November 2006
my 306 heater motor is making a funny high pitched noise during cold weather. I think its the motor bearing but i cant be sure. I just wondered how to access the motor so i could try lubricating the bearing,
Its a 2001 model and i took the cover from the passenger side footwell out (below the glovebox) to see if thers anything obvious but i dont want to dismantle anything before i know where it is
thanks Read more
Not content with his motorised sofa, 4 poster bed, and skip, to name but a few,
he's now gone and built a motorised office desk.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2815047.stm
I hope the police weren't looking when he was on the phone though!
www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2006520309,00.html
There is a video as well on The Sun website, if you can put up with the adverts beforehand. Read more
If it's anythng like a real skip, and based on a Skoda Estelle, it would have to be in very good tune and driven in the lower gears surely?
I never drove a 105 Estelle, alhamdulillah, but I had examples of a 1200 and lots of 1300s including an 8-port head 136. They had to be impeccably tuned to be tolerable, but when tolerable they wre surprisingly good fun and brisk too if you kept it well down. To me they were an agreeable hobby and super-cheap amusing reliable transport. But all good things must come to an end.
Right. Now, back to the OP subject, er, skips was it? Something to do with huge enormous crude metal things cluttering up the road anyway. I forget the exact word.
Every year it is estimated 200 to 300 people die on a stretch of road less than 50 miles long. In one year alone, 25 vehicles plunged off the road and into the ravine. That is one every two weeks.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_own_corres...m
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF > Read more
>>why on earth would anyone want to cycle down a road dubbed...
It's an excellent day out, not much effort as it's all downhill...but most importantly, you're very narrow and mobile on a bike - lot easier and safer than in a car/bus/truck
You've gotta live a bit in this life :-)
-- You know, it\'s not like changing toothpaste
I`m a little cynical about claims in general..( maybe by being exposed to too many engine oil/additives/petrol, magic particle/bonding to metal and mileage claims in early life :)
Anyway, It turns out the van has *Firestone Fuel Savers* fitted.
I wondered if most new vehicles have similar tyres fitted these days and if so where is the hard, scientifically measurable evidence for fuel saving?
IMHO it must be easier than trying to measure something such as fuel consumption under road conditions.
I wondered if tyre rolling resistance could be tested outside the tyre lab by getting a steady air temperature ( perhaps in an aircraft hanger) and then using a spring measure of some sort to measure the force required to pull the vehicle by a low geared winch over a given distance?.
Or perhaps any claims ( i`m not aware of any other than whats written on the tyre) are vanishingly small?
I`m thinking here of a well known bookshop chain that has a shelf with "Up to 50% off" but many books on the shelf are full price. ( and thats quite OK and within the law according to a their manager...."Up to" meaning it *can* mean nothing off at all)
For example *up to* X % fuel saving would not impress me.
The reason I`m curious is that rolling resistance seems like a factor that could actually be measured and that *none* energy saving tyres lasted more than twice as long on my last van. ( when compared with a different * energy efficient* type tyre fitted as original equipment.
In Conclusion,
I`m aware of the other attributes or otherwise of tyre performance, but has any organisation/Motoring press ever tried to measure the rolling resistance of this type of tyre, as it would seem easy to pop different brands of new tyres on in comparison, under relatively simple controlled conditions. Read more
They don't cost that much more than the non fuel saver type
Simple maths, a set of tyres lasts 40K miles when swapped front to rear to wear out all 4 at the same time.
40 MPG = 1000 gallons
5% = 50 gallons
50 gallons X average of the fuel cost over the 40K miles
50 x £4 = £200
All are guestimates
Did a service on my sister's recently acquired Ford Ka this morning. It's a tidy 1998 example with 82k on the clock.
Anyhow, it was all going swimmingly until it came to the spark plugs. The plug hexes were heavily corroded, and the plug wells filled with rust and other debris. I cleared out the debris and filled the plug wells up with WD40, retiring for coffee and a spot of lunch while it absorbed.
I returned an hour or so later and attempted to remove no1 plug. I decided only to use a standard ratchet and extension to avoid applying too much force. Applying maybe half the force I was capable of exerting with the ratchet, there was a crunching sound. I was horrified to see the plug had sheared in half. The hex part and the upper ceramic insulator and HT terminal were in the socket, and the thread still in the head. It's sheared completely flush meaning there is nothing at all to grip to remove the plug.
I've taken it as read that now the head has to come off, but does anyone have any tips for removing this plug? I've read all kinds of stories regarding hot water and banging screwdrivers into what's left, but I don't want to waste time on futile exercises. We started prepping for removing the head and ran out of daylight, and plan to get a fresh start tomorrow, but if there is a way of removing this with the head in-situ, or any advice on the best / easiest way to sort this, I would be very grateful to hear it.
Many thanks in anticipation.
Cheers
DP Read more
Thanks everyone for the replies.
A succcessful day - the car is now running, albeit with one new plug and three old ones.
