Ladies / Gents,
I own a 1.6CL MK3 Golf .which keeps stalling at idle speeds e.g when I lift my foot off the accelerator at a road junction . It also will not start unless I have my foot on the accelerator. The engine appears to be unable to run at idle, which I think is about 600 rpm.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
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We've got an old L reg Xantia as a spare car. We have the radio code and the radio asks for it every few days. However i've loaned the car to my uncle while he's over from Spain and he's managed to put the wrong code in!

We have no books for it, and have no idea how to proceed from here. It is still showing the incorrect code that he input. He left the radio on for a couple of hours and it didnt sort of reset itself after then. The unit is a plain big fascia'd radio cassette, I think its a Clarion but can't be certain.

Any suggestions?

Tony Read more

I have a 95 M ford escort, 1.6 zetec.

My boot release button does not work properly. Sometimes it works, other times it does not. I press the button when the ignition is turned off. When it does not work, the de-mister light illuminates and so does the light for the rear foglights. (sometimes, when I put the rear wiper on, it does not work, and instead the demister light illuminates. Does anyone know what the problem is, and how much it will cost to fix?

The problem is made wors by the fact that the boot cannot be opened using the key (the lock has jammed/siezed). I am thining of buying a new lock. Would I be able to get one from a scrap yard, or would I have to go to Ford?

From my question, you can probably tell that i don't know much about cars, but I would appreciate your help, especially if you own/ have owned an escort and experienced similar problems.

Thanks,
Ish. Read more

The yellow glowplug preheater light of our Renault Scenic 1.9DCi keeps coming on while the car is being driven. Additionally, my wife has noticed that the car has less power than normal.

Are these two matter srelated and what could it be.

The yellow preheater light has two symbols but I do not have an owenrs manual for the car to find out what they both mean.

Any help wopuld be appreciated. Thankyou. Read more

I am considering buying an old shape volvo V70 with a TDi engine - I understand it is an Audi 5 cylinder design.

Can anyone give me their experiences with these cars, both good and bad ?

I have noticed that most of these cars for sale have very high mileages ~100K+

Do these cars still have plenty of life left in them, or will they become complete money-pits.....?

A lot of them also seem to be automatics - I quite like driving an auto, but have only had japanese ones so far (with no problems)- What is the reliability of the V70 auto-box like, especially at these sort of mileages. Is it a "good" box to drive (I know some autos are not great)

I have read HJs backroom article and note the cambelt/water pump change, but are there any other issues on these vehicles that needs to be considered when buying.

Lastly what are they like to maintain ?? I have a good mechanic who comes to my house with his equipment packed in avan, and has had no problems maintaing my older japanese cars over the years, but will this V70 TDi be something he can service ? For diesel specific problems I imagine one could take the vehicle to an independent diesel specialist (Do these exist I am in SW London/Surrey) and he could do the servicing/nuts & bolts jobs.

Thanks for any pearls of wisdom about these cars
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