May 2006
My dad has had a 54 plate C-max since Oct last year. Until this weekend, he didn't realise that you were supposed to be able to open the boot without using the remote button on the key!
The manual explains that when the car is open, pulling on the release on the boot exterior should open it, but it doesn't! Any ideas as to why not? I don't want him to have to use the remote for ever! Read more
Slightly comical problem. I went to the petrol station today, pulled the little level to open the petrol cap.........and nothing. It's not opening. I can not put petrol in the car. A 50 pence fitting fails making the car completely useless.
Any ideas?
Does this happen often and therefore is it an obvious failure? How do I get the fuel cap open without ripping half the car off?
It is a 1998 face-lift ford mondeo salon Ghia. (For all those who recommend Mondeo?s on this forum, let this be a lesion to you :-) )
Read more
Related problem on my 2006 Mondeo.
The plastic retention lead to the filler cap has become detached at the filler cap end....
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
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
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...
Read more
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.
--
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 ?
.jpg)
It's not!
I misread the question - I meant the internal button.
Sorry!