November 2006
My Ford Focus doesn't produce hot air other than on long motorway journeys.
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Hi, I am looking to purchase either a Tomtom 510 or a road angel navigator 6000, i have a road angel camera alert system at the moment, and many of my friends have a Tomtom 510 and are very pleased with it, i dont know which one to go for, the tomtom is slightly more expensive, but it does more, like mp3 etc etc...
Im not particularly bothered about looks, or what gadgets (MP3 etc) it has, i need a good camera warning and a good satellite navigation system. any advice from the tomtom experts out there. thanks Read more
I'd put a lot of emphasis on how the TomTom/Road Angel
or whatever is mounted to the dash. Look for a
mounting such as a sucker pad or magnetic clip that can
be removed completely when you leave the car.
A universal mounting may not say "TomTom" but it does suggest
there's something electronic and therefore potentially valuable. The thief who
smashes your side window won't be bothered that he's done £100
worth of damage to your car on a bad hunch!
Or maybe I'm just paranoid since six cars were broken into
on one day at work, and all appear to have been
targeted because they had MP3 adaptors, phone chargers, satnav mounts, CD
players etc visible inside the cabins...
Well, I have to say that when people stop cluttering up the inside of their cars with a lot of unnecessary gizmos then the incidence of break-ins will decrease. Surely the manufacuters, of reasonably specced cars , have provided enough ICE thus making add-ons quite unnecessary. Most of us don't need additional garbage added to cars no matter how 'essential' we may think they are.
My car has a standard fit radio/CD player and to my mind that is sufficient for me. I love driving and keeping my car clean and efficient and don't need other distraction around me such as Satnav, iPod adapters etc. Keep the inside of your car for driving and not an extension of your home.
Just out of interest, how are these cars related? I'm told they are pretty much the same car.
I am to be given my mum's old 1.9D ZX. 122k on an M plate. I know the engines are the same 1905cc XUD lumps. Read more
That's right, Peugeot have never had an auto box on their smaller diesel engined cars. I notice that the C4 now has a diesel auto option.
It is fitted with the Bendix ABS system. It has had to have a lot of work for the MOT, including all of the rear brake lines. However, the bloke who did the work, fitted the pipes to the compensator incorrectly. The meant the car had front brakes only for a few days. I finally gave in and let a garrage do it. They managed to get pressure back to the rear brakes but there is now another problem: The servo *SEEMS* to be working okay - with the engine off you press the brake, turn the engine on and your foot moves down a bit. The trouble is it sinks after that. It is not the master cylindar as that is the first thing I replaced (£65 pretty much wasted). There seems to be no air in the system as it has been bled repeatedly. The vacuum pump seems to be okay and sucks well. All nuts on the brake lines are very secure.
I'm told it could be the ABS unit. Before I go to the scrappy for a replacement, has anyone got any ideas? This is all that needs sorting now for the free restest!
Also, could anyone tell me which model of car would use the same ABS unit? I know a lot of 405's used it. Maybe early 406's/Xantia's? Read more
I've got one of these presure bleeding kits - you connect a hose to a spare tyre, fill a bottle with brake fluid, hook it all up and start bleeding. We tried it earlier and there was a little hissing from the ABS unit with bubbles in the brake fluid. The mrs reckoned the brakes felt a little better and as we were going along they were getting better and better, she claimed. She took it upto 80 on a dual carriageway and tapped them. I was nearly thrown through the windscreen!
However, the brake pedal still feels hard sometimes, as if the servo isn't working. Stupid french cars!!!!!!!
My brother has one for sale. Its mint - a full new body was built 3 weeks ago but now he has got a new job and needs a car that can do some distance daily.
Can anyone please say where is the best place to advertise it is and a likely value?
Thanks Read more
Worth remembering that the engines have a 3000 mile service schedule, and are not very robust compared to a modern vehicle.
Yeh.
No water cooling, which is not at all the number one source of engine failure....
Hi,
Why is it that when you wheel spin away in a FWD car (at least mine do this) that you often get a thumping noise and feel through the car-i.e. you get clean wheel spin for a short while then you get this thumping/jumping, feels like the car is going to self destruct, seems to happen more wheel spinning away if there is steering lock dialled in.
I always assumed it was to do with the differential-is it normal behaviour or should the wheels always spin cleanly for as long as you like, with everything as smooth as when you're driving along (obviously you'll be wearing your tyres out all the while etc)? Read more
It's wheel tramp. The cause is tired shock absorbers. Rear-engined cars can do it too, my VW 411 used to bounce its back wheels up and down until it got new dampers. 'Axle tramp' is a version of the same thing with a beam driven rear axle, started or exacerbated by torque effect under strong acceleration.
