My 2002 new shape Vectra is now on 126,000 miles . My question is do springs actually wear out and loose their springness , sorry dont know how to describe .

The front and rear springs have never been changed , only rear shock absorbers . Still on original front shocks.

If theres any possibilty that this question can be answered asap I would be most greatfull.

Thankyou . Read more

Hi all. I own a 1999 V plate 2.0 zetec Mondeo, The only problem I have with it (other than the usual leaky rear lights and worn bottom-arm-bushes) is that it is a little reluctant to return down to engine idle speed. This usually occurs when using engine braking/coming down through the gears and can be a little worrying when the engine revs fail to drop below 1500-1750 rpm. This engine speed is then maintained for about 30 seconds or so, even after I have come to a stop and dipped the clutch, then it will slowly drop down to an idle speed somewhere between 800 and 1100 rpm. (the idle speed doesn't fluctuate once its got to idle).
I have checked the throttle cable to ensure it is running free with no resistance, and lubricated up all the joints/pins etc on the linkage but it still refuses to go straight back down to idle, and the rev-range it occurs in is almost always the same. Has anyone else had this problem? Is it an easy-fix or am I going to have to pay through the nose for a new e.c.u. ?
Thanks in advance for any help/advice.
Reckless Engineer Read more

A while ago i passed four large transporter lorries each with a tank on heading south down the A3,all four lorries were from a private haulage firm from Southampton.
In Petersfield there is a Vehicle repair garage where the Army seem to take their lorries and LandRovers to be repaired and serviced, as the REME repair shops are now depots for car storage, this to is a private garage not army.
Yesterday there was a large white transporter dropping off a Land Rover and i asked the driver ,who was RAF, "where are your own lorries" ie Scammels/Oshcosh'es?,he told me there are hardly any left and they now rely on private firms for hire .
My question is what would happen if god forbid we went to war again ?,"sorry mate we are fully booked next week".
Only a fool would think that it could not happen again,i seem to remember that that was the opinion just before the second world war and that was why we had such poor equipment ,in fact the fact we had to leave so much behind after Dunkirk was a blessing as we were forced to start afresh and the Bedford QL appeared and the Matatdor.
Maybe not totally appropriate to this forum ,but concerns you nethertheless. Read more

Living as i do in Bournemouth we have probably more elder rivers than other places (I am one-mid 70's). I do think we should be made to take a simple test to ensure we are still able to drive effectively. Filling in the form to say we are fit in the licence application is really not enough. How many of us has read the Highway Code since we passed our test(1952 i my case).
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Just to balance the usual complaints against main dealers my local Mercedes Basingstoke garage gave excellent service this week. I had an esp abs light flashing away on the dash and only the main lot have the appropriate computer to plug in....this usually precedes pain in the wallet in my experience. However they sent their mobile man out to my place of work and diagnosed the problem then later he came round to my house and fitted the offending part (£56) also changing a duff bulb. They gave me 40% labour discount as I have a model over six years old and the lot including Gordon Brown's cut was £131 odd.....not bad I think. Read more