March 2007
I have an '02 Renault Megane 1.4 16v Fidji which I've had from new with not many problems.
Last month it started having trouble starting, the engine would try to turn over but wouldn't start up.
It would after a few attempts however start up and once it did start, it would drive quite happily.
It then got worse and wouldn't start at all, even though it sounded like it was turning over properly, it just wouldn't start up at all :-(
I bump started it and took it down to the local garage, but they couldn't find a fault. They said they checked the Battery, Starter Motor, Leads and Spark Plugs and they all seemed ok, it was just as though a spark wasn't reaching the engine?
So they reckon it'll need to go back to a renault dealer :-(
Anyone have any ideas? If you do get it started, once you switch it off and back on again, it'll start straight away, but if you leave it more than an hour or so, it goes back to being extremely hard to start.
Cheers, Jonny Read more
When I got my 1998 406 V6 saloon last October, the cruise control worked fine; I took the car off the road to do some work on it (e.g. changed the driver's side engine mountings, checked brakes etc.) I put the car on the road in January, but realised some time later that the cruise control had packed up. Quite honestly, I hardly ever use it anyway, but if it's fitted, I like it to work!. The car has done 115000 miles; the fuses look OK and if you suck the diaphragm thingy that operates the throttle, it works. There is no reference to it in the haynes manual, nor in the CD manual I got from Ebay. Would a fault code reader tell me the problem? Are there any other physical checks I can try - or any known faults on this system? Help, please!
J.A.
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Seems like I spoke too soon! - cruise control function remained a bit 'hit and miss' then a few days later the speedo began to stay at zero when moving from rest, then shoot up to speed above 20 mph or so. This got progressively worse, with a bit of odd engine running about 2000 rpm, then the speedo needle began to wave about as if demented. My son, who is a member of the 406 coupe club, kindly looked on their excellent tech. help pages, and came up with the most likely culprit - the speedo control unit (sometimes known as the Bitron unit?) part no: 1929SJ. The local dealer had one in stock - took about 15 mins to fit - all problems solved - touch wood!
Please note this only applies to the Phase One, D8 cars, the D9s have a different cure.
Today, 19th January at 15.30, of the 21 requests for help displayed on the first page here, 12 concern French cars. Makes you think, doesn't it? Read more
>>>>On these VERY approx figures, Renault Ford VW Citroen all come out at about the same ! Only Vauxhall is a shining example of reliability.
I have run around 8 different Vauxhall cars and vans over the years. With the exception of an Isuzu engined Astra TD, they have all been superb, clocking up 150,000 miles on most of them without missing a beat.
The Isuzu engined Astra was a disaster that cost me nearly £2000 in three months
Can anyone advise as to how I remove the rear brake drum on a Ka. I tried to remove one yesterday with no luck. Are the drums held in place by a bearing hub nut or seized on the studs.
Many thanks. Read more
I only wanted to check the shoe thickness, Haynes it is.
Thanks everbody.
One of my Osram Silver Stars has just failed at 17 months and 21,000 miles. IIRC that is a bit sooner than the lower output bulbs but not too bad considering the improvement in brighness.
Anyone else have anything to report on bulb life?
It's one of the easier to change dip bulbs as well. Better get 2 more ordered.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty. Read more
No, no... the truely advanced driver stamps on his brakes and
watches the fishtailing in the rear view mirror with satisfaction.
No advanced driver with a modicum of intelligence would deliberately try to cause an accident in this manner.
If the Chancellor does raise taxes for larger vehicles, do you think this will have a major effect on the second hand market?
The 4x4 market has certainly been hit hard by the anti Chelsea tractor brigade. Will this now start on larger engined cars? When cars become older I fear that bigger cars will become worthless due to the high annual road licence fee (?£400).
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Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
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Surely an Almera auto is a gas guzzler under the rules,
or soon will be NW?
When I bought it, it was in the highest tax bracket, but mercifully a few weeks later a higher bracket appeared, and with any luck there'll be a few more higher ones to come. So I'd say that the tax rules appear to be defining it as less of a gas-guzzler than it used to be ... but one friend who watched my mpg display asked if I was going to be marrying an oil sheikh. ;-)
The spread of DSG and DGS gearboxes will hopefully mean that in future, an automatic gearbox won't automatically mean gas guzzling, but for now my overweight and inefficient Almera is indeed excessively thirsty.
