April 2005
Hi all
Have enjoyed reading the site for a while but never posted before.
Need to replace my Golf GTi with an estate or low backed 4x4. The most important considerations are
1. Easy access for my beloved large hound - jumping over the lip into a hatchback is not good for him (bad hips)
2. Leather seats to minimise the dog hair problem.
3. Im a photographer and trying to sell an image of innovation, quality and fun.
4. Im in my 30s and I DON?T WANT TO BE SENSIBLE YET!
Golf Estate doesnt work because its still the old shape.
Thought about 206 SW ? but couldnt see leather option online. Did it get slated in the JD Power 2005?
Dream option would be the Alfa 157 Sexwagon! Had GTV 2000 years ago and loved it. But its a bit expensive new, second-hand models have bound to have been thrashed and have heard resale value is pants.
Please help think of a creative way of combining the requirements with a budget of only £14K. Hubby would be happy to buy anything to make me happy but Im a being a little tight Scot on this one ? also he will not let me drive anything over three years old. So ideally buy 6 months to year old and keep till three.
Thanks
Read more
Borrowing from a thread in Discussion:
"BTW, the heated rear window on the domestic boss's vauxhall shuts off after @ 15 minutes."
What a sensible thing to do. I suspect that 99% of drivers don't realize that the heated rear window is probably the biggest electrical power drain in the car. All the handbooks I have make this clear and instruct the driver to minimize its use, but how many read the handbook?
What other basics do you think most people are unaware of? Read more
>>Wouldn't it be great if there were 15 minute cut-outs on front fog lights??!!
You missed the rears?
--
Steve
My panel has a lot of failed leds. Showing 83,000.
Obtained a used and supposedly functional one with 53,000.
Took 'new' one and asked BMW to fit it and adjust the mileage to mine. They were willing but said the best they could do would result in my odometer showing 83K+53K = 136K!
Quarry BMW who sold me it said the mileage could be adjusted to match mine. BMW say it can't.
Assuming BMW matched the 'new' one to my car and I installed it. What would be the mileage result of putting the old one back if I decided to sell the car. Would the mileage I'd accumulated show correctly on the old one? BMW didn't know the answer to this. Read more
I decided to ignore the reams of expert advice I've been getting on this. So I took out the 'old' one, swapped the ECU's and lo, correct mileage, correct everything - matched to the car. Obviously in this model the mileage info is kept in the ECU.
Space in the Backroom for looking at some nice ones here:
Rover BRM - www.rover.org.nz/images/rovbrm.jpg
Rover P5 Coupe- www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/carros/classicos/rover-p5...g
Rover P6 - www.mgcars.org.uk/mgccz/nile_trial/Bild15.jpg
MG TC - www.vieux-volants.com/Les%20voitures/mg%20tc%20194...G
Austin Clifton Heavy 12/4 for anyone who read Gumdrop as a child - www.austintendriversclub.com/images/riverside/gumd...G
Triumph 2000 - www.austin-rover.co.uk/images/tri2000_09.jpg
Mini Cooper - ernstgallery.com/art_pix/wg/ii/italianjob3.jpg Read more
quote "I ran a 1965 Rover P6 2000SC for a couple of years in the late 70's, when it was 14+ years old. Obviosly it was past its best but I was impressed by its quality, style and clever design. My car was built before the original Rover company was taken over. I think quality deteriorated in the BMC/BLMC era. "
In ran two of them in the 70's and found them comfortable to drive, reliable and far ahead of it's time. Tin worm regretably took it's toll. (The MOT man got wise to the oil can inner wings and sills)
Whilst driving this evening I found that the windscreen washer jets on SWMBOs 330 had packed up. Initially I thought perhaps there was no water in the reservoir and the failure of the light to warn me on the dashboard was down to a faulty connection/failed sensor. No problem I thought as I popped the bonnet and saw that there was plenty of water of water in the reservoir. Upon closer scrutiny I find that the headlamp washers appear to work fine and listening intently, the 'washer motor' appears to whirl into life.
Yet still no water through the washer jets on the windscreen. I have checked the connectors on the bottle and given the pipe work a look and I can't see anything amiss. No obvious problems, pinching or split pipes visible. There are no puddles of water accumulating from what I can see either.
