May 2006
Hi all,
Its nearly time to renew the timing belt on my Mk3 Golf Estate. What should I expect to pay to get it changed, as I don't want to be ripped off by my local garage.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Richard Read more
Hi, new here and looking for some advice. My dads y reg Vauxhall Astra 8V estate has the engine man light on the dash. It did come on and off before but stays on all the time now. Diagnostic showed it was the EGR that was playing up. Seen some info on other sites that suggest giving it a clean as it cokes up inside. Any ideas if this is true or should I just tell him to buy another. Also, where is the egr valve and how easy is it to take off and clean or change. Thanks in advance for any help. As you can guess, I am not a mechanic but would like to avoid and hefty dealer bills. Read more
If this car hasn't had its ECU software updated during the last year or two, then I would begin there. There has been a software update for this model which certainly made our '53 1.6 8 valve Astra a bit more driveable.
I'm told that with the very latest Vauxhall software update, the EGR valve will be disabled, and the ECU will keep it shut, **without** putting the dashboard light on, which might solve your problem at a stroke. I plan to update the software in our car as soon as I am near to my favourite Vauxhall dealer, back home in my native Lancashire. :-)
If the valve is so gummed up that it won't shut, Vauxhall now have a blanking gasket to close it off fully.
There are a few threads on this topic on this site - one in particular where the pros and cons of blocking the EGR are debated, try a forum search for Astra EGR.
My experience, like that of oldman is that the car is much better to drive without the EGR valve working.
Number_Cruncher
I've bought a Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi Estate in 2002. In the guarantee period several times it stopped suddenly. Computer data lost and computer reset (ECU). After the guarantee period 10 times unexpectedly in garage and towed away 3 times. Replaced clutch (60.000 miles), injectors (3 times, always on cylinder 3), diesel inlet filter, reprogrammed ECU. Last week engine broke (80.000 miles). Piston of cylinder 3 has smashed the internals of the engine completely. Second hand engine will be installed by very good small garage (a Ford dealer could not even provide me with a quote!). All in all an extra £ 5000,= in costs (nice slogan: 'engineering to (b)last'). I'm discussing the reliability issue with Ford (the dealer only says that I've had some bad luck with the car). The car was faulty in the first place and Ford was not able to solve the problem. By the way: the doors start to rust...
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The car originally came from the Netherlands and imported into Scotland. I'm discussing the issue with the dealer but fear the worst. Either the Ford service engineers are not trained well enough or the technology is too complex bacause problems are not fixed. Driving on the A9 near Perth the car stopped suddenly. Complete electrical shutdown (60 miles/hour!). I stopped and restarted. Big smoke clouds from the back. Stopped again and got it towed away to East Kilbride (thanks to the AA). Ford East Kilbride repaired the clutch and said that was all. Not surprisingly I was back within 10 minutes and they changed the injector 3 two times (a faulty injector was sent by Ford !). Since then vibrations in pedals, engine etc. They more or less admitted they could not fix it (after 3 weeks almost without a car).
Car on the ferry to the Netherlands (not the first time to get it fixed!). Replaced injector 3 again (placed wrongly). Back after a week with the same complaints regarding vibrations. Also high fuel consumption (32 - 35 mpg) when temperature below 10 C. Always blue smoke during a cold start (lots of it !) and no power the first mile. Problems have never been sorted.
I'm self employed and need the car and I can't wait on Ford to agree on a deal. By the way: I would buy a Ford Mondeo again because the car is beautiful to drive and very sturdy.
My wife's 2001 Citroen Saxo 1.4 Desire has just been serviced and the local Citroen dealer says that the car is not fit to drive as it has severely worn rear axle beam bushes and the rear wheels are rubbing on the inner wheel arches.
I had advised another Citroen dealer at services in the last two years that there was a banging noise from time to time from the rear of the vehicle, they suspected a loose tailgate but never rectified the problem which got gradually worse.
What concerns me and the mechanics is that the car has had very light use (20,000 miles since August 2001) is never driven above 50 mph and has been garaged overnight.
Is there any known issue with Citroen and do I have any recall on them?
Thanks Read more
These torsion bar trailing arm systems contain needle roller bearings which break/rust when the water seals fail. Rebuilding is very awkward without special extractors, although the bearing kits are cheap. There are, however several engineering firms who will sell an exchange axle assembly. Well worth a look on Google.
