July 2006

tt

My wipers have started running at a snails pace and I suspect the motor.
Has anyone replaced the front windscreen wiper motor?
How easy or diffcult? Any known pitfalls? Any instructions.
I'd appreciate some help.
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local yokel

The Mk3 Golf had a complete unit , motor plus the arms and linkage, that VW wanted £60+ for. I went to the breaker, took a complete unit from him for £20, and then took it apart to save time on the swap of the motor alone, as swapping out the complete unit looked like hard work for no return.

Ian (Cape Town)

A story in the Cape tabloid Daily Voice yesterday...

About a chap who blew up his old Landrover, garage... and cat, suffering severe burns himself, burning down the garage and most of the house, etc etc

However, you may ask, how did this poor unfortunate come to blow up the Landy? Well, apparently the bolts on the filler-cap to his petrol tank had rusted solid, so he tried to remove them.

With an angle grinder.


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frazerjp

I wander what happened to his neighbours if the poor bloke had any?
--
Its not what you drive, its how you drive it! :-)

Freewheel

Been offered a M reg 525 TD BMW Touring with history, Boston Green, 130,000 miles, good all round with full MOT, around £1800.00.
Anything to look out for with this model - do you have any owner advice, or opinions? Reliable? Thirsty? Good car? What falls off? Running costs?
I'll use it for longer trips, work use to visit clients, and to ferry family of 4 to London three times a year. Concerned whether 130,000 is trouble time...or nothing for that TD engine?
Any thoughts welcome. Read more

Hamsafar

It was an Omega, my model was 1770Kg.

sony

Never ever hear it and it does seem sluggish at times!
Should you always hear the turbo?? What could it be chaps? Read more

Screwloose

stuartl

It might have been a genuine GM MAF. They could have bought it at a dealer's and then sold it on e-bay for less than they paid.... if they were only selling the one.

Or was it a counterfeit one? They're visually identical; in identical packaging; with original cast-in numbers too. They sort-of work - for a short while... Consider where the e-bay sellers buy their stock? Are the manufacturers going to sell parts - in vast quantities - to someone who's in direct competition with their dealers? Consider also that the car parts counterfeiting "industry" is worth billions. Where do they sell them all...?

Sorry to hear that your engine died. Cam failures on those are usually due to low oil levels; some of those units drink the stuff - was yours one? [Never run-in new engines on synthetic oil Vauxhall - the bores glaze.]

Dunno what happened to Isuzu. Their '80's engines were fine. [I'm on my fifth Trooper - a V6 natch! I won't even work on a diesel one.] Then it all fell apart when they stretched the 2.8 TD to 3.1 and tried to get too much out of it, with too much clutter hung on it; [who actually needed an exhaust brake?] The blocks distorted on #1 and the heads just fell apart. The new 3.0 was even worse [dropped valve anyone?] and shows absolutely no sign of getting any better. Haven't seen any new ones for ages; have they stopped importing them?

Edinburgh andy

Hi All,

My sister recently got a new Corolla. Not long after buying it i read about some Toyota engines consuming oil at around a pt every 4-500 miles after 40k. Although this isnt an issue yet - car only 8 months old and 10k- The car in question is the 1.6 petrol engine.

i was wondering if anyone knows what causes this high oil consumtion is it bore, rings worn or valve oil seals or just engine design????

i have a friend has asked my if i know much about the new avensis. I also heard of gearbox probs on the mk1 avensis does this also affect the new style avensis??? - i wouldnt want to recomend a car that was about to have gearbox probles.

Cheers

Edinburgh Andy Read more

Mikey Jay

I am not pretending for one moment that I know the answer, but a lot depends on how the engine has been run in. Apparently if the engine has been driven at fairly low speeds or even moderate speeds at unvarying revs, the piston rings dont bed in properly and this can cause oil consumption problems, because the rings aren't sealing properly. The take it easy approach in the break in period is now contested by some as beeing detrimental, because today's engines tend to have fine honed bores. One advocate recommends you warm the engine up carefully and then take the vehicle on a long run gradually increasing the revs and having periods of easing off the throttle from high revs. Be carefull to check your rear view mirror when slowing down like this on the open road. Perhaps your car hasn't had this sort of teatment. ie. the engine hasn't had higher revs through the gears. There is an interesting article on this. Do a Google search on "Running in engines" and see what motoman has to say. Mike.

pegleg2001


I paid for an online valuation of my 03 BMW 525d Sport Touring. Glass's says £15k (mileage adjusted and matching the condition parameters they specify), all dealers say £10k-£12.5k in part-ex.

What's the point of paying for Glass's if it is so way off?
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pd

FWIW, CAP Retail is 15245.

bikemade3

My car was damaged last year in an accident where the bonnet needed a complete respray.This was carried out at the cost of the third party. Yesterday washing the car i noticed that the lacquer has discolour in certain areas and the paint finish below one such area has started to seperate to the point where i can see the undercoat.

As the car repair was under warranty to whom do i complain my insurers or the repair agent? Read more

bell boy

the paint place painted it the paint place should warranty it............say that after 5 halves ;)

AlastairW

Bullitt is on NOW. Turner Classic Movies. Read more

Martin Devon

I can't stand the game and only get mildy patriotic on these ocassions, but i am soooo glad the cheating, port-u geezers are now out. As for the 'malvinas' referee!

As Ronnie Barker once said, "Sidney Bottocks, that is neither one thing or the other."

OK mods??

VBR..................MD

spoon

can anyone help i ve just replaced the clutch on my 405 diesel td all went well exept i think i ve caused a fault with the two driveshafts when i put them back in i think i lost some of the needle rollers that hold the collars on the drive shaft now when im driving the car its shakin all over the place can i buy these needles on they re own or do i need to buy two complete driveshafts if so where can i buy them any help would be great as my teeth are falling out due to the rattling !!! Read more

Number_Cruncher

>>Just take an old one as a pattern to a bearing supplier;

That's extremely good advice - car manufacturer's just love charging extortionate sums of money for standard bearing parts.

Number_Cruncher

stunorthants

Im wondering if the general apperance of a car can affect the way the tester approaches the car.

My old Mazda is pretty tatty as cars go. It has scratches, fair sized dent on front wing, lots of surface rust, a badly dented front valance, a dent in the sill, a scrape on the rear wheel arch and there is plenty of untidy paint in general.
Its also had a lot of welding done and is obviously a car that doesnt sail through its MOT every year without something or other.

I just wonder if that even though ive had the car MOT prepared and hundreds of pounds spent on making it pass, will it still be at a slight disadvantage and attract a more critical eye on account of its general condition?

I ask because I bought an apparently sound Sierra estate years ago which looked exceptional for its age, yet underneath, i discovered that the garage that had MOT'd it had missed a section of the chassis with a 2x3 hole in it. The MOT station was a BMW main dealer... Read more

Number_Cruncher

Please forgive the pedantry;

I think MOT testers are within their rights to fail a car...


Actually, they may refuse to test a car if it is too dirty for an adequate inspection to be made.


Of course, the net result is that you leave without a new MOT, but I'm not sure if they can charge you the test fee in this case, because they won't have carried out the inspection.

One of the other possible reasons for refusal to inspect is that a vehicle is obviously in such a dangerous condition that it might damage the tester's equipment.

Number_Cruncher