April 2007
i have a m reg mondeo and it has major probs
on starting up i have to high rev the car to keep the engine running or it cuts out
i also have to keep high reving as i drive it down the road
whats the problem if anyone knows i would be great full Read more
I took my 206 in today for its MOT, It a 01 plate,pretty good nick.
Anyway they failed it on the following:
-Exhaust emissions lambda reading after 2nd fast idle outside specified limits
-centre exhaust system has a major leak of exhaust gases
(this is causing the first one apparently)
-offside front track rod end ball joint has excessive play
I got quotes from them and from another local garage and it turned out that the other local garage was £70.00 cheaper then they were!, quite a difference in price for exactly the same job!
I have booked the car in for a retest but they are trying to charge me a retest fee of 20.00 because I took it to another garage to get the reapirs done,can they do this?
Just seems very steep for a retest.
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Many Thanks! Read more
Thanks everyone for putting that straight for me, much appreciated!
For months now on the A19 where it crosses the River Wear in Sunderland there has been a 50mph limit on the Northbound carriageway for roadworks that don't exist.
Is this a sneaky way of introducing a lower limit, because if it is it doesn't work, everyone ignores the 50mph limit.
Any other phantom roadworks out there? Read more
no theres no work whatsoever going on
I have a rather odd hydraulic brakes problem I hope someone can explain.
I have two pre-war cars. They are both fitted with the brakes off a '30s Triumph Gloria which are normally more than adequate. However, for various reasons they have both had brake rebuilds in the last six months. They now both exhibit the same fault.
The symptoms are that after a week or two the brakes go very soft ? to the extent that hard application of the pedal is capable of running out of travel. Pumping them makes very little difference. However, I can cure the problem by bleeding one slave cylinder ? it is always the same one (but not the same one in each car ? one its offside rear and the other its nearside rear). No air appears to be present in the fluid ejected, and it only requires a couple of pumps for the pedal to be rock solid again, until the next time.
It loses no fluid while sitting, so my question is how can I be getting air into a hydraulic cylinder while it is sitting in the garage? If a seal was leaking there would be a loss of fluid, which there isn?t. Is it possible for a slightly reduced pressure to occur in the system so that a relaxed seal permits a tiny amount of air? I can?t see why, but it?s hard to think of any other explanation.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I intend to replace the seals in the affected cylinders as soon as I can source some ? but I would really like an explanation as to what is going on. Unanswered questions always leave me unsatisfied!!!
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Thanks again. Doh.
Apparently, my wife's just received a "no smoking" sign from the leasing company for her company car, with instructions that it's a legal requirement to display this sign in the car.
Is there any basis to this? The car is a standard part of her employment package, and has not ever been used by anyone else from her company, nor would I expect it to be.
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:-)
I was involved in a front & rear shunt this week and I think there is a good chance my car will be a total loss.
It was a 2000 year "X" reg. VW Passat 1.9 TDI PD115 Sport estate and I have had the car from new.
This car was in very good condition as it is not the family run-about and both the exterior and interior were pretty much perfect (apart from the odd stone chip).
The CAP guide for this precise model is £4,800 for clean, £4,275 for average and £3,725 for below average, all based on a 90,000 mile clock (i.e. average of 15,000 miles/year).
My car had actually done 100,000 earlier this week!!! So basically it has just over 10% more miles than average.
Based on this information, can I expect to be offered the "book" price (say somewhere between £4,800 and £4,275) less approx. 10% for the mileage, or am I likely to be "shafted"?
Whats even worse is that it had almost £50 worth of diesel still in the tank and a good set of Michelin Pilot sport tyres on it.........talk about "sick as a parrot"
Any informed opinion, or even better actual experiences of similar situations greatly appreciated.
Also, any ideas of what to replace it with, (I need an estate preferably)? Would you go new or say 18 months old? Audi, BMW, Subaru (no diesel version I know).
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I really worry about what might happen if a third party writes off my car. To an insurer I would imagine it doesn't have much value what with 6 figure mileage and would value it as any typical 6 figure mileage car. Yet it's absolutely immaculate and unmarked inside and out, took 6 months to find, 1 private owner from new, had £3000 worth of replacement components just prior to expiration of the warranty and is, IMHO, irreplacable at the sort of money it cost to buy originally. If someone offered me the value of a 70k mile car for it, I wouldn't sell.
