April 2005
After a break of almost four years I am once again doing frequent night time drives (I need the brass). My area is bounded roughly, Leeds, Kendal, Derby, Sheffield, Hull so plenty of fast roads and into the cities and back street engineering works, ie a good cross section. Hang on, I'm coming to the point; which is my subjective view is that there is a much bigger percentage of vehicle lights missing than there used to be. One headlamp cars (it usually is cars) and one or no rear light cars crop up rather too frequently for my liking. The lack of road traffic police is probably a contributary factor, not to mention the difficulty in replacing bulbs in some modern cars, mine included. My ancient Volvo940 had a gadget that illuminated a warning light if one of any pair of bulbs failed; very useful. Anyway do you think I am imagining this phenomena or am I still in the real world? Read more
Having replaced the wipers on my Zafira, they now will not wipe properly, they leave a smear on the up stroke, and isn't much better on the down stroke.The originals were perfect, and if i hadn't binned them i'd be putting them back on. I have cleaned the windscreen, the wipers till i'm blue in the face, but to no avail.What can the problem be, is the wiper not pressing down hard enough, how can i get them to work better please.It doesn't seem to matter if it's belting down or just misty the result is the same.
I did read somewhere about twisting the wiper blade some how, but can't for the life of me remember anymore than that.
Please help it's driving me NUTS......
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You paid list price, you should ask for the cheap price. They all will around here, and stick it on a taxi firm's cash account.
Come on guys, we know you have to fund the site from ads, but the Nissan pop up is just too annoying. Every page change its there requiring the user to close it every time. This is one forum member who wont be back until its gone see ya
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\" Keep doing the same old thing, youll get the same old thing, try something different today!\" Read more
Please read the paragragh towards the end of the following post which starts "Discussion on the pop-ups themselves...."
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=30724
DD.
I have a 80 Avant 1995 (180,000 miles)and none of my paperwork for the car gives the load weights, i.e. maximum permissable. Never needed until now. Tried Web, but could only get info if buy book. Anyone help, most grateful
Xylophone Read more
Aha! one I can answer.
from 1992 instruction manual
66Kw petrol permissible front axle in kg 940 rear 1030
85 kw petrol kg 1000 rear 1030
98 kw kg 1000 rear 1030
98 kw quattro kg 1000 rear 1110
110kw kg 1050 rear 1030
110kw quattro kg 1050 rear 1110
66kw diesel kg 990 rear 1030
Hope that helps anything else, email direct : my emails in the profile
Tim{P}
Use
www.confused.com
Today my insurers have reduced my renewal premium (covering two cars) by 45% after being presented with the results of my using that site to produce a list of competitive quotations. Read more
Gotta agree it's an excellent site, but I managed to get a cheaper quote for my kid sister from Tesco than from confused - takes away a lot of the slog but there's still even better deals to be had with a bit of searching yourself!
-- Lee Having a Fabialous time.
Can anyone tell me if these figures are about right, please?
1999 Xantia 2ltr Exclusive( non climate control)
Outside air temperature 21 degrees C (vehicle sensor)
Air vent (interior) temperature 7,5 degrees C (accurate thermometer)
Engine speed 2250/2500 rpm (tacho reading)
Road speed 50/55 mph (car speedo)
Interior fan speed low.
Air vent set to fresh, non recycling.
Bright sunny day.
Is the temperature drop of approx. 14 degrees C an indication that the air con is ok? Read more
Temperature change from ambient isn't a reliable method, though it does look like yours is ok.
A better check is have the car at standstill, engine at 2000rpm, max blower, then measure the vent temp at face vents. It should still get down to 6/7 degrees within a reasonable time (less than a couple of minutes) assuming the ambient is above 20degC. This way, the system is running at full load.
Om my 1 year old metallic black civic sport bonnet I have all white small marks like paint stains and can not remove them with Mer,Autoglym or superguard.
Has any one any suggestions as to how and what to try to remove these,without damaging the painwork totally.
