August 2005
Am I missing something here. I have tried to remove the rear brake drum on my 1991 Peugeot 205 but to no avail. I've taken off the 32mm locking nut and completely slackened off the handbrake cable. The drum is loose and rotates but refuses to come off. In the workshop manual it says to release the auto adjusting mechanism through one of the holes in the drum. I think I can see a sprung toothed adjuster through the hole and this moves towards the outside of the drum when I poke a screwdriver through. Any ideas? Read more
I am reading with interest and amusement the threads about meets. I was involved in arranging meets and days out for smart owners for a few years and would like to pass on these tips for orgainsing a meet.
The Golden rule is NOT to carry out an extensive consultation exercise over venues dates and times. From my experience as an organiser you have to sort out a venue date and time which you think is appropriate - as the posts on here show you can please all people some of the time etc etc but you never get anywhere.
Someone took over three months to try and organise a smart meet in Leeds and eventually gave up as they tried to orgainse it to please everyone I could see there was ineterest in a Leeds meet so I found a suitable venue, posted up a date and time and 12 owners turned up.
Choose an easy to find pub with a big car park and say what time you will be there. The problem with restaurants is you need certainty of numbers so you can book tables and people need to be there at the time specified. A pub venue allows people to turn up over a couple of hours - they can eat if they want.
Be assertive in your post!
Example
I am organising a meet of the BRs in [Town/County] on [date] at [time]. All are welcome to join me.
Finally be prepared for no-one to turn up! Read more
You have mail.
I have a Ford Ka, 2 years old, 12000 miles.
The other day, I drove 20 miles, and then had to do a multi-point turn to get into a tight parking spot. Up to that point, there had been no smell in the car, but as I braked, reversed, braked, went forward, etc, the cabin filled with an unpleasant rotten smell. A faint whiff remained when I got into the car half an hour later, but soon disipated.
Yesterday, I noticed the smell filling the cabin a couple of times: once when I braked hard, the other time when I braked hard and reversed. My wife described it as more like rotting turnip than rotten egg - but whatever it is, it is rotten!
It doesn't usually happen when I brake - only under hard braking. It doesn't happen on start-up, otherwise I'd suspect the catalytic converter. I can do a long run and never smell it. It does, however, seem to be something that has developped recently.
Spilled milk on the carpet has been suggested, but if that was the case, I'd expect the smell to be a constant companion Read more
Surprised no one has mentioned wind direction.it may be when reversing you have caught the exhaust fumes,fumes can get into motor as they all have vents.as it is on the odd occasion it could well be that..Just a thought
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Steve
Any experience of these models (obviously not one the 330d yet, but others)?
Audi A4 3.0 TDi S-Line Quattro
Audi A4 3.2 FSi S-Line Quattro
BMW 330i M Sport
BMW 330d M Sport (231bhp)
BMW 530d M Sport (now 231bhp too)
The Audi is in my opinion the best looking, and has lots of kit. The 3-series looks like a Korean car from the back, although the M Sport version arrives in October, maybe that will look better, and the 5-Series will be expensive on Company car tax due to its high list price, even if the CO2 is lower than the Audi.
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Neil T
Mondeo Ghia TDCi 130 Estate, SEAT Toledo 20VT Sport, Various Montegos... Read more
Yes off the computer figures, but experience shows the Audi computer in the current B7 A4 is about 3mpg optimistic at most. My A3 records about 49mpg for a routine return of 46 brim to brim, so based on that actual was in the 47-48mpg region, still very good for a rocket ship with more torque than the new RS4. Actually in a chase if I was the police I'd taken an A8 3.0TDI out against an RS4... The A8 might not do the same speed flat out or accelerate as fast but he'll have caught them about the time they head for their second fuel stop (approx 140 miles ;-))
...of sidelights?
I just don't think there's any need for them. If you want to have your lights on, why not have them on dipped - sidelights are just a waste of time.
The main problem with them is that people often forget to put their dipped lights on when they've been driving around with their sidelights on. Read more
Actually you've just reminded me of a very old newspaper article that I read.
It's from the 70's and was in the local paper, the gist of it was that the writer was moaning about recent moves towards using dipped headlights during poor visibility in daylight hours and in well lit areas after dark. They claimed it was totally unnecessary, I wish I could find the clip now and I would post as much of it as I could.
Obviously their opinion wasn't taken notice of as on the whole, people tend to use headlights these days.
Except those taught by BSM of course :-)
Blue
As my 11 year old Corsa has given up the ghost I'm looking for a 'new' car. The Jazz ticks all the right boxes for what we're looking for and the reliability looks second to none.
I was hoping to go for a recent 2nd hand one but the high prices of those suggest you may as well get a new one, especially as I'm after the current '05 spec. The model I'm looking at is the 1.4 SE (air con a must) but they do seem rather pricey compared to other superminis. I've always avoided buying a brand new car due to the value you lose by just driving off the forecourt, however, the high residuals of this car seem to cushion the blow somewhat.
Basically, what I'm asking is, are they worth the premium price as you'll get a better price than the others in the sector when you come to sell it? Read more
SWMBO had one of the first Jazzes (April 2002) - to answer the original Q we got £7,000 for it after 2 years 3 months in PX against a Civic. Not bad given that the original cost (SE) was £10,250.
