August 2006
Today, delivering the mail ,i came up against my first Lane Rage.
Driving up a long lane, with a slight bend in the middle ,i met a small car (think it was a Peugeot),we both stopped,i looked in my mirrors to see if a/anyone was behind me and b/ where the nearest pull in was.
There was no one behind ,but it was a long way back to a layby ,so as i was in a Sherpa and he was in a small car i thought that he could reverse back, and after a short pause this he did.
Using his mirrors he kept weaving in the road in and out of the verge, then gave up and looking over his shoulder he shot back to the junction at the top.
When i got there i was the usual smiles and thank you's and to my surprise i got a torrent of abuse, why had i not reversed was one of his questions with the derogatory comments removed.
I replied that ,well i was going uphill you are supposed to give way to me,(is this right as i have always believed ? as a bloke at work disagrees).
Boom !! he shot out of the car and went for me.
Believing that disgression is better than valour, i dropped the clutch and sped away.
Well that was the idea, actually the Sherpa sat spinning it wheels asthmatically whilst he ranted at my door and ever so slowly we drove away.
OOOh he was a nasty man and the first i have met in four years of working with Royal Mail Read more
Hi Folks,
Can anyone suggest a reasonably priced 7 seater that has good luggage space when using all seats (e.g. can take a reasonable amount of shopping or a fold down pram, etc). Would also be good if it came with a roof bar option (for a roof box) and if it is a recent or new model.
Thanks,
... Read more
Transit bus.
TVM's comment here www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=44019&...e got me thinking - I wonder how much power a modern car that to all intents and purposes is 'off' is actually drawing from the battery?
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This has been on HJ before. I measured the current drain of one of the new shape Micras. It was 65 mA (0.065 amps). It altered to something higher if you went near it with a key. The key, sort of, 'woke' it up.
Any help?
The garage doing my last MOT has apparently blown the head gasket.
Are they reponsible for the damage and subsequent work?
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This used to be a bit of a favourite with BMW's. The viscous fan coupling tends to get a bit 'weak' with age but still basically works OK in normal UK driving because the engine is seldom left to run for long periods without some airflow. However, during the MoT emissions tests the testers can leave them running for a long period inside the workshop and this seems to push the visous fan 'over the edge' - it doesn't shift enough air and the engine boils.
I remember back in 2001/2002 I was asked to checkout a BMW 530i (M30 engine) and then take it to MoT. I did some servicing work and then had the car running in my yard for about 30 mins and temp gauge was spot on. Later in the day, in the MoT bay, it started to overheat. Fortunately the tester (a mate of mine) was on the ball and turned off the engine. The viscous fan coupling had just failed (would 'freewheel' even when hot). If it had been left running the HG would have gone - M30/35 don't take much to blow a headgasket.
My wife will be taking delivery of a new Kangoo in the next few days. It comes with a radio/cassette unit as standard which she wants to upgrade to a radio/CD unit.
If somebody like Halford fit a stereo unit for us will we lose the dash mounted radio display and steering wheel controls?
Cheers Read more
or 50 for an ebay unit
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
My father is giving some thought to getting rid of his older Forester and taking over mine. You may recall how he bought mine for himself and then decided he preferred his old one, so handed the newer one to me. Anyway, that leaves me without a car, obviously, as I don't want his old Forester either for the same reasons that mine is a far better spec.
So, what should I get. Lets say I have a budget of £20,000 to buy a second hand car that less than four years old. I like sitting high but prefer not to act like a mountain goat to get in. It must be automatic and have four doors. Not bothered about diesel unless the drive is much better than the petrol equivalent.
I have thought about the usual German saloons, but frankly don't need the space of an E-class or 5-series or A6. Maybe I'll go for another Subaru. I also though about getting a car for my wife to take over in a couple of years (e.g. Toyota Corolla Verso or Mazda 5). I refuse to consider anything French and the Touran is ugly.
Any other ideas? Read more
The problem BH is that the 180bhp derv drinker is manual only. Damn all this stick waggling giving me painful knees. The Mazda 5 is manual only in the Uk but auto only in the Middle East (go figure?) and the Corolla is manual or jerky semi-auto (no thanks - I want a proper slushbox).
I think I'll go and have another Forester. I was thinking about being totally crazy and getting the 2.5 Turbo instead of the 2.0 NA engine. It should be fun seeing the fuel gauge drop as I'm watching it!
I locked the car using the blip keypad. The blip has stopped working, however can open the car door using the key & the alarm does not go off as it should & has in the past. Bigger problem is the car does not start. There is power to the car as I can open the windows & the radio works. The red flashing light on the dashboard no longer flashes or is lit at all.
It is like the car has immobillised itself. Have tried jump starting the car no luck.
Any ideas welcome. Read more
A friend had near exact same problem as yours. A new remote key was required from Peugeot, as reprogramming it to the car didn't work.
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Mike Farrow
I'm experiencing a judder between 2200 and 2700rpm (roughly). It occurs on light throttle and is most noticeable at motorway speeds (70-80 mph).
It feels like the car slows down, then speeds up again slightly and sometimes it judders in waves, which always occurs at about 2500rpm. It still does it when the cruise control is engaged, but not as badly. This is probably due to the ECU counteracting the loss in power by adding more fuel and 'smoothing out' the problem.
It's done nearly 70k miles and has recently had a new turbo fitted (old one went blew a seal and dumped oil out of the exhaust) and the garage who changed the turbo nd fitted a new exhaust, said that they had fitted a new EGR valve, but I'm not 100% sure if this was done. It has also had a custom remap, but this was fine before the turbo went pop.
I've tried cleaning the MAF with Isopropanol, which didn't cure it, but the hesitation feels almost like a MAF fault, as if it is telling the ECU that there is more air getting in than actually is and less fuel is consequently injected.
Anyone got any suggestions for other potential causes?
It's a 2002 Volvo S40 with a Renault DCi (surprise surprise) engine. Read more
bobda
Turbos don't have oil seals in the conventional sense, so they can't "blow" unless there's a build-up of pressure in the crankcase[??] Escaping air usually means a failed ducting hoseclip or a bulged/split intercooler [a Laguna DCi speciality.] That might fit your odd symptom. Look for leaking oil mist traces. An intake leak, causing a turbo overspeed, might be a very likely reason for the initial turbo failure.
The Toledo is sounding a bit like a non-serviced Endura engine all of a sudden!
Oil is OK, bang on maximum. Weird thing is, with the windows open it sounds OK, but with them closed and nothing on you can really hear that typical valve train noise (I don't know if it is VT related, it's just the closest noise match)
I believe it has hydraulic valve lifters (Is that the right term?)
Had the timing belt done a while back but I remember from my Peugeot days that something TB related can also make a noise like this...
Any ideas? Read more
Cool - thanks Big John!
Citroen UK have an excellent warranty offer on until 18th August, called Citroen Advantage.
Any Citroen up to three years old can have its warranty extended by 1 year for only £179. Normal cost £450. Seems like a no-brainer to me, so I have signed up for our C8.
We had a mailing from a dealer (not our regular one) about it, who are also offering to pay double this premium back to us if we 'change' our car at their garage. Makes the possible C6 slightly more realistic. Read more
I can get 1500 off nearly any 15 grand car. That level of discount is about right for a brand new to the market car. Specially french.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Browse
Off topic, but I used to work in an office overlooking the Thames and noticed on a couple of occasions these things being towed in. A later chat with someone from the Thames RNLI revealed that this was not uncommon.
Ex Eastern European military barges, apparently, not trhe ex WW2 US jobs that were frequent sights in Nofolk.