659.
just wondered if anyone with a turbo diesel preferably a 306 or xantia has replaced their air filter with a K & N filter or something similar?
the reason i ask is that when i service the car every 5-6000 i replace the air filter too. Except one time i didnt. This resulted in a big drop in economy (45 down to 30 mpg)
i just wondered if a filter like K&N would give a better air to fuel mix and better economy? just interested. Read more
I replaced the filter on my ZX TD many years ago.
I found what looked like half a tree.... no dead animals mind.
I would like to say performance and economy dramatically improved. But they didn't..
Although I'm totally in favour of patriotism, I can't help feeling that making a car conspicuous by attaching St George's Cross flags is (in today's unruly society) inviting the attention of lowlife. I always try to keep my car as inconspicuous and as anonymous as possible.
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L\'escargot. Read more
This one was new and spruce.
How long can you drive a foreign car for before it need to be registered her in the UK?
I know a Polish lad who has lived over here for 5 or 6 years and still drives his car on Polish plates.
You can't tell me it ever gets MOTed
What are the rules?
Not that rules ever get enforced in this god forsaken clobber- the-innocent country Read more
I only had one phone call to my local branch of insurance co and it was sorted first time ,must have been lucky I guess
My Peugeot 307 Hdi is parked in the station car park and I have lost the key. Managed to get home and will have to contact the Pug dealer tomorrow for a replacement. Anyone any idea of the probable replacement cost? Read more
I have a similar problem with a 306. Dealer here wants €230+VAT for one replacement.
Real cost ... £3 + an hour here 'n back ?
I know you're not allowed now to route electrical wiring through wall cavities. However, the question is .... where the cable to a 13 amp socket is already routed through a cavity would it be detrimental to the wiring if the wall cavity was then insulated? Would the cable tend to get excessively warm if it was loaded with a high current i.e. 13 amps? Would a small current ~ say, for a table lamp ~ be OK?
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L'escargot. Read more
>>I would be inclined to wait untill you can afford a descent Camera >>
Many of the £100 cameras on sale at present were once £150, £175 or even £200 not so long ago.
The number of new models constantly coming onto the market means that models are quickly discontinued and become available at remarkable prices.
By the way I should also have mentioned www.morgancomputers.co.uk which sells many of these discontinued models as well as new ones, especially from Fuji (a highly respected Japanese brand).
The Fujis are often described as "factory refurbished" but this is not actually true according to buyers - they are, in fact, brand new in original retail packing...:-)
{Although this thread is now closed, please continue with any questions in the next volume - DD}
Hi everyone, back to pick your brains! I finally found a car I liked and after a short test drive put a deposit on it to secure it while I wait for my loan to come through. I picked a Y-reg 1.3 Yaris GLS for £4700 with 28,000 miles on the clock because everyone seems to agree that it is a good car (everything else I picked seemed to be too controversial e.g. Rover 25!).
In the meantime, my mum persuaded me to get a Dekra inspection done because I know nothing about cars. I have just found an e-mail in my inbox from the engineer to say this was carried out yesterday (a bit naughty considering he was supposed to call me to give me a verbal report after seing it...) and he has said overall it is ok for the age but he raised a couple of points:
1) "The sidewalls of the rear tyres have suffered ultra-violet damage, causing a multitude of small cracks in the surface of the rubber. Moisture entering these cracks will eventually affect the tyre structure. It is recommended that the tyres are renewed but if this is not the case then the engineer recommends that the tyres be stripped from the wheel and the structure examined."
2)"A loud metallic rubbing noise is evident when driving the vehicle. This appears to be from the OSF corner. The engineer believes this to be caused by the OSF brake disc rubbing on the brake backplate, but further investigation is required to confirm this."
Am I entitled to have this sorted before I pay the balance? My heart sank when I saw the second one - is it serious?
Oh, and anyone considering a Dekra inspection, personally I don't rate it
Allie Read more
A german private company that has hundreds of Mot testing stations in the fatherland and throughout the world.
well i would expect to pay 55 quid plus the kit but thats only because my friendly mechanic is my best friends uncle and also hes a one man band and works from home but i have to say i reckon you definatly need more than an hour to do it more like 2 n half for the average none main dealer with all the official tools mechanic