May 2007
A friend's inherited Golf GTI Mk1, a very nice example needing a bit of fettling, has its clutch pedal set an inch or two higher than the brake pedal. Recently widowed, she has kept the car and is hoping soon to pass her driving test (at the age of 60-odd). Her practice sessions, two of which I have supervised, do rather punish the clutch, and I wondered if it might be on its way out, the high pedal being a sign of terminal wear? It doesn't slip.
The car pinks a bit but otherwise runs perfectly, with no sign of overheating, clean oil and plenty of poke. It has been regularly serviced, until recently by a (good) VW specialist known to me. I am a bit worried that my friend will place it in the hands of an unsympathetic mechanic.
Any gen on the clutch pedal? Is there an adjustment, or is it new clutch time? Read more
Hi everyone
I own a toyota carina e, and have LPG installed.
My question is:
I have had installed the flash lube system, of which details can be found at www.flashlube.com.au/valvesaverkit/index.html
When an engine normally runs, what flows where the lubricant is allowed in (between the butterfly valve and inlet manifold).
The reason I ask, is if it is petrol, then could I use petrol as a lubricant alternative safely as I have found that the flash lube smells exactly the same as petrol. Can this effect fueling in the engine etc?
Your expertise is much appreciated.
Thanks
Greg
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It isn't exactly the same on paper. The flashlube is said to contain a substitute for lead as well as the upper cylinder lubricant.
Is this the same 1992 Carina as you posted about in September 2004? If it is and you have had no valve/cylinder head problems then I would doubt that you need anything added.
We are looking into purchasing a used Audi A3. we've got 5 grand tops to spend, will we get a decent one for that? Does anyone have any info on Audis? We have a baby also but pram isn't big and neither is car seat.
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Don't buy a 3 door car if you have a small child. They look nicer, but struggling to put children in the back drove me nuts - buy a car that still be suitable as your family grows. Nice spec Mondeo will be good for a few years and big enough for hols too.
My sis owns a 04 plate vw sharan 1.9 tdi and she noticed it wasnt picking up speed so she gave it to the dealership for a look over and they've come back sayin the turbo's gone and quoted a price of roughly 1300!
firstly - could it be anythign else? is it worth sendin the car to a local garage to see what they say?
2ndly - is the price range for fittin etc right?
finally - could it be done cheaper and just as good elsewhere? Read more
A friend of mine is a Diesel repair specialist and replaces a fair number of Sharan turbo's. I know its a hell of job because whenever he does one there is a lot of cursing and swearing, and he's normally a very calm guy. Access is awkward and siezed fastners are a problem. They are a VNT turbo (Garret I think?) and I think the rack can jam, which ends up with the car going into a limp-home mode. Whether or not they can be cleaned up I don't know - my mate always seems to just swap them out.
Certainly with a repair like this you should get a second opinion. Give Turbo Technics' HQ in Northampton a call and see if they have an agent in your area.
We have a Corolla T3 5 door (53 Plate) in the family that has developed a loud rattle from the rear/tailgate area. It occurs when driving over uneven roads - which is all of them where I live.
I have checked for anything obvious or loose and cannot locate anything. It is a metal or hard plastic rattle.
Any advice or ideas as to what it could be will be gratefully received. Read more
Take everything (not part of the car) out from the rear hatch and also remove parcel shelf, spare and toolkit. Get someone to sit in the back and see if they can pinpoint the source.
If it is an interior rattle they should be able to find it.
Also check for play in the tailgate itself when shut or rattles from within the tailgate.
If you haven't located it after the above then it maybe on the outside, these are harder to find.
But grasping every suspension component one by one and trying to shake it may reveal something - however sounds like it is within the car.
Also check that your tyres are not overinflated (when "cold" ie. before driving ) as the ambient temperatures have increased.
Our 52 plate Toyota Corolla 1.6 VVTI 37,000 miles has developed a vibration which is rpm dependent, and is loudest under light load and when the engine is up to full working temperature. It is centred around 1,600 rpm and disappears 100 rpm or so, above or below 1,600. The engine runs quietly with the throttle closed, under gentle throttle sounds normal as rpm increases, but produces this intrusive rattle as it goes through 1,600 and then is sweet all the way to 6,000 rpm. With the throttle pedal half way down or more, it is almost non-existent. It is much less noticeable when the engine is cold and it flew through the emissions test with flying colours at the MoT. Performance and fuel consumption are good (although the best torque is found much lower in the rev range than I would have expected from a 16valve Toyota).
The best way I can describe the sound is that it?s like a sheet of thick plastic which is picking up a resonance.
