January 2006
What do you guys reckon makes the best buy (as an everyday car, therefore all-rounder) for under £1.5k? I think my bet would go to the Megane. I only ask as a friend who recently passed her test is looking at cars up to £1.5k. Read more
Hi, a belated Happy Christmas and an Excellent New Year to one and all.
I?m hoping that someone may be able to give me the present of a working motor?
Symptoms : Starts and ticks over OK, no oil in the water or vice versa. When revved, engine note goes flat, smoke appears at the rear of the block (smells like oil fumes), coughs and stops. Unable to find exactly where fumes are from but looks to be in the direction of the EGR valve?
The odd thing is that it will run OK for a short time then it?s as if something is letting go of pressure. That?s when the above happens?
Any ideas? Please !!!
Another quick question too if I may... There is what is described (in Haynes) as a cut off valve on the right side on the engine bay to the left of the power steering fluid reservoir. If you remove the air hoses, would you normally expect steam to and a gurgling noise to come out..?
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As it happens, I did smack the cat conv on a rock... Was following directions from my Tom Tom... went for the shortest route instead of the fastest... Baad mistake.
I will have that part of the exhasut replaced and I'll post the results...
Many thanks.
My rover 216si S plate has just started to not give any heat out of the heaters. I thought that it might have been a dodgey thermastat but i have changed that and its still the same. I dont know what it might be any ideas.
Andy Read more
cheers i will try that tomorrow and let you know how i get on
What do you reckon the above car?
I've found one today with 44k on the clock for just over a grand (with alloys).
Does this sound like a decent buy? It's to replace my 1995 Fiesta Sapphire 1.1 which had 45,500 on it when it was written off 3 weeks ago...
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rust!
madf
Anyone have problems with their Focus screen washer pump freezing up recently? Where I live we had a temperature of minus 7C.I had never had this problem with other cars I have owned. The pump on a Focus is inside the bottom of the near side wing so it receives no heat from the engine. The moral is to use neat screen wash fluid during cold spells. I thought that the pump had burnt out because it would not even make a noise. However the ice was in the impellor and it would not turn, so be warned. Check the pump before buying a new one! Read more
Cheers for the info,i had the same problem yesterday,thought i had ran dry so topped up tried the pump,nothing,no noise at all i thought the pump had gone.
had a look on the website and saw your thread,added some warm water to the bottle and the pump was good as new.quickest fix so far.Thanks again
Just had a scary experience in my 2002 Focus TDDI. I came up at lowish speed to a T junction and pressing the brake pedal only resulted in a crunch, and lots of grinding noises.
Limped the car home, stripped the brakes down to find one pad on one side had completely lost its friction material!
Now, I regularly service (over-service generally!) my cars and I put these Ferrodo pads (a top brand) on with OE Ford discs about 18 months ago, and by all appearance they are approx. 50% worn. The opposite side is perfect apart from the normal wear. I don't drive or brake aggresively at all.
The car stood for about 4 days when we had the 'heavy' snow but apart from that can anyone guess what caused a pretty unusual failure?
I've just put Ford pads and Halfords discs on now - bit wary though!
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I agree with the regular servicing - I generally change pads when they are half worn or 2 years old whichever happens first.
Ironically I checked the pads a couple of weeks before to see what was left and all seemed good. I don't scrimp on brakes as its not worth the 'saving'
The fact the opposite side was in perfect order suggests an unlucky failure - or lucky for me I wasn't going faster!
Noticed today that all the cars have disappeared from the depot off the M18 between Goole and Doncaster. That's a lot of cars to move - have Jamjar gone bust or something? Read more
and not forgetting Coutts (The Queens Bankers)
Hi all,
Finally made the switch: the Leon went today for £8.5k, picked up my new MG BGT. She's a 1971, chrome bumper in tartan red (not a V8 though- couldn't afford a nice one). Great condition and sounds fantastic. Well chuffed, I am.
Happy new year to one and all.
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner. Read more
I lusted after my uncles
BGT in the '70s, until the clutch caught fire one snowy
night between Ashington and Newcastle.
Fame at last! A car that seemingly didn't want to leave Ashington? Unbelievable.
I'm sure you'll enjoy your classic motoring. I think more and more people are getting older cars, and are using them more regularly. I read a recent article in Practical Classics about a man who turned down a company car for a Capri 'Laser' which would take its place.
Have a ford ka 2002 which produces a knocking noise from front suspension when going over bumps, i have checked the lower arm and bushes also checked the roll bar bushes all seem ok,the only thing i have noticed is that when the car is sat on stands i have a lot of vertical lift on the struts where there seems to be a lot of free play at the top mounting, is this normal?.
Would appreciate any help.Thanks. Read more
Thanks very much for your reply, i did suspect that it was a problem just did`nt want do all the stripping out as both sides need doing, I`ll put me overalls back on!Thanks again, Whitey.
My 2003 Golf 1.6se squeaks on start up, its like a squeaky wheel going round where only one half squeaks. Hope I explained it Ok. I am worried as my dads 1.4s golf had the water pump replaced. The noise is coming from the v belt area of the engine, you can hear it clearly on start up but after 30 seconds you have to listen for it, but you can still clearly hear it. Any ideas? Read more
Hi Shoei,
The most likely cause is the belt and can be quickly identified. When you start the engine at a known time when it will squeak, simply pour water onto the belt area. If it stops squeaking then its the belt that needs tightening or if it is tight, then needs replacing. If this has no effect then further investigation is needed.
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
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Many years ago, there was short article where one of their writers was describing how, whilst driving a BMW, a driver in a Renault 5 came towards him on the wrong side of the road. He stopped, she noticed too late, he sat there helplessly until the crash.
His comment was that up until then, he had never thought about car safety, but he was glad that the situation was not the other way around (ie he in the Renault5, hit by the BMW...)