December 2005
Hi. I have a 97 Mondeo TD 1.8.
I've not owned a diesel before so I dont know a great deal about them.
My car, for a 1.8 TD, feels sluggish (like no real power for a 1.8 td).
When I've had 1.8 or 2.0L petrol cars before thay are much faster.
Is this normal on a older TD, or might there be a problem?
If so, whats the most common thing on the Mondeo TD like this and how do I get the power back?
Cheers. Read more
I suppose this issue could apply to a number of car manufacturers but it particularly applies to Citroen main dealers. I saw a 54 reg C5 VTR, yesterday, at availablecar.com. It was awaiting preparation prior to being put on view but it did have a price card in the front window, which said £9999. The car had covered around 8K and was in pristine condition, so I thought I would have a look on Autotrader and the Citroen UK site, to see how the price compared with listings on these two sites. I am constantly amazed at the prices being asked for used C5s by Citroen main dealers. Anybody can soon find out that C5s can be had with massive discounts when purchased from new, yet there are many instances of 05 reg C5s being offered for more than a new one can be had for on drivethedeal.com.
I found one 110 bhp VTR, registered in October 2004, being offered for £14995, which is a ridiculous price, when a new 138 bhp version can be had for under £14K. Another example was a June 2005 2.2 HDI Exclusive Auto, for £19995.
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Machika,
you can argue away, your " I wouldnt do it "
- is still missing the point.
I am not missing the point, I just don't understand why anyone would pay over the odds for a car (or any commodity) when main dealers don't, by and large, have a wonderful reputation for after sales service. I know that people continue to do it and not so long ago they didn't have much choice. The well publicised media coverage, in recent years, of the inflated prices that UK customers were having to pay for cars just can't have gone unnoticed by the majority of the public. It wasn't just in newspapers it was on television too. So, if a person is willing to pay thousands of pounds in excess of what they need to do, just what do they get back that is worth so much money?
Almost twelve years ago, I paid more for new Xantia TD than I need pay now for a new C5 HDI. I thought I was getting good value for money then but obviously, I didn't. The return from the main dealer in added value just hasn't been there.
I have a noisy 1.8 TS 1999 - very rattly under 2000 revs. No performance problems, leaks or other nasties, just very noisy! The noise comes from the general area of the timing belt cover. (I have read that over time the variable valve timing mechanism can become worn, but I'm not sure what the symptoms are, and I'm fairly sure that loss of power would be one of them - I have no perceivable loss of power). What's a likely diagnosis and fix??
Thanks in advance - Rich Read more
Perfect! I'm off to the parts shop....PS - could I change the part easily myself???
called in to see my mum earlier this week for the first time in a while. Foudn out that she'd had her car stolen.
She'd driven out of the garage, got out of the car to shut the garage door and by the time she'd turned roudn the car was being driven away.
It was found the following morning with no damage, less than a mile from her home.
So who would steal a cityrover?
PS, I had no choice in the car, I even did my utmost to prevent her buyign it!
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I read often, only post occasionally Read more
Next to it was an 04 CityRover for £4,995...
Motorpoint are selling new (in a fairly loose sense of the word) ones for £3999!
I just paid £33 for 5 litres of Total '9000' 5w/40 oil. Can anyone beat that? Read more
As a mean Scot who spent some time purchasing, I only buy expensive things like synthetic oil when on offer and then I buy enough to last 12 months.
We buy marmalade and teabags on a similar basis (but only 3 months stock) plus toilet rolls/other staples that keep: when discounted at least 40%. Not to mention the essentials of life: lager, gin, gin, gin and wine. Did I meantion gin?
If you can afford it and have the space it can reduce living costs significantly.
Inventory control and stock rotation is required. Gin for example detriorates when kept too long in the bottle so must be drunk fairly quickly.. or so I say to SWMBO:-)
madf
engine management light keeps coming on
first trip to garage resulted in a list of faults as long as your arm, ie knackered immob (car starts fine), sensors, exhaust, etc. so took it to another garage, to be plugged into the computer, and it came up with faulty oxygen sensor. had this replaced, management light came back on again after 3wks. took it back to the garage, showed faulty air meter, but they 'flushed the system??' and the light went out. told me to bring it back if the light came on again. next day, light back on, they say air meter needs replacing
do i really need all these repairs, or is there an electrical fault giving false engine management readings? both garages i visited said there was water in something, they dried it off, gave them a squirt of something, and hey presto, the light goes out for a couple of days
the exhaust does sound a bit rattly at times, but not what i would call blowing. although today, when i stopped the car there was a strong smell of petrol in the air.
