April 2006
Which supermarket or dealership could I goto, to get the best discount on a new car such as an Audi A4 or A3 and a Passat. Read more
At long last I have been able to sell my brother's 1999 Lantra for him. Here's the catch. The purchaser left him a new cd player to fit and he is calling for the car Sat evening. i have just gone round with my new harness adaptor to change the thing but there are no holes for my radio removal gizmos! Any ideas how to get the old radio/cassette out??
Thanks! Read more
Well got a Hyundai garage this morning and by chance a mechanic was on tea break. Relatively simple. Whole central fascia is held in by two screws. One in front of the the gearlever gaitor and one behind a redundant blanking plate at the top. 10 minutes new Pioneer CD (£59.99 in Argos) whacking out Thin Lizzy as well as a unit costing four times as much. Much to be said for a small local dealer! Now lets hope the buyer returns at the appointed hour with the rest of the money. Thanks
When hot.The car starts first time from cold and runs well but when the car is at normal running temp the engine will not start time until the heater glow plug light as gone out.Can any body help. Read more
Took the MR2 (1993 Uk spec 2.0 N/A GT T-Bar) for an MOT today and it failed on "handbrake efficiency only 8% "
Took a look when I got home, the left side is'nt working at all. Gave the mechanism bit on the calipers a good squirt of WD40 and cranked it on and off iscase they were seized but they don't appear to be (i.e both sides move in and out like they should)
The cables appear to be intact although a lot of it is covered so it's not fully obvious.
Any thoughts as to what could help? I'll get her up in the air tomorrow and remove the undertray and have a good look at eveything. Thanks in advance for your help guys. Read more
There's an important lesson of Toyota ownership here - don't buy parts from Toyota!
There's a whole host of internet / mail order companies who can supply service and mainstream pattern parts at a fraction of the price. Brakes international for example do reconditioned MR2 calipers for £72 each.
Only use Toyota if you're certain the part can't be sourced by an alternative.
As for the MR2 brakes, apart from my handbrake (mentioned above by TurboD) they've been great on my turbo. A bit of cleaning/ greasing every now and then helps keep them silent and effective.
1993 MR2s have 15" wheels, so the calipers don't actually sit any lower than any other car with 15" wheels.
A lot of seizure in my opinion is due to the rubber boots protecting the slider pins perishing, letting in water, and corroding the slider.
The floating caliper needs the sliders to be working to keep the brakes effective.
Same fault as with the handbrake too - the expandable rubber boot letting in water.
Worth a check before autumn, as water in there will freeze your parking brake on one morning.
hth
Ian
Are these any good? I have just ordered their thatcham approved fancy two way alarm/immob with pager function. I chose this one as it had 3 circuit immobilsation and I couldn't find others that could be done by a mobile company that did too. I have a toad with a pager function but the pager got terminally confused so I keep it switched off so I am hoping this is a better implementation.
I used to use microtechnics for alarm fitting but they seem to have dropped off the face of the earth. Anyone know a decent mobile company which covers the whole of the UK in case plan A above falls through?
teabelly Read more
Hi - can anyone clarify which oil I should be using in a 1996 (mark 4) 1.8 diesel Fiesta, with the Endura engine please? It has covered just over 50K miles, which I believe to be genuine. I probably do around 12-14K miles a year, should I be doing 6-month/6K mile changes? I don't have a manual for this car so any advice gratefully received. Read more
Ford Formula E(5w/30 semi-synthetic) was recommended for later versions of this engine when the service interval was increased to 10,000m.I used to use Ford 10w/30 in the winter and Ford 20w/50 in the summer in an earlier version of this engine until I sold the car with 155,000m. on the clock-still running well.
thanks to everyone for the replies regarding my 'poor braking' on my 306. Im glad to say ive improved them a little by adjusting the shoes up and then tightening the handbrake.