At 187/km, it looks pretty sick compared to the 120 g/km Citroen C4 1.6HDI EGS which HJ just tested, but it's still about the same as a manual Mondeo 1.8, and both are in a different league to something like the Mercedes R500L at CO2 317-324/km. It's quite right that a car like mine with a drink problem should pay a tax penalty over the Citroen, but by the same logic, the alcoholic 5-litre monster should be paying a hell of a lot more.
I suspect, though, that what GB will do in the budget is to create the new bands without wildly higher road tax, and then over the next few years incrementally turn the screws.
Must say I think it is a loathsome moralistic expression though. :o)
Lud, I refuse to believe that you are quite as amoral as you like to make yourself out to be :)
From todays Telegraph.
Computer racing games 'make riskier drivers'
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
Players of computer racing games are more likely to drive aggressively and take risks, psychologists said yesterday.
German researchers found that people who play these games reported acting more competitively and having more accidents than others.
Two studies showed those who enjoyed games such as Grand Theft Auto admitted taking more risks and having more aggressive feelings after playing. A third study found the games made men, but not women, take more risks on a driving simulator.
advertisementThe research was published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology.
Dr Peter Fischer, of Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich, said: "Risky media content, as provided by racing games, activates feelings of arousal and excitement related to increased risk taking . . . at least in men.
"We conclude that playing computer games could provoke unsafe driving.
"Road traffic practitioners should bear in mind the possibility that racing games indeed make road traffic less safe, not least because game players are mostly young adults, acknowledged as the highest accident-race group."
Personally I think they must have an effect on most of the players. Many will not be able to realise the difference between a computer game and reality. Unfortunately in real life a crash damages cars and lives.
What do you think?
--
Roger
A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.
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>And as Artful Dodger correctly points out, small cars these days are substantially more powerful than they were >even 15 years ago, when a power output anything much over 75 bhp in a small hatch was fairly unusual.
Its very simple. Young men are reckless. 99.9% of them. Its biological. Its showing off, feather preening, call it what you like, it happnes and has always happened.,
The only thing that changes is the tools to do it. In my day and for a large part of the centrury i was boern in it was motorbikes. Tell me one person of the late 40's 50's 60's who didnt know someone who was mangled or killed on a motorbike. And yes when I spilled my bike and broke bones, i was suprised that a: it happened and b: it hurt and c: proud to boast about the number of stiches I had.
Trace it back all the ways to duels and fights. Young men with too much testosterone will do stuff. Computer games has no influence over that at all.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
Not a coupe query as such! I've recently had new discs and tyres but was experiencing brake judder. Went to a different garage for tracking and balancing reckeck and they noticed that my osf flange (where the wheel bolts into) had a slight bulge and crack. Also when removing the wheel from this side a bolt sheared as it was in too tight! Could someone tell me if
1) It's a problem that needs sorting asap to avoid any further damage?
2) Could the tight screw be the cause of the crack in the first place?
Thanks Read more
Yes replace before the crack spreads out any further, did you whack a kerb? if so check other steering items for bent parts etc.
Hi all, I have a Blaupunkt PF3 (c) R from a 1992 Peugeot 306. I'm able to generate code but which button on the set is pressed after the final code digit is entered pls?Also when I enter the code 1621 the screen displays 2620 once last digit entered, any ideas? SN = BP2774P5907486
PN = 7 642 774 392 MODEL No = PF3 (C) R 96 136 535 80.......
Thx
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Thinking of changing my car -its a Toyota Avensis 2.0 Petrol auto T3-X. I posted on another thread about the Volvo V50/S40 and residuals but thats another story!
I had a look at VW's over the weekend. On paper the new Jetta looks good value for money, but then I sat in one and its too small for me-I'm a big chap and fit nicely into the Avensis. The Jetta which is basically a booted Golf is too small inside for me.
I had a gander at the new Passat and at first I wasn't really taken by it. I can't put my finger on it bit I didn't even sit in one. Went home to study more car magazines and in the end came to the conclusion that there isn't much out there better than my Avensis. So I went back to look at the Passat, sat inside and was a bit more impressed.
Anyone else feel the same about the new Passat? I just can't get excited about it! Read more
> at the Verso 2.2d and I could go for that. Might
get a better trade-in from my Toyota dealer. Not sure what
a VW dealer would give me on a non-VW trade in.
>>
The Toyota 2.2 177 diesel is powerful and refined though lacks a bit of torque below 2000rpm though you wont really notice that coming from a 2.0 petrol, also the Verso is not very inspiring handling wise.
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Jonny
The crank sensor [aka TDC sensor] would be my first thought. They can be prone to interference from the starter motor.
The coolant temp sensor's worth a check too. Getting the fault-codes read by a suitably equipped garage would be useful too.