also the oil light comes on if a go round one particular sharp bend near my house, but nowhere else.
could all these things be related?
its got no obvious loss in performance, and its not drinking petrol, i just feel im having to spend out, when im not even sure, if the work they are doing, is the right thing. can mechanics not work out what a fault is, unless the computer tells them so, anymore?
tia flea
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It was probably the air mass meter in the first place. Because it was giving a plausible but flawed signal to the ECU the diagnostics dont see that as a problem then because the O2 sensor is banging permanently against its stop trying to correct the fueling THAT shows up as the fault.Sounds like you have very low oil level.
Andrew
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Simplicate and add lightness!!
I still got a vauxhall astra 1.4 94 model, 60 bhp high torque model, i was waiting at the lights, with the engine running, and the engine stopped, it wouldnt start, the starter motor turns but the engine does not fire up, the ign light and oil light up, when the engine stopped, after 5 mins of coaxing it started, this fault happens rarely, it also happened a week ago, any ideas.. thanks for your input Read more
will do and let you know, thought it be electrical went to the garage and told them of the fault and would it be possible to cure it by crypton tuning it, the garage man said if the fault is not present i am wasting my money just to check it as he says after 94 the ecu does tuning
hi looking into starting my own servicing company and wondered wat you all thought of the idea, basically 3 service levels, 6 month, annual and 3 year and they go as follows
6 month, approx cost £40 plus any extra parts
oil/filter change
levels check
tyres/pressures check
coolant level check
brake/discs check
rad fan check
spark plug/glow plug check
annual service, approx cost £70
as 6 month service plus
brake pads/shoes changed
air filter changed
fuel filter changed
compression test
valve clearences checked
exhaust checked
electrics/mot test items checked
spark plugs/glow plugs changed
3 year service, approx cost £250-300
as annual service plus
brake discs changed
coolant change
cambelt/tensioners changed
fanbelt changed
headgasket, head decoked
waterpump changed
gearbox oil changed
bushes/rubbers mechanical components checked
can anyone spot anything glaringly obvious i missed or have an opinion on the idea are the costs right or to expensive obviously things will differ car to car and the timings for services aren't fixed but ive always ran my cars by the above and they've been great and haven't ever suffered a major mechanical failure
cheers
chris
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Seems like a service schedule from 20 years ago...I wouldn't want my glowplugs touched unless there was a problem !
I took my car for it's 1st MOT test today. I knew it was going to fail because they like to fleece me.This time it was the back brakes.So I said I would take away the car to get it sorted, but they told me under the new law if I took it away I would have to pay another £44.15 for a full re-test.
So £80.00 later for back brake discs which were done at the garage in question and £44.15 for MOT, I'm broke.
I don't understand why we Brits are letting the govt take us for a ride like this. Surely a new car doesn't need an MOT for at least 4 - 5 years and a car under 10 years should only have an MOT done every 2 years. What is the history of the MOT test? ie. who was the bright spark that gave garages a licence to fleece people and when are they going to change this and what do other countries in Europe do ????
cheers chaps....
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Some useful links regarding MOTs:
www.motuk.co.uk/manual/mc_contents.htm (motorbikes and side cars) and www.motuk.co.uk/manual/contents.htm )cars)
www.motester.co.uk/
www.ukmot.com/malcolm.asp
MOT failures:
"My MOT has expired but I have to drive the vehicle to a garage.
"You are permitted to drive a vehicle with an expired MOT to a garage where you have a pre-arranged MOT appointment. If the vehicle fails the MOT you may NOT then drive the vehicle back home."
(www.askthe.police.uk/content/default.mth )
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What's for you won't pass you by
I accidentally knocked my mug of coffee over and some of it went on one of SWMBO's cream coloured Persian rugs. I have tried cleaning it off with some warm water and although it's better, it still shows. She's away for the weekend so I have a couple of days before I'm in the dog house. What should I use on these rugs? I am reluctant to use anything that might harm the fibres. Read more
I'm going to have to speak to the mods about him copying my ideas... :P
Browse
No one has messed with it to pass an mot. I took it about a month ago and it failed on one small problem that was soon fix.
There is another problem with the car (whether this has anything to do with it i've no idea.)
When you start to car you have to leave it running 5-10 minutes to warm up as it will not go into 2nd gear while the car is moving. Once it warms up it slides into gear as it should.
(I'm making my car sound a right bucket:-)