June 2005
Rover 214si M Reg. Cam belt was changed at 38k in 1999, car was also unused for a year then.
Car now at 82k. Mechanic tells me that he believes the cam belt is ok but it's up to me.
I plan to keep the car for another year as I have had a lot of work done on it and it is running not too badly at the moment. What sort of age can it achieve? I've switched to using BP petrol which makes a great difference |Asda pertrol was awful! Read more
What's going on. The normally highly competitive supermarkets are jacking up their prices to the extent that they're really no cheaper than anywhere else and more expensive than some. Yesterday Mrs V filled up with Esso @ 81.9p. (diesel 85.9) whilst a couple of miles down the road, the nearest Tesco was charging 86.9p. The most expensive we came across on our very short trip was 89.9p. An 8p per litre difference equating to 36p per gallon!! Read more
Seeing the £1 tag reminded me when I had my first car in the mid 70's - just before the fuel crisis. Then I could buy 3 Gallons for 99p. That's right it was 33p a gallon. A few months later it was 54p a gallon, hard to stomach as I was a student at the time. Now we are looking towards £1.00 per litre - just a small increase (tongue in cheek mode).
I certainly believe that the media will have a blitz when fuel breaks the magical £1.00 per litre barrier. Will it be later this year? The only good thing will be that the pump prices will be back to whole pence per litre not the 0.9p increment - who do they think they are fooling anyway.
Since I bought a diesel car last August I have seen the price at the local Esso garage rise from 81.9p upto 92.9p during the winter and now drop to 87.9p. The winter rise was far greater than I expected. What urks me most is that such a large proportion of the price is tax, and most this is not spent on our road system.
I am beginning to regret buying my new Citroen C5! Apart from the still unresolved headlamp problem (detailed elsewhere on this forum), and the woefull lack of headlamp protectors being available, I am not at all impressed with the fuel consumption of the new car.
My previous C5 2.2 HDi Auto Estate (which my wife still drives) regularly returned 46/47 mpg on a motorway run from Wiltshire to west London and back, about 39 mpg aroung town and about 43 mpg on a high-speed trip down to Cornwall.
The new car (same spec except the Exclusive trim) is, on average, returning at least 10% worse fuel consumption. The M4 motorway run is about 40/41 mpg, about 34 mpg around town and an appalling 37 mpg on a recent trip to Cornwall! Both cars are used mainly for long-distance driving, both run on fully synthetic oil. The new car has travelled nearly 6000 miles now so it must be fully run-in.
I've had the car on the diagnostic tester at my local Citroen dealer 3 times but it checks out OK. They can't explain the poor fuel consumption, the erratic tickover nor the fact that the pollution system warning light came on for no apparent reason during a long normal driving trip at speeds well above that at which these pesky devices become unstable.
Anyone else got a problem? Read more
Link to C5 site.
autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/C5-L/
There seems to be mutterings that Michael Schumacher is not enjoying racing anymore and is thinking of quitting. To me this makes him a bit of a sore loser.
For years we've been told he's amazing, and maybe the best ever, but my thinking was that he cant truly be great until he's won regularly in a poor car. This season his car is poor and he cant win for toffee. Now he's not winning he wants out. Toys out of a pram springs to mind.....
It kind of proves the theory that it was his car doing the winning and not him.
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Some of these incidents can be seen or judged to be racing accidents. Where it is a deliberate or reckless act, then penalties should be applied.
Morning all,
Someone has just mentioned that my 1998/S Peugeot 406 Estate was probably built in the UK.
Easy answer I thought - just look at the VIN plate. But no clues there - anyone know if the 406 range was UK built at the time. Are any Peugeots still built in the UK now?
Cheers
Paul Read more
Thanks for your reply and the info
Regards
Paul
This will be a totally uninteresting post to anyone who exults in the possession of one of those Renault thingies but marks an event I felt shouldn't go unrecorded in the long history of American cars I've owned.I refer to the '69 Mustang 351 which Growlette calls(ed) "Dat Smelly One".
It has now been sold to an American retiree and I expect to see it at drag races on Sundays at Clark Air Base.
There was a definite twinge of whimsy when the new owner turned the key and that familiar churning gave way to the usual roar and cloud of black smoke before the engine settled down to the wonderful uneven thudding throaty rumble of an exhaust note that only 8 cylinders and 4 barrels can deliver. Definitely not the emasculated puffing of modern cars but rather excellent Sunday-morning-annoy-the-neighbours stuff.
I don't want to wipe that grin off Miss Philippines' face just yet, so in the interests of domestic peace and quiet and to avoid having empty rum bottles hurled at me (these native chappies can be a trifle excitable y'know) I'll keep quiet for a bit about the '71 Dodge Charger I saw the other day.......................
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I just sold my 72 Dodge Challenger last weekend,and miss it soooo much,not really for the drive,which was pretty scary with drums all round,but for the acceleration,tyre smoke,and the respect it got on the road!I now have a Pontiac Fiero,which is a decent drive,but its got 4 cilinders missing....Still prefer my X1/9 (s)
i have just bought a vauxhall zafira on a x plate but was wondering if any one out there could tell me whether it has got a engine immobilser Read more
In short - yes.
All Vauxhalls made after 1994 (I think) will have an imobiliser as standard. In fact I *think* the same applies to all cars.
You will have a transponder chip in your keyfob which in turn talks to a receiver on your steering column, which in turn will talk to the ecu and if they all match one another, the ecu will let the engine start.
If the ecu doesn't recognise the key, then the ecu light will flash on and off.
how do you take out the tumblers on an ignition barrel. Read more
When I've done it on doors (not ignition) to match a new lock with the old key you just remove some form of clip at the far end and then the barrel comes out of its cylinder and the gubbins flies all over.
Hint - large table and old white sheet to catch the bits.
I have seen a cheap (£250) plate on DVLA website which I would like to purchase for my wife's 40 th birthday in 2 years time. Their FAQ section states that you don't need to put it on straight away but as long as you do it before the expiry date.
Does anyone know how long you normally get as an expiry date? The website doesn't seem to tell you, or I have just missed it.
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Pretty much like a gemstone then, no material value or purpose
other than showy display.
No, you can cut hard materials with a gemstone so they can be very useful.
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L\'escargot by name, but not by nature.
Hello every one. This is my first topic on this forum so i'm hoping for a plesant response.
Can anyone tell me any info at all on water getting into my ford mondeo Zetec? Every time it rains for a lenth of time, there is a gathering of water a the rear passenger door on the drivers side. I cannot for the life of me work out where it is getting in. The only clue i have, is that there is a trickle trace just on the lower part of the door just where the hing is. I contacted ford and they say water ingress is only covered in the first year of the cars life.
On my service book it says the door has been treated for ingress before but there is no stamp from the dealer who carried out the repair.
Thanks if you can help. Read more
dave cheers. I am going away on holiday soon so i will try and get it done by the time i go away. Sounds not too difficult to fix (if this is where it is getting in) so i will get it done and hopefully this will sort it.
Thanks to everyone again.
Browse
I made a mistake.Your belt should have been changed a while ago.its overdue. Bear in mind damage due to snapped belt will cost a fortune!
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Steve