The ceramic withstood about 2 minutes of chipping before falling apart and dropping, along with the centre electrode into the cylinder. We retrieved the electrode with a magnet (no1 was luckily at or close to TDC), and the ceramic (later on) with a vacuum cleaner complete with a makeshift attachment from an old radiator top hose. This left just the metal parts (part of the taper "seat" and the thread) still stuck in the hole.
Taking thickness and thread diameter guides from a new spark plug, we then began drilling the remnants out. Because of the hole left by the ceramic part, this was a good guide for the drill bit, meaning drilling straight wasn't too difficult. We carefully drilled through to the cylinder, increasing bit size by 0.5mm each time until we got as close as we dared to what we knew was the diameter of the thread. We then folded the seat part over as much as possible, soaked it all in release fluid and left it to soak.
Coming back a bit later, we smacked a screwdriver into the hole until it was in tight, put a pair of molegrips on the screwdriver shaft, and prayed. With a crack, the thread shifted, and then unscrewed complete with just finger and thunb pressure. The threads in the head were completely undamaged.
A thorough clean out with a magnet and aforementioned vacuum attachment, screwed the new plug in, and held breath as it took the 17Nm and remained tight. Reconnected everything, turned the key and she fired up on all four and sounded fine.
Since done 20 miles in the car and it's running lovely.
Thanks all! Next time someone asks me to change a set of plugs on one of these engines, I politely decline!!
Thanks again!
DP
My wife is currently running a VW Polo 1.4 Match 52-plate. It's a nice little car and I quite like using it. However, she ocassionally goes to visit her mother, and is finding it hard to get a fold-up wheelchair up and over the boot lip so she can take her mother out on a jolly, and un-load said wheelchair. It's just plain awkward to try and get it through the rear doors.
Any suggestions for something easier to load a wheelchair into would be welcome. She is not fussed wether it's petrol or diesel, but forget the Berlingo/Kangoo type setup as it needs to look relatively normal for daily use. Read more
My thoughts were drawn to the Jazz, as HJ recommends it. The Fiat build quaility is a bit suss I'm led to believe and resale value not good. Nissan Note is interesting option. I thought the Fabia was being upgraded/replaced next year.
The budget is probably about 10K incl. p/x. We're into one year old cars, let someone else take the initial hit!
Not a big deal really but opinions would be good. I am thinking about privatly buying an Audi A3 TDI (90) Y reg to replace my Peugeot 306 HDI meridian of which i have been quite happy wiht good fuel consunption and good handling. I have fancied an A3 for some time but the problem with this one is that this one has 129k on the clock, my current car has 116K. asking price is £3900. full service history is available also.
Any opinions on the car ?? i havent seen it yet as i will probably go for a look next week. I am in shetland isles and the choice of avaiable car is limited unless you make special trip south. Car has been in isles for 2 years and came from deepest england.
?
Read more
90 bhp in a 1.9 XUDT 306 is pretty quick... not tried an HDi 306 though. Spares for most things on the Audi, like the Peugeot, should be available mail order from Euro Car Parts for sensible money (plus possibly a bit for postage).
What bothers me most about this deal is that you're spending roughly twice as much as you'll get for your own car and gaining nothing in performance, handling or refinement. It is a better badge, the interior is nicer and there's a possibility that it might be more reliable but in measurable terms it's hard to see how you're getting much for the extra cash at all.
Sitting at some traffic lights this morning, they turned green. Now, I know the definition of a 'split second' is the time between lights turning green, and the car behind pipping at you.
But did he really expect me to mow down the pedestrian who was loitering before mine eyes? Read more
Karma will get them in the end.
I am a firm believer in that as well.
Karma will get you in this life,
and the next
and the one after
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Hi,
I've been offered a very clean 52 plate SXI Vectra 2.2 DTi. 97K miles, never been crashed, through my fleet department at work, for around £3K. It went for its 4 year MOT last week, and the garage have said that there is a PAS fluid leak from somewhere. They have steam cleaned the area so that it will be obvious where its coming from. The fleet manager has said that I might wan't to reconsider purchasing this vehicle in light of this info. Any opionins on the source of this leak, and any fixes or costs would be appreciated. It's a vehicle that I would be running personally for 6 months, before selling on.
Andy_ok Read more
The problem is will have no further chance to look at it before I decide to buy or not. As the price is good I could afford to spend on it, but I would like an idea of what the worst case scenario & cost is, or an indication if it could be a minor issue.
It still seems to be all original at the front , so I don't think it's had even a minor bumpt to the front corner.
Should I be filling up my new diesel engine with the more expensive "low sulphur" stuff, or will good ol' regular diesel suffice? Is it just a marketing scam, or will the low sulphur stuff really protect the engine, make it do more mpg,... etc?
In the 5 weeks that I've had the car i've alternated between regular diesel and the low sulphur stuff at fill-ups. Getting 38.2mpg, which I think is OK seeing as most of the car's use is high speed motorway. Read more
All the diesel I fill up with says it is low sulpur.
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job done
removed the panel 4 screws and a bit of spray sorted it!
it did look a bit dry and touch wood it hasn't made a peep since. I left it plugged in a put it on full speed, i didnt realise how powerful it is....its like a harrier jet taking off!