April 2005
Some might remember that I posted a year or so ago about oil leaks from my wife's Yaris: both oil seals failed (in succession) and were replaced under warranty. Now another has let go. Other than some flaw in the seal itself, which seems unlikely given Toyotas reputation, is there anything which might cause repeat failures? I'm wondering about the machining of the shaft seal housing, or its dimensions, however, I'm in the dark on this. Perhaps someone could suggest some questions for the garage (and Toyota!) to get them to pursue the cause rather than just deal with the symptoms? Read more
Friend has Bora trouble again. Driving along the other day and engine management warning light comes on. Next thing a red notice saying STOP DRIVING. No indication of what it is. Being a good person she stops driving, phones the local VW agent who says "If it tells you to stop driving you should stop driving". Breakdown service comes out and tows the thing into the VW garage who keep it overnight. Next morning they phone up saying if was the rear lights that failed.
It cost £80 to fix mind you. Is this a scam to get cars into the workshop? Who are VW to tell you to stop driving without telling you why when it is something that isn't likely to damage the car?
Talk about nanny state - we have nanny cars now.
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Never had these problems with my ZT!!!!!!!!
Just a question realy, my mates selling a bmw 525 i sport on a 1991 h plate, im told it has a "m technic sports package" does anyone know what this includes?
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Thanks for that,it has all of the above and low milage as well,a very nice car
Just received the fleet company'e travel in europe pack and it includes an AA Fleet Europe Driver's Guide. It includes the comment that you should "never use a warning triangle on UK motorways"!
I have always worked on the basis that the bang as the snoozing driver hits the triange might wake him up but is use of a warning triangle illegal on the motorway now? Read more
Apart for the original purpose of warning of a broken-down vehicle they get used in the french countryside quite a lot for warning of grass verge mowing or hedge or tree cutting next to the road around the next blind bend etc, and are very effective - it's about the only thing that slows french drivers down and switches their hazard perception on.
A friend is wanting to buy a '79 Transit based Camper Van with the 1993cc petrol engine.
She is told by the present owner it is safe to run on unleaded petrol as it is, but would like a more reliable answer from an independant source.
Anyone out there got info?
Thanks
Simon Read more
How is the fuel consumption on this motor, ..
could one do a petrol to diesel convertion on the same engine and what would be the cost. What would you need, '85 model
Hi
I was wondering if you could help me, a search engine pointed me towards your post from last year about the rear suspension on your Fiat Punto and the bump stop falling off, the same thing has happened to mine, the cone that holds it has rusted so much the stop has fallen into the spring. Were you able to buy these parts separately and do you know if the cone that holds it can be bought separately
Any help would be greatly appreciated, been ripped off a couple of times so any prior knowledge before I take it to a garage would be really helpful
Thanks in advance
Amy B
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Thanks, will show this to my friend who actually knows about cars, glad its not part of the MOT cause mine is due in a couple of weeeks
Having probs with the indicators on my Punto (1998)
On right turns sometimes fails to blink (externally and internally),sometimes blinks but very slowly.
I am guessing from a search it may be the relay switch or an earth wire problem.
As I can remedy the former,can someone tell me are relay switches available from Halfords or do I need to find a fiat dealer for this specific part?
Cheers Read more
Suggest removing rear light cluster, cleaning all contacts (a dash of WD-40 also helps) and bulb stems and then re-fitting. Worked on our '96 Punto.
I had a frustrating experience with a car dealer yesterday who seemed to think price negotiation is a dirty word. I'm after a Daihatsu Charade, which is cheap to begin with, but every sticker price has room to negotiate. Not with my local dealer, though. When faced with a brick wall, I decided he wasn?t interested in selling me a car, so I left. I know this must be a common experience, but I just could not make any headway. Is there anything else I could have done? My wife really loved this little car, so I will be buying one from some dealer. Shame it couldn?t have been a local businessman. Read more
One idea (this is all a game, after all) get her to call the salesman and say she really wants the car blah, blah and can they work a deal out that she can 'sell' to you :-)
Been there.
Done that.
...Worked :-))
Earlier Thursday on the A34 heading north from Newbury I saw a Winnebago type motorhome towing a small car behind it. (Obviously to use as alternate transport when the bago is parked up on the camp site). Can't remember what the car was, but it got me thinking. All four wheels were on the ground and I was wondering if it had a digital odometer, would it still clock up the mileage if the electrics were turned off?
If so, then surely when it comes to selling said car, although the running gear will have covered the accumulated mileage, the engine wouldn't have.
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Many years ago (1978) I had to move 600 miles for work, and had a Mark IX Jaguar and an Austin A30. I made an A-frame for the A30 and bolted it to the bumper mountings. This connected to the Jaguar's towbar. I travelled the distance with no trouble, including a half-way trip on a car ferry. The A30 just followed along, self-steering. I bet it was the only time an A30 did 80mph.
My 3 yr old galaxy TDI auto has v.quickly lost all drive ability. The problem started with the engine changing down gear as soon as any torque was required and the engine was revving without any transmission.Finally the car just stopped moving. There was no unusual sound from the gearbox.
The local ford dealer has checked the auto oil level and says it is OK and believes it in an internal problem with the gearbox which requires specialist knowledge by an auto gearbox repairer.
Is there a simple solution or is this going to be an expensive job?
Any help greatfully received. Read more
Browse
The dealer has pronounced: the seals have both gone again. We asked what was the cause: the service manager said one seal was "deformed" and the other leaked slightly, but didn't know what was actually causing this, other than the possibility that the seals were damaged by the splines of the drive shaft as they were being inserted through the new seal. The replacement was about a year ago, with no evidence of oil loss until this month. Now, given that this is a rare event (supposedly) and that we have had two sets of seals replaced in 20,000 miles, we thought they might get in touch with Toyota for some advice. However, the line currently taken is that they have input the facts of warranty replacement to the system, and that Toyota might ask for more details. They would not ask Toyota for advice themselves. "Bring it back in 6 months and we'll look at the seals again"
Any thoughts on the next step, or should we not be concerned?