May 2007
Hi I have a Honda Civic 1.4 (2001), and want to replace the gearbox oil.
The manual only refers to the specification of the oil as "Honda MTF".
Halfords only seems to sell there own brand 80W90, and a quick look at the Castol site, suggests SMX-S which is a Fully synthetic SAE 75W-85.
Does anyone know what is recommended, and where can I find it? or should I stick with the Honda Branded stuff?
Regards
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I have the choice of keeping the BMW Service History complete by going with the Inspection Level 1 that is due in 2000 miles or using an independant who has been recommended by a friend.
Costs are: BMW £250 + £50 for MOT
Independant £190 inc MOT
Is the £110 extra at BMW worth it?
Appreciate help in advance
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Depends also on what you plan to do with the car as buyers like to see a full set of BMW stamps
If you are going to sell it soon, then probaly worth using the main dealer this time
If you are keeping this car for the longer term then this aspect its less important
Hello
Granddaughter telephoned me this morning to say her new Ka has a few problems.
They are as follows.
1. Constant rattling noise coming from passenger side rear quarter.
2. Knocking noise coming from engine at 1500 rpm when warmed up and stationary (constant knocking not intermittent)
Does anyone know what could cause any of the problems.
All help appreciated.
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters Read more
Hello
The Rattling from the rear quarter was cured. It was wiring underneath the car.
The knocking noise is coming from the engine.
I will ignore the sarcasm and remain old and mature.
--
(iam not a mechanic)
Martin Winters
Having offered to service a friend's Primera 1.8, I was astounded to read that I only need to put 2.9 litres of oil in it! Compare that to a Vectra 1.8 which requires 4.3 litres of the stuff (that's half as much again!)
Why is there such a variation between different car manufacturers, when the oil change intervals are largely the same?! Surely it wouldn't do a chain-cam Primera any good to be sloshing the same 2.9 litres of oil around for a whole year?? (timing chain failure from excessively dirty oil?)
Has anyone out there worked on any cars which have had a surprisingly low (or high) oil capacity for their engine size? Read more
Clearly 'Bell boy' was in the pub yesterday and 'Milkyjoe' spent his lunch hour in the pub. Regards Peter
My car is a Ford Focus, although this problem could occur with any car I guess...
I got the (original) exhaust replaced recently on my 1999 1.8i Focus Zetec (flex pipe, centre silencer and back box) but the new one appears to be blowing and is as loud as the old one was getting, if not worse !
The noise varies with speed - get the car up to 30mpg and you can hear a loud rasp from the rear of the car. Between 45-60mph and the rasp starts to resonate throughout the car pretty loudly, giving a loud 'booming' noise. Once you get over 60mph, it gets quieter again.
It's certainly far louder than I think is acceptable, even taking into account that a new exhaust is likely to sound different from an old one. It's also not the 'metallic' sound that you get from a new exhaust before it eventually gets coated inside - I can hear that sound and this is something else.
It's only a standard exhaust and appears to have been fitted correctly - the guys at ATS have been pretty good about it so far and have checked it out thoroughly, tightening all the joints, but can't find anything obviously wrong with it - it doesn't blow or make the noise when it's stationary and doesn't when you rev the engine either - it only does it when the car is driven.
It could be that one of the new parts is faulty of course, so the next stage is to take one of the guys out and show him just how loud it is but before I do, I was just wondering if anything else could be causing it ? ie. catalytic converter, wheel bearings etc ?
The exhaust appears to be hanging correctly, so isn't touching the bodywork and I've recently done a bit of DIY on the heat-shield to secure it, so I don't think it's that that's causing it.
Any ideas ? Any comments appreciated - cheers. Read more
"Exhausts will get quieter in a few hundred miles is a myth" but they will definitely get quieter in the first few miles-at least good ones will.This is because when the system is manufactured,the filling of the mufflers-usually basalt wool-is placed in the muffler in a very thin plastic bag-to protect the environment and the person assembling the system-also to ensure the right amount goes in.The bag melts after the first few miles-gives off a slight smell of hot plastic and a reduction in the noise level.
I have a mondeo tdci nov 03 registered so is just out of warranty. My battery light recently came on and i thought i had an alternator problem but today when i took it to a alternator specialist they had a look and noticed an oil leak. This has leaked onto the belt and made it slack which is why the warning light has been coming on.
