January 2006
I am planning a trip back to France since my Renault will soon need its 18K service so I thought I would combine it with a holiday and see family etc.
Now that P&O have pulled out of Portsmouth to Le Havre, I was wondering what the ldlines operator were like with their one service a day. Otherwise I was thinking of driving over to Dover and going on Sea France or even the tunnel. Read more
Hi all,
how do you tell if the tensioner's gone ? I've got a noise from timing belt cover, but all looks ok with cover off.( Tensioner is at the far left of the indicators)
If it's the water pump, how is it best to tell & do I do the belt kit as well?
Pete Read more
Thanks a lot oldman,
I have one concern though. I'm trying to set it at TDC ( it's a DOHC ) Should the left side cam say intake & the right side say exhaust ? I'm a bit concerned that the tensioner's gone & the belt's slipped. Anyone know of a pic anywhere? Just to be really sure.
Cheers,
Pete
Hi i was looking at buy a ford, new style radio/cd 6000 FD with centre control, But i dont know if it will fit into my car
i have a ford focus 2001 model and at the momment i have a ford 4000 in there
Can any one help pleases Read more
SWMBO got a 2001 Focus with the RDS/cassette - bought a 6006 for £140 (350 rrp) from Ebay, and it slotted straight in. Advantage of a 6006 is that it holds 6 CDs in the unit - no need for a remote CD changer.
Finally got a pay-out from my insurers, and have found a nice 99 T-plate 1.6 GLXi, with Alloys & Air-Con, for £2.1K, which seems good for a 53K car. Engine same as my Beetle 1.6, the 100bhp one, so I know what to look for there - anything else go wrong on these as a whole I should look for ? Already noted slight leak in boot, which my local Skoda dealer says is a £100 rear-light fault to fix .... Read more
Apart from a new turbo at 25000 miles, my tdi has been fine over almost 2 years. Check electric mirrors and central locking all works ok. Drove a friend's 1.6 and it was very refined and quick enough for most people.
.......apart from looking the Bee's knees of course. Having now owned a new car with them fitted as standard and with a sensible tyre/wheel ratio i.e. not 'low profile', I was wondering whether I would go for a car/model again, that fitted them as standard. Mind you it may become almost impossible in a few years time to get a new car that hasn't got them throughout the range in question.
Apart from looks and their benefit, no doubt, in reducing the unsprung weight of each suspension unit, are they not a damned nuisance to maintain, to keep free from corrosion and make it a necessity to avoid any 'kerbing' no matter how slight this might be. They are troublesome to clean and attract so much brake dust due to their open structure and add quite some time to the pleasure/chore of car cleaning
I have to admit that I love the look of mine, shod with their 195/65 'sensible' tyres but cannot stand those cars whose wheel arches are filled largely with 'Alloy' to which is attached a small bead of rubber - seems quite absurd to me, apart from the awful ride characteristics they impart.
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Fascinating thread this, I predicted what it would be like before I read it, now, having read 57 replies, I see I wasn't in the slightest bit wrong. :-)
My two penneth is that they look nice, make my car drive with more of an edge (mine are of the skinny tyre variety), and I can afford them so I'll be damned if I'm going to let some dull practical considerations get in the way of me getting what I want. They may kerb more easily than wheel trims, (ok then, MUCH more easily:) but I don't really care, if and when they get too bad I'll just have them re-furbished at a small cost that I can afford anyway.
Blue
Ok, so I'm not big on Fiat - never have been, but my friend has offered me his 2003 1.6d Stilo Multiwagon, with 80k on the clock.
It's a nice car, very spacious, practical, sat nav, CD, electics and all the toys. I'm going to take it but wondered how much it might actually be worth, as I'd like to offer him the value for it.
Does anyone know of an online buyers guide that is free, or be able to estimate a price based on being 2.5 years old, and having done 80k miles?
Any help is much appreciated.
Thank you Read more
Well, in the absence of Glass's or Black Book (Trade guides), I've often found www.whatcar.co.uk closer to the truth than Parkers.
Assuming the car is an 03 2003 1.9 JTD (80bhp) Activ 5dr Multiwagon, the prices they give are:
Dealer £1,595
Private £1,045
Part exchange £795
Trade £645
This seems ridiculously cheap! I tried again with the details for an 53 2004 1.9 JTD (115bhp) Dynamic 5dr Multiwagon, which produced the more realistic sounding:
Dealer £7,195
Private £6,545
Part exchange £6,245
Trade £6,045
Cost new £14,150
Have another look at what exact year and spec the car is, and try it yourself, as well as Parkers by way of comparison. You'll also find a look at what people are asking for them on Autotrader is useful.
Hope this helps.
It keeps going off for no reason, but especially in wind. It has no in-cabin sensors and no apparent way of de-sensitising it. I'd disable it but the fuse is common to the central locking & deadlocks and there doesn't seem to be a separate relay. The battery is on its way out but still starts the car ok. Any ideas?
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Most Fords of that age did not use the courtesy light switch to trigger the alarm;there was usually a microswitch(green or blue)in the lock assembly on the door.To test the switches,open the bonnet,and push down the bonnet switch repeatedly-after a few pushes the alarm horn will sound as you operate the switch-opening each door should also trigger the alarm.To exit diagnostic mode,close the bonnet and start the car in the normal way.
I have recently purchased a BMW 525i auto as a bit of a project. Problem is it drives as though its stuck in one gear (3rd I think) and is very slow on pick-up and sounds as though the automatic clutch is slipping. Also the wee message display below the speedo reads TRANS something and to refer to the owners manual... very handy... if you actually have one!!
Anyone any ideas?? All help gratefully received. Cheers Stoo! Read more
Further my earlier post, something rang a bell and I found this site. May help you solve your problem at not too much expense.
www.bmwe34.net/e34main/trouble/transprogram.asp
I have booked my mother-in-law's 1998 Felicia 1.3i into National tyres for an oil change tomorrow. It was last changed last summer when she had it serviced, the oil looks clean enough. It is only a basic engine, should I tell her to put their multigrade or their sem-synthetic oil in??? Read more
The oil needs to meet VW501.01, should be a 10w-40 or 15w-40 semi-synthetic.
Cheers
Simon
I'm thinking about buying one of these, and I noticed that the Car-By-Car breakdown mentions a dealer TSB to replace the clutch.
What does this mean? Will Audi pay for this? Should I avoid cars that haven't had this done?
Thanks
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My brother in law had the same clutch problem in his.The car was a company car, although the work was done under warranty.Apart from that fault,he loved the car.
Browse
...if you struggled with Boulogne, do NOT use Norfolk Lines. Dunkirk is a nightmare...