April 2007
Hi all... Im a newbie, please be nice with me ...
I bagged myself an Escort at the Auctions last week. £400. Its a 1.4 LX 1998. Its in really good nick... apart from the engine. OK... It has an oil leak. For the love of god we cant find where its coming from, we thought it was the engine oil sump gasket.. what a sh1ytty job that is changing !! And its still leaking... (seems to be from the bottom 'wheel' there is an exterior seal that seems to be the dripper ! but the oil that sdripping is dirty blck... we put new in ? I must say the whole engine and its bays was caked in oil not that bad now though after a run.
Whilst we were inside her.. oeer ! we changed the cam belt. now sinse then, when i go from speed to slow... she goes well below revs and starts to stall... (must add the alt is FULL of oil from the 'old' leak. ) can anyone help ?
Last one, she has no heat. HG aint gone.. no visable signs anyway... my only idea is the thermostat... ill do that next week..
So has anyone any deas on the oil leak, stalling and no heat... or have I bought a lump and should put it back through the auctions... Im reluctant though as I saw the exact same car for sale in a local dealer for £1995 !! This is my way back to the top !
Thanks all....
Mike Read more
hi all.
im asking for my next door neighbour. he has an r reg rover metro, 1.1 petrol. the head gasket has gone and he is considering doing it himself but is unaware of the parts thats needed, also does he need any special equiptment? how long would it take him ( he has just obove average of car mechanics)!. the car itself is in emaculate condition thats why he wants to do it..
thanks
kevin Read more
Buy a haynes manual, and follow what it says, but he will need a torque wrench - capable of the force listed in the torque settings in the haynes manual. And depending when the cam belt was last done he'll need one of those, same goes for water pump and tensioner.
I've done it on a SOHC 2.0 vauxhall and it is all fairly straight forward, the haynes manual makes it all possible to do this.
Things to look out for...
How much room is there to work in at the timing belt end of the engine? I'm doing one now (on a Daewoo Nexia 1.5 8v - with no manual. and the space is very tight at the cambelt end.
Is there a big viscous fan in the way of the timing belt, which will have to be removed? You will need a big spanner 32mm/36mm for this removal.
Take the spark plugs out - it makes turning the engine easier to get the timing marks correct. and turn the engine using the crankshaft pulley nut - the big bottom one, (not the camshaft pulley nut - the top one).
I suspect he is in the same poition as I am, it's too expensive to have a garage repair such an old car, so he going to have a go himself to save money, and if it fails - it was going to go to the scrap man anyway, so you might aswell give it a go. That's the conclusion I came to aswell.
My son has been approached by someone who has a recently set up courier business, with a view to taking on some work from the business, as a self employed courier. How are such people normally paid? Is it on a mileage basis and, if so, what would be a reasonable rate per mile, given that he has to supply the vehicle? Read more
I looked into this once and was amused at how with all the costs worked out there was nothing left.
It made me wonder if anyone is surviving at this game, whether they have the expensive courier insurance and whether there is a completely straight edge with the Tax office :)
Advice Please. I need to replace the tyres on my Mondeo. I currently have Continental Sport Contact 2 which I think have been great but have not lasted as well as I would have liked. I have spent a bit of time on the internet trying to find independant reviews of alternatives but wondered if anybody here had any suggestions of either where to look or personal experience? Many thanks Read more
Have had the Falken FK452s on the car for a few weeks now >>
Thanks for the feedback, I have had FK452 on the front for about 8k and the rear for about 2k, no excessive wear, I find them very reassuring with a nice bite uppn turn in and they have felt good on the wet though greasy roads this week.
Just got back from Easter weekend in France. Motorways empty, towns and villages virtually empty......Pont de Normandy looking fantastic in the mist.
Omaha Beach landings, Pegasus Bridge, Pointe du Hoc, Colville American cemetary, Longues sur Mer gun battery, Ste Maire Eglise....all approachable, easy parking.
Relaxed til reality (i.e. Dover, M20, M25) kicked in on return to blighty.
By the way, Norfolk Line has free wi-fi on board so you can while the time away on the way there and back Read more
I hope the lamb they are eating is British!
I used to love driving to France, but the M20, M25, M1 has put me off. I now fly to Nimes, Carcassonne or Limoges from Eastmidlands airport and hire a car, much easier.
Have bought a 2001 Rover 45 TD. Alls well except the air distribution control turns but the air still comes out on the face vents. Turning it has no impact and I can't put the air up to the windscreen. Is it hard to investigate this or am I due a visit to a garage? Thanks Read more
Driving South on M90 about 9pm last night. On opposite carriageway I see flashing blue/red lights on hard shoulder.
As I pass and glance over(as you do), I see that the copper is standing behind his car, on the hard shoulder, pointing a radar gun at the traffic coming towrds him!
Now I suppose if you decide to speed past a stationary police car with its blues and reds on then you deserve every Point you get, but it just seemed to be a strange "trap" to have set especially when there are plenty of overbridges and slip roads that they could use?
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AS, I would assume all radar guns would work in the dark? But agreed, it would need to be "old fashion" type radar as opposed to a photographic one, which I think it was.
Was just speaking to my dad about this and he pointed out that the area where I saw this, was in the vicinity of Knockhill circuit and I believe they had some organised Car Racing events on yesterday so maybe the police was actually just wanting to deter speeders by being so obvious?
The car is an old but much loved 205 cabrio fitted with the original Clarion radio/cassette player. New battery fitted and needed to enter the radio code. Entered 1114 instead of 1113 (small buttons big fingers...) and the radio froze. Owners manual says that it is now locked and has to be taken to a Pug dealer. Do you really only get one chance at putting the code in or do you guys know away round the problem? Read more
I heard basting with WD40 was better.........
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These are the views of Robin the Technician with 35 years in the trade. I fix, therefore I am...
Had a bit of a downer on holiday this weekend. As the Debryshire countryside is only an hour from us we spend a lot of time there. The roads especially in the past 2 years have been littered with road safety signs simply because everyone from the cities go there in their sports cars and high performance bikes. I was glad to see no reckless driving - this is improving year on year but a message needs to go to the normal everyday drivers to take car on the narrow and twisty roads.
Too many drivers dont drive with care on these roads, e.g. they dont break the limits but the real killer literally is going too fast around blind bends.
It hits reality when 2 days ago i arrived 30 sec's after someone got knocked off their push bike and 2 other drivers were performing CPR on the road. The road was closed the next day so it didn't look promising. Its a really crap thing to happen, i understand these things happen but for the rest of that day and even now i thought about every corner i went around on these minor roads, B roads especially.
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I agree with all of this. I have seen some shocking driving on country roads. I am amazed how drivers keep getting away with it. They are leaving no margin for error. Even the '"sensible drivers" often believe they can stop in the distance seen to be clear but this is probably not true.
My son will be seventeen in a few weeks time and naturally he wants to learn to drive right away. Can anyone recommend a good driving instructor in Derby please? Read more
Browse
Thanks stu,
Nice to have the support im determined to learn what to do.
I know about the belt, the old one looked like it was purley clogged !! I think its the seal on the bottom 'wheel' that has gone. Im not thatgood on the terms and akll that, but ill learn.
Thanks again.
Mike