Current price of an SE has only gone up to £10,500: if you look at the competition (Fiesta, Polo, Colt, even the Fabia) it's not all that expensive.
Ours was 100 % reliable; good to drive but not quite fast enough for SWMBO; brilliant packaging; handling fine ansd we never had any problem with the ride. Main criticisms were the need for a 6th gear (or a higher 5th) and front and rear visibility.
I'm not surprised that they figure so highly in the owner surveys: they give great satisfaction all round, especially to those who are quite happy with the acceleration.
OK, here's the situation with the car. It's my dad's, and for two weeks at the end of June I was insured to drive it, as my own car was oop north. At the time it was registered to his company, which he owned. Shortly after, he changed it to personal ownership as he wound the company up. He signed both parts of the V5 declaration.
Problem - today we received a slip of paper from the Plymouth police, noting that the V5 ownership had changed, and asking us for further details, reply c/o speed camera partership etc. The old address no longer had post forwarded, so anything before that would have been lost.
No date is given on the slip, and as on the last trip into Plymouth (we go there less than once a month) we were both driving, we have no idea who was snapped. Is this a justifiable excuse? Read more
Bearing in mind that cameras don't always appear on "these sites". It could really have been anything. DVD's your man for this but I think it could have been any of the following (don't know the force in question though);
1) Camera - be it Gatso or Truvelo
2) Mini camera - chances are you wouldn't have seen this but then again, it does flash
3) Speed trap but not pulled at the time (I doubt that one but it happens)
4) Camera van. Bearing in mind then can "get you" from 1000 metres away, could they not have done a good job of hiding it?
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Adam
It's the rear brake calipers which have disc brakes. It's a single piston and is the type that you have to press and turn clockwise,(best done with a special tool) to retract the piston if you want to fit new pads. The problem is I had to fit a new one some time ago. Does anyone know if it's possible to muck up the hand brake adjustment on these if you dont set them properly? I get good handbrake efficiency on one side but can't adust the rear n/s caliper h/brake. Handbrake cable appears to move freely on both sides. I seem to remember reading in the replacement caliper instructions that if it it is necessary to turn the piston anticlockwise to take up any slack (ie. on partly worn pads) you should completely unwind the piston anticlockwise first then wind it back in again so that hand brake adjustment is correct. I may have got this wrong as I didn't keep the installation leaflet. The brakes are made by Nissin not NISSAN. If anyone has any info on this type of caliper or could give me some idea of why I have lost adjustment on the n/side caliper I would be grateful. I have adusted the other side ok. This is done by jacking up both rear wheels and setting H/brake to first notch and tightening h'brake cable till disc just starts to bind. Then make sure it turns freely when h/brake is off. I have cleaned and made sure pads are not sticking in their guides etc etc. Many thanks Mikey. Read more
Andy,it's a 1990 Prelude 2 litre 12 valve.
Hi
Mate's got a 306 petrol that won't start when warm (say after 2 hours). Will restart when hot (say 1/2 hour) and cold (say overnight). Will start though if key is turned back to zero, then try again. There is a petrol smell when turning over, while it refuses to start.
First instinct is immobiliser, but would the ECU continue to pump fuel into the engine? Second thought therefore is a sticky ignition relay, but why would this be temperature related? Third thought is cold-start-valve/regulator-thingy, but why would it suddenly work when ignition turned back off and on?
I'm puzzled.
Thanks
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Mike Farrow Read more
First instinct is immobiliser, but would the ECU continue to pump
fuel into the engine?
Turns out it would! An utterly appalling design in all Peugeot cars IMHO, what with the risk to flooding/catalyst poisoning. Why not just cut the fuel?
Anyway, new/reprogrammed key and all sorted now.
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Mike Farrow
Well would you believe it? Two weeks after having two front tyres (£128.00 each) fitted, I have only just had the wheels balanced correctly. The first fast fit firm seemed completely incapable of getting the balance correct, leaving me with horrible steering wheel judder at town speeds. When I went back, they tried again, and cured the low speed wobble leaving me with more problems at motorway speeds.
Never mind, I thought, I'll just go somewhere else. Second fast fit place (different firm). Problem slighlty better but not cured completely after two visits there.
By this stage I was concerned there may be another problem with the car's front end. So went to an established garage, not fast fit but still while-u-wait. They took me over to the blancing machine and showed me that the wheels were incorrectly balnced, wieghts were placed in the wrong place, and now, finally, all appears to be well.
Sorry for the long, rambling post, but has anyone else had such terrible trouble trying to get wheels tracked or blanaced. I found the incompetence of the first two tyre centres astonishing. The car in question is a 2001 BMW 5 series. Read more
I have had a fast fit place try to fit the wrong exhaust,for a completely different car.They were so determined to make it fit they cracked the cast iron exhaust manifold,which they then denied,although the crack was obviously fresh.
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Get a large soft faced hammer (copper - not a steel one - it will crack the drum!) and hit it down and out while gradually turning the drum - not subtle, but it usually works.