August 2005
93 Tipo 1.4S only blows the fuse when the fan is turned to the top speed. Fine at positions 1 and 2. Fuse is rated at 20A, but by the looks of things the last owner blew a 30A fuse. The top setting is normally direct, ie without any resistor.
Anyone tried swapping a fan on a Tipo - it looks as though it might come out without take too much else apart, but being Italian, that's almost certainly optimistic. Read more
I am replaciming my Isuzu trooper comercial in the next few months and Need the extra capacity of a large van (MWB medium roof.)
I am self employed running a pressure cleaning and grounds maintence business. Most of my driving consists of very windy lanes and inclines coupled with farm trafic plus the odd motorway trip, so aceleration and tourque is a must.
curently I am towing 1.5 tons with the isuzu however the extra space the van will provide should not make towing so frequent.
I have driven hire SWB transit 280s and citroen relays and found both severly underpowered.
My curent thinking is along the lines of a Renault master with 3.0 disel or Merc sprinter.
Any thoughts with regards to reliability and suitability apreciated. The van is to be bought second hand I have a budget of £12000. My isuzu manages motorway speeds up to 95mph so this sort of ability would be great (fuel economy is not important).
Paul
Read more
Ford do a Transit 2.4 TDCi 137PS model if you're looking for something with a bit of grunt.
PP
Some years ago I developed a theory relating to measuring the efficiency of balanced systems or nearly balanced systems (according to the laws of physics ).
It was not until later, I realized that the combustion engine of a motor car was in itself a balanced system. Or rather the individual pistons within cylinders were systems within the overall system of the engine! (They could be considered individual motors making up a part of the total motor)
Anyway getting back to the theory - This required the monitoring of the system over a time frame of five timing points and at the end of that time to come to a logical conclusion as to whether the system was operating as efficiently as it could be or if there should be a small adjustment made!
This theory could then be applied to each cylinder of a combustion engine. There would be one timing point at top dead centre, a second at the bottom of the downstroke and three others in between.
The monitoring of the system would be via the compression ratio at each timing point per cylinder. Those five readings could be linked to get an overall picture of the performance of each cylinder.
ie.
1 - 2
1 - 3
1 - 4
1 - 5
2 - 3
2 - 4
2 - 5
3 - 4
3 - 5
4 - 5
These figures can be fed into a computer for analysis of exactly how much fuel that particular cylinder required injecting.
I am convinced this theory would work and would result in -
1. Greater fuel economy.
2. Greater horsepower for size of motor.
3. Greater Torque.
4. Smoother throttle for all loads.
5. Less maintenance costs.
6. Less emissions.
7. Cooler running.
I also am convinced that much of the present gadgetry on modern engines would not be required and would remain obsolete. With the cost of fuel rising exponentially the further we get into this Century, I believe it is imperative that we run smaller cars with more efficient engines.
In creating this article I wish it to be known that I am a layperson with very limited access to working on motor engines. All of my theories have been derived from logic! Excuse the pretty rough explanation involved!
With Kind Regards,
taurus26
Read more
There are petrol engines with no throttle, I think BMW have made one which uses electropneumatically actuated valves which can be opened and closed without being dependant upon mechanical connection to the rotating parts, thus they can be used as throttles, probably in conjunction with tunable air intakes.
Opinions requested.
I am looking to buy a 2+2 coupe sports car and will spend up to 35k. Don't like the RX8. Want something with power and panache. MPG not important but don't want to be hit hugely by depreciation. Two main contenders are used Porsche 996 or Maserati coupe (2001 '3200' or maybe 2002 '4200' (just about for the price). Maserati less common than Porsche and look good but need to have the thing start every morning. Porshe too obvious a choice???
Cheers,
Taccy Read more
No, not unreasonable to mention RMS; the question needs to be asked of a seller.
It is, however, unreasonable to say:
I not sure the 996 is an obvious choice if you are looking
for the famed Porsche reliability.
I've heard recently that the ability of a Land Rovers are just a myth compared to other 4X4s but lots of people buy them so they can't be that bad? What do you think?
Read more
I drive a '94 Range Rover and my neighbour a 2000
Mitsubishi Animal pick up. The Mitsubishi is crude by comparison. I
didn't realise they still used leaf springs!
