May 2006
My car has the 'beesting' aerial that's fitted to alot of cars these days, the main dealer told me that they can easily go through a car wash and that they bend to accomodate the brushes, I'm not convinced and take mine off before hand, does anyone leave their aerial on? Read more
How do these compare in terms of durability?
Obviously old low tech indirect injection diesels are where the 'indestructable diesels' legend comes from, but how less fragile is an older setup than CR?
For example, the VAG based 1.9 110hp that will be in the Toledo I buy, vs the HDi setup in my current car.
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If I remember correctly, It was a twin cylinder air cooled engine, about 8 hp @ 1200 rpm. According to the previous owner, it started life as an industrial water pump engine.
It had an exposed flywheel, was very noisy and vibrated like an earthquake, maybe thats why similar engines aren't fitted to modern cars.
hi im looking at buying the new nissan note. i wonderered have any of you own one or have test driven one...ive got a cmax and ive had enough of it .so its now time for a new car.we looked at one today 1.6 automatic and its quite nice ...if any of you could give any advice id be grateful
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went ahead today and asked for another test drive and they were only to happy at no notice to let me out for another spin.. ive placed an order for the 1.6 se auto in intence blue. i know it will be a very common colour but ive never had a funky colour before.
Vauxhall Astra 1.8 Auto, year 2000, 78,000 miles
How can I tell if my lambda sensor is faulty?
Checking my fuel consumption on a rolling 12 months basis, I've noticed that it's dropped from 31 to 29 mpg. The annual consumption has never varied more than 1 or 2 tenths. It's been well serviced and has no known mechanical / electronic problems and no fault codes are stored in the ECU.
At it's recent Mot it passed with CO 0.00 %vol and HC 0 ppm at lambda 1.003. The engine management light has never come on, apart from the ignition-on test.
I've been told that lambda sensors are only good for 60k. Is this true?
When it starts to fails, can it simply give incorrect readings thus causing high fuel consumption? Read more
Thermostat - engine runs at same indicated temperature as it always has and warms up in same distance from cold.
Auto transmission - lock-up and gear selection sound as usual with no warning light displayed.
Engine oil - Mobil 1 0W-40 used throughout it's life.
Tyre brand/pressure - no change in consumption noted when original Michelin XH1 changed for Goodyear NCT5 four years ago, pressure consistent and regularly checked.
What symptons would a failing EGR valve give as the X18XE1 in my Astra is prone to this, apparently?
Hiya. Anyone know how much brake fluid is needed for a brake fluid change on a 2002-2006, i have 500 ml, but i suspect i will need some more.
many thanks
smoke
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If you can, draw the old yellow fluid from the reservoir first, I use an old syringe that came with an inkjet refill. This saves sending this fluid through the system as it can get quite contaminated with moisture and black specs.
Also, make sure the bottles of fluid have been kept still for a few hours before you do the job, and then pour in very carefully so as to avoid entraining air into the stream. If you get tiny air bubbles into brake fluid, they seem to take forever to come out it amost seems to foam, and if you don't give it a thought when pouring the fluid into the reservoir, it can draw these bubbles into the system when you bleed, don't pour too quickly, slowly or froma height.
Also, when pressing the pedal down, let your foot sink a the natural rate, don't force it down, as you could damage a seal or cause a graunching nouse thereafter.
Fancy a ChipsAway Franchise? There is one for sale on Ebay.
Sole Franchisee in Cornwall. Training will have to be taken. Reason for sale ill-health.
3 bids so far, current top bid is £1.24 - that's right one pound twentyfour pence! Read more
My local Chips Away franchisee charges so much for repairs you may as well go
to a normal bodyshop.
Fair point.
they will have to use water based paints making on-site repairs much more difficult
Have they not been using water-based paint, and an infra-red lamp (to speed up the process)?
Morning all.
