April 2005
can you buy a new car with a manual choke still? Read more
The end of my exhaust looks a bit dirty (I'm refering to the car and not me!!!)
I'm looking on ebay and was thinking of getting one of those chrome tailpipe covers.
Have anyone bought one of those?
Could anyone recommend a place where I should get it?
Can they do any damage to the exhaust?
Does the chrome get dirty and peel off?
Cheers Read more
I had great difficulty finding the chrome tips of the right size for my Capri 2.8i. But find them I did, at an amazing emporium, Millfield Autos in Peterborough (courtesy of a kind individual in this forum), which had a very comprehensive range of sizes. Having now changed the exhaust system to stainless steel, I have several spare sets, but I bet 42mm is too small for your purposes (I also have a pair of 45mm).
As for fitting, the inner diameter was actually 0.5mm smaller than the outer diameter of the tailpipes, but they went on after wire-brushing the grunge off and forcing them on with some firm hits with a club hammer, protecting the metal with a sturdy block of wood. That pair got dumped with the old exhaust, and I doubt they would have come off anyway. I'd suggest you aim for that sort of tight fit if you can. Millfield can tell you what the correct size is for your car.
Is there a definitive list of British built cars anywhere?.
I presently have a Rover but obviously I won't be able to have another. Read more
What Ford group cars dose the K series engine power? I know the petrol Freelander's but that going to be replaced next year with Freelander2.
James.
Thinking of re-applying the Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection to my car. This will be the first re-application and I am not too sure how to do it.
Do I
Wash, Dry, Apply?
or
Wash, Dry, Polish, then Apply?
If I need to polish the car before re-application, can anyone suggest a good polish. In recent years I have used the Super Resin Polish but some people here have suggested it has a slight cutting action and the paintwork on my car is pretty good so certainly dont want to apply any "cutting" products. Have used Mer in the past but not with this car.
If its any help the car is black.
Thanks Read more
Can anyone confirm the differences between EGP and a good wax product (Meguires etc)? Have used Megs 3 stage products recently and the results are excellent. The final wax coat can be topped up as often as necessary after washing.
Steve
Morning all,
Something weird just happened, got to work this morning been in about 20mins when mate rang and said my brake lights were on!!!
When I went and looked sure enough the proper brake lights were on, even the high level one, I unlocked the car and they went off?????
Is this some sort of parking light thing I dont know about?
Or is it that I can't seem to buy a car without faulty wiring???
Read more
Hi all,
Just thought id let you know they seem to have found the problem with the mini, I rang the garage as soon as they opened who told me to wait 3 weeks before they could look at it. "er no, I dont think so" I called mini emergency out as directed by the garage, man arrives, car behaves perfectly. Theres a suprise!
Call back the garage tell them im not going to drive around with intermitant brake lights and that id be bringing the car in the same afternoon, this person who I spoke to agreed although they couldnt provide me with a car for the weekend, the woman told me i'd have to call emergency again and they would sort it out! Pay all this money for a car and have to sort out my own car, if they made them properly in the first place none of this would have happened!! GGGRRR
Anyway garage call me the same afternoon 2 hrs after car went in and Ive been told its the ECU and a new one is needed, its going to be Tuesday before the part even arrives, at the moment im stuck with an Astra, brand new, 1.4 SLOW!!! like really really slow, its a be of a shock when you are used to being able to overtake, not a chance in this!!
All in all my BMW mini experiance so far is rated at 7/10 the first few people are spoke to couldnt seem to care less, the men in the Garage when i arrived where great however!
oooh one other thing I noticed was v cool, when i got there before asking anything else he asked for my key, he stuck in in this gadget on his desk and could tell the history of the car!! down to the miles id driven and everything!! Pretty Flash!
Here's one for my other car. Renault Laguna 1.6RT 1998 facelift model. Turn the steering full lock to the left, slight noise like broken spring, centre wheel and the car keeps pulling violently to the left. Turn the steering full lock to the right, slight noise like broken spring, centre wheel and keeps pulling violently to the right. Mental! I can't see anything wrong with it other than a split cv boot. I can't imagine that would even affect the steering geometry at all let alone enough to cause the type of pulling that I am encountering. Anybody had anything like this before? I was sure it was a broken spring/s but I can't see it. Read more
Hi, I have the same problem with my Laguna. I had problem with my front left wheel bearing and after replacing it. I have same problem as you have mentioned with full lock steering. I just want to ask you did you find the solution. If yes what was the problem.
