October 2006
I've just travelled up the A1 to Seaton Delaval to collect a banger for my children to drive. I used Tom Tom Mobile to get to the address and felt that it tripped up twice on the way. Once where the A1 forks left round Newcastle to form the Western by-pass and forks right to become the A194 to the Tyne Tunnel. Not a peep. No "keep right" or "bear right". Fortunately I knew roughly where I was going. Secondly, the GPS aerial understandably lost its connection with the satellites as we entered the Tyne Tunnel and then Tom Tom took several minutes (and 3 roundabouts) to locate us as we emerged. Now it's a car navigation system, not a submarine one. As far as the sat nav is concerned the car can only be in three places, at the tunnel entrance, at the tunnel exit, or somewhere in between. I suppose it's too much to hope that a few lines of code could make Tom Tom pick up a signal lost at a tunnel entrance sooner than that. For goodness sake Tom Tom, it's not rocket science!
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land Read more
Hi, i have bought a second hand key off ebay and have managed to program it to work the central locking. It will not however start the car as it seems the immobiliser is not allowing it to! Its a 1998 TD model and the key is the two button infra red type. HELP! Read more
autodata says key needs diagnostic equipment to programme for immobiliser
sorry nath
a fella at work drive a 02 plate fiat punto. the steering rack has gone on it.
the car has done 40k, he bought from the local car supermarket a while ago (not to sure when)
anyway, should he write to fiat and get them to replace,pay, carry out the work etc.
how would he stand in a legal aspect Read more
can i just explain that on the punto its a normal rack but with an electric motor attached near the steering colum to lighten the steering its this motor that plays up but can sometimes be the fuses or ecu.
bba reman and anybody else charge a fortune for a recon thats why i suggest you ascertain it is indeed a burnt motor first OP'
It is also recommended that city mode is used sparingly ie when needed only
Hi,
Recently been looking at a Zafira, and one of the negatives listed about the vehicle is the width of the A Pillars. Basically, blind spots that can potentially lead to accidents, particularly at roundabouts.
Looking at most modern cars, this seems a problem that is fairly widespread.
What do people think, do driving MPVs like the Zafira require extra work? etc, do particular "bad" drivers + wide A Pillars cause the problem, not A pillars themselves?
I would be interested to learn people's experiences. There are a number of people and agencies out there saying these pillars which cause blind spots need more regulation etc.
sc Read more
Got this on my Picasso. Although there is a secondary window between A Pillar and front door, cars can get lost from view in there. Got to agree with TVM in that I move my head around and take more care to ensure that there is nothing coming at me.
Live on a newish estate, with narrow lanes and nigh on invisible markings (so often get cars coming out of hidden side turnings unaware they have to stop) and not really had a problem. Don't have to keep stopping to check and only had one near miss (which is when I discovered this problem).
Probably look a bit odd bobbing round to double check though- but then again I don't care about that.
Following on from the recent thread on gearboxes.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/5412814.stm Read more
>> That's hilarious.
But, 80kph in reverse??? HOW? What manufacturer builds in a top
speed of 50mph in reverse gear?
Ford, evidently. Amazing.
Years ago when DAF's with the variomatic transmission were around they would go just as fast in reverse as forward; I heard of someone writing his off at 70mph backwards proving this.
I have a 1998 106 and it really doesn't like damp starting.
Is there anyone that can help me please?? Read more
I service a petrol one..and never had any problems..
These are the basics you should do:
New air filter
Clean out breather tube from rocker cover.
Clean plug leads and top of electronic distributor and spray with WD-40 (if these methods do not work, THEN change leads)
Change plugs.
IF it has not had a recent oil change, change it and filter.
I list like this as ease and cheapness first...My experience is that leads are good quality and don't break down like Fiesta ones do.
Note the cleaning bit: essential if lots of oily dirt as -when damp - condensation will form a conducting path ...
madf
Has anyone joined the AA or a breakdown service on the spot when they have broken down. I was just wondering if it is more expensive to do that otherwise what is the point of joining in advance? Read more
do my cover through more than ,they are cheap and i think good got keys out of boot of focus in belgium. cant afford there car insurance
just bought a punto, its a 1999 1.2 16v '85'
I bought it with issues (bent valves). Anyway after sticking a full set of new valves in she runs a treat but Im having issues with 3rd gear. Sometimes...not often it will go in but most of the time it just jumps back out of 3rd as soon as you lift the clutch. I believe the cable can be adjusted, if so how? I want to try the cable before swapping the box as when it does engage it seems fine, the car has only done 50k. The box has one cable and one bar for the selectors from what I can see. Its a 5 speed manual. Read more
sounds like a broken syncro hub
live with it or change the box
try changing slowly ie take out of second count to 5 then try putting it into 3rd
I regularly see cutainsiders with the curtain stretched over a projecting load. Load projecting beyond the width of the trailer floor.
Is this legal and if so is there a limit on how far the load can project - other than how far the driver can stretch the curtain? Read more
There has been lots of trouble with securing rolls of steel on trucks.
An ex-colleague did quite a lot of research into the subject.
His findings were that in some cases, the means of securing the rolls of steel were too stiff. "Commonsense" had dictated that something as heavy as a roll of steel had to be tied down with chains. The problem was, that as soon as the load moved or settled, the chains became slack, and the load was effectively unclamped, and any further uncontrolled sudden movement would then snap the chain. As a technical problem, it's remarkably similar to the logic of using long, elastic, cylinder head bolts to maintain sealing load under gasket settling relaxation. He recommended that a compliant, but strong webbing should be used to secure steel loads - I don't know how widely this research has permeated into current transport practice; I suspect not far! Unfortunately, "commonsense" tends not to know the difference between strength and stiffness.
Number_Cruncher
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Why not, if their is a road block then you can hit the alternate route button & divert around it & also mine has speed camera warnings on it!