If I 'pump' the wahser jet stalk then they 'squirt' water onto the wqindscreen, but if I pull and hold they splutter only.
The other annoying factor is that when I started the journey, they worked fine. I aprked the car for about an hour, came back to it, the problems started. I know the washer jets are clear and no-one has tampered with the car.
Any ideas from my learned colleagues please?
Many thanks... Read more
After speaking with a knowledgeable person @ BMW parts it transpires that the offending element turned out to be a small filter/washer unit (costing 75 pence inc. VAT) onto which the washer pump is attached. This filter became blocked and was restricting the flow of water around the system.
I replaced it and voila! Pressure is restored and the system is working fine. I hope this solution will be of use to fellow Backroomers in the future!
I'm having the engine in my Volvo rebored due to piston slap when cold, and am fitting new big ends, and crank mains too. Standard sizes all, because I detected virtually no wear in the bearings, although obviously I'm going with new +0.37mm oversize pistons (+0.015")
Any tips on break in? Go gently? Drive it hard? Which type of oil, synth? Mobil 1, or plain mineral oil. I got some 'Comma Running In Oil' but this has no markings as regards viscosity or other specifications, so am a bit nervous about using it. I was planning to just do the initial start-up/cool down + maybe the first drive around the block with the running in oil and then drain and refill with Magnatec semi-synth and leave for 12,000 before switching to Mobil 1.
BTW: The machine shop seemed a bit sniffy about boring to the clearance recommended in the factory manual (0.01mm-0.03mm, or 0.0004"-0.001" I convinced them to hone to 0.02mm clearance, and the guy was like, well, I think that's tight but we'll do whatever you want. Read more
Thanks, NC, I've got Comma 'Running in Oil' I just wish it had some sort of spec on the bottle, it doesn't even give you a viscosity.
When changing the cam belt on my AR146 ti (2litre twinspark engine, 100,000 miles) I noticed the cam bearing caps were showing signs of cracking....So, I bought a second hand head which has less than 70,000 miles on it and the same bearing caps were cracked in similar ways. I'd not heard of this happening before, so have I just been unlucky twice, do people not notice the cracks, or are they not a problem (I hope). Do cracks ever appear on other manufacturers' aluminium cam bearing caps?
Johne Read more
Hi,
I hope someone can help me as Im going to replace my Glow Plugs on my old Vauxhall Astra Diesel with the Isuzu engine and while looking around Ive been told conflicting info on who supplies Vauxhall with their OE glow Plugs, Either NGK or ADL Blueprint(from Japan). Does anyone have an idea?
Also these NGK plugs cost £35 each!! Does anyone know a cheaper supplier?
thanks
Kev Read more
clouddz,I had a problem not unlike this not too long ago and tried a lot of things but in the end it was the copper wiring which was "tired"it showed to be passing current with the meter on it but under full load conditions it just would not put enough power through,after replacing the wiring with the same grade the problem went away.the wiring and connections were brittle as if it had a lot of heat at some time and more visible with the insulation stripped off,sheer desparation as a last resort but it cured the problem.perhaps you could borrow a clamp on meter and measure the current to the glowplugs.
Had the car 5 weeks.Registered 03/04.12K miles.Twice in the last 10 days I have started the car (turning iginition with left foot on the clutch only-not touching accelerator).The car starts,but the idle fluctuates between 800 and 300 (approx) revs.Only when the accelerator is pressed does it clear,and return to its usual idle of 800 rpm.Car runs fine.No other probs.Any ideas? Read more
Assuming you bought it from a garage, take it back and ask them to investigate.
It could be something simple, such as needing a software upgrade on the ecu, or a sticking idle speed control valve.
JC is presenting the first edition of the new series of 'Have I got News for you' on BBC1 at 9:30 tonight.
I hope you both enjoy it. Read more
even I thought that the Rover jokes were offensive to the
6000 people who have lost their livlihood. Yes, we can
joke about auntie Rover.....at the right time.
HIGNFY is recorded on Thursday, the announcement from Rover wasn't made until Friday. Had it been the other way around, then *maybe* they wouldn't have cracked the odd joke or two. But then again HIGNFY has never been backward at coming forward with it's controversial comments.
Browse
excellent !