July 2006
Right, another question with a long history in the backroom, so I'll be careful to only ask about one sub-section of the topic.
Having read the many opinions and ideas, I'm satisfied that it will be worth doubling up on my oil changes on my Accord (2.2 i-CDTI Tourer). However, I'm not sure when to start.
Frist 12.5k miles is easy. All (Okay, most. Okay, some) advice says leave it. Then start changing on half schedule.
But. I do mainly high speed, very easy on the car stuff. It took 10k to (nearly) stop burning oil, and at 18k is only really now loosening up to give 45+ mpg and feel more responsive.
So, my question is, in my kind to the oil and engine, only just bedding in situation, should I leave this lot in for the full 12.5k as well? My gut feeling is that I should, but I?m also influenced by having no time to do the chance before going on holiday, and it?ll be on more like 20-21k by the time I?m back, where it starts to feel a bit pointless.
Any thoughts?
Gord.
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Itsa MK 3, 1.8 diesel, 5 speed. The drain plug on the gearbox has a little shaft protruding from it about 3" long, what is that and is it safe to take his thing out without upsetting anything? Read more
I think syphoning sounds the safest option and in this
weather the oil is pretty runny.
Oh no it's not! Unless our summers have got hotter than last year...
... 2 hours is small price to pay if you've got an afternoon free rather than jacking the car up and undoing supension components etc. But yes madf oldman is right, I only managed to get 2/3 - 3/4 out by syphoning, I deemed this enough though :-P
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Mike Farrow
Mods - excuse "Discussion" not "Technical" as I expect the former forum to attract more traffic.
A visitor has just locked themselves out of their '02 Mondeo hatch at our house. Realising that the keys were on the boot floor as they closed the tailgate, they tried to catch it with the result it is only half locked.
Before we take advantage of the few millimetres of "slack" that exists between tailgate lip and bumper upper edge, can a BRer describe how the latch works in the even it will be possible to "spring" it with bent metal strip (I have some) or similar.
No, the visitor is not a member of any breakdown service and will simply ask a family member to drive the 30 miles to our house with the spare key if need be. Would like not to do this if possible, hence the question first.
TVM! Read more
Sorry, just seen this though reckon the 60 mile round trip would be the answer, could have been a nice excuse for a hour or so on the Hornet.
Hello guru's
Can anyone tell how i can check out if the receiver for the remote control (central locking) is broken.
I have bought a replacement transmitter (remote) but alas the doors can only be unlocked using the key manually.
If the receicer is broken, can it be repaired or must it be replaced?
Where on the car is the receiver located?
{Shouting - ie, total upper case text amended - DD} Read more
With some remotes if you press the buttons near to a detuned (ie tuned to white noise) radio on LW or MW you can hear the remote working, tick, tick ,tick
Works on TV remotes too ;-)
Only with infra red remotes. If you've got a digital camera then point the infra red device at that and if it's working you'll see light pulses.
My wife likes the look of the Aygo and is considering taking the two day's driving trial offer. (Current car is a 2002 Corolla 3 door.)
Are there any Aygo owners out there who would like to comment on their car?
Many thanks,
P. Read more
autobytel.co.uk doing the Aygo for £6k
Local Citroën dealer in Cardiff is doing the C1 for £4,995 if you take finance (not sure how much you need to borrow or what the APR is).
Just had my car air con serviced by one of these mobile fellas. I watched the guy at work and he performed the following...
- system discharge
- vacuum test for leaks
- system recharge
- checked the supply of cold air in the vehicle
I have a question. As he extracted the gas from the system, this was transferred to the gas cylinder he brought with him. This would be fine, but this was the same cylinder that he subsequently used for recharging. To what extent does the gas get contaminated as it "in use" in the vehicle? Would I not now have a cocktail of crap from all the other cars he has worked on?
Regardless of this, the cabin is now much cooler than before so I am quite happy!!
Almost a license to print money selling me back my old gas like that - makes me think of the chocolate biscuit factoty from Bagpuss!!!
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I paid £54 pounds for this, but this did include a 10% discount since he came to work and did five of us at the same time.
www.coolcaraircon.co.uk
I'm going to have a marvellous day next wednesday - Wigan, Wakefield, Snetterton and back, and the little matter of the best part of a days work in the middle.
