January 2006
Help ! Friday lunchtime I was heading out of London from the St Margarets roundabout. I was the only car at the time as I approached the next set of ( temporary ?) lights. They appeared not to be on. As I got very close I saw the top light go red. (these lights have diffusers on them that point downwards ). I retraced my steps and on the second approach they still did not appear to be on until I was very close ( I was not going quickly on either occasion ). The lights have small black triangular loudspeaker-like "boxes" mounted above them. Are they sensors or cameras? I know there is virtually no defense against going through a red light - but if one could see they were operational to start with it would help!! Any advice/comments welcome.... Read more
The saga continues... See my earlier problems!
After my new cylinder head (approx 25k) the car ran fine (zero oil consumption) until 60k miles, then it all started again - Oil consumption shot too 1ltr/600miles. Engine mis-fire, sluggish response etc etc
Audi reported that they could not find any problems (They had the vehicle every week for 5 weeks, each time I had it back it would mis-fire within a day!!)
On my last collection the vehicle lasted sub 100 miles when it developed a massive mis-fire and would not re-start. The Audi dealership that recovered my vehicle has now admitted a Valve Stem Seal issue with this type of engine AND the first cylinder head replacement was TOO EARLY to have the fix. My second head in going this week!!! Also - Audi have stopped production with this type of engine BUT have kept the brand name due to image (So new vehicles maybe ok)!!
IF you have one of these DO NOT ACCEPT high oil consumption as normal!!! It will lead to an overheat of the ignition coils, spark plugs, EGR valve and ultimately the exhaust valves!!!
Second hand - avoid them totally as the cost for all the above AND a contaminated CAT would not be worth the hassle!!!
Good luck - My next car will be a Diesel and NOT an Audi one at that!! Read more
PD has effectively a seperate pump for each injector, CR is
much more logical. Also that fact that these pumps are driven
off the camshafts therefore the cambelt takes extra load, not ideal
when cambelts are one of the weakest links in a modern
engine, much better to have a seperate drive.
This is true in principle, hiowever there have been tons of problems with CR systems on almost all manufacturers engines, even BMW. I'm a big fan of the VaG PD diesel engine and will agree that whilst by todays standards the PD unit is not as quiet as some of the latest CR engines, it still gives just about nay diesel of equivalent capacity a good run for its money in the efficiency stakes. A lot of the people I know who drive the latest CR engined cars still struggle to get the MPG I get from my VaG PD engined car.
Got the V5 back on a car I bought three weeks ago.
Following errors:
The previous keeper is the guy before the one I bought it from, date also the date the previous person bought it.
Former keepers number is one too low
I'm shown as the current keeper, but the date acquired shown is the date the guy who sold it to me bought it...
Ring DVLA and the blinking computerised phone says I've got to mark the errors, send it back (at my cost) etc.
Anyone else had this many (or more) mistakes on a V5? Read more
Ring DVLA and the blinking computerised phone
I saw a TV programme yesterday (Richard Hammond's 5 O'clock Show?) in which someone proved that if you press 0 followed by # a few times after you have listened to the first part of the recorded message it confuses the computer and you quickly get connected to a real person. You may have to repeat the process if it doesn't work the first time and you then get another bit of recorded message.
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L\'escargot.
I recently bought a 1997 Nissan Micra with an odd/incomplete set of locks.
I can get a complete set from a scrapyard for £50.
However I've been told that I can't change the steering lock as my ignition key (about 2cm long with a red spot on it) contains a micro-chip with a unique code that controls the immobiliser.
Does anybody know if this is true? If it is then is there any easy way to fit the new ignition lock and just use the one key? Read more
yes it should have a pats chip in it
the lock set youve bought?buying may also have the red chip
in it? if that is the case then you could try
swapping the chips?
Thanks - do you know if the chip is behind the red-panel in the key? Also is it possible to get it out without breaking it?
Personally i would dab the ignition key already in
use with some red paint and use the other key for
all the other locks
Is it possible that the chip in the 'door' key could interfere the ignition?
Anyone out there tried to change the auxilliary (serpentine) belt on an '02 Scenic dci with air-con.
A friend had a garage fit the above belt which a few days later decided to throw itself off the pulleys. Upon looking, it appears the belt was fitted one ridge misaligned over the pulley flange/tensioner as one rib had seperated from the belt and then caused the whole belt to jump and wind itself around the crank pulley - all this at motorway speeds. Luckily it didn't damage cambelt covers otherwise he would have been looking at a snapped cambelt.
