January 2007
i have got a sparkrite given to me and i cannot seem to get it working right. has anybody any old manuals on them please. so i can put all the wires in the right placeant the two switches.
cheers,
john
Read more
Hi,
I'm in the process of choosing my new car and a question has popped into my head and I'm sure that you guys will know the answer.
I'm looking for a diesel car that offers good economy driving at 70MPH on the motorway. 85-90% of my driving is on the motorway, long disctance and a constant speed. Very rarely do i do short journeys.
My question is concerning auto diesels. When the auto's are crusing at 70MOH, surely thay are in 'top gear', no power loss is being lost by the torque convertor (as it's not needed) so therefore are diesel autos as ecomonical as manual gearboxes when crusing at a constant 70MPH.
The reaosn I ask is that I do need economy (40,000 miles per year) and when I look at the 'official' fuel consumption figures, the auto's are quite a bit down on the manual's when you compare the combined figure but I am guessing that this is skewed by the auto being significanly less economical in the urban run and therefore affecting the combined figure.
Right or wrong?
Also, recommendations of economical diesel auto's most welcome. I'd quite fancy a passat but a combined figure of 42MPG is a bit low. Read more
My car isn't suitable for the OP as he wants a car that will give over 42mpg on a motorway run ------- but over a 250 mile, 85 mph run yesterday, my diesel automatic 300C pitched in with 41mpg, which I think is rather splendid for such a big fella.
MTC
Recently had the thermostat changed as the car was running a little cool at about 75c. Now the car runs even cooler at 70c at normal cruising and 75c when I am giving it some beans. The garage says its unlikely to be the thermostat as its new, but I can?t see any other cause. However, is it possible that a diesel thermostat has been fitted as I gather they run cooler than petrol engines? Any ideas before the car goes back to the garage. Read more
Just to add my experience
I have a 1.8 16v xantia (similar to Peugeot engine) and mine was running at 70C, I changed thermostat and coolant and now it runs at about 70C-75C, and rises to about 83 in town traffic before the fans cut in. off course this is assuming the gauge is spot on, it may or may not be a few degrees out.
The gearbox on my year old 2.4 Accord (6 speed) seems quite noisy, it's not a bearing whining type noise, but you can hear the motions of the box inside the car coming up through the gearlever. The noise is not pronounced but I can hear a sort of whooshing until the engine revs rise over it. The noise is most obvious (to me) in 2nd & 3rd from low revs, above this road and engine noise tends to drown it out. My wife has a Megane which doesn't have the same problem, however a rental Kia on holiday (low miles) was much worse.
My dealer says there's not a problem and I've had them change the transmission fluid. Do you think this is a characteristic of the gearbox and I'm being over sensitive to the noise, or could this be the start of a problem? I've had the car from new and it's done 10K. Read more
I am having problems with gearbox noise on my new Civic (1,360 miles) which is more like a whining, bearing noise. The dealership is replacing the box. I think you need to give your dealer some grief.
Hello
The centre rear seat belt on my 2001 Mondeo has stuck. Any Ideas.
Read more
It's the catch you lubricate.
A colleague's wife has a 2001BMW E46 323i Saloon. He took the car in for a routine service at the local BMW main dealers last september. He is reasonably mechanically aware but tends to leave things to the dealers. About a month ago he began to notice a small amount of oil appearing upon his driveway, upon inspection he noticed that the engine sump nut was the cause. He took the car to the dealers presuming that they would tighten the nut or fit a new sealing washer. It turned out that that the sump thread had been damaged and that a new sump would be required £500 (parts and labour) not including a 10% discount.
The car has only ever been within the main dealer network and to my mind it seems that they have overtightend or cross-threaded the bolt. When he asked the dealers how this could have happened, they said it could not have been them as "a very experienced technician changed the oil".
Does he have any recourse to get them to fix it? I guess legally they could say that anyone could have over tightend the bolt after the service took place.
Does anyone know where he can get a sump from (cheaper than the dealers quote of £250ish?). I have checked both Eurocarparts and GSF neither of whom do this particular sump.
