, by the time I got to the garage I was loosing a lot of power and the enging was shaking.
Anyhow I told the garage I suspected a timing problem and left it with them overnight and they've just called this morning with the diagnosis.
They say the timing if fine but there's a fault on one of the cylinders (the crank rod I think they said) and that it looks like I'll need a new engine! They also say that they not done anything wrong and that the damage was probably already there caused by heat when the water pump wasn't working properly - it probably happened as the pressure from the pump working again caused it?
Now to me this all sound very suspicious, the car has been fine for months before this and now is out of action just a few days after this work.
Do you think this genuinely is just one of those things or does it sound like something the garage has done wrong and just don't want to accept responsibility for?
Any advice would be appreciated. Read more
Yes please check fluids every week. I skipped it for a month and luckily only covered 200 miles in that time but found the engine with hardly any oil (below bottom of dipstick) as pressure switch had leaked it all onto the road.
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Mike Farrow
I read in the Telegraph Motoring section a few Saturdays ago about a chap who had bought 'Magnetic Door Protectors' from an ad at the back of the Telegraph, anyone know who sells these ?
Thanks Read more
Just posted on the BBC website
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4393013.stm
Rover and the Chinese are getting further in bed with each other.
Hopefully it won't be too long before they produce some new cars worth buying. Read more
They are implying that Mr Bliar is only wanting to sweeten the Chinese so he has a better chance of winning the election.
Cynical? Shurely shome mishtake?
My daughter just called her 306 wont start, turns over but does not fire, engine management light is on. Yesterday it started and ran slowly and roughly, needed plenty of throttle to get moving. She restarted it and it was fine, until this morning. The RAC are on thee way to RELAY it home.
Any ideas of the horrors that await me? Read more
Hi every1
I have a problem on the girlfriends Polo, after two attemps it starts and then dies, third time it fires and I need to rev it to keet it going.
I have a feeling it maybe the Auto Choke, does anyone know how to adjust it or got any other suggestions that may help.
Cheers in advance
Wylie (as in Coyote) Read more
For almost a year now we have been experiencing an intermittent cold start problem on our N-reg Nissan QX (3.0-litre, European edition, 85,000 miles). The engine starts instantly, but immediately after that will not fast idle and dies. It has to be started and "caught" manually with the accelerator pedal which is difficult to do and usually pushes far too much petrol through the motor, usually flooding it. The problem is only evident when the car has been left over ten hours without running - if it is left for a shorter time it will start and cold idle perfectly.
Efforts by our dealer to cure the problem have involved resetting the cold start stepper motor (the problem goes away for a bit but always returns), stripping, cleaning, reassembling and testing stepper (ditto) and replacing the airflow meter (which showed repeated failure on the diagnostic log). The dealer was confident that the latter would solve the problem but it has returned only five days after the new part was fitted. Both the stepper motor and (brand new) flow meter now appear to be working correctly, and no further errors are showing up on the dealer's diagnostic system.
Is there anything else anyone could suggest that might be causing this problem? All this messing about has involved repeated dealer visits with overnight tests due to the long cooldown period that seems to be necessary to make the fault appear, not to mention shedloads of money (QX ancillary parts are not cheap!). The car is otherwise reliable and runs well but this fault is driving us crazy and the dealer now freely admits to being baffled.
Read more
Have you checked that the throttle body is clean? Is the waxstat working OK (this is easy to check)? The other thing to check would be the crank sensor output. If it runs OK once started then its nothing too serious.
I would try an independent rather than Nissan dealer.
As a Police Officer in the Worcestershire area thought I'd let you know what's happening in the Redditch/Kidderminster area. Those that wield power have cut the number of traffic/fast response cars to cover this massive rural area to.....two, both ARVs. This is on the basis that they can run four Corsas for the cost of one Omega/Vectra.
The place to be to commit car crime. Read more
There are a
lot of good Officers out there but the senior Management team
have a different agenda.
Amen Brother. It's the 'few' that by keeping the faith keep the whole system ticking over. Wherever you are, we are always limited by the bean counters, bureaucrats or politicians. The will is lacking and it's far easier to pass the proverbial buck.
But when (note not IF) things go wrong, guess whose holding the can? Right and where are the 'SMT'? Watching from afar seeing which side the axe will fall. Shame really, but this has to be one of the few (if only jobs) that seems to reward incompetance and encourages a lack of association amongst its fellows.
can you jump start a motorbike with a v reg vauxhall vectra, or is iur security guard oustside trying it in the rain a mong? Read more
Or you do what I saw done with a big bore
Kawasaki in our High Street.
'Scuse me mate. G'issa push
Yes, I tried that with my old Honda CX500 a few years ago. Amazing how 99% of the population have back problems and are unable to give you a push!
My speedometer needle seems to wobble slightly in between the range of 40 & 60 km/h. Beyong 60km/h everything seems ok, would it be due to dirt build up in the magnetic area or a faulty/bent cable.
Its a Daihatsu Cuore. 1.0L EFI. 2 year old.
59000km on the clock. Read more
Cannot say I have seen a frayed one. Outer cable has a nylon type inner casing.Which acts as lubricant.If broken down will cause a shuddering effect on cable to speedo.Its unlikely any lubricating will help.Replacement will be best bet.Unless you intend spending an hour or so dripping oil into inner cable.That may not actually make any difference.If it does its only a temp measure?
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Steve
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T-cut works a treat. One down 3 to go. Tried different things I had in the garage but nothing shifted that thick black soot or yellow stain except T-cut.