March 2007
Hi
Just picked up a 2000 Rover Mini Cooper.
The oil pressure indicator appears not to be working. When I turn the ignition, before I start the engine, the indicator needle moves up slightly, but does not move onto the gauge. When the engine starts it does not move at all.
I'm guessing (because there's oil at the top of the engine, no smoke and it sound OK) that its the gauge. The red oil light flashes as the ignition turns but then goes off as normal.
But, any tips or suggestions? How can I check that it is the gauge and that I don't have a problem with the engine/oil pump?
thanks
John J Read more
I'm due to inspect a car i intend to buy on Wednesday, but i have a couple of questions:
1, How many keys should i get to the vehicle? ie 2 x electric fobs? 1 x fob and 1 x regular key (non-electric) oir just 1 x key fob?
2, When i pick the car up a few days after purchase do i have to show the dealer valid insurance?
Any hints or tips?!
Ta! Read more
this is my first time actually replying to a thread so I crave your indulgence, but must admit it`s rather good fun !!
A few weeks a go I took my car into a local garage after noticing a small pool of water under the engine bay on a couple of a occasions. I was advised that it being a Rover 75, it was likely to be the head gasket gone and that a pressure test would confirm this.
Anyway a pressure test was carried out, but there were no leaks found. After further examination the garage decided that it was the water pump at fault and replaced it along with a new timing belt.
This morning after my wife left for work in the car I noticed a damp patch on the drive. Later in the afternoon my wife called to say that the car broke down on the way home having over heated.
The breakdown guy said that there was a small amount of oil in the remaining water and vice versa and that that the headgasket had gone.
Having paid out £360 for all of the tests and replacement parts do I have any comeback with the garage for mis-diagnosing the fault,? this obviously will now be a bigger and more expensive job, should they go some way towards the extra costs involved or am I on a no hoper?
Thanks in advance for any possible advice. Read more
The headgasket will have gone due to the overheating and drop in coolant, especially if there was coolant visible from underneath the car and that itself would not have been the cause of water getting out of the cooling system and onto your drive.
It sounds as if there is a leak somewhere that the garage has missed (radiator, associated pipes, expansion bottle top, water pump again?), its got worse, dumped all of the water and took the headgasket.
It would depend on how hot the car got before being turned off as to how much damage was done, however after suffering similar failure off the back of a mis-diagnosis from a garage it is worth speaking to them and putting your case in writing. They may meet you half way and now charge for parts but very little labour. However just fixing the headgasket will not stop it going again if the route cause isnt found.
Have noticed that there are quite a lot of "fresh import" Legacy Turbos on autotrader and Ebay especially.
Prices seem quite reasonable for quite low mileage cars - 40-50,000 miles seems the Norm, and £3-4K.
Can anyone tell me what "the deal is" with these vehicles ? :-
(A) How does one know the mileage is genuine, as the condition in the photos seems excellent, but how can one verify, as Jap imports have no service history, or is justone has to assume that if it looks pristine, then the mileage may be near what it says on the clock ?
(B) Do the Japs drive them sensibly, or are the imports thrashed to death by the time they get over here - hence the cheap price ?
(C) How does one spot a "thrashed one" - they cosmetic condition looks fantastic, and I know the legacies are supposed to be very robust, so would presumably wear well even if they were driven hard.
(D) Most are automatics (which is what I'd go for) but does the auto-box handle the power, or will an auto-box rebuild not be far-away ?
(E) What is the insurance situation like ? I'm a 35yo single male, living on the edge of SW London/Surrey, thankfully have a lower-risk suburban Surrey postcode - are we talking £1000 a year premiums ?
(F) whats the spares situation like for the parts that don't fit UK spec non-turbo bits (I imagine just engine and suspension stuff, as the rest must be same as UK spec )
(G) If driven sensibly/gently whats everyday mpg like - I know the standard car are thirsty ......
or is it just Fuel /service costs thats keeping the rpice "reasonable" ! Read more
I run a Legacy 3.0 Spec B manual saloon. I get around 25-26mpg on average, dropping to low 20's on shortish trips or if I boot it more than usual. Long runs with plenty of motorways and good A roads see around the 30mpg mark.
As the title suggests, I'm interested in getting a Defender. My partner and I already have a car each so it would be used for weekends. I'm no expert on 4x4's so a litlle help or advice would be gratefully received. I've trawled the web for some inspiration and have the following questions:
90,110 or 130?
Are ex-Army non turbo versions any good?
Most vehicles I've seen on the web have quite high mileages. What's the reliability like?
We have a 2 year old and a baby on the way so are car seats viable?
200, 300 or TD5? What's the difference?
I'm reasonably handy with a spanner, so are they easy to self maintain?
What are like to live with on a day to day basis?
No budget at the moment. I've read HJ's overview on CBCB. Any other experiences, anecdotes, words of advice/warning much appreciated.
