October 2005
The model of vauxhall Astra that immediately precedes the new one seems to have almost disappeared altogether and yet I see plenty of the astras prior to that. Why is this? Read more
looking to hire a mini cooper for the weekend, to see if its going to be pratical enough for my family. i have a big 6 year old and a small 13 year old. what are the extras to have or not, which wheels give the best compramise between ride and comfort and handling. i currently drive a 2002 ford focus 1.6 zetec. can anyone recommend a place to hire from. i live in doncaster south yorkshire.
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HI Andy according to Auto Bild which cars last the distance, thanks
I've bee offered a 2 button blip key unit to replace the single button unit that I lost. I know how to reprogram it and that I need to replace the blade, but if I get it, do I just disregard the second (deadlock?) button? Any shared experience appreciated. Read more
I was wondering what the most common causes of premature turbo failure were. I've been driving petrol and diesel turbos for years now and have never had a problem.
But is there any particular driving trait that can cause them to fail ?
In the old days of cars like Escort RS Turbos 50,000 miles was seen as good life for a turbo, so what has been done to increase their longevity I wonder ? Read more
Its in the HC somewhere, but you definitely cannot leave an unattended car running on the public road.
New Scientist ran an article 22 Oct. describing what might be the answer to the depletion of the oil fields.
Powdered iron is presently used as a rocket fuel. In a rocket the fuel is burned all in one shot, to get the thing airborne with the least possible delay. In a car, of course, it isn?t that way, controlled burning is needed.
Researchers have found that if the iron is powdered to nanoparticles it reacts with oxygen so readily that it needs not much heat to get it going. Speed of combustion can be controlled by agglomerating the particles into larger sizes. There are no emissions, no carbon no Nox.
The reaction takes place in a chamber just before the inlet valve of the engine. The expanding gases push down the piston in the same way as the burning of petrol or diesel. Valve timing will be different of course. The cylinder remains clean - doesn?t get carboned up.
Exchange your used up tank at a refuelling station, and the spent fuel can be regenerated by heating it in the presence of hydrogen. It can then be reused. The article suggests that scrap cars can be the fuel for the next generation.
As far as having a hydrogen fuelled engine, think what would be safer in a rear end shunt, a pressure vessel full of hydrogen or a tank full of iron ?filings?.
Sounds good.
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Flour and sugar powders can cause immense damage when they combust. So can lots of other foods.
If you had a Stirling engine in a hybrid vehicle then the electric motor/generator would accelerate the car very rapidly before the engine cut in.
Just wonderng if anyone can help? I'm working on a friends mk3 cavalier its a 1600cc 8 valve the engine number is c16nz its a 1994 car and single point injection, the car had trouble starting i put an ignition amplifier on it and was fine for 4 months, now it has totally stopped starting. There is no spark, the crank sensor tests ok, the coil tests ok, there is power to the coil and ignition amplifier, all the evidence is pointing to a engine ECU fault but i was just wondering if anyone had the same problem and cured it? Read more
Hi just checked the ECU light and no it doesn't flash, I've also removed the ECU today and its already been replaced with a remanufactured unit so i've sent it to be tested so hopefully they can shed some light on it! will post the results as soon as i know!!
Any help ? My 1.4 golf has developed an engine noise, seems to come from the cambelt end, sounds like a whooshing noise. I have read the worrying threads concerning water pumps and plastic pulleys and new engines. The car is a 2001 with 54K miles. Any advise.
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My Octavia 2001 1.4 (same engine) did the same at 53,000 miles.
Do not drive far (if at all!!) get the cambelt, pulleys, waterpump and antifreeze (whilst your passing!) replaced.
HJ has already mentioned that the cam belt&pulleys should be changed on these engines at 40K.
Engine has been great other than that, now 78,000 miles.
Anyone else seen these??
search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZreadstradingltd
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I note the vendor was first registered in September and has zero feedback..
Pay him £10,000? Nah..
madf
My wife has a vw Golf 1.9 GTTDi. She prefers to keep it serviced at a main dealer, something with which I don't agree. (She keeps it serviced by vw as it is a work car for which she receives a salary supplement, previously had a "real" company car and got used to main dealers, but never saw a bill!) Anyway today was 1st service out of warranty and I was therefore worried. Service was as usual expensive but the recommended repairs were astonishing (at least to me who runs a very old and cheap to look after mondeo)
"Wishbone bushes starting to seperate" £319.60
"Rear axle bushes parted" £301.97
"Slight play in anti roll bar bushes" £116.32
Now for a car which runs and drives as well as the day we got it I'm not sure I believe there's any significant problem. I also can't believe how high the costs are for a few bushes.
I told vw not to bother, I suppose my question is whether anyone knows whether theses bushes truly are costly to replace for some reason and whether if they were gone I should notice this in how the car drives.
Thanks in advance for the help. Read more
My GTTDi Golf racked up over 100,000 miles by the time it was 4 years old and never needed any bushes replacing.
Plenty of other repairs, but no bushes :-)
Daughter's Fiesta has an MP3 CD player, the slot kind.
She complains that it skips a lot, on pre-recorded and home made CDs.
The head unit is mounted in the usual place and as far as I can see there is no external shock absorbing material.
She's just asked for a new one for Xmas. As far as I'm concerned the old one isn't that old and will do. Is there something I can do do dampen it? Is a new one likely to suffer the same? Read more
Why bother with MP3 Cds anymore when you go solid state.....
"Now you can play your favourite MP3;s and WMA digital music formats in your car. This great new product accepts a SDRAM memory card or a USB memory stick. Allowing you to copy music from your PC or Laptop and play on this car radio."
www.drgadget.co.uk/product.php?xProd=759&xSec=1
I am sure several other people are making them, this is the first I could find.
Also Maplin are doing a radio with integrated Bluetooth to allow handsfree te use. I am sure that either bluetooth SD cards / car readers will not be far behind. Bluetooth IPOD adaptors are another alternative.
Looks like an expensive xmas!
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pmh (was peter)
Browse
Agree with good reliability of MK4 Astra. I have a 53 reg 2.0 DTI LS hatch since new (Oct 03) and all I've had to do is put diesel in it every now and again, and returns 47-55MPG. It's had one puncture and one headlamp bulb failure in 2 years and 30K miles. Unlike some reports I've heard, the engine has used no oil whatsoever between the yearly service intervals.
Good handling, smooth ride, practical and good performance from the engine which really motors if you put your foot down!
My only minor critisms are the position of the electric window buttons on the driver's door (too far back) and the road noise is sometimes a little obtrusive (may just be the Dunlop tyres though?)
Cheers