April 2007
Yesterday an unusual noise slowly started seemingly from the front N/side wheel on my 98 Vectra diesel. Difficult to describe but like a low frequency brake squeal.
Gradually got worse and was there intermittently particularly at slow speed when not using the brakes.
Arrived home and removed the wheel trims and found the hub cap very hot on the O/side (not where the noise was coming from).
Today removed the wheels and found the disk retaining screw N/side had come very loose and the disk could be moved quite a bit backwards and forwards.
No signs of it fretting on the back of the road wheel, but tightened it up not really thinking it would cure the noise as the wheel bolts would have secured the disk when the wheel was replaced.
But the noise seems to have gone on a short road test.
However coming back to the O/side the outer pad is much more worn than any of the other three. Resistance more plainly felt when turning the wheel by hand.
Any ideas why the pad should be more worn and perhaps a theory as to why the disk screw could (hopefully) have been making the noise.
wemyss
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Hello all,
I am planning to selling our 2002 corolla T3, can someone advise on what would be a reasonable private sale price please.
The car is an 02 plate 1.6 petrol, with around 58k miles, FSH from new and all done at toyota dealer it was bought from. T3 with normal T3 trimmings plus a rear spoiler added. Silver 5dr, by the time i sell it it will have just had its service so will therefore have brand new brake pads and discs at front and rear brakes also done last month. Had a new manifold around 12months ago so everything is rather new. Its in very good condition, i tried to look after it, never been in a crash or a bump.
Complete new engine was fitted around 5k miles ago; it was completely replaced as a recall as certain 2002 models had heavy oil consumption.
Any ideas how much i should put this on Autotrader for?
Thanks Read more
Cheers - I was thinking around that figure too. Think i will go with about £4,850 in autotrader, think thats a fair price.
Thanks again
The exhaust valve tappet clearances are within spec. However the Inlet valve clearances are 0.14/15mm which are on rhe borders of minimum (spec 0.15/25mm) Do these clearance increase or decrease with wear. Also does anyone know where I can obtain Toyota special tools 09248-55020 (for extracting shims) which apparently Toyota dealers will not supply
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I have been zapped by a camera van, on teh A11 in norfolk.
This happened on good friday, and i got my notice yesterday. Apparently I was doing 83 in a 70. May well be true, I can't recall.
I was interested to read the bumf that came with the NIP, particularly where it said that the cameras effectively calibrate themselves when they are switched on, and are only checked once a year. So, a machine that calibrates itself. How on earth does that work? Read more
A mixer will produce the sum and difference of input frequencies along with various spurious products that can be minimized with good design.
In this case the 10GJz reference signal is mixed with the 10.000001GHz reflected signal to give a 1KHz signal, a 20.000001GHz signal and various other spurii that are easily filtered out.
The accuracy of the reference signal doesn't make a huge difference to the measured result.
Its certainly easy enough to generate signals with better than 1ppm accuracy, every mobile phone manages this.
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I read often, only post occasionally
Just noticed on my post 05 makeover Mk 3 1.8LX Mondeo that where the steering column goes into the
bulkhead under the dash there is no black rubber cover often seen in other cars. It goes into a white plastic
outer cover (which is engine side). The white cover protects it from any water etc.
If anyone has a similar model can you confirm if there should be a black rubber cover over the steering column?
Just look under the dash and you'll see what I mean.
Thanks in Advance
S. Read more
Theres nothing wrong with modified cars where it is subtly and tastefully done. Seems to me though with the current generation of max power mods, in most cases subtlety goes right out the window (IMHO of course).
Theres a car I?ve seen a few times near our office. It has purple/ green colour changing paint, mirrored windows, 4" wheelarch extensions, massive front and rear spoilers, two big twin exhausts. It took me a couple of sightings to work out what car it was -its an early Lexus LS400.