The first part is obvious, but the RAC and AA websites give wildly different routes - RAC goes 'cross country', 218 miles, 4hrs 56, and the AA goes straight down the M1 and up the A11, 248 miles, 4hrs 32
Any recommendations, alternatives, or up todate info from our man on the ground ?
ta
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk Read more
sadly, very sadly indeed, I'm not going to the track. I'm spending nine hours driving 500 miles for the sake of spending a few hours in a customers' warehouse
:-(
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
Right, I know this is covered in detail, and that new tyres should go on the back.
But.
I've just ordered a pair of Pirelli P6000 Powergy's for the Accord (2.2 i-CTDI Tourer). Weighed up what I wanted (80% motorway on cruise, 10% A roads, 5% mountain roads, 5% town) and took advice from the forum and from the very helpful man on Blackcircles. The Pirelli's appear to offer the best compromise, MIchelins would be better for the motorway but nowt like as good elsewhere, others are too soft to last on my high mileages. So, I'm happy with my choice.
But. Front or back. Back obviously. Except the car tramlines a bit as it's on the nice looking but grabby 17" alloys. So, should I put the Pirellis on the front to reduce this (as apparently they will), or the back following conventional wisdom?
Your thoughts?
Gord.
Incidentally BlackCircles steered me away from all the expensive options I was considering and gave an impression of complete impartiality, which was nice. Read more
Trevor H, good point - if the fronts have lost all adhesion (thinking usually ice/snow or aquaplaning) then throwing more lock at it isn't going to help! Like you I have been able to play at this on a skid pan, but I have only once, as a feckless youth, encountered it on the road and I won't go into the outcome, except to say it involved a lot of snow and a lamp post. I think most drivers, most of the time, would come to grief with this situation unless they had plenty of room - good driving is not getting into it the first place.
I was thinking of the much more commonly experienced initial understeer brought on by a bit too much speed and throttle, (thinking greasy roundabouts) when the front starts to run wide, rather than the full "straight-ons". Most people, experienced or not, will instinctively back off, regaining grip, and then turn gently back on course - the extra grip demanded being more than offset by the reduction in speed. Maybe it's not skid pan technique, but if it didn't usually serve then there would be inattentive drivers shooting off at tangents all over the place.
It's certainly the case that fwd is regarded as much safer for inexperienced drivers and I don't think that depends on them all having the presence of mind to straighten up every time a bit of understeer creeps in, but I think you were right to correct my rather sloppy summary!
An update on that new sub-species of White Van Man - Double-Cab man: First there were pick-up trucks, then there were 4x4 pickups, then there were double-cab 4x4 pickups. Now you can buy fancy colour-keyed bootlids to go on the back of your 4x4 double-cab pickup to turn it into a very ugly 4-door saloon car! Read more
trucks.about.com/od/trucksuvphotogalleries/ss/body...m
Here's a link for other thickies like me who didn't know what a double-cab is.
I seem to remember David Beckham driving round in one a few years ago.
A friend has a 'N' reg diesel with 200,000 miles on the clock. It starts faultlessly every morning and evening for the trip to/from work - a journey of 65 miles each way. However, if she stops and tries to re-start it will not even turn over - no clicking - nothing. If you let itstand and cool down it will start without any problems. I've asked her to check when she gets home to put the lights on and try turning it over to ascertain if its a battery problem - which I don't think it is.
Anyone out there any ideas as to what the problem is??
As always your help is appreciated
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am... Read more
This problem is almost certainly due to a high resistance somewhere in the starter solenoid circuit. The reason it all becomes critical as you describe is due to engine soak-back heat raising the resistance of the starter solenoid coil. Obviously the present high ambient temperatures don't help. Some starters are very marginal in this respect, particularly if the ignition switch is poor or if there is a long wiring run to it. Remember that it is ampere-turns in the solenoid coil which produce the engagement force; the number of turns is fixed, and the current decreases when everything gets hot.
Checking for this is easy. When you have the problem, bridge directly from the starter main terminal to the smaller solenoid terminal with a short lead. Make sure that you have identified the terminals correctly, and observe all sensible precautions when cranking the engine in this way.
If the starter now operates, the easiest fix on a vehicle of this age is to fit a relay, energised from the lead which went to the solenoid terminal. Use thick leads in the switching side. French cars have notoriously poor ignition switches - maybe the starter swich is high resistance, but the addition of a relay would provide a cheap cure.
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That's what I was thinking. For the moment, my intention is to pay the £5700 balloon when it's 3 years old and then see how many miles I can get out of it. As long as the easy life continues, I hope it will go past 250k, although my requirement for it not to be off the road in an unplanned manner may intervene before that.
Saying that, if so, might make a good car for anyone on here into bangeromics!