June 2007
Just been talking to my brother about his wife's 18 month old Merc B200 CDI.
Apparently one of the belts was making a screeching so when it was in for a service (Merc dealer) he asked them to check and tighten as necessary. It turns out it was the water pump belt that was loose, because the bolts holding the pump had worked a little loose. But to tighten them they will have to ... take the engine out?!?!
It's all under warranty so it won't cost him a bean, but I would dread to think how much it would cost out of warranty! Is this bad design, or what?
A few years down the line, how many B-class owners will curse their cars when told of this if their pumps fail? Read more
I honestly don't know if i'm getting paranoid or just being unlucky.
SWMBO has just come back from a shopping trip really fuming because we've picked up yet another massive car park ding, the 4th in less than a year.
These aren't little polish-outable ones - all four are significant dents like someone has really slammed their door into ours as hard as they can.
My car is not 'that' flash, a facelifted Leon Cupra, but it's the first decent car I've had and I do keep it well polished and I know some people percieve it as flash.
I've been driving over 20 years and never had this problem with any other cars, we're careful where we park, leave plenty of room etc and it really annoys me that people can do this.
Am I just unlucky, or is it possible people do this on purpose out of jealousy or because they assume the owner of such a car is a (swear word)...?
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OK it's not quite a normal supermarket but I almost find it a joy to
go to Costco - they have *huge* parking spaces - the Manchester one even has
>>
The trouble is that large spaces between cars can mean that opening doors can reach a higher velocity just before impact with the adjacent car i.e. mine!
hi all,
does anybody know of anywhere near Northallerton, N Yorks where i can get a fiesta 1.1 head tested, please. many thanks Read more
second hand head from breaker will be cheaper...
madf
I'm toying with the idea of getting a kit car, the only problem is that I would like one that is just slightly practical - i.e has a roof and can be locked and left in work car park without having to worry about security or rain. I'm interested in something like the GTM - has anyone got any suggestions? Price range would be up to £10k and I would be looking for a ready built car, so probably the second hand market. Read more
There's a nice looking s/h Libra on the GTMcars.com website. At £11.5k it's a bit over your budget though.
Has anyone used Ecoflow for their car and/or central heating ?
See web links below for further details :
www.ecomagnets.com/motoflow.htm
www.ecomagnets.com/include/warren_comments.pdf
The manager at one of our local tyre and exhaust companies has one fitted to his wifes Ford Focus and another on his central heating system.
After an initial priming period to allow the product to clean out the engine, for example 1000+ miles, the product really does the business with a noticable increase in power and torgue coupled with an improvement in fuel economy, not to mention the reduction in emissions coming out of the exhaust pipe that were easily measurable.
Their central heating system efficiency (gas - although it works for oil as well) increased so much that they had to turn down the thermostat to compenstate as the water was heating significantly quickly, cost savings paid for the product in less than a season of winter usage. Read more
Why not try sticking it on the fuel lines for 1K miles and then attaching it to the dashboard for the next 1k?
Like it. I wonder if fluffy dice will have the same effect, makes you think doesn't it.
Don't really know what this shows or proves about anything-but imagine how many drink drivers this guy has stopped over the years, how many desperate pleas he must have heard by people who have made a genuine miscalculation. I wonder how he felt when he was booked in at custody.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/humber/6733969.stm Read more
probably not in 2 hours time unless you a very large person!
I am not very large, but above average. I would have no qualms about being over the limit, assuming I'd started from a pont of approximately 0 BAC.
Hi All,
This is my second attempt at posting.
I have a Citroen Xantia VSX 1998cc Turbo. It has petrol CT engine.
I have two problems, firstly the suspension is so bumpy it is almost undriveable at times. It is sometimes OK. When going over bumps, no matter how slow I take them them the car bounces hard and I have to hold the steering really tight. It also drops at the back when stationary and sometimes the suspension drops on the right side this usually happens when I am going very slowly parking.
I took it to a Citoen main dealer about six months ago and they changed the rear spheres, the height corrector and the accumulater which was not holding reserve pressure. This cost £700 and I am not keen to go back. It was alot better for a while but is now worse than ever. The second problem is a hole in the manifold where a bolt has sheered off the casing and it is sucking in air. It makes the car very noisy, but my mechanic says it would be too expensive to fix and I should just leave this. The car has just failed its MOT due to the suspension only - the manifold problem was not a failure surprisingly. Please tell me what I can do? Is it time to pension my lovely car off?