Thanks/Steve Read more
I don't think much of the paint on the Civic. As I said it seems thin and chips very easily, allthough the shape of the bonnet dosn't help.
The white specs on myne are chips so no polish will get them out!
Hi all,
This is a bit of a techincal/legal matter so any help would be appreciated.
My friend recently sold a used audi car. When my friend bought the car, he bought it as a Quattro model (ie 4 wheel drive) and he had no reason to doubt this. Now that he has sold it the new buyer has discovered that the car is a non quattro.
The new buyer has threatened to take him to the small claims court and get his money back. My friend his really upset by all this as he is not mechanically minded and he sold the car aS a Quattro and did not know any better!
He wants to know what is likely to happen as the matter has gone to the small claims court and what he should do..how should he deal with the matter.
Any help would be appreciated.
Cheers to All
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My proxy is down so I cant download munchausen's or anything else!
Hi All
I have a 1998 Mondeo TD, When air con is switched on the car runs like a pig (i know air con saps some power but this seems a bit extreme). If i remove the air con belt and switch on there is still a drain on engine maybee ecu should tell the injector pump to run differently when air con is on, but in this case going wrong somewhere! any ideas?
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Assuming the compressor isn't about to seize, and the system has the correct charge, it may be you're just experiencing the normal load of the compressor coming on and off. These things can take up to 8/10hp, and can have quite an effect on the driveability.
I had V6 mondeo, and I got a fair jolt when it cycled on and off at 70mph.
Hi there.
I currently have a W reg petrol Vectra and do 23k private miles per year, mainly on Mways. The car currently has 61k on the clock, so within the next 2 years or so, it will be at the 100k mark and perhaps ready for a replacement. If it goes on longer - great. However, if it starts to creak under the strain, I'd welcome some ideas about the replacement.
Option 1.
Get a similar kind of car, but diesel. No thrills, nearly new around the £7k - £8k kind of territory. Perhaps another Vectra or Mondeo with 20k miles on the clock. Basically, a reliable motor to do the 84 mile commute, with a 12 month dealer warranty.
Option 2.
Go for a more presteige brand, again, diesel. I'd love a BMW. Spend more, get a better car. Keep for longer, as would last longer being better built (that's an argument not a statement!)Residue value would be higher due to marque of car, so could pursue 1 if felt taken wrong decision.
Option 3.
Go for small fun petrol coupe (MR2, Mazda) and when wife's S Reg Fiesta is due to for a replacement, get an MPV style of vehicle to cater for family days out.
I think I am between option 1 and 2 at the moment. Car needs to be able to accommodate 2 adults and 2 children (until option 3 is a reality).
What would you do?
Cheers.
TT
Top Turkey - the fastest hands in Brum Read more
I think that is where I currently am.
However, when I see 3 series and 5 series BMs going
for £9k - £12+ on ebay with 130k miles on the
clock, I wonder to myself if that kind of mileage is
problem. Surely people would not be paying that kind of cash
for a car with only a very short shelf life left?
Perhaps I need to re-evaluate what 'high miles' is?
Cheers.
TT
--
Top Turkey - the fastest hands in Brum
>>
I would only buy a high-miles car if I were going to do relatively low miles in it myself.
If you are covering 20-30k miles a year then you don't want to start out from, say, 130k and no manufacturers warranty.
A BMW engine will not last any longer these days than a Ford or GM engine block - they are all well designed and capable of, probably, 200k (assuming regular servicing and a little luck!). From the cars I see it tends to be ancilliaries that give trouble - i.e. alternators, starters, water pumps, ABS system etc etc.
People pay high prices for relatively new, but high mileage, BMW's because they want a 'prestige' car on the drive and know that there neighbours can't see the odometer!
From a practical perspective, in your sitaution, I would go for a newish car (still under 3-year warranty), relatively low mileage with a good repuation for reliability (that means Japanese, or Ford - which is improving by the year).
Browse
The XJS is renown for the "quality" of its electrics.! I seem to recall all the connections are the "bullet" type. If thats your only electrical problem then count your lucky stars!