October 2006
I am not the worlds greatest fan of speed cameras (having being nicked by one) however I'm sure they are effective in certain circumstances.
In the village near to where I live there is a long straight main road (about 3/4 mile long). Alongside it are a mix of houses and a secondary school.
It has always had a 30mph limit. Up until about 2004 it was not unusual to see drivers doing 50mph+ along that road - sometimes more. There were quite a number of accidents involving children, one of which resulted in a death.
In 2004 mobile speed camera signs were errected and every now and then a camera van turns up. Almost everybody now sticks to the 30mph. I don't think that there have been any more pedestrian accidents since then - I have not heard of any, anyway.
Another thing that gives me some reason to support cameras in the right cicumstances is that our local IAM driving examiner is a traffic officer and goes out to, and investigates, accidents - and he's a strong supporter of cameras on the grounds of safety. Read more
I drove to Hereford over the weekend, and thought (not for the first time) how pointless and needlessly expensive bilingual roadsigns were -
I came across the following in a recent copy of 'The Week':
'Cyclists in Wales were confused last week by a bilingual sign telling them they were suffering from bladder trouble. The "Cyclists Dismount" sign was put on a road near Penarth to warn cyclists of roadworks ahead, but the Welsh translation underneath ran; "Llid y bledren dymchwelyd," meaning: "Your bladder disease has returned."
It is thought an online translator mistook 'cyclists' for 'cystitis'.'
P. Read more
...and TVM just remember you'll have to love them even more when they have the monolopy on drinking water......
For the last 6 months my Galaxy has been very slow on accelerating and top speed of about 75. It really caused problems in Wales !!!! I have changed the MAF sensor twice - Fuel filter - air and oil filters - and checked intercooler and as many pipes as I could find. The symptons were: acceleration very slow of the mark until hit 2000 rpm and turbo kicked in and then kicked out straight away. I eventually took it to a garage and they diagnosed sticking variable vanes on the turbo. Ford wanted £1500 for a new one - so sent it off to Turbo company who confirmed diagnosis. Turbo rebuilt for £200 and fully tested. Excellent service. Refitted and hoping for a major change in performance - BUT it is slightly better but top speed now only 80mph. I know the turbo is producing boost. I have full code read and it shows no faults? There is no smoke from exhaust. The only sympton I can describe is that the engine feels very rough. between 1000 and 1500 rpm the engine shakes the car - similar to one cylinder not firing.
Any suggestions most welcome as I am at my tether..... Read more
There's an interesting article in this months Car Mechanics about a Galaxy with a engine problem, They tried replacing a sensor but it didn't fix it so they called in a specialist who diagnosed a faulty turbo with stuck vanes.
---
Xantia HDi.
Buy a Citroen and get to know the local GSF staff better...
Please help
I have just bought a peugeot 406 2.0 glx automatic 52 plate and this evening it has come up with this message anti theft device failure. the car will turn over and not start. is it a simple problem or is it really broken needing a lot of money spent on it. any ideas would be greatfully received#
#Thanks
Sara Read more
What does the handbook say/? I am afraid it is likely to be "Refer to your local dealer" but an independent might help, if you can get the car to his premises. Do you belong to a breakdown organisation - if so what do they say? If you have just bought the car, from a dealer, you have rights re any faults with the car for up to 6 months.
Coming 'soon' to a street near you (maybe?)
www.t3motion.com/product.html
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Top speed 25 mph - but with all the stability of a Suzuki 4x4.
I was talking to one of the mechanics at my local garage today when a woman entered the office. She said that she?d been parked in the town car park and a car had hit her wing mirror, which was hanging by its wires. Could someone fix it?
The mechanic went out to look, and came back five minutes later shaking his head in disbelief ? he?d relocated the mirror and checked it was secure, whereupon the woman just got into her car, and drove off !He said that he wouldn?t have charged anyway, but would have appreciated a ?thank you?.