Anyway, a new belt has been sourced but I have just one question. How does one compress the belt tensioner as there is no 'wind back' mechanism. It's just a shaft with a very strong spring and a hollow jockey wheel at the end and two mounting bolts at the other?
I am sure that new tensioners are supplied pre-compressed with a strap but what if the belt needs to be removed to make way for any other engine repair?
Andrew Read more
A friend has just had a replacement engine fitted in his 1995 Rover 220 Coupe (NON turbo) but cannot get it to fire up and run. The engine is in working order and saw it running before fitment but after being installed, it will crank over but not fire. The ignition coil has been checked and is okay with 12 volts supply and correct resistance on primary/secondary but there is no HT output as the coil doesn't appear to be being switched. I gather that this engine has a crank position sensor but am not sure where it is located as I know that some engines use a sensor in distributor to tell ECU the firing TDC position.
Anyone out there experienced similar problems on this model or anything else that could cause non-starting? (The immobiliser is also working correctly).
Andrew
Read more
The story is that the engine was fitted by a friend of the owner but after the car wouldn't start, said car was towed to owners house where it now sits. Engine was from an exact match - even down to the spec and year.
The cut off switch on this particular model is behind the center console in the passenger compartment. Have checked to see if this had triggered but it had not. Going to have a look at the crank sensor now following the advice.
Many thanks,
Andrew
Today the Detroit Auto Show opens and Andrew English has 2 interesting articles in today's Daily Telegraph Business Section.
www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/20...l
www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/20...l
His comments about the possible closure of Jaguar in Coventry after large losses makes an interesting point for discussion.
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Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
Read more
Looking for a bit of advise. Thinking of changing girlfriends 214si for either of the above as she has now tripled her commute distance and will be doing at least 25K a year.
Now, do I (1) keep current car with 110K for another 3 years and pay for any repairs should they need doing
(2) buy something I have always wanted - Alfa 147 Tspark thats a couple of years old. Reliability and cost of repairs a drawback?
or
(3) buy a new/6 month old new shape 25TD (think ZR version is too expensive) for the same cost as the Alfa.
Am really looking to ensure she will get to work and back reliably (90% motorway) and for as little expense over 4 years as possible - will depreciation be cheaper that fixing things on the old 214 as they come up??
Any advise/opinions really appreciated
Thanks in advance Read more
done some sums and decided to keep the car and hopefully get a couple of more years out of it - with servicing and depreciation on a new car a lot has got to go wrong before I break even let alone any unforseen costs on the new one - in theory should make a heafty profit as 40 miles a day will be claimed on expenses at 38p a mile for the first 12 months and 12p after that!
Will keep the oil fresh and give it its annual clean and see how long it will last!! hopefully wont have to post too often in technical!
Hi Folks,
Got a bit of a weird one for you to chew over. I'm having problems with the central locking on my polo (vacuum type without deadlocks).
When it's very frosty, the pump etc. works and the rear doors, boot and fuel flap unlock ok, but the drivers and passenger doors don't unlock properly.
The buttons lift, but the handles (outside and inside) have no effect. Repeatedly opening & closing doesn;t seem to make a difference, the only thing that does is when the car is warmed up or it's not frosty.
Has anyone seen this before? and if so what's the fix? It's a tad embarrasing having to get in and out via the back door :-)
Thanks for any pointers.
Neil. Read more
Until very recently I never knew that Polos had vacuum locking so I am by no means an expert, but laterally thinking, is there any chance that condensate could get into the tubing?
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One mans junk is another mans treasure
My Honda decided to drop it's guts over the road last week, I did not have a clue as to what it was, so took it to our local independent (whose workshop is cleaner then any main dealers I have been to) and he has just told me it was the oil seal at the end of the crank (common fault on this engine, also fitted to rover). Now the engine has 180k on the clock and costs us next to nothing each year, so I am going to spend the £270 to get it done, this includes what amounts to a service as well as the oil seal and drive belts being replaced - I happen to think this is a good price but if anyone thinks this is overcharging I would be glad to hear from them. ;o) Read more
you do if they have 4ws trust me
What makes you say that? I have to say that this is the most reliable car that I have ever used/owned - Will be looking at getting another Honda when finances allow, based on the expierances of owning this one.
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>>Adam {P} Thank you for your quick response. May I ask the basis for your very confident answer ? Less worried than before...<<
A nasty experience with a red light camera and furious research preparing my court case despite never getting a ticket through the door!