The leak seams to be coming from an area on the drivers side and in front of the alternator. The problem is there is quite a lot of oil under there and its hard to see exactly where its coming from. One thing i have noticed is there seems to be some kind of sealant aroung a particular area and was wondering if this is the likely culprit and if so what is it.
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thanks alot fellas. To be honest im a bit p'ed off with fords and not sure if i will use them as it went in last time the battery light came on and they gave it back saying everythings now fine there was something missing from the alternator. They did however say that the alternator belt needed changing which at the time i thought was strange as it had not snapped. They charged me 80 quid for the diagnostic report.
My guess is they see oil on the belt and thought it was a spilled oil change from myself and just tightened the belt up and didnt notice the oil leak.
I am considering buying a mulching mower for my gardening round so I don't have to carry bags of grass around and have bikers lecture me at traffic lights about the hazards of riding through a handful of deadly mowings that escaped from the trailer. Anyone got one? (a mulching mower, not a biker) Used one? Tried one and rejected it? Comments and opinions welcome.
TIA
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land Read more
Which reminds me - are you certain that each circuit is on an RCD? They're still pretty expensive and it seems more likely to me that you'd have MCBs for each ring main then, if fitted, an RCD that covers the whole lot. Reminds me of my days in uni accommodation where the idiot next door had a tendency to play loud music all night when I had exams the next day. I modified a plug to connect live directly to earth - when I plugged it in it took out the circuit breaker which covered our rooms. I had a battery powered alarm clock, y'see.
Went with a bit of a bang and puff of smoke usually. The maintenance people at uni must have been pretty flummoxed by the end of it!!
Hello,
firstly, thank you to all that responded to my earlier enquiry.
While l'm trying to identify the cause of the problem with the limp mode, there is another nigly issue that l would value peoples opinion on.
The vehicle in question is a 2001 Y registered Seat Alhambra 1.9 TDi, S spec, AUY engine, with 130,000 miles on the clock, with a full service history.
Since owning this car the internal heater just hasn't produced much heat. Not so much a problem this time of year, but in the middle of winter it's a bit parky!
The heater is the manual type, not the electronic climatronic version.
The mechanics of the heater have been checked out, the dials are attached to their respective leads etc & the thermostat has been replaced. This has not made any difference.
l have heard that there is a secondary auxilary heater, in front of the near side rear wheel, that uses glow plugs to ignite diesel & if this has not fired several times (sooted up?)it goes into "lock down"
l have had the vehicle on the VAG diagnostics & all faults cleared associated with this, though again, no change.
What should l do next?
{Car details added to subject header as per one of the sticky requests! DD}
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Smokey,
thanks for the response.
l'll give that a go.
I am about to get my first car and the decision has come down to the VW Polo SE 1.4 with 5 doors and the Vauxhall Corsa Design 1.4 with 5 doors. I really like both of the cars but would appreciate the views of people who own them/ have experience of them.
In the magazines the Corsa seems to come out very well but its never directly compared with the Polo which makes it quite hard to decide. I am 22 so not exactly a teenager so whilst i dont want something thats really flashy, i still want an attractive car with a bit of sophistication. It would need to have plenty of ooomphh as i do like speed and it would be used to travel between essex and reading on motorways.
Any help from you experts out there would be great - i dont know much about cars other than what looks good appearance wise
{Subject header amended to make less vague, and to also include a follow-up question asked by the OP, which has now been merged into this thread - DD} Read more
I have owned Corsa B 1993 1.4 Swing for the last 21 years. The car is pretty economical, and very reliable. In the last 21 years, these are all the repairs, in addition to regular service items.
3 times timing belts replaced...
Hi.
The engine management light on my 04 clio dci 1.5 came on, on Friday got my breakdown out and they advised it was due an EGR valve fault and reset the car and would be ok to drive and if the light came on again to see a garage
Well the light has come on again and the only thing that seems to be difference is the fuel comsumption. Would this be an EGR blockage or something more. Am I ok to drive the vehicle till i can get it to a garage or am i doing it more harm than good.
Being a female I am worried about being ripped of at a garage and need to ensure I know my stuff about this possible problem Read more
Is this a put on?
Honda are slightly 'odd ball' in that they always used to recommend a 5W-30 engine oil for their gearboxes in the 1990's. No EP or AW additives. They then started selling this as their own proprietory oil in Honda branded bottles.
Your transmission would be fine with SMX-S (75W-85 g/box is similar to 5W-30 engine visc.). Alternatively you could use Redline MTL (70W-80 GL-4) or anything around that weight to a GL-4 spec.