Under the bonnet, the noise seems to come from around the plastic inlet manifold. I took this off, expecting to be able to dismantle it further but it?s a sealed unit. Underneath I realised the exhaust heat shields all twang & vibrate, so I damped these using high temperature silicone and damping blocks. Quieter it was, but the root cause is still there.
Would anyone have any suggestions please? Would an injector cause this sound?
Many thanks, John Read more
A3 is closed in both directions ( Coombe Lane ) and traffic if bad in the area all around.
Think it may be a gas cylinders incident
www.keepmoving.co.uk/ select A3 and listen. Read more
..... and I spent over an hour queuing further down the A3 last night - crash at Wisley
humpphhh
Dan
SWMBO has a new model Leon which some passing swine has broken the rear light on.
Does anyone know where you can get Mk2 Leon parts from that isn't a main dealer?
It needs a new near side inner rear light (the one in the boot lid)
I tried my local GSF but they weren't able to help. Read more
Thanks for that info. You're right, a quick search of the Hella website brings up what I'm looking for.
I have just rang my local Hella stockist but unfortunately the inner light section is made under licence by Seat and so is dealer only.
Perhaps the passing vandal was a Seat dealer! :)
Is it easy?
My *third* ignition coil seems to have died on me whilst driving to work this morning.
This leaves me 80 odd miles away from home with a car that doesn't feel like driving.
I am pretty certain it's the ignition coil again. Unsurprisingly none of the VW Garages could fit me in today (though one helpfully told me I shouldn't be driving the car), so I am now thinking I might need to pick the part up and fit it myself.
Reckon it's easy?
Thanks for any advice you can give. Read more
The rediculous design of this car has an engine mounting right in the middle of the timing belt loop.
Now the car has had the TB snap and I'm thinking I will just put a new belt on and see if it starts. If it has problems internally these will become apparent very quiickly, and I know that starting it could make things worse, but tbh if it has internal damage then it will be getting scrapped anyway so it's no big deal. If it works then we'll be happy.
Can anyone tell me any pointers about the process of fitting the new TB and what I should do regarding the engine mount, is it just a case of suppporting the engine, removing the mount and fitting the new belt?
Thanks very much Read more
Ok thanks for your reply, you're probably right.
But I had a go anyway (the tb was only £14).
So, the timing marks, crankshaft timing mark is straight forward, but the cam sprockets each had two marks, 'inlet' and 'exhaust'. two of them had been "tip ex" marked they were different, i.e one was marked on the inlet and the other was marked on the exhaust mark.
I set up the car with the tip ex marks at the top. I can't remember which was which but can I ask you if the Inlet side of the engine (the fuel rail side) should that sprocket be aligned to "Inlet" ? Because that would be logical. And conversly the exhaust side of the engine should be lined up to the exhaust mark?
The car didn't start. I had the exhaust sprocket one tooth out from where it should have been, would this make a lot of difference? Or if it was going to start would it just have run a little bit spluttery?
I'm going to do a compression test on it tomorrow. and I might align up the exhaust sprocket properly. But I think it is knackered.
If you know about the timing marks please let me know cheers.
Update: the clutch cable does have the white plastic adjuster and there is still a bit of adjustment left, but the threaded metal end of the cable is corroded and I didn't risk tangling with it. Accompanied the owner to Sussex and back at the weekend. She improved a bit, but it was purgatory for me. It is a most unsuitable car for a learner driver, the responsive engine and sporting gearing exaggerating every clumsy twitch of a resolutely insensitive right foot, and the wrong gear selected for at least a third of the time. Very few gearchanges made without a jerk one way or the other. She's a big strong girl but the heavy steering was alarming sometimes at close quarters. Yet my friend is by no means the worst driver I have experienced, being intelligent if prone to exaggerate all actions and change down 300 yards before roundabouts... purgatory.
I made her put in half a tank of Supreme 97 octane (don't know what the other half was, but I imagine ordinaire) and half a bottle of Redex fuel system cleaner. In Sussex I went off by myself and took it up to about 70 in third, still well short of the red line but certainly higher rpm than it is used to doing. My reward was an embarrassing cloud of smoke for the next half mile or so. I did it again, slightly less fiercely, and got another cloud of smoke, smaller this time. By the time I stopped there was no visible smoke at all, and none later. I hope that what I saw was the dust of ages being blown out of the cylinder head and ports, but I suppose the possibility of knackered valve stem oil seals must exist at 95K miles. The oil is absolutely spotless, so clean that it's hard to see the level on the dipstick. After my Italian tune-up, and probably largely as a result of more correct fuel being used, the pinking has pretty well stopped and the engine is running noticeably sweeter.
The chassis is far from perfect however. MoT but needs bushes and probably shock absorbers. Doesn't feel sharp as it should. Very good car in there somewhere though.