November 2005
Hi everyone.
I have a 97 mondeo diesel 1.8 hatch
I'm having big trouble starting the car now the cold weather is here. I changed my glow plugs a week ago and all seemed ok but as its got colder its got harder and harder to start.
This morning it wouldnt start at all.(I do turn the glow light on and off 3-5 times before I try and start). I've just change the glow plugs as i've said. The car will turn over fine but wont catch. This morning I tried so much I drained the battery. I put jump leads on it from the mrs car and after two attemps...yippee, its alive!!
I'd like to know what you guy and gals think before I start spending money for no reason.
Might I need a new battery, could it have something wrong with the starter motor, could the feed to the glow plugs be bad?
What do you think the probly might be?
Many thanks,
Regards,
Dave Read more
Daughter has just arrived home with a damaged wing mirror. "he came round the corner like bat out of hell doing 60 and smashed me mirror off"
She has his name, address and phone number but as a grumpy old man I don't know if we're going to get anything out of this. No admission of liability; no car reg no.; no insurance company; no witnesses.
It's a local address so I can find out the reg no. easily enough but will it do any good? Read more
Brad
What car is it? and what dammage is there to the mirror, it may just be easier and cheaper to cut you losses and sort it yourself.
Most door mirrors are quite an easy change over, depending on your spannering skills.
What is it with these people? We are told that the overnight temerature is going to "Plummet" or "Plunge" - to minus 3??!! The country is gripped by blizzard conditions or blanketed with snow - reality = less than an inch except on hills and mountains. They make it all so dramatic and with what in mind? We aren't well prepared for winter in many ways; 460+ schools closed in Wales on Friday. Talking up the problem doesn't help IMHO! Read more
Forecast here in Stoke-on-Trent and Newcastle-under-Lyme this morning was 'odd snow shower'.
Today in parts of the latter area we have had 6" of snow. My lad's school closed at 2 and it took someone 4 1/2 hours to take him three miles to their house to keep him safe for me. He's stil there at the time of typing because I can't, other than walking for two hours, get to him to bring him home.
Stoke-on-Trent, 3 miles away is pretty much as clear as a bell.
I keep coming accross these and am sorely tempted. When i looked at one at my local Ford garage though the salesman was saying how un-economical they are etc. Anybody got any views? They seem good value, and look superb IMO! Read more
Petty arguments, name calling, insults, and general disagreements all deleted. Nothing of worth was deleted in the tidy up. DD
hi all when should i replace the cam belt (or is it called the timing belt?)
the car has done 52,000 miles (p reg)
and is serviced every year by ford. I have had no problems to date just need to now when the belt should be replaced
many thanks! Read more
Ford interval is 100k 10yrs.
Most people would suggest that you change it now!
If you plan on keeping the car beyond the 10 yr point it makes sense to change it early.
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pmh (was peter)
Friday afternoon, thinking idle thoughts.
So here is an idle question. All performance cars seem to have low profile tyres. I don't happen to like the way they look. Just a personal thing, you understand.
In the past few days I've read reviews of the Astra VXR and the Focus ST, but every time I see pictures of those tyres, it puts me right off.
Suppose (it's Friday afternoon, remember) that I fancied a Focus ST. Could I get one with 15 or even 14 inch wheels, and nice big, high profile tyres? And if I could, what would it be like to drive compared to a normal, low-profile-tyred example? Read more
I like the look of alloys, but am totally turned off by low profile tyres. Saw a new Range Rover yesterday with what looked like rubber bands on the after market alloys. Just looked stoopid.
I am surprised to read above that the Astra has 55 section tyres as standard. I saw an AStra Club with alloys the other day and it looked as though it was wearing quite high profile tyres and certainly more high profile than on my Forester which has 60 section.
The more air between the road and the rim = more comfort. I want comfort. There is almost nowhere in this country where 50 section tryes can be used to their full advantage, but 70 section can be used on really poor roads to cushion the ride.
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Espada III - well if you have a family and need a Lamborghini, what else do you drive?
Anyone help a dear friend and Damsel in distress to source a 1.6 petrol engine for a 1995 A4.
I would have thought that it would be the same as a Golf but I'm not 100%.
