August 2006
Firstly you will have to forgive me on my total lack of car knowledge.
My 4 year old Rover 25 broke down the other day. The temperature guage had been going mad for a little while. Going up high then dropping back down to normal. After a few days it made this funny ticking sound then broke down. And there was no water in it when I looked!!
What could this be? Head gasket blown?? Something more serious??? How much am I looked at to get this fixed??
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks. Read more
A friend of SWMBO has asked me whether I can service her Ka for her. She's been a bit unhappy about the cost and quality of servicing at the garages, so wants me to have a go (SWMBO thinks it'll be worth a few beer tokens for me). I've yet to find out the details of the car, but I'm assuming it is one of the older versions with the ancient 1.3 engine in it. I'm also unaware of the mileage and age at the moment, though the will obviously become clear when I see it tonight.
I'm happy to do the oil and filter change for her, and will do that regardless. Are there any unusual or notorious things to look out for on other servicing aspects of this car? Is it true the spark plugs can get jammed tight? I'm going to look at the car tonight to give her an idea of what needs doing and how much it'll cost , so it will be useful for me to be able to pin-point certain areas.
I used to own a Fiesta many many years ago, can I still expect spares for the Ka to be as available and cheap (by modern standards) as they were then?
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my 1.3 push rod in an escort is now up to 112,000 and perfect. oil changes at 6 months from new. burns no oil does 45mpg, parts at givaway prices, go to Partco etc.discs?, £22 +vat for two. etc
exhaust cost pennies!
They do the common suspension bits too, just what for the rot- Ford had a shortish design life in mind
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Simple a Nokia 1100 or 1101. Can't go wrong.
Today I had the pleasure of worshipping at the shrine and some say birthplace of the computer.. I had a good long chat with some of the team who rebuilt Colussus Mk2 at Bletchley Park.
I stood open mouthed in awe, bathed in the heat and smell of 2000 valves as they described how it was built using the information of 8 tatty black and white photos, and 1 small portion of the circuit diagram.
A joy.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF > Read more
Thread closed - volume 101 is now open :)
Hi. Can you help with some advice? For some fun this bank holiday weekend just gone & as a surprise on my wife's birthday I splashed out (for me) on hiring a Merc SLK 200 from one of the big-name hire companies. Of course, despite years of more downmarket but totally trouble-free car hire, the trade-up has landed me with a potentially nasty bill for a new windscreen after a stone kicked up on an A-road and left a 15cm crack on the drivers' side. The hire agreement has no latitude for no-fault windscreen/ tyre etc damage - unlike domestic policies - and there's a £700+ excess. The car hire company has informally quoted me £250-£300, compared to a windscreen repair company's £185 phone quote. Any experts prepared to suggest what the true figure is? Has anyone experienced this situation? Any words of wisdom much appreciated. Read more
My recent car accident (right off) in Italy with normal CDW would have come to ?800 excess and indeed that got billed to my credit card. Holiday Autos however had an agreement with Hertz Italy for ?600 because of pre-pay of hire and ?200 refunded. I am now waiting for Holiday Autos to reimburse the ?600 because I took out their additional excess cover for £2.50/day.
So far out of pocket for the hire (£200) and ?600 (Excess)... Didn't take the offer of another car with a big gash to the head and a neck-brace. Only had the hire car for 30-40 minutes!
So next time the equivalent of Super CDW is offered I might take it. In fact I did in Tuscany last year but it was almost as much as the car hire. But you never know when an HGV might hit you from behind on a "motorway".
But here was the new one for me... if you have an injury due to an accident (in Italy at least) then your holiday insurance probably does not cover it due to use of a motor vehicle. And personal insurance, at least with Hertz Italy, is another extra!
I recently got a brand new pair of front tyres for my 2 year old A4, and initially has a few problems with the balance of these wheels which was sorted out by the tyre services involved. However, since getting these new tyres, (change from Conti Sport Contact 2's to Cont Premium Contact 2's), I have had a slight jitter in the steering at between 60 and 80 varying in intensity from undetectable to noticeable depending on road surface.
The car has done 38K miles and I have never bashed any kerbs or suchlike, can this be the symptomm of wheel allignment being hightened by the different tyre tread pattern ?
I also find the steering lighter than it was before with the same pressures I have always used. Read more
Some fitters are better than others - have had exactly the same problem on wheels that have been fitted to rims for some time, but on swapping (front to rear) and re-balanced / tracked - out of balance. Good fitters are worth their weight in gold !
Morning all,
Went to trade my car in at a large supermarket at the weekend.
I commute Manchester to Leeds every day, and am finally getting around to getting a diesel (6 months too late...)
