June 2005
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have had a 1999 Vhall Astra 1.8 CDX for about ten months and i am getting a musty smell from my Air Con. If I switch between the two I get the smell for a bit but it clears in five or ten minutes.
I have thought it may be the pollen filter.
Would be grateful if anyone could provide advice.
Paul
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Hi, when I get my next car, I'd like to have it inspected. I wonder if anyone has any advice on this? My real concern is losing the deposit on the car if something "big" turns up or the dealer won't repair something that is flagged up.
Do you think they would refund the deposit on the car?
It would be from a main dealer on a car less then 2 years old. Would like to hear from anyone who has used RAC or AA for inspection, I'm not a member of either.
Thanks Read more
I used the highest level which includes a road test. You do learn a lot about the cars, so don't let little things worry you. They also give you a valuation.
I am fairly certain the air-con in my seven year old Mondeo has never been repaired/regassed at all since new, yet it still seems to working fairly effectively if not 100%.
I rarely use it winter except to speed up screen de-misting, so it is not as if I have it running regularly outside of the June-August decent weather period....anyone have an older car than mine with air-con that has not needed any work?
(Of course I realise it will not work tomorrow having said the above!) Read more
My parents traded in a 10-year old Volvo 850 estate last year; the aircon was retro-fitted to it when they bought it at 1 year old and they never had any work done to the A/C system. It still appeared to be working fine when the car was traded in.
Not sure if it's anything to be concerned about. When I change gears, mostly from 3rd to 4th, the gear change is really difficult, not smoothe as it normally is. I was wondering if it's something to do with the hot weather, as this is when it happens, it is normally ok when cold. Read more
Anyone know what to use - I have tried a variety of similar products - both aerosol and paste/cream based - but they all seem to make the trim look grey.
Does anyone know of anything, that can be applied to rubber strips / spoiler and bring a darker - more black finish to it.
The other thing is that the aerosol based stuff seems to attract dust - leaves a sticky residue on trim. Read more
As mentioned above, I used Autoglym 'vinyl and rubber care' last weekend and was very impressed with the result. The plastics actually looked black, unlike when ive used other products. Just remember to let it soak in for a couple of minutes prior to buffing it off.
Good afternoon all,
might be of interset for any of you coming this way for the Trafalgar 200 and festival of the sea events.
A heavy police presence is in the area focusing on the main 3 roads into the city in preparation for the events that start on Tues 28th. I have just been doen the A2030 towards Southsea and there were 4 police van camera outfits backed up by about a dozen bikes or so. Presume any terrorists wanting to get into the city will also be speeding? Maybe they are using the numberplate recognition to spot any vehicles that are of interest from a security ponit of view, has anyone heard of this being done outside of London before?
Enjoy the festivities if you are coming, just dont mention the war Read more
>>well there is permanent number plate recognition if you drive in or out of the city of london you will have been clocked presumably the congestion charge zone is similar
We all know that our movements are constantly tracked. And Traffic Master is possibly the worst?
But if your car is stolen... why cannot you tap into that information?
My golf keeps flashing an 'inspection' service is due and I have followed the manual on how to reset it but it just won't go away. I was able to reset it ages ago when the 'oil' service came up but this is getting annoying. Anyone able to help?
Cheers Read more
Wanted: Big, cheap estate, pickup, or similar, £1500 available,
must be able to get lots of stuff in it, reliability, economy
of running and maintenance important, image not important.
Any recommendations? Read more
Subaru Legacy ?? Marvelous until the gear box lets go, then you eyes will water when you hear the price !!!-
Any larger car in the <£1500 range is a write off if any major component fails unless you have a mate or the specialist skills to rebuild a gearbox for example - Subarus are no different from any other larger car except prices of genuine parts are high and there are few Scrappies around with stock...
A slightly long and involved post, but..
Mrs O and I are off round Europe (Berlin, Krakow, Vienna, Salzburg and back through Germany/France) in August. It'll be 3000 miles or so. I'm currently trying to work out whether we should take the XJS or not. It's good fun and comfortable, but desperately thirsty, and it may break. What are current petrol prices like?
Should we take it (with AA Euro breakdown) and hope it doesn't break, or should be look at buying another car (which may or may not also break) with an eye to selling it when we return? Hire looks pricy, given that we'd want aircon and a bit of room.
The Polish travel websites also have fairly dire warnings about car crime - are they more likely to be interested in a new hire car than an old Jag (assuming nothing on show in either car?)
Maybe I'm just getting old, but I seem to be worrying a lot more! I did almost the same trip in 1998, and just got in my battered 1987 Nissan Sunny and did the whole trip with no hassle at all. I just don't really want to spend the whole holiday by the side of the road with a broken Jag and Mrs O trying hard not to say "I told you so."
Thanks,
O
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Jaguar XJS V12 - comes with free personalised oil tanker. Read more
Well I saw someone rolling off the Fery at Caen in early August, and I thought of Orsen!
Would appreciate likely diagnosis of the following please.
Last weekend in the heat, two hours from home on the motorway, noticed soaring temp guage followed by odd rattly noises from engine under load. 15 miles out from services, slowed to truck speed, put heater on hot/full blast. Heater very hot for a few minutes then no heat at all. 2 miles from services, dark smoke starts to appear from exhaust. Oil pressure light starts flickering just as we get to exit slip road. Bad news indeed thinks I, engine cuts out at top of slip road. Highways Agency towed us into service area. No coolant in system, radiator appears to have spontaneously disintegrated. Engine turns over but won't fire. RAC recovered vehicle to home address. I have not had a chance to look at it since, but I suspect the dreaded HGF. How likely is it that this engine is a write off? I know cylinder heads can crack or warp under these conditions.
With hindsight perhaps I should have stopped straight away, and I probably would have done had I been travelling by myself, but number one priority was to get 8 month pregnant wife to the services.
Thanks,
Ed. Read more
The engine is scrap, simple as that. They won't tolerate severe overheating such as in this case.
Replacement engine time.
Wanna sell her?
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groups.msn.com/honestjohn - Pictures say a thousand words.....
Browse
I had these exact same probs in an '97 V6 Omega. The plenum drain pipe(s?) were bunged up with bits of leaves, tree mould etc and when released at least a gallon of water came out!
The end of the drain pipe was a rubber hose and it used to get squashed to "nearly closed" by other stuff in the engine bay, then the grot did the rest. If you get a garage to do it - get em to show you where the end of the drain is, then next time you could do it yourself with a thin garden cane....with your goggles and an old T-shirt on....