It looks no better than this one: www.abstyling.co.uk/bodykits/lexus_ls400(2).htm
;o)
As though the authorites weren't doing enough to slow us all down:
tinyurl.com/3782k4 {Shortened link to www.thisislocallondon.co.uk - DD}
It now looks like we're going to lose a peak time lane on a very important river crossing. What next ? - Humps on the A102 M?
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Isn't that because most of the locals can't afford cars? I know this because I've driven over Middlesborough and observed the inhabitants below. I've always felt that the A19 through - or rather over - the centre of the town was a very civilised approach to motoring; priority to the car driver etc. Or was it the A66?
New ford fiesta had what the dealer described as factory fallout on bonnet and wings (small particles in paintwork that looked like grinder particles) was told it would be no problem to sort out. Just picked it up from dealers after discovering machine polish scratches all over bodywork and am gutted! the car is only 12 days old. am i within my rights to ask for a replacement or refund? would appreciate some good advice. P.S has anyone else encountered this problem on new ford fiestas? Read more
I've never tried one of those clay bars, heard they are the bees knees so to say tho. Wonder if it would be worth while trying it on it, but only if you have tried the supplying dealer first and no joy. Personally I would go straight back and ask for them to sort it for you. Do remember when I worked for a large vauxhall dealership that they did like to use a large amount of wax when pdi, it would take several months to wear off and loads of washes to cover up any nasty imperfections, then they could claim that any damage was caused by the customer. So I would get back to them sharpish and point it out, gud luck me aul china and let us know
its coming up to car change time and i have been seeing some good deals on leasing these (thought i would try leasing this time). They look good, i need/want an estate and a diesel will be a must this time. I was wondering if anyone has experience of these cars. I am a bit concerned it will be a bit slow after my 2.4 accord.
I will be test driving at some point, but interested in real life opinions. I always enjoy a change of car and have been driving a transit all week and really enjoyed it, so a short test drive may not give me the best impression of living with a car!
As an aside, im going to be looking closely at the new mondeo estate, reviews seem to be coming out next week (embargoed til the 24th?) Read more
The A6 Avant is a lovely shape,but the thng that put me off it (with 3 small kids) was the high side window line/low rear seats which meant the kids couldn't see out the side. A case of form before function in that respect. I bought an E-class estate instead whcih the kids loved - especially the rear-facing boot seats - until I sold it!
My corolla is going to need a new radiator at some poijt, as the plastic top tank is weeping slightly and all the corrugated elements ahve started corroding and dropping out.
Looked on Ebay and there seem to be several "brands" available, all around the £60 mark.
Nissens are claiming to be "all aluminium doesn't corrode" - what are the corrugated elements on my roriginal ad made of ? I assumed it was aluminium and that was why it was corroding ?
There are other Co's - SLickparts, and Aaron Rad Co. which say they make their own.
Can anyone recommend any of these or another brand which is going to give a few years service ??
There are other co's advertising that theirs are OE quality, but of course don't say which brand, so one can't verify this.
The car is 13yrs old so I'm not sure if it is worth putting on too expensive things. Have done that on old cars b4 and either something big goes and not worth repairing, or someone hits u and writes it off !!! What do people think....
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Hi,
sorry to steal this thread but just out of curiousity is external corrosion the main reason for radiator failure????
I have heard of other reasons for rad failure including stones from the road bursting a hole in rad, internal corrosion, causing the rad to choke and burst, the plastic cracking but i would be interested to what is the most common cause of rad failure and wot is a typical life expectancy for a rad???
Browse
As one of the long-standing problems of automotive engineering, disc brake squeal must rank as one of the more tricky. Work has been ongoing in various university departments for many years, and manufacturers are still approaching universities to do more work on the subject. I've seen theoretical and rig based experimental work and combinations of the two - I've read a number of Phd theses on the subject, and there aren't many firm conclusions to be had.
However annoying, one thing that is reassuring is that in many cases a squealing brake does not necessarily or generally mean an inefficient brake - obviously, if it's squealing because there's no friction material left, that's not true!
Number_Cruncher