April 2006
A mate of mine says he has wrecked the engine in his bmw 535i. It is an 'H' reg. He was doing 55mph in 5th and it just died. No lights on the dashboard? No locked wheels? No bangs, clatters or smashed pistons? Apparently there is no compression(RAC man). I said to him it might be that something minor has broken and that the ECU just shut everything down so to avoid any further damage. He is a home mechanic but is convinced his big bmw is long gone. If the timing chain were to snap on this engine, would the consequences be very evident, ie; engine in bits and seized? Read more
We have a Ka with the 1.3 engine. "R" reg.
The engine does not rapidly come back to idle but sticks at the highest revs before slowly returning to idle.
I rerouted the throttle cable and soaked it in WD40 but to no avail. The local Ford dealer wants £82.00/hour to sort it out and our local garage does not have the proper diagnostic kit.
Any ideas please.
Thank you.
Filed this into the new drop down doodah wotsit. - PU Read more
My Ka suffered from over-revving. I managed to solve the problem by removing the connector for the throttle position sensor and spraying the contacts with switch cleaner.
Another 6k has gone by and another oil change due on my 1.9TD Xsara. Last time had local garage do it for 20 quid, but think they used cheapy oil.
Is it worth spending 20 quid on the fully synthetic oil like Mobil 1 and so on? They promise improved fuel economy and quieter running.
Worth spending the extra or just going for Halfords cheapest diesel oil? Read more
To add my comments regarding MGB's in Australia. I would suggest that anyone who ran a 20w20 oil there got as far as the nearest corner before the oil pressure disappeared! I tried multigrade oil once and got 60 miles before the pressure was so low I got it changed. The pressure came back and stayed that way.
All locally assembled MGB's had oil coolers and were notorious for wearing cranks and bearings as the oil pressure took some time to come up from cold and most punters just started and drove off before getting oil pressure up. (new / reground crank required at 40,000 miles) I remember that I used BP Corse 30 in winter or Corse 50 in summer! (non multigrade) in my MGB when it was raced and changed the oil back to straight grade BP30 before it was used on the road again each time. Lots of work, but I never had oil pressure or wear problems.
By the way what are the comments on the use of Selenia racing 10w60 in 2.0 JTS Alfa Romeo's? The manufacturer only recommends it but it seems ridiculously expensive for road use in the UK. Perhaps in a mediterranean climate its different with much higher oil temperatures.
A comment on the Omega thread about the BMW 2.5 engine needing servicing every 6,000 prompts the question, how can essentially the same technology as used for example in my 2.5 Subaru engine (which requires 12,000 mile servicing) produce such a difference in maintenance requirements? Read more
They would all be showing poor mpgs owing to blocked air
filters and over-viscous oil. You'd be getting points left,
right and centre for bald tyres.
>>
mappy : you are not thinking through your points today.
the items you mention in the above sentence would all get picked up in the mot test (emissions, bald tyres, etc. ).
and, as stated before, oil degradation issue is overstated.
I have acquired a stash of genuine VAG spec screenwash, in one-litre bottles. This is a blue liquid which smells extremely concentrated. Q: Does it need diluting with water, and if so, how much?
Thanks in advance,
Ed. Read more
Thanks all, I've gone for one part blue liquid to four parts H2O, which seems ok.
Ed.
im wondering wether to replace my 306 two button key fob so i can use the central locking. The dealer is after £60 for a replacement. Just wondered if there is anywhere else i could get one or just stick with the key to open the car :-) Read more
Not sure why you want to "replace" the fob. Is it damaged?
Yes the key is damaged...its ok to use to open doors but i just never have had the central locking working
Afternoon all,
a question for you about bedding in of an engine. I've got a diesel Accord, bought in Jan and, as expected, only doing 40 mpg from new. The thing is, I'd been expecting it to bed in over the first 10k miles and then return more, as seems to be the (fairly) universal experience. This hasn't happened, it's still only doing about 41 mpg.
My question is this - what exactly is bedding in? Will the fact that I am doing mainly motorway miles, cruising and only pulling 2.3k revs, mean that effectively I'm not wearing it in? I don't do much stop-start driving, and not much town driving.
I suspect the above to be true, so my real question is - what should I do about it? Run at artificially high revs ont he motorway for a bit, make an effort to thrash it through the gears at other times, or what? Any suggestions will be gratefully received as I'm delighted with almost every other aspect of the car (although could someone please explain to me what on earth the point of electric seats is without a memory function????)
Cheers,
Gord. Read more
I agree that the Honda diesels are better to drive and are also more refined. You will also get much better service from your Honda dealer than from any VAG dealer (except Skoda) and overall the car will be more reliable. I would expect your mpg to steadily imrpove from now on.
I've just received my tax renewal for my Vectra 2.2 direct Sri, Nov 04 reg. It is showing a CO2 rate of 187 g/km which conviniently just pushes it into band f, £190/year.
I checked my handbook/What car magazine/Parkers etc, who all show 185g/km, which is band E, £160/year.
I tried to call Vauxhall helpline and got an utterly clueless Indian woman, who said my car didn't exist. She didn't even know what an SRi was!!
Can anyone give me official figures or a contact number I can ring to get an official confirmation of the CO2 figures.
The DVLA site just repeats what's on the renewal form Read more
just seen this hope im not repeating anything .........off to watch alan sugar
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4930358.stm
Vectra 2.0 GLS 1997 16v petrol.Could a Intake Manifold air leak cause all four of my plugs to 'soot' up? Got a low revs miss on the over-run which is proving difficult to fix.Its killed 2 used Lambders and I'm now onto a brand new one.Everything Electrical has been replaced as has the ICV No mil light comes on (except when the O2 sensors have given up)!Would I be right in thinking if the lambda senses too much O2 it will richen the mixture causing over fueling-Felt as 'kangarooing'Car is fine on tickover and above 1500 revs-Any comments would be most welcome-Thanks Read more
In case anyone is interested,after having the emissions checked on a four gas tester it seems the O2 sensor (Brand new NTK Patern Part) is not switching when it should.I'm now in a battle with my local Motor Factors,who argue its not their problem.I suspect its the wrong part as there are a few different fittments for different Ecotec engines.Obviously I'v since thrown away the receit! I'm also wondering if it is a genuine NTK part or a 'Copy'. They say they need to send the part back to NTK to have it checked? Which I doubt very much.So I'll give the stand off a week then I'll go to the small claims court.All of this to save £30. Regards Mick.
I have a problem with my Bora (2110 vintage) and its windscreen wipers.
There appears to be a very poor contact between wiper and glass, particularly at any kind of speed.
I initially thought it was time to change the wipers, and replaced them with Bosch wipers (with a spoiler)but have noticed no improvement.
One can clearly see that the wipers are passing over the screen and leaving smears and droplets "unswept" behind them. If the screen is dirty, it takes lots of squirts of fluid and wipes to get the screen remotely clean.
Is there something wrong with the say the wipers are set up? Read more
Clean the windscreen with meths then wash with soap and water. rinse. Also clean the blades with meths. Regards Peter
Browse
thanks Peter D and Oldman. I'll pass this on to him. It's all doom and gloom at the mo!