Unless the original design of the car is rubbish, if the example doing this tramping is over say 30,000 miles old, then new struts are the answer, I'd bet on it. Might cost though. Might be better to drive a bit more greenly instead so it doesn't happen :-o). MoT standards for dampers are simply lamentable. Just shows they don't expect people to go fast round bumpy corners!
Well, today's been a fun day. Had a burst pipe in the bathroom last night so today has been the joy of dealing with insurers, plumbers and loss adjusters. Anyway, the pipe has been capped so on to the actual question(s).....
The house is 4 years old. The plumber said the pipework was some of the worst he'd seen (I know, they all say that)....but he did point out lots of corrosion on water pipes, a couple of "uphill" waste pipes and I agree it does look shoddy. More to the point, the leak was caused by corrosion due to flux having been left on the pipe. This is apparent in other areas so the potential for more leaks soon. I already have two leaking toilets.
We bought the house 6 months ago. It's still under NHBC guarantee but they don't cover pipes after 2 years. Digging around I found the Water Fixings Regulations 1999 which give legal requirements for the initial install which includes "workmanship" standards.
Do you think I would have any comeback on the developers/builders of the property? For something this fundamental to start failing after 4 years I wouldn't have thought was particularly good - there's the issue of further leaks but also contamination of our drinking water....I did wonder why it was blue!
TIA, PST Read more
>> .. They are out by a factor of approximately 250.
..
i suspect that if perry mason asks his detective to investigate,
he will find that the leaflet actually talks about annual consumption.
! :: ;-) ::
Ah, that will involve Perry's sidekick getting himself in trouble in some redneck outback with a corrupt sheriff, just like always happens ;-).
I think many recent mobile phone chargers are clever enough to 'power down' when not actually charging the phone, so consumption drops from the typical 15W to 1W or less. Either that or I'll rip out the central heating and just us ephone chargers as radiators...
My sister is looking for a small auto 5dr - somewhere between a supermini size and Focus size. Max price £4k. Cars such as the prev shape Corolla 5dr deemed too big - I think the square cornered look (eg Focus/Golf) is preferable to her for parking.
Any bright ideas out there? The Focus itself is probably out of the question, as I don't think she would want anything that's high mileage - which I would imagine a £4k Focus auto would be.
Looking for some advice on this Clio:
98S 1.6 RXE Auto
FSH 16k miles
Really well equipped (climate, abs, elec windows/mirrors etc etc)
£3699 from a dealer
I'm concerned that the price is high, as a result of the exceptionally low mileage. Assuming the mileage to be genuine, what sort of problems would this low a mileage have caused. Is it less of a concern on an Auto as there is no clutch wear to worry about?
Are all those electrics on an 8yr old Renault a cause for concern?
Grateful for any advice on these questions - small autos ain't really my speciality subject!!
Cheers Read more
Bit unfair. The pre 2000 were poor but post 2000 have a much better reputation. I will try and find out from my 'man on the inside' which Renaults use Nissan boxes now.
I suspect over time there will be a greater element of parts sharing between the two companies. Whether you consider that to be a good thing or not is up to you...
Off to BCA or Manhiem, Looking for a new shape vectra diesel, 2.0 DTI. Anyone know what me 3.5k will get me.
Cheers in advance boys (n Girls?)............... Read more
Just to clear up the confusion, " in me back pocket " was a figure of speach of having 3.5k at my disposal. Would'nt dream of wandering around anywhere with such a sum of money, especially considering that the
8< snip swearing deleted, {next time it wil be the whole post, not just the word - DD} who would stab,punch or kill me for it would end up doing a couple of hours on community service !!
I am currently running 2 cars with "plastic" headlamps. They both take H4 bulbs and I noticed that when I removed a blown bulb it was marked "E1". I have a couple of almost new Philips H4 bulbs from a previous car I scrapped marked E11. Can I use these or should I bin them and get a set of new E1 marked bulbs?
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The "E" numbers are codes for the country of origin as given above. Remember if you have "plastic" (polycarbonate) headlamp lenses, the bulbs should be low UV output, denoted on the box by UV struck out. In practice, most bulbs by high volume European manufacturers meet this requirement, but there have been problems with yellowing of polycarbonate lenses if the UV emission of the bulbs is too high.
Much depends on the value of your car. One of my vehicles is worth nothing and has polycarbonate lenses. It gets Chinese bulbs which work without any problems. I might not risk it with a more expensive vehicle.
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Sounds like failed thermostat;does the top hose start getting hot as soon as you start the motor from cold?