June 2005
Hi All,
My windscreen washer is not working properly: I have to press and hold the washer stalk for the tiniest amount of water to come out - and there is no power behind it, so the only way I can get the water up the screen to wash it is if I head down the motorway at 50-60 mph! No water comes down the back screen either.
I have checked the fuses and they don't look like they've blown, and put a needle into the jet nozzles to check that they aren't blocked. There is a faint sound like an electrical noise when I press the washer stalk.
Can you advise on what may be wrong, please?
Thanks in Advance,
CMM Read more
I have always done my own oil+filter change on my 96 Almera every 5000 miles and the engine is sweet. I am using the recommended 10W/40 type from Halfords. 4 litres cost £18 in the last 2 years.
Yesterday I came across the 10W/40 from Tesco at £5.97 for the same amount. I am thinking to switch to Tesco's but is there any different between the brands? The viscosity is the same, just thought it might save me few bobs as I am changing oil 3 times a year. Anyone used Tesco?s own brand?
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ive seen the oil on screwfix is that anygood?
were is the api spec website .what will this tell me
will it be anyworse than halfords own oil..
I have noticed that minis all seem to make a strange electrical sound when travelling slowly. Does anyone know why this is, is it electrical power steering? Read more
As the MINI is a car for fashion concious young things, it's probably the sound of the drivers hair drier.
SWMBO was pulled over on the M1 late last night going MUCH too fast. The patrol officer gave her the usual lines which she meekly accepted and apologised etc. However he then said is this a company car, to which she replied yes its my husbands car. This he seemed to accept and got back in his car.
We dont think he would have had time to do a PNC check in the time it took to pull her over in the dark and he didnt take any of her details (name/address etc) or ask her to get into his car to view camera footage. Does that mean she has got away with it ?
Would be interested in your thoughts
Thanks P
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I was pulled over a few weeks ago and given a verbal, but the PNC check was done whilst I was standing chatting to them.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
I have an 850 TDI, 96 model, great car and I have owned it for about 8 months now but it is nearing MOT time and I am concerned about two things which i am hoping maybe some other people may have experienced.
First it is smoky under accelleration (Black/Grey), the slower you drive it the more you will get next time you accellerate, this is the main MOT concern,
Secondly I have had a rattle only when the car is hot and only on tickover. At first I thought it was just engine covers etc but I have now tightened all that kind of thing up and it is still there. Somthing which might be significant is that whenever i put my foot on the clutch it goes away.
Anyone got any experience/ideas, I would be very grateful
thanks
Rubberdubber Read more
Cheddar, I apologise if I was a little terse with you.
Accepted with thanks! OK what you are saying is clear and makes sense however I still say it could simply be the release bearing.
Regards.
I took my T registered BMW 323 E36 90K miles in for a service at a main dealer, the bill shows that they filled the engine with fully synthetic oil rather than the semi-synthetic that the car should have been filled with. This is not the first time that this has happened.
I am sure that I can recover the difference in price from the dealer (again).
However my concern is the possibility of damaging the engine by switching between semi and full synthetic, particularly as I was intending to run this car to 200,000+ miles. I am sure that I have read something on this site saying that it is bad for older engines to be filled with fully synthetic.
I have a few questions
1) Does anyone have any evidence to back up the statement that switching between fully and semi is bad?
2) Can anyone suggest an effective strategy for getting the dealer to warranty the engine against excessive oil consumption? (the engine currently consumes not oil between services)
3) Can anyone recommend a good independent BMW specialist in East Sussex?
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I woudn't worry about engine damage. I have a citroen zx td mreg '94. I changed to 5w 40 fully synthetic after I bought the car which was at 75k.
I have used a semi synthetic 10w 40 and then fully synthetic (5w 40) again twice since.
The car is currently on 107.5k - runs fine - doesn't use any oil.
A colleague has a omega 2.2 diesel the turbo died yesterday the dealers want in the region of £750 to fix.Can anyone throw light on the reliability of a reconditioned one and what price they are likely to be, cheers. Read more
Does anyone have any views on VW auto boxes? I am thinking of the Golf, perhaps Golf Plus, and have no idea whether auto boxes on Golfs are good, bad, indifferent, reliable or unrealibe, expensive?
Thanks for any useful feedback. Read more
My T reg Passat diesel auto has been terrific for its 60,000 miles, no gearbox problems and cheap to run in all respects. I dare say it doesn't kick down as smoothly as a RR but then I didn't pay £100K either!
Does anyone have any views on the Toyota Prius - it seems a tad expensive for what it is but would be interested in others views. I saw on CBS News that the US car regulator is looking into reports from about 35 owners that their Prius's engines suddenly stopped between 30 and 60 MPH and were unable to be started again. Read more
There is a forum in the US - www.edmunds.com I think - which has about a zillion and one posts from Prius owners on just about anything and everything. Generally, they seem to love them but, heck, they are Yanks! :-)))
In fact, some of them are paying more than new price for secondhand ones. I still think they are way too expensive here in the UK and really need about 5K less new than they curretnly are. I suspect the price will drop soon here in the UK as I imagine all the early adopters now have theirs. 20K for a Prius or a BMW?
I think the aircon in my wifes' 99 Focus 1.8 has finally given up. It was working OK about 3 weeks ago although not as powerful as when we first got the car but still perfectly usable. However today the aircon seems to have no effect at all.
I know very little about aircon, but I thought the failure due to the discharge of the gas would be very gradual, not pretty sudden like this, so I checked the fuses and relays etc and all seem OK (I even swapped in a known working relay). I can't see any damaged hoses or cracked pipes. From experience with another (2002) Focus I know if you switch the aircon on there is a noticable 'click' from the clutch on the aircon pump - no such noise on our car though!
My question is - is there a way to check the functioning of the aircon before I take it in for a recharge? I dont mind the £75 charge for this as long as this is the problem but I don't want to waste money on the wrong thing! Read more
I know this if wandering off topic a bit but...
I've carried out the Ford TSBs regarding the water leak on two Focii, one 1999 and a 2002. The 1998 hasn't leaked since and 2002 leaks when parked the 'wrong' way. I've redone it twice and the car had it originally done by a Ford dealer but still the rain comes in....
I would say the build quality of the 2002 model is considerably worse than the earlier one!
Browse
One thing I forgot, there is usually a non-return valve in the pipe close to the jets. It looks like a plastic "lump". these clog up as well. When they do I either replace them with a joining piece or prise the body apart(if possible) and throw away the spring and rubber washer inside. The fluid then drains back into the bottle but with a clean system it only takes a second or so to pump up again.