December 2005
From that date the EU countries start sharing vehicle registration information;so your parking/speeding fines etc. will catch up with you. Read more
I bought a Sept 2004 (54 Reg) vectra 1.8 estate a couple of months ago. Having checked the service guide, it suggests that a maximum interval of 2 years or 20,000 miles - or when the on board computer tells you. At the moment, the car has done 12,000 miles and the computer says that it will need a serice in 7,000.
Having checked the vauxhall website, and asked my local dealer, they are saying that the service interval is 1 year or 20,000 miles.
The car has not had a servcie yet, except the network Q checks. Does anybody know of what would be the correct service interval for the car?
many thanks in advance.... Read more
If it were mine it would have an oil and filter change every 6000 miles. I dont buy into this 'fleet manager' service interval con.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
In the latest Jan. 2006 Evo magazine, there is an article on comparison tests on 8 different brands of petrol, including supermarket fuels. They used a Golf GTI and a BMW M5 and did rolling road tests to get power/torque figures, and on-road "driving feel" tests.
Makes quite interesting reading. I know they did a similar thing on Fifth Gear recently, but I missed it.
Has anyone seen a similar tests to these conducted on diesel fuels, I would like to see if they get similar findings?
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Correct me if i'm worng, but isnt' optimax 98Ron and BP ultimate only 97?!
I've done a few searches but didnt come up with much.
Do modern diesels engines have an adaptable engine management system, that can adapt to the cetane rating of the fuel in the tank?
Will a higher cetane diesel fuel only give performance and/or economy benefits, if the engine is able to adapt to it?
If so, when was this technology introduced?
Cheers,
Rich. Read more
No.
Hi all.
I was going to change my alternator belt soon, mainly as a precautionary measure, because it can be noisy sometimes and after 12 years and 109000 miles of use I thought it might be a wise idea. The belt looks OK (the odd whisker of outer webbing seems to be occasionally visible) but, just like cam-belts, you can't really go off how it looks.
Thing is, it always seems to be a part that goes unnoticed. You never seem to hear of many breaking, and people seemingly never change them.
How long can you reasonable expect a one to last and am I being a bit premature about its replacement? I was thinking along the lines, 'prevention is better than cure' especially for the sake of a £3.50 bit of rubber!
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The belts from Halfords are good quality, I've used them on VW's.
Just renewed the car tax using the excellent DVLA web site. Slight change this year as they now allow you to use credit cards as well as debit cards. However, they charge you an extra £2.50 for the privilege of using a credit card, so be warned! Yet another motoring rip-off. Read more
Just renewed the car tax using the excellent DVLA web site.
Slight change this year as they now allow you to use
credit cards as well as debit cards. However, they charge you
an extra £2.50 for the privilege of using a credit card,
so be warned! Yet another motoring rip-off.
Why is it a rip off? Credit Card companies charge the DVLA so they pass the charge onto you. Same happens in IKEA.
Fair enough innit?
Hi john
I am having problems starting this vehicle, we changed the steering lock and had to have the new key programmed. Initially after doing this sometimes the car would not start, but after a few days it was o.k
The problem I have got now is that when you turn the engine it tries to start and then when you accelerate it cuts off. Someone has suggested it could be an electrical relay issue. There is plenty of diesel in the car. The heater light does tend to go off after a few seconds and then comes back on agan.
Could it be a fuel pump problem.please advise.
.
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The heater light doubles up as the Malfunction Indicator Light (MIL) showing that there is a fault logged on the self diagnosis function of the Engine management controller. Most scantools cover VEG comprehensively so your local independent should be able to ar least get the fault code out.Would agree on the main relay suggestion or maybe an immobiliser issue. Common failing is the reader coil around the ignition switch.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
406 LX 1.8 estate. When I try and start the car cold with no throttle it fires and dies, the same happens when I use a little throttle. When it eventually does start and try to accelerate it also stalls. I have to leave the car running for a minute before pulling away otherwiae the engine stalls. The car runs fine when warm. Any ideas? Read more
did you ever sort the problem out with your 406. mine is doing the same.
A general brakes question, not to do with my own car (despite a brake thread a few days ago. ;-)
The hydraulic disc brakes on my mountain bike can use either Dot 4 or Dot 5.1 fluid. At the moment they're actually running on a mixture of both as I bled them a few weeks ago.
Apparently, Dot 5.1 is non-hydroscopic (if that's the word). So, if cars used this, would that eliminate the need for 2-yearly brake fluid changes?
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The properties considered for brake fluid are
1. Dry boiling point
2. Wet boiling point
3. Kinematic viscosity (how thick the fluid is, with lower generally considered better for flow)
4. pH value (measure of acidity, with higher generally considered better for corrosion resistance)
5. Chemical stability
6. Corrosion
7. Fluidity and appearance at low temperature
8. Evaporation
9. Water tolerance
10. Compatibility
11. Resistance to oxidation
12. Effects on rubber
13. Stroking properties (lubrication capability)
14. Fluid color
Re the link, one aspect of pad fade is that at high temps the organic material in a pad produces gas and the pad will eventually ride on this film of gas, hence holes and grooves to delay this effect.
Hi all,
Bit of a dilema. A while back I noticed that my front right tyre seemed to have worn more than the left and made a note to keep my eye on it. (Plenty of life left on it).
However, twice today, the car has momentarily scrabbled for grip at the front. Now you're probably going to say exactly what my Dad said in as much that "it's greasy and wet outside". But I know my car and what you can get away with and I certainly wasn't pushing it. I've checked the tyre again and whilst nowhere near illegal, (it looks fine until you look at it in relation to the other one) I've decided to replace it.
Here is my dilema. The front left looks brand new. I really don't want to replace both but if I have to I will. The new front left tyre will be the same as the front right that's on as the tyre place only do Firestones.
Question - if I want optimum grip and safety, do I need to replace both or can I get away with just the one? I don't want to be a cheapskate when it comes to tyres but if I don't need to, I don't want to replace both.
Any advice would be gratefully received.
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>>You're learning what I eventually learnt - Dad's know best!!<<
Ssshhhh!! He might hear you!
Browse
Except that's the Bill of Rights as passed in 1689, not as it stands now. One part of it was repealed in the mid-90s, to allow Jonathan Aitken to fight (with "sword of truth! ahem) his libel case against The Guardian newspaper: the bit which says "That the freedom of speech and debates or proceedings in Parliament ought not to be impeached or questioned in any court or place out of Parliament".
I dunno how much else was repealed, but here's an intersting exercise. Next time you are in your county library, ask to be shown to the shelves containing a legal publication calle "Statutes in force". It's a huge, multi-volume thing (20+ thick volumes), and it contains a copy of every statute in force, as amended.
Look for Magna Carta: pretty much all of it has been repealed, mostly during the 19th century. I don't recall checking to see how much of the Bill of Rights has been repealed, but these days the Human Rights Act 1998 is much more relevant to most people