May 2007
I'm looking at the possibility of buying a new 3.0 TD SE later on this year with a view to keeping it for at least 4 or 5 years.
I've got some very general questions and would appreciate the benefit of BRs experience:
1. Will it last ?
2. Are the mechanicals strong and well proven ?
3. Are things I should think about in particular ?
Many thanks in anticipation, and apols if the info is aready available; I've checked out car-by-car etc but am looking for more in-depth/views re this model. Read more
Does anyone know what the size of the brake disks on the front of a Renault Modus are? Ours is a 1.5DCi model if that makes a difference.
I know they are vented.
Are they the same size as any other Renault models (i.e. Clio, Megane etc)?
GSF don't list the Modus yet and I need some new ones pretty soon.
Cheers Read more
Hi all,
Some of you mention in prvious posts of a website that you can put in a number plate to check if a cars is off road or alive and kicking. Any ideas what this site is? Would like to see if any of my old cars are alive and kicking?
TIA Read more
www.tinyurl.com/2qtal4 which should give you the make from VRM
From VRM
www.tinyurl.com/2bg968 which should inform if currently taxed.
dvd
My car's (X-reg Hyundai Accent) engine seized recently following leak from engine oil. The warning light came at a very last stage when already the damage was done!
Local mechanic is currently fitting a used engine.....
Just wondering why the manufacturer's can't provide a gauge on dash for the oil pressure level?
I've seen some cars that come with (eg. Porche, Peugeot 406 etc.)
Is it possible to fit an aftermarket engine oil level gage? How much will it cost?
Well, I was stupid enough not to check oil level every morning but a leak was beyond my imagination.
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Oil pressure is the important thing. Its what prevents the engine seizing. You can have a sump full of oil but if the oil pump isn't working the the engine will still trash itself.
The trouble with the standard oil pressure warning lights is that they only light up at really low pressures so you have to lose loads of oil before it wil tell you and by then its often too late. If you keep an eye on a retro fitted oil pressure gauge everytime you drive you can at least monitor any oil loss indirectly as the pressure will slowly drop over the weeks if the engine is burning oil or has a slow leak.
A couple of weeks ago I was unfortunate enough to be involved in a minor collision in my Skoda Fabia. I was sitting in heavy traffic in the left hand lane of a dual carriage way, approaching a roundabout. The accident occurred when a taxi attempted to join the carriageway from a side road on the left. Instead of pulling in behind me he attempted to pull around me and join the right hand lane, as he did so he clipped the my rear bumper and light. Although he never explicitly said it was his fault, he seemed to accept liability did by saying that ?he could get it sorted out at a garage he uses... no need to go through the insurance?.
After asking friends and family I decided to take the car for a couple of quotes at local garages. Both quoted just over £300 for the work, due to the amount of labour involved. I contacted the taxi driver and he was amazed at the price, saying he wasn?t willing to pay this much since the garage he knows will do the work for £20!
Since I have not been involved in a situation like this I am not sure what the best thing is to do next. Obviously I want the car to be repaired to a good standard, at the taxi driver?s expense. I am concerned that if I don?t accept his offer of getting it repaired at ?his? garage there is a good chance that I won?t get any money out of him at all. However, I don?t want to accept his offer if the work is not carried out to a good standard as it will affect the value of my car.
I understand that I could go through my own insurance but since I have no witnesses I feel that this could be costly. However because he was pulling out of a garage forecourt he was in full view of the garages CCTV camera.If anyone out there has some useful advice to offer I would be grateful to hear from you. Thanks in advance.
Paul
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If it was a licensed taxi contact the Hackney Carriage Office for the area.
As a condition of his licence I think he is obliged to report any accidents.
What a gorgeous, gorgeous, GORGEOUS car.
Totally irrelevant to 99.99% (or more) of us reading this, but what a stunning machine. The lovely teak deck to the rear, just like a classic Riva speedboat, the unpainted metal bonnet. The mere fact that it exists should be celebrated.
I can just picture myself wafting down to the south of France in one before boarding my luxury yacht, vodka martini in hand (shaken not stired), leggy blonde in my arm .... WAKE UP!!
Yes I'm sure the ethics of it could be criticised, but this car is a pure work of art (headlights aside).