I suspect that if she ever calls in with a more serious problem, all the mechanics are going to be busy.
P.
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one
>> lady even vehemently objected to the references to 'male' and
'female'
>> plugs...!
>>
I wonder if 'rapist' and 'victim' plugs would get a better reception.
Perhaps 'plug plug' and 'socket plug' would pass muster. The militants I knew from the Ladies' Liberation Front didn't go in for this petty PC stuff, after the first burst of enthusiasm. They were quite cool actually.
Perhaps stevied has a correct terminology? :o)
.......Gordon Brown reacted to the Stern report that's made the news today by slapping punitive taxes on cars over, say, 1.4 litres (petrol) and 2.0 (diesel)?
My B200 CDi probably isn't an offender, but if we had something bigger, what would we get instead?
I'd put on my shortlist:
Toyota Yaris 1.3 like my daughter's - it goes like a bomb
Skoda Fabia Combi 1.4 petrol or 1.9 diesel if I needed more room
Honda Jazz
but probably go for a VW Golf 1.4 TSi or 2.0 TDI 170.
I'd look at a BMW 120d - not sure if I'd like it.
Not a Mini, much as we love SWMBO's, as despite only being a Mini One, it uses more petrol than her previous 2-litre Honda Civic.
Not a Prius unless I drove mainly in towns - a diesel makes more sense if you go out more.
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My sentiment exactly.
The UK (apparently) produces just 2 per cent of the world's so-called greenhouse gas. Until the likes of China can moderate their environmental abuse while maintaining a sensible level of growth I'll just be cynical about 'green' taxation, refuse to drive an eco-friendly puddle-jumper and put two fingers up to the politicians passing me on their latest bandwagon.
I have been looking at the spec for the above car but can't work out how this car, which is turbocharged, only produces 165 whereas the naturally aspirated Clio produces 197. Pourquoi? Read more
Compared to the 225 the 165 is a low pressure turbo boosting torque at low to mid range and will be much more gutsy than the N/A 197 at anything less than IRO 5500 rpm.
God how I hate speed bumps ---all sorts. But are they worse than potholes?
(And god how I hate potholes especially in the rain when they cannot be seen.)
Do all bumps damage your car? Are some types worse than others? How do they damage your car ?
Do they damage your car even if you go over them at walking pace or less?
Are there ways of reducing the damage--like going over at an angle ? I've heard of a sharp stab on the brakes and release just before the bump.
Are cars really not designed to cope--bumps have been around for years.
I'm assuming that the cars I see hammering over them are hire or lease cars ? I'm amazed at the gouges in the road surface by some bumps.
Any tips ? Are we all worrying too much?
Thanks Read more
You need an off-roader to tackle these obstacles :)
Hi All
I have heard a "knocking" sound on turning left for the last couple of days and booked into local garage to have a look next week (I suspect the problem is a cv joint).....however, on 35 mile journey home tonight a loud squeaking sound has started to develop - it seemed to get louder under loaded suspension. I've just tried steering when the car is stationary and the loud squeak is heard (before anyone asks I don't think it's the tyres on the tarmac!)
Is the car safe to drive until next week or should I get it to the garage sooner?
Any ideas/help appreciated, eg would a cv joint on the way out make such a squeak?
Cheers Read more
Cant comment on whether safe to drive without inspection, but this may be of interest. My 2001MY Golf suffered a split CV boot after 100,000 very gentle mainly motorway miles. The split was picked up by the MoT inspection just as the split was starting to develop, so only a new boot was required.
Clearly an undetected split could have occurred on this 99 vehicle, causing loss of grease and ingress of water bearing grit.
I would get it to a garage ASAP
Browse
No regular readers of this forum and/or this thread will be amazed to learn that out of 161 unmarked police cars caught speeding, just in SouthYorkshire, the police were unable to name the driver or the named driver was not prosecuted in 147 cases. 13 officers paid fixed penalties and 1 appreared in court. (Details from todays Daily Telegraph)