Remember that the L200 is a utility vehicle capable of carrying a huge (1000kg?) payload across rough terrain, hence the use of leaf springs.
The RR is a luxury 4X4 which probably cost more than twice as much when new, so no surprises about the different "quality" interiors.
Though the off-road ability is a little hampered by the limited axle articulation, L200/Hilux type pickups are still excellent offroad vehicles.
Finally, the reliability figures (pretty much any source) speak for themselves.
Evening all, been considering a couple of cars this weekend, both auto Merc C Class from dealers priced at £4000. I've only viewed one of them so far. One is a 95N (presume 4 speed 6 cyl) 280 Elegance with 99k, leather, aircon, alloys, FMBSH. The other is a 97P 180 Elegance with 79k and FMBSH.
The car will be used as a second vehicle to be kept for 3 years minimum doing max 5k pa - so I'm not concerned with petrol costs. However am I looking at potentially big bills on the 280? I'm tempted by the 280 but my head says the 180 (with none of the goodies)
Anyone got any views on this? (Aprilia - I gather you know a fair bit about Mercs) Read more
Can't really lose at 4k...
4k is a significant amount of money for a 10 year old car. I know W124 is too large for Marc's requirements. But for between 2k - 2.5k, you can buy a very nice E280 with leather and A/C.
About 5 years ago Trade Sales were selling new W124 E220 Mercedes made(or rather assembled) in India for less than half the price of 'regular' E class Mercedes.(about £13k?) At that time the E220 was not imported into UK.
I am told that some of these are now appearing for sale at prices not much cheaper than regular Mercs. Given that there were lots of personal imports from Europe at that time, you would need to be something of an expert to know that these were not the same as a European spec car.
Does anyone have any knowledge of how these cars stood up to the test of time, one assumes they have a harder life in India. Or have most been stolen and shipped out in parts to the Far East
Read more
The indian made w124's were very reliable and of a high
quality. Indian factory has the best quality audit for all DC
factories.
Yes, I agree that the MB built in India are not actually inferior, I am sure DC worked very hard to ensure this. However, the PERCEPTION is that they are inferior, and at this level of the market, image is everything.
Hoping someone can give advice on my renault espace 2.2 td - have been advised the engine needs complete replacement after the water pump has gone and woodruff key missing from keyway on cam?? obviously new engine costs fortune - not sure whether this is viable for age of car. have also been told that maybe other types of engines can be fitted (cheaper alternatives). the cheapest quote i have had is £1600 for a recon. thanks
Read more
The price you have been quoted seems realistic. The car is worthless as is but how much is the replacement going to cost? Far more than the cost of replacing the engine. Other options may be to have your own unit reconditioned as long as the thrust washers havent fallen out and allowed the crank to beat up the block it is a viable option. Check locally for a reconditioner who is affiliated to the Federation of Engine Reconditioners (FER) and seek his advice.
I rebuilt my engine so didnt source a recon but worth trying Renault.
Andrew
--
Simplicate and add lightness!!
My boot has suddenly stopped working,.
the remote no longer opens it...and nor does the boot button just above the number plate
the only way to open it is manually via the key.
i have tried to open the door with the key,,to reset the system
and i have also checked all the wires to make sure they arnt loose...
and there is power getting there...
so my guess is the actual lock has gone???
sound reasonable??
--
www.storme.co.uk Read more
No I haven't done it yet, touch wood. But I was reading the front page of the Telegraph Motoring sction today where this issue was discussed and the huge expense of getting your car fixed afterwards. Up to £7K was mentioned.
It's about time the someone came up with a device for preventing this. I guess the car manufacturers are not going to take the lead since they would argue it's not their fault. But surely some clever person must be able to come up with a method of preventing petrol being put into a diesel.
I am putting my great mind to work. Well, my mind anyway. Read more
A possible solution is to colour the tarmac on a forecourt. Green channel for u/l and black for diesel, then have all the u/l pumps on one side of a garage and all diesel pumps on the other. For those who are colourblind, they can just watch out for the greasier looking tarmac covered in patches of sand soaking up spilt diesel.
Browse
.jpg)
Soaking it in wd-40 will attract loads gunge and belly button fluff and will stick to everything soaked in it, possibly returning your problem back to square one eventually.