How hard is it to change the sump? I am unfamiliar with is car, does it require the removal of a cross member or for the exhaust to be dropped? I've got some axle stands, but is access ok without a pit or hoist?
Regards
Sigma
Read more
Many of us have changed oil and know the importance of cleaning the sump thread so that it free of any debris and tightening the sump bolt to the correct Torque.
The Dealer must be able to explain why the sump thread was damaged. They might try to say the owner saw a small leak or residual oil left after the change, then overtightened the bolt. But I assume a small claims court will want some proof.
For reference a few years ago, a work colleague had his engine written off a few days after servicing, the car lost all the oil due to the sump plug falling out and seized up. The dealer (Mazda) fitted a new engine (although the car was under warranty) free of charge.
S.
I have a 2001 'Y Reg' Megane 1.9dci, 70k on the clock, previous owner had regular Renault dealer services, I've had it since 64k , in Sept 06 had a full serive & cam belt replaced at 68k.
It has been running fine until last week the engine cut out at 50mph, the coil warning light came on & I stopped the car turned off the ignition & it restarted okay & I drove the rest of the way home okay. The car would have been warm/hot as I had just came off a dual carridgeway.
The car was okay for two days=150 miles, then again cut out at 50 mph, this time I put it in neutral & whist still free rolling, turn off & on the igition & it restarted & was okay again. Then the next day after being okay for another 75 miles at slow speed whilst cold it cut out, but this time took four attemptes to turn off & on , go two yards then cut out, but once started has been okay since.
Has anyone got any idea's what the problem might be ?
Cheers Read more
Okay thanks for the advise, I'll let you know how I get on.
Last week a colleague accidentally filled his 307 HDi with Petrol. He then drove the short distance (no more than 1 mile) back to the office.
The RAC collected the car, and took it off for the fuel system to be drained locally and car was refiiled with Diesel, cost for this was around £150.
I have been talking to my colleague as my concern is that he may have problems with the car in the future. He was thinking of keeping the car for some time, so should he have any concerns? Reading the recent thread about the c-max would suggest this could be the case.
Mods- wasnt sure if should link this to this thread www.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?f=4&t=48...5. If not hijacking it please move over if appropriate.
Many thanks in advance to all for your help.
Read more
Many thanks to all for the help with this. Have passed the comments on. And to answer earlier comments is a silver 53 reg in the Exeter area.
Colleague is still mulling over what to do- as is quite concerned about the implications of what could go wrong, but is looking very likely that car will go.
Thanks again to all has been greatly appreciated.
Recently painted a number of rooms with Dulux matt white emulsion for the walls and Dulux water based white satinwood for the skirting and doors. Looks great in daylight; proper preparation and neat application gives a crisp, smart, finish that suits the rooms to perfection. Come the evening and switch on the lighting however (one room is large and brightly lit with fifteen 15 watt low energy bulbs, the other is much smaller but just as brightly lit with recessed halogen bulbs) and all is not so good; the walls stay crisp white but the skirting and doors become off white in comparison, with a distinct yellowish hue.
Does any BRer have a satin finish white paint to recommend that remains crisp white under both daylight and the lighting described as a result of being less susceptible to lighting colour temperature?
Many thanks. Read more
bostin, top man - judicial review was the thing i couldn't remember.
Database error: Invalid SQL: SELECT ip FROM ip_log WHERE ip = 'xxxxxxxx'
MySQL Error: 1016 (Can't open file: 'ip_log.MYI' (errno: 145))
Session halted.
xxxxx was my ip address. this is showing at the bottom of every page Read more
OK, I'm seeingthe message as well now. Report on it's way to Khoo to investigate.
DD.
Browse
John
Good grief! A piggy-back Sparkrite! That's a blast from the past.
If memory serves - and please appreciate how many decades ago these things were around - the two switches were for normal points or fully-electronic operation on one and maybe a timing-setting function on the other? Like most of the add-on electronic ignition systems of the era, many went wrong and were switched back to normal points operation - or binned.
As to wiring colours; what have you got and to what are you connecting it?