November 2005
Just wanted to say, I have a Deawoo Matiz and it keeps cutting out when slowing down, some times its ok, but very unpredictable. Its been in and out of the garage since Feb this year for the same problem, and I have paid out over £300 for it and its still not sorted, and it went back in the garage 'AGAIN' sAT 12/11/05. My car is only four yrs old. Could the problem be (as a neighbour said today) an Idle valve' (for all I know they proberly looked at that)!!
Just want some info or help on this. Read more
My 406 family estate (7 seater) has an annoying (and seemingly untraceable!) "thumping noise", which seems to come from around the rear o/s wheel /wheel arch area.
It only happens at lowish speeds on a particular type of road. It seems to have a "resonance" with certain road surfaces, e.g. slight imperfections in the surface or low relief cobles. Even if I just touch the footbreak at 1mph, there's a "knock" from this area.
The garage chaps have checked all of the external bits - bushes, rear wheel bits & pieces, shocker, exhaust heat shield etc. etc.(it's a deaper "rubber hammer" type knocking than that)but everything is OK.
I've checked the internals - rear facing seat + mounting, spare wheel & tools fixings, side storage boxes etc. etc. and I just can't find anything that is loose or suspect.
Is there a common fault on these cars...it's driving me nuts. Read more
Cheers...I don't know if the Toyota & Peugeot 406 are similar?. If I attempt to replace the tye rods, will I also need special tools e.g. to "hold the remaining assemblies together" or to position the location holes / rods, or is it just a matter of removing nuts as suggested, manhandling the item out & the new one(s) in?
1) Many years ago, when I knew even less about motoring than I do now, older, wiser men counselled that I should have snow tyres for living in the wilds of Scotland. And the advice I was given was to put the snow tyres on the driven(front) wheels.
I now suspect that I was wrongly advised, and that I should have snow tyres on all four wheels. Is this right?
2) At the moment my winter tyres are Gislaved Nord Frost 3 (as recommended on this forum by flat in fifth www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=9690#
If I need 2 more tyres, should I get another 2 of the same? Are they still manufactured? Or should I get something else - like Vredestein? And if Vredestein, do I go for their all year Quatrac tyres - or one of their winter tyres? And if the latter, which of the 6 different winter tyres do I get?
3) Should I put my new winter tyres on the front wheels, or the rear? My Nord Frosts still have 6 or 7mm on them.
3b. And if (hypothetically) I were only to have 2 winter tyres, should they be on the front (driven) wheels, or the rear?
4)And, while I'm asking questions, I understand that ABS is actually a liability when driving in the snow. Is this correct? I ask because one of our cars has ABS, the other doesn't. Should I make it my priority that the car without ABS (a Ford Ka) is the one with winter tyres? Read more
Good call.
The Astra now has a set of 4 newish Continental winter wheels and tyres, bought on eBay for the princely sum of ?50. Am feeling pretty smug about that one.
Goes round slippery corners now!
I've started noticing recently many cars, normally expensive upmarket saloons, with gent's hats on the rear parcel shelf. Not baseball caps but more the type of hat worn when strolling around the polo field or for a day out at Lords or Henley.
It set me thinking is this just a good place to keep it, or is it some kind of strange Masonic signal to others in the society ? Read more
My boss wanted to look upper class so he took to wearing a cheese cutter hat and yellow gloves when he was driving. I don't know whether he used the parcel shelf to park them though.
Hello All,
Does anyone know how to confirm that a post 2000 V70 is a 140 or 170 bhp model,
many thanks
Benno Read more
Thanks SJB, I suppose I was half right.
I'm looking at doing my annual pilgrimage to Sebring Florida for the first sports car race of the American Le Mans season in March. Flights appear to be more expensive than the last few years but I am earlier than usual in looking (maybe there are Xmas sales of flights!).
In the past I've only flown with BA, booked through Air Miles - I have a few left with which I can lighten the cost. This year Virgin are as cheap or cheaper (their prices are also available & discountable through Air Miles, which I don't remember seeing before) so I was wondering whether there is much difference between BA and Virgin?
Read more
Don't worry. Global warming will get you first - You will drown in Liverpool as the sea rises. In fact, have you got an alternative venue for the NW HJ meet? East Lancs road could be impassible by then. Oh no, hang on, this winter is going to be extremely harsh, E Lancs road blocked by 10 foot snowdrifts.
Chicken and bacon pie sounds nice though!!
Phil
**** Thread closed. Discussion continues in Vol 19 ****
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=36938
Now that I've learnt to enjoy it, I can honestly say I'm looking forward to the new series tonight.
{I've now put (hopefully) all the Top Gear related topics into volumes. Hence why this one has been named Vol 18. DD} Read more
The Merc demo was rigged!
www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/29/mercedes_brake_te.../
A failed test of Mercedes' new radar braking system that resulted in a three-car pile-up last week has been exposed as a sham for the benefit of television that went horribly wrong. Mercedes engineers knew the radar technology wouldn't work in the steel warehouse the demo was supposed to take place in but they were bullied into "simulating" the test by AutoBild journalist, Michael Specht, according to reports.
After umpteen attempts to clean the nozzles on my Epson Stylus C40 Plus printer the black still leaves gaps.
Any suggestions, apart from buying a new printer?
--
L\'escargot. Read more
>>Still touching wood though :)>>
You can, if you wish, close anything in the Notification area (XP name for Taskbar) by right clicking on an icon and selecting Close, Exit or whatever whilst using the system.
But it isn't necessary when switching off the system.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
Our Berlingo Multispace has occasional ingress of water (rain) into the front passenger footwell. See
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=34775
and
www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=34757
It's been back to the dealer 3 times, so we took it to another garage. The foreman said something along the lines of "Hmmm - can be very difficult to find the source of leaks. We'll see what we can do, but I can't promise anything."
Well, they tried, but the problem remains. It's definitely not coming in from below, because the carpet is pretty dry underneath the rubber mat.
So I guess we're going to have to live with it and just dry out the car whenever it happens. So the next question is "What is the quickest / easiest / cheapest way to dry out the footwell? The fitted carpets don't remove in a Berlingo, so far as I can see, so I can't just take them out and dry them. Read more
Stuart, I don't think these cars have the same problem as mine. Ours doesn't have a modutop (like 2nd link), or air-con (like first link).
Unless what you mean is that leakiness in Citroens is a known problem!
I'm considering purchasing sat nav, but I will be honest I know nothing about the different types available,its all foreign to me! It seems companies everywhere are offering sat nav for what seems a reasonable price. But I dont want to spend £200+ and find out I have bought a poor choice. My budget is £250 max can anybody offer me some advice (i'm sure lots of people on here can!) and remember keep it simple (sat nav for idiots!)
Thanks in advance
Rich
p.s my car is a 2005 Ford Ka if that has any bearing on what sat nav system i can or can't have. Read more
Hmmm-having looked into these cheaper Garmins they are not the same spec as the one I got from Maplins,no POI,favouites or ability to import speed camera database.No mention of a USB cable either(which will be why mine has 'bonus cable enclosed' on the bag)so no way to update the firmware to get these features.
The Navman cannot be connected to a PC either.
Browse
You have got the car back with some sort of a 'fix' on it but has it worked? You say "If it still cuts out"; does it or doesn't it ie is it fixed or not? I see what you say about risking it in the cold weather! Next time you put it in for anything (if you don't get shot of it) give written instructions for "Investigation and rectification of ????? fault), then if it isn't fixed you are in a good position not to pay until it is. It may not make the bill any smaller though, I am afraid!