October 2006
The heater fan on my 97 Astra now only works on the No 4 setting (highest). Any ideas on the parts needed and how best to get at them ?
Cheers
Peter Read more
I've got a strange problem with my car for past few days. It decided to not start the other day while I was away from home but with the help of a mate we managed to push start it. It looks like car isn't charging up the battery. I put the battery in another car and the battery got charged up no problem and started the car as normal and then I drove the car for good half an hour or so hoping that the battery would get fully charged but instead it was totally flat after me leaving the lights on for a bit (while i was driving the car). Now its not starting up at all. Could it be the alternator? If so how expensive it is to buy a new one or a re-conditioned one is good enough?
Thanks for any suggestion and advise thx. Read more
Surely it would be better to fix the fuel leak from the pump.
Round Basingstoke way we have been cursed with dual carriageways being painted out for who knows what reason. the A30 towards Camberley used to have lots of dual carriageway but now much of it has painted road hatchings to turn it into single carriageway. Bits of bricks and bollards protrude in random places waiting for you to strike them. Extra sets of traffic lights in places that worked fine without have appeared. Those stupid islands that cut roads in half and entreat....no...ORDER YOU ...to give way to oncoming traffic in the middle of nowhere. I vote for N. Hants as the most baffling and ill thought out road ''improvement'' area in the whole country. Anyone think they have a worse county council for roads? Read more
Yes I have been to surrey..in fact I go twice a week to work in the Guildford area. Watch those speed traps on the hog,s back I have been warned.
A few days back in a post relating to an E- type Jag, someone mentioned a website that can be used to search for registration plates and the cars that they belong to. Does anyone know of, or can anyone remember the web address? Thanks. Read more
Cheers DD, that was the one I was after. Thanks to others for trying.
If anyone is interested, the website www.mycarcheck.com lets you search for cars by typing in the registration plate. Only tells you which cars they're on but an interesting / useful resource all the same.
(Thread headline changed from vague to specific. HJ)
I took Sonia the Sonata for her service today.
On the site there were about a dozen Hyundai coupes with 55 or 06 numbers for sale, effectively new. They have other dealerships, and there were a fair number of similar MX5s. Now firstly I believe a new MX5 is due, which could be relevant, Would I be far adrift in speculating that a a new Hyundai coupe is in the offing? Secondly, with the winter and the awful Christmas looming, how on earth are the poor salesmen going to unload a parcel of semi-sporting cars in this not particularly car-oriented town? (The Volvos I can well imagine going here, gawdelpus!).
(I think I'd like a Susuki Swift Sport, but the dealer is about 40 miles away and would I get permission to trade in Sonia, an eminently satisfactory if sometimes boring machine?)
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The Mx5 has an 'extra' bonus currently, if you already a previous model owner, of £750 discount or a hardtop. It would appear that plenty of new model potential purchasers, were awaiting the one with a folding hard roof. Available now!! Hence an abundance of soft tops available.
As for Rx8, been around a while now, only limited 'special' models created by Mazda, so not quite as new as say Audi TT. So pre registered stock is there for you !!
& mentioning a dodgy left leg - you won't want an Rx8 then!! On right hand drive models, youve a rather clumsy protrusion, into the footwell, into the side of your lowert leg!!
Guess this wasn't worth re-working the transmission, to cure this design error - afterall, more LHD will be sold!!
VB
www.eveningtimes.co.uk/hi/news/5058602.html
Above is an excerpt from paper today. The full story is that tragically last weekend , a traffic policeman was killed on this stretch of road whilst travelling to a call. He was driving an unmarked Mercedes but had blue lights etc on.
Witness statements stated that he crashed into a car that was turning across the carriageway from a side road.
It transpires that proposed road upgrades involving new junctions and bridges have been under discussion for the last 5 years but were put on hold pending "environmental research" principally, the effect this would have on the local badger population.!!!
So the authorities are now going to impose a 50mph limit on the stretch.
For any of you that may have travelled this road, it is a 60 / 70mph unlit dual carriageway, but when it becomes a 3 lane motorway as it approached Glasgow, you've guessed it, it becomes a 50 mph limit!!
Some decisions just don't make sense! Read more
Similar story in our local rag last week. Panda car attending an incident hit a learner at a set of lights and the Panda car flipped over. Resident demands for reduced limit (it's a 40 zone), speed cameras, road narrowing everything short of machine gun outposts! My point was exactly as this case. How would reducing the limit slow down a police car going to a shout?
Enough's enough. These poor people have already willingly saddled themselves with vehicles that are tricky to park and manouvre in busy streets, drink fuel like there's a hole in the tank and handle like barges yet often have less interior space than a medium hatchback. Why add to their woes? Read more
I would argue no politicians have really accepted it's true.
Cos if they did, they'd increase RFL on 4x4s to £1,000:-)
Instead they drive them...
Could look at it another way.
The current theory is that we are going to need to cut CO2 emissions by over 70% to sort out the mess we're in. That just ain't gonna happen, so it's just as likely that these guys know we're all screwed so are raking in as much taxes as they can in the time we have left, while on a personal level just saying "to hell with it" and driving around in Hummers.
One more reason for not having kids -- you don't have to care what's going to happen to the next generation.
Can anyone recommend a garage in Luton that can take a look at my Ford Ka? The engine symbol on the dashboard is on, indicating a problem. I normally use the Dunstable Ford garage, but I would like somewhere nearer the town centre. Thanks. Leif. Read more
Thanks, sadly Luton does not have a Ford man dealer, and the nearest is in Dunstable. Even Slough has one and Windsor has two.
Anyway, today I had to do an emergency stop to avoid driving into the side of a doughnut who entered a roundabout without looking, and the combination of harsh braking and prolonged hooting has cleared the warning light. No other indications of trouble either. So, fingers crossed ...
Leif
They have to face some real nuts on the road.
This video shows no bloodshed, nobody is hurt but you would hate to be involved.- especially if you were the learner in the Peugeot.
www.totallycrap.com/videos/videos_please_stop/
{Sigh! Yet again a video clip has had to be made non clickable - DD}
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It does, of course, rely on the CPS getting the charge and the jurisdiction right.
It sounds as though your bench knows what it's doing, oldman.
The condition of Britian's roads is despicable. We are one of the wealthiest developed countries, with high transport taxes, yet we do not maintain our roads to an adequate standard and then add additional uneven surfaces like humps. Road users are having to fork out money to repair their cars and pay yet more tax as VAT on the job. The goverment cannot loose by not repairing our roads.
The answer for some has been to buy vehicles that are designed for off road use, now these are taxed even more through road tax licence, benefit in kind and latest of all - higher parking charges. So much so we now have a more unequal society than ever.
We shall still have to await a test case for damage to a vehicle and/or person caused by a road hump. This might bring some sanity back on our roads.
--
Roger
I read frequently, but only post when I have something useful to say.
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I wonder if these potholes and speed bumps are part of a master plan to actually get us into off road type vehicles. Where I live these bumps are appearing everywhere and they are not being properly installed the height seem wrong and a lot of them are breaking up and some are filling up with water as there is often no drains between one bump and the other. I tried this afternoon in my Accord (company car) to go over one at 30mph and I am surprised not to have left a dent on the inside of the roof. These are dangerous obstructions which should be removed on Health and Safety grounds.
Due to the state of our roads I will be going the off road vehicle route on my next replacement car out necessity not choice.
Browse
Dave
Thank you very much for the information. I will take a look tomorrow. If i can't find it I can now speak to the garage with more confidence.
Cheers
Peter