As ive only got budget pads on the front i think i might upgrade them (even though they have loads left in them)i kinda regret not spending the bit extra at the time but you live and learn.
just wondering whats the opinion on good makes of pads are about for a 306. I dont want to spend loads but i know theres pads with reduced brake fade and dust etc.
Thanks everyone Read more
We sell Ferodo Premier and APEC where I work. Never had any problems with APEC pads, the odd thing with Ferodo but nothing major.
Afternoon all.
In recent months I have replaced all four tyres on my Renault Clio 1.5dci. Wheel size 185/55/r15. v rating. I was using Goodyear Eagle F1 GSd2. Superb tyre, good grip in wet and covered astronomical miles in. I therefore put four more of the same on.
To date, the steering wheel seems a little out as does the tracking. I seem to be steering to the left when going straight ahead. I have taken them to Kwik Fit and they balanced all wheels but also told me that I had had a collision with one of the front wheels so put it on the the back. I disagree with this but hey.
Can anyone tell me why the steering wheel is never straight when you are going straight and is the tracking/balance seems to be off set. The same tyres were put on this time and problems were never there in the past. I have also had the rear shock absorbers replaced but can't think why this should matter. Any views would be greatfully received.
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I've used Formula 1 many times for exhaust and tyres-excellent.
Watched Car Wars the other night and they were following the local plod in Manchester. They have a special undercover squad who are using unmarked high speed cars to try and reduce the ammount of car thefts & ram radiers.
The programme was really interesting however an interesting fact of car crime in Manchester was this. The car of choice for all of the local slime balls to nick in Manchester is..... The Saab 9000!!
According to these special undercover cops the Saab 9000 is the number 1 stolen car because of its security flaw or though obviously he didnt say what it was. The car is seen as a status symbol by the local slime balls!. Quote "If you own one of these cars dont bother comming to Manchester if you want to keep it"
Any one lost a 9000 in Manchester?
--
\" Keep doing the same old thing, youll get the same old thing, try something different today!\" Read more
We px'd our old 9000 a while back; it fetched £400
in auction and was used in a ram raid oop north
shortly after!
Quality car, a versatile criminal runaround.....
>>
Very decent of the chaps to buy their chariot rather than just steal it. Standards are improving!
Hello,
Hope someone can throw some light on this problem.
I bought an '04 Seat Toledo TDI SE (110bhp) about six months ago with a tiny milage of 4,500 miles.
About 3 weeks later, I noticed the car to be hesistant/misfiring between 1500 - 2000 rpm on light throttle - especially when cold.
When the car is warmed up, the problem is still there, but not as evident. Maybe misfire is too strong a word, but there is a definite stumble/stutter within this rev range.
Anyhow, its been at the Seat dealers quite a few times. To date, the MAF sensor, EGR valve, and EGR solenoid control valve have been replaced, but the problem has not been resolved.
No fault has ever come up in the car's ECU memory.
Next, an independant mechanic discovered that disabling the EGR solves the hesitation - happy days!! However, he could give no reason as to what might be wrong, other that the ECU was faulty, and holding the EGR open too long.
Finally, another garage might have the answer. They reckon the turbo is sticking slightly. The action of disabling the EGR results in increased exhaust gas pressure, which is able to overcome the turbos resistance to spin. I can follow their logic, but I just want to ask around here, as this seems to be a rare problem.
Has anyone encountered this problem?
As always, your opinions are greatly appreciated.
Many Thanks,
John
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Assuming this car has a VNT turbo (variable nozzle), I would say that a possible explanation for these issues is the varaible-vane mechanism on the turbo sticking. These are small flaps all around the turbo impeller which open (by means of a vacuum actuator) to allow exhaust gasses to spin up the turbo. It is not uncommon for these vanes to get sticky with soot and gunge or possibly in your case, lack of use.
I would try disconnecting the actuator and giving the vane mechanism a good work-out by hand to try and free things up, and then giving the car a good 'Italian tuneup'.
Browse
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