April 2006
My car has a space saver, the wife's has an expanding space saver, daughter's has a steel spare with a higher profile tyre.
Are these still illegal as the letter of the law stands?
How many of us know if our spare is the same size as the road wheels? Read more
This is driving me nuts. I've searched around the web and some reviews of the Toyota MMT imply that it just gets rid of the clutch pedal - i.e. you still have to change gear manually. Other reviews imply that it can change gear automatically. Toyota's web site gives no details on how it works.
Can someone put me out of my misery?
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Anyway, there is no clutch pedal. You can put it
in the E position and drive it like an auto, or
opt to shift manually (but without needing to press a clutch
pedal). HTH.
Thanks Aprilia. In case you were wondering, here is an example of a web page saying that the MMT requires manual gear changes:
uk.cars.yahoo.com/car-reviews/car-and-driving/toyo...l
"Basically, what were talking about here is a clutchless manual gearbox, rather than a full auto, so although you still change gear yourself with the normal gearstick in the normal way, youve no need for a clutch."
Also a friend of mine was told by a Toyota dealer than the MMT on the new Yaris requires you to change gears manually. Presumably another case of salesmen not knowing what they're talking about, or perhaps a misunderstanding by my friend.
I am looking to buy a 2002 or 2003 Merc E320 CDi 7 seater estate . I have read that there are reliability problems with Mercs produced around that time . Has anyone any general advice as to whether or not to steer clear of this purchase please ?
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I've worked on MB's for 20+ years and have owned a few and bought/sold loads.
The W201, 124, 126's were great cars. Basically very simple cars (all the same basic design) but very very thoroughly engineered - by engineers.
Around the early-mid 1990's the accountants and marketing wonks got hold of the company and started to prattle about 'shareholder value', 'leveraging the brand' and all of the rest of the 'Anglo-Saxon' business-school garbage. That did a lot of damage to the company - they started to drift away from what they were good add, cutting back on quality to increase profit, and started adding 'gimmicks' to the cars. They also started designing things like the A-class, Smart and the Vaneo in an effort to extract more from the brand by appealing to a wider range of customers.
Hopefully the latest models will see a return to traditional MB values.
Anyone drives a Citreon C2 1.4 HDi 2003 onwards? What are the MPG like on the motorway (70 - 80 mph). Is it noisey at the speeds?
If I do buy this car, I'm anticipated to drive at least 15K miles a year 95% on motorway. Will the engine/car capable like other capable diesel car i.e. VW TDi?
Have anyone experienced any high cost damage bill or major problem with the car. I have never bought a French car before, so I have no feel of its reliablity. I have driven Japanese and German cars in past with no major issues. As I previously posted I was initially looking to buy a VW Bora TDi, but its either too dificult to find one, or its too expensive.
Appreciate any respond.
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...or a Seat Toledo TDi (mk II) as previously mentioned which is v similar in size to the Bora, better equipped and far cheaper
I have a Mondeo 2001 ST200 4 dr. I have discovered that a seal on my front, driver side 'Anti roll bar drop link' has a split in it. Now that the ball joint no longer protected, when I steer I get a loud creaking noise.
I have brought a new link from TCH, £36.
With regards to fitting this part, I am concerned about what will happen when I disconnect the exsisting link. Will the roll bar spring open or shut, considering that the suspension spring will be fully extended when I remove the link, or is it a simple case of unbolt the old link and bolt on the new?
TIA AdyBee Read more
He's probably done it by now,it was over three years ago.
Hi there,
Please can you help?
I own a motorhome with a 2.5 Diesel Fiat Ducato engine. I believe this is from a 1985 model (fitted by the previous owner)
Unfortunately, due to the weather it has been standing idle for two months. I seem to have a problem with the gearbox or clutch.
The vehicle is locked in reverse and no amount of brute force or ignorance will move it. I believe it is a clutch problem, because the vehicle moves backwards when turning the engine over with the clutch pedal to the floor. Cable was recently replaced and may need adjusting. I have had difficulties changing gear in reverse on occasions.
Thanks for reading my mail. Any advise would be welcome.
