March 2007
Hi all, I have a black astra 53 reg, it has a few scratches around the door handle and on the bumper. Whats the best thing to use for these? I thought about that colour polish you can buy but didn't want to waste £8 if it doesn't work.
Thanks
Julie Read more
Followed a Ka today and the hi-level brake light read "Ka" when it came on-first time I've seen this. Read more
Sounds like it has one of those stupid mask things fitted over the high level brake light, looks really tacky.
When I lock my car (FIESTA 1.25 Style) the radio and mileage display stay lit for 2-3 minutes. Is this normal. Can it be altered?
Thanks Read more
Hi
The 3 slots just above and to the left of the radio are to hold coins in for tolls etc ( on the same level but across from the rear demister switch). The voice control mike for use with the voice activation system is about half way up the A-pillar if it is fitted to the vehicle. The lights for the radio and info panel on the dash stay on about 10 minutes after you lock the car then switch off completely. If you have remote locking fitted ( I think the Style does) then the front side lights and rear brake lights illuminate when you unlock the vehicle with the remote for about 25 secs or so. I found this a bit irritating so I use the keyhole to unlock unstead so the lights don't come on. I think it just wears the lights out prematurely and the bulb replacement looks trickier that on my previous Mk4 Si. The only time I use the home safe lights was as a quick check to see that dipped beam was working OK.
fiestasi
new to the back room and looking for some advice. got £4000 to spend on a 2nd car, looking for some thing a wee bit sporty, ford cougar 2.5 v6 is the fave at the moment, any pro's or con's i should know about or any other cars i should consider? thanks!!
{Slight edit to subject header to make the topic less vague than simply "Help!!!" - DD} Read more
Damn right - I sold my 306 for this reason - 25mpg round town driving sensibly - 2 Litre so expensive on the Tax and Group 14 Insurance - Plus the fact when you want to go for a drive in the country over some nice roads it's full of bikers weaving in and out in front of you anyway so may as well get a normal A-B car
Hi all,
My Mrs is having her pollen filter changed but can't find where it is located and thats even after looking in the Haynes book!
One other quick question, she's also having an oil change but the oil sump plug has completely gone from a hexagon bolt to a round whats left of it bolt with no sides to put a spanner on totally chewed up! tryed mole grips but it won't budge, any ideas how to get it off??
Any help greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
Lee182 - on behalf of the Mrs! Read more
Either bang on a combination spanner with a hammer and it might spin it off, or take it to a Kwick-fit place and for a drink they will get it off. They do loads of these. Its bread and butter to them. Always undo sump nuts with a combination spanner. For some reason sockets seem to round off the corners. Torque up with a socket though and a new washer.
... and buckets of blood, as my glamorous aunt Georgie used to say. Some toerag stole my very useful, fundamentally sound, bought for buttons after consulting HJ himself, fully legal, surprisingly good whatever people say Ford Escort Estate some time this afternoon or evening, from a parker just within sight of the house.
'Most of them are only a couple of streets away,' plod said reassuringly on the phone. Why didn't I believe him?
I always thought a self-respecting toerag would scorn it, but no. Perhaps better cars are harder to steal.
God I'm so annoyed. And most probably this will cause all kinds of grief and expense, not least the problem of finding something equally good with the buttons I get from the insurance, if I can find the bit of paper, and whatever shrapnel I can scrape together.
Please don't jeer. It will only upset me. Read more
Yesh. Hic. Happy new year!
Question nr 2 on my friend's '53 Astra.
The volume control on the stereo itself doesn't work. The volume controls on the steering wheel work fine, and the volume knob performs its other functions fine e.g. turning the stereo on and off and the balance.
The stereo is a CAR 400.
Any ideas appreciated - could the head unti volume switched off via a secret code, or is it a loose connection?
Thanks Read more
From memory, there is a function to do this
There is indeed, but it only does just that, increases the volume automatically whe nthe road noise increases.
Press tuner control until you hear a beep. The display will show "SD VOL +X" (where X is the adjustable number) Adjust the number with the < and > tuning buttons. The higher the "X" number the more sensitive the auto volume will be. Press and hold tuner to store new setting.
Question 1 on '53 Astra
Friend of mine recently bought a 53' reg 1.6 Astra Club with the 8v 1.6 petrol engine. She is complaining that the ABS light comes occasionally, and sometimes the speedometer stops reading.
Before we take it back to dealer, does anyone have any ideas what this might be?
Thanks Read more
Thanks, that does help. Are iffy ABS sensors a common thing?
Typically, how many computer microprocessors are there on a small car (eg Yaris) and how many on a top of the range Merc or BMW?
I am shortly doing a talk on the history of computers and just want to show how ubiquitous they are now. Obviously, I can list all the control functions I can think of, but I do not know which have their own computers and which are combined together.
Miany thanks
Mike Holland Read more
Depends what level you are taking uP down to. There could
be half a dozen in the radio/CD player alone. My
old electric aerial had a PIC chip in it.
Electric Mirrors - the list could be enormous.
I think there are hundreds in most modern cars. Microprocessors can be had for a few pence these days, so they end up using them for just about anything. However, the kind of microprocessors used for electric wing mirrors are likely to be very different to the ones used for ABS or in the radio. The quantity of processors really doesn't have much of a meaning. Although I suppose some cars may have ones microprocessor performing the tasks that multiple microprocessors may do in another car. I would expect cars with regenerative braking etc. to have a few extra microprocessors. The extras eg, electric windows would also be likely to put the numbers up.
03 fiesta:
How do you gain access to the rear bulbs?
The light unit seems to be fixed from inside the boot, but I cannot see any fixings.
Read more
Thanks, I 'll give it a try.
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T-cut is probably the cheapest and most easily available product for removing very light scratches. If you can feel them with a fingernail something a bit more abrasive might be needed...