April 2007
Hi all. I am looking for a ford ka for a little runaround, 98% for around town, but wish to know if low milage ones, say below 30,000 miles are usually reliable, say from 2001 models on. What problems do they seem to suffer from, if any, and any info i can get on this. I have seen one with 29,500 on the clock Y reg looks very nice and he wants £2000 for it. would this be a bargain or not. Finally, (Sorry to bable on) Is a duratec engine that is in some models o.k. Any comment, good or bad please, Thank-you all, Graham.
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Hi,
a theory question but if you have any pracitcal knowledge, that would be great.
Scenario, at 50MPH 5th gear is turning at 1750RPM, 6th is turning at 1500RPM, engine is a turbo-diesel with peak torque at 1750RPM.
What gear is the most economical, 5th at peak torque or 6th with lower RPM?
Please disregard the effects of accelerating above 50MPH in 6th gear for this question as I know the car would be a bit 'flat' this low in the RPM range.
I ask this question as I would drive in 6th at this speed unless lots of hills but some people are saying it's more economical to be in 5th at this speed due to peak torque.
What's your thoughts?
Thanks Read more
Cliff, My 1964 T2000 had the overdrive lever mounted on the steering column.
Marvellous to be able to change gear with the flick of a switch.
Only problem was the solenoid mounted on the back of the box used to fail.
I think that was rectified on the 2.5.
wemyss
Help, anyone?
The rear washer on my daughter's 1999 5 door Polo has stopped working. I can hear the pump running, I can smell the cleaner, but nothing's coming out at the nozzle. It appears that a pipe has become loose behind the rear door panel, but can't see how to remove the panel to check/fix.
Any words of wisdom on how to get the panel off would be appreciated.
Thanks,
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Rock on!!
Thanks everyone for helping out with this. Removed the back panel and the hose had disconnected from the plastic connecter for the nozzle. Reconnected firmly, added a bit of lube to the lock mechanism, reattached the rear panel, all working great. One happy daughter, one impressed wife (bless).
Thanks to all.
I have recently bought a Ford Mondeo 03 facelift TDCi estate and found an aux input in the glove box. I wanted to connect an MP3 player to it but when I press the CD/Aux button on the Sony 6CD changer unit fitted, it just goes to CD output or if there are no CD's in it it just says "No CD".
Does anyone else have this problem and do you know how to enable the Aux facility?
Thanks. Nick T Read more
It's certainly in the current audio manual.
I have a 2004 Ford Fusion 2 with the 1.4 TDCi (Peugeot/Citroen PSA) engine. It's under warranty until October 2008. I've got a problem with black smoke. It makes a lot of smoke under acceleration. It doesn't have any effect on economy or performance. I always get about 450 miles on a tank of diesel (about £35 worth). The dealership have changed the EGR valve twice now.
When they replace the EGR valve the problem goes away for about 7-8 weeks then it starts again. When the valve is replaced, there is absolutley no visible smoke at all, even under acceleration.
I use Millers fully synthetic XFD 5w40 in the car. I spoke to the dealership this morning and they have told me the problem is being caused by the oil. They said fully synthetic oil is causing the EGR valve to stick. I believe this to be complete rubbish, and I think I am being fobbed off.
I've spoken to Millers Oils this morning and Ford approve Millers XSS 5w30 (semi-synth), so I am going to change onto this in the next couple of weeks. Then if the problem reoccurs (as I suspect it will) I can then say I am using Ford approved oil in the engine.
Has any one seen this problem, or can offer me any suggestions? I emailed Honest John and he suggested taking it to a Peugeot/Citroen dealership, but as it's under Ford warranty still, I'd rather try to get to the bottom of it under the existing warranty.
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Sorry I mean't to add that at the time Peugeot or the dealers could not explain why the hand book specified specific oil & that no other must be used & some peugeot dealers said they where not aware of the notice specific to the 1.4hdi engine. The other fact that the helpfull guy from mobil tec told me that although he would like me to buy Mobil 1 I must use what the book say's. One of the facts that he did ring me back with was particle matter contamination & the recommended oil had a certain addative in it to deal with the byproduct of this engine.
My wife presently has a 1.4tdci ford fiesta which we also run strictly on BP & in fact every time she used supermarket fuel the consumption dropped from 53av to 46-47 every time.
There is a company that sells a product called DAE which you can find on the internet & when I put two cans in a tank full of fuel reduced the smoke considerably, much improved over some other brands.
Has your's been chipped? that does increase the smoke & does it get a regular blast? if it gets used round town for a week & then has a blast you can't see behind you! handy if you have a tailgater!
My son in laws 1.8 petrol engine on his Rover 75 blew up a little while ago.