LIN Read more
Thanks for the messages, I will try what you say. Does anyone know of a Citroen mechanic in the Kent area? (Near Maidstone if possible). I am not mechanically minded!
Lin
Coming north on the A75 yesterday - (the bendy bit around Issoire with 90k limit) there was an unattended black box about 30cm cube sitting on a tripod partially hidden by a section of Armco. Now I have seen a variety of fixed installations , hand held radar/laser devices and mobile van housed devices but this one seemed to be a new design. It was definitely unattended but not a 'permanent' installation. Normally the presence of a blue car is good giveaway.
Oncoming drivers had had a good view and gave adequate warning so everything had slowed down.
Good journey back, 780 miles, and was I glad the bulk of the miles were in France! Back in the UK, he A2 was closed just outside Dover, and the subsequent delay meant that by the time I reached the M25 (23.00) you could not turn North without a tortuous diversion. The Blackwall tunnel was clear, but ended in a long jam somewhere in East London where an underpass was closed.
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pmh (was peter)
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In theory,as of April this year,EU governments are sharing vehicle registration details-so one you might get a letter,and if you don't pay,I expect Gordon and friends will set up a huge department to descend on you from a great height.
Just returned a pair of secatures to the local garden centre. The things didn't work. As soon as you tried to close the blades on a stem the damn handles twisted in your hand, you couldn't grip them. Made out of totally the wrong material for the job. Mentioned it to No.1 son who is a designer. He said that most designs are compromised by the bean counters who reckon they could save .05p a unit if the item was made out of a different material.
What really bad design or wrong materials have the BRs come across in their cars over the years? Read more
There many factors.
(1) The incompetence of some designers. At one time designers had to work their way up the drawing office from the bottom. They started off as detail draughtsmen, producing drawings to the designer's instructions. They learned the custom and practice of the design of standard and frequently used parts, and (most importantly) a sense of proportion. With the advent of computer aided design some designers start off straight from university with no previous industrial experience and with no sense of proportion. Because it is possible to magnify small areas of a design, any feature can be drawn in great detail but be poorly proportioned when seen in the flesh. A drawing board and pencil prevented impracticably small dimensions.
(2) Empowerment of the designer before they are ready for it. In the days of drawing boards drawings were checked in minute detail by a supervisor before prototypes were made. Nowadays prototypes can be made by transferring the drawing onto a CD without the drawing even having dimensions indicated on it and without it being checked by anyone else! The CD goes into a machine at one end and prototype components come out (sometimes in large quantities and at great expense) at the other end. Sometimes the expense of producing the prototypes is too great to allow the design to be modified after testing, and the design has to be accepted as the final design despite having flaws.
(3) Simultaneous engineering. Manufacturing facilities are set up before the design has been fully tested and approved, and this makes modifications too expensive to be implemented.
(4) Changes in the structure of the company, introduced in the name of cost saving, resulting in the reduction of supervision in design, development, and production planning departments.
(5) The employment of unskilled and semi-skilled production operatives.
Etc etc.
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L\'escargot.
Just taken the front bumper off an r reg micra, one owner ,50,000 miles, to weld the x-member up, only to find the whole of the front x-member is totally rotten and not worth welding
It needs replacing,now thats a pink fluffy dice :-(
so just to remind everyone, mint cars, low mileage, shiny, are not always mint underneath, no matter what the mot may say ,if more than 3 months old
Here endeth the lesson
..........................................;-)
{Subject header amended - DD} Read more
>>>>>Im on with it aprilia yes i know they rot but this isnt rotten its devoid of metal
heres a few pictures in between the heat of the afternoon that is here and having to work outside because of it<<<<<
OK we get the picture :-))
Browse
Not seen one yet in Frankfurt, but there are a few mean looking Chrysler 300C taxis - although the taxi beige colour doesn´t really help the mafiamobile image.
Noticed a few in Dresden ,the cars are not painted that colour it is in fact a type of stick on plastic if you look inside the doors you will see the real colour normally silver.