February 2007
I have been mulling over buying one of these small 4x4`s and wondered if anyone on the forum could comment on their qualities. I have read that they suffer from a lot of interior trim rattles and would like to know if this actually is the case.???
Any feedback would be much appreciated Read more
What's the usual cause & cure for a sticking handbrake please?
Maybe using a lathe to clean the braking face inside the drum?
New shoes & New drum - obvious solution
easy and cheap solutions wanted Read more
Exactly. You need to pull the drum off and watch what
happens when you activate the mechanism. Once it is all visible
you can see which bit isn't returning properly.
It may be difficult getting the drum over the shoes, if
the drum has worn and the shoes don't retract properly. But
that immediately gives a clue as to what might be wrong.
I would not recommend pulling the handbrake on with the drum off, on some sytems you could jack the shoes out too much and pop the pistons out of the cylinders = air in system, dirt in cylinders and brake fluid all over the brake shoes.
I reckon it's contamination of the shoes by either brake fluid, grease or as said above water and brake dust porridge that causes them to stick.. Sharp leading edges alone on the shoes tend to cause squeal or judder rather than sticking.
What happened to this thread? I cannot believe my contribution upset anybody. I posted a prfessional reply and it disappeared very soon afterwards. There is nothing in this post that promotes pirated software.
Without you specifying what car and what type of chip it is difficult for anybody to give a definitive answer.
Remember if it is a proper replacment chip that contains pirated software it still only costs a few dollars to make! The original supplier charges hundreds of £ to recoup the development cost. No different from pirated CDs with copies of Windows or other overpriced MS software except that the development cost has to be recovered from a relatively small number of units. However the backup will not be available.
I am surprised if no one is actively marketing pirate copies of the more reputable devices. It is not rocket science, and the risks of legal action probably remote if sourced offshore. And VERY profitable.
But it is buyer beware, you are just as culpable as any user of unlicensed software and it would be interesting to know if FAST have taken an active stance in pursuing people with 'embedded' software.
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pmh (was peter)
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Hello
I would not upset the moderators if i was you.
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(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
I wouldn't dream of it. By the way, did I mention how excellent the forum moderation is?
Hi. Just bought a R reg escort. The radio is not working as the code is needed. Is there a way around this or do I have to ask Ford for it?
Cheers for any help. Read more
forums.preloved.co.uk/fuseaction-forums.showdiscus...l
Try this,many others have and its free
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Steve
As you probably can take it from my username, I'm a big fan of Mazda cars. Now I'm planning to buy a diesel one which I've never done before (not Mazda or Japanese diesel). I don't know much about their diesels but I've read reviews on parkers but it doesn't tell a lot about diesels either. So I would like to know how do you rate Mazda's diesel cars? I've checked on autotrader and I can pick up a 323 TD on T/V plate for around £2k with just over 100k miles on it. All your comments and suggestions would be much appreciated. Thanks Read more
Our LXi doesn't have the trip (ie mpg etc) computer, just the normal trip
I'd be very interested if anyone else who owns one at this age (2000) could tell me what the remote fob id is, similarly whether the front door cards fit well or not
Thanks
Jonathan
Does anyone know if the airbag ecu has to be replaced after the deployment of both front airbags on an '04 Euro 4
Mondeo 130 Ghia X estate? I'm considering purchase of an otherwise relatively undamaged Category D write off and am concerned about the potential cost of pretensioners, airbags, ecu etc.
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Thank you for all the help, Screwloose. Very useful!
Audi A6 1.8T 98 R plate AEB 20 valve engine 40,800 miles. I have been keeping this car down south at my MinL?s and on a recent visit the battery was completely fault ( five years old ) I charged the battery and eventually it fired up with no errors but the battery would not hold it?s charge so popped into a local garage and had a new battery Exide 096 fitted. The Ecu came up ?OK? ( The Actual ECU diagnostic priority message ) with no reported faults but the Air con digital temp displays for NS/OS started flashing when turned on and continues for 4 mins. This problem does not appear to effect the A/C operation although it is too cold to check the freeze/compressor function. I popped to a local Audi VW specialist and he fired up the ECU diagnostics using EOBDC via a Snap-On Canbus interface and discovered no faults reported anywhere. He cleared all systems to make sure but the faulty flashing continues for 4 mins after every start up. I have tried a battery disconnect but it still remains. Any ideas welcome.