Unfortunately, the trade-in I was offered has made me re-think. Essentially the message was that there is no market for high-mileage cars, with the consequence that not only would this purchase be more expensive than I'd hope, but that I'd be in the same position in a few months if I bought another second-hand car.
(As a side issue, my car is just over 3 years old and has 45K on the clock. If 'average' mileage is 12K/year, I don't see 15K/year as that dramatic...).
Anyway, the fella's recommendation was to buy a new car on a PCP deal, and just give the (by then low value) car back after 3 years to start again.
Based on the depreciation I've seen whilst I've had my current car, I reckon I've effectively been 'spending' £312/month - so I'm not far off what a PCP would cost.
I've always they were to be avoided in the past, but given my mileage, I'm re-thinking. Any pointers/warnings/observations on PCPs? Alternatively, what is my best option, knowing that I'm likely to be doing 25-30K miles a year? Read more
I'm not sure I agree with the majority here.
My car is on a PCP calculated on the basis of 20,000 miles a year - the monthly payments are
only about £25 more than if I'd put it on for 10,000. Out of interest, to make sure I wasn't talking rubbish, I looked on www.drivethedeal.com where they give you a quote for a PCP. Assuming you like Hondas and go for a diesel Civic, it was something like £270 pm on 10,000, £305 on 25,000.
You'll get a decent price for your three-year-old Accord (through not from drivethedeal) while the mileage is still reasonable; if you keep it for another 3 years /the cost to change will be very high, not to mention repairs and replacements.
And with a new car you'll get a 3-year warranty, and you will have the minimum guaranteed future value at the end of the three-year contract.
Finally, finance isn't the only consideration: you need a reliable car for that commute. I'm sure the Honda is fine now, but after another 3 years it'll have a six-figure mileage and even a good car like
an Accord may go wrong. If you can't run to another Tourer, or a Civic, something like a Skoda Fabia diesel estate will do the job almost as well for much less.
I have a '97 R 523i SE. I have got the display showing the outline of the car and both light indicators at the rear of the car, which according to the manual means brake lights fault (can also be actual lights as well). When I have checked , I found the brake light bulbs out. So, quick trip down to local shop, then remove rear of clusters to replace the bulbs. Once I had removed both sides, I realised that the 2 bulbs blown where in different positions on each side. The drivers side was an outside bulb, and the other side was an inside bulb. So I checked the side lights, and this proved that both the brakes and lights use an outside and an inside one each. I presume this is not correct and it should be either both outer or both inner ones. The fault indicator is still on, even though all bulbs now work. If this is wrong, does anyone know where a wire could be crossed or if you have heard of this before.
Cheers Read more
I've been away for 2 months, so couldn't reply to you lot. Thanks for all the info, but one big lesson learnt here. Changed bulbs and still had fault. Now really anoyed! Then, I found only one of the reversing lights working. I thought swap bulbs (new one already bought and replaced). Bulbs swapped and now other side was the one not working. Right, must be bulb. Checked filament, everything ok. Even tested bulb on a spare battery. Bulb works?????? Then, ray of light shone through brain. Looked at the bottom of the bulb, 2 contacts. BMW requires single point. What a git!!! Checked other bulbs that I replaced, all same. Bought new bulbs and fault cleared instantly. A wise man once said, can't see the forest for the trees. Goes to show how many of us instantly look for the big problems and miss the absolute obvious? Not saying that you lot are as daft as me, but I bet theres a few of you out there who won't admit doing something like this once. Cheers again.
hi i have a punto 1200 16v sporting v reg, we are going to cornwall in 2 weeks so i need to change the cam belt its done 50k miles but the book says it should be changed every 6 years, is it a hard jod for me to do my self as i have not work on fiats before or should i put it into the garage to be done, many thanks for any advice trev Read more
I had my Ibiza cambelt changed at the recommended 60,000 miles but for the last few thousand of those I was a bit apprehensive. For safety I'd feel happier getting it done at least 10,000 early.
My wife's A4 has recently had the aircon re-gassed and was working well but the fan has stopped working.
I tried to check the fuse indicated in the manual and all appears in order but the wife says that the fan works intermittently and when it cuts in she hears a repetitive clicking noise which I think may be a relay. Anyone know where this is likely to be located?
Any ideas of anything else I could check or likely causes before I elist the services of an auto sparks?
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That is not a relay it is a dual thermal switch and is mounted in the back of the radiator or in the bottom hose. There are two relays that use the signals to control the fan speed, fuse 2 and 3 on the 8 relay carrier. This fan, in this present weather will only come at idle or if running very hot. Regards Peter
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altheace, I'm not sure where in the country you are, but theres plenty of rover engines on ebay. I'm assuming you have a 1.4? Heres an example:
snipurl.com/u9j3
You could do a search so the nearest to you will be shown in miles, but a lot might deliver the engine.