August 2006
I went for a BMW 320D Touring Auto in the end. Not the one I'd first seen (was too late if you remember).
Picked it up last Thursday and left the Picasso behind (yayyy!)
Drove it from Hampshire to the Cotswolds and back over the weekend and apparently averaged 44mpg which will do me fine. The kids like it too (always a bonus) and this one has black leather - another bonus.
Job done. Thank you (as ever) for advice. Read more
Hi,
I have a Golf GTI 1.8T 150BHP. I just had it MOTed and noticed that the CO and HC are approximately double what they were last year. Since last year I had it Superchipped - could this account for the change, or is it a sign of the engine or cat being worn? Here are the results with milage & age:
MOT 1 - 3.5 years old & 40k miles: HC = 33, Lambda = 1 (can't remember CO I'm afraid)
MOT 2 - (Superchipped) - 4.5 years old & 54k miles: HC = 60, Lambda = 1
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Thanks to all for your replies on this, I think I've read enough to keep the paranoia at bay for another 11 months.
Dear all,
Fiance's mother has X plate Accord 2.0i VTEC. It's a great car, but does seem to use a bit of oil. On a 250 mile journey to Cornwall, used nigh on a litre. Is this normal? What's the best oil to use for these engines?
TIA,
Alex.
--
Dr Alex Mears
MG BGT 1971
If you are in a hole stop digging...unless
you are a miner. Read more
My 2.2 VTEC uses a very small amount between 6k services. 250m per litre seems enough to be worth investigating...
hi, my clio has a broken gearbox i was offered a renault 19 gearbox and assured it would fit, so i bought it. i have since been told although it will fit it will not work correctly. please help. Read more
I suspect the differences are in the gear ratios. I would take it back and try and get your money returned.
Hello all,
I was driving down from Nottingham to Maidstone on Friday. Whilst on the M25 around J25 going clockwise, I saw a couple of sets of traffic lights actually on the M25 just before going into a short tunnel.
The same was apparent on the journey back apart from traffic lights were in an overhead gantry.
Does anyone know why? Read more
Is it to stop traffic entering the tunnel if the exit is blocked?
Thats what they're for abroad anyway, to prevent stationary traffic in tunnels.
Apparently they can't be plugged if you get a nail in one - said nail has not been removed and tyre is still inflated, no tyre monitoring warning so inflation OK.
Is this true or is a colleague being ripped off? Replacement is £130 + fitting. Read more
Useful but certainly no substitute for regular checking with one of the best inventions of all - a pair of eyes.
>>
Oh I wish it was that easy.
Easier if its a flat tyre but with low profile tyres it is not easy to see if it is just low on pressure.
Sadly I know of one fatality that the root cause was due to a nail in an ultra low profile tyre on a brand new car and it was not at high speed.
A proper on board pressure monitor is what is required. I hope this will become mandatory on all new vehicles.
ok posting this for a mate,
right firstly main concern, m reg 1.9td 306 car was fine but has been stood up for 2 weeks while some work was done, the work was back lowered, new track rod end new exhaust, stage one tune so nothin major. since being driven again the gearbox is playing up, basically it takes a good shove to go into gear and crunches when going into reverse, it's like when putting it in gear you push it in, it hits a stiff point push it some more and it pops in. have checked linkages and moved them by hand seem fine, have checked linkage directly under selector seems fine also, put in new gearbox oil until it came out of level plug on side of box(took a litre as didn't drain old stuff), now this improved things for a short while but it's now back to being stiff as a dog again.
i suspect something is up with the clutch or more likely the cable as also when you do put it in gear there is a low pitched grating noise, imagine like you were putting a needle on the flywheel whilst it's turning or a stone grating on a brake disc etc. i suspect the clutch cable needs doing and as such isn't engaging the clutch sufficiently enough to allow the box to slot into gear, another reason for this suspicion is it goes into gears fine with the engine switched off. so can anybody suggest any other possible causes? the biggest problem in my head is that the clutch box etc. have not been touched during any of the work it's just been stood there so why would it suddenly fail?
the other problem is at the rear of the car there is a noise when the suspension is pushed up and down, it sounds like when a spring moves within a suspension strut(obviously not that on a pug but similer sound) the rear axle has just been stripped regreased and put together with new rear subframe bushes, i think it could possibly be the new bush bedding in or maybe a trailing arm bearing has given up the ghost(i know should have done them while it was apart) but again anyone got any ideas? can't see it being to do with the new brake shoes although they may be slightly overadjusted but again that will just scrub off the shoe and go away with time so i don't think it's that
chris Read more
My pleasure.
The problem is that the grease in the self adjuster dries out and I can but assume that when this happens, anything other than very regular usage is going to tend to aid siezing. In the case of my wife's 306 Sedan (1995 SR 1.8 8v 5sp for the record) that had just 14k miles on the clock when we purchased it four years ago, like you the problem was most apparent after the car had been standing idle for a few weeks after the previous owner sadly died. With use as a result of us taking ownership of the car, the problem lessened but didn't go away entirely until a new cable was fitted.
Good luck.
Tops £3,000 to spend
must be DIESEL (doing 15,000 miles plus)
Likes 1.9 d 206 - but consider alternatives.
AIR CON is desirable.
Any advice or ideas?
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You could probably get a Focus Tdi (not the best engine, but great car) for this kind of price. Or perhaps look to a Citroen Xsara - nice car, great engine. Probably be able to get a fairly low mileage one...
Is there a straightforward way of stopping the trip speedo coming up with INSP ? The car is a year old, and has had a service at the local independent. The mechanic is on holiday just now, and I don't want to go out of my way to a main dealer. Car is a 2005 Astra 1.6 Club, petrol. Read more
Thanks for that DD.
I got four dashes on my display. Maybe it's because it's a newer model, but it did it, so all is well.
AFAIK the warranty is not cancelled by using an independent so long as genuine parts are used.
Thanks to all who replied.
As many of the regulars here will know for the last 2 years i've been working in Sudan. I've just finnished there and on the 8th of Sept will be flying out to Saudi to start a new job
Looking foward to passing any motoring relaited observations from there. Also looking foward to buying something different out there preferably with a LARGE V8 to take advantage of cheaper petrol!
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Sorry that should be 7 ryals = £1
Browse
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Good result. And the kids like it too? Well done.
Feed the leather with the right stuff (i.e. the leather lotion from any of the leading car-cleaning products companies) every six months and it will either last a lifetime or be a big plus point when you sell the car. Keep sharp objects well away from it. When I sold it, the only damage in my nine-year-old Golf VR6 leather was a scratch caused by a dry cleaner's wire hanger hook. -- yup, a dangerous item.