April 2005
Short of buying a haynes manual, anyone know how to remove the rear bumper from a Mondeo Estate. I,ve dropped a bag of plaster on mine and cracked the top face. I want to get it off to get it GRP patched underneath to stop the crack extending. Read more
Looking for a new car. Have yet to drive any of these but really liked the old focus. The new one is nice, but so is the golf. However, for the money of a golf I could get an A3. Any thoughts? Would be looking at 1.6 - 2.0 petrols. Read more
I have now had three golfs. My first golf was a high mileage and never had any problems with it but as I have upgraded to new newer versions of golf the build quilty, reliablity and servicing has steadily went down hill. At present I have a 2001 Golf 40000 miles had since new. It has had problems with power,diesel light coming on when driving, gears are crunchy, water getting into the air filter and abs coming on at 10 mph it took them 3 weeks to find the problem. My last service resulted in me having to go back as they had ran out of oil.
I for one would not buy a golf again. I am presently looking at the ford mondeo.
Is it technically feasible to convert *the same* engine from diesel to petrol or vice versa?
ie. with the major components still in situ? The same engine block, pistons, con rods etc. albeit extensive mods to fuel system.
Before you laugh yourselfs silly this is a serious question, Now i know it's not practical and costs would be prohibitive but is it possible?
Reason i ask is i was moaning to SWMBO about cost of petrol lately and she said why can't you convert it to diesel? (D'OH!!)
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Here's a tidbit to nibble on.
'kits' were available during the war (ww2) to lower the CR of an engine. this enabled cars to run on the awful fuel available at the time. I believe it was called pool petrol, and was about 67 octane. the kit consisted of a machined plate that you put betweenthe head and block, something very easy to do with a side valve motor. this would help going diesel to petrol, and I suppose you could get away with it on the valves. (cambelt would have enough slack for the few millimetres it would take, but it would throw the valve timing out a bit. You could probably adjust an OHV motor ok, if not then its a simple job machining a longer set of pushrods.
Going petrol to diesel presents another problem. Short of skimming the head or block or both, I think the only other options are higher compression pistons or a new crank with a larger 'throw'.
something else:old 2 1/4 land rover petrol/diesel engines are basically the same engine. but the crank was either cast or forged, depending on petrol or diesel. just to make it interesting, not only were they physically interchangeable, they both had the same part number! so ordering a crank for a diesel could be a lottery, with a good chance of hitting the jackpot!
WTM
Drove a round trip of 300 miles today to look at an ancient but low mileage Rav-4 for my wife. Got there to find a heap of glass and a stove in rear door! We'd forgotten to switch the mobile on! Seems they'd tried to tell us the sad news which happened just after we departed. Car was crap anyway. Never believe a seller.
My wife was so upset (more that I was trying to palm her off with a crappy car, I suspect), and I was so pink fluffy diced off with journeying around the country looking at rubbish, that I took her straight to the local Toyota dealer, slapped down the 5000 quid I had in my pocket, and bought her an overpriced nearly new one. She went home smiling. Now I'm wondering how to pay for it! In my youth ladies had large bicycles with a straw thing for the groceries - biggest expense was broken chain. Read more
Now if I suggest that you shouldn't buy a car that has pink fluffy dice hanging from the mirror, what will DD alter that to?
Folks,
I put my digital multimeter across both batteries (the Monterey has two) in turn today and read the following:
@2750 - 16.89 and 17.46
@2000 - 14.90 and 15.80
Do these seem high? What will I "cook" first if they are?
Are there any other checks I should carry out, or is it time to call my auto electrician?
rg
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SHMBO has reversed our car into a work colleages Ford Mondeo back bumper causing a small puncture.
If it cannot be repaired by plastic welding its a new bumper which is coming in at around £500 all in.
At that price its becoming an insurance job with all the extra costs.
Whilst browsing the internet I found a company doing a good range of pattern and OE body parts at a fraction of the cost and bringing the job into the 'hand in pocket' price (reluctantly!)
There were two ranges described as 'Standard Alternative' and 'Standard Thatcham' which was a bit more expensive.
How good are these pattern parts? Has anyone any experience of finish and fit in respect of plastic mouldings? Naturally I want the cheapest option but it is only fair that the job is done properly.
Fullchat Read more
Bumper??Wonder if there is something under the trades descriptions? Didnt take much of a bump to bust it! The pattern parts were less than £100.Certainly my experience of pattern panels is that they have needed a bit of coaxing to make them fit.
Fullchat
Hi all
Let's say you place a deposit on a car (over the phone with local main dealer) with a 6-month waiting list to your own specification. Is the deposit still refundable under the distant selling regulation should you decide that you do not want the car because of a change in circumstances? this is assuming that the dealer would have no problem selling the car to someone else on the waiting list.
many thanks. Read more
Hmmm,
www.hmso.gov.uk/si/si2000/20002334.htm
Exceptions to the right to cancel
13. - (1) Unless the parties have agreed otherwise, the consumer will not have the right to cancel the contract by giving notice of cancellation pursuant to regulation 10 in respect of contracts -
(a) for the supply of services if the supplier has complied with regulation 8(3) and performance of the contract has begun with the consumer's agreement before the end of the cancellation period applicable under regulation 12;
(c) for the supply of goods made to the consumer's specifications or clearly personalised or which by reason of their nature cannot be returned or are liable to deteriorate or expire rapidly;
Can anyone help please. I took the battery off to recharge locked the doors. Now i can't get the doors open. i have gained entry through the boot but there seems to be some sort of deadlock on them. The bonnet release seems to be connected somehow and that won't open either. I'm sitting here pulling my hair and that's pretty hard as I'm bald. Read more
Your a diamond. The bulb holder in the boot idea worked. Now I can relax. Many thanx
My driver's door window stuck open earlier today. I've closed it using the ignition key. The internal switch for the doorlocks doesn't work either. So I can't open the windows, or operate the locks without the key. I gather there's a special fuse for this somewhere. Can anyone tell me where it is? Read more
I can operate the three passenger windows from each of their three switches, but not from the driver's door. The driver's door children's window lock doesn't work either.
My '96 Pug 106 1.5 Diesel is suffering from a form of 'vibration' at idle speed. It's most apparant when sitting in the car, and it feels like the engine is rocking from radiator to bulkhead. I first niticed this about 4 months ago but it quickly went away (driven 5,000 miles since then), this time I've not been so lucky.
When revved above normal idle speed the 'rocking' goes away, the car hasn't consumed any oil in 5K miles and doesn't smoke on start up or acceleration. The car accelerates smoothly, and there is no vibration on the move, I can't hear hear any unusual noises at idle or when driving. I can't see anything that's loose, and the engine mounts look OK - I'm very grateful for any ideas as to the cause. Read more
Firstly inpect all engine/gearbox mounts for aging/splitting. Check for minor air leaks around the manifolds and clean all the emission control pipework. Then run some good quality Millers or Forte Diesel fuel system cleaner through it foa 1000 miles and see how it goes then.
Browse
Sorry, 1997 P reg facelifted Mk1, could i do this on stands, i have access to a 4 post lift but i would have to do it during work time.