March 2006
just a quick discussion between me and a few mates. For the mathematitions out there....would there be much of an increase in MPG on the same car with different wheels. For example 14" wheels v 16" wheels on the same 406 hdi? Read more
I took my 1997 Passatt for an MOT with no ABS problems. It failed on a split suspension gaiter that was replaced. After the MOT the orange ABS light was showing. I took it back and was told that it may be dirt on the ABS sensor due to above work. Checked, but light still on. Plugged into a hand held computer that could not give a reason for light showing . Taken to a VW dealer by the garage and a bigger computer found both sensors faulty and needed replacement (£105 plus vat each).This is put down to a coincidence by the garage.
1. Surely both sensors going at the same time is rare
2. Surely the above happening after going into a garage is more than coincidence
3. Is it possible the sensors were affected by computer checks that were done during the initial Mot?
Any direction I could get on this would be most helpful.
James
Read more
Likely that MoT place damaged them during repair - but very difficult to prove!
SWMBO has a VW Touran 1.9TDi which is just one year old.
Two weeks ago it had a service at the main dealers (with 3k miles from new).
The computer on the dash now says "Service Now!" when she gets in the car and first starts it up.
Is this indicating that the service was not done? Read more
Mix ups like these may be occuring due to the wrong time/distance being entered into the computer. My first 'ran thought it needed servicing every 1500 miles. Easy to reset, but a pain to have to do it every other fill up!
Minimum on on long life should be 9k, unless the wrong oil is used.
On the flywheel issue, full info is on the clubtouran site, a must for touran owners.
Joe
I dont know much about cars so any help is greatly appreciated..please keep it simple.
I have a volvo S80. About 4 months ago my wife left the hazard lights on after she had run out of fuel. After a few hours of waiting for help the battery ran out. When she eventually managed to get the fuel, unbeknown to her that the batterry had ran out she tried countless times to start the engine with the result that the engine was flooded with fuel. I managed to get the RAC guy to give me a jump start and lso moanaged to clear out the flooding and the car ws fine..drove it a few places just to recharge the battery did about 100miles to and from Reading and I was satisfied that the battery had charged enogh.
But yesterday after having parked the car for about 3 days..it was to my amazement that when i went to unlock the central locking with the remote the alarm suddenly went off nd it wouldnt turn off regardless how many times I pressed the remote. So i opened the door using the key and the alarm stopped. Tried to start the car but the car wont start. give off a knocking sound like ka-kaka-ka-ka when i turn on the key. is sounds somewhat similar to the sound it gave ff 3 months ago when the battery had ran out.
My problem is the last time the battery ran out i knew why it had ran out, which is the hazards light were let on for too long. But this time the car just decided to behave like this on its own. So should i assume that the battery has ran out again in which case i should judt buy a new battery and replace the old one. Or is there likely to be another cause for the car to behave in this way that warants me to have it checked. Any ideas..My assumptin is that the battery has gone out that why the remote wont stop the alarm and also why the engine wont start.Strangely though..sme smaller lights in the car are on forexaple the boot lights and door lights, just the small lights inside the car.Help please im trying to to fock out a large amount of money if i was to go to the volvo dealer. I always spend more than £100 each time i go there. Read more
the battery has been 'deep cycled' and therefore probably the cells are sulphated and the battery now has to be charged up completely on a battery charger before it even has a chance of working properly.
There are special measures that can sometimes be used to remove the sulphation such as force charging the battery etc but tbh sometimes its better to just buy a new one and be done with it.
I'm thinking of buying a new car in the next few months, and would like another Audi A4 tdi but they're a bit more than I want to pay. So I've kind of settled on a choice between the Accord 2.2 diesel and the Passat 2.0tdi SE (saloons). My priorities (in no real order) are economy, reliability, good long-distance cruising ability, spec, space (esp. boot), style/image, nice to drive, and I would welcome comments, advice etc. They cost roughly the same as far as I am aware.
1. Which would be the best?
2. Is there anything else I should seriously consider?
3. What is the best way of buying it? (I would have only a smallish deposit)
4. Where should I get it from - dealer or internet broker?
5. Best colour?
Thanks Read more
You weren't sitting in the passenger seat when you drove it were you?