I've had the Leon for about 18 months, it's on an 02 plate and as mentioned above it's the 110 version. I've recently been experiencing loss of power under acceleration - say, pulling up a hill. This tends to happen around the 3500 rev mark and is noticable by what seems to be the turbo cutting out. The engine still revs but there's a fairly big lack of power/torque. All is well after the ignition is turned off and back on.
The fault that appears on the diagnostics is 'turbo overboost pressure'. I've had the MAF sensor changed and also the valve that controls/operates the wastegate (forgive the ignorance if that's not what it's for, i probably wasn't listening properly!).
Obviously i don't want to change every part related to this fault so any help/tips/ides would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers Read more
adb
I have known people de-seize the "wastegate" by manually scraping out all the accumulated carbon. It's not an easy job to remove the turbo to do it - but then; a new turbo is very expensive - so maybe it's worth a try?
Sorry; don't have any local knowledge of Geordieland. I'm sure someone else will know a good diesel place. Or ring round the local garages/motor factors and ask them; they will be able to tell you who's good.
Hi all,
I was visiting my aunt in Bristol over the weekend and she asked me to look at her car. Its an 02 Laguna dci 120 (I think) with 40k miles which occasionally flashed on a light (which was the engine management light) and lost power but would get going again if it was switched off. I examined it and found at 2200 rpm it would puff back through the air intake, there is oil in the intercooler and at joins along the pipe to it. I know its the EGR valve/turbo issue again but is the engine likely to be damaged? Will Renault do anything? (it was 'properly!!' serviced every 18k miles). I have advised her to trade it in at Renault if its unlikely that they will stand over the engine (it is after all their baby) and say nothing, at least then the new owner will have protection. Is it worth an EGR valve and turbo and then maybe an engine.
All opinions welcome Read more
Hi a few months ago I bought a 02Laguna1.9dci for agood price. however last week I was coming off the motorway and the revs just died on me. I managed to limp as far as the service area before It gave up completely. The engine starts in an ok manner but as soon as you put it in gear and release the clutch, it dies again. Does anyone know what this is or has experienced it? About4weeks ago there was a small bit(3or4l)of petrol put in by my sister on top of a quarter tank of diesel which was then filled up with diesel and the tank had been filled a few times since. Would this be a contributing factor? Any help or thoughts aside from keeping my sister away from the car would be appreciated.
Hi Folks,
Would anyone have any experience or views in changing the automatic gearbox oil/filter on units that are so called 'sealed for life'?
I have a 2001 2.2litre 520i with the steptronic box and 72k on the clock. BMW will not even look at the box for servicing or an oil change. Other people I have opinions from say it is a must to do this an not too difficult if you can find a garage willing to do the honours.
Any opinions here? THanks Read more
You can simplify the process if all you want to do is change the ATF :
Find out which oil cooler pipe is the output.
Disconnect it.
Connect a length of tubing(clear is best - B&Q) to the cooler end of the pipe and place it in a large bucket (10 litres). This is your waste/old ATF.
Connect a length of tubing to the gearbox end and place it into your new ATF source.
Switch on the engine and the pump will force the ATF to 'circulate' so you will draw new ATF into the box and the old ATF will dispense into your recepticle.
When the ATF changes colour to bright red then you have effectively changed all the ATF in the box, assuming you didn't run out at your source end (say from a 5 litre can), and can switch off the engine and check levels.
My 1994 1.6 astra has a fault with the automatic gearbox and i'm totally lost with what is causing it. When the car is cold and i start it and select drive the gearbox fault light flashes on the dashboard and the car feels like its taking off in 3rd gear. I can select gears 1 to 3 manually without a problem. Once the car has been driven for a few miles i can turn off engine and restart it then the gearbox works fine. Anyone any ideas what is causing this? Read more
This is a Cure Please Don't throw the car away. Not Expensive as they say......
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Petroleum jelly can also be used; keeps my battery terminals in good nick and I've used it for this purpose for many years.
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