A completely reconditioned engines was sourced from an advertised engine reconditioner,
I went with him to collect it. They said they get seven or eight of these engine a week to do and advised him to get rid of the car when the engine was fitted.
There was a 12 month warranty subject to several provisions including that a new water pump and thermostat must be fitted and the radiator to be checked by the fitting garage. An oil change after 1000 miles and too many more to mention.
It looked pristine on collection wrapped in a kind of Clingfilm.
The local independent who has a good reputation fitted the engine adhering to all conditions. The cost of the engine was just under £1000 and another £900 to have it installed.
At 950 miles the engine just stopped. No rise on the temperature gauge whatsoever. Contacted the engine supplier who said to have it flatbedded to their premises. I should mention that during this mileage the son in law had checked the oil and water level almost to a point of being neurotic. He even checked it before returning from his destinations.
Before it went the local independent who fitted it had a look and removing the spark plugs said one of the pistons appeared to be angled over. He also stated that there was no oil in the water and visa versa.
The engine builder received the car and reported that the car had overheated and a heat tag (whatever that is)on the engine proved it. Consequently the warrant was void.
It cost another £150.00 for them to hand it back (for inspection costs) to be flatbedded home.
The SIL has a friend who owns a engineering workshop and his men stripped it and he reported that there was many faults, including a wrong piston fitted, and a gudgeon pin had come loose and had gouged deep into the cylinder liner and that there was no doubt that it was a bodge job and that is what the assessor will find.
He said he would contact the reconditioner himself to tell him of his findings before he bought in a independent assessor, to give him an opportunity to rectify the situation. He received nothing but foul abuse and said his heat tag would stand up in court and see you there.
That is the situation at present but my SIL is determined to obtain satisfaction either through trading standards or small claims court.
Incidentally it didn?t occur to me to check if they were member of their trade association until after. And no they were not.
Any general advice on the best way to proceed to recover costs from these people and procedures to adhere to.
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Could a mod please edit my post above. Please delete the Consumer Acton Group link and just give the name of the site. Thanks.
{As per the email reply to you - DD}
A friend is looking at a 2002 Yaris 1.0 with around 40k on the clock. Do you know the recommendation for changing the cam belt? Is there anything else we should be looking for?
TIA
_______
IanS
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The only cam belt / chain that I personally have had snap whilst driving, was on a 1.0 litre Yaris (?T? reg).
As HJ says all the Yaris are chain and all have an unlimited life quoted in the service schedule, but this does not mean they are break proof.
In my case the engine was wrecked. The circumstances were that I was going downhill on the overrun in 2nd gear at about 25mph. The car had done just over 31,000 miles and had been owned by my wife from new. It had the full Toyota service history. There was no pre-warning at all.
Chains do tend to be better than belts, but are not immortal.
I have just taken delivery of my new company van but the handbook is missing. There is a button on the dash marked 'ASR'. When depressed a triangle with a '!' in the middle surrounded by a circular arrow appears on the dash.
Anyone know what this button is please? Read more
What about snowy roads; wet junctions/ roundabouts with a bit of diesel spillage?
You know how white vans get driven, sometimes regarded as the fastest things on four wheels. ;o)
Ford Mondeo TDCI (130) auto 52 reg
The gear lever cannot be shifted out of park in normal operation. Local Ford main dealer has diagnosed as follows "Suspect gear lever assembly solenoid at fault, replacement lever assembly required - £310 fitted".
The gear lever can be moved out of park by using the manual override as indicated in the handbook, but this is obviously not a long term solution.
The price of the repair seems expensive. Does the whole assembly need to be replaced to correct the suspected faulty solenoid or is there a simpler option?
Any advice gratefully received. Read more
I wouldn't think immobilier would cause total electrical shut-down. I suspect you have a more fundamental problem (e.g. you have somehow discharged the battery).
On another theme - I suspect you could simply remove the shift interlock altogther. I believe it is required for the US but is not a legal requirement for the UK - its a extra safety feature, but loads of auto don't have it.
Have just put a set of four Pirelli P 7's on my Forester and have forgotten how many "sensible" miles I need to cover before they are effectively "worn in". Look forward to hearing from forum members. Read more
It would seem good practice with any new componant to slowly bed it in and 'work it up' to full performance spec. Even more so with key non metalic parts like tyres. If you want 3-4 years out of them keeping the speed down to 50-55 mph for about the first 100 miles seems a small price to pay. It use to be Kwick-fit policy on their handouts at one time.
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The brakes are fine. I've done quite a few emergency stops in mine to avoid vehicles that ignore the Highway Code. (Wrong way down one way street etc.)