Thanks...
Hi,
Im 20 and currently have a Mini Cooper S and I am in the process of changing jobs, and as a consiquence get a company car. I work in the car trade so will get a Golf 2.0GT 140 as my company car so there is no point in keeping the Cooper S.
Now realisticly, im going to get about £14k for the Mini and I was originally going to put the money into the bank. However, I have had some time off this week and the thought of buying a weekend car for some fun has crossed my mind.
Now, looking on Autotrader I can get an Elise from £9k upwards which seems very reasonable. Obviously, I can see these being a bit tatty at this price, However, I could get the '111' for about £12k for a nice example, and I doubt I would lose much money on the car over 1-2 years. Would you agree?
Also, running costs dont seem bad - it comes out at £700 cheaper to insure than the Cooper S for the basic Elise or £500 for the '111'. Servicing doesnt seem too steep either.
Would you say this is a viable option or am I living in la la land and stick the money in the bank?
Also, any other options would be good - I was tempted by a westfield or something but they seem impossible to get insurance quotes for online. Budget is anything upto £15k - but want something which will hold its value, and is reasonable to run.
Cheers
Read more
Hi guys,
again thanks for the comments :-)
I think I will just save some money up and then take it from there! Not going to rush into anything.
Blueoval - great to hear from you!
Sorry to hear it didnt work out at Ford. Sometimes you just get a feeling though that a career path isnt for you. I hope Uni goes well - what are you going to study?
Those SportKa's are really good - my sister just brought one. She went for a luxury with leather in it and the car is in a nice light blue colour like the racing puma/focus. Looks good! Im sorry, if I have been given a fusion I would have refused it and brought a car - not a good vehicle! - thats what i did with the mini - refused a company car, and brought one.
Basically, I decided to get out of Honda. The people I directly worked for were really great but they changed my pay structure and accounts have messed me around.
Cant wait to start VW though - my old boss from honda is going there too and also another sales exec so should be fun. Im looking forward to a fresh challenge.
We will have to talk on MSN shortly - i also added u to my yahoo account.
One thing they don't tell you about the Honda Jazz is that the 25k service menu price is well over £300.
There's also that annoying tendancy for manufacturers not to protect the radiator so if a stone enters via a large slot in the bumper...you could be in for a wait for a tow plus a non-warrantied bill for £200+
this could be really inconvenient if a it leaves you stranded next to the M25 at South Mimms when your missus is 8mths pregnant...
Next will be the A/C condensor right next to the radiator...
whinge whinge.. moan moan... you'd think the car was a lemon (but it is actually still rather good!!!!) Read more
And the 407.You could get a basket ball through that one.
Just noticed something odd this week on our Jazz - when the car is started, or even at the lights after a decent run, when stopped & in neutral the revs rise to ~1500 for about 10s then drop back to ~1000. I'm sure the idle used to be lower than this (or am I just being paranoid...)
Read more
My New Zealand 2003 Jazz manual, with a 1.3 i-DSI engine started doing exactly this at 65,000km. The dealer spent 5 visits and 17,000km to fix it.
They tried:
Cleaning the idle stepper motor
Replacing the idle stepper motor
Replacing the ECU and entire intake system with a set from a working car.
Nothing worked.
But, I had also complained that the car had been "dieseling" and pumping out white smoke if I drove really fast along twisty roads.
This let them diagnose the problem as a failed Positive Crankcase Ventilation valve (PCV valve). This was allowing oil to slosh into the intake, as well as allowing extra air into the intake, thus raising the idle.
Honda had no record of this happening before, but ordered and fitted the NZ$20 plastic one-way valve.
Result - total fix!
I suggest that the PCV valve on your Jazz has failed too.
Regards,
Adrian
Wellington
New Zealand
Just spent a few days in Spain, much of it being driven in roomy 20 year old Peugeot 206 (still going strong), and one thing that struck me was the fabulous all round vision - thanks to deep windows. Today's designs involve ever higher "waistlines" and, particularly for young passengers, less chance to see out. I particularly resent (as a driver) high rear screen sills, e.g. Seat Leon, which make reversing more hazardous. Which other cars suffer in this way?
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Alas sorry no, not quite so yummy. Still tasty tho.
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Daihatsu used to have a manual choke knob which could be pulled out and used as a handbag hanger. At the other end though, it was an auto choke. Good idea at the time, pull the choke out for full auto operation and push it in and out for manual operation.