Phil
Read more
I used to test these vehicles for possibly the largest user of them in the country. I found the crass bad design and sheer unreliability of the things unbelievable - things would break which would defy logic, the build quality was dreadful (eg. new transmissions full of machining swarf) and I swear that they never ever made two alike.
I used to squirm at the failures - and I wasn't paying the bills.
659.
Hi All
I have here a debate for you all, After speaking to a friend of mine the other day he informed me that he won't go near supermarket fuel as he says it is made form bio fuel and is of a lower grade and therefore says it is bad for your car,
I however regularly fill up at the local superamarket as it is convenient and have always thought that it is the same fuel as is sold everywhere, but it has got me thinking, is there any truth in what he is saying? i know how good this forum is at giving advice so please let me know what your opinions are.
Regards,
Maretz Read more
As so many people claim that shell etc are better, yet I've owned a car that actually ran better on supermarket fuel than anything else I think the simple answer is this.
Run your car as low on fuel as you dare then fill up with supermarket fuel.
Then repeat this but filling up with shell etc.
Then you can decide for yourself which is better.
Of course V-Power is a different question.
Has Cheddar upset someone - call me cynical but why was this discussion the only one I couldn't open tonight. I saw the programme too Cheddar, and it confirmed what I already thought. In my line of work - singing the right tune to the funders definately happens. Scientists are only human, they too need to earn a living - and get paid for what they do.
{the thread you're referring to has quite a few replies, and thus will take time to open. And no, before anyone asks, I'm not splitting it into several volumes to make it more managable, as it will just go off topic away from motoring discussion AGAIN! DD} Read more
On full or near full lock, I have a clunking noise from rear left wheel - is this a differential problem? Also is there an immediate safety issue - I have MOt due in 4 weeks, thought of having it sorted out at the same time.
Thanks Read more
Sounds to me more like a bush thats gone but you will not know until you check it out.
Hi,
I live up North, but filled my Zafira in Morrisons on 10 February. Fifty miles down the road the sensor light came on - being a woman I ignored it and thought oh, faulty light!
However, within a day or two (and after refilling with another full tank of petrol) I noticed the idling speed was anything between 1200 and 2000 revs - and on a cold start even a foot to the floor got me no power until a few seconds later the power suddenly (and alarmingly) cut back in.
My car was due an MOT so I took it to the garage and asked them to sort the sensor problem and the 'lumpy' running. The car (which had been serviced a few weeks previously) passed the MOT on everything except the sensor light. Then the petrol news broke and we all went 'ahhhh' - and the garage changed one of the sensors (they said my other one was fine?) - the sensor light went out, my car passed the MOT and I got it back again. 20 miles later the sensor light appeared again. So back to the garage. They put it on the diagnostics machine - and said all the other sensor needed was a clean, which they did. By now I had filled up with three full tanks since the dodgy lot at Morrisons, and although I had obviously diluted what was in the tank I was under the impression that until the tank was drained there were still traces of silicon in there causing the problem.
Got my car back, and hubby needed it to drive the 40 miles or so to Leeds. I warned him the sensor light would come on half way down the M62 - and sure enough, there it was!
So . . . back to the garage. They have put it on the diagnostics machine and say it is showing no faults apart from 'running lean' - I could have told them that, it is drinking petrol! And they say it is now the ECU and suggest we take it to a main dealer as they don't know what to do.
My car had a new ECU 20,000 miles ago, and the car was running fine until I had the faulty petrol. Both the garage and my long suffering husband agree that the petrol in the tank does not need completely draining - whereas I think it does. But then I am only a girly so what am I supposed to know?!
My question (now you have got this far) is what should I do? Any advice is gratefully accepted! Do I need to go to the main dealer? Will Morrisons foot the bill for all these problems and a new ECU unit if needed? Anyone got any experience of these problems that shows it was or wasn't the ECU? Incidentally, once the car is running warm it does seem to be running not too badly apart from the drinking of petrol and the emissions light on.
My car is a 2001 1.8 automatic Zafira with 69k on the clock.
Oh, and should anyone have changed the petrol, diluted though it is now. Thanks!!! Julie :-) Read more
Hi!
I'm Mr Julie. :-)
Surprisingly (until I read the more recent comments on this thread) the emissions light went out and stayed out a day before the car was booked into the second garage. However it was still running very poorly from cold.
The other garage replaced the air flow sensor / air mass meter and (assuming it was the petrol) they replaced the fuel filter. It certainly has done the trick and it's now running as well as it used to. I'm now in the process of writting a letter to Morrisons asking for £334.90 for the repairs and fares etc. :-(
Thanks for all your help.
Kevin
ive a pug306 1.9 td. wen picking up speed, excessive shakin and vibration through gear box and steering wheel,had bushes checked all ok. had tyres checked all ok. somebody suggested maybe one of the steeringshaft warped. Read more
Drive shafts very common, replace both together & it will drive like a new car
Regards
Browse
from memory , the later mini had an electric gauge instead of mechanical which you can test the same way as a temperature gauge. for the sake of a fiver change the sender.
good to see someone still loves the true mini and not the bmw big