Afternoon,
I have recently brought a Renault 19 1.4 and have been noticing an intermittent judder which feels like an engine misfire or a poor connection in the ignition system. The problem is more pronounced at high speeds (50mph+). I have replaced the rotor arm, dist. cap, HT leads and spark plugs but the problem is still there. Has anyone else experienced this or able to suggest what else I might look at?

Thanks,

Paul. Read more

What's happend to this chap? Used to enjoy reading his missives from S.E. Asia, having worked there myself.
S6 1SW Read more

Hi Folks,

About 3 weeks ago, my car (T-reg pug 406) went into the garage for:

* Air-con service & regass (it hadn't been getting cold since last November, I left it over the winter as it was cold enough!) - I was told on collection that it had been totally out of gas, so they pressure tested it, added extra oil & die, and regassed it, and could find no leaks. (~£85 vat, 1yr warranty)
* Brake discs & pads (~£175 vat)
* tie-rod replacement (ends worn) (~£100) vat)

Now, it came out, and went back in very quickly when copper-slip on this discs & pads made the brakes a little dodgy (and took me a couple of hours sripping down and cleaning after a 100 mile drive when the squealing started and I noticed the problem). But we'll leave that for now...

The Air-con was lovely and cold when I picked the car up, I've been using the car (and thus the air-con) 2 or 3 times a week since, and over the last week or so have noticed it's not been managing to get as cold as it was when I picked it up, to the point this weekend where it wasn't changing the temperature of the air at all.

Took it back to the garage this morning and was told:

"well, if it's been out of gas for a while, the neoprene seals may have dried up and it may need one or two more regasses before it maintains it's pressure properly, but we'll check it over to make sure there are no visible leaks, as we don't want to regas it if there are, as that'll cost you another £40."

So, my first question is, does this explanation of how my AirCon system has lost its pressure ring true to anyone? or is the garage just saying this, regassing it, hoping to charge me £40 and send me on my way? Presumaly if it doesn't hold the gas again, i'll go back in another 3 weeks and be fed the same line...

If there is a leak in it somewhere they're not finding, i'd rather have it fixed up-front, for the sake of both my wallet and the environment!

Secondly, the liklihood of them wanting me to hand over another £40 when I go to pick up the car?

In your opinions, ought I to stump up the cash? My gut feel is no (possibly as i'm not too keen on the explanation provided above), that the possibility of my losing all the gas in a couple of weeks wasn't raised to me when I took the car in to have the work done, and that there is no guarantee that it wont all bleed out again in the next few weeks leaving me with a huge bill to pay for air-con work (i may as well have gone to the main dealer given what the final cost may end up as).

Thanks, in advance, for your thoughts.

Gav.

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SwMBO's old clunker broke down in the supermarket carpark yesterday. Anyway to cut a long story short it seems the battery has had it. I tried to jump start it from my car but this would not get it going/turning over so we called the recovery people from her Insurance (DLine - Green Flag?) to tow it to a garage or so we thought. Anyway to their credit the recovery people turned up after about 30/40 mins and put a meter across the battery which read low. I mentioned that I had already tried to jump start it, to which he replied that most modern cars dont have enough spare 'juice' to do it. With that he got his portable booster pack out clipped it on and the old girl fired up on the first turn.

So my main question is will any old battery do or are they specific to the car (2.0Gxli Spacewagon) .

Also i was a bit surprised that my car (2.0 Td) didnt have enough to get it turning over.

Cheers P

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Hi all,

Me and and my gf have a '03 Ibiza 130 Sport (nominally my car), and a '52 Golf PD100 SE with all the trimmings - cruise, AC, etc (nominally hers). The golf is paid for and very reliable, but dull to drive. The Ibiza is on a PCP with the balloon payment due in Feb '07, it's great to drive and has been 100% reliable so far, in fact overall it's probably the best car I've ever owned.

However, my gf fancies something a bit sportier and fun, so we are looking to buy a new model MX-5 in ther next few months. The question is; which car do we trade in ? I'll be driving whichever car we keep as I do thousands of business miles and need a diesel, but if I get saddled with the golf I'll be getting it revo'd as soon as I get it as I'm used to the torque of the ibiza, but there are question marks as to whether the 5-speed box on the golf can handle the extra torque.

Basically, I'd like to keep the Ibiza, but if it's going to leave me well out of pocket, I'll take my chance on the golf.

All opinions very welcome,

Jake Read more