A local scrapyard reckoned that they'd found her one for £350 but it turned out to be "the wrong one".
There can't be that many variations. Can there?
All help appreciated.
I'll try and get some more details as to why the replacement she found was "unsuitable"
Read more
This company called Guy Davies claims to be Audi/VW specialists, and do recon engines etc. I cannot vouch for them though, as do I not know if theyre expensive, but worth a call?
01274 855 058
Is a council responsible for gritting roads and pavements?
Given that they are not, are they liable for people slipping on ice on pavements? In the same way they are if they tripped over an uneven kerb stone. Even if someone slips on a banana skin the council pays compensation....so why not ice?
Thanks Read more
I'm aware that the HA is separate from the council but using Google the first report I found (admittedly from 2003) states:
"Stockport Council claimed to have handled the situation well.
Gritters had been out since Monday lunchtime, spreading between 300 and 350 tonnes of grit onto the roads at an estimated cost of £20,000.
Councillor Eric Pyle, executive member for infrastructure, said: ?We received information that we could expect a temporary accumulation of sleet and snow so we started gritting from Monday lunchtime.
?Gritters started on the main A-class roads and then moved on to the B and C-class roads.
?We had five gritters working throughout the night and members of our street cleaning and ground maintenance departments took part in hand gritting of footpaths, shopping centres, schools, old people?s homes and car parks.?
Another, for Sheffield, states:
"Sheffield City Council?s gritters will be out in force tonight laying over 550 tonnes of grit in preparation for expected snow.
"Every main road will be gritted before midnight and all secondary routes will be gritted before the morning peak. They will be working throughout the night and extra gritting crews will be starting at 6am."
You will be aware that Stockport is quite a large city yet still has enough salt (based on your city's figure of 40,000 tonnes), to operate approximately 120 times before needing to restock..:-)
Sheffield is even larger yet has enough for more than 70 nights (perhaps necessary in view of its location).
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
I've just bought my daughter a 1994 1.4 Golf CL which is minus the hand book. 2 things - The rear light clusters obviously include fog lights but we can't find a switch for these. Someone's going to tell me there aren't any on this model but I thought they have been mandatory for years. Any ideas? Can't see any missing switches either!
Second - there are what look like fog or large side lights on the front fairly low down and again no switches -- I think these front ones may only be cosmetic as the side lights are contained within the headlights.
Sorry to be unclued on Golfs but this is the first one we've had. Read more
Correct regarding the rear fog lights. Same system on curent models.
My Mark 3 Golf GL had the fake blanking covers cum fog lights.
Fog lights were an option even on GL and one cover concealed the tow loop or socket for one IIRC.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
I finally succumbed to the marketing blurb and pulled my A6 TDI 2.5 Quattro alongside the BP Ultimate fuel pumps, 14 litres into the transaction I smelt petrol! The first time in 19 years of driving had I made the mistake of mixing fuels.
A tow, £200 later and two days later I was refueled with the correct diesel grade and on my way, then I began chatting to friends etc. it seems there is a growing army of poor unfortunates like myself that have made an error at the BP Ultimate pump.
BP Customer service maintain that their pumps are correctly branded, my contention is that the pump head was obscured almost entirely by an advert which was identical to the diesel pump head, they use shades of blue to differentiate diesel from petrol and the hanging tag was missing from the unleaded pump handle the grip of which incidentally was black. I have said to them I think pump head advertising is completely pointless and in this case I think directly contributed to me making the error.
BP has written me two letters now and has basically said sorry but they will not pay for any repair concerning fuel mix ups, I think they have too many to deal with.
Is there anybody else out there who has made the same error or thinks that the pumps are too similar? Read more
sorry, machika - you got the wrong end of my stick :-) . I was trying to say that sniffing petrol or diesel was as dangerous as sniffing vinegar - as long as you don't do it 24/7, of course.
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Totally agree, mine also struggles in the cold 0 degrees c and below, to aleviate it i give switch the ignnition on and off 3 times each time letting the glowplug light go out and on the 3rd time a extra 5 seconds before i try and start. This works, with a full throttle it'll catch. Been like this ever since i bought the car and the plugs were changed last year. Starts first time in the warmer months.