Mike
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Which is what I said on the 9th.!!!!
Thanks, I took your advice.
Mike.
SWMBOs Ka in for MOT today and passed as expected. Adisory note that the rack was 'damp'!
Car/Ka is 02 plate with 24k on the clock-seems a little early to be replacing a rack although the car by bar breakdown does mention reports of this.
The test centre had another Ka up in the air having the rack replaced at 4 years and 5900 miles. The owner had approached main dealer as was as shocked as I was especially at this mileage. Dealer sent the lady away with a flea in her ear .
I will keep an extra eye on the fluid level and rack, is the only option to replace or are there any servicable seals in the rack itself?
Garage quoted around £250 + vat to replace when the time comes although he did say it may get worse very slowly and not need replacing for quite some time as long as we keep an eye on levels for safetys sake Read more
seem to have opened a bit of a can of worms here!
have read up on the fluids available and opinions seem just as split here as on the wider net.
thanks for all the info - some head scratching ahead
will keep a close eye on the level and see what happens over the next couple of months. Could be that a stop leak fluid buys some time that could be needed with a planned house move this year .
Agree with the last post- I don't suppose that banging the wheels into the kerb every time the car is parked will have done the steering much good either but there you go . Wheel trims are cheap-maybe this more expensive job could help cure a couple of bad habits at the same time
Just round the corner from home there is a short, straight stretch of road that currently entertains a 30 mph limit, this road has no side turnings and it is generally thought to be daft that it is a 30 and not a 40 mph limit. Nevertheless there are a lot of drivers that will accelerate to 50 or 60 mph before braking in advance of the corner at either end, today I stopped to have a word with a police officer who was pointing a radar gun out of the window of his car, I was interested in whether it was a revenue generation exersise or a genuine attempt to catch the flagrant speeders.
I was pleased, though somewhat surprised, to be greeted with "you are lucky sir, I have the limit set at 40 today and you were only doing 38". While I would not have thought that I was doing 38 mph (and I had better not rely on the Mondeo speedo being optimistic from now on) I was also pleased that the officer did seem to be taking a reasonable approach based on the road conditions and was only targetting flagrant speeders. Read more
Sightly off thread but who dreams up these bizarre limits? Near me there is a charming little village with about 30 houses on one of the road, hedges and fields on the other and signs saying "Please drive slowly thru our village". The legal limit on the road is 60 mph but no one in their right mind would do much than 30 mph anyway. BUT there is a 50 yard cul de sac, as a turning off this road, and that has a 30 limit in it and a de-restriction sign as you turn out of it onto the road thru the village. You couldn't make it up!
A friend of mine has an intermittent starting problem with her 2002 MG ZR 1.4 petrol.
It goes like this:- Get in car, put key in ignition and turn key. Nothing happens. No starter, no click, no sound, no petrol pump noise....nothing!
The dashboard lights come on. The radio works. But nothing happens in the engine dept when you turn the key.
Then count to 10; turn off the ignition, turn it on again and it usually fires up. Doesnt always start 2nd time though. Sometimes you have to repeat this about 6 or 7 times.
However you do have to wait 10 seconds or so before retrying or it just wont fire up. A couple of mechanics have looked at it and have no idea whats going on , nor have they ever seen anything like it before.
Needless to say shes about ready to smash the thing with a tree branch!
Anyone any ideas please?
Cheers
Trev Read more
Not sure of MG, but IIRC 400 immobiliser supplies the earth to starter relay and I think the fuel pump relay,so it may be that thats playing up.
its a fairly common problem on both 200/400 series Rover,though unless its just relays playing up(doubtfull)would look at immobiliser-just a thought as this fault is hard to find?
--
Steve
Our mains feed has a suspected leak, I think it's coming from where the plastic pipe joins the old copper under ground. Am I expected to pay? Read more
Mark,
"Passing quickly over the 'Pioneer don't make hi-fi' argument"
the Pioneer PL12D turntable was widely regarded as a budget hi-fi deck in it's day.
JH
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Ford claim it is a full size spare but on everyone I drove or looked at the spare wheel and tyre were a different size! May be full size but not same size.