It's seeing cars like this that make me wish I was a car journalist - must almost make up for those early flights and late nights testing the latest far eastern white good.
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Yes. Not claiming to be Rolls-Royces or Bentleys.
I have a 2002 Mondeo Tdci (128 HP) automatic with a pneumatic variable vane turbo charger.
Last year (40,000 miles) it began to lose power below 2,000 rpm and there was hesitation at 1,500 rpm. The Garage could find nothing listed on the computer.
Eventually I changed the turbo and this cured it for 3,000 miles but now the problem is recurring.
Has anybody had similar experiences and is there a cure?
Terry Nichols
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Rather an expensive misdiagnosis?
You are throwing money around in the dark, to me. (I hate new diesels)
I have a July 2002 VW Passat TDI Sport [PDI engine] with 42,000 miles. Everything ran normally until I took it in for a service. i.e. it pulled strongly until 2,000 revs when the turbo kicked in. There was then a real surge of power at 2,000 revs when the car really took off and pulled like a steam train right through the revs even in high gears and gave excellent performance.
I took it in to a local garage that specialised in VW's for the service. It was a normal service plus the replacement of all the brake pads - £370. I was also informed that the cam belt was starting to crack up an should be replaced in the very near future. When I drove the car after picking it up, it was totally different with a complete loss of power. In particular there was no surge of power associated with a turbo kicking in at 2,000 revs, or any where else in the power range. I've now got a slow donkey of a car with no acceleration that needs to be revved hard to just produce even an average rate of acceleration that my old 1300 Nissan Sunny would comfortably match. I noticed I have to change gears a lot more than before just to maintain a reasonable level of momentum. [and obviously I want to keep the revs at a minimum until the cam belt is changed].
At one stage it showed a reluctance to rev above 3,500 in 4th gear and seemed to stick on 3,500 revs for a while. On another occasion I thought I may have detected a bit of a kick in at about 3,500+ revs and some power. I contacted the garage immediately only to be told that nothing they did in the service would affect the performance of the turbo or create the loss of power. One of the mechanics speculated there could be air in the fuel line.
Any ideas, as I'm about to do battle with the garage and got the feeling they are going to fight their corner and refuse to accept any responsibility for the total change in my car.
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I recently had to have the flywheel replaced on my Focus 1.8 TDCi. Got exactly the same symptoms that you have described - absolutely no power afterwards - as if there was no turbo. Immediately took it back to the garage who, without hesitation, checked all the connections to the turbo. A pipe had been accidently kinked and split, resulting in the loss of power. This was quickly rectified and upon leaving, the car was back to normal again (except for not having the hot start problem caused by the duff flywheel, but that's another story), absolutely no hassle. Sounds to me like this garage are just trying to wriggle out of admitting that they may, and most probably inadvertinently, have created the problem and their excuses are totally unacceptable - stand up to them.
Apology if this has been posted - can't find it in forum search though it was in the news last week.
My BMW-riding colleague has often chortled that the forward facing cameras don't catch bikes - must show him this story when he gets back from holiday.
A Dunstable biker had been making a habit of riding past three of these every day at 100mph while making victory gestures - this presumably annoyed the police so much that they actually traced him ...
www.visordown.com/motorcyclenews/view/biker_busted...l
Can't condone of course but he made me smile. Read more
True, it may catch the occassional nutter, and im all for that;...... but, the chances are its going to catch a far greater number of thoroughly decent types who, because they were probably spending their time looking where they were going, rather than staring down constantly at speedometers, just happened to accidentally stray up to 36mph on a downhill stretch of road.
These people are not 'imbecilic morons'; they are perfectly decent people who because they were concentrating on the road, driving probably very safely, suddenly find themselves with points on their licence.
The whole thing stinks if you ask me.
Just for general info. There are Specs Cameras on the Northampton ring road, I've only been there in the dark so can't comment on the signage, Also the stretch of the A14 from Alconbury to Cambridge is a Specs area (about 10 miles) but very clearly signed all the way.
Mods please move this if it is the wrong place!
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The notts ring road (A43) was one of the first specs zones in the uk. Been there for some years. Most specs are ok, they are clearly visible for what they are
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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