October 2005

Question Imported Mazda6
Accidental_mick

I didn't set out to by an import but was offered a very low price on a new Mazda Atensa (sold here as a Mazda6 TC). Very pleased with the car but it has a really naf radio. Mazda dealer reckons they cannot help.
Anyone know of a really knowledgeable radio company in the South East.
(in case you haven't noticed, the radio and CD controls are built into the dashboard)
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Accidental_mick

Yes it is the same dashboard as a UK spec.
That is why it never occured to me that the radio might be different. (I always think that the Japanese are really in to their gadgetsso would want the latest things in their cars.)

Thats the trouble with ignorance - you dont know what questions you should be asking.

JH

This keeps happening to me - how about you?

I'm driving along an A road at 40 to 50 mph at the tail end of a line of traffic. Behind me, nothing. Up ahead is a junction with a car waiting to turn in our out. The car ahead of me brakes to a halt to allow the car in or out of the minor road. Yours truly is making small sacrifices to the God of ABS, though only small ones as I've left a decent gap.

WHY!? Why not just drive on and let the road clear?

John
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Conditional Identity

Recently I was on my bike in a cycle lane and a lady drove past. 30 seconds later she stops & flashes to let someone across her path - cue me slamming the brakes on, failing to stop and over the bonnet I went.

Aforementioned lady jumps out and is very helpful with the ambulance as I get carted off to hospital.

Yeah - thanks.......

chadlangdon

Hi, My 1999 Mondeo failed its MOT today on a defective offside
front shock absorber.For safety reasons, do I need to have both fronts replaced?Thanks in advance for any suggestions. Read more

chadlangdon

Hi,spoke to my mechanic today ,booked in next week to get both fronts done.Thanks for the advice.

vsource

I have a couple of questions I hope someone can help with:

1) I have notice in the last month my gears are becoming increasingly sticky and I am having problems (sometimes at speed) at getting the gear I want, has anyone got any ideas ?

2) Random warning lights flashing before my eyes, I have noticed for sometime now that occasionally a warning light will flash up on the dashboard, by the time I look down it has obviously gone has anyone else noticed this and should I mention it to the garage (although it will be out of warranty)

Thanks

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farmerhuw

I had gearbox problems with my brothers punto a year back. I too had problems engaging gears. It turned out that after a fair bit of investigating the clutch pump was faulty! It cost about £150 to repair and has been fine ever since

FP

hogan1

hi all, just bought myself a new kangoo van and was looking at aftermarket security .slamlocks and deadlocks maybe, but not sure how theses work or are they any good at stopping thieves getting in mainly on the side door or back doors? thanks in advance Read more

Civic8

Actually no way to stop these people from breaking in,weak spot is the windows.to be safe best thing is take all valuables indoors/secured garage.you could spend a fortune on locks and still get robbed
--
Steve

weaver

have been having problems with oil getting into the water on my scenic 1.6 petrol auto.the oil is definately coming from the engine and not the gearbox as the level keeps dropping.have had a new head gasket,head skimmed and pressure tested o.k. but still problem persists. have been told it could be a crack in the block.
any ideas?????
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HarlequinVW

check to see if it has a water oil cooler.....

Peter D

Volvo 240 SE 1993 B200F LH2.4 Jetronic. Yes that one but bear with me here. I am still in trouble with my Volvo but I have made some progress. I thought the Knock sensor was not working and removed same to test off the block only to discover the scope lead was faulty. However this caused me to dig out my timing strobe only to discover the engine at tick over appears to be well retarded but does advance once the throttle switch comes in and the revs pick up it advances a lot.

As I has a spare ignition ecu I tried that but it made no difference to the tick over timing but now assume the high idle is being caused by the well retarded engine.

Any ideas as to what may be causing this. The ignition LT pulses are spot on and stable but just late. No Fuel or Ign ECU error codes and engine now cycling the O2 at Tickover and at 2500 rpm. Any help appreciated. Regards Peter Read more

Peter D

My mistake I meant LH 2.4 Regards Peter

Lawrenma2

Hi,

I've posted a few links below to pics of a dent on my bonnet. The previous owner tells me it was caught on a tyre stuck on the back of a Land Rover.

Does anyone know roughly how much this might cost to get fixed?

Thanks in advance.

i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/Lawrenma2/DSCI0010...g

i11.photobucket.com/albums/a160/Lawrenma2/DSCI0011...g Read more

mark999

Hi,
does anyone have any opinions regarding the reliability and quality of the new T5 transporter/Caravelle. Our 02 T4 caravelle has been very dissapointing (no where near as bad as the v-Class, but that's not saying much).

We are struggling for alternatives as we need a wheelchair accessible vehicle that has enough weight/power to tow a decent sized caravan. Any ideas would be most welcome.

Thanks,
Mark Read more

PeteG

I've had a T5 Caravelle 174 bhp, tiptronic, for 15 months now and
I reckon the reviews on this site are pretty accurate. There are
issues with it though. One problem was the tiptronic gearbox
had a serious fault from new and after much messing around VW finally replaced it with a new one, this was at 3000 miles, I'm
now at 20,000 without problems. There is also an intermediate shaft
in the steering mechanism which had to be replaced, this may have to happen again, I can feel it starting to click again. All the faults I've had have been experienced by others. Two sites that may be of interest to you are

www.t5board.de and
www.jewuwa.de

both are in German but you can use babelfish to translate.

Apart from the problems above and a few niggles, like the easily scratched plastic, the van is really great and I wouldn't want to drive anything else. Engine, gearbox, steering and comfort/visibility being it's best features.

Forum Bumpers
Sofa Spud

So insurance premiums are being affected by the high cost or repairing front or rear bumper sections on modern cars. These might be able to absorb parking nudges but are destroyed by low speed shunts.

First there were steel strips attached to dumb irons. These became shaped Chromed beams attached to 50's and 60's barges.
Triumph tried rubber bumpers on the Herald but they didn't catch on with other makers.

Renault came up with the sculpted shock resistant plastic front and rear apron sections on the original Renault 5. Gardually other makers adopted the idea. Soon these bumpers became body coloured. More recently these sections have expanded to take in more and more of the front and rear of cars, becoming fully blended into the lines of the vehicle.

Modern front and rear panels gave cars a clean, uncluttered look so manufacturers bestowed grilles, scoops, stakes etc upon them. But are they bumpers? I would say cars do not have bumpers any more.

A colleague of mine drives a battered old banger and unashamedly goes in for contact parking - part of the reason the banger is battered.

Cheers, SS Read more

henry k

Once hit a Sierra. Our car nothing..... Sierra was horrible.


>>Having owned both a Sierra and now a 98 Mondeo I am certain the Sierra bumper was vastly better re impact resistance.
I have taken the bumbers off both cars for various reasons.
The Sierra bumper had the skin bonded to the foam.
The Mondeo bumper is a piece of thin brittle plastic in thin air. Touch anything and risk it splitting. I have done just that. I am now very wary at causing even the slightest parking bumper kiss unlike the Sierra.
I used to not know why there are so many Mondeos with damaged bumpers. I do now and also understand the reluctance to replace them.