Hi- I've just been told that my Yaris's front discs need replacing, having dropped below the 16mm minimum. As I was only planning on getting the pads changed, it's going to be more expensive than I was hoping for - £175 (inc. pads) instead of £70 approx.
The car is a 1.0, 02 reg, and has done about 22k miles. Is this typical?
Cheers
John Read more
If its only 1 or 2 mm that explains it. Not much wear realy. In the old days I would have put them up in the lathe and cleaned the wear ridge off.
I have never been aware of an audible warning on my 1998 Focus 1.6LX. Last night during a short journey, there was a loud bleep, about 1 second long, apparently from behind the dashboard. This happened 3 times within 15 minutes, and each time there were no unusual warning lights etc.
The car is totally standard, with no trip computer, ABS, extra packs etc. The temperature last night was around +1, but as far as I know there is no outside temperature warning unless a trip computer is fitted. And anyway, I have never heard this before in the 5 years of owning this car.
Has anyone any idea what this bleeping could be trying to tell me. The handbook doesn't give any clues.
Many thanks, Pete Read more
Sure it is not temp related, many Fords have frost and ice warning lights with an accompanying bong or beep that can be switched off.
I have a 2000 year Primera which needs a new starter motor. The Nissan main dealer has quoted me ~£400 to replace, and this seems somewhat excessive.
I have looked on the internet and seen that I could buy a replacement part for about £80. Assuming this is new, should I be worried about the fact that it is not a genuine Nissan part?
How easy is it to fit a new starter motor? If I took it to a local garage to fit, how long do you think it would take them and how much do you think they should charge me?
Thanks in advance Read more
That is a stupid comment, by that reasoning the starter should be 50% more expensive than it was 3 years ago when in fact it is cheaper due to the parts being manufactured in china.
As a follow up DONT do this yourself. this is one of the most awkward jobs ive ever done in 30 years of maintaining my own cars, on the 2.0 sport there is a tie bar that has to be removed to get the starter out and its EXTREMELY difficult without a pit or a ramp. If a local garage can do this for you for for less than £200 (i was quoted £150+vat) I would let them do it, its a nightmare.
My 2002 TDDI Focus seems to have a constantly recurring problem with a noisy fanbelt. The squeal is like a normal slipping fanbelt sound.
Problem is, when I replace the fanbelt the problem goes away, but only for 6-8 months when it starts to gradually come back, getting worse unless I give the belt and pulleys a tiny squirt of WD40 which quietens it down for a day or so.
Is this a flaw with the TDDI or is there something else amiss? I get varying opinions from garages, from 'They all do that','Need the tensioner changed (£180)' to 'Put a new belt on every 12 months'
Belts are cheap enough to replace but its frustrating to have this extra bill every few months.
My old petrol Focus had no such problems and I'm beginning to wish I'd kept that one instead! Read more
I have a 1.6 CDTi Focus 57 plate. It has developed a squeaky aux belt. I have had the auto tensioner replaced together with a new belt. The noise still remains.
After a difficult phone call trying to get through to ford techs, my mechanic finally spoke to a 'supertech'
He said that a modification to this engine to stop this is to place 2mm spacers between the air-con pump and it's mounting, therefore moving it away enough to put extra tension on the belt.
I find it difficult to understand that 2mm movement will solve this as the auto tensioner just moves less.
Any thoughts on this? I haven't gone thorough with this mod .. yet. I'm out of warrenty now and wondered if it was covered.
SQ
my son has just got a citrone saxo 1.1 54k and is going to do a oil change.
he wants to use a fully synthetic oil but is not sure wether to add a flushing adgent before changing.
has any one got any advise regarding engine flush and is he wasting money using synthetic on a older car
thanks Read more
Forgot to add BTW, the water is looking pretty brown now. Oil level looks unchanged though. We are hoping to get another 4 or 5 days from it then we are away for a week so were going to leave it at the garage. Should we be OK with this as long as we keep levels topped up?
Browse
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The reason why the lowest spec is the most economical: narrower harder tyres. But I wd guess the sympathy of the driver's foot wd count for more.