Getting an insurer to accept it's anything other than just a high mileage 5 Series would be quite a challenge. I certainly couldnt replace it with another with the same condition for what its probably 'worth'.
Is this sort of thing taken into account when you are an innocent third party? In such circumstances, can you insist on a repair?
I have search for but can not find what I an sure I have read. VW Passat Est 130PDI rear passenger foot well wet with fresh water. The car has A/c and a sunroof but can find no signs of the water ingrees. Any ideas welcome. Regards Peter Read more
Firstly, AS A MATTER OF URGENCY, lift the carpet in the front passenger footwell and lift the black plastic box out of the water. This box of tricks controls various electrical items including the alarm, windows and climate control. If water gets inside it, you'll need a new unit and they cost £100s.
I've got a B5 Passat of 2000 vintage. The 'weirdlittlebiscuit' link may be of some use but don't bank on it. I noticed one day that the bulkhead area - where the battery sits - had about 6" of water sloshing around in it. However, there was no water in the car. I managed to unblock the bulkhead drains as shown in the link and the unwanted resevoir disappeared. However, 6 months later, I noticed that the passenger footwell was soaking. I managed to stop the leak by replacing the whole pollen filter housing, together with the gasket underneath. It cost about £15 from the dealer.
Hi,
I have a Ford S-Max and now that the sun has arrived i really need some sunblinds for the reardoors to stop the sun going in my babies eyes and to keep her cool. The problem I have is that the door windows are HUGE on the S-Max and a standard sunbline covers only about 1/3 of the window!!! I know that I could fit multiple roller blinds but I am also keen on being able to lower the window whilst still having the blind up if possible.
I know that you can get window sox but they need to be taken on and off everytime you go out in the car.
What I am looking for is either custom made blinds, very large blinds or a manufacturer that will sell me a roll of the material so that I could cut it myself and velcro it to the door frame. Or any other novel idea that owners of cars with large rear windows have come up with. (Please don't suggest a blanket tucked into the window fram)
Any help is most welcome.
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Why not get the rear windows tinted?
Alternatively a local window blind manufacturer will have material - I'd be wary of blocking it completely. We have a shade which came free with a magazine and it is perforated, but seeing through it when reversing is difficult.
I'm going to Upton Park next week to watch a football match and will be travelling from the North West via the M6. I'm taking 3 friends and it's £65 each on the train so I want to do the bulk of the journey in the car.
I don't really want to drive all the way to the ground, so I've had a look and Upminster is at the end of the tube line serving Upton Park, and has a 500 space car park.
Only issue is which is the best way to get to Upminster. The most direct route is M1/M25, but will that be the quickest? What will traffic be like on the M25 on a Saturday around midday? Read more
you are a cruel trickster micky me ole mate
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
A friend who has a 206CC has noticed that when there is a passenger in the front and when cornering sharp corners/junctions at normal to fast speed (10 - 40mph). There is scraping noise coming from the rear passenger (offside) area of the car. The scraping seems to be related to wheel revolutions, but the dealer cannot find any faults.
It appears that it may only happen after driving for several miles (10+).
My first hunch is something rubbing on the discs like gravel/sand stuck in the pads or a bent disk splash guard.
But I thought the Dealer (who has been previously very good) would have spotted this.
The closest approximation to the sound I can get is when you brake on a pair of rusty discs for the first time - however this car is well used with no hint of rust on the discs.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
S.
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For future ref:
It was lots of debris pushing a built in mudguard (which itself is missing some clips) onto wheel.
Only happend when suspension travel was pushed to end and when cornering, hence why dealer could not replicate problem on ramp.
S.
Browse
Check the rubber "T" piece in the vacuum pipework underneath where the coil pack is, it is prone to splitting or coming off. This gives symptoms similar to your description. Another possibility is the IAC valve, it controlls the amount of air going in to the engine on tickover and low throttle and can stick. You could try cleaning it out with carb cleaner..