Regards Peter Read more
Peter
What is OBDCII? I see a lot made of these meaningless acronyms by tat-sellers on e-bay. No UK-spec VAG would be programmed to use it and, even in the US, it would again be emissions-only. In the UK; OBD II is useless to anyone without a 1996 2.5 Volvo.
I've no idea what the dear old red door-stop can talk to these days - I progressed beyond it's, desperately limited, capabilities years ago. [Having seen the latest update charges, I doubt I'll be the only one! £799 a pair; every few months for that?]
I'm just surprised that a VAG specialist doesn't have VAG-Com. There are upwards of twenty different ECUs on your A6 - everything from the immobilizer to the left-hand front door ECU. How he can re-configure the soft coding; or even re-set the service indicator, without something like that is difficult to imagine.
i have a m reg espace that has gone for a test and needs a stering neck can you explain what one is
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Ouch. That will be expensive on an Espace.
A friend of mine is in the market for a Escort sized hatch for about £4,000. Her requirements are for a hatch that doesn't look like one i.e. a small boot thing like the Escort / Astra G, petrol, and three proper seatbelts in the back. My interest is that she looks after my kids a lot, plus she's a good friend.
Scanning around, it seems that we can get a 52 / 03 reg Astra 1.6 Club for just over £4,000. Can anyone please give some positive or negative feedback on these? Personally i think they look horrid, but they do seem to tick the boxes.
Thanks in advance
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Thanks for all the responses. These Astras did seem a bargain, and i'll accept that they're not horrid looking, just dull. Anyway, an update.
Just put a deposit down on a 53 plate Astra 1.6 8v Club. It's ex Motability, was supplied and serviced by the Vauxhall garage in Saltford (5 miles from Bath) and lived in south Bristol. It has a stuck open ashtray and a few cosmetic marks, but it is second hand. It's done 58,000 miles and been serviced every year.
The part ex was the scruffiest P reg Escort in the world. Dent in every panel, trim missing, wheel bearings gone and MOT expiring in two weeks with a minimum £300 bill. In the dictionary, the word heap could be defined by a photo of this car. Washing it would have made the dents more apparent
Car was £3995, dealer essentially swopped the Escort for a year's tax on the Astra. Having had an exhaustive look round, Astras with the same age and mileage are for sale at £500 - 1500 more elsewhere. We bit his hand off.
Under £4k for a 3 year old five door hatch with aircon, lecky windows and three rear seatbelts. Friend's happy, and I'm happy, as my kids spend a lot of time in her car.
Thanks again
Just been watching drag racing on TV (NHRA Drag Racing, Mondays 7pm Channel 5 US Freeview 35) where the fastest top fuels do 0-325mph in about 4.5 seconds over the 1/4 mile straight, side by side. Amazing- I would love to see Top Gear do a feature on this, especially if Richard Hammond chose to do a comparison with driving that rocket thing (although I would understand if he wasn't keen).
Anyone know how fast the top fuels can go if given a long enough straight, or are they designed with such single-minded purpose that they just fall apart if pushed past the 1/4 mile distance? Has anyone tried it?
John Read more
Those things aren't cars of course. Can't run for more than a couple of minutes, can't go round corners or over anything resembling a bump, need a parachute to slow down. They are even less like cars than F1 cars, and that's saying something.
Marvellously, wonderfully dramatic devices though. But I can't help feeling that a day spent at Prescott or Shelsley Walsh would end up a lot more rewarding for the spectator.
Browse
Thanks for your replies, - having read